Igniting the Ink Thunder Divine Art

Mukroe Byeokryeok Singong. I hadn't sustained a single injury anywhere on my body, yet I felt excruciating pain throughout my entire frame, learning firsthand what it meant to have my muscles and bones reforged. It was probably something like the bone-shattering marrow cleansing I'd read about in those old wuxia novels. Now, though, my body felt light as if it could soar into the sky, and a message popped up before my eyes.

For enduring that tearing agony across my whole body for about thirty minutes straight, I'd gained two stats... Still, it was pain I never wanted to feel again.

"You endured better than I expected. I was ready to stop if you looked like you might pass out, but to hold on for over thirty minutes in a child's body..."

I'd clenched my teeth and powered through it for real, but maybe I should've just let myself black out. Still, the words flowed from my mouth smooth as silk.

"To learn martial arts from the Heavenly Demon, shouldn't one have at least this much mental fortitude?"

She nodded, eyes closed.

"Indeed. There are those who bring heaps of gold and jewels, begging for even a scrap of my teachings. One must show at least this much to make it worth my while to instruct them."

She opened her eyes again and spoke to me.

"I cannot teach you the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. The seat of Young Leader requires proving all manner of qualifications to attain, and I, with much time left to act as Heavenly Demon, have no intention of selecting one yet."

I hadn't dared hope for the Heavenly Demon Divine Art anyway. Well, it'd be a lie to say I didn't want it, but even snagging a Rare-grade heart method or higher by status window standards would make me thrilled.

'Skill grades were Common, Advanced, Rare, Heroic, Unique, Legendary, right?'

On Earth, there were people who awakened martial arts as skills, and I'd seen a video of someone with a Heroic-grade art punching an A-rank monster to death barehanded.

'Come on, she's the Heavenly Demon. Surely she'd toss me a Heroic-grade art or something.'

She seemed to ponder for a moment before speaking.

"I'll give you a choice."

"A choice?"

"One is easy and lets you grow incredibly fast, but you cannot advance beyond the Fire Realm."

I knew that only the patriarchs of the Six Great Demonic Families ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠or the Twelve Elders had reached realms beyond Fire Realm. It wasn't something I could dream of, so a quick path to Super Peak sounded plenty appealing.

"The other is exceedingly difficult, prevents rapid growth, and is intensely painful until you reach a certain trajectory. But it allows advancement to Manifest Realm and beyond."

Manifest Realm...? Even in the Heavenly Demon Cult, only the current Heavenly Demon before me had attained it.

'She's going to teach me an art that reaches such a realm?'

"If I may ask a presumptuous question..."

A flicker of curiosity crossed her face.

"What is it?"

"If it's an art that guarantees Manifest Realm and above... isn't it on par with the Heavenly Demon Divine Art..?"

I'd only lived seven years in the martial world, but using translation skills, I'd crammed all the basics. Her words could only mean one thing to me. The latter art she mentioned... was equivalent to the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

"Correct. However, the training process is excruciatingly painful, and since its roots lie in righteous faction arts, all who once practiced it have vanished, making it a lost art now."

Meaning there'd be no issue with me using it.

'An easy, fast path to Super Peak... or a difficult, painful one to the Heavenly Demon's own realm...'

Truth be told, there was no real dilemma.

"I'd like to learn the latter."

Her eyes widened.

"Are you certain? I planned to give you the manual and teach you for exactly one month, every night. Any more favoritism would go against my principles. If you can't master it in that month, you'll have to figure it out on your own. Truly?"

I hadn't expected the Heavenly Demon to teach me forever. A month was even longer than I'd anticipated.

"I don't want to take the easy road and cap my potential there. Difficult and grueling as it may be, I want to reach those distant heights."

I had at least 183 more years ahead. Stopping at mere Super Peak was out of the question. The Heavenly Demon, who could alter the surrounding temperature just by walking... If possible, I wanted to stand at her level, gazing at the same sky.

"Good. You haven't disappointed me this time either."

A faint smile touched her lips. Her face, which had only radiated cold ruthlessness before, now bloomed with that smile—like a flower on a snowy peak, incredibly rare and breathtaking.

'Bad for my heart...'

And so, I spent the next month learning martial arts from the Heavenly Demon. The heart method she taught me was Mukroe Byeokryeok Singong.

It originated from the supreme art of the North Sea Peng Clan—one of the Five Great Righteous Clans—which the Heavenly Demon had personally twisted into a demonic art after toppling their house: the Honyuan Byeokryeok Gong.

One accumulates ink-black lightning within the body, stimulating the whole frame with it to train both internal energy and external techniques simultaneously. But until the external aspect reaches a certain level, the pain is extreme. Once mastery advances to where the agony fades, the lightning permeates the body, granting immense power and speed even without drawing on dantian energy. Naturally, combining it with internal energy yields even greater speed and force, and at higher levels, one can summon thunderbolts or become lightning itself.

Of course, imagining such realms came after mastering the basics first.

Today marked the fifteenth day since I began learning the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠art. Yet I still hadn't taken my first true steps with the heart method. My stats had risen considerably in that time, but no sign of the skill manifesting.

I'd memorized the fiendishly complex incantations and grown accustomed to demonic qi under her guidance. Today, too, I sat cross-legged in the backyard of the Heavenly Demon's quarters.

Then, rain began to fall from the sky.

"Let's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠move somewhere sheltered nearby."

I thought the same and started to rise—when thunder cracked overhead.

Krarung!

Boom! Flash!

A streak of lightning, followed by earth-shaking thunder. It struck right before my eyes, splitting a nearby tree in half and setting it ablaze.

Normally, lightning ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that close would terrify or startle anyone, but after the Heavenly Demon's training in unmoving mind, it barely fazed me. Instead, gazing at that bolt, a flash of insight streaked through my head.

Until now, I'd claimed to gather lightning qi without truly envisioning what lightning or thunder truly was—just rote recitation of the incantations.

With a clear image etched in my mind, the path forward crystallized. Something tangible drew near.

"Focus just like that."

Her voice steadied my heart even more. Amid the myriad demonic energies drifting through the world, I isolated only the lightning qi, drawing it into me through breath, guiding it to my dantian. And I succeeded in settling it there.

Once became twice with ease. Bit by bit, I gathered lightning qi into my dantian, compressing it into a solid seed.

Exhaling, I opened my eyes to see messages floating before me.

I'd succeeded in mastering Mukroe Byeokryeok Singong. My physical abilities surged, stats rose by a total of 9, and a new skill appeared in my skill window.

'Others master heart methods in three days, and it took me fifteen...? My talent is trash.'

I should abandon any dreams of great attainment in martial arts. If some god's reincarnating me, shouldn't they at least give a perk for easy skill acquisition?

Cursing the silent heavens, I felt the lightning qi coursing through my body.

*

She could scarcely believe her eyes.

'Mastering the divine art in a mere fifteen days..?'

Heart methods take varying time based on their grade. A street-level Three Wonders Heart Art, even a commoner could learn in three days. But divine arts were different. Even geniuses needed at least a month, and she herself had taken ten days for the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

'And what this child mastered was...'

Mukroe Byeokryeok Singong. An art born from grueling experiments to twist righteous faction techniques into demonic ones—so fiendishly complex that even the Heavenly Demon Cult's elders had given up and clicked their tongues in defeat.

Strictly speaking, its difficulty surpassed even the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

She'd planned to torment the insolent brat—who dared barge into her quarters yelling arrogantly—with this impossible art for three weeks, then hand over some middling heart method. But he'd actually mastered it.

'Even I...'

If she'd started with martial arts as a child, could she have learned it in fifteen days? No clear answer came.

The moment certainty eluded her, the truth was plain. This child could reach her realm—or surpass it.

A thought Cheonha Yeon, the Heavenly Demon, entertained for the first time in her life. An imagination she'd never once indulged: someone overtaking her.

'Interesting.'

Fifteen days of her promised teaching remained. What would he become in fifteen days? In ten years?

The moment Cheonha Yeon first took interest in a man.