Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 1042

Fzzzt……!!!

The pure white, distorted light of the supernova stopped abruptly before Lenok’s eyes.

It was as if time itself had frozen for the formula; the eerie glow, incomplete and churning in place, remained still.

The Thunder Emperor, however, couldn’t easily take her eyes off the mage who had held her formula in mid-air.

The sanctuary of the Thunder God Palace, where one must engrave their own enlightenment to achieve it.

Lenok’s action forcibly stopped the Thunder Emperor’s gaze, a gaze that sought a premonition transcending the established rules.

It was a formula that had reached the extreme of immutability, forcibly halting the Thunder Emperor’s own Thunder Sea Formula [a powerful lightning-based technique].

“You reversed the enlightenment that reached the extreme of property change, sublimating it into a power that stops all change?” the Thunder Emperor asked, gazing at the pure white star where time seemed to have stopped.

Even before hearing any explanation, she already understood the miracle that had unfolded in this sanctuary.

“You forcibly severed the changes of all things, and finally, you even touched the changes of time.”

Her gaze towards Lenok was now filled with an unfathomable light.

“Have you already reached the level of interfering with time as a result?”

“To be precise, it’s the result of embodying the concept of ‘imperfection,'” Lenok answered wearily, slowly rubbing his hands.

Thought Reliance [a technique to manipulate lightning] is lightning that has reached the extreme of property change, transcending the horizon of thought.

And Detachment [a technique to reverse the properties of magic] is the enlightenment that transcends that limit, creating a new property that is completely opposite to the existing one.

Lenok, who had received a direct explanation from Myung and obtained that possibility, adopted the Detachment of black magic into his electric magic.

After reaching the extreme of property change through Thought Reliance, he reversed that power through Detachment.

Just as Myung had used the power of black magic to detach and heal Lenok’s body.

Because he reversed the formula that had reached the extreme of property change, the Detachment of Thought Reliance literally stops and halts all changes.

The changes and flow of time. The incantation and activation of the Thunder Sea Formula. All the moments of change when Lenok and the Thunder Emperor collided and produced results.

Through this, he stopped the formula that the Thunder Emperor had unleashed in its place, completely halting the battle itself.

“Severing cause and effect, forbidding the changes of all things. In that process, even time is stopped as a result.”

“…….”

“The imperfection that hinders the completion of phenomena… what I have embodied through Detachment is that very immaturity itself.”

Because it forces everything to remain incomplete, Lenok’s Detachment, as a result, forcibly stops even time.

A miracle that would have been impossible to even attempt if he hadn’t obtained the lightning that had reached the extreme of property change through Thought Reliance.

If he hadn’t created the Uroboros magic system [a magic system based on self-consumption and regeneration] and made even imperfection into Lenok’s power.

If he hadn’t acquired the sense of manipulating time through Kaise’s mental image and the Eight Trigrams Formation [a divination system used to understand the flow of time and change].

After reaching level 8 and directly manipulating space, he manipulated several abilities that indirectly manipulated time.

Lenok combined all the enlightenment and achievements he had learned and stolen over a long period of time in various ways, failing and failing again.

Finally, Lenok realized what it meant to manipulate time as a result.

“The incantation and activation of the formula. Even the harmony of the thoughts and mental images that make up the formula are stopped….”

Crack!!

As Lenok reached out towards the Thunder Emperor’s formula, the pure white, distorted supernova cracked and shattered.

“The completion of the formula itself is rendered meaningless.”

Kaaang!!

Fragments of lightning scattered, falling like shards of glass over Lenok’s head.

The secrets of the Thunder Sea Formula (雷解術式), which uses lightning to unravel all things, vanished without even blooming in that place.

Lenok turned his gaze towards the Thunder Emperor, who was looking at him with a hardened expression, and asked, “Isn’t this enough proof that I am not bound by the rules of the sanctuary?”

“You….”

The Thunder Emperor tried to answer, but then closed her mouth.

She simply folded her arms and looked up at the sky, her dragon robe fluttering.

Just by moving her body for a moment, the Thunder Emperor, who was much taller than Lenok, exuded an overwhelming aura.

An oppressive presence that immediately made it clear why she had such a grand title.

“It’s absurd. I never thought you would surpass the standards I set in this way….”

The Thunder Emperor, who had been agonizing for a while, shook her head with a complex expression.

“Fine. You deserve to hear the explanation.”

“…….”

“Follow me.”

Without waiting for an answer, the Thunder Emperor walked ahead, quickly disappearing into the distance of the sanctuary.

Lenok, with a disgruntled expression, watched her retreating figure and sighed, summoning his staff.

“…Can’t you walk a little slower?”

The process of achieving Detachment itself required an enormous amount of mental energy, leaving Lenok’s thoughts and mental strength in tatters.

Stopping time as a result was something he had only just grasped, not a miracle he could use at any time.

It was a technique he could only attempt after chanting Thought Reliance and pushing his senses to the limit, as he had just done.

He was extremely fatigued, not only from battling the Thunder Emperor’s formula but also from the battle he had been engaged in outside.

However, the Thunder Emperor didn’t even look back at Lenok, who was walking far behind, and snapped her fingers.

Whoosh!!

At that moment, the path of the sanctuary, which was gleaming under Lenok’s feet, contracted, closing the distance with the Thunder Emperor.

A method of shrinking space to instantly travel long distances, a form of teleportation.

Before he knew it, the distant scenery of the outer sea was spread out far away.

Woo-oo-oong!!!!

Like looking at a dark sea from a giant spaceship, a magnificent scene of starlight twinkling beyond the infinite darkness.

The boundary line located at the edge of the Thunder God Palace’s sanctuary.

The end of the great path that was created after engraving the premonition.

At the end of the path that had been passed down through the cause and effect of lightning, only an endless void was spread out.

While Lenok silently gazed at the outer sea spread out at the end of the path, the Thunder Emperor, with her back turned, opened her mouth.

“To gain one thing, you must give up one thing.”

“…….”

“Each time you discard something, you move further away from perfection, so life inherently has the inevitability of breaking down.”

The Thunder Emperor raised her head and looked out of the sanctuary, her gaze directed towards a place immeasurably far away.

“But the end that was born from the dark sea is not bound by such rules. It ignores coincidence and inevitability, mocks fate, and swims in the sea forever.”

“…….”

“Those who engrave enlightenment in the Thunder God Palace and seek enlightenment must be aware of this fact.”

The Thunder Emperor, walking with her splendid robe fluttering, spoke in a noble voice.

“This is a miracle that transcends three worlds. It is an opportunity that is only granted once to even the greatest seekers.”

The Thunder Emperor stopped walking and turned her gaze towards Lenok.

“Because there is a scenery that must be reached even if you give up perfection and completion… you must not waste it even more.”

“Are you trying to persuade me again now?”

“If you have obtained Detachment, you can ignore the rules of the sanctuary and fully enforce your own will.”

The Thunder Emperor spoke to Lenok in a seemingly gentle voice.

“The problem is not with you, but with me. Unlike you, who are not bound by anything, my existence is a clumsy and precarious contradiction bound to this sanctuary.”

“…….”

“Your insight in recognizing that incongruity is excellent, but your choice was impossible from the start. I was going to directly admonish you to let you know that….”

The Thunder Emperor, with her arms folded, shook her head with a carefree smile.

“Somehow, I ended up confessing my own incompetence. I never thought I would show such a disgraceful sight to a mortal from the next world.”

The Thunder Emperor didn’t give any further explanation about it, but Lenok could sense it.

The enlightenment that the seekers who had honed the cause and effect of lightning in three worlds had engraved, transcending the horizon of thought.

In other words, all the premonitions that exist in this Thunder God Palace are proof of results similar to the realm of Thought Reliance.

A power that, by its mere existence, kills apostles and nobles, and is comparable to spells that turn night into day, is dormant here.

Now that Lenok has shown a new enlightenment through the Detachment that Myung gifted him, he only has one chance to choose in this sanctuary of lightning.

That’s why the Thunder Emperor was recommending that he take a different, complete power, not her imperfect self.

“What did Akendrias El Torben [the Tower Lord] choose here?” However, instead of answering the Thunder Emperor, Lenok changed the subject.

“Considering that he tried to open the Thunder God Palace for me, the Tower Lord must have also gained enlightenment here.”

“He chose to hone the answer he had decided on to the extreme.”

“Does that mean the Tower Lord’s choice was in the direction of reinforcing his own answer?”

“What he chose was a divine artifact called Immortal Lightning (仙雷), a form of cultivation that the immortals of the first world honed for ascension.”

The Thunder Emperor replied.

“It is the power to process bioelectricity with thought, altering all the materials and components of the body and extending its lifespan.”

“…….”

“In terms of rank alone, it is a profound meaning that transcends bone transformation (換骨奪胎) [a process of changing one’s body], but it has the disadvantage of being unstable because it relies on the practitioner’s senses for physical shaping.”

“The practitioner’s senses….”

“I don’t know since I haven’t used it myself, but you would have to constantly strive to maintain your own original form.”

Only then could Lenok understand why the Tower Lord had tried to bring Lenok into this Thunder God Palace.

The Tower Lord didn’t just vaguely think that Lenok could enter this place and recommend it.

He was certain that Lenok had the qualifications to enter the Thunder God Palace and that he could obtain Immortal Lightning here.

“I see.”

“The Immortal Lightning that Akendrias chose had an unusually complex mystery, but in terms of output, there are formulas and cultivation methods that are superior to it.”

Looking at Lenok, who was lost in thought, the Thunder Emperor reached out her hand.

Various kinds of lightning appeared in her small hand.

The Thunder Emperor, displaying fragments of different lightning on her hand where rings and bracelets gleamed, said, “There are also more profound secrets than what I explained to you at first. If it is an enlightenment that transcends the horizon of thought, anything….”

“No,” Lenok said.

“There’s no need to explain further. I have no intention of choosing any power in this sanctuary.”

“…….”

The Thunder Emperor, with a blank face, slowly folded her arms.

At the same time as she slowly tilted her head, the earring pierced through her hair jingled.

“What… does that mean?”

“It means that, apart from disagreeing with the Tower Lord’s choice, I sympathize with his method.”

Lenok smiled.

“Presenting the answer you have decided on before the conclusion. I don’t need anything else. I won’t choose anything.”

“You decided to engrave the enlightenment of Thought Reliance in the sanctuary, but you’re saying you won’t take any other enlightenment from this sanctuary?” The Thunder Emperor shook her head.

“That’s impossible. It’s an act that goes against the rules of the Thunder God Palace in the first place.”

“What happens if you break the rules?”

“What do you think will happen?” The Thunder Emperor replied with an indifferent expression to Lenok’s nonchalant question.

“You will continue to stay in this sanctuary until you gain enlightenment….”

“Like you?”

“…….”

At that moment, the Thunder Emperor’s words stopped abruptly.

Even her movement of tilting her head towards Lenok froze as if time had stopped.

“I know what kind of being you are.”

However, Lenok spoke calmly, not caring about the Thunder Emperor’s reaction.

“An ascendant who has gained qualifications. Or the answer itself left behind by a transcendent who has already failed in their attempt.”

“…….”

“That’s why you couldn’t fully belong to this sanctuary and remained with your own will, isn’t it?”

The Thunder Emperor standing before him now was neither a living human nor an enlightenment completely subordinate to the sanctuary.

That’s why the Thunder Emperor had tried to persuade Lenok that she was a contradictory being and that his choice was impossible.

However, Lenok, who had faced Hermes Oroknier, an ascendant from the old world, could tell what kind of being the Thunder Emperor was.

A mental image that someone who had reached ascension had sent to the Thunder God Palace. Or the answer itself that transcends such an understanding.

Just as Hermes Oroknier had ascended his answer beyond the world, one of the transcendents had sent their answer to the Thunder God Palace.

That’s why the Thunder Emperor existed in the Thunder God Palace with her own will, but she herself could not choose enlightenment and leave the sanctuary.

A transcendent being left in this sanctuary, not because she didn’t choose, but because she couldn’t choose.

That’s why Lenok knew from the beginning what he had to take from this sanctuary.

“You are an enlightenment engraved in the sanctuary, but you can’t choose enlightenment yourself,” Lenok said.

“You can’t leave the sanctuary because you’re not a living human, and conversely, you can’t be completely subordinate to the sanctuary.”

“…….”

“The clumsy and precarious contradiction you mentioned was a way of describing your own origin.”

“There’s no need to complain about the failure of ascension to a challenger seeking qualifications,” the Thunder Emperor replied calmly.

“But it seems you’ve seen and returned with much more than I thought. I didn’t think you would know about that half-baked answer….”

The Thunder Emperor, who had closed her eyes without a word, slowly turned her body around with her arms folded.

“Then you must understand why your choice is impossible.”

“…….”

“I am a failed answer. A lingering attachment that inherited the will of the ascendant after they disappeared in the first world.”

She said, tilting her head as if she didn’t want to reveal her own feelings.

“So choose what you want and leave. A contradiction like me is nothing more than a useless worry for a seeker like you.”

“Certainly, for other seekers, your existence would only obscure their own answers.”

Lenok smiled and shook his head.

“But I intend to take you from this sanctuary precisely because you are such a being.”

“What?”

“It’s impossible. It’s unrealistic. Someone might say it’s something that can’t happen….”

Having said that, Lenok clasped his hands together and drew up his magic power.

“That unfulfilled wish is the most precious value to me.”

If it’s not a human belonging to this world, if it’s a being closer to an answer than life itself.

From the beginning, it was decided what Lenok had to show in order to obtain that ‘possibility’.

Fwoooooosh!!!!

A burst of colorless shockwaves covered and devoured the entire sanctuary of the Thunder God Palace in an instant.

Only the Thunder Emperor and Lenok remained, floating in the middle of a vast, endless universe.

The Thunder Emperor, startled, quickly turned her gaze towards Lenok at that moment.

“You….”

“I’ll show you.”

Self-Magnetic Domain Deployment: Observation of the Branching Point

Kiiiiiiing!!!!

A giant kaleidoscope emerged from the void of the universe, illuminating the sanctuary of the Thunder God Palace.

A magnificent golden ring of immeasurable size rose, illuminating infinite possibilities and branching points.

It enveloped the two of them, reflecting the parallel futures that they could reach someday, or might have already reached.

“……!!!!!”

The Thunder Emperor, who had maintained an arrogant expression throughout, was for the first time overwhelmed by a breathtaking awe.

Because she herself was someone’s answer and enlightenment, because she was a being who had been awake alone in this sanctuary, she could understand it more clearly.

Not the past or the present, but the future that has not yet arrived.

Lenok’s answer, which possessed a possibility that no one in the three worlds had ever dared to dream of.

“I want the process, not the result. I’m seeking the means, not the purpose,” Lenok said, staring intently at the Thunder Emperor.

“Unless I draw the answer myself, I won’t be able to transcend the laws of cause and effect and create the next.”

“…….”

To draw the non-existent next, an answer that transcends the cause and effect of this world is needed.

As he had told Lapis, he believed that the answer already existed within Lenok.

“Then the only thing to do is to return the answer to the beginning.”

Crack!!!

The moment one of the empty golden kaleidoscopes illuminated the Thunder Emperor.

A huge thunder spear fell behind the Thunder Emperor’s stiff back.

Kwauuuuung!!!

The spear, pulsating wildly while emitting pure white lightning.

But now Lenok understood that it was not just a simple spear.

The huge, twisted blade, tens of meters in size, was so unique that it hadn’t been immediately apparent.

“The answer engraved in the Thunder God Palace, and the one and only being that is not subordinate to the sanctuary….”

Lenok, with his arms folded, smiled as he looked at the huge ‘key’ that had fallen from the sky.

“I will take you, the key, from this Thunder God Palace.”