Chapter One: I’m Really Not the Thunderbolt Law King

You’ll never imagine what a bored tech nerd will do when he’s bored to the extreme!

Ren had traveled through time and space. He couldn’t say he didn’t have any golden fingers, but the occasional appearance of the words “Tireless Teacher” on his retina made him incredibly frustrated.

The place he traveled to was a dilapidated ancient village. There were several dozen hectares of wasteland and a deep pond with fish in it. As long as he was willing to fish, he wouldn’t starve. The fish were easy to catch, not knowing the dangers of the world, and would bite with just a bit of bait. Later, he could easily cultivate a few acres of land to be self-sufficient. The problem was, he couldn’t get out.

The surrounding cliffs were a hundred meters high, and to make things worse, Ren heard the roar of dragons from outside the valley.

After spending three or four days in fear, he accidentally saw the figure of a Western-style giant dragon through the clouds. If his estimation was correct, it was a white dragon over ten meters long.

Moreover, it wasn’t just one or two dragons roaring outside, but a group of them.

This place was almost like the Dragon’s Valley.

This completely shattered his hope of leaving the valley.

Ren considered himself a homebody. Give him water, electricity, and enough food, and he could stay in his room for a month without going out. Provided, of course, that he had a high-performance computer and broadband.

What kind of godforsaken place was this?

The system did give him a language module for this world.

But to teach others?

At least give him a living person!

Was he supposed to train carp to leap over the dragon gate?

Even if he managed to create climbing tools, he would probably only end up as a snack in the mouth of a giant dragon.

After Ren gave up hope and endured two weeks of feudal society-like fish farming life in the village, he became incredibly bored. He discovered that the village still had a relatively intact blacksmith shop, as well as a warehouse behind it filled with various metal ingots and minerals. Being an engineer at heart, he decided to apply his knowledge of physics and set up a small water wheel at the village’s waterfall, intending to generate electricity using hydropower.

As a result, just after he had finished handcrafting a simple electromagnetic generator and casually tinkered with a Tesla coil, lightning flashed and thunder roared in the distant sky.

He succumbed to his adolescent delusions.

With no other outlet for his boredom, he easily fell into soliloquies and even developed “air friends.”

“Hahaha! Back in the day, I, single-handedly, ruled the sky city, stormed the divine realm, and brought down the kingdoms of three wicked gods!”

“Demons dared to defy! I overturned a hundred layers of bottomless abyss, scattering the vile demons of Bato!”

“Devils causing trouble! I pierced through nine layers of Bato Hell, using the blood of the demon king to plaster the walls!”

“However, amidst the blazing fires everywhere…”

“Damn it, two fists are no match for four hands!”

“As powerful as I am… there is only one ‘me’ in the world!”

“In this vast world, with so many foolish beings, how can I possibly handle them all alone?”

Watching the tumultuous sky in the distance, Ren’s heroic spirit soared. Amidst the thunderous roar, his resounding voice echoed through the heavens and earth.

“A great wind rises, clouds billow high, my power extends throughout the seas, returning to my homeland. Where can a valiant warrior guard all four corners of the earth!?”

These words, from the Han Dynasty founder Liu Bang, were truly awe-inspiring.

Ren stretched his arms to the sky, feeling the wild wind blowing from afar, listening to the rustle of his fluttering clothes. Maintaining this pose, he felt incredibly cool.

He insisted on giving himself a rating for this show-off act, he would give himself 99 points, withholding one to prevent arrogance.

However, just at that moment, there was a sudden “plop” sound behind him.

“Please, Master, teach me the secrets of lightning magic—”

Turning around.

There was a slightly foolish-looking young man with brown hair, around sixteen or seventeen years old, kneeling before Ren, looking like he couldn’t get up from the ground.

No!

Wait a minute!

Where did this kid come from? Wasn’t this supposed to be an uninhabited village?

This soaking wet young man appeared out of nowhere, leaving Ren bewildered and internally panicking.

Oops! Things just got real!

Ren decisively denied, “Young man! You’ve got it wrong. I don’t know any lightning magic.”

The young man first looked puzzled, then wore an expression that said, “Come on, old man,” while plaintively staring at Ren’s right hand.

Following the young man’s gaze, Ren himself was dumbfounded.

Dozens of tiny electric arcs, resembling the violent thunderbolts in the sky, were dancing delicately on the hand of this ‘master of lightning.’

Ren immediately realized he had overplayed his show-off.

He had no idea how to explain to a local native without scientific knowledge: despite the high voltage and startling flashes on the electromagnetic coil, the actual current on his hand was probably just 1 milliampere, not in the same league as the lightning crackling in the sky.

At most, his hand felt mildly tingling.

Ren attempted to clarify, clearing his throat, “Listen, I’m telling you, I don’t know any magic. This is science! It’s a universal truth in the natural world. It’s just that you don’t understand yet. It’s like how the sun rises and sets every day. You’ve got the wrong person. I’m actually looking for someone to teach me magic! And besides, this thing can’t harm anyone. Don’t believe me? Come and touch it.”

Little did he know, this display just now, in the eyes of this young man who had stumbled into this place by mistake, presented a completely different scene—one that could be described as a fantastic spectacle:

A cloudy day.

In this mysterious and perilous, secluded valley filled with ancient ruins of a village, on the hillside at the village’s edge, lightning bolts kept descending from the clouds. The flashes streaking across the sky illuminated the young man’s view, allowing him to clearly see next to a strange metallic cylinder on the hillside stood a ‘young man’ not much older than himself.

The young man could see the gleam reflected in those dark eyes.

Yes!

Like the violent thunderbolts in the sky, the electric arcs descended gently from afar to this master of lightning’s palm, playing and frolicking like little rabbits.

For a young man who had no idea what magic was, unquestionably, this was the magic that existed only in the tales sung by bards!

The magic of lightning!

In just that moment, the electric arcs dancing at the master’s fingertips immediately became an eternal belief in the young man’s heart.

The young man looked at the electromagnetic coil with fervent eyes, knowing that the master used this ancient artifact to command lightning.

He understood: So this was a magic called “science”! A sage who could easily perceive the truth behind things—how could he possibly need someone else to teach him magic? This clearly meant that no one in this world was qualified to teach him magic! He was the true Grand Magus.

However, when Ren told him to touch those terrifying lightning bolts, the young man instinctively shuddered, twitched his buttocks, and moved back a bit.

No!

Did you seriously take that half-step back?

The young man’s reaction, seen through Ren’s eyes, just left him feeling awkward.

Undeterred, Ren asked, “What did you just hear?”

“From the moment the Master burst into laughter…”

Ren’s eyes widened in disbelief: Didn’t he hear everything? Heavens above! Was this kid seriously taking my ‘glorious achievements’ from my Dungeons & Dragons tabletop days before I crossed over as real?

Knowing that his explanation sounded more like a cover-up, Ren grimaced, “That was just me speaking in jest.”

The young man earnestly bowed again, “Master, I have traveled through 13 provinces and over 250 hills and mountains to finally find you in this ancient secret place. For a century, there has been no magic in the world. Please, you must take me as your disciple, teach me the secrets of lightning, and rescue humanity from the persecution of monsters, demons, and devils!”

His words coincidentally echoed someone else’s famous line, “An adept warrior guarding the four corners of the earth!”

However, Ren was startled by another matter, struggling to process the immense amount of information the young man revealed.

In this world, there were monsters, demons, and devils, but no firearms and no magic?

What kind of nonsense was this!

As Ren’s mind spun in confusion, the young man continued, “My name is Tang Si* Jikeide. Since childhood, I’ve been weak and unable to inherit my family’s legacy to become a powerful knight. I swear to seek the true path of ancient magic. Today, guided by fate, I meet the great wizard. This is undoubtedly the favor of the gods. Please, great wizard, do not refuse. I will diligently practice and spread the way of magic.”

It seemed people in this world weren’t into kowtowing, but his full-body prostration was real.

Ren’s face displayed profound embarrassment. Upon hearing the young man’s name, his initial reaction was to recall the famous Tang Si* Jikeide from before he crossed over.

This young man’s name differed by just one character in translation, possibly indicating he was similarly stubborn, ready to charge at windmills like his counterpart.

Ren’s biggest thought was: This kid is seriously delusional, beyond help. His father should probably delete his account and start over.

But explanations were likely useless!

By this point, no matter how much Ren refused and denied that he wasn’t some great wizard, Tang Si had an expression that said he wouldn’t believe it even if he were to die.

Damn it!

“No! You must be the reclusive master wizard!”

Upon hearing this, Ren inwardly cursed on the spot.

Damn it!

You’re thirty years old and still a virgin. You can still be a great wizard!

Your entire family are great wizards!

Ren was so angry he spat blood, knowing he was using high school physics. He was at a loss for how to explain it to this idiotic local.

The electromagnetic coil connected to the small waterwheel, which in turn connected to the dynamo, the waterwheel spinning nonstop, and the electricity not stopping either.

The kid over there looked like he couldn’t stop using medicine.

Worse still, this world clearly had no Yellow River, and Ren jumping into the river couldn’t clean up.

Ren looked embarrassed, turned off the large switch with one foot, and immediately stopped electromagnetic induction.

Good death is not dead, and it seems that Ren put out the electric light by turning over his hand, and the sky in the distance is almost sunny.

Clearly the vision of the slightest bit of lightning, Tongs if it were almost nine see a colossal god shadow above, the hegemony converge with the power of his thunder and close his own body small soul here.

Know in myth and legend to master a power, even if not a god, and a top god!

This rule will surely apply to the mage.

Tang Si, the more they forget their breathing, the more we look hot.

“Great Master! I know that people like to keep the work, so it’s by keeping secret in this, want disturb been,?” even Ren was dumbfounded.

This pool was fine in the shallow areas, but diving a little deeper to about two meters was bone-chillingly cold.

Once he tried diving deeper, it wouldn’t have made a difference if he had frozen himself to death.

Wait! This is what you call physically weak?

Ah well, never mind, at least he managed to scare the kid away, so as not to mislead him.

What Ren didn’t expect was that three days later, the young man actually returned.

Just as Ren was fishing, Tang Si leaped out of the water with a large box on his back, jumping two meters high and landing steadily in front of Ren.

Indeed, a fisherman could catch anything other than fish.

Like an apprentice?

Tang Si opened the clearly waterproof box and took out what was inside as if presenting a treasure. A burst of colorful radiance dazzled a certain transmigrator’s eyes.

Looking at this pile of gold coins and gemstones, Ren felt as if he had turned to stone.

“This is…”

“Master! I sold my family’s ancestral armor, exchanged it for gold coins and magic stones, as my apprenticeship gift. Please, Master, you must accept me as your disciple. This is everything I own!” With that, Tang Si knelt deeply and refused to get up.

Ren’s mind was like a set of rusted machine gears, stuck and unable to move.

This kid in front of him, dressed not particularly luxuriously, clearly couldn’t possibly be from a wealthy family. Since his family had armor, it was probably a knightly family heritage.

According to Ren’s understanding of knights, in lower-ranking knight families, a suit of armor was equivalent to a house before his crossing, and it was no problem to treat it as a family heirloom.

This silly kid actually sold his armor to learn magic. Ren could completely imagine what kind of reputation this kid would have in his hometown:

Idiot! Fool! Spendthrift! Selling grandfather’s land is not a heartache!

He really couldn’t resist him.

Besides…

I, Ren, am definitely not a man who sees money!

I just want to experience what it’s like to fully pay for a house in another world.

Or, in the future, it wouldn’t be unacceptable to make a career out of exploring streets with this money.

Ahem!

Definitely, absolutely, it’s not because this kid gave too much!

“Well, forget it, forget it! Seeing your sincerity, I will teach you a billion bits of knowledge about electricity. As for whether you can comprehend it, it depends on your intelligence.” Ren decided to only teach Tang Si high school physics. After teaching him, if Tang Si couldn’t comprehend lightning magic, Ren could just refund ninety percent of the tuition fee to Tang Si before shouting ‘RNM refund brother’ in his future, and the remaining one percent could be considered a road fee after leaving the valley.

Tang Si was overjoyed, kneeling and bowing repeatedly. “I wonder what Master’s name is…”

“Don’t call me Master. You haven’t even started, so you’re not qualified to call me Master! As for my name, I am Ren…” Thinking that people in this world put their surnames at the end, Ren decisively blurted out, “Ren Tesla!”

Yes!

Tesla!

In the 19th century on Earth, he single-handedly invented alternating current and the electromagnetic coil, acclaimed by the world as the “King of Lightning” and the man closest to God—Nikola Tesla!

Tesla, since your invention got me stuck with this disciple, let’s use your great name to help me bear the responsibility for lightning.

It’s really not that I want to deceive this kid. If you blame anyone, blame your invention for being too amazing.

End of Chapter One