Genius Martial Arts Trainer

Chapter 24:

After finishing dinner, it was time for the afternoon’s self-directed training.

‘Wow!!!’

In a secluded corner of the Arhat Faction’s practice yard, the very thing Mu-jin had longed for was installed.

The thing he had asked Hyun Seong for in exchange for taking on the children’s education.

It was the Power Rack.

There, of course, were the barbell rods to hang on the Power Rack and the weight plates to hang on the barbell rod. Lastly, there was a bench for lying down.

‘The Power Rack is made of wood, so it’s a bit shaky, but it’s not heavy yet, so it shouldn’t matter, right?’

It had been over four months enjoying free weights with sandbags as his barbells.

Now, simply increasing the number of sandbags was no longer satisfying. Moreover, sandbags couldn’t be used for the main movements of free weights, known as the ‘big three.’

To make him a Power Rack, a barbell rod, and weight plates.

Even if Shaolin Temple was a monastery, it was still a prestigious orthodox sect, so he thought they would certainly have enough money to afford such items.

Of course, they wouldn’t make it just because he demanded it, so Mu-jin had come up with a suitable excuse.

‘Our family’s training method is divided into several stages, and I have to move on to the third stage soon. And from the third stage, certain items are necessary.’

That was Mu-jin’s vague excuse. On top of that.

‘I lack the time to train my body while teaching other children. Therefore, these items are absolutely necessary for me to exercise more efficiently.’

It was a bonus that he made it seem like he was sacrificing his time because of the other children.

The last addition was somewhat of a boast but also a fact. After all, it was difficult to focus on his own exercise while teaching others.

Anyway, thanks to such efforts, the exercise equipment Mu-jin had longed for finally appeared before his eyes.

‘Heh, the big three lifts in the martial world.’

Mu-jin’s pectoralis major and quadriceps were throbbing with excitement at the thought of lifting iron.

* * *

Four months had passed since Mu-jin received the exercise equipment from Hyun Seong.

During that time, Mu-jin’s body had advanced by not just one, but several levels.

‘Phew.’

After catching his breath, Mu-jin shouldered the barbell rod and squatted down.

It was the epitome of a proper squat form.

On Mu-jin’s shoulders, several weight plates were hanging from the barbell rod.

The total weight of the rod and plates was approximately 150 geun (90 kg).

Compared to the weight Choi Kang-hyuk used to lift, this might only be considered a warm-up, but currently, Mu-jin was just thirteen years old.

In Korean age, that’s about a first or second-year middle school student. A child roughly five feet and four inches tall, just starting puberty, was squatting with a barbell rod weighing about 90 kg.

After completing his twelfth rep of 150 geun squats, Mu-jin put the barbell rod back onto the Power Rack and let out a deep sigh.”

“Phew.”

**

For the past four months, Mu-jin had been pushing himself to do 12 reps of the big three lifts, reaching around 230. If he calculated it based on one rep, it would be close to 300.

When he first started using the Power Rack, his big three lift was around 170, so in the past four months, he had made significant progress.

Considering his age, 170 was already a high number. He had been exercising consistently for about half a year before starting with sandbags, and for the past four months, he had been doing free weights with sandbags, which made it possible.

However, despite achieving incredible progress for his age, Mu-jin’s expression wasn’t bright.

Today, as usual, Beob Gang was watching Mu-jin’s exercise and approached him with a puzzled face.

“What’s wrong, Mu-jin?”

“Ah, I greet you, Master Beob Gang.”

Mu-jin, who had a gloomy expression, bowed to Beob Gang.

Beob Gang, who received Mu-jin’s greeting, asked again.

“You seem to be worried about something.”

Beob Gang was thinking, “What could be bothering him?”

Mu-jin’s achievement over the past four months was truly remarkable.

Just looking at the barbell rod he was currently holding was proof of that. Honestly, even Second-class Disciples wouldn’t be able to lift that much weight without using internal energy.

In terms of physical strength, Mu-jin was already on par with some Second-class Disciples.

Or rather, most Second-class Disciples.

Physical abilities peak in one’s twenties and then decline. Without using internal energy, most Second-class Disciples wouldn’t be able to lift that much weight.

On the other hand, the internal energy that made up for their lack of physical strength was overflowing in Second-class Disciples.

Of course, in Shaolin, they undergo extremely harsh physical training from the introductory disciple stage.

However, that training is very simple and primitive, and most of it is just eating a lot of mushrooms and beans.

In Mu-jin’s case, he overcame that issue by eating an enormous amount of mushrooms and beans, but others didn’t even know the concept of protein.

In other words, their training was closer to asceticism than exercise. Even after training for over ten years, they couldn’t surpass a certain level of physical strength.

Very rarely, there were some extraordinary individuals who had a talent for building muscle, like Mu-gung among the introductory disciples and a few among the Second-class Disciples.

From that perspective, it was possible that Mu-jin was also one of those extraordinary individuals.

“The other kids who started learning from me have also changed a lot in terms of physical strength and flexibility.”

It wasn’t just Mu-jin who had grown over the past four months.

Hyun Seong was considering ordering more Power Racks, barbell rods, and weight plates so that the other kids could also move on to the next stage, so there was no room for doubt.

Thinking to himself, Beob Gang turned to Mu-jin, who opened his mouth.

“I’ve been having some difficulties with my martial arts, so I’ve been focusing on external energy training to clear my mind, Master.”

“Difficulties with your martial arts?”

However, this answer was also hard for Beob Gang to understand.

“Didn’t you already master the Autumn Wind Leg and the Nine Palace Steps, as well as the Ten Stars?”

Autumn Wind Leg and Nine Palace Steps…

Following Xiao Hong Quan, the Shaolin Temple introduces introductory disciples to the entry-level martial arts.

In fact, Xiao Hong Quan, Autumn Wind Leg, and Nine Palace Steps were not only entry-level martial arts but also tests to check the qualities of the introductory disciples.

Starting with Xiao Hong Quan to Autumn Wind Leg and Nine Palace Steps, the hidden test for the introductory disciples was to master each of these three martial arts to at least a level of Seven Stars within a year.

Those who failed to master them within a year were forced to leave the mountain and could not even use the name of being part of Shaolin.

And the children who succeeded in mastering them would then start to learn one or two martial arts that could be called ‘Shaolin’s martial arts’.

While lacking compared to the Seventy-two Consummate Arts of Shaolin, if mastered, they could be recognized as masters in their own right with martial arts like Vajra Fist or Arhat Palm, and Prajna Pole Technique.

Those who further mastered these to a level beyond the realm within the remaining period would become true disciples. Conversely, those who had to leave the mountain due to circumstances or did not reach the realm would leave as lay disciples.

And Mu-jin had already mastered these three martial arts to the level of Ten Stars within just half a year.

Just in about half a year, which is considerably faster than just meeting the passing criterion of Seven Stars. It was astonishing that someone who had already mastered up to Ten Stars and was learning the next level of martial arts would say such a thing.

“Excess is as bad as deficiency, and to pluck up helps growth. Your achievements already forbid comparison with the other children. It seems unwise to be too hasty. Is it the achievement of the newly learned Prajna Heart Technique that you find frustrating?”

“It is that, but not only because of that.”

Mu-jin recalled the Prajna Heart Technique he started learning about fifteen days ago, trying hard to hide his bitterness.

Prajna Heart Technique was a higher level technique of the Buddha Mind Technique.

Simply put, it was a technique that, in addition to the basic meridians one would conduct Qi through during the Buddha Mind Technique, involved several more meridians.

These new meridians were dangerous meridians that could cause problems to the body if mishandled, naturally requiring the Qi to be conducted in a special manner when passing through each dangerous meridian.

And these special methods, like Xiao Hong Quan, Autumn Wind Leg, and Nine Palace Steps, were described in the sutras with obscure and mysterious phrases.

Of course, one could ask Mu-gyeong to explain these phrases, but sadly, Mu-gyeong was still stuck on Autumn Wind Leg.

Well, being a blood successor wasn’t for nothing as even that was quite a fast pace. Having mastered Xiao Hong Quan and Nine Palace Steps, only Autumn Wind Leg was left.

Indeed, Mu-gyeong, who had started learning martial arts for the first time upon entering Shaolin, was now starting to surpass the children from martial families.

Certainly, it was a ludicrous affair to snatch away Mu-gyeong’s time by asking him to explain the intricacies of the Autumn Wind Leg when he himself had yet to master it.

Thankfully, there was a silver lining: the Prajna Heart Technique was a method taught to introductory disciples, and Mu-gyeong had some experience interpreting the details of the introductory martial arts techniques alongside others.

Thanks to that, Mu-jin managed to interpret and practice the Qi Conducting Technique of the Prajna Heart Technique during the past fortnight somewhat successfully.

The issue at hand, however, was something else.

‘To think it took a whole fortnight just to interpret the basics of an introductory martial art technique. Sigh.’

If it took this long for the Prajna Heart Technique, then how much longer would it take for the Seventy-Two Consummate Arts, known as the symbol of Shaolin martial arts?

Of course, Mu-gyeong, a genius in deciphering techniques, could be asked for help.

‘Damn. But starting with the Seventy-Two Consummate Arts, one must learn directly from a master.’

It had been over nine months since Choi Kang-hyuk’s spirit had inhabited Mu-jin’s body. During that time, he had managed to obtain a variety of information through Mu-gung.

True to the character who prioritized becoming a senior disciple of Shaolin, Mu-gung was quite knowledgeable.

Among the information passed down from Mu-gung was the story of Shaolin’s martial arts transmission system.

Introductory disciples usually undergo one and a half to two years of training before taking an exam.

Through this exam, the children are matched with a second-class disciple as a master, suitable for their body type, constitution, and temperament.

It is then they truly belong to Shaolin, and instead of an instructor, they get a real ‘master.’

Well, even after becoming a third-class disciple, only their living quarters change; the basic training continues in the Arhat Faction.

However, once they have gained some experience and learned some of Shaolin’s martial arts, they then directly receive the Seventy-Two Consummate Arts from their master.

The selection of a third-class disciple in the exam, based on body type, constitution, and temperament, is linked to this.

The Seventy-Two Consummate Arts are so complex that each person only masters two or three arts. In other words, they take disciples with similar constitutions to pass down the arts.

After becoming a true disciple, there was a high chance that Mu-gyeong would learn different martial arts.

That was okay, too.

With some luck, he might meet a master with excellent teaching skills, and by that time, his body would have developed even more. Just like when he learned the three introductory martial arts, he could make up for his lack of Qi manipulation with his physical prowess.

But there was just one area where this was impossible.

‘Weights can’t build up your internal organs. Damn.’

That area was the internal energy techniques.

If one mishandles the meridians and the Qi flows chaotically, causing the internal organs to burst out, what then? Having a lot of muscles doesn’t mean one can prevent an organ rupture.

If that were possible, doctors would be prescribing bench presses to train the pectoral muscles instead of performing surgery on heart disease patients.

And here lay the problem: if one couldn’t master the superior internal energy techniques among the consummate arts, then similarly, one would lack the internal energy to use the martial arts that belong to the consummate arts.

Certainly, aren’t there often mentions in martial arts novels of those terrifying peerless martial arts that would consume a decade’s worth of Qi with just one use?

To utilize such peerless martial arts, a peerless internal energy technique was essential.

Fortunately, Mu-jin had one secret method that could inflate his Qi without having to learn a peerless internal energy technique.

That method was none other than active cultivation.

Yes, the very active cultivation he had learned during his wall-facing meditation.

Gleaning clues from the words of Beob Gang and Master Uncle Hye-jeong, Mu-jin had in fact been continuously practicing active cultivation.

Thanks to this, when it came to the Buddha Mind Technique, he could now always conduct Qi while breathing, not just during exercise.

However, that didn’t mean it was perfect.

“Actually, I’ve been contemplating an issue regarding active cultivation, Master Uncle.”

“Is it about active cultivation?”

Beob Gang, who had been tilting his head at Mu-jin’s words, suddenly caught on and exclaimed with a shocked expression.

“Mu-jin, don’t tell me you’ve mastered the Buddha Mind Technique!?”

Even while conversing with him, Beob Gang could feel Qi faintly moving around Mu-jin.

This meant that Mu-jin had reached the true realm of ‘active cultivation,’ where he could continue conducting Qi even in his daily life.

However, Mu-jin shook his head at Beob Gang’s question.

“I can continuously conduct the Buddha Mind Technique usually, but there are precisely two moments when conducting is impossible. That’s what troubles me.”

“Ho… I’m quite curious about those two things.”

“One is when I hold my breath. And the other is during sleep.”

“…Isn’t that to be expected?”

Beob Gang looked at him with an incredulous expression, but Mu-jin still had a face full of frustration.

“Setting aside sleep, there are more moments than you’d think when I have to hold my breath. For example, I can’t maintain Qi flow while eating or drinking.”

“So, what you’re saying is that you’re pondering over how to accumulate Qi even when you’re not breathing or when you’re asleep?”

“That is correct, Master Uncle.”

Mu-jin was utterly serious, but Beob Gang was at a loss for words.

Conducting Qi even while sleeping was not so much an internal energy technique as it was close to some sort of realm.

It was a realm where the internal energy technique had completely merged with the body and mind, allowing for natural Qi flow even during sleep.

However, the problem was the former. An internal energy technique that allowed one to accumulate Qi without breathing?

There could be no such thing even in the great Shaolin…

“Hm?”

As Beob Gang thought this, a certain martial arts technique flashed through his mind.

It wasn’t an internal energy technique, but it was a concept of some martial art that absorbed Qi through the skin.