Chapter 10:

Chapter 10:

Mu-jin, who had succeeded in storing energy in his body, albeit very minutely, began to put more effort into his Breath Control Technique.

As he continued to repeat his inhalation and exhalation, he began to gather a little more energy with each repetition, and the amount of energy he absorbed seemed to increase ever so slightly each time.

If it started at the fifth decimal place, it seemed to have climbed up to the fourth decimal place before long.

And before he knew it, Beob Gang, who had finished his Qi Conducting Technique, was watching Mu-jin, who was deeply immersed in the state of Muah Ji-kyung.

A sijin had already passed since Mu-jin had started the Breath Control Technique.

Beob Gang, too, had circulated his internal energy for several cycles and a considerable amount of time had passed, so he stood up.

But to think that this young child was still maintaining his concentration and repeating the Breath Control Technique.

On top of that, as if that wasn’t enough,

‘He, he felt the energy in just one day?’

He noticed that the amount of energy coming in and out through the child’s nose and mouth had a very slight difference.

Beob Gang was looking at Mu-jin with a face that seemed about to fall over in surprise, which was unlike him.

This was truly an astonishing rate of development. Even for Beob Gang, the embodiment of effort, it took about ten days to feel energy through the Breath Control Technique.

Honestly, even if he performed the Qi Conducting Technique by his side, he thought it would be impossible to feel it in just one day.

This was made possible not only because of the perseverance and concentration unique to Choi Kang-hyuk, which resided in Mu-jin’s body, but also because the child Mu-jin himself was endowed with exceptional talent.Rêađ latest cha/p/ters on no/v/e/l(b)in(.)c/o/m

These two factors caused a synergistic effect, and with the slight help of Beob Gang, such a miracle had unfolded.

Looking at the child brimming with talent, Beob Gang thought to himself,

[3:47 PM]

‘Master Uncle Hyun Seong and Master Uncle Hye-jeong were right. This child is going to be the main pillar of our Thousand-Year Shaolin.’

Among his peers, who were second-class disciples, he was considered the most genius, even more talented than the senior brother Beob Seong (法成).

Of course, since Beob Seong was from a martial family and had already felt energy before entering Shaolin, a direct comparison was a bit of a stretch.

Watching the outstanding performance of such a talented junior, Beob Gang made a resolve in his heart.

“Wait just a little longer, Mu-jin. I will shatter that fear of yours and definitely make you start the training of Shaolin,” was a vow that would have startled Mu-jin had he heard it.

And perhaps feeling the ominous aura within that vow, Mu-jin, who had been deeply concentrating, finally took his last breath and opened his eyes.

It must have been just at dusk when he started the Breath Control Technique, but now the surroundings were completely engulfed in darkness.

“I apologize, Master Uncle. I did not realize it had gotten so late.”

“It’s alright. More importantly, head back to your quarters. It will soon be time for the evening bell. I was worried you might be too late, but fortunately, you’ve woken up just in time.”

“Yes, thank you for your help, Master Uncle!”

Mu-jin, now somewhat accustomed to the unique one-handed Shaolin salute, lifted it towards Beob Gang.

“Hahaha. Now that you’ve felt the Qi, from tomorrow, you can start learning the Buddha Mind Technique, the introductory Internal Energy Technique of Shaolin.”

“Qi is one thing, but don’t I also need to memorize all the acupoints?”

“Wouldn’t you, the son of a doctor, know all the acupoints?”

“Ah... Ah, yes, I do! Hahaha. Just, just a little joke.”

“Hahaha. Quite the playful jest. It’s late, so you should head inside.”

“Yes, Master Uncle!”

Fearing that his lie would be discovered, Mu-jin quickly turned and ran towards the quarters.

‘I must memorize all the acupoints by tonight no matter what.’

If he fails to memorize the acupoints by tomorrow and cannot learn the Buddha Mind Technique, all his lies would be exposed.

Unintentionally, Mu-jin was in for a night of studying.

* * *

The next day, Mu-jin, who had risen early from dawn, forcibly woke up Mu-yul, who was still dreaming, and they warmed up together.

During the morning training session, he did abdominal exercises with Beob Gang, ensuring not to strain his knees.

“Those who have felt the Qi and memorized the acupoints, step forward.”

It was finally time to learn the Buddha Mind Technique during the morning training session.

Having felt the Qi and memorized all the major acupoints through forced overnight studying within just one day, Mu-jin confidently stepped forward, but—

‘Huh?’

To his surprise, there were several other kids stepping forward besides Mu-jin.

‘Is feeling the Qi easier than I thought?’

Mu-jin thought to himself.

“This is the foundation and core of our Shaolin Internal Energy Technique. This booklet contains the essentials of the Buddha Mind Technique,” announced Master Uncle Hye-jeong, addressing the children who had stepped forward. He meticulously explained the contents of the booklet to the children.

As the Buddha Mind Technique was an introductory martial arts technique, its content was not complex.

It simply involved the sequence of circulating the Qi inhaled through breathing.

Being a basic Internal Energy Technique, the Buddha Mind Technique only contained the safest and most robust acupoints necessary for containing the energy of Buddha’s Way in the correct order.

As one progresses to higher levels, the number and sequence of acupoints become more complex, and touching the wrong acupoints could be dangerous.

Dragging along what seemed to be a body.

“It’s not a body! It’s my senior brother!”

“...Did you do your senior brother in?”

Looking at the nearly dead face and the trail on the ground where the body had been dragged, it almost seemed like a scene from ‘It was you who did it!’

“No! It’s Mu-gyeong senior brother! He’s the one who entered the sect before me!”

“But why are you dragging that senior brother like that?”

“Hehehe. He was too heavy to carry, so I had to drag him here for now. The senior brother needs to sit up a bit so I can carry him, but he collapsed completely.”

“Hmm. He was already collapsed like this?”

“Yeah.”

“So, why was the senior brother collapsed?”

“Hmm... I’m not really sure.”

After hearing Mu-yul’s response, Mu-jin bent down to take a closer look at Mu-gyeong, who looked like a corpse.

‘These look like mud stains from when Mu-yul dragged him... And these are footprints?’

It didn’t take long for Mu-jin to complete his deduction.

“This... No matter how I look at it, these are marks from being hit?”

“Hit marks?”

“Yes. And looking at the footprints and lifting his clothes a bit, there are quite a few bruises all over his body?”

“Huh? Why would Mu-gyeong senior brother get beaten up like this?”

Mu-yul asked with a puzzled look, but Mu-jin had no way of knowing the reason either.

No. To begin with, Mu-jin had little interest in his peers except for Mu-yul.

This Mu-gyeong was only getting some attention because Mu-yul had dragged him here.

[4:44 PM]

‘Hm? But now that I think about it, why does the name sound familiar?’

Why indeed?

Despite being a peer from the recent joint training, the face was unfamiliar, but the name strangely resonated with him.

Even after pondering for a moment, nothing specific came to Mu-jin’s mind, so he quickly dismissed the concern. Instead, what caught his eye was Mu-yul’s sympathetic gaze upon Mu-gyeong, and Mu-jin, slightly shaking his head at the innocent look, spoke up.

“Why? Want to know the reason?”

“Yeah! But didn’t you say you don’t know, Mu-jin?”

“I might not know but...”

Trailing off, Mu-jin lifted his hand and pointed somewhere with his finger.

“There’s someone who probably knows.”

Following the direction Mu-jin was pointing, Mu-yul turned his head and saw Mu-gung, who was intensely practicing alone.

“Mu-gung senior brother?”

“Yeah.”

“Mu-gung senior brother knows why? Ah! Did Mu-gung senior brother beat him?”

Mu-yul innocently suspected the innocent Mu-gung as the culprit.

“That crybaby having the courage to beat someone up would be a relief. You said before, didn’t you, Mu-yul? That Mu-gung was one of the first to enter the sect among the kids here.”

“Yeah, yeah!”

“So, he should know the situation before we arrived here better than us.”

“Ah! Wow, Mu-jin is really smart!”

For some reason, despite Mu-yul’s pure praise, Mu-jin couldn’t quite feel happy about it.

He wondered if there was anyone who, by Mu-yul’s standards, wasn’t smart.

“Anyway, since that guy might know, go ask him.”

“Okay!!”

Mu-yul cheerfully responded and turned around, dashing off towards Mu-gung, who was training alone.

Thud!

As he did so, he carelessly dumped the body named Mu-gyeong onto the ground.

“...Confirming the kill?”

Mu-jin watched Mu-yul for a moment with an incredulous expression.

Whatever Mu-yul said, Mu-gung, who was interrupted in his training, began scowling and glaring at Mu-jin.

Sigh

Feeling that things were getting unnecessarily complicated, Mu-jin walked over to where Mu-yul and Mu-gung were.