Chapter 16:

Chapter 16:

The grueling schedule that was no different from hell for the novice disciples finally came to an end.DiiScôver new stories on no/v/e()/lbin(.)c/o/m

After the incident involving Mu-gyeong, Beob Gang kept the promise he had made to Hyun-seong and Master Uncle Hye-jeong.

The rumor was that the novice disciples had been worked incredibly hard.

The training intensity had increased beyond the usual, and even one hour of the usual one and a half hours of free time was taken up by ‘afternoon training’ as additional practice.

In the end, they barely had half an hour to wash up and rest.

Having quickly rinsed off the sweat with cold water, Mu-gyeong returned to the front of the lodging, practically in a state like a corpse.

“You can’t just go to sleep like that, senior brother Mu-gyeong!”

Mu-yul, who had helped him since the dawn training, was now starting to prevent him from entering his room and resting.

“Why can’t I sleep...?”

Mu-gyeong asked with a face like he was about to cry, and Mu-yul, incongruously solemn, answered.

“Mu-jin said, ‘Hey. If you sleep just like that, you’ll get sick.’”

As it turned out, he wasn’t trying to be solemn; he was imitating Mu-jin.

“Disciple Mu-jin said that?”

“Yes! So now, I’ll teach you what I learned from Mu-jin. Ah! Senior brother Mu-gung, you join in too!”

Mu-yul caught Mu-gung too, who happened to be heading back to the lodging after his bath.

“Join in? On what?”

“Something I learned from Mu-jin! You feel really comfortable after doing it. Hehe.”

“Something learned from that guy Mu-jin?”

Intrigued by Mu-yul’s explanation, Mu-gung approached with a skeptical expression, interested in the technique Mu-jin had taught.

“Let’s start with the legs!”

Mu-yul, who had dragged Mu-gung and Mu-gyeong in, demonstrated the Close-Range Spear Technique he had learned from Mu-jin, one by one.

Mu-yul, whose head was pure but had a particular skill in physical activity, was able to show most of the movements of the Close-Range Spear Technique he learned from Mu-jin perfectly.

“Hm. Was this the next one?”

Indeed, there was a bit of a problem with the order being all jumbled up.

Nevertheless, with each demonstration complete, Mu-yul corrected Mu-gyeong’s posture.

“Senior brother Mu-gyeong! You need to spread your legs wider! And if you put weight on your upper body to press down on your legs, they will stretch out even more!”

“Ugh. Mu, Mu-yul, my disciple! Did I, did I do something wrong? I’m sorry!! Please, please spare me!!”

Of course, from Mu-gyeong’s perspective, this felt like a new method of torment.

Despite the pain that felt like death, Mu-gyeong couldn’t bring himself to quit for a simple reason.

Feeling somewhat bullied, he was too timid to refuse outright.

But that was only for a moment.

“Huh?”

After being forced to repeat a few movements of the Close-Range Spear Technique in pain, the knotted muscles relaxed, bringing an odd comfort.

“Hehe. How is it? It’s refreshing, right?”

“Uh, yeah. It feels refreshing?”

Mu-gung, who had been watching for a while, also grew curious and tried to mimic a stance.

“Senior brother Mu-gung. What are you doing?”

Mu-yul, observing Mu-gung’s far clumsier stance, asked with a puzzled face.

“What do you mean what am I doing? I’m trying to follow along.”

“You need to spread your legs wider!”

“...This is as far as they go?”

“Hehe. I learned it from Mu-jin, and he said if you press down, they’ll stretch more!”

To help Mu-gung, Mu-yul willingly put his full weight on him, pressing down.

“Aaaaah!!!”

Even though the legs had only spread a little more, an immense groan erupted from Mu-gung.

Despite his impressive size and strength for his age, Mu-gung was seriously stiff.

Feeling intense pain like when he had been subjected to Mu-jin’s strange technique, Mu-gung almost begged as he screamed.

“Get off!! Please, stop!!!”

“Heh. But it’s really refreshing.”

Mu-yul stood up with a gloomy expression in response to Mu-gung’s desperate cry.

‘Damn it. Now that I think about it, did Mu-jin practice on Mu-yul?’

Having narrowly escaped the attack, Mu-gung had such a thought. Perhaps Mu-jin had tricked the foolish Mu-yul into believing it was something good to test the technique.

Just then, a serious voice came from behind them.

“It seems you were practicing Close-Range Spear Technique,” the voice belonged to none other than Beob Gang.

“I, I almost gave up.”

“Hmph. That level was nothing but a piece of cake for me.”

Hearing the responses of Mu-yul, Mu-gyeong, and Mu-gung, Mu-jin could tell that the training was not to be taken lightly.

“Let’s go!”

As the four of them were lightly dispelling their frustrations,

the majestic roar of a lion burst forth from the mouth of Master Uncle Hye-jeong, who was without fail seated in the place of honor.

“Let the dawn training begin now!”

As soon as Master Uncle Hye-jeong’s shout erupted, the novice disciples moved towards a certain place with faces like the dead, shuffling their feet.

Where they headed, sandbags were piled up in abundance.

“It’s been incredibly tough since six days ago when we suddenly had to train with those on. Heheh.”

Having already heard from Beob Gang that the intensity of the training had increased, Mu-jin, with sparkling eyes, made his way towards the piled-up sandbags.

Seeing the sandbags, all sorts of good exercise methods started popping into his head.

“Those who have picked up their sandbags, return to your spots!”

“Any child who dawdles will have to carry an additional sandbag!”

Right after Mu-jin chose his sandbags, following the shouts of the Second-class Disciples, the children returned to their own places.

“Assume the horse stance!”

As always, the simplistic and brutish dawn training began.

And Mu-jin was once again doing his own exercise instead of the horse stance.

The only difference from a week ago was that he had a sandbag slung over each hand.

That’s right. Mu-jin was enjoying his free weights, as if the sandbags had become dumbbells.

He breathed steadily and alternated bending and straightening his arms, each gripping a sandbag, several times.

‘The balance and grip feel quite off, making it harder.’

Mu-jin realized that the process of lifting and lowering was much more uncomfortable compared to when using dumbbells.

‘Well, I’m not trying to become a bodybuilder, so this might actually be better.’

As much as the grip and center of gravity were messed up, the effort of lifting and lowering the sandbags inevitably dispersed the stress to different areas.

In other words, it meant that he was using all the muscles in his arms and shoulders more evenly.

For the current Mu-jin, this was perhaps more beneficial. He was a disciple of the Shaolin temple, not a gym trainer. To put it in modern terms, he was like a prospective mixed martial arts fighter.

In essence, the overall balance was more important than the size or shape of the muscles that were visible on the outside. The reason Mu-jin invested long hours in the Close-Range Spear Technique was not only to tone his muscles but also to maintain flexibility, which was even more crucial.

If one were a mixed martial arts fighter, they would need to be able to strike or exert strength freely from various positions.

“Seup, hoo.”

After warming up lightly with a single sandbag, Mu-jin now increased the challenge by holding two sandbags in each hand and repeated the exercise.

Then, having trained his biceps brachii, Mu-jin took a moment to steady his breath and changed his stance. He lifted his arms holding the sandbags overhead and then brought them behind his head, repeating the movement.

He was doing overhead extensions to work his triceps.

In addition, he lifted his arms holding sandbags to the side, the so-called side lateral raises to work the lateral deltoids, among others.

He utilized the sandbags to perform a variety of dumbbell exercises he knew.

“Kuh. I was already getting tired of barehanded exercises, and now they’ve even provided me with dumbbells.”

While the other novice disciples were all sporting dying expressions, Mu-jin alone had a look of ecstasy as he proceeded with his exercises.

Naturally, the eyes of the novice disciples, who were performing the horse stance with sandbags tied to their limbs, couldn’t help but be drawn to Mu-jin.

“Khem.”

The Second-class Disciples and Master Uncle Hye-jeong’s gaze also turned towards Mu-jin.

However, due to the promise made about fifteen days ago, the Second-class Disciples found themselves unable to do anything but inadvertently turn their gaze towards Beob Gang.

They feared that if they left Mu-jin be, Beob Gang might have another outburst, and they also harbored a hope that Beob Gang might know a solution.

“Hoo.”

Beob Gang, who sighed at their expectant gaze, approached Mu-jin.

He intended to tell Mu-jin to undergo the same training as the other novice disciples.

Judging by the way he was simply lifting and lowering his arms, it seemed much easier than the other disciples, and unlike the lifeless faces of the other children, Mu-jin’s expression seemed oddly joyful.

However, as Beob Gang approached Mu-jin, he had to abandon that thought.

From a distance, he hadn’t noticed, but up close, he saw that Mu-jin’s face was already drenched in sweat.

The sandbags, which were quite heavy for the young children, and unlike dumbbells, had poor grip and balance, making the exercise twice as difficult.

Contrary to Mu-jin’s ecstatic expression, his arms were screaming for mercy, their tendons bulging out.

But what really shocked Beob Gang wasn’t Mu-jin’s sweat or bulging forearms.

“Active... cultivation?”

The child who had not even been training in the Buddha Mind Technique for a full fifteen days was already on the verge of achieving the state of active cultivation.