Chapter 41:

Chapter 41:

“Fallen Monk (3)”

Mu-jin, who had no interest in the influence his head had amongst the three greatest disciples of Shaolin, was spending his day as usual.

From dawn, he headed to Arhat Faction and trained his body with newly introduced exercise equipment, and in the morning, he trained in martial arts.

In the afternoon, he proceeded with treatments for Hyun-gwang.

Just as new CrossFit tools had arrived at the Arhat Faction, new exercise equipment, that is, Pilates equipment, had come into Hyun-gwang’s quarters.

“From today, I will teach you proper rehabilitative exercises.”

Mu-jin, wondering how to translate the term ‘Pilates,’ decided to simply call it rehabilitative exercises.

“First, I’ll show you how to loosen up your muscles with this.”

The first tool Mu-jin chose was a foam roller.

Foam roller. Here, it was covered with leather on the surface and named ‘Hyuk-bong,’ it could be used in various ways.

It could be rolled against the shoulder blades to loosen the muscles around the shoulder blades, the flanks, thighs, or the back of the thighs known as the hamstrings, and more. Just roll it against various parts.

However.

“Ugh...”

“Grandfather, you need to breathe. You need to breathe and move to properly loosen the muscles.”

For those with stiff muscles using it for the first time, the problem was the immense pain that came with it.

Mu-jin, who had only been practicing close-range spear techniques with his bare body until now, felt a slightly stiff sensation as he had not used foam rollers or other tools. So, the pain Hyun-gwang felt was tremendous.

“Ha-ha-ha. This is definitely a tool I’d like to try on my disciples. Our Shaolin disciples have been undergoing unnecessary hardships. Ha-ha-ha.”

[2:26 PM]

Every time he screamed in muscle pain due to Hyuk-bong, Hyun-gwang recalled such wise monks. There was no need to face the wall or perform the One Hundred Eight Arhats as if it were an ascetic practice. Just rolling the body on Hyuk-bong once felt like all worldly thoughts flew away. Only a sensation of pain remained in the mind.

Expressed this way, it might feel like torture, but this activity, though painful in the process, ended up relieving the cramped and throbbing muscles, ultimately bringing a refreshing sensation.

Hyun-gwang thought there couldn’t be a more suitable act for meditation or ascetic practices.

“Whenever the disciples come to nag about eating meat and drinking, I should have them use this Hyuk-bong.”

It was nothing but his affection for the disciples.

After loosening his body with the Hyuk-bong, Mu-jin proceeded with a few more exercises.

“After standing on this, place your right leg on this rounded barrel like an arch. Yes. Then twist your body, raise your arm and lean to the side. Yes!”

First, using the Pilates barrel, he relaxed his lower body and core muscles once again.

“Now let’s gradually increase our strength. Since it’s your first time, we’ll start with just one spring today.”

After that, he entered into full rehabilitation exercise using the reformer, aimed at muscle recovery.

Lying down on the platform with springs attached, he hooked leather straps around his legs and pushed his body using the strength of his legs, or sat on the platform and pushed the springs with the strength of his arms.

Continuously paying attention to his posture, he balanced his core muscles and stimulated each part little by little.

After more than half an hour of rehabilitation exercises, Mu-jin demonstrated the martial arts techniques he perfected with the help of Abbot Hyun Cheon in a cave, in front of Hyun-gwang.

“It seems you have made some achievements.”

“Yes, the sequence of the techniques has become much smoother, grandfather.”

The two descendants casually shared stories of training martial arts during their seclusion.

“Hahaha. Then, I shall visit this place once. It will be of great help to you now.”

Saying this, Hyun-gwang handed Mu-jin a paper with the name of a pavilion written on it.

* * *

At a pavilion located on the outskirts of Shaolin.

It was a place seldom visited by anyone except disciples belonging to certain factions.

And there, a vigorous sparring session was underway.

A young novice monk was vigorously moving his limbs, launching attacks, but the middle-aged monk facing him effortlessly blocked or dodged all the attacks with a leisurely attitude.

“Sa-son, with that approach, you wouldn’t even catch a fly.”

Remaining within the line he had drawn, the middle-aged monk took a sip from the bottle in his right hand and then extended his left hand towards the novice monk.

Surprisingly, the novice monk blocked the hand of the middle-aged monk using the martial arts techniques he was learning.

[2:42 PM]

“Hehehe. You only really perform when pushed.”

With a sly smile, the middle-aged monk stepped out of his line not just to dodge or defend, but to attack.

“Master!?”

As the opponent broke the promise and stepped out of the line, the novice monk exclaimed in surprise.

“Try blocking this too!”

He was not the kind of man to hold back.

Still holding the liquor bottle in his right hand, he only swung his left hand, driving the novice monk back.

Despite the severe disparity in their skills, which could have made the novice’s limbs flail, the more dire the situation became, the calmer the novice monk’s eyes grew.

“Ugh!”

From a certain point on, a smile began to adorn the face of the novice monk who had previously shown signs of tension.

Shaking off the tension, the novice monk shifted from defense and evasion to counterattack. He connected all the martial arts he knew organically, moving his body non-stop.

The connections between each of the essential points had become smoother, allowing for greater utilization of internal energy with less strain on the body.

Boom!

Hye-gwan caught Mu-jin’s punch with his left palm and lightly whistled.

The force behind the punch far exceeded that of his junior, Mu-gyeong.

Then, as Mu-jin spread his right hand that had just struck out, he grabbed Hye-gwan’s hand with the Golden Locking Hand technique to prevent him from escaping.

Whoosh!

With a powerful breaking sound, he swung his left leg.

Bang!

Mu-jin’s leg, which he had swung, collided with Hye-gwan’s raised right leg, creating a sound like iron clashing.

“Kehehehe. You’ve made me use my legs as well. Admirable. Then, I shall give you a reward.”

After blocking both attacks, Hye-gwan brushed off Mu-jin’s hand and reached for his face.

Mu-jin tried to dodge by turning his head, but Hye-gwan’s arm twisted at a strange angle and followed Mu-jin’s movements.

Just as Mu-jin raised his arm to block the hand...

Thump!!

“Kuk.”

Hye-gwan’s right foot, seemingly swung from nowhere, kicked Mu-jin in the abdomen.

He had used his hands to obscure Mu-jin’s vision and launched a surprise kick.

“Ho? I only used enough force to make you fall, but I didn’t expect you to withstand it.”

At the time of the entrance examination, Hye-gwan had taken Mu-gyeong as his junior and left the place. Naturally, he hadn’t witnessed Mu-jin’s sparring. He had only heard later that Hyun-gwang had taken him as a second-generation disciple.

However, from just a few exchanges now, he could roughly grasp the martial arts Mu-jin had learned.

‘He’s even mastered the Iron Skin Technique.’

To think he had learned even the techniques that were shunned in the pursuit of creating his own martial arts.

“Will you come at me again? Next time, it won’t end like this.”

“I ask for another round!”

Mu-jin answered Hye-gwan’s question and charged again.

[4:59 PM]

After several instances of blocking or evading Mu-jin’s attacks, Hye-gwan was able to get a rough idea of Mu-jin’s condition.

‘Each attack is powerful, but the connections in a real fight are not perfect.’

Having made his judgment, Hye-gwan aimed for Mu-jin’s openings and swung his left fist and right leg.

These counterattacks precisely targeted the gaps that appeared when Mu-jin moved from one attack to the next.

Thump!

Mu-jin, struck in the side by another powerful blow, grimaced.

‘Indeed, a master is a master.’

Through continuous training, Mu-jin had managed to make his martial arts smoother, but in reality, during actual combat, it was the first time he was using this martial art.

Only after thinking about how to move his internal energy, his body would follow, leading to the connection breaking off abruptly in sudden situations.

“I’ll go once more!”

“Alright.”

Hyegwan, who had responded with a smirk to Mu-jin’s tenacious charge, drank again.

Mu-jin mixed various offensive techniques using elbows and fingers in his Striking Bone Technique, combining pressure points and hand techniques.

However, Hyegwan did not miss the tiny openings within the offensive, boldly striking with his left or right hand, hitting Mu-jin.

Thus, after exchanging a few blows, Mu-jin was hit by Hyegwan and pushed back several times.

“Tsk tsk. The young one is too persistent. The ladies won’t like it.”

“It seems Master Uncle is quite popular?”

As Mu-jin caressed his cheek from the hit he had just received, Hyegwan burst into a sly laugh.

“Hahaha. If you ever manage to strike my face even once, I shall tell you an interesting story.”

It wasn’t a joke befitting a Buddhist, but neither Mu-jin nor Hyegwan minded.

Instead, Mu-jin focused on his martial arts.

‘I must keep thinking. He’s aiming precisely for my openings.’

Mu-jin continued to pay attention to the gaps where he had been countered.

In the rapid exchange of attacks and defenses, it was inevitably slow to observe the opponent’s movement, think, and then act. Therefore, whether in modern combat sports or among the martial artists here, numerous trainings were done to make decisions and act at an instinctual speed.

But conversely, if one trained aimlessly without considering directionality, they couldn’t imprint those instinct-like movements into their body.

Even if it felt awkward at first, only by consciously thinking about it could one eventually move instinctively.

[5:15 PM]

Thus, after several exchanges with Hyegwan as Mu-jin was learning through his body.

Bang!!

For the first time, Mu-jin successfully blocked a kick aimed at an opening by Hyegwan.