The Genius Youngest Disciple of the Wudang Sect

Chapter 23

"That's enough. Gather your energy and put down your sword."

"Yes, Martial Uncle."

Quite some time had passed since the martial arts competition.

During that time, I had made progress that even I thought was rapid.

It was a path I had walked once before.

And with third-rate martial arts like the Un Family Sword Art and the Un Family Internal Technique, I had even been called one of the ten great masters.

But when I encountered the sword art and qigong of the Wudang Sect, I was truly like a fish in water.

It felt like I was riding a fine horse on an already paved road, whereas before, I had struggled to pass through a road I had to pave myself with an oxcart.

Not only Martial Uncle Hyeon Yang, but also the other Martial Uncles and even the Martial Granduncles were interested in my growth.

"To be honest, it seems like I don't even need to teach you anymore."

"No way. I still desperately need your teachings, Martial Uncle."

"Don't say things you don't mean. In fact, don't you wish you had more time to train on your own rather than being taught by me?"

I felt a pang of guilt at Martial Uncle Hyeon Yang's words.

Because to be honest, I had been thinking that it would be much more efficient to train on my own and get help when I got stuck, rather than continuing to receive teachings like this.

"So, what do you say? How about you try training on your own from now on? If you get stuck along the way, you can ask me anytime."

"Pardon?"

I was momentarily surprised because he said the exact same thing I was thinking.

But, I can't just accept those words as they are.

If I get out from under the Martial Uncle's wing, there might be someone who wants to take me as a disciple, and if that happens, it could interfere with my training.

"Haha! You brat. Sometimes you seem so profound, and at other times, your emotions are all over your face."

Martial Uncle Hyeon Yang suddenly approached me, roughly messed up my hair, and then continued.

"Listen to the end. You will train on your own, but I will tell the Sect Leader that I will continue to be in charge of you. So you will come here at this time as you have been, but you will continue your own training here."

"Ah...! I see. Thank you for your consideration, Martial Uncle."

"Consideration, what. And I'll just do my own training here too."

Martial Uncle Hyeon Yang smiled a little awkwardly.

Now I understood the Martial Uncle's true intentions.

The Martial Uncle is also a person with a tremendous desire for his own martial arts.

So he needs to secure time for his own training.

If the Martial Uncle sends me back to the Yuyeop Hall, it's a problem for me too, but the Martial Uncle will also be pressured to take on another disciple.

It's truly a win-win situation.

"No, I'm still just a Taoist-in-training, but you're a proper, official Taoist, Martial Uncle. Is it okay for you to lie to the sect like that?"

"Lie? I didn't lie a single word. I just told the Sect Leader that I wanted to help your martial arts improve by your side. But as it happens, isn't the fastest way for your martial arts to improve to train on your own? So didn't I just tell the truth?"

Our Martial Uncle wasn't originally like this, so I had a fleeting thought that I might have influenced him.

Martial Uncle Hyeon Yang, perhaps embarrassed by his own words, quickly changed the subject with a slightly reddened face.

"Right! That's not what's important. I have something to ask you."

"Something to ask me?"

"Yes. I heard you've been doing something strange with the 'Un' generation disciples every night... is that true?"

"Something strange?"

"I heard that dozens of people gather in an open space, shout strange things, and hold strange things."

"Ah. That's training. Don't worry too much about it."

"Training?"

After the martial arts competition, the number of senior brothers training with my training method, including room number eight, had already reached nearly forty.

Room number ten came on their own, and some rooms had only a few members come, so a larger number than I thought participated in the training.

There were even times when the entire room came, like room number ten.

"The rumors spread to the Martial Uncles faster than I thought. By any chance, do the Martial Uncles not look upon it favorably?"

"What kind of training are you doing that you're so worried about what others think? They're not looking at it unfavorably, but rather with curiosity. Some Martial Uncles say that Uncheol is leading it, and some say that you are leading it."

"As expected, I can't deceive the eyes of the Martial Uncles. I'm telling you this because you're my Martial Uncle... publicly, Senior Brother Uncheol is the ringleader, but in reality, I'm leading it. Because it's my training method."

"Your training method?"

I couldn't answer right away and hesitated for a moment.

Because I couldn't gauge how much I could tell Martial Uncle Hyeon Yang here.

Because my thought that the Wudang Sect's training method is too soft and doesn't allow a martial artist to reach their full potential might sound unpleasant to Martial Uncle Hyeon Yang, who is a Wudang person to the core.

'No. On the contrary, Martial Uncle Hyeon Yang might be someone I can talk to.'

But, I soon made up my mind.

Although he is a Wudang person, Martial Uncle Hyeon Yang is a person with a particularly strong obsession with martial arts and a desire to become stronger.

So I thought he might be able to understand my story.

"Martial Uncle. I don't know how this will sound, but may I tell you a little about my thoughts?"

"Yes. Go ahead."

Fortunately, the Martial Uncle is looking at me with a favorable eye.

It seemed that the image I had shown in Wudang until now had built his trust.

"The amount of training we do in Wudang right now is too little."

"What did you say?"

"Especially the training conducted in the Yuyeop Hall is designed not to bring out the limits of our disciples."

Martial Uncle Hyeon Yang's eyes widened slightly.

But the change in his expression was not because he was angry or because he didn't like my words, but something... like a pleased expression.

"Tell me more."

"I read in a book somewhere that the growth of the body, especially the growth of muscles, achieves great growth when it is pushed to its limits and then recovers. Of course, our Wudang's martial arts are mainly based on qigong centered on internal energy, but you need physical strength to use that much power in the first place."

"So?"

"I thought about it the other way around. A strong mind resides in a strong body, but on the contrary, wouldn't it be easier for a strong mind to reside in a strong body?"

As if he liked what I said, a curve slowly formed on Martial Uncle Hyeon Yang's lips.

After confirming that expression, I immediately continued.

"So the training method I devised is, to put it simply, a training that always pushes the body to its limits. If you want to become even stronger, even more crazily. But it's not easy for ordinary people to push themselves to their limits like that, right? So I came up with a method."

"What method?"

"Shouting. I found that if you develop your shouting and spirit together, it's much easier to push your body to its limits."

"Shouting? Hahaha!"

Martial Uncle Hyeon Yang suddenly burst out laughing.

He laughed so loudly that the room echoed.

It was the first time I had seen the Martial Uncle laugh so loudly.

"Yes. I knew you were special from the first time I saw you. Things that are hard to do alone are easier to do together, and things that seem impossible can be done with a shout. Isn't that why we have senior and junior brothers, to develop together?"

"Yes. I think so too."

"Do as you please with that too. I'll talk to our senior and junior brothers and the Martial Uncles."

"Thank you."

The Martial Uncle couldn't say anything to me, hesitated, and then swallowed his words.

But I can see it.

What the Martial Uncle was about to say, and why he couldn't say it.

'Should I see this as passing some kind of test?'

The reason the Martial Uncle brought up the training story to me today must have been because of the pressure from the other Martial Uncles or Martial Granduncles.

To talk to me, in case my strange behavior might create a bad atmosphere in our 'Un' generation.

But, fortunately, the Martial Uncle took it positively, and I will be able to continue training at night.

'I thought I would have to go through this once someday.'

I was glad that the result seemed to be good.

Well, I'm not trying to harm the Wudang Sect right now, I'm just trying to make a stronger Wudang, so wouldn't it be strange if they stopped me in the first place?

"Anyway, you will come here at the same time every day from tomorrow. If I'm not here, don't worry about it and just do your training. From now on, this place is also your training ground. No, should we just establish the relationship of master and disciple at this point?"

"I also thought about that, but if that happens, I can't participate in the morning group training, right? For now, I think it's good to stay like this."

"Alright. Do as you please. If you ever need my backing, just say the word."

"Thank you, Martial Uncle."

"Thank you, what for."

Martial Uncle Hyeon Yang said with an embarrassed expression and then left the room, saying he would see me tomorrow.

I looked in the direction of the Yuyeop Hall and smiled brightly.

"Good. I've got the Martial Uncles' permission. Now, shall we start the business in earnest!"

When the Martial Uncle's footsteps could no longer be heard, I also left the room and headed for the Yuyeop Hall.

***

From ancient times, the Wudang Sect was famous as one of the pillars of the Nine Sects One Union, but that's not all.

In the first place, the true mountain of Taoism, which has as much influence as the Shaolin Temple in Buddhism, is this Wudang Sect.

Therefore, there were many cases where not only martial artists but also common people who believed in Taoism would climb this rugged mountain to come to the Wudang Sect to receive the teachings of renowned Taoists and to receive even a little of the spiritual energy of the sacred Mount Wudang.

"Young lady. Aren't you tired? How can you climb the mountain so easily?"

"Why wouldn't I be tired? I'm a person too, so I'm tired."

"Really? You didn't show any signs of it, young lady, so I thought you weren't tired."

"I'm deliberately not showing it. It's not like I'll become less tired just because I show that I'm tired, right?"

"You always hide it like that! You'll get sick. Sick!"

And among the people who believe in Taoism, there are also people from martial arts families.

The two women who were talking and climbing Mount Wudang now were from the Zhuge family in the same Hubei province.

One of them was Zhuge Ling, the precious youngest daughter of the current Zhuge family head, the Flying Eagle Fan,  Zhuge Mingxian, and the other was Liu Shan, Zhuge Ling's guard and handmaiden.

Although she was from the Zhuge family, Zhuge Ling, who was deeply impressed by the doctrines of Taoism, often came to Wudang to listen to sermons like this.

"Sigh. Someone like our young lady should learn martial arts."

"Liu Shan! I told you to stop talking about that."

"It's because it's a pity! Someone as smart and persistent as you, young lady, can't even learn martial arts for some unknown reason."

"It's all... because I'm lacking, I guess..."

"You're saying that again. Let's go around the country and look for a skilled doctor. In the first place, the reason you came to believe in Taoism was because you were looking for a way to learn martial arts, right?"

Zhuge Ling. She was Zhuge Mingxian's sore spot.

Although she was a woman with outstanding aptitude and excellent conduct and mindset, for some strange reason, not a single bit of internal energy gathered in her dantian.

It wasn't that she had the Nine Yin Severed Meridians, where the yin energy is too strong for internal energy to gather, or that she had a congenital problem with her qi and blood.

No matter which doctor or martial artist examined her body, the answer was always that there was nothing wrong.

But she couldn't learn internal energy even with an internal technique that she thought she understood perfectly in her head.

"I get it, so stop it and hurry up and climb. Liu Shan, you've even learned martial arts, so what are you going to do if you can't climb the mountain better than me?"

She spat out her words at Liu Shan and then climbed Mount Wudang vigorously again.

A long time later, when they arrived at the Wudang Sect, Liu Shan suddenly said with sparkling eyes, "No, young lady! Don't you think the atmosphere here has changed a lot?"

"What has?"

"Look at the baby Taoists. Unlike before, don't they all have amazing bodies?"

It had been about six months since they had come to Mount Wudang.

'Baby Taoist' was what the believers called the third-generation disciples who had not yet officially received their Taoist titles.

"No, really... it is."

Zhuge Ling, who was about to snap at her to stop talking nonsense, ended up agreeing with her words without realizing it.

As Liu Shan said, the Taoists who came into view as soon as they passed the entrance all boasted solid muscles.

"Haap!"

"Ura-yap!"

They could even hear loud shouts from far away.

It had always been a quiet and serene Wudang Sect.

"What on earth... is this?"

She was bewildered by the Wudang Sect, which seemed to have changed a lot, but she still walked inside.

(End of Chapter)