The Genius Youngest Disciple of the Wudang Sect

Chapter 4

The next day, which I had been waiting for so eagerly, finally arrived.

With a joyful heart but a not-so-joyful body, I went to the same room as yesterday.

"Aigoo, my legs. Aigoo, my back. Aigoo, my whole body!"

I was paying the full price for overexerting myself yesterday.

My arms and legs, as well as the muscles from my back to my entire body, were sore, and I felt a sharp pain every time I moved.

"I need to start physical training right away. Ah, the adults used to say that if you train like this from a young age, you won't grow tall. Dammit!"

My tall stature and handsome appearance were one of my points of pride in my past life.

But there were no young ladies chasing after me.

All because of that damn no-name family.

'This face, too, if it grows up like this, it'll make plenty of women cry.'

If my face in my past life was manly and handsome with strong features, my current face could be called that of a pretty boy without any hesitation.

Sometimes I even look like a woman, so much so that I get startled every time I wash my face.

'What's the big deal.'

But looks aren't that important.

A handsome face won't make a sword avoid me, nor will it make an enemy take a hit from my sword.

Lost in such idle thoughts, I arrived at the same pavilion as yesterday.

I came as early as I could, but Martial Uncle Hyeon Yang was already waiting for me, having arrived at some point.

I quickly bowed my head and greeted him.

"Martial Uncle. It is Unhwi."

"I know."

What an unaffectionate person.

I wanted to pout, but I couldn't show it on the outside.

It was no exaggeration to say that my fate was now in his hands.

"When you're hiding your emotions, don't make eye contact."

"Pardon...?"

"If it's an awkward situation to speak with your eyes closed, look at the other person's neck or chest instead of their eyes. Then your emotions won't be revealed."

"......!"

I was so startled I couldn't say anything.

Then, the Martial Uncle let out a small laugh.

"Don't just stand there, come over here."

"Yes, Martial Uncle."

As I approached his side, he got straight to the point.

"Originally, I was planning to take you as my disciple."

"Planning... you say? Does that mean..."

"Yes. I've decided not to take you as my disciple."

My heart, which had been swelling with the thought of advanced martial arts, instantly shriveled.

I guess he really did call me just to torment me.

"I understand."

"You're not even going to ask why?"

I filled my eyes with curses and looked not at his eyes, but at his neck as I spoke.

"Knowing the reason won't change the result, will it? You must have your reasons for deciding so, Martial Uncle."

"Haha! Now that I hear it, that's true."

He burst into laughter looking at me and then continued.

"The way you use what you've learned right away. And that temperament. I really like it."

"Then shouldn't you just take me as your disciple?"

"I was tempted to. But the time is not now."

Wondering what he meant, I looked up at his face.

"Are you willing to hear the reason now?"

"...Please."

He grinned and began to speak.

"In our Wudang, there are two ways to learn martial arts. Do you know what they are?"

"One is to become someone's disciple, and the other is to train at the Yuyeop Hall... is that correct?"

"Yes, you know well."

There was no way I would have known that.

It just naturally popped into my head the moment the Martial Uncle asked.

"The fact that I will teach you martial arts does not change. However, you are also to enter the Yuyeop Hall."

"What does that mean..."

"Train at the Yuyeop Hall until noon. And in the afternoon, come over here and learn martial arts from me."

"What is the reason for doing so?"

He held up two fingers.

"There are two reasons. First, you seem to be in need of some group life."

"Me?"

"Yes. Enter the Yuyeop Hall, eat with your senior brothers, train with them at dawn, and learn what this place called Wudang is, and what group life is like. Disciples who train only under a master from a young age without going through the Yuyeop Hall tend to... become ill-mannered."

Oh-ho. At first, I thought he was just trying to bully me, but he was a person who could see the situation more accurately than I thought.

Whether it was Wudang, Huashan, or Shaolin, there were always martial artists who were overly confident in their own skills and ill-mannered.

A hundred out of a hundred of those martial artists had successful masters.

Come to think of it, I heard Un Gwang belonged to the Yuyeop Hall.

"Then what is the second reason?"

"That's because I don't have much time. If I formally take a disciple, I have to devote that much time, but I don't even have enough time for my own training."

The greed for martial arts was strongly conveyed in his eyes as he spoke.

For some reason, I could empathize with his words.

Because I was like that.

No, the me of now probably has that same look in my eyes.

"I understand. I am truly grateful just for you taking the time to teach me."

A strange light appeared in Martial Uncle Hyeon Yang's eyes as he looked at me.

It seemed he didn't expect me to react this way.

"Alright. Someday, when you need more advanced teachings, or when I reach a level that I am satisfied with myself, let's formally establish the relationship of master and disciple then."

"I understand what you mean."

"Until then, address me as Martial Uncle, just as you are now."

"Yes, Martial Uncle."

Contrary to my initial anxiety, the Martial Uncle seemed to be a more reasonable person than I thought.

"I called you from the morning because there is much to teach you today. Let's start with internal technique training right away."

"Yes!"

Internal technique!

My eyes lit up at those two words.

Wudang is a sect that traditionally values internal energy.

The internal technique of such a Wudang.

There were no other words that could make me more excited.

Thwack-

At that moment, something flew towards me.

I caught it in a hurry and saw that it was a small booklet.

"What is this?"

"It is the secret manual for our Wudang's most basic internal technique, the Taiji Internal Technique. I borrowed it from the Seonjanggak last night."

The Seonjanggak was the place where Wudang's secret manuals and various books were stored.

As I looked at the Martial Uncle, he grinned and said, "Memorize it."

"Pardon?"

"Things like understanding or feeling the incantations will come on their own when the time is right. So for now, just memorize it."

"Memorize it all of a sudden? From where to where, and by when do you mean?"

"From beginning to end. And memorize it all before dinner today. I have to return it."

He just threw out the words and then found a spot in a corner and sat in the lotus position.

"I need to do my internal technique training, so don't talk to me until I open my eyes."

Without even waiting for my answer, he immediately fell into meditation.

I stared at him in disbelief for a long time, but he didn't move an inch.

'He said all that fancy stuff about not taking a disciple... was it actually just an excuse to do his own training?'

While thinking that it could really be true, I had no choice but to open the secret manual.

And I started reading the first few pages.

The first emotion I felt was disappointment.

It was called the Taiji Internal Technique, but the first part was not much different from the Un Family Internal Technique I had learned.

It was even similar to the Three Talents Internal Technique I had once bought for five pennies in the marketplace.

'Ah, he did say it was the most basic internal technique that Wudang disciples learn first. It was my fault for expecting too much.'

I tried to suppress my disappointment.

You can't be full on the first spoonful, and it seemed I had expected too much from the start.

'Right. If I learn this diligently, he'll teach me an advanced internal technique later.'

Just as I had resigned myself to everything and read about a third of the way through.

My eyes shot wide open.

'It's different...!'

At first, it was completely basic content, so I thought it was similar to the Un Family Internal Technique.

But the more I read the secret manual, the more difficult the content became, and there was a profound principle contained within it.

Taiji.

I felt like I understood why Wudang taught this grandly named internal technique to children as the most basic one.

Taiji means the origin of the universe.

Because it is the origin of all things, it can also be the foundation of all things.

'This is... a lot more interesting than I thought?'

The speed at which I turned the pages gradually increased.

The Martial Uncle told me to memorize it, but I didn't memorize each and every character.

It felt like everything was being imprinted in my head.

If he asked me to recite all the incantations from beginning to end, I probably couldn't do it.

But... if he asked me to operate my internal energy with the principles of the Taiji Internal Technique, I felt like I could do that.

I began to get more and more engrossed in the secret manual.

***

There were two reasons why Hyeon Yang told Unhwi to memorize the entire Taiji Internal Technique secret manual.

One was, as Unhwi had predicted, to secure time for his own training while still training him.

And the second was to check how great Unhwi's comprehension and aptitude were.

'No matter how fast he is, it will take at least three or four days to memorize all of that.'

Even that much would mean his comprehension was exceptionally outstanding.

If his comprehension was average, it would take five days.

If he was a dunce, it would take seven days.

Judging by the way he spoke and his quick wit, he didn't seem like a dunce.

'In the first place, learning an internal technique takes a long time.'

Memorizing the secret manual was not the end.

Feeling the internal energy, accumulating that energy in the dantian, and circulating the accumulated energy throughout the body to achieve one heavenly cycle.

It would surely take a long time, but he had no intention of compromising on the basic internal energy technique.

The process of learning the basic internal technique was like laying a cornerstone.

Only by laying a solid foundation now could a huge pavilion be built on top of it without shaking.

'And the fact that I can secure my own time in the meantime is a bonus.'

After completing one heavenly cycle, he cautiously opened his eyes.

It usually took him about two hours to complete one heavenly cycle.

It was to check if Unhwi had been doing it properly during that time.

But he couldn't see him in the spot where Unhwi had started reading the secret manual earlier.

'Did he run away?'

He looked around the room, but he couldn't find Unhwi anywhere.

"Ha!"

Hyeon Yang was so dumbfounded that he couldn't help but laugh and stood up from his spot.

He had never thought Unhwi would do this.

He had thought he might slack off without properly memorizing the secret manual, but to think he would run away.

"That little brat...!"

Filled with anger, Hyeon Yang strode towards the entrance.

He didn't know where Unhwi had run off to, but his steps were filled with the determination to catch him no matter what.

Creeak!

He roughly opened the door and came outside, contemplating where to look first.

Whoosh!

He felt a wisp of energy rising from somewhere.

'There's no one who would be training around here at this time...?'

Fwoosh!

Feeling the energy once again, Hyeon Yang whipped his head around.

"Heot?!"

Hyeon Yang was startled when he looked in that direction.

Unhwi was there.

He was moving his body in a way he had never been taught, and each time he did, he emitted a faint but continuous stream of energy.

Hyeon Yang forgot that he had come out to catch Unhwi and just stared blankly at him.

Rustle, rustle-

As Unhwi moved his arms, the wind followed, shaking the trees, and the leaves that fell from the trees rode the wind, following Unhwi's hands.

The shape of the wind formed the shape of a taiji.

'Did someone teach Unhwi Taijiquan...? No. That's not Taijiquan.'

To the extent that he mistook it for Taijiquan, the movements Unhwi was doing now contained the profound principles of taiji well.

He watched Unhwi silently until his movements stopped.

"Hoo—"

A moment later.

Unhwi finished all his movements and exhaled.

His body was so tired that his arms and legs were trembling, but there was a bright smile on his lips.

"Aigoo, this damn weak body. To think I'd get this tired from moving just a little. By the way, these cheapskates. They were learning something this good all by themselves? If only I had learned this sooner..."

"Unhwi."

"Hup! Ma-Martial Uncle, when did you come out?"

Unhwi was startled as if he had done something terribly wrong.

"Martial Uncle, what I said just now was..."

"Where did you learn that?"

"That?"

"Those movements just now."

Unhwi let out a sigh of relief that he wasn't asking about what he had just said and answered.

"As I was learning the Taiji Internal Technique, I couldn't resist the urge to move."

"You just moved as it came to you?"

"Yes. And I wanted to feel the wind, so I came outside."

"Feel the wind...?"

Unhwi smiled brightly and nodded.

"Then have you learned all of the Taiji Internal Technique?"

"What is there to 'all' in learning an internal technique. But I succeeded in feeling and accumulating the energy earlier."

Astonishment filled Hyeon Yang's eyes.

In that moment, he thought.

He thought that Unhwi might be the genius he had only heard of in legends.

(End of Chapter)