novelraw Chapter 42
Chapter 42
The day after Grandmaster Juhyeon visited the guest hall.
I recalled the events of last night and circulated the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic I had learned yesterday.
Even though I had only circulated the internal energy technique, I could feel my blood flowing faster and my muscles becoming more elastic.
What was even more surprising was that it had only been a day since I learned it.
'I could teach this to other Wudang disciples, is it really okay for you to teach me this?'
'Hahaha! What a wonderful thing it would be to spread the teachings of Buddha in Wudang, the main mountain of Taoism!'
Grandmaster Juhyeon, with somewhat contradictory words, had given me permission to teach this technique to the Wudang disciples.
I felt embarrassed for having called the people of the orthodox faction petty.
No, it could be that Grandmaster Juhyeon taught me the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic because he heard my words.
He might have felt ashamed, thinking it was petty himself.
'Martial Uncle seems to be busy again today.'
I don't know what kind of discussions he was having, but today, as soon as the sun rose, he told me not to cause any trouble and went to see Grandmaster Gakil.
'I'll just train quietly.'
Thanks to that, I was left alone in this place where I knew no one, but I preferred it.
In Wudang, it was because of cleaning up after my senior brothers, and after leaving Wudang, it was because of my Martial Uncle's immense training. I needed time to organize the things I had realized so far by myself.
Besides, I hadn't completely understood the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic yet, so I needed some time to think.
"Haa—"
As with any internal energy technique, the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic also begins with the Qi Circulation and Breathing Method.
Inhaling and exhaling, feeling the energy of nature and accumulating it in my body.
The Muscle-Tendon Change Classic, created by Grandmaster Bodhidharma, was also a divine internal technique, a pupil technique, but in the end, it was a skill to hold the invisible energy of nature in the body.
Woooong—
The more time I spent training the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic, the more I felt my skin becoming tougher.
There was no one to ask if I was doing it right, but somehow my instincts seemed to be praising me for doing well.
'This is almost at the level of remodeling the body itself with internal energy.'
The possibilities of internal energy are endless.
Our Wudang combined internal energy with human mental strength to create our own unique internal energy technique.
And, Shaolin combined the human body and internal energy to create the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic.
'In the end, it wasn't much different from Wudang's martial arts. The target of strengthening is different, but the principle itself is the same.'
There are things you don't know before you know them, but feel easy once you know them.
For me, martial arts are like that these days.
When I was active as the Self-Reliant Sword Master, I had a great thirst for advanced martial arts.
And in fact, although I was a recognized master in the orthodox martial world, I only thought that the reason I couldn't rise to a higher realm was because I was learning third-rate martial arts.
'No, my mindset itself was wrong.'
But now that I have encountered many advanced martial arts, I think that the essence of the Un Family Sword Art and Wudang's sword art is the same.
'Making my sword touch the opponent's body.'
After learning even the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic, it hits me even more.
I actually already know the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic.
I have been remodeling my body to fit martial arts by constantly moving my body, tearing and recovering my muscles, and increasing my endurance.
It's just that these martial arts only increase efficiency.
'Damn well-fed bastards.'
At the same time, it is also true that anger wells up at the gutless rising stars of the orthodox martial world.
To think that they only reached that level with such good martial arts and lost the Central Plains to the Demonic Cult.
Drip— Drip—
The sweat flowing from my body soaked my clothes, and even that was not enough, it began to fall to the floor.
As if my whole body was stimulated like I had exercised for several hours with the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic, the heat of my body was enormous.
"Hoo... I should rest for a bit."
I opened my closed eyes, got up, and examined my body.
"It seems... to have changed?"
With just about three hours of training, I feel like the quality of my muscles has changed.
Perhaps because the impurities in my body were drained out with the sweat, a foul smell vibrated from the sweat.
I hurriedly wiped the floor with a cloth, took off my soaked top, and took it to the bath.
Fortunately, the wooden tub was full of water.
Swaa—
I poured water on my body to wash off the sweat and washed my top.
The water was cold, but because of the heat emanating from my body, I didn't even feel cold.
After washing my body and drying my wet clothes with internal energy, they quickly became fluffy.
After getting dressed again, I headed back to my room.
"Hmm?"
But, on my way to the room, I had to stop.
Because five or six Shaolin monks were loitering in the hallway leading to my room.
There were no other guests here now, so only my Martial Uncle and I were using it.
That meant that they were people who had come to see me or my Martial Uncle.
"Excuse me, who are you looking for?"
"Ah! Almsgiver Unhwi! We were wondering where you were."
When I checked their faces, they were the faces I had seen at the Shaolin martial monks' training ground yesterday.
At first, it was hard to distinguish them because they were all similar bald heads, but I could tell by looking closely.
"I was sweating a bit, so I went to the bath. Is something wrong?"
"You were sweating? By any chance, did you train in your room?"
"Yes, I did. Is there a rule that you can't practice martial arts inside the guest hall? I didn't know."
I really asked because I didn't know, but the martial monk, perhaps thinking I was being sarcastic, hurriedly waved his hands and said, "No! Of course not. It's not that, but we were wondering why you didn't come to our training ground today."
"The training ground...? Ah, was it not only permitted for yesterday?"
"Of course. By any chance... we thought you might not have come because you were uncomfortable with what happened yesterday, but you thought it was only permitted for one day."
The martial monk said with a kind smile.
"If it's okay with you, almsgiver, you can come during the afternoon training."
"You came all the way here just to say that?"
"And, there's one more request..."
"A request? What is it?"
He hesitated a little and then opened his mouth with difficulty.
"There are many disciples who want to have a spar with you, almsgiver. By any chance, would you be willing to join us?"
He couldn't look me straight in the eye after saying that.
It must be embarrassing to ask for a spar again after being broken like that after picking a fight with me yesterday.
But, the atmosphere of yesterday and today is so different.
'Shaolin monks. They have a pretty cute side, don't they?'
If yesterday they were trying to show off their strength to a disciple from Wudang, trapped in the arrogance and illusion that they were stronger, today it feels like they are asking for my teaching.
Monk Il-jik is the most senior brother among their brothers.
As such, his martial arts can be seen as the most outstanding.
But, since I beat him so easily and even gave him an enlightenment, it's only natural for a martial artist to be curious.
"On the contrary, I welcome it. I also have little experience and would like to compete with various martial artists."
"Thank you so much for saying so."
"Why are you so formal with me? Why are you so afraid of me?"
"Because of what happened yesterday, and we were afraid of being a nuisance..."
A small laugh almost escaped.
Even in a situation like this, the Shaolin monk's pride is not abandoned.
Usually, when a novice asks a master for a spar, it means asking for teaching.
Although they think of me as a master, they didn't say the words 'ask for teaching' out of their mouths, perhaps because of their pride.
'Well... I was planning to give them something more anyway.'
The grace I received from Grandmaster Juhyeon is too great.
There's a saying that the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic is not exchanged even for a hundred gold bars, but he gave it to me so easily.
So, this time, it's my turn to bestow upon Shaolin.
And Shaolin also has to grow even more than now to be able to overcome the Demonic Cult's invasion in the future.
It's good in many ways.
But.
'That bestowing will be in my own way.'
Grip—
My fist clenched without my knowledge.
I didn't know in my past life, but I never knew that teaching others would be such a joyful and fun thing.
'After I finish everything later, should I set up a martial arts school or something?'
Although I wonder how many students would be able to endure my training.
***
That evening.
I had dinner with my Martial Uncle, who had returned after finishing his conversation with Grandmaster Gakil again.
"Hwi-ya, I heard you had a big fight again today?"
"Where on earth do you hear such news, Martial Uncle?"
"There is no place in Shaolin where the Abbot's eyes and ears are not. And, I was with the Abbot all day today."
"Ah, really? Didn't the Abbot say anything?"
I even felt a little guilty.
Because today, as a repayment for the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic, I had gone a little rough.
I kept having spars and even made a bet that the loser would have to do three hundred squats with a large log on their back.
Of course, I didn't do it even once.
"On the contrary, he was pleased. He said that the disciples have been lax lately, but thanks to you, Unhwi, it seems they are full of energy."
"Phew, that's a relief."
I let out a sigh of relief inside.
Although Grandmaster Gakil looks like a transcendent being who has seen through the world on the outside, he actually has a petty side.
Well, that's probably why he's so heated up about the Dao-Buddhist Great War.
"Still, go a little easy. Shaolin also has its own way of training, so there's no need to get on their bad side for no reason."
The Martial Uncle seemed to have noticed that I was trying to give them teachings disguised as a spar.
"Yes. So I'm stopping at the physical training I do. I'm deliberately avoiding the operation of forms or the mental direction."
"Yes. You'll do well on your own. I won't worry anymore."
"Yes. Don't worry."
The Martial Uncle ruffled my hair as I answered right away.
I don't know if it's because of my body's memory, but it was a little hard to be treated like this at first, but now my heart feels at ease.
No, it might not be my body's memory, but the lack of affection from my past life.
"But, how much longer do we have to be in Shaolin? I thought the story would end early, but it's taking longer than I thought."
"I know. I didn't think it would take this long either, but it's not being negotiated well. I think it will take at least three or four more days."
I was about to ask which part was not being negotiated, but I swallowed the question in my throat.
Because it didn't seem like he would answer even if I asked.
"Then for now, I'll just train hard without worrying too much."
"Yes. The attitude of not letting go of training anywhere is good to see."
He smiled brightly at me.
No matter how I look at it, it's not that he's happy because I'm training hard, but it's a face that's happy because I'm overwhelming the rising stars of Shaolin, but I decided to pretend I didn't know.
***
The morning sun rose, and today, as soon as I opened my eyes, I had breakfast and then came out to the training ground right away.
Although the morning sun had not yet fully revealed itself, there were already many Shaolin monks who had appeared at the training ground.
'Our senior brothers should learn from this.'
It's not for nothing that Shaolin is called the number one sect of the orthodox faction.
There doesn't seem to be anyone who has a firm grip on the atmosphere like me, but to think that they all do their dawn training like this on their own.
"Almsgiver Unhwi. Have you come out? You're early today."
"Yes. There are a lot of people since morning."
"Haha! Perhaps because they were stimulated by you, almsgiver, yesterday, there are more people at the dawn training than usual."
The person talking to me now is Monk Il-woo.
The person who had come to my room to find me yesterday was also this person.
Although his martial arts are not particularly outstanding, his personality is gentle and good, so I was treating him without reservation.
"Then good luck today too, and if you want to fight me, just tell me anytime."
"Amitabha... my thighs felt like they were on fire yesterday."
Yesterday, Monk Il-woo had lost to me twice in a spar and had done six hundred squats with a log.
And yet, it's amazing that he's moving like that in just one day. Is it the effect of the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic?
"Almsgiver. May I have that spar?"
"Of course... yes?"
At that moment, I turned around at the thick voice coming from behind, and a martial monk I had never seen before was standing there.
'Yeonghwan. It's Grandmaster Yeonghwan!'
Recognizing that face, I froze for a moment.
Because the person in front of me was Yeonghwan, the most senior brother of the 'Yeong' generation, who was later called one of the most outstanding martial talents produced by Shaolin.
'Ah, is it not the time to be called a grandmaster yet?'
The 'Yeong' generation is one generation higher than the 'Il' generation.
In other words, Monk Yeonghwan is the Martial Uncle of the 'Il' generation monks.
He is a real rising star who has just entered the martial world.
Although he will build a great reputation in the martial world later and be called a grandmaster, that is still a long way off.
"Ah, I am Yeonghwan, a martial monk of the 'Yeong' generation. I am one generation faster than these children. I happened to hear a rumor about you, almsgiver, and came to see if I could also exchange a move with you."
He said to me politely.
Shaolin has different training grounds for each generation, but Monk Yeonghwan had come all the way here just to meet me.
'There's no need to fight Yeonghwan now for no reason.'
But, I'm planning to refuse that spar.
Yeonghwan is a martial artist who is called a genius even in Shaolin, a great sect of the martial world.
The time he has spent training is different from mine.
In a few years, we might be evenly matched... no, I might even be able to overwhelm him, but now is too early.
I don't want to be embarrassed by fighting an opponent I can't even win against for no reason...
Cheok—
As I was thinking, he held out a small box to me and said, "If you have a spar with me, I will give you this regardless of the outcome."
"What is this?"
Cheolkeok—
He opened the box and showed me the contents.
A white sphere that was so transparent that it even felt transparent came into view.
"S-Small Rebirth Pill...?"
"That's right."
No, he's burning a Small Rebirth Pill for one spar? No matter how overflowing with elixirs Shaolin is, isn't this too much?
This isn't just showing off.
I looked at him with strength in my eyes and said, "Yes. I'll do it. I'll do my best. Shall we do it right now?"
But the reward was too tempting to give up.
(End of Chapter)