After the first day, the atmosphere among the Zhongnan Sect disciples began to change slightly.
It might have been because they saw Mu-jin training alone even after that grueling practice.
Of course, Mu-jin had somewhat intended to show them such a scene.
Originally, an instructor should not be underestimated by their trainees.
And on the early morning of the fourth day.
Before training began, trainee number eighteen, Byeok-hwan, raised his hand high.
Mu-jin, who allowed questions before training, turned his gaze toward Byeok-hwan.
“Trainee number eighteen, ask your question.”
Mu-jin nodded with satisfaction at Byeok-hwan’s question.
“The reason is, because training is tough, and ‘Aak’ embodies enduring with ‘guts’.”
Byeok-hwan was deeply moved by Mu-jin’s answer, but he still had doubts.
“What does ‘guts’ mean, Instructor!”
Byeok-hwan knew the word ‘Aak’ but was unfamiliar with ‘guts’. Mu-jin pointed to the gong beside him.
“…Because it looks like one and that’s what we call it, right?”
“That’s correct. A gong is just a gong. And guts are just guts. Do you understand?”
While Byeok-hwan was confused by Mu-jin’s profound teaching.
“That’s enough questions! Everyone! Prepare for posture number fourteen!”
As Byeok-hwan’s unnecessary question took away their brief break, the disciples’ resentful gazes fell upon him.
But Byeok-hwan didn’t mind.
“Now!! Who are the trash blaming their fellow disciples!! Once a disciple, always a disciple! Prepare for thirty reps of posture number fourteen!”
They knew that blaming their senior brothers would result in harsher punishment.
Thanks to Mu-jin’s teachings, Byeok-hwan no longer harbored any resentment towards his senior brothers.
Naturally, he was confident that soon, his senior brothers would not resent him either.
And the training that began was even more brutal than before.
It wasn’t because of Byeok-hwan’s question. Having adapted somewhat to the training over the past four days, Mu-jin had simply increased the difficulty. ’
“Prepare for thirty reps of posture number eight!!”
Even with limbs already worn out, the hellish posture number eight began again.
Initially, they managed one or two reps, but as the count increased, their bodies lost strength, and their heads and legs fell to the ground.
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But Byeok-hwan, like a man who had given up counting, just kept yelling and forcibly lifted his legs with his arms to repeat the rounds.
When Byeok-hwan finally completed the last round.
Mu-jin, who had approached without being noticed, was looking down at him with a pleased expression.
“Well done. That is exactly ‘Aak’ and ‘guts’. Do you understand?”
“If it doesn’t work, you keep at it until it does. That is ‘Aak’ and ‘guts’. With ‘Aak’ and ‘guts’, nothing is impossible.”
As Byeok-hwan smiled contentedly at being acknowledged by Mu-jin, Mu-jin called out to the trainees.
“You all endure with ‘Aak’ and ‘guts’! Do you understand!”
Mu-jin couldn’t hide his smile at the unified response of the Zhongnan Sect trainees.
“Since someone yelled during the last round, we’ll do posture number eight again!! Prepare for twenty-five reps!!”
He was indeed a devil instructor.
On the eighth day of Mu-jin’s training of the Zhongnan Sect disciples, there was a change in the training method.
“Today’s training is mountain marching.”
Mu-jin pointed to a pile of sandbags as he spoke.
“Each of you will tie a sandbag to each limb and, without using internal energy, climb from the base to the peak of Zhongnan Mountain. You must reach the peak within two hours.”
At Mu-jin’s explanation, one of the disciples raised his hand and asked.
“It seems similar to light body skill training, but why is the use of internal energy prohibited?”
“That’s a good question. When you have to fight against the Demonic Cult or the unorthodox sects, or those bandits who love flowers from the neighboring house, the first thing you need to do is to get to the battlefield. Would you use your light body skill to get there?”
“Of course, we should, right?”
“If you use up your internal energy getting there and a fight breaks out as soon as you arrive, what will you do?”
As some trainees were startled by Mu-jin’s question, he continued.
“And if you are sent on a reconnaissance mission by your sect to gather intelligence on the enemy, and you have to return to report this information! If you used all your internal energy during the escape, would you just get captured and die? Even when your senior brothers and sect elders are waiting for the information you brought back, would you give up and die?”
Unable to argue against Mu-jin’s explanation, the trainees accepted the training.
Most military training has ‘valid reasons’.
The problem lies in training for situations that are unlikely to happen.
Ultimately, the Zhongnan Sect trainees, swayed by Mu-jin’s rhetoric, tied sandbags to their limbs and headed down Zhongnan Mountain.
“If any trainee is caught using internal energy! They will acknowledge themselves as trash and leave the mountain!”
As Mu-jin blew the whistle, the Zhongnan Sect trainees all ran towards the peak.
Mu-jin and the Shaolin disciples also ran with them to monitor for the use of internal energy. Of course, they were using internal energy themselves.
At the forefront, running with Mu-jin, Byeok-hwan endured with ‘Aak’ and ‘guts’, even as he tasted iron in his mouth, and followed Mu-jin.
After running for more than an hour, Byeok-hwan finally reached the peak first.
Panting heavily in agony, feeling like he was about to vomit, Byeok-hwan felt a strange sense of pride in having not lost Mu-jin and being the first to reach the peak.
“Trainee number eighteen!!”
To his surprise, Mu-jin’s return was a roar of disapproval.
“Trainee number eighteen, are you a lone wolf?”
“Trainee number eighteen.”
“Did you leave your senior brothers behind? Do you only care about your own survival? Are you planning to leave your senior brothers to die and come back alone from the battlefield?”
Byeok-hwan, who gained great insight from Mu-jin’s rebuke, answered with a startled face.
“Then what are you doing! Go back and bring them up immediately!”
Seeing Byeok-hwan, who had responded loudly, run down from the mountain peak with great difficulty, Mu-jin smiled contentedly.
‘Indeed, those who do well should be pushed even harder.’
That was the essence of military-style education.
For the next seven days and nights, Mu-jin continued with bizarre training sessions.
At times, the training involved carrying a wooden boat with a team of six up the mountain, a peculiar exercise reminiscent of the saying, “Too many sailors make the boat go to the mountains.”
Mu-jin always used specific wartime scenarios as examples, making it seem training was absolutely necessary.
Each time such training took place, just as he had with Byeok-hwan on the first day, Mu-jin continually emphasized teamwork.
While the first week of training was about experiencing individual physical limits, the second week was about caring for comrades even under physical limitations.
By the end of the second week of training, the morale of the Zhongnan Sect disciples had transformed once again.
“Hahaha! Just call me brother comfortably!”
Those who trained together now boasted a sticky camaraderie, almost like real brothers.
In the early stages of the second week’s training, those who were affected by stragglers would get angry, but thanks to Mu-jin playing the role of the villain and pushing them, they soon became tightly united.
People who go through dirty, difficult situations together tend to bond quickly.
Moreover, these were people who had already spent decades together as fellow disciples.
And finally, the third and last week of Mu-jin’s planned training began.
‘Originally, this training is spread over five weeks, but we don’t have that kind of time.’
Mu-jin had condensed the training, knowing that he couldn’t afford to spend five weeks on it while also needing to teach weight training to the Zhongnan Sect.
And so, the first training of the third week began.
“For the next four days, you will enter training assuming you are stranded in enemy territory. The instructors and I will search for you. From now on, you must survive while hiding all over Zhongnan Mountain without any pre-prepared food.”
This was known as survival training in the Korean military.
Upon hearing the explanation, the Zhongnan Sect trainees thought it would be easier than expected.
They each moved to different parts of Zhongnan Mountain and hid.
But it only took a day for them to realize how terrible it was to go without any food.
Eventually, unable to endure the hunger, some trainees revealed themselves while searching for food, only to be caught by Mu-jin or the Shaolin disciples.
“Trainee number one hundred seventy-two! Prepare for posture number fourteen!”
Having not eaten for over a day, they had to endure more than an hour of torturous punishment.
Of course, while the trainees were struggling, Mu-jin was secretly having his meals during this survival training.
‘I can’t skip meals, no matter what. Absolutely.’
Even with intense exercise and eating properly, maintaining his physique was tough. Skipping meals could lead to muscle loss, and who would be responsible for that?
Three days passed, and on the fourth and final day.
“Everyone gather at the Grand Martial Hall! There will be no punishment! The last training session of the survival training will be conducted together!”
Mu-jin and the Shaolin disciples roamed around Zhongnan Mountain, calling the trainees to the Grand Martial Hall.
And once all the trainees had gathered, the true meaning of torture began.
In front of the Zhongnan Sect disciples, who had been starving or barely eating grass for three days, Mu-jin was devouring a hearty meal.
“Now, if you give up, it will be easier. If you strike the gong next to me while shouting, ‘I am a worthless worm unworthy of the Great Zhongnan Sect,’ I will food with you.”
As Mu-jin spoke, he picked up a piece of Dongpo pork with his chopsticks and fanned its aroma, appearing to be the devil incarnate.
‘To think he is my junior.’
Even the Shaolin disciples looked away, unable to bear the sight.
Mu-jin’s actions were so naturally wicked that no one questioned him openly eating meat despite being a monk.
However, even Mu-jin wasn’t entirely comfortable enjoying his feast alone.
‘Ah, the effect is weak when I do this alone.’
He needed someone to help provoke the trainees. But the tender-hearted Shaolin disciples weren’t suited for such roles.
Moreover, excluding the Muja Trio, the other monks abstained from meat, making it impossible to tempt anyone properly.
What good would it do to tempt them with grass?
Even the Muja Trio couldn’t eat meat in front of the other Shaolin disciples.
While pondering who could join him, a suitable person came to Mu-jin’s mind.
“Mu-yul! Come and eat with me!”
“Huh? Can I eat too?”
“Awesome! Then can Ling-ling eat too?”
“Eat as much as you want.”
With Mu-jin’s permission, Mu-yul and Ling-ling, without much thought, sat at the table with bright faces.
As Mu-yul and Ling-ling began devouring the food ravenously, the sound of swallowing echoed from all over the Grand Martial Hall.
While Mu-jin seemed to be eating to provoke, Mu-yul and Ling-ling were genuinely savoring the food.
Bringing in Mu-yul and Ling-ling proved highly effective.
Unable to endure any longer, one of the trainees stood up swearing.
Driven by hunger, he wanted to hit the gong and eat, even if it meant being called a worm.
“What are the trainees doing now! Are you going to leave your comrade to be captured by the enemy! Do you only care about saving yourselves! Is that what Zhongnan Sect disciples would do!”
Without fail, Mu-jin’s furious rebuke came out, prompting the quick-witted trainees to act swiftly.
“Just endure one more day, senior!”
Overwhelmed by hunger, they beat up their senior to stop him from hitting the gong, displaying their fiery camaraderie.
But strangely, their eyes, while beating their comrade, were focused not on their comrade but on Mu-jin, Mu-yul, and Ling-ling enjoying the food.
Their beautiful camaraderie was expressed in the form of venting their anger towards those three through their fellow comrades.