Mountain-Shattering Divine Steps (1)
Over a hundred days had passed since Mu-jin began his training.
Flowers had begun to bloom on Songshan. Although the spring was often interrupted by cold snaps, it was clear that spring had arrived.
In the hall of Hyun-gwang, where the snow had disappeared and flowers had begun to bloom, Mu-jin opened his eyes with a deep breath.
As with any field, there were periods of rapid improvement and periods of stagnation and stability.
Mu-jin felt he had recently hit a plateau.
Despite significant achievements from intense training throughout the winter, Mu-jin felt as though he had hit a wall a few days ago.
The weight of the iron he lifted had also stopped increasing recently.
The steep growth curve he had maintained throughout the winter had leveled off, but Mu-jin wasn’t impatient.
‘I’ve experienced this many times.’
As a fitness trainer, he had gone through this several times. If he rushed to increase the weight during such times, he would end up getting injured.
For a while, he would just endure this period by exercising with the same weight until, one day, he would experience another steep growth curve.
Mu-jin, who had reminded himself of this, calmed himself with another deep breath.
“Maybe I should go check on those guys for the first time in a while?”
Perhaps because he had regained his composure, thoughts of the children he once trained with began to surface.
They were the nephews he had trained with during his novice days and whom he had considered his future insurance and thus paid attention to.
Over the past year, he had been so focused on handling matters related to the Cheonryu Sangdan and honing his own martial arts that he had hardly paid attention to them.
“I wonder how much they’ve improved.”
Mu-jin was quite curious about how much his nephews had grown over the past year.
After a year of being preoccupied with the Cheonryu Sangdan, Mu-jin finally returned to the Arhat Faction.
The scenery of the Arhat Faction, which he had not seen for a year, felt quite peculiar to Mu-jin.
‘Quite a lot has changed.’
There were chairs, steel bars, iron rods, and weight plates everywhere, along with various other exercise equipment Mu-jin had requested, now filling the training grounds several times over.
In the corners were punching bags and sandbags, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of a neighborhood gym run by a boxing enthusiast.
Of course, one needs this much to exercise properly.
As he thought this, Mu-jin observed the Third-Class Disciples who were working up a sweat.
Mu-yul, who noticed him first, greeted Mu-jin and moved.
The boy, who had been playing on an iron bar over 4 meters high, descended the rope as if he were falling.
‘He’s like a monkey.’
While Mu-jin had this thought, Mu-gung and Mu-gyeong, who had noticed Mu-jin belatedly due to Mu-yul’s voice, also approached him.
Mu-gung, who now boasted an enormous build, seemed to have completely passed through his growth period.
“Have you been well?”
And Mu-gyeong, who finally seemed to have overcome his stuttering, greeted Mu-jin quite naturally, though his voice was still soft.
Finally, Mu-yul, who had come down from the iron bar, greeted Mu-jin with an ever-bright smile.
“It’s been a while, everyone.”
Mu-jin, who greeted them cheerfully, immediately approached Mu-yul and hugged him tightly.
“Hehe. Did you miss me a lot?”
Mu-yul laughed brightly at Mu-jin’s enthusiastic greeting.
‘Oh-ho. His core muscles are like rocks.’
In truth, Mu-jin was assessing Mu-yul’s physical condition.
Pretending to pat his back while hugging him, Mu-jin was feeling the density and strength of Mu-yul’s muscles.
‘Since he mainly uses agile and peculiar movements, core muscles are crucial. He’s developed them well. How about the other parts?’
Thinking this to himself, Mu-jin visually inspected and lightly tapped Mu-yul’s limbs.
“You’ve been working out hard, huh?”
Mu-yul hadn’t just been exercising a lot. While his major muscles like the pectorals and thighs were well developed, his so-called minor muscles and core muscles were particularly well developed.
It was the perfect physique for Mu-yul, who was known for his animalistic movements.
After checking Mu-yul’s body, Mu-jin then approached Mu-gung.
“Don’t hug me. It’s gross.”
Instead of hugging, Mu-jin circled around the large-framed Mu-gung, tapping his limbs and torso.
“You’ve really grown enormous.”
Whether his growth period had ended or not, Mu-gung appeared to be about 189 cm tall, with broad shoulders, thick pectorals, and abs.
And though less noticeable due to his large frame, his thigh muscles and core muscles around the waist were also well developed.
Despite his size and muscles making him appear less agile, his body exuded a force that felt like it could send someone flying with just a brush.
As Mu-jin approached Mu-gung, who had finished his inspection, Mu-gung subtly took a step back.
“Hehe. This is how people who work out greet each other. You have to touch them directly to check not just the shape but the condition of their muscles.”
Mu-jin said this and then forcibly hugged Mu-gung, patting his back and limbs.
‘As expected. Mu-gung has developed his body evenly.’
Unlike Mu-yul or Mu-gung, whose martial arts were biased in one direction, Mu-gung didn’t need to develop his body for any specific martial art.
This guy was a genius in martial arts.
“How many more martial arts have you learned in the past year?”
“Hmm… about twenty-three?”
“All at the level of the Seven Stars or higher?”
Mu-jin clicked his tongue at that number.
Of course, considering he was still in the Arhat Faction, those twenty-three wouldn’t be part of the Seventy-Two Consummate Arts. But still.
‘Twenty-three in a year means he learned almost one every fifteen days. If he keeps this up, he might exhaust all the Shaolin martial arts.’
Given his age, it was an absurd number.
After briefly assessing the condition of the trio’s muscles, Mu-jin asked the question that had been on his mind since earlier.
“By the way, what’s up with your and Mu-yul’s hair?”
“Heheh. Master shaved it for us.”
“Master said it would be fun …”
The two showed quite contrasting reactions, and while their hairstyles were similar, they were also quite different.
“Is that a crane on your head?”
“Yeah! Master drew it for me because I’ve completely mastered the Crane Fist! He said he’d change it to a snake once I’ve mastered all the Serpent Techniques!”
When Mu-jin pointed to Mu-yul’s head and asked, Mu-yul proudly answered.
Instead of shaving his head completely, Mu-yul had a bizarre hairstyle with his hair cut very short like a chestnut burr, with a crane design shaved into it.
‘…It’s not like he’s an elementary school student getting a “well done” stamp.’
Thinking about it, stamping “well done” on a child’s head would be child abuse.
But seeing how proud Mu-yul was, it seemed ridiculous to blame Hye-geol, Mu-yul’s master.
Mu-jin even thought that Hye-geol might be accommodating Mu-yul’s mental age.
‘Hang in there, Master Hye-geol.’
Mu-jin silently cheered for Hye-geol and then turned to Mu-gung.
“So… what’s with your hair?”
“…It’s supposed to be a lotus flower.”
“…Did Master Uncle Hye-gwan say that?”
Mu-jin felt a bit sorry for Mu-gung, who had slumped shoulders.
“Why a lotus flower?”
“Master said he likes lotuses… Ah, no. He said it symbolizes the flower that Buddha rides on. It represents supporting Shaolin disciples in following the path of Buddha…”
“Did Master Uncle Hye-gwan tell you to say that?”
“So, in reality, Master Uncle just likes lotuses and drew it on your head?”
As expected. Getting involved with a crazy person makes life this tiresome.
Feeling grateful that he wasn’t one of Hye-gwan’s disciples, Mu-jin asked.
“But did the other elders allow such hairstyles?”
At that question, Mu-gung and Mu-gyeong looked at Mu-jin with expressions of disbelief.
Understanding the meaning behind their expressions, Mu-jin asked again in a hesitant tone.
“Is it because of me?”
Mu-gung, sounding somehow more blunt than before, replied.
“Since you negotiated with the Head of the Jurisdiction Department a year ago, the rules changed. It was decided that as long as it signified cutting ties with the secular world and was kept short, it didn’t matter.”
Mu-gung pointed at Mu-jin’s head as he spoke.
A short Mohican haircut with the sides cut short like a chestnut burr, leaving only a little hair on top. And a swastika (卍) symbol shaved into it, symbolizing Buddha’s teachings.
This hairstyle had become synonymous with Mu-jin.
Pointing at Mu-jin’s head, Mu-gung then pointed at Mu-yul and Mu-gyeong.
“After that, kids started expressing the consummate arts they were practicing or drawing pictures related to Shaolin or Buddha.”
Mu-gung pointed out several children in the training ground who had similarly short hair.
Among them, some had relatively normal-looking hairstyles.
“What’s that one supposed to be?”
“They say it’s to honor Dharma Master.”
There was even a child who had left the hair on the sides and back but shaved the front and top to a shine.
“Wow. That’s a bit extreme.”
It looked so severe that anyone who saw it might think it was extreme alopecia, not a monk.
“Hmm. But not everyone is growing their hair, it seems.”
“It depends on the master’s inclination.”
Mu-gung answered bluntly, but there was a hint of regret in his eyes.
“Did you want a hairstyle like that too?”
“Ahem. I never thought about it.”
Mu-gung answered, pretending to be solemn, but it was clear he was envious.
‘Crazy guys. What’s there to be envious about?’
To be honest, the swastika (卍) symbol was just an excuse. It was a reason he came up with because he didn’t like being bald.
Mu-jin was full of thoughts of growing his hair to cover the symbol once he left Shaolin.
‘This isn’t the time to be thinking about this.’
Shaking off the distraction caused by the kids’ bizarre hairstyles, Mu-jin got to the main point.
“Anyway, enough about the hair. How about a sparring session to see how much you’ve improved over the past year?”
Mu-jin took turns sparring with Mu-yul, Mu-gung, and Mu-gyeong for a while.
‘Why do their techniques feel so weak?’
Mu-jin’s expression turned serious.
Their skills had indeed improved compared to a year ago.
Mu-yul had somewhat mastered the Snake Techniques within the year, utilizing techniques inspired by the forms of the crane and snake, displaying his characteristic free-spirited movements.
Mu-gung relied on his size and strength, delivering honest and heavy blows.
Mu-gyeong demonstrated a continuous array of techniques, combining the martial arts he had learned over the past year.
However, in conclusion, their progress was insufficient compared to his own growth.
In simple terms, although their repertoire of techniques had increased, the speed and power behind those techniques had not improved significantly.
Their strikes were so weak that Mu-jin found himself just defending, and yet they would bounce off him. Even Mu-gung, who was larger than Mu-jin.
‘Have they been neglecting their training? They seemed quite sturdy when I checked earlier.’
Pondering the issue for a moment, Mu-jin soon realized the major difference between himself and the three.
‘They lack internal energy!’
Mu-jin had consumed a Lesser Restoration Pill a year ago and a Great Restoration Pill four months ago.
Though most of the energy from the Great Restoration Pill was used for activating his meridians, even the remaining energy was beyond what the three, who had not even taken a Lesser Restoration Pill, could compare to.
‘At this rate, it’s hopeless.’
Mu-jin realized things were slightly off-track. Official source is N0veI.Fiɾe.net
Of course, the three were quite talented. And with Shaolin’s excellent internal techniques, they might be able to accumulate internal energy equivalent to a Lesser Restoration Pill after six to seven years of training.
With two to three more years of training, they might reach the state of enhanced energy circulation.
From that point, if they cultivated Shaolin’s seventy-two consummate arts for about ten years, they might reach a level comparable to Hye-gwan.
So, roughly twenty years later.
‘Who can wait that long!’
Serious incidents were looming two and a half years from now. Keeping them idle for twenty years would be pointless.
‘Damn it. Come to think of it, even the blood successor in the novel accumulated internal energy using the Qi Absorption Technique. If things go on , Mu-gyeong will be weaker than the blood successor in the novel, even with external training.’
This meant various aspects of Mu-jin’s plan could be compromised.
There was only one solution.
‘I need to give them elixirs.’
Having reached this conclusion, Mu-jin recalled how he had obtained his elixirs.
He received the Lesser Restoration Pill as a treatment fee from Ryu Ji-gwang after treating both Ryu Ji-gwang and Yeon Ga-hee.
The Great Restoration Pill, as he later learned, was acquired by convincing the head monk after Ryu Ji-gwang extracted money from his grandfather during his seventieth birthday celebration.
Thus, there was only one conclusion.
‘Money! I need to earn money!’
To feed his nephews, it was time for the uncle to step up.