Genius Martial Arts Trainer

While the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering was in full swing near Dongting Lake.

At the foot of a mountain called Mount Baiyun, located thousands of li away from Dongting Lake.

A group of fierce-looking men were busily cutting down trees and leveling a road.

“The sun will set in one shichen! Move faster!”

A man who appeared to be a middle manager drove the laborers and directed the construction, while behind him, an enormous man with the most vicious-looking face of them all stood with his arms crossed, watching the work.

It was Mugung, who had spent nearly four years as Party Master of the Foolish Old Man Road Party and now had a certain seasoned air about his face and manner.

The problem was that the experience etched into his appearance looked like the experience of a veteran bandit.

'We should be able to finish the construction here in about a month as well.'

Just as he was thinking that while examining the progress of the work.

SHWAAAAK.

A dagger flew toward his side from empty air where nothing had been.

“!!!”

Still holding his arms crossed, Mugung immediately threw himself sideways while drawing the enormous axe strapped to his back.

“Haaaah!”

Having narrowly avoided the dagger, Mugung swung the massive axe with a shout, and a powerful axe aura flew toward the place from which the dagger had emerged.

BOOM!!!

With an ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) enormous explosion, dust and sand scattered through the air.

SPOT!

A pale shadow burst out from amid the dust and charged toward Mugung.

BOOM!!

Mugung and the assassin who had come to find him, Mukyeong, clashed dagger and axe without pause, producing thunderous explosions dozens of times.

Even though a battle between experts capable of shaking heaven and earth was unfolding.

“Here they go again.”

“That man never gets tired of coming here.”

The Road Party members themselves hardly seemed to care and remained focused on the construction.

At some point, Mukyeong coming to visit Mugung had begun to feel like an ordinary part of daily life.

At first, all the Road Party members had been horrified by the brutal fight between the two experts and worried that Mugung might be killed, but after every battle ended in something close to a draw, they had all lost interest.

Well, a few of those deeply interested in martial arts sometimes watched in hopes of seeing and learning something.

“Hey! Your hands are idle!!”

But at the shouts of the officers leading the construction, they had no choice but to concentrate on the work.

How long had the battle continued behind the Party members’ lukewarm interest?

BOOM!

After repeatedly exchanging moves while shifting locations, Mugung and Mukyeong moved deep into the mountain, where the Party members could no longer see them.

“Whew. Are you satisfied now?”

“Well, it cannot be helped, can it? Senior Brother.”

The two conversed as though they had never been fighting.

Of course, even while exchanging words, their weapons continued to collide.

That was because they needed to spread the story that the two of them had fought.

Mugung had descended the mountain with the permission of Shaolin’s Abbot, but that permission had been entirely unofficial.

In other words, from Shaolin’s perspective, they had to at least make a show of trying to execute Mugung, who was a renegade monk.

However, Mukyeong did not come merely for that reason.

“So, did the Abbot or Grandmaster send another letter this time?”

It also served as a convenient means of communication.

Whenever Hyedam, the Abbot, or someone else from Shaolin had something to convey to Mugung, Mukyeong came to find him in their place.

Then, after holding this battle that was not truly a battle, they would speak for a while before Mukyeong returned.

Whenever such an ambush occurred, Mugung always had the same thought.

A frontal confrontation was one thing. But if Mukyeong truly tried to assassinate him, Mugung honestly doubted he would be able to react to the first strike.

BOOM!

Immediately after their weapons collided once more, Mukyeong answered Mugung’s question.

“There is no letter this time. I was feeling lonely, so I came to visit you, Senior Brother.”

“......I-is that so?”

Mugung felt as though he could somehow understand Mujin’s feelings.

An assassination attempt because he was feeling lonely.

He felt curses rising all the way to his throat.

'Mujin endured this nonsense for years, did he not?'

After sighing inwardly, Mugung asked.

“You are busy raising a disciple. What were you so lonely about that you came all the way to this mountain valley?”

“That disciple happens to be away for the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering right now.”

“Ah.......”

As though something had occurred to him, Mugung fell silent.

And perhaps noticing what Mugung was thinking, Mukyeong spoke.

“Gonghwan also headed to Dongting Lake to participate in the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering.”

“Is that so.......”

Mugung felt indebted to Gonghwan.

It was only natural.

Leaving Shaolin to be with Baek Garyeong was all well and good, but to his disciple Gonghwan, it was no different from causing trouble.

That was why Mugung had at least passed down the entire Tathagata Divine Palm before leaving Shaolin, but he still could not help worrying.

“Gonghwan is doing well on his own, so you need not worry. My disciple is the one I am concerned about.”

At Mukyeong’s words, Mugung let out a snort of laughter.

During the year he had remained behind to teach Gonghwan, Mugung had seen Gongun several times.

“I am curious what Mujin thought when he saw Gongun.”

“Hahaha. Would he not find him amusing?”

“......Who knows? There is also such a thing as hatred of one’s own kind.”

“No matter what, he is still a junior of the same sect. Surely he would not go so far as to hate him.”

“You and that fellow both.......”

Mugung decided to omit the words, are equally insane.

Unexpectedly, Mugung was the one who understood Mujin most accurately.

And because of that, another thought occurred to Mugung.

'Still, if it is Mujin, he will look after Gonghwan at least a little.'

***

The main competition of the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering continued over several days.

As the saying went, an arm bends inward and a crayfish sides with a crab, so from Mujin’s perspective, the ones who naturally drew his attention most were the disciples of Shaolin.

As League Leader, he had no intention of making biased judgments or taking their side, but there was no way to stop his gaze from being drawn to them.

In that sense, the disciple Mujin had actually been most concerned about was Gongcheon, Muyul’s disciple.

In truth, from the moment Mujin first heard that Muyul had taken a disciple, a certain thought had occurred to him.

'Muyul took a disciple?'

A child raising another child?

And when Gongcheon first climbed onto the main competition stage.

Mujin’s concern grew even greater when he saw Gongcheon in person for the first time.

'Their eyes are far too similar.......'

Gongcheon had inherited the exact same pure, spotless eyes as Muyul.

But after actually watching his sparring match, Mujin realized that his concerns had been unfounded.

'He is pure, but unlike Muyul, he is not nature itself.'

The Five Shaolin Fists Gongcheon performed looked free and unrestrained at first glance, but within the broader framework, certain rules clearly existed.

Unlike Muyul’s movements, which had gifted their very foundations to Lingling as snacks.

'Well, that is not something one can learn merely by being taught.'

Even Mukyeong, whom Mujin considered worthy of being called the most talented person in the current Shaolin, could not reproduce Muyul’s Five Shaolin Fists.

Mujin was certain that even the Heavenly Demon Gu Yangpae would never be able to imitate Muyul’s Five Shaolin Fists.

'No. To begin with, what Muyul does can no longer even be called the Five Shaolin Fists. He imitates the movements of every kind of animal imaginable.'

But for some reason, although it was completely different from Muyul’s version, Gongcheon’s Five Shaolin Fists somehow looked familiar.

While Mujin considered its origin, someone entered his sight.

It was Hyegyeol, standing to one side of the sparring stage and diligently watching the sparring match of his great-grand-disciple.

'......As expected, it was Great Martial Uncle Hyegyeol’s work.'

Of course. There was no way that innocent fellow could properly raise a disciple.

Perhaps because his thoughts had reached that point.

'I should prepare some spiritual medicine for Great Martial Uncle Hyegyeol.'

For some reason, Hyegyeol looked far older than he had five years ago.

***

The Dragon and Phoenix Gathering, held under the attention of Mujin and countless others, advanced toward its grand conclusion.

Victors and losers were decided, while joy and sorrow crossed paths dozens of times.

In the end, no particular upset occurred in this Dragon and Phoenix Gathering.

That was because Gonghwan, whom everyone had chosen as the leading candidate for victory, won even the final match.

“Amitabha.”

“Immeasurable Life Buddha.”

After Gonghwan and Cheongsu’s disciple Yunbaek, who had fought in the final match, finished exchanging greetings with their Buddhist invocation and Daoist invocation, Yunbaek descended from the sparring stage.

Immediately afterward, Mujin walked onto the stage with calm steps.

“Ten years, twenty years from now. Seeing the abilities of the pillars who will lead our orthodox martial world with my own eyes has truly put my heart at ease. Would you not agree? Hahaha.”

As Mujin praised the rising stars who had participated in the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering with a light joke, cheers erupted from the spectators.

After waiting briefly for the cheering to subside, Mujin continued.

“It may be presumptuous of me, but as a senior who began learning martial arts before you, I would like to offer one piece of advice to the pillars who will bear responsibility for the future of the martial world.”

At Mujin’s words, everyone around the sparring stage fell silent and focused upon his mouth.

Advice from the League Leader, who was currently regarded as the number one martial artist under heaven.

Not only to the rising stars, but even to martial artists of Mujin’s generation or older, it was no different from words of gold and jade.

Feeling the people’s gazes concentrated upon him, Mujin opened his mouth once more.

“What I wish to tell my many juniors is that a sparring match is merely a sparring match. And that all of you are still young.”

At Mujin’s brief words, some nodded as though they understood, while others tilted their heads.

“Junior Gonghwan claimed victory here today, but this is not the end. No, rather, it may be called the beginning. Martial arts are learned over the course of a lifetime, so anyone may climb to greater heights at any time. Conversely, I say this so that Junior Gonghwan will not grow careless merely because he has now reached the highest position.”

When Gonghwan nodded as though he would take the warning to heart, Mujin continued.

“And sparring will be of tremendous help in improving one’s ability. The sparring matches of the orthodox faction originally exist so that both sides may compare their martial arts and correct their own weaknesses. More important than victory or defeat is finding one’s weaknesses through the sparring match, or searching for something one can learn from the opponent’s martial arts. If you lost but learned something, then you achieved victory. If you won but learned nothing, then it is no different from defeat.”

As Mujin continued, the crowd vaguely began to understand why he was saying these things.

He was speaking about those who had focused far too heavily on killing moves for what were supposed to be orthodox sparring matches.

And Mujin confirmed their expectations.

“Of course, real combat experience is important. Anyone who watched this Dragon and Phoenix Gathering must have felt that. However, if one experiences nothing but real combat without developing one’s actual ability, one will inevitably reach a limit.”

The martial artists from the Flying Dragon Unit had stirred up a great wave during this Dragon and Phoenix Gathering.

But in the end, not a single martial artist from the Flying Dragon Unit had succeeded in reaching the semifinals.

At first, the rising stars had been surprised and flustered by their killing-intent-filled movements, but after seeing and experiencing them once or twice and adapting, those movements no longer worked at all.

That did not mean Mujin disregarded real combat experience.

To begin with, if one had to classify him, Mujin himself was also a practical fighter.

“Conversely, those who only train without experiencing real combat are likely to die futilely without even displaying their true ability. Everyone must also have felt that through this Dragon and Phoenix Gathering. In the end, actual ability and real combat experience. I hope you will remember that the balance between those two is most important.”

After discussing the point that had concerned him most throughout this Dragon and Phoenix Gathering, Mujin concluded his speech.

Then, after offering words of praise to Gonghwan, the victor.

“The promised prize will be given to you separately inside the League, so come with me.”

Mujin left the sparring stage together with Gonghwan and headed toward the Zhengmu League estate.

The Zhengmu League’s martial artists pushed back the people filling the area around the sparring stage and opened a path for them, and the two advanced through it.

And after the cheering that had seemed as though it would continue forever finally faded and the two entered the Zhengmu League estate.

Now that far fewer people were watching, Mujin began doing what he needed to do not as League Leader, but as Mujin.

“Has life at Shaolin been bearable?”

“All the elders of the sect cherish me greatly, so I am always grateful.”

Mujin smiled bitterly at Gonghwan’s mature answer.

'......It feels as though I saw him in the Southern Barbarians only yesterday.'

In the first place, Gonghwan had ended up going to Shaolin because of Mujin, in a way.

Their connection had formed in the Southern Barbarians, when Gonghwan became entangled with Shincheon’s Young Heavenly Lord and Mujin saved him from him.

That was why, whenever Mujin saw Gonghwan winning atop the sparring stage and carrying himself with such maturity, the pity he felt grew even stronger.

It felt as though the child had been forced to grow up too quickly because of him.

At a young age, Gonghwan had been separated from his parents and forced to come to Shaolin.

On top of that, his master Mugung had also left because of Mujin’s proposal.

Thus, Mujin wondered how he might help this child.

And the conclusion he reached after thinking it over was simpler than expected.

“Now that you have grown, do you not wish to see your mother at least once?”

“!!!”

It was to let Gonghwan walk the same path Mujin himself had taken after the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering.

Seeing Gonghwan’s startled expression, Mujin smiled gently and spoke.

“There are several hidden passages within this League. At one of them, a carriage and horses, a suitable escort, and clothes and wigs for disguise have been prepared. Once you collect your prize, you need only head there immediately.”

“B-but.......”

Longing for the mother from whom he had been forcibly separated in childhood.

And thoughts of the elders of his sect, who had placed countless expectations upon him.

Seeing Gonghwan unable to decide as those two emotions mixed together, Mujin answered as though telling him not to worry.

“I will tell Shaolin that I urgently entrusted you with a letter that must be delivered secretly to the Southern Barbarians. So do not worry. I may not look it, but am I not the Leader of the Zhengmu League? Hahaha.”

Of course, Shaolin would likely demand to know what bad habits he was trying to teach the children this time.

'People should wander a little and stray from the straight path at least once in their lives. Absolutely.'

That was none of Mujin’s concern.