Genius Martial Arts Trainer

At the foot of the mountain where Mujin and Gu Yangpae were engaged in their sparring match.

Boom!!

Boom!!!

As thunderous roars repeatedly echoed down from the mountain and waves of energy surged without pause, the martial artists of the Demon Cult and the orthodox factions stared toward the summit with tense expressions.

Because they were some distance away, they could not grasp the exact course of the life-and-death duel.

However.

'Could this be what the battles of immortals from legends were like?'

Though the battle was taking place too far away for them to see, deafening explosions continued to ring out, and the waves of energy spreading from the summit reached even where they stood.

A battle that shattered all common sense was unfolding at the top of the mountain.

Whether they belonged to the Demon Cult or the orthodox factions, the martial artists found themselves thinking similar thoughts.

One was the hope that their leader would emerge victorious.

The other was regret that they could not witness the life-and-death duel with their own eyes.

How long had they waited like that, each wearing a tense expression?

“......It is over.”

At some point, both the thunderous roars from the summit and the raging storm of energy subsided.

Everyone remained silent, waiting for the result with complicated expressions.

Before long, they saw someone pushing through the undergrowth and descending the mountain.

“!!!”

“This cannot be.......”

At the same time, joy and despair divided those who had been waiting.

Mujin, covered in wounds, with his clothes torn or melted in several places, was descending while carrying the Heavenly Demon over his shoulder.

Just the sight of the Heavenly Demon hanging across Mujin’s back made it obvious who the victor was.

“Heavenly Demon!!”

At the sight of the shocked Demon Cult martial artists, Mujin let out a sigh and lowered Gu Yangpae from his back.

“He is not dead, so do not worry. Though he will require immediate treatment.”

Honestly, even Mujin was not certain whether Gu Yangpae could fully recover with treatment.

Even after exhausting all his inner energy, Gu Yangpae had continued resisting until the very end, and Mujin had only managed to strike his acupoints and subdue him after breaking the bones in one of his arms and one of his legs.

Only if the broken bones were properly set and his internal injuries treated would he be able to regain his original martial prowess.

The Demon Cult members gathered around Gu Yangpae, examined his condition, then hurriedly took him away.

Watching the Demon Cult members rapidly disappear into the distance, Mujin thought.

'If we had fought this life-and-death duel just a few months earlier, I might have lost.'

If it had happened during the period when he had been unable to lift iron for two months because he was guarding Emperor Jianping, he might have lost.

Because Mujin’s martial arts relied heavily on external cultivation, it was an unavoidable weakness.

Meanwhile, Zhuge Muhuan, who had been watching from the side, approached while lightly fluttering his fan.

“Congratulations. With this, you have officially become the strongest person under heaven. Though your appearance is rather dreadful.”

“My whole body is already aching. Did you at least bring medicine?”

The moment Mujin finished asking, the Zhengmu League martial artists who had been standing by took out various medicines and handed them to him.

While Mujin slathered medicine over his wounds as a temporary measure and wrapped them in bandages.

Zhuge Muhuan casually asked.

“Then, now that this important matter concerning the martial world has been settled, may I finally go to the Forbidden City?”

Zhuge Muhuan’s eyes were shining.

He clearly wanted to use his connection to Mujin to become one of the emperor’s close aides.

In truth, several pieces of advice Mujin had given the emperor had originated from Zhuge Muhuan’s letters.

However.

“Hahaha. If the Chief Strategist comes to the Forbidden City, who will manage the League? His Majesty places great trust in us, so the League will have much work to do in the future as well. Therefore, I ask that you continue taking good care of the League as you have until now.”

Mujin had absolutely no intention of introducing Zhuge Muhuan to Emperor Jianping.

'If I retire while leaving that bastard beside the emperor, there is no telling what kind of disaster will descend upon the Central Plains.'

A man who only valued his own life becoming one of the emperor’s closest aides?

The worst treacherous minister in history might be born.

Of course, Zhuge Muhuan’s face twisted as though he had bitten into something foul at Mujin’s refusal.

“What? Do you have a complaint?”

When the wounded Mujin grinned and raised his fist, Zhuge Muhuan also smiled awkwardly and covered his face with his fan.

***

After finishing his emergency treatment, Mujin immediately returned to the Forbidden City.

Several days later, a letter sent by the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult arrived at the Forbidden City.

It stated that they accepted their defeat and would follow Emperor Jianping’s will.

After that, another new wind of change began sweeping through the Central Plains.

The wind of foreign trade.

The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult developed the road from the Central Plains to the Silk Road, as well as the route passing through Yunnan Province toward the Beast Palace of the Southern Barbarians, and constructed various inns and taverns along those roads.

The work progressed easily because Mugung was not only a former martial artist, but was also acquainted with Gu Yangpae and an expert in road construction.

The idea of building inns and taverns along the routes as a kind of rest stop had also come from Mugung.

Through the roads managed by the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, increasing numbers of merchants, soldiers, and diplomatic envoys from the Central Plains began traveling west.

Once envoys traveling with soldiers opened the way for trade with foreign nations, merchants would set out on trading journeys accompanied by martial artists.

During the process, bandits and mounted raiders operating near the borders or in ownerless lands sometimes attacked them, but this instead created more work for martial artists and armed escorts.

Trade did not take place only over land.

Martial artists living in the southern regions often boarded ships with merchants or the military, eliminating Japanese raiders and pirates while opening sea routes.

Martial artists were practically gods in close combat, and an expert capable of running across water was worth nearly as much as a single cannon.

Once the martial artists who had joined the first trading expeditions and traveled west returned, the winds of change accelerated even further.

Those who had believed the Central Plains to be the entire world finally learned just how vast the world truly was.

The attention of people who had struggled desperately to seize even the smallest thing from one another within the Central Plains, which had once seemed infinitely vast, naturally shifted beyond its borders.

As a result, martial artists broadly divided into three paths.

Some remained in their hometowns, operating sects or martial schools and training martial artists.

Some joined the Zhengmu League or the Southern Heavenly Society, helping the Embroidered Uniform Guard maintain order within the Central Plains and exposing corrupt officials. Among them, there were even some who entered government service outright.

And lastly, there were those who joined the military or merchant associations and ventured out into the wider world.

As corrupt individuals continued to be arrested and trade increased, more money circulated throughout the Central Plains, and the lives of the people grew steadily more prosperous.

Of course, trade alone did not solve every problem.

Rather, as roads were built and trade expanded, the number of people traveling between regions increased exponentially, creating various issues involving taxes and more.

This was not Mujin’s field of expertise, but fortunately, Emperor Jianping and the civil officials gradually found solutions.

They created a new unified currency and distributed identification plaques and standardized weights and measures.

Criminals who counterfeited currency or identification plaques were quickly dealt with by the Embroidered Uniform Guard loyal to Mujin, the Zhengmu League, the Southern Heavenly Society, and the newly reorganized Eastern Depot.

Thus, just as an age of peace rivaling the legendary reigns of ancient sage kings.

No, an age of peace surpassing even that was beginning to settle over the Central Plains.

Mukyeong came to see Mujin.

Thud.

Mujin stared at the worn and tattered book Mukyeong had dropped onto the table, then turned his gaze toward him.

“Is it all finished?”

At Mujin’s question, Mukyeong silently nodded.

After pondering for a moment, Mujin spoke briefly.

“You worked hard.”

The book was the register of names assigned to Mukyeong.

Those who had followed the former emperor, Emperor Taiping.

Or dangerous individuals who might attempt rebellion.

Over the course of roughly two years, Mukyeong had hunted down and eliminated every last one of them after they scattered and hid throughout the Central Plains.

With a face exhausted beyond measure, Mukyeong answered.

“Still, it was not entirely without meaning.”

“......Is that so?”

“Whenever I passed through a village or city, I could see the people’s faces growing brighter with every passing day.”

Had Mukyeong believed that he was helping a tyrant, he would not have endured it.

He might have lost himself to murderous intent and become a mad killer, or abandoned everything long ago and hidden in the mountains.

Mujin looked at Mukyeong with sympathy and asked.

“Have you thought about what you will do from now on? If that is what you want, there is no need for you to return to the Demon-Subduing Unit. Now, not only the Zhengmu League, but also the Southern Heavenly Society and the government are arresting villains wherever they find them.”

Mukyeong seemed to think for a moment, then abruptly drew the Asura Blade, placed it on the table, and spoke.

“I want to return to Shaolin and spend the rest of my life cultivating the Buddhist path.”

“......All right. You will never have to use this again. I will make certain of it.”

At Mujin’s firm declaration, a smile finally appeared on Mukyeong’s face.

Mujin also smiled faintly at Mukyeong, who was managing to smile despite his exhaustion.

“If you ever become bored or tired while cultivating the Buddhist path, spend some time with Muyul.”

“True. With Junior Brother Muyul there, returning to Shaolin should not be boring.”

Thinking of their most innocent and pure-hearted Junior Brother, the two smiled together.

***

Several days after Mukyeong entrusted the Asura Blade to Mujin and entered seclusion.

“Wife!”

“My husband!!”

“Father!!”

Liu Xuehua and the children finally arrived in Beijing.

The completion of Mukyeong’s mission meant that those who had followed the previous emperor had been completely eradicated.

At last, Mujin had enough freedom to occasionally leave the palace after work, and Liu Xuehua and the children no longer had to live under the threat of assassination every hour of the day.

Mujin and Liu Xuehua were both now in their mid-thirties, but they had maintained their bodies consistently and were still in the prime of health.

Yet they had been separated for a full two years.

Naturally, the husband and wife passionately made up for the time they had lost.

Before long, news that Liu Xuehua had conceived their fourth child spread from Beijing throughout the entire Central Plains.

“They say the Commander’s exercises are good for virility! It seems that was true!”

“Of course! The exercises he teaches are good for virility, and is that not also true of the rehabilitation exercises taught by his wife?”

Naturally, public interest in rehabilitation exercises and lifting iron exploded once again.

Mujin, Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, whose rank was only second-grade despite being called the man beneath one person and above ten thousand.

And Liu Xuehua of the Tianliu Muscle and Bone Treatment Clinic, one of the pillars of the number one merchant association under heaven.

Both were famous figures known throughout the Central Plains, so there was no way the rumors would not spread.

By then, there was scarcely a region in the Central Plains without an estate for lifting iron or a muscle and bone treatment clinic.

Even people unaffiliated with the Tianliu Merchant Association were learning the methods poorly and opening their own businesses.

Time passed once again.

By the time Liu Xuehua had safely given birth to their fourth child and that child was old enough to walk on his own.

“It has truly been a long time since the two of us met alone like this, Monk Mujin. No, I suppose I should now call you Commander.”

Dao Yuechen, leader of the Southern Heavenly Society, had come to Beijing.

“We have shared the same purpose for more than ten years, and there are no ears listening. You may address me comfortably now, Society Leader Dao.”

“Hahaha. Then I shall call you Monk Mujin. I have called you that since the first time we met, so it is still the most comfortable.”

Seeing how relieved Dao Yuechen looked, Mujin asked with a complicated expression.

“It seems you have made your decision.”

“Yes. From now on, please simply call me Sect Master Dao.”

Dao Yuechen had declared that he would step down as leader of the Southern Heavenly Society.

The reason he had continued serving as its leader even after Shincheon disappeared was to eliminate those who had fallen into inhuman evil and protect the people of the south.

However, an age of peace had arrived, and thanks to the imperial family, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the martial artists arresting corrupt officials wherever they found them, that purpose had nearly become meaningless.

Of course, even if his original purpose had disappeared, he could have remained in his position and enjoyed its power.

But Dao Yuechen was a man who felt the weight of responsibility far more strongly than the sweetness of authority.

“I intend to return to my family with my wife and live a quiet life as Sect Master of the Iron Flash Sect, teaching the children.”

“What greater happiness is there than a life spent with one’s family?”

Mujin and Dao Yuechen raised their cups and drank together.

“I can only apologize for retiring first and failing to help Monk Mujin until the very end.”

“I am the one who should apologize for continuing to force such burdens upon you.”

As Dao Yuechen smiled gently and waved his hand, Mujin inwardly let out a sigh of relief.

'......I am truly glad that he has finally found peace.'

Even before entering the novel, Dao Yuechen had been Mujin’s favorite protagonist.

A man who bore the heaviest fate and overcame the limits of his talent through effort that carved away his bones and muscles.

It was enough if the idol of his childhood could finally live a little more comfortably.

“Since you have stepped down as leader of the Southern Heavenly Society, how about finally beginning rehabilitation exercises in earnest?”

Because of the nature of Dao Yuechen’s martial arts, beginning rehabilitation could actually weaken his martial prowess.

However, after thinking for a moment, Dao Yuechen nodded.

“Since this decision is practically retirement anyway, it does not sound bad. My wife has already been worried about me.”