Chapter 8
"Upper stance!"
"Haap!"
"One more time!"
"Haap!"
The day after having a deep conversation with my senior brothers last night.
I participated in the first dawn training.
According to Senior Brother Unmi's explanation, during the dawn and morning training, we mainly learned the basic sword and fist techniques that all Wudang disciples must learn.
In the afternoon, along with the internal technique, we would learn more specialized martial arts suited to each individual.
'So that's why Martial Uncle Hyeon Yang told me to come only in the afternoon. I thought he was giving me special treatment, but that's not it.'
Besides me, there were many disciples who trained on their own from the afternoon.
There were senior brothers who trained alone, and some who trained in pairs.
'What are my senior brothers doing in the afternoon?'
I should ask them during lunchtime.
From now on, I'll have to make the senior brothers in my room train separately in the afternoon.
My goal for now is to make our room stand out among the third-generation disciples.
If they just train according to the schedule I set, they will surely become so.
Because the way to become strong is so simple.
"That's enough! Everyone, take a break for one tea time. Don't move as much as possible so your tired bodies can recover."
"Yes, Martial Uncle!"
Look at this. What have we done to be resting already?
I was just starting to feel something in my arm muscles, and he cuts it off here.
Resting so ambiguously is worse than not training at all.
It just makes the body tired for no reason.
In contrast, the sword art itself was amazing.
'So this is why they call Wudang the Seonsan Sword Sect.'
What I learned today was a very simple downward strike and slash.
But, even in these simple movements, there was a very subtle difference.
Until now, when I swung a sword, I had only been interested in how strongly and quickly I swung it.
But in Wudang, it seemed they were practicing movements that developed the habit of using the harmony of the whole body to produce the maximum force with the minimum effort.
'Why didn't I think of this in my past life?'
When you hold the sword with your right hand and swing, your left arm naturally turns in the opposite direction of the sword.
This is because slashing with a sword is not simply done with arm strength, but is more efficient when you use the strength of your waist to rotate your entire torso.
Then, the conclusion is that instead of building arm strength, if you increase the speed at which your body rotates, the sword will become faster.
In times like this, I had foolishly built up my waist strength and swung the sword with muscle power, but Wudang taught me a very simple method.
'I just had to swing my left arm in the opposite direction at the same time.'
As the left arm turns, it naturally rotates the waist, and you just have to swing your right hand in time with that.
It's much easier and requires less effort, allowing you to conserve stamina even if you fight for a long time.
'This is fun...!'
It's genuinely fun.
The Un Family Sword Art I had learned was nothing more than a slight modification of the Three Talents Sword Art.
Therefore, I couldn't even hope for such detailed explanations.
I didn't have a separate master, so there was no one to teach me.
But in Wudang, they teach this systematically.
How enjoyable will it be when I formally learn a sword art in the future?
"Break's over. Everyone, get up!"
"Yes!"
While I was lost in these thoughts, a tea time had already passed.
As I unconsciously looked around, I frowned.
'We're learning something this good, so why do they all look like that?'
They all look unhappy, as if they're being forced to do something they don't want to do.
It's not even a difficult training, but they all seem to have been raised too softly.
"Draw swords! Middle stance!"
"Haap!"
I think I have a rough idea of what Wudang's problem is.
For today, I just did as I was told.
If I shouted right now, 'Why are we only training this much?', it was obvious that I would just be told that the youngest had gone crazy after falling into the water.
'So, for now, let's definitely change our room number nine first. And then, one by one, I'll devour them.'
As I was making a vow to myself, Unmi, who was swinging his sword right in front of me, flinched and looked at me.
He must be quick-witted.
I shrugged my shoulders and nodded my head, meaning to keep working hard.
I had no intention of touching him yet.
"Sheathe swords... thrust!"
"Haap!"
"Aack!!"
Huh? But suddenly, Senior Brother Unmi screams at the top of his lungs.
Because he suddenly shouted with great force, the surrounding gazes gathered on him.
Everyone looked bewildered, but Senior Brother Unmi had a serious expression.
"Upper stance again!"
"Aack!!"
"Ah, aack!"
That's not the end of it. Senior Brothers Unjeong and Unshik, who were next to him, also shouted as if they had caught something.
Then, Unmi looked at me with a proud smile.
'Ha... don't tell me he thought I was giving him a hint because he wasn't working hard?'
After that, the three senior brothers showed a crazy passion.
Even the Martial Uncle who was conducting today's training approached them and patted their shoulders, saying they were full of energy today.
While I was dumbfounded, the training continued.
"That's all for today's dawn training. Everyone, gather again after breakfast by the end of the Hour of the Dragon."
"Yes, Martial Uncle! Thank you!"
After the dawn training ended, the other senior brothers rushed to the dining hall.
Because hundreds of people had to eat together, if you went late, you had to wait for a long time.
That seemed to be why they were in such a hurry.
But the senior brothers in my room exchanged glances and approached me.
"Hwi-ya. You're going to eat, right?"
"Yes. Shouldn't we eat breakfast?"
It seemed like he was asking for my opinion, but in reality, he was asking for my permission.
At that sight, a slight irritation welled up in me without my knowledge.
"Why? Are you afraid I won't let you eat?"
"Ah, no. That's not it."
"Then?"
"You usually didn't eat breakfast. So I was just asking if you weren't going to eat today either."
"Really? Of course, we have to go. Lead the way."
"Alright. I understand."
Senior Brother Unmi nodded obediently and started walking.
The owner of this body must not have eaten well.
Since it's a Taoist sect, they probably don't serve meat dishes often, saying it accumulates turbid qi, and he didn't even eat that, so he had no choice but to be so skinny.
Until now, Un Gwang had brought all my meals to my room, so this was actually my first time going to the dining hall.
The dining hall was not far from the training ground.
'This is like a madhouse.'
For a moment, I understood why the original owner of this body didn't want to eat.
He was a timid person who hated bumping into people.
But the dining hall was packed with people going in to eat, people waiting to get food, and people coming out after eating.
'Still, I have to eat.'
But there was no disagreement that I had to eat.
Tough training and a full meal.
These are the most basic of basics in becoming strong.
"Senior Brothers. How much do you usually eat?"
"I don't digest well in the morning, so I only eat about half a bowl of rice."
"From now on, eat a full bowl. Without leaving anything, chew it well."
"Huh?"
"The most basic thing in becoming strong is eating. Think of all the food as becoming your muscles and eat a lot no matter what."
"What if I eat too much and can't digest it?"
Looking at Unjeong who asked back, I tilted my head.
"Why wouldn't you be able to digest it?"
"If I eat too much..."
"Ah! Don't worry. It'll all be digested after about twenty laps around the training ground we saw earlier."
At my words, the senior brothers had a bewildered expression.
But what could they do? They knew very well that if they resisted now, their night would be miserable.
"And one more thing. Isn't this time waiting in line so boring? It's a waste of time too."
"Ah, no. It's not boring at all. I love this time. Don't they say that waiting is a pleasure. Ha. Ha. Ha."
"Then let's spend this time you love more meaningfully. We'll wait in the horse stance until right before we eat. Horse stance!"
But no one moved at my words.
It wasn't like I said something difficult, but it seemed they needed time to think.
In times like this, you just have to say something that makes them think quickly.
I whispered quietly in a voice only they could hear.
"Do you want to get hit?"
"Ah, no. I was just about to do it!"
"The lower body is the foundation of all martial arts. Haha. This time is so enjoyable. It's so enjoyable that I'm about to cry."
"I was doing it from the beginning. You saw, right?"
I smirked at them and then assumed the same horse stance.
"Good. Let's all get stronger like this."
The other senior brothers around us pointed fingers and giggled at our sudden horse stance. But I didn't care.
'Enjoy it while you can. You damn senior brothers. Your turn will come soon enough.'
But among the people looking at us, there was a familiar face.
It was Senior Brother Uncheol. He was standing far away from us, looking at us as if he was from a different room.
That gaze is a little arrogant.
'I'll have to have a deep conversation with him again tonight.'
When our eyes met, he quickly turned his head.
"Senior Brother Unjeong."
"Yes?"
"I'm going to have a deep conversation with Senior Brother Uncheol later. Don't you want to train at the training ground in the evening?"
"In the evening?"
Senior Brother Unjeong thought about what I said and then nodded his head desperately.
"The wind is cool in the evening these days. I'll take the junior brothers and review what we learned today. That's all I have to do, right?"
"You're a reasonable person, Senior Brother. I like you."
"Th-Thank you."
He answered reflexively and then dropped his head, but I didn't mind.
The only one I was looking at was Senior Brother Uncheol, who had his back turned.
***
Before I knew it, the morning training was over and it was time for the afternoon training.
The morning training was not much different from the dawn training.
However, the sword path became complicated enough to be called a form, albeit just a little, so I could train more enjoyably.
"What. He's not here yet?"
I arrived at Martial Uncle Hyeon Yang's room on time, but there was no one there.
I had only met him a few times, but from what I knew of Martial Uncle Hyeon Yang's personality, he didn't seem like someone who would break a promise about time.
Thud—
I sat down on the floor in the lotus position.
Yesterday, he taught me the basics of the Taiji Internal Technique, so today, he would surely do something related to it.
'Should I just circulate my qi?'
I've been steadily accumulating energy since yesterday, and I've been diligently gathering energy even while sleeping, but I'm still not satisfied.
In my past life, I was looked down on for being from a third-rate family, but through constant effort, I had accumulated enough internal energy to be in the ranks of the top masters in the martial world.
There was no way I would be satisfied with this meager internal strength now.
Swoosh—
I could feel the energy slowly flowing out from my dantian towards the Ren and Du meridians.
Fortunately or unfortunately, this body had maintained a state of pureness thanks to not eating well.
'Good... this feeling.'
I slowly felt myself falling into unconsciousness.
In the room, I couldn't openly circulate my qi like this because of the senior brothers.
I entrusted my mind to this refreshing feeling that I hadn't felt in a long time.
***
Swoosh—
After finishing one heavenly cycle, I slightly opened my eyes.
I had only circulated the energy once and accumulated it, but I felt like a considerable amount of internal energy had been accumulated.
Even so, it was only at the level of adding one more bean.
'Wow... Taiji Internal Technique. This is also really amazing.'
I was once again amazed by Wudang's martial arts.
It was only a basic internal technique, but compared to the Un Family Internal Technique I had learned, it was several times better.
In particular, the advantage of the Taiji Internal Technique was that it accumulated pure internal energy that was close to the energy of nature.
'If the Taiji Internal Technique is this good... how amazing must the more advanced internal techniques be?'
I clenched and unclenched my fist and looked at my hand.
"Uh...?"
But I felt a hot gaze from somewhere.
I quickly remembered where I was sitting.
I quickly turned my head in the direction of the gaze and my eyes met with a gaze that seemed to see right through me.
"Ma-Martial Uncle!"
Martial Uncle Hyeon Yang was looking at me from right next to me.
I had fallen into a state of selflessness to the point where I didn't even know a person had come this close.
"When did you arrive?"
"......"
But Martial Uncle Hyeon Yang didn't answer.
After seeming to be in deep thought for a moment, he looked straight into my eyes again and opened his mouth.
"You... What is your identity?”
(End of Chapter)