Genius Martial Arts Trainer

Theory of Iron Training

After half a Sijin, the arm exercises ended. Mu-jin taught a few techniques of Close-Range Spear Technique to relax the muscles in their arms, which had become tense, tight, and injured.

When the day’s arm exercises were finally over, Mu-jin spoke.

“This concludes today’s training. Does anyone have any questions?”

One of the martial artists from the Jegal family, whose arms were shaking every time he moved, managed to raise his hand with great difficulty.

“Why did we only repeat arm exercises so intensely?”

The question carried an undertone suggesting that alternating between different body parts might have prevented such extreme fatigue.

“That’s an excellent question!”

For some reason, Mu-jin seemed very pleased with the question.

“As I mentioned earlier, the human body becomes stronger through the process of injury and recovery. However, this only applies to injuries that are within a recoverable range. Additionally, the human body needs time to heal. Overworked muscles need at least two to three days of rest. Therefore, it’s essential to divide and overwork different muscle groups during training.”

Upon Mu-jin’s explanation, some of the more perceptive individuals felt an inexplicable sense of dread.

“Are you saying that we will train different body parts with this intensity every day?”

“Exactly. The problem with full-body workouts is that you need to rest for two or three days after a single session. However, by dividing the workout, you don’t need to rest at all. Today, we made our arms happy; tomorrow, we’ll make our legs happy.”

Looking at Mu-jin’s face, which seemed to be asking if they were enjoying themselves, the people of the Jegal family thought,

‘He’s a demon!’

‘The young lord has unleashed a demon upon us!!’

They had realized too late what the Shaolin disciples had known for years.

* * *

After learning that the same agony awaited them the next day, the Jegal family’s martial artists left. Not long after, another group of martial artists of similar numbers arrived at the grand training hall.

As the Jegal family belonged to the Five Noble Families, combining the direct and collateral lines, as well as the external branch, their number exceeded four hundred.

Of course, during the recent rebellion and suppression, about one-third of them had been lost, but there were still nearly three hundred left.

Therefore, Jegal Jin-hee divided them into two groups for training.

Once again, the grand training hall of the Jegal family resounded with the cheers of a baseball team.

After finishing a day’s training,

“Is everyone gathered?”

Jegal Jin-hee summoned a few people to a certain hall located in the heart of the Jegal family’s residence.

These were the geniuses of the Jegal family, summoned by Jegal Jin-hee to carry out Jegal Gung’s orders.

They had gathered to create a new divine technique.

However, even though they had gathered at her call, they faced a significant problem.

It wasn’t that they lacked the talent to create a new divine technique.

To research martial arts, they naturally had to write and combine mnemonics on paper.

“Young lord, my hands are trembling so much that I can’t write.”

They, too, had received training from Mu-jin today and couldn’t even hold a brush properly.

However, being geniuses of the Jegal family, they came up with a plan to take advantage of this situation.

“Young lord, although such strenuous training may benefit our martial arts, we have a mission to create new techniques. To properly focus on this task, we should take a break from training…”

“That’s not possible.”

However, their trick was rejected before they could even finish speaking.

“Rather, those of you who are developing martial arts must participate in the training.”

“What do you mean?”

They were already short on time to develop martial arts; why should they waste it on such intense external energy training?

Their eyes conveyed this sentiment.

Seeing their expressions, Jegal Jin-hee explained her plan to them. She explained why they couldn’t skip training.

“The clue to the new divine technique that the family head and I are considering lies in Master Mu-jin’s external energy training.”

“…What?”

“You remember what Master Mu-jin explained today. The main feature of Master Mu-jin’s external energy training is that the training methods are detailedly divided for each muscle group.”

Some of them made faces that said, “So what?” while others had expressions of realization.

Jegal Jin-hee continued to explain, noting those who had shown realization.

“In other words, by combining different training methods for each martial art, we can create the most suitable body for performing that martial art.”

With this explanation, everyone present understood her meaning.

“You’re suggesting we not only create the mnemonics for martial arts but also combine them with external energy training methods to create a suitable vessel for mastering them!”

“Combining external energy training methods to create a vessel capable of performing theoretically possible mnemonics! With this method, we could definitely create new martial arts, young lord!”

As expected of the Jegal family’s geniuses, they envisioned a future where the Jegal family ascended even higher through the creation of new divine techniques.

However, their joyous smiles didn’t last long.

“Yes. Therefore, you must participate in Master Mu-jin’s training without missing a single session. You need to master his training methods completely to combine them properly, don’t you think?”

Seeing her smiling lips amidst her stern eyes, the geniuses who had been dreaming of a brilliant future quickly wore looks of despair.

* * *

Two days after Jegal Jin-hee began mandating external energy training for everyone in the family and pushing the geniuses to their limits, Jegal Gung summoned her to the family head’s hall.

“Greetings, father.”

“You may call me father when we’re alone.”

“Yes, father.”

Jegal Jin-hee, already mature, seemed even more grown-up as the young lord in just two days.

After making eye contact with his daughter for a moment, Jegal Gung carefully began to speak.

“Ahem. The reason I suddenly called you here is that I have something to ask.”

“Please, ask me, father.”

“I’ve heard rumors from the family recently. I’ve heard that you mentioned my name while ordering a large quantity of strange metal objects from the workshop and that you’re forcing everyone in the family to undergo intense external energy training every day.”

Jegal Jin-hee tilted her head at Jegal Gung’s words.

“I did those things to carry out your orders.”

All those actions were to advance the family and keep Mu-jin from leaving.

“To carry out my orders?”

“Yes. Didn’t you instruct me to prevent the Shaolin disciples from leaving?”

“Ah…”

Jegal Gung let out a light exclamation at her words.

Realizing that keeping the Shaolin Dragon meant keeping Mu-gyeong as well.

“If it was for that reason, there’s nothing to be done. Ahem. But, Jin-hee.”

“Yes, father.”

“Keeping the Shaolin Dragon is good, but shouldn’t we also start preparing to create new martial arts?”

“We are already doing so, father.”

“Already doing so?”

“Yes. While training with Master Mu-jin’s external energy training methods, we are researching how to integrate those methods into new martial arts.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Why did the Shaolin Dragon’s external energy training methods come up instead of developing new martial arts?

Jegal Gung couldn’t understand Jegal Jin-hee’s words.

“…? Didn’t you instruct me to do this, father?”

“What do you mean? I clearly instructed you to keep Master Mu-gyeong and develop new martial arts with his help.”

“What? Not Master Mu-jin?”

“Why are you suddenly bringing up Master Mu-jin?”

“…?”

“…?”

The two looked at each other with puzzled faces, unable to grasp the situation for a moment.

“Haah.”

Finally understanding what had happened, Jegal Gung let out a deep sigh.

“….”

Jegal Jin-hee, her face rarely flushed bright red, lowered her head deeply.

* * *

Despite the realization of their misunderstanding, Mu-jin’s lessons continued.

This was the first task Jegal Jin-hee undertook as the young lord.

If the family head stopped it after only two days, her authority as the young lord would be undermined.

Moreover, Jegal Jin-hee strongly argued that the family could also progress with Mu-jin’s training methods, so Jegal Gung decided to trust her for the time being.

‘Hmm. If we have a connection with Master Mu-jin, there will be an opportunity to involve Master Mu-gyeong as well.’

That didn’t mean Jegal Gung had given up on Mu-gyeong.

As a result, every morning at the Jegal family’s grand training hall, the slogan “I am happy!” echoed continuously.

A slight change occurred: the outsiders who were resting in the family after the rebellion’s suppression, such as the Muja Trio, Dao Yuetian, and even those from Cheongsu Dojang, joined the training.

“Hahaha. What an interesting fellow.”

Moreover, Yunheo Zhenren, who occasionally watched the young lord’s external energy training while stroking his beard from the top of the wall, was frequently observed.

Thus, two more days passed, and on the third day of training, a sudden commotion arose from outside the grand training hall.

“What’s happening!”

In response to Jegal Jin-hee’s question, a warrior who had run in from outside the grand training hall urgently shouted.

“Young lord! Jegal Gi-hwan has returned!!”

It had been six days since he fled. Now, he was returning to the family.

Jegal Jin-hee, assuming he wouldn’t return alone, asked,

“Who did he come with?”

“That… the old man with him introduced himself as Namgung Mu-geuk!”

“!!!

”

Startled by the report, Jegal Jin-hee quickly headed toward the family’s main gate.

Those who had been listening to the conversation also followed her without hesitation.

Of course, this included Mu-jin and his companions, as well as Yunheo Zhenren.

‘No wonder he fled without any regrets.’

Mu-jin had not expected that the Namgung family would be involved.

And certainly not that Namgung Mu-geuk, one of the Three Swords of the World, would move personally.

‘There’s already one of the Three Swords of the World here, so it must be to balance the scales.’

While heading towards the main gate of the Jegal family, Mu-jin recalled the information he had about Namgung Mu-geuk.

In fact, the Namgung Sword Emperor, as he was known, did not directly appear in the novel.

However, his name and title appeared quite frequently.

‘Originally, the titles of the Three Swords of the World and the Seven Kings were established because of that man.’

According to the novel, about twenty years ago, Namgung Mu-geuk, then in his mid-thirties, had handed over the position of family head to his young son and frequently left the family to engage in duels and life-and-death battles with masters across the continent.

During this process, Namgung Mu-geuk, who fought evenly with Yunheo Zhenren and Hyeok Jin-gang, collectively earned the title of Three Swords of the World.

Those who lost to Namgung Mu-geuk, such as the Plum Blossom Sword Saint of the Hwasan Sect and the head of the Hebei Peng Family, received the titles of Sword King and Blade King.

The Plum Blossom Sword Saint’s rival, Tang-gak, was given the title of Dark King, and Wi Ji-hak, who fought evenly with the head of the Peng Family, received the title of Fist King.

‘Fifteen years ago, after a life-and-death duel with Hyeok Jin-gang, he supposedly stayed confined in the Namgung family. But why is this old man, who was quiet in the novel, suddenly appearing here?’

Moreover, the problem wasn’t just Namgung Mu-geuk.

If even the elder moved, the Namgung family must have invested considerable force. Adding the forces of Shinchun, could the Jegal family handle it alone?

‘Damn. Can the Jegal family face this alone?’

Worrying about this, Mu-jin used his Qinggong technique to climb onto the wall.

And seeing the enemy’s forces beyond the wall, Mu-jin’s eyes filled with astonishment.

“…He came alone?”

There were no martial artists from Shinchun or even the Namgung family.

Only Jegal Gi-hwan, who had fled the previous night, the one-armed swordsman, and an old swordsman standing alone confidently before them.