Chapter 22 - Forging (5)
Namgung Jun had received Dan Jung-se’s acknowledgement.
“Astonishing. To be honest, I didn’t know you would make it this far.”
“Though he is young, his mental strength is worthy of being emulated.”
“It makes my heart race! Namgung Jun would have adapted well even if he had come to the Iron Pagoda Hall.”
Not only the Iron Pagoda Hall Master, but also the Iron Pagoda Hall members who had been watching the duel acknowledged Namgung Jun’s tenacity. Most would have been knocked out while trying to handle the fists of the Iron Pagoda Hall Master as he relentlessly pushed them.
But Namgung Jun had gritted his teeth and endured while standing firm on his two feet. This was something that was not easy even for the members of the Iron Pagoda Hall, who underwent harsh external art training every day.
The external art training from Dan Jung-se that began thus was certainly harsh. Dan Jung-se, based on the stamina and mental strength of Namgung Jun that he had confirmed through the duel, pushed him to his absolute limit. Naturally, the training never stopped midway.
“I have already confirmed your tenacity. By proving yourself, you have done your part.”
The muscles of the cross-armed Dan Jung-se twitched minutely. They were dynamic, as if he were excited.
“Now, it is my role to raise your body’s condition as quickly and correctly as possible, without injury.”
In Namgung Jun’s two hands were short staffs made of iron.
On both ends of the short staffs were discs with holes in them, so the weight could be adjusted according to the number of discs.
He had said that it was an external art training tool that Dan Jung-se had devised himself and had requested the Iron-Forging Pavilion of the Ink Scent Division to create.
The weight of a single short staff was not light, and as discs of various sizes were added, the weight felt by the body was extraordinary.
Even though he was just holding the iron tools in both hands, the pressure was considerable, as if his entire upper body were being pressed down.
“Huu.”
Namgung Jun, who had assumed the Horse Stance, repeatedly lifted and lowered the short staffs fitted with discs. From the side, Dan Jung-se, who was carefully observing Namgung Jun’s muscles and even touching them directly, gave endless advice.
“It’s not just about simply moving. You must know how the muscles are moving and where they are being stimulated! Imagine it in your head! As if you were doing mind's eye training!”
The Sword Emperor of his past life was also a peerless master, but he did not know as much about the physical body as Dan Jung-se did.
He was merely aware of how to move to produce strong power through long repetition and training.
But Dan Jung-se was so erudite about the physical body that he had organized his own theories into separate oral formulas and had drawn all sorts of postures in diagrams.
Throughout the world, it would have been difficult to find a martial artist who had delved so deeply into the physical body in this way. While receiving the teaching, Namgung Jun became certain. That a martial artist who received teaching from Dan Jung-se, regardless of their realm, would experience great growth.
‘So I get to learn again like this.’
Namgung Jun focused as much as possible so as not to let this time, where Dan Jung-se was teaching him in close contact, go to waste.
Dan Jung-se not only gave instruction during training time, but in all aspects of his life, helping Namgung Jun to recover his body quickly.
On top of that, as his accomplishment in the Heavenly Thunder True Yang Art also rose steadily, Namgung Jun’s body changed day by day.
At this, even Dan Jung-se was to the point of being slightly surprised and feeling proud.
‘But I cannot just receive teaching forever.’
Dan Jung-se’s external art training method, in its introductory stages, was for forging the physical body overall, but the deeper one went, the more it was tailored for a pugilist who unfolds their martial arts with bare hands and empty fists.
The body of a swordsman and the body of a pugilist are strictly different.
Though it would be helpful to Namgung Jun to some extent, there was also a possibility that it could later upset the balance of his physique.
For that reason, Namgung Jun was not simply receiving training assistance, but was digging deep into the oral formulas to understand their principles.
So that later, he could newly adapt this external art training method to suit himself, a swordsman.
If he could accomplish this, would it not also greatly contribute to the rise of the Heavenly Sword Hall’s fighting power?
For the sake of that time, Namgung Jun endured the pain of his body burning up.
“Kughh.”
A groan escaped from Namgung Jun’s lips on its own.
The training intensity was so high that it made sense why Dan Jung-se had to discuss tenacity first and foremost.
It was not easy to endure with a frail body, but there was never a time that Namgung Jun gave up midway.
Sweat dripped down and soaked the dirt ground. Though Namgung Jun’s shadow, reflected on the ground, trembled minutely, his posture never once broke.
“Heup.”
A suppressed breath leaked from the lips of Namgung Jun as he repeated the external art training postures.
Though both his arms holding the external art training tools were trembling, a glimpse of his effort to maintain his posture until the very end could be seen.
“Good. Just three more times!”
“…Wasn’t this the last one?”
“Seeing as you can open your mouth, you still have strength left!”
Namgung Jun, who maintained a correct posture even while his body trembled to a pitiable degree.
“He was just as tenacious when he was swinging his sword in the duel.”
“He really endures well. There are more than one or two fellows in our own Hall who have tried to quit midway.”
“The more I see him, the more of a shame it is. It would have been good if he had come to the Iron Pagoda Hall.”
The external art training of the Iron Pagoda Hall members, who were experiencing Namgung Jun’s will right beside them, also became more intense.
***
There were various types of external art training in the Iron Pagoda Hall.
There was a method of simply repeating a specific posture several times to stimulate the muscles, but there was also the method of forging the entire body by carrying out tasks as if competing with the other Hall members.
“Haap!”
“Faster!”
Today in the Iron Pagoda Hall, a group training session was taking place.
It was a training session in which all the Clouds of the Iron Pagoda Hall were participating.
There was various training equipment all over the Iron Pagoda Hall’s training ground, and using this, they had to complete dozens of tasks within a time limit.
Just hearing the description might make it sound easy for a martial artist, but that was absolutely not the case.
The use of internal energy was forbidden in all tasks.
The progress of this training had to be carried out by relying on the strength of the physical body, that is, the accomplishment in external arts, which was no ordinary task.
Thump! Thump!
Using the strength of their lower body and waist to repeatedly go up and down a seven-cheok-high box, a ponderous sound echoed without end.
“Faster! At this speed, when are you going to complete three hundred repetitions!”
“Your landing is too loud! You’re using too much power!”
While the seniors of the Iron Pagoda Hall, who had taken on the role of instructors, were shouting and rushing them, on another side, cries of bewilderment burst out from here and there.
“This is too slippery.”
“Senior Geum! Didn’t you put a bit too much oil on the ropes?”
The men who were hanging from the ropes fixed to the third-story height of the pavilion showed troubled expressions.
“Slippery? You should be worrying whether your grip strength and leg strength are lacking, you bastards!”
“Any bastard who slips and falls will have to climb up again from the beginning!”
The instructors maintained a firm attitude, and the Clouds undertaking the training had no choice but to grit their teeth and carry on.
This was the same for Namgung Jun.
“Huu!”
Namgung Jun’s breathing, after making countless round trips across the wide training ground of the Iron Pagoda Hall, had become considerably rough.
Despite this, he challenged the next task without resting.
It was to hang from an iron bar fixed horizontally in the air, and to twist and rotate his whole body, repeating a specific posture.
As he did, all the muscles in his body screamed, but Namgung Jun accomplished it without a single change in his expression.
Every time Namgung Jun’s silhouette spun in the air, sweat dropped in streams.
‘Not much left.’
Though he could clearly feel the beads of sweat flowing down his face, he considered even the strength to lift a hand and wipe it away to be a waste.
There was not much time left, and a majority of the Iron Pagoda Hall members had already finished all the tasks and were resting.
Of course, Namgung Jun’s goal was not to pass the joint training with an excellent record.
Though he had gotten much better compared to before, he knew that his body had not yet been properly forged.
For that reason, he had set the goal of passing within the time limit. For passing itself was a great accomplishment and held great meaning for Namgung Jun.
Since he had already succeeded in fourteen tasks, there was only one left.
“Hang in there!”
“You’re almost there!”
The Clouds of the Iron Pagoda Hall who were resting cheered for Namgung Jun. The Iron Pagoda Hall members, who had spent time together and had steadily watched Namgung Jun train, had long since accepted him in their hearts.
‘How admirable.’
‘Most ordinary newcomers usually collapse during their first joint training.’
No one had expected that Namgung Jun, for whom only a little over a month had passed since he had begun his external art training, would be able to do this much.
It was because although they acknowledged the tenacity he possessed, there was a limit to the speed at which a body could grow.
Despite this, Namgung Jun had gritted his teeth and carried out almost all the tasks, and was now running toward the final stretch.
“Hah!”
Namgung Jun, who had perfectly executed even the final task, let out a shout and collapsed.
It was difficult to properly control his breathing, and he could feel a sweet smell rising up through his throat.
He wanted to relax his body and completely stretch out right away, but it wasn't easy because of the spasms of his churning muscles. He could only lie there and endure it.
“Drink the water little by little. Slowly.”
“Truly incredible. Who would have known he would make it in time.”
Dan Jung-se, who was looking down at Namgung Jun from the platform, nodded his head with satisfaction.
In the middle of that, Dan Jung-se’s eyes suddenly widened.
Namgung Jun, who had collapsed onto the floor, had begun to tremble all over. This was not a problem that arose from simply overexerting his body.
All the muscles in his body were repeating a very irregular cycle of contraction and expansion. As they did, a terrible coldness began to flow out, rapidly cooling the air that had been hot with feverish heat.
There was no way a phenomenon like this could appear from simply overdoing it with external art training.
‘An attack of the Nine Yin Severed Meridians!’
Because Dan Jung-se had also heard about it, he was able to quickly judge what kind of situation Namgung Jun was in.
“Namgung Jun!”
While Dan Jung-se was shouting, Namgung Jun was barely managing to get into his posture and trying to circulate his Qi.
Dan Jung-se did not interfere carelessly, but stood guard and calmly watched Namgung Jun’s response.
‘So the body reacts in this way.’
Dan Jung-se observed mainly the direct physical phenomena of the body that were visible due to the attack, rather than observing Namgung Jun’s aura.
Vwoom!
Namgung Jun, who had been circulating the Heavenly Thunder True Yang Art for a long while, barely managed to calm the attack and opened his eyes.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes. I will just regulate my breathing for a moment and then resume my training.”
Dan Jung-se plopped down in front of Namgung Jun, who was still sitting in the lotus position.
“So the attack of the Nine Yin Severed Meridians does not just affect the meridians, but extends its influence to the entire body. Especially the phenomena seen in the muscles is also extraordinary.”
“That is correct. That is why at first, I could not properly control my body and would lose consciousness.”
Dan Jung-se nodded his head.
“If an attack were to occur in a real battle, it would be very arduous. There will likely be many times when it becomes actually dangerous.”
“Yes. Fortunately, there have been no such cases yet, but one cannot always hope for a lucky chance.”
Dan Jung-se, who had been contemplating for a moment, opened his mouth.
“It will likely not be possible to suppress the attack itself, but it seems it may be possible to make it so that you are not hindered in controlling your body by the attack.”
At Dan Jung-se’s words, Namgung Jun’s eyes slowly widened.
“Is that true?”
“If you forge and temper your body with my external art training method and can control your muscles as you will, then the probability of that will become high.”
Dan Jung-se continued to speak as he carefully observed Namgung Jun’s muscles, which had become chilled and rigid from the coldness of the attack.
“Of course, it is not something that can be done right away. I have never experienced severed meridians myself, so research will be necessary, but…”
Dan Jung-se’s muscles twitched as he spoke with a face full of conviction.
“It seems possible.”