Mountain Entrance Examination (2)

Hye Gul emitted a fierce gaze as if he wouldn't miss a single move of Mu Yul's. He raised an overtly assertive aura that he would never yield to the other disciples. Thus, without even realizing it, Mu Yul, who had caught Hye Gul's attention, continued to spar with the senior disciple for nearly forty rounds.

As the sparring intensified, Hyu Jong, who had been watching the situation, belatedly halted the sparring. The purpose of the entrance examination was to assess the students' levels, not to determine the outcome of the sparring. In fact, the outcome was already predetermined. It was impossible for the senior disciple to lose in a sparring match against a novice disciple.

Hyu Jong stopped the sparring because he was concerned that the atmosphere of the sparring was becoming too intense, and he wanted to prevent the senior disciple, who had been watching the sparring leniently, from accidentally harming Mu Yul. Although there was a momentary silence in the training ground due to Hyu Jong's sudden interruption, soon those who understood his intentions applauded Mu Yul for displaying excellent martial arts skills.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

"Thank you very much!"

Mu Yul, taken aback by the unexpected applause, graciously bowed to the adults with a bright smile and returned to his place. And as the senior disciple who had sparred with Mu Yul regained his composure, Hyu Jong resumed the entrance examination.

---

As the entrance examination progressed, more than an hour had passed. Over twenty children had completed the examination, and so far, all of them had passed. Even though the examination was only about halfway through, the number of successful candidates already exceeded the previous record.

Naturally, even the expression on the face of Hyuncheon Daesa, who was observing the entrance examination, was filled with confusion.

"How on earth did you manage to raise the children's level so much? Did you secretly distribute elixirs to the novice disciples?"

"Haha. How could I dare to do such a thing?"

In response to Hyuncheon's jest, Hyun Song laughed and replied, "And it's still too early to be surprised, Master."

"Too early to be surprised?"

Instead of answering Hyuncheon's question directly, Hyun Song simply looked towards the center of the training ground, as if urging him to see for himself. And reflected in Hyuncheon Daesa's eyes as he followed Hyun Song's gaze was the sight of a certain child boasting a physique that didn't seem fitting for a novice disciple.

---

While the heat of the entrance examination was at its peak...

"Hey, Wooden Dummy."

Mu Jin said, elbowing Mu Gung's side.

"Oh, why again?"

Mu Gung, who had been stiffening up due to his impending turn, asked with a dumbfounded expression, and Mu Jin casually spoke.

"Don't just stand there, try following what I'm doing."

With that said, Mu Jin demonstrated several stretching movements for the shoulders and neck muscles.

"I'm about to go out soon, does it make any difference if I do that now?"

"Just do it quietly. Listen to me, have I ever been wrong?"

At Mu Jin's words, Mu Gung reluctantly began to mimic his movements, despite his chubby expression. And somehow, as he followed Mu Jin's movements and stretched the muscles in his neck and shoulders, he began to relax little by little.

As the tension in his muscles eased, so did his overall tension.

'If this guy remains stiff with tension, he'll be no different from a wooden dummy.'

Now, looking at Mu Gung, who was starting to loosen up on his own, Mu Jin chuckled and burst into laughter.

While Mu Gung was gradually relaxing his tense muscles...

"Novice disciple Mu Gung, step forward!"

Finally, Hyu Jong called out Mu Gung's name.

"Is, is that child really a novice disciple?"

"…Did he deceive his age?"

As Mu Gung stepped forward to the center of the training ground, the disciples of the Shaolin sect, who were participating in the assessment, murmured with expressions of surprise. Mu Gung, who was only fifteen years old, one year older than Mu Jin, had a particularly large physique compared to his peers. Through his secondary sexual characteristics, his physique had grown even larger.

Despite his impressive height of six feet (186 cm) at just fifteen years old, along with his characteristic robust muscles, he boasted a significantly larger stature than the senior disciple standing to face him.

However, despite his large physique, he was still fifteen. Facing the gazes of over two hundred adults, Mu Gung's heart was pounding.

'I need to calm down. I need to calm down.'

For this day alone, he endured rigorous training for the past year. It was crucial not to make any mistakes in this important moment when his body was stiffened with tension.

"Phew. I'm ready, Master Hyu Jong."

After Mu Gung loosened the muscles in his neck and shoulders with another simple muscle stretching technique, he spoke up. Perhaps it was because of his physique, but the way he loosened the muscles in his neck looked oddly similar to the warm-up exercises of a local thug.

"Begin!"

And as soon as Hyu Jong's command fell, Mu Gung fearlessly rushed towards the senior disciple.

Mu Gung was naturally an impressive child with a large build and strength. However, there was an issue with his body being quite stiff. Nevertheless, over the past year and a half, Mu Jin had trained Mu Gung's body to maximize his strengths.

While also fixing the stiffness to not interfere with his movements, they focused on developing his strength after ensuring minimal flexibility. Additionally, Mu Gung was quite conscious of others' opinions despite his appearance. He constantly made efforts to impress others.

And now, in this moment, the results of his year and a half of effort were unfolding through his fists.

Bam!

A tremendous force erupted from the novice disciple's fist, impossible to come out from a novice. The senior disciple, who had slightly turned his head to avoid the fist, looked bewildered by the tremendous force bursting out next to his ear.

"Is... is this a novice disciple?"

The senior disciple pondered for a moment.

Whether it was the right decision to conserve energy against this opponent.

Novice disciples, even if they come from a martial arts family, are just children who have trained in martial arts for a maximum of five years. On the other hand, senior disciples have trained for a minimum of fifteen to as much as twenty years. Naturally, there was a significant gap in their internal strength.

Therefore, until now, the senior disciples who had taken on the assessment had all used less than five years of internal strength.

Even if they used the same internal strength, the difference in the years spent training in martial arts meant there was no significant issue in utilizing internal and external strength differently.

But could they handle the same amount of internal and external strength against that ignorant large physique and tremendous power?

"For the sake of a proper assessment, I need to elevate my internal strength a bit."

Finally making a decision, the senior disciple increased his internal strength more than when facing other children.

And as Mu Gung's fist collided with the senior disciple's fist midair...

Boom!

Indeed, even though the senior disciple had raised his internal strength for ten years, both fists achieved an equal result.

Once the power and speed were at a similar level, it all came down to the utilization of martial arts.

Naturally, the senior disciple thought he would be far ahead of his opponent, but Mu Gung was no easy opponent.

"Parry!"

Mu Gung's fist burst forth with a powerful force, but the sound was weaker than before. Mu Gung reduced his strength slightly but mixed in feints between his punches.

As Mu Jin had taught him, he began to mix in fake movements with his shoulders, arms, or stepping, making his attacks concise, powerful, and diverse.

"Heh. It's miracle!"

"He is the perfect child for our Shaolin. Amitabha."

It was only natural for those watching Mu Gung's sparring to burst into admiration.

Especially, despite being of the Buddhist tradition, Shaolin's martial arts were strong and formidable, consisting of powerful and heavy movements. From that perspective, Mugung was a promising candidate for most of Shaolin's disciples to aspire to.

"Not bad."

A middle-aged monk with a sturdy build, much like the statues of the Four Heavenly Kings, spoke in a deep voice. 

The essence of Shaolin martial arts can be described as a profound principle. "Movement within stillness" As the saying goes, "A thousand-year-old Shaolin," its martial arts have been evolving for over a thousand years.. Throughout this process, numerous techniques emerged, such as speed, agility, illusion, transformation, and flexibility. However, Shaolin prioritized the technique of "Stillness" above all during this millennium-long development.

Among these martial arts, those that pride themselves on being the heaviest" Hyu Dam, the inheritor of the Diamond Sutra and the Earth Store Bodhisattva Palm, observed Mu Gung's movements with an impassive expression.

However, due to his usual temperament influenced by martial arts, his emotions were not visibly displayed.

"Master, do you like that child?"

Beob Hwi, Hyu Dam's direct disciple and senior disciple, could sense that the master favored the child.

"If he continues like this, he might inherit the true tradition of our Shaolin."

It was an expression filled with pride in the martial arts he had mastered. 

And Hyu Dam was indeed someone with the skill to back up such pride.

 As one of the symbols of Shaolin's martial prowess, the Eight-Armed Arhat, who protected the Library of Scriptures and the Shaolin Temple.

 Hyu Dam was the head of the first of the six groups that made up the Eight-Armed Arhat. It meant he was one of the leading figures symbolizing Shaolin's martial prowess.

Hyu Dam, also known as Geumgang Shinjang (金剛神將, 金剛神掌), which holds two meanings in the martial world, contemplated as he watched Mu Gung sparring

"He's trying to minimize unnecessary movements."

It meant he understood how great the essence of "Stillness within Movement" was, and unfortunately, Hyu Dam's and the spectators' warm gazes heightened Mugung's excitement.

"Heh heh heh. Everyone's watching me."

Then, I must leave a stronger impression now. With that thought, Mugung abandoned the simple movements he had been repeating and instead adopted the most flashy moves he knew.

"Hey, you brat."

Mujin recognized the stance and covered his face. It was as if he didn't want to see the obvious outcome.

And as he had expected, soon there was a loud thud as Mugung struck his abdomen with a powerful blow.

"Oof."

As Mujin lay writhing on the floor, clutching his abdomen, Beob Hwi's disciple, Beob Hwi, looked at him and said with a casual tone, "He still seems to have some superficial qualities due to his young age, Master."

Looking at Mugung lying on the ground, Beob Hwi spoke with a smug tone, and a river character was drawn on Hyu Dam's forehead.

"He's an immature child in need of education."

Although the final appearance was somewhat unsatisfactory, it meant that they had decided to take Mugung under their wing.

---

Meanwhile,

As the fervor of the entrance examination was settling down at the Shaolin Temple, a senior disciple of Shaolin who had been watching Mugung's sparring wrinkled his forehead at a scent wafting in from somewhere, one that didn't belong in Shaolin.

"The scent of alcohol?"

The smell of liquor was completely out of place in the solemn Shaolin Temple. But why?

Because of the smell of alcohol, which didn't suit Shaolin, the senior disciple could easily guess the owner of that smell.

"... I have my greetings to, Hyu Gwan sasuk."

As the senior disciple greeted the middle-aged monk emitting the smell of alcohol, Hyu Gwan, who was addressed as Hyu Gwan, waved his hand lazily.

It was as if he found the polite greeting bothersome.

"Hmm."

Ignoring the senior disciple who had paid him respect, Hyu Gwan briefly looked towards the center of the sparring ground.

"A mischievous rascal like Hyu Dam seems to like him."

Hyu Gwan chuckled as he watched Mugung lying on the sparring ground, wishing for a disturbance in the solemn atmosphere of the temple, hoping for some amusing character to emerge.