Genius Martial Arts Trainer

Mount Gwiryeong

Mount Gwiryeong, where it is said the main base of Salmak is hidden, is located in Guizhou Province.

The distance from Shaolin was quite far, so it took several days of traveling to reach it.

Even today, after a long journey using lightness skills without rest, they were heading towards Mount Gwiryeong.

Mu-jin, feeling curious, asked the man on his back.

“However, no matter how I think about it, it’s surprising.”

“What is?”

“I never expected Jegal Muhwan to join the special task force.”

Surprisingly, Jegal Muhwan was riding on Mu-jin’s back.

Since his lightness skill was lacking compared to the elites selected from Shaolin, it was not surprising that he was riding on Mu-jin’s back.

The issue was.

“Isn’t he the one who hates dying the most in the world?”

The fact that a person who ignored the existence of Shinchun to save his own life was now accompanying them to attack Salmak was unexpected in itself.

Jegal Muhwan responded with his characteristic smile to Mu-jin’s question.

“Hahaha. I just value my life. I am not a fool, Shaolin Dragon.”

“I know well now that you are smart. But usually, if one’s life is precious, they tend to hide somewhere, don’t they?”

“Hehehe. If you keep hiding, it’s hard to read the situation. It’s the same this time. The fact that no one has found it for decades means there must be some kind of formation installed on Mount Gwiryeong. And among those in Shaolin, I am the only one who can break such a formation, so naturally, I must go.”

“You could die, you know.”

“Hehehe. Even if I didn’t join the special task force, I would still face death. If we don’t take care of Salmak, a war will break out, and I will end up as a corpse one day, fearing the attacks of assassins every day.”

Mu-jin tilted his head at Jegal Muhwan’s answer.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand his reasoning.

If you keep avoiding immediate danger, you might eventually end up in a situation where there is no way out.

However.

‘Usually, people who value their lives the most try to run away even in such situations.’

Even in a life-threatening situation, he made the most rational choice. He was a man full of contradictions, prioritizing his own life over any grand cause or justification.

Somehow, Mu-jin felt that these contradictions were what made Jegal Muhwan who he was.

* * *

Several days after leaving Shaolin.

They arrived near their destination, Mount Gwiryeong.

Mount Gwiryeong, as its name suggests, had an eerie atmosphere lingering around it.

Also, people who climbed the mountain went missing, and some claimed to have seen ghosts.

Thanks to this, few people dared to climb the mountain from the surrounding areas.

To verify this, they roamed around the vicinity of Mount Gwiryeong for a while.

“As expected, it lives up to its name.”

Jegal Muhwan said, spreading his fan with a ‘pop’ while riding on Mu-jin’s back.

“The terrain and features of the mountain confuse the senses, and the flow of air creates unnatural fog. This would naturally cause even those with excellent sense of direction to get lost.”

“If it’s that obvious, wouldn’t many have suspected this as Salmak’s hiding place?”

Mu-jin asked curiously, to which Jegal Muhwan replied nonchalantly.

“There are many mountains with a similar eerie atmosphere across the central plains. There are probably several other mountains called Mount Gwiryeong in other provinces. This place too has naturally developed this eerie atmosphere, not artificially.”

“Are you saying there’s no man-made formation?”

“The initial features of the mountain suggest that. If Salmak’s main base is here, there would be man-made formations near their base. And those formations would guide us to their base. Hehehe.”

With a confident tone, Jegal Muhwan covered his mouth with his fan, looking every bit the cunning schemer.

The Shaolin martial artists, including Mu-jin, began to move like workers under the orders of this cunning schemer.

Still riding on Mu-jin’s back as they climbed the mountain, Jegal Muhwan pointed out places to alter the surroundings with his fan.

“Could you move that rock over there?”

“I know you dislike killing, but we need to remove that tree.”

Following his instructions, when they changed various features, like trees or rocks, the scenery would change.

The fog that blocked their vision would thin out, the eerie atmosphere would dissipate, or sometimes a new path would appear or a cliff would suddenly be revealed.

‘…Without him, we would have been trapped and died in the formation.’

Watching the formation change mysteriously, Mu-jin and the Shaolin martial artists swallowed their saliva unknowingly.

Just then, while one of the second disciples was approaching a tree Jegal Muhwan pointed to,

“Danger!”

Mu-gyeong shouted suddenly, firing golden water droplets of Golden Turtle Technique towards a rock.

Clang!

The sound of friction was heard as a dagger, struck by the golden water, bounced off.

“Hmm. It seems the owner has finally noticed the intruders.”

Jegal Muhwan said, gently waving his fan.

As he said, the assassins’ attacks began.

Using the natural formations to hide themselves, they threw concealed weapons and launched surprise attacks from everywhere.

However, no significant damage occurred.

There was Mu-gyeong, who detected the assassins’ presence in advance.

“I will now break through the formation.”

Leaving Jegal Muhwan to the other martial artists, Mu-jin stepped forward to break the terrains indicated by Jegal Muhwan.

Covered in Golden Turtle Technique, Mu-jin was unscathed by the assassins’ flimsy concealed weapons.

Thus, Mu-jin and his companions advanced through the formation.

Mu-jin protected himself with the Golden Turtle Technique at the forefront, breaking the formation, while Mu-gyeong occasionally revealed the assassins’ hiding spots, dealing with them.

The others formed a formation around Jegal Muhwan, deflecting the concealed weapons thrown by the hidden assassins as they progressed.

“Hmm. It seems we have reached the entrance.”

At that moment, Jegal Muhwan, who was pointing out the terrain for Mu-jin to break, smiled slyly.

“Please destroy that rock to the west. From there, the man-made formation begins.”

It meant they were now entering Salmak’s main base.

As they approached the base, not only did the man-made formation change, but so did the circumstances.

Boom!

Swish!

Suddenly, rocks would roll down, or hundreds of concealed weapons would fly through the air.

When Mu-jin, breaking through at the forefront, passed by, the ground suddenly collapsed, almost causing the martial artists to fall into pits.

These were traps designed to activate only when a certain weight threshold was crossed.

Although Mu-jin and the Shaolin martial artists managed to avoid the traps using their lightness skills,

Swish!

Of course, there weren’t just traps.

The assassins, hidden in the mist and darkness created by the formation, launched surprise attacks every time the formation or traps shook the Shaolin martial artists’ formation.

In such a perilous situation, the ones who performed most unexpectedly were Mu-yul, Ling-ling, and Mu-yul’s master, Hye-geol, who had joined them.

The three of them… two humans and one animal, evaded the traps and the assassins’ attacks with acrobatic movements, navigating the unfamiliar mountain as if it were their own home and fighting the assassins.

“Wuki!”

“Wuki!”

“Wuki!”

As the three of them leaped from branch to branch, making those simultaneous cries, Mu-jin couldn’t understand why they did it.

“It’s dangerous to go any further. The formation there hasn’t been broken yet.”

When the three of them started to act wildly, Jegal Muhwan tried to stop them with a perplexed expression.

The wild behavior of the three seemed bizarre to the rational Jegal Muhwan.

However, despite their efforts, the damage was gradually accumulating.

Mu-jin was also constantly expending his internal energy to maintain the Golden Turtle Technique, blocking the assassins’ concealed weapons while breaking through the formation at the front.

Others were also using their internal energy to avoid traps and fight off assassins, suffering minor injuries from traps or concealed weapons when they couldn’t react in time.

Though most injuries were minor and not life-threatening, they were problematic given that the enemy was a group of assassins.

Since assassins aim solely to kill, all their concealed weapons and wielded weapons were poisoned.

This was why Mu-jin continued to maintain the Golden Turtle Technique while breaking through the path.

He could block the assassins’ concealed weapons with the effect of the Jade Vajra Technique.

Even if hit directly, he would only suffer scratches.

The issue was that even scratches could cause suffering due to the poison.

Moreover, being in the heart of the enemy’s territory, they couldn’t afford the leisure of expelling the poison through meditation.

Fortunately, they had brought several antidotes for the battle against assassins, otherwise, it would have been a dangerous situation.

Perhaps due to the fatigue that began to show among the Shaolin martial artists, Jegal Muhwan, who had been traveling with meticulous protection in the center, opened his fan with a ‘pop’ and spoke.

“It’s a relief. The fact that they are trying so hard to stop us means that Salmak and his high-ranking members are still at the base, doesn’t it? Hehehe. Coming to Guizhou Province wasn’t in vain.”

Encouraged by his words, the exhausted martial artists resumed breaking through the path with renewed vigor.

Though they were disciples of the revered Shaolin, and didn’t express it verbally, they knew that one of the objectives of this expedition was to avenge Hye-gwan.

While the noble cause was to eliminate the evil who committed murders, each of them had come here with the resolve to avenge Hye-gwan.

In such a situation, how empty would it feel if, after overcoming all these hardships, they found that neither Salmak nor his high-ranking members were present?

Conversely, the hope of achieving revenge for Hye-gwan with a little more effort revived their determination.

They continued to pass through several traps and destroy terrain to break the formations.

Bang!

Just after Mu-jin smashed another rock with his fist,.

“It seems we’ve finally arrived.”

Suddenly, a small manor appeared in the fog, where nothing was visible before.

In the eerie atmosphere surrounded by fog and ominous energy, the manor could indeed be called a haunted mansion.

However, there was one problem.

“…It seems there’s no one here?”

There was no sign of life from the manor.

It was a disappointing result.

Just as the fatigue and despair were about to overwhelm the Shaolin martial artists after making their way up with injuries and exhaustion, Mu-jin urgently shouted.

“Salmak is also known as the Assassin King! He’s not absent; he’s hiding somewhere, waiting to strike!”

It was a perfectly reasonable assertion.

Hearing Mu-jin’s words, they barely managed to regain their tension.

Swish!

Right then, the assassins’ attacks resumed without fail.

It was a critical moment. If they had succumbed to despair and fatigue, a few of them might have fallen prey to the timely ambush.

However, the significance lay in repelling the first surprise attack.

Since the assassins were still hidden within the mountain’s mist and shadows, it wasn’t easy to deal with them.

“That manor is the center of the formation! If we destroy the objects in the manor, the fog will disperse, making it easier to deal with them!”

“Then let’s head to the manor!”

At the reply of one of the martial artists, Jegal Muhwan shook his head.

“Since it’s the center of the formation, there might be considerable traps hidden within the manor itself.”

“Are you saying we need to destroy the objects in the manor without entering it?”

“Exactly.”

Mu-jin quickly understood Jegal Muhwan’s intention.

“Mu-gyeong, Mu-yul, and Master Hye-geol, please stay on guard. Mu-gung, come with me to use our techniques on the manor.”

The others also quickly grasped what Mu-jin intended to do.

He was suggesting they use their techniques to blow up the entire manor.

Some assisted Mu-yul, Hye-geol, and Mu-gyeong in guarding against ambushes, while others helped Mu-jin and Mu-gung in destroying the manor.

Six martial artists, including Mu-gung and Mu-gyeong, began to gather their internal energy to prepare their techniques.

“Huuup!!”

First, a huge crimson flame erupted from Mu-gung’s palm.

Boom!!

The front gate and walls of the manor crumbled with a loud explosion caused by Mu-gung’s Rulai Palm.

Following that, the other four martial artists unleashed their most extensive techniques, blowing up towers, trees, and structures revealed beyond the collapsed walls.

Finally, when Mu-jin’s Invincible Divine Fist shattered the last structure at the far end with a burst of golden stars,

Suddenly, a black dagger flew straight toward Mu-jin’s heart. Silently.

Despite being right next to the enemy who threw the dagger, there was no sign of life at all.

It was a stealth technique that had reached the level of divine skill.

As Mu-jin, who had just used the Invincible Divine Fist, hurriedly drew his internal energy to deploy the Golden Turtle Technique,

Slash.

The black dagger pierced through the energy barrier like a sheet of paper and burrowed into Mu-jin’s chest.

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