Chapter 37 Training

Chapter 37: Training

Beep, beep, beep.

The whistle made from apricot seeds I prepared for today.

The sound resonating from the small hole filled the training ground.

And in unison with that command.

“One thousand three hundred seventy-two!”

The final command echoed.

Aaah! Who the hell is that brat!

Shouts mixed with blame erupted from all sides.

I yelled at those team members.

“Who dares blame a comrade’s mistake? ! The proud owls of the Oedang do not blame each other!“

As soon as I finished speaking, I grabbed the brim of my hat and pulled it down so low I couldn’t see straight ahead.

It was to set the mood.

”This instructor is not a bad person. Depending on your actions, I can be as benevolent as the Taoists of the Muryongdang or as vicious as the demons of the Sipmalyeon. Understand?!”

“Ack!”

“In that spirit, prepare for the eighth movement!”

“Ack!”

“We’ll do two thousand reps. How many?!”

“Two thousand!”

“Omit the final command! Begin!”

“Ack!”

Beep beep, beep. Beep beep beep beep beep.

Watching the team members move without pause, he thought.

‘This is fun.’

I’ll have to do this again next year.

* * *

The effects of the PT exercises conducted over the past two days were remarkable.

The lost military discipline surged back up like a stock chart on a hot day, and all complaints vanished.

The problem was, I didn’t know a single move of the Jeam Sword Technique.

‘But how can I teach something I don’t know?’

But evaluating each person’s martial arts skills? Half a month was far too short.

A total mess.

That summed up the situation unfolding on the training ground.

In the end, there was only one thing I could do.

“The goal is the summit of Guryong Mountain. First fifty to reach it. Begin!”

Rumble.

It was purely physical training.

Watching the retreating backs of the members running off, a sigh escaped me.

‘What do we do now…’

Bukgung Baek’s words came back to me—that he’d dock our pay if there were no visible results—and fresh anger welled up.

‘As if the monthly stipend wasn’t already ridiculously low for managing three disciples!’

I’ll have to report this to the labor department… Ah, but there’s no such thing here.

Just as he grumbled about the hopeless martial world and was about to plop down on the ground, he spotted Wei Zhifeng approaching from afar.

“There you are. I’ve been looking for you.”

“What’s up?”

“The military academy I mentioned last time is finished, so I came to find you. Since you’re an investor, shouldn’t you attend the completion ceremony?”

“It’s already finished?”

Some time ago, I invested 250 taels in the martial arts academy Mu Long Hall was building and received a 10% stake.

The land cost 20 taels of gold and 2,000 taels of silver, so the math roughly added up.

‘Guess they were in a real hurry for the money…’

Given the leisurely nature of Taoists, I’d expected it would take a year to finish and had forgotten about it—yet it was already complete.

Even Moolryongdang, the headquarters of Sichuan Taoism, couldn’t resist hunger, I thought.

“Right. We’ll start business tomorrow at dawn. Come take a look around before you go.”

Wei Zifeng’s face was full of happiness.

Yeah, make a lot of money this time and stop taking it away.

As I watched Wei Zifeng with that thought, he was muttering something strange.

“Hehe, I bet a hundred officials will come in, right?”

That was the early symptom of business fever.

A dangerous disease that, if left alone, could progress to the middle stage, and even the terminal stage.

“Um… Brother Wei, are you seriously expecting officials to flock here from the very start?”

“Isn’t that obvious? A disciple of the Black Dragon Sect is personally coming to teach. Everyone will line up to become an official. Yeah. That’s exactly how it’ll be.”

What on earth was he supposed to do about this?

“Did you actually advertise that a master from the Moksryongdang would be teaching? Did you research how much other martial arts masters charge per month? More importantly, have you thought about how you’ll actually teach? Surely you don’t plan to teach using the same methods practiced at the Moksryongdang?”

“……Is that not allowed?”

Good heavens, if I’d just stood by, I would’ve lost the entire 250 nyang investment.

“Let me ask one more thing.”

“Go ahead.”

“Do you still carry rocks up the mountain every morning?”

“……Yes.”

This is insane.

Who in the modern martial world uses such primitive methods?

“This won’t do. Special training will be necessary.”

* * *

The next day.

After assigning self-directed training to the team members, I headed to the Moolryong Martial Arts Hall.

Upon arriving and seeing the state of the hall, I couldn’t help but be shocked.

‘They did a good job.’

I’d expected it to be a complete wreck, but it was surprisingly intact.

“What do you think?”

“It looks well-built. Who did the construction?”

“Those guys. They’re coming this way now.”

Following the direction of Wei Zhifeng’s pointing finger, I saw men approaching us.

“Huh? You guys?”

Familiar faces.

“Yikes! ”

The men were startled the moment they saw me.

“Wow, long time no see! I was wondering what you were up to. Decided to become a carpenter?”

They were the guys who had squatted in the house I currently lived in, got beaten up, and were kicked out.

“Yes? Yes. Sir! After that day, I changed my ways and have been living diligently.”

“Your hands aren’t bad at all. Good thinking.”

“Th-thank you. I’ll keep living honestly from now on.”

“Yeah, yeah. Work hard and make sure you become a diligent taxpayer.”

After all, the more taxpayers there are, the higher the average salary in Guryongseong will rise.

“Yes, sir!”

Still, to have five people turn over a new leaf like that.

Indeed, my fists are undoubtedly the fists of life-saving power.

Though physically, it might leave you half-dead.

As I admired the well-built martial arts academy, Wei Zhifeng approached with five disciples from the Silent Dragon Sect. They were the ones who would run the academy from now on.

“I’ve gathered everyone. Now, tell me.”

I stood before them and spoke in the heaviest voice I could muster.

“Why do you think people come to the martial arts academy, pay money, and train?”

To my question, Wei Jifeng answered as if to say, What kind of question is that?

“Of course, it’s to get closer to the Dao.”

“……Brother Wei, please don’t come anywhere near the martial arts academy from now on.”

“No, why!?”

Ignoring Wei Jifeng’s indignant protest, I looked around at the other disciples. They all remained silent.

‘Seriously, how can they be this clueless?’

The scene made me sigh involuntarily.

“Listen carefully. People register at the Military Academy for one reason: to establish themselves and gain fame.”

That was it. In this harsh martial world, the paths to success for penniless commoners were precisely two.

One was to cultivate literary arts like Miao Xiang’s younger brother, pass the imperial examinations, and serve the state.

The other was to train in martial arts and become a martial artist or a military official.

Especially these days, due to the country’s utterly ruined state, people preferred becoming martial artists—more precisely, outer-court warriors for a major power like the Nine Dragons Sect—rather than military officials.

While positions within the core martial arts factions like the Celestial Dragons require both lineage and talent, outer faction warriors don’t particularly care about your background as long as you pass the trials.

Plus, considering the hellish martial world’s per capita GDP, it was also a profession that offered decent income.

But.

“You say you learned martial arts for such a trivial reason?”

“Huh, martial arts are not meant for personal gain.”

“Do you not know that wealth and glory are but fleeting dust?”

Wei Zhifeng and the children couldn’t understand this reasoning at all.

“It’s because of such outdated thinking that the children of the Black Dragon Sect go around half-naked. Have you seen what the Golden Dragon Sect kids wear?! Even their servants wear silk robes.“

”Well, it’s improved a lot compared to the old days…“

”Improved to what? Rag-like scraps?”

This is something I know from spending my childhood at the Black Dragon Sect.

The only clothes they had were single-layer garments made of thin, flimsy cotton cloth. They weren’t even issued undergarments, and there were no spares for tops or bottoms, so they couldn’t layer them.

If this weren’t the warm province of Sichuan, there would be a steady stream of children freezing to death every winter.

“…Ahem, it’s not quite that bad.”

“And among the leaders of the Eight Palaces of the main sect, the only one who wears patched clothes is the Moolryong Palace Leader.”

The blunt truth silenced everyone.

It was only natural.

To those deeply rooted in the ideology of military and civil affairs being one, failing to properly serve their master was tantamount to disloyalty.

Wee Jipung, his face still reeling from the shock, struggled to speak.

“We… Tell us what to do.”

“I will certainly instruct you. No, I will personally place the Moolryong Martial Academy upon the bedrock of success.”

“I-Is that truly possible?”

“Everyone, just trust me and follow along.”

* * *

The next morning, at the Moolryong Martial Academy’s training grounds.

Beep-beep-beep, beep-beep-beep-beep-beep.

Just like yesterday, the outer hall trainees moved in perfect unison to the piercing whistle.

There was just one difference.

“Trainee 87, Owl! Your posture is incorrect?!”

“Trainee 9, Owl, you’re not relaxing the tension in your fingertips.”

“Owl 36! Who’s letting go of their sword now?!”

The disciples of Mukeongdang, the copyright holder of the Jeam series, were personally instructing the trainees.

“Can you call yourselves the proud warriors of Guryongseong like this?!”

“No!”

Seeing them trying so hard, laughter burst out involuntarily.

‘Hehehe, it’s going according to plan.’

That was it.

My investment… No, I had temporarily appointed Mukeongdang disciples as instructors to ensure the success of the special intensive training.

Thanks to this, residents passing through the nearby city gate were busy peeking over the walls, wondering what on earth was happening.

Normally, this would be an act that should be stopped.

But I let the spectating residents be.

“Wow. M.o.k.ryong. Dang. ‘s. d.i.s.c.i.p.l.e.n.s. t.e.a.t.i.n.g. t.h.e. m.u.s.a.l.l.i.n.g.s. o.f. O.u.t.d.a.n.g.”

“I.s.o.f. y.ou. t.r.a.i.n.n.e.r.e.n.c.e. h.e.r.e. “Right?”

Instead, to promote the Moksryong Martial Arts Academy, Wee Jipung and I even put on a masterful performance.

And there was a secret strategy that crowned all of this.

“This is the Moksryong Martial Arts Academy’s enrollment brochure. Please take a look.”

“We are Moksryong Martial Arts Academy, the number one choice for passing the Oedang exam. We ask for your generous interest.”

It was the flyer part-time job.

In this era where boys and girls over seven weren’t allowed to play together, there was no way any man would refuse flyers handed out by two lovely ladies.

For reference, those flyers were made the day before by Yu So-pyeong as payment for skipping training.

‘He’s the type who won’t learn anyway.’

Anyway, if things continued like this, by the time the special intensive training ended, Moolryong Martial Arts Academy would undoubtedly become the talk of the town.

A prime commercial district, top-tier instructors from Moolryong Hall, and massive advertising. It had every factor for success.

‘This can’t fail even if it tried.’

Of course, there was one point of concern.

The disciples, trained their entire lives in the Moolryong style, would likely cling stubbornly to that method.

I’d made it clear not to impose overly grueling training, but I still felt constant observation would be necessary.

People can’t just abandon the methods they’ve practiced their whole lives.

‘Well, it’s all nicely packaged now, so we’ll just have to wait and see.’

The flyer says, ‘Only rigorous training will make you a warrior of Guryongseong.’ They must be somewhat prepared for that when they join.

Now, my work is done. done.

Only one thing remained.

“Brother Wiji, I’ll leave it to you. I’m swamped, so I’ll head in now.”

“Don’t worry about it. Thanks for today. I’ll buy you a drink later.”

“Save that money and buy the kids some clothes instead.”

He headed home to catch up on the sleep he’d missed that morning.

‘Good work, Mujeon.’

Solving both the special intensive training and the Myeongryong Military Academy promotion in one fell swoop.

A surge of pride welled up inside me.

“But when will we get paid?”

“Payment is due today, right?”

Cheongso and Myohyang held out their hands, demanding payment.

Normally, I might have haggled or delayed payment, but on a day like today? No way.

When I handed over the exact amount of silver coins I’d prepared in advance, their reactions were strange.

“Huh? You’re giving it to us right away?”

“Yeah? This can’t be… Oh my? The amount is spot on!”

Shocked, Cheongso placed her hand on my forehead and said.

“Chief Jin, have you been seeing things or hearing voices lately? Or feeling like everything’s a hassle…? If you have any of these symptoms, you need to tell us right away. They’re early signs of insanity.”

What do these women take me for?