Chapter80
Transaction (2)
Jegal Jin-hee, still wearing a puzzled expression, asked again.
“But, in the end, to build such strength, you need to invest ti in external training, right? After all, compared to training in martial arts and internal energy, external training is less efficient.”
“You are both right and wrong.”
Mu-jin, speaking in a cryptic manner, paused for a mont before continuing with a smile.
“Firstly, for you, Jegal Jin-hee, it is far more efficient to combine external training with martial arts rather than focusing solely on martial arts. To put it simply, do you think it’s faster for a novice to reach the stage of creating Fan Qi, or for soone who can already create Fan Qi to reach the stage of creating Fan Gang?”
“Ah…”
She understood Mu-jin’s point easily.
It’s the sa in any field; the higher you go, the harder it becos to reach the next level. On the other hand, those who are at a basic level can easily make progress with just a bit of training.
“I understand the first reason. What’s the other reason?”
“The second reason is that external training cannot be rushed and should not take too much ti.”
“Not take too much ti?”
“To be precise, you must not overdo it. To make it easy to understand, do you know how to build immunity to poison?”
“Yes. By ingesting very small amounts of a weak poison and enduring it, you build up your immune system and gradually increase the poison’s level. This is a thod favored by the Sichuan Tang Clan, right?”
“Yes. And it’s the sa not just with poison, but also when your body is injured. The injured area heals and becos stronger than it was before. This is also true for muscles. Building strength is actually about injuring the muscles slightly and then allowing them to heal and grow stronger.”
“Ah…”
Since she was from the Jegal family and had little interest in external training, Jegal Jin-hee found this new information fascinating.
“Then, think about poison again. If you wanted to quickly achieve immunity to all poisons and hurriedly ingested large amounts, what would happen?”
“You would die, of course.”
“It’s the sa with muscles. You should only injure them to the extent that they can recover, and while they are recovering, you should avoid any further strain.”
“Ah! So that’s why you shouldn’t overtrain or spend too much ti on external training.”
Jeagal Jin-hee clapped her hands in response to Mu-jin’s spot-on analogy.
“You are absolutely right. And lastly, there is a third reason. It is the lack of an efficient training thod. As I ntioned with the first two reasons, external training should neither be overdone nor should it consu too much ti. Therefore, without an efficient training thod, it is better to focus on cultivating internal energy and martial arts.”
“In other words, Mu-jin Dongja, you are saying that you know such an efficient training thod.”
Instead of answering her question directly, Mu-jin responded with a peculiar smile.
That smile alone was enough of an answer.
The mont she showed strong curiosity about Mu-jin’s ‘efficient training thod.’
“Well, I believe this is enough to compensate for the losses Jeagal Jin-hee Siju-nim has suffered.”
Mu-jin diverted the flow of the conversation.
After all, he hadn’t agreed to this exchange to spill all the information he had.
Jeagal Jin-hee, seemingly understanding Mu-jin’s intention, displayed an intelligent smile and spoke.
“Then I suppose I must suffer another loss to hear about that training thod. Is there anything you’d like to ask , Mu-jin Dongja?”
Mu-jin took a mont to organize his thoughts in response to her question.
‘It wouldn’t do to ask for major internal information about the Jeagal family right now.’
There is an order to things. Asking about such matters in the first exchange could cause the other party to break off the deal.
After a brief contemplation, a reasonably good first trade item ca to Mu-jin’s mind.
“I heard that the Jeagal family conducts research on a very diverse range of martial arts.”
“…That’s true, but as a woman, I do not have access to all the martial arts.”
Mu-jin lightly smiled at her slightly cautious words. What he wanted this ti was neither divine techniques nor ascending martial arts.
“Then, do you perhaps have any martial arts or skills among the external arts or miscellaneous techniques that enhance skin elasticity?”
“…Skin elasticity? There, there is such a technique?”
Jeagal Jin-hee asked with a puzzled expression. There was indeed such a martial art, usually practiced by slightly older won within the family.
What puzzled her was why Mu-jin was looking for such a technique.
“I have been researching sothing recently and thought that such a martial art might be helpful.”
Mu-jin made up an excuse for her perplexed expression.
In fact, he asked just out of curiosity, thinking it would be nice to have, but not necessary if unavailable.
He had deliberately brought up a light item to continue transactions with her in the future, and if he received it, he had soone in mind to gift it to.
“I see. If it’s that, I can certainly provide it with my authority. It’s not a highly significant martial art.”
“Thank you, Jeagal Jin-hee Siju-nim. Since it’s late today, I’ll teach you a few external training thods starting tomorrow. Amitabha.”
“Thank you. I’ll visit again tomorrow. I should get going now, Hyun-gwang Sunim.”
“Hohoho. Have a safe descent.”
With that, Jeagal Jin-hee, who had made the first trade agreent, descended from Shaolin Temple.
* * *
From that day on, Jeagal Jin-hee visited Hyun-gwang’s quarters daily during the hours Shaolin Temple received visitors.
Each ti, Mu-jin sparred with her first.
Although their levels were sowhat similar, the sparring allowed Mu-jin to beco more adept at handling fist and palm force, but more importantly, it helped him identify the deficiencies in her martial arts.
“As far as I have observed, Jeagal Jin-hee Siju-nim, you seem to be using these two moves separately. While it could be corrected through the flow of Qi, increasing the strength and flexibility of your side muscles can sufficiently overco this.”
Based on the flaws he found through sparring, Mu-jin taught her external training thods, specifically fitness-style exercises.
And during the instruction, they engaged in small talk.
Sotis it was about martial arts, other tis about the internal matters of the Jeagal family.
However, he did not ask about the major confidential matters of the Jeagal family.
“Do you have many brothers or sisters, Jeagal Jin-hee Siju-nim?”
He asked personal questions like this and inferred internal matters from her answers.
“Wh-why do you ask such things!?”
Of course, at first, she reacted with a flushed face and resistance.
During such monts, Mu-jin would guide her back to the exercises. Focusing on exercise would drain the energy needed for psychological warfare, and working out together made it easier to open up.
This was sothing Mu-jin was very familiar with.
A fitness trainer’s job wasn’t just about having a lot of ‘exercise knowledge.’ They needed to be well-versed in teaching thods to convey that knowledge and possess the conversational skills and service mindset to keep engaging with clients.
‘Sotis, there were those who were reluctant to talk about their personal lives during personal training sessions.’
Mu-jin had encountered many people like Jeagal Jin-hee multiple tis. The simplest way to deal with this type was one thing.
Work them out hard.
They often ended up sharing their personal stories just for a break. They would talk at length about a conversation they had with a friend the day before.
“Alright, let’s go for fifteen reps this ti. Make sure your posture is precise. If your posture is off, the effectiveness of the exercise decreases. It can also put unnecessary strain on your joints or ligants.”
That’s why Mu-jin made her work hard.
Whenever her posture was even slightly off, instead of just telling her, he would gently touch her body to correct her stance.
‘We’ve already clashed hundreds of tis in sparring, so this should be fine, right?’
If it had been another woman, he would have been more cautious, but he thought this level of light contact was acceptable among martial artists.
“!!!”
Of course, this was only Mu-jin’s perspective.
“Alright. Don’t be tense.”
Whenever Mu-jin’s hand touched her, she flinched, so he cautioned her.
“Let’s do fifteen reps! Good. Maintain that posture! How does it feel? Do you feel a stimulus in your side?”
“Huh? A stimulus!?”
“Talking while exercising disrupts your breathing. Don’t speak and just focus on the stimulus!”
“!!!”
‘Focus on the stimulus!?’
Every ti he pushed her side and then lifted her, Mu-jin’s arm would brush against her, causing Jegal Jin-hee’s head to fill with blood.
‘Could this be another of his handso tactics!?’
Perhaps it was because of the excessive stimulation. Even though they had only completed one set of fifteen reps, her face was excessively red.
“It seems you applied too much force. Let’s catch our breath and move on to the next exercise.”
As Mu-jin spoke, she composed her breathing and thought to herself.
‘Get a grip! I can’t fall for the novice monk’s handso tactics… but, now that I think about it, he’s too dependable to call a novice monk… which ans he’s a monk now!’
Realizing that her breathing was quite rough, Mu-jin seized the mont and slyly asked another question.
“Oh. So, does Jegal Jin-hee have any close siblings?”
Like soone caught thinking bad thoughts, she quickly raised her head and shouted urgently.
“Cl-close siblings!? I’m pretty close with my younger sisters!”
As she answered the personal question she had been trying to hide, Mu-jin thought to himself.
Indeed, pushing her to exercise until it was tough was the right answer.
* * *
Even after that day, Jegal Jin-hee continued to climb Songshan regularly.
Each ti, Mu-jin would either spar with her or teach her exercises, and in between, they would have private conversations, during which her face would often turn red.
‘Hmm. Being with her like this really feels like I’m doing personal training with a female client.’
Mu-jin’s mories from modern tis randomly surfaced.
‘Personal training with a female client…’
It was a cautious matter in many ways. Even without any ulterior motives, a single wrong touch could lead to trouble, and he had seen many young trainers get into accidents because they couldn’t control their sexual desires.
‘Co to think of it, that phrase hasn’t co up yet.’
When conducting PT sessions with female clients, there was a magical sentence that he would hear every single ti, especially when he instructed weight-focused exercises rather than cardio or stretching.
While Mu-jin was montarily lost in his mories, Jegal Jin-hee’s voice brought him back to reality.
“Mu-jin Dongja. I have a question.”
“Please, go ahead, Jegal Jin-hee Siju-nim.”
“If I continue exercising like this, will I end up with a body like yours?”
“……”
He had wondered why it hadn’t co up yet.
‘Still, considering she thought of my body, it’s not too bad.’
There had been female clients who were terrified of becoming like Jang Mi-ran or Ma Dong-seok just by lifting a 5kg kettlebell a few tis, so Mu-jin felt he should give himself credit for being considered a balanced muscular figure.
“Haha. Don’t worry, Jegal Jin-hee Siju-nim. To build a body like mine, you’d have to lift weights dozens of tis heavier than what you’re lifting now and engage in a much wider variety of exercises.”
“Oh… it’s more difficult than I thought.”
Unexpectedly, instead of feeling relieved, she seed slightly disappointed.
“Do you want to build a body like mine?”
“If it can help improve my martial arts skills.”
Mu-jin’s eyes briefly sparkled with admiration at her words.
‘Co to think of it, she’s like an athlete in modern terms. I was treating her too much like an ignorant woman.’
She had co all the way to Shaolin Temple from Nanchang just to spar with him. This indicated her strong desire to improve.
Seeing her sincerity, he felt the need to offer so genuine advice.
“Hmm. Realistically, even with the sa effort, won tend to build less muscle than n. For you, Jegal Jin-hee Siju-nim, to build a body like mine, you’d need to train consistently and rigorously for a much longer period than I did.”
“……So, it’s the difference between n and won.”
Mu-jin added, noticing her sowhat bitter expression.
“Additionally, unlike , external energy is secondary for you. Your martial arts emphasize lightness and softness, don’t they? Forcing your body to bulk up too much might actually hinder your martial arts. It would be best to train your body only to the extent that it enhances your lightness and softness.”
Jegal Jin-hee’s expression beca subtle at Mu-jin’s words.
After contemplating for a mont, she sighed and responded.
“Thank you for your comforting words, Mu-jin Dongja.”
“It’s not comfort, just the truth. Ah, how about I teach you so movents to increase flexibility instead?”
Mu-jin decided to show her so yoga poses.
Perhaps it was because she sensed Mu-jin’s sincerity. Her eyes showed a small ripple of emotion.
“Thank you, Mu-jin Dongja. Whenever you need help, just let know, and I’ll step forward.”
Unlike her usual brash deanor, she responded in her originally graceful and modest manner.
But she didn’t know at this ti.
That correcting yoga postures involved more physical contact than correcting weightlifting postures.
“Alright, you need to lower your body more.”
As Mu-jin touched her body to correct her still awkward posture,
“Hiiiii!!”
Her face turned bright red as she let out sounds that were either screams or moans.
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