Korin's Training

"You're Mu Yang, right? I can tell you've put a great deal of effort into building your physical foundation. Few martial artists in the lower world have trained their basics as solidly as you have."

As he dodged, Korin spoke in an even tone. With his many years of experience, he had naturally seen through Mu Yang's foundation at a glance. A trace of admiration rose in his heart, but he also saw what Mu Yang lacked.

Shaking his head, he said, "Your foundation may be polished to perfection, but you still don't know how to properly use the ki within your body."

"Because you don't know how to conceal it, your ki is like a firefly in the night. From far away, it reveals your movements and intentions. Hmm... perhaps this is due to the general decline in the level of martial artists in the lower world. You can't really be blamed for it."

Korin strolled leisurely as he delivered his piercing assessment.

Mu Yang stopped and looked seriously at Korin, deeply impressed by his evaluation. Just as Korin had said, even schools that understood ki cultivation were exceedingly rare in the world below. How could they possibly teach someone to conceal their aura perfectly?

However, this problem was not without a solution. The amiable-looking Korin before him was undoubtedly an excellent mentor in this regard, so Mu Yang did not beat around the bush. "Please teach me how to conceal my aura, Karin the Immortal."

"Hehehe, there's no rush. Once you learn how to use the ki within your body, concealing it will naturally follow." Korin yawned, then slowly circled Mu Yang once before nodding. "To be honest, your Tianxin Style's ki technique does have its own unique merits. After all, it's a secret art passed down from ancient times, so it differs somewhat from modern methods. You simply haven't mastered it yet."

"You climbed Karin Tower all the way from below, so you must be tired. Get some proper rest first and think things over yourself. Starting tomorrow, I'll officially teach you how to train."

With that, Korin waved his hand and hobbled downstairs, leaning on his staff.

Mu Yang watched blankly as Korin descended the stairs. Clearly, through that brief exchange, Korin had already taken his measure. His formal training would begin tomorrow.

This excited him, but once the excitement faded, a wave of exhaustion swept over him. He simply lay down on the floor and fell sound asleep, soon letting out soft snores.

Frankly, he really was exhausted.

The next day, the sky cleared.

Korin took out a bag of dry flour from his stores and had Mu Yang eat some of it with spring water before they officially began training.

Chewing the sticky, tasteless lumps of flour, Mu Yang's entire face twisted miserably. The flour could fill his stomach, but it was truly hard to swallow. He wondered how Master Roshi had endured three years under such harsh conditions.

For that alone, Master Roshi deserved some admiration!

After barely filling his stomach and recovering his strength, Mu Yang walked up to Korin.

Korin looked at him. "Oh, you've finished eating? Then let's begin your training."

"Please instruct me!" Mu Yang said earnestly.

"Hehe, no need to be so formal." Korin narrowed his eyes as though smiling.

"I studied your past experiences last night, so I plan to divide your training into three stages."

As he spoke, he raised three fingers. "First, we'll address the flaws in your techniques and movements. Since you lacked guidance from a truly skilled teacher before, you have many unnecessary openings and too many superfluous movements. Fortunately, they're still easy to correct now. Once they become ingrained, they won't be easy to change."

Korin explained it all in a calm, unhurried manner.

Mu Yang listened attentively and agreed. Having read the original story, he knew that unnecessary movements would certainly be a major focus of Korin's corrections, and he had prepared himself for this from the beginning. In truth, martial arts cultivation was surely a process of going from complexity to simplicity, reducing needless expenditure during battle. Mu Yang had always understood this, but until now, he had never encountered a mentor capable of guiding him effectively.

Although Aisafu was a decent fighter and could be called a renowned martial artist, his guidance was still far inferior to that of a true master like Korin. It could be said that on the entire Earth, very few possessed greater knowledge than Korin.

"Second is training in ki techniques. The Tianxin Style's ki technique is quite good and rather ingenious, but you have yet to bring out its essence. So we'll make up for that weakness next. Once your ki training is complete, your strength will naturally increase greatly."

"Lastly, aura concealment."

"This is a rather broad concept. What exactly counts as concealing one's aura varies from person to person. Different people have different levels of sensitivity toward ki. You may think you've already concealed your aura, yet in the eyes of certain people, it may still be completely exposed. I won't impose strict requirements on you in this area."

"No, please train me according to the strictest standards, Karin the Immortal." Mu Yang pleaded earnestly. If he could not even meet Korin's highest standards, how could he stand at the pinnacle of the strong in the future?

The reason his Battle Power had never been able to break through the barrier of 100 had to be that something was missing from his training.

That missing element could not be his movements, but some kind of special requirement. His physical development had temporarily reached its limit, so could aura training—or rather, aura control—allow a cultivator to enter an entirely different realm? The Tianxin Style's training methods had differed from the Kame Style from the start. He could not blindly copy what he knew from the original story. Mu Yang hoped to improve himself here with Korin.

A flicker of approval passed through Korin's eyes. Stroking his whiskers, he nodded. "All right. Since that is your wish, I'll train you according to the strictest standards. But let me warn you first—my training is quite difficult."

"I'm ready. Please rest assured, Karin the Immortal!"

"Very good."

Korin nodded. Looking at the determined young man before him, he somehow produced a bell and tied it to himself.

After finishing this, Korin lifted the kettle from the stone platform with his staff, just as he had yesterday. "Your task from now on is to snatch the kettle hanging from my wooden staff. It doesn't matter whether you do it while I'm asleep or distracted. You may use any means you wish. As long as you take the kettle from me, you'll pass."

"Since this is the first stage, I'll wear this bell. I won't take it off. Once you can snatch this kettle from me, you may proceed to the second stage. At that time, I'll remove the bell, and you'll have to take the kettle from me again. Once you finish that, you'll move on to the third stage."

"As for how the third stage will be trained, we'll discuss that after you complete the second. The first two stages alone may take a very long time."

Mu Yang was slightly taken aback. This differed from Korin's training of Son Goku. In the original story, Korin had not worn a bell when Son Goku tried to snatch the kettle.

Perhaps Mu Yang's strength had not yet reached Son Goku's level in the original story, so Korin had lowered the difficulty of the training.

The first stage had not appeared in the original story. The second stage was the training method Son Goku had undergone in the original story.

"Karin the Immortal, let's begin!"

After understanding Korin's intentions, Mu Yang nodded at him and prepared to snatch the kettle.