When I regressed, I was a martial arts genius

The Wulin Academy High School was established to teach martial arts fairly to everyone.

For this purpose, each family sends one teacher to instruct martial arts.

Because of this, those who couldn’t inherit the blood of their families—those with talent but born with insignificant martial arts skills—could be scouted by the 15 Family Alliance…

…or so it was claimed.

In reality, the 15 Family Alliance held these events to showcase their successors.

It was a battleground beneath the surface for power and influence, a place where factions vied for future control.

“I was an exception.”

Lee Jun couldn’t take his eyes off the curriculum sheet.

It was like a university.

A school where only selected courses were attended.

The martial arts taught during these classes were free.

Even lower-level awakeners could become C-grade awakeners with the martial arts learned here.

However, Lee Jun struggled with even the common martial arts taught at school.

Threefold Heart Law was barely worth being called a martial art—it was that ordinary.

As if sensing his thoughts, Master Mugeuk comforted him with a few words.

[There’s no need to worry about such trivial matters anymore.]

‘I know.’

He no longer needed to learn martial arts separately.

He had the unique Hunyuan Divine Art, an unparalleled martial art.

He could learn any martial art.

[What training are you planning to participate in?]

‘I’m going to try everything once.’

[That’s a good idea. I was planning to recommend you participate in all pieces of training.]

Focusing on a single martial art was a feat difficult to achieve.

Attending all classes to learn new martial arts was an exhausting task.

Effort would be put into everything, and if done improperly, it would result in nothing.

That’s why students focused mainly on weapon techniques, defense methods, and cultivation arts.

Even just mastering these three took up too much time.

What Lee Jun did was insane.

No one at school had listed all classes in their curriculum.

[To analyze an opponent’s weaknesses, one must master their weapon or martial art. After all, with the Grand Return, once a martial art reaches its peak, understanding other martial arts becomes much easier.]

Lee Jun nodded.

He handed over the sheet he had written to a girl who was collecting the curriculum.

When she saw Lee Jun’s curriculum, the girl—Park Eun-bi, the class president of 2nd Year, Class 5—asked him,

“Are you planning to attend all these classes?”

“Yeah. Problem?”

“Isn’t this going to be difficult?”

“I just want to try everything.”

After saying that, Lee Jun left the classroom.

Park Eun-bi, looking at the densely written schedule, muttered to herself,

“Wow. He wrote down every single class.”

How he planned to manage it all was beyond comprehension.

***

Meanwhile, Lee Jun walked out of the classroom.

His destination was the schoolyard.

The place where the martial arts class was held.

There were already students gathered, having submitted their schedules.

As Lee Jun appeared, the male students shuffled uncomfortably and gave him space.

‘Who’s going to mess with him?’

[Hmph. You’re emanating a rather dangerous aura.]

‘My aura?’

[Did you not know? With the Hunyuan Ring, you can conceal your internal energy, but your increased killing intent must be controlled by yourself.]

‘Oh, I didn’t know.’

Had he felt particularly strong in his past life?

He had lamented his weakness before dying but never felt uncomfortable being strong.

He remained unaware of his strength.

Unable to hide his fundamental killing intent.

Moreover, his training with Master Mugeuk had roughened his energy even further.

Thus, the male students were frightened of him.

In the process of trying to suppress his killing intent.

More and more students gathered around him.

Almost three classes seemed to have joined the martial arts class.

‘Martial arts class was this popular?’

Soon after.

A tall woman approached the schoolyard.

She appeared to be in her mid-twenties.

Seeing her, old memories surfaced.

‘Her name… was it Cha Kyung-jin?’

A B-grade awakener and a member of the Shinryeokkwon family.

She was a neutral figure, not aligning with any faction within the family.

‘Better than Kim Tae-hyung.’

There was nothing to learn from her.

However, Cha Kyung-jin was different.

Her pseudonym is Hongryeonkwon.

She was famous for becoming stronger the more fights continued.

Most importantly, she taught students exceptionally well.

It was as if she excelled in tailored education.

Students who learned under her saw rapid progress.

However, few could endure her training before properly learning.

Her training regimen was incredibly intense.

Out of this large group, roughly a third would drop out.

“This semester has gathered quite a crowd.”

Cha Kyung-jin looked around at the students and her eyes met Lee Jun’s.

She gave a subtle nod to Lee Jun.

It was a gesture of respect towards the children of the Shinryeokkwon family.

Only up to this point.

From now on, it was simply a teacher-student relationship.

“Do you all know what martial art you will be learning?”

“Ten Steps Divine Fist!”

“That’s right. It’s a martial art donated to the school by Shinryongsa, inheriting the tradition of Shaolin. The original form is Hundred Steps Divine Fist. You all know that, right?”

“Yes!”

At the Martial Arts Academy, several common martial arts are taught.

One of them is the Ten Steps Divine Fist.

A long-range striking martial art designed for hitting the enemy from a distance.

A modified version of the difficult Hundred Steps Divine Fist, tailored for easier learning.

“You will be learning Ten Steps Divine Fist. Are you prepared?”

“Yes!”

“If it’s with the teacher, we’re ready to die!”

“I like that spirit. Shall we start from the basics? Everyone, follow me.”

Cha Kyung-jin moved to a different spot.

She stopped in front of the schoolyard stage. Below it was a storage area.

She opened the door to the storage area and gestured inside.

“There will be iron weights inside. Each of you, put on 20 kg iron weights on both wrists.”

Following her instructions, students entered the storage area and emerged with iron weights in hand.

“Ugh.”

“This isn’t too bad.”

“I heard there’s a terrifying training regimen, but this isn’t that bad.”

Students were not ordinary humans, but Awakened.

Even with 20 kg iron weights on their wrists, there was no sign of difficulty among them.

Lee Jun’s expression wasn’t much different from theirs.

‘What difference would adding another 40 kg make?’

He already had 50 kg iron weights on both wrists and both ankles.

And he moved just as easily as usual, without using his internal energy.

All thanks to Master Mugeuk.

[Hehe. You’ve chosen a solid basic training method.]

The iron weights inside the storage were significantly different from the ones on his wrists.

Not processed or refined, just raw, round rings of iron.

Eventually, they would appear even heavier visually.

The students did not worry about what was about to happen.

Lee Jun added the 20 kg iron weights on top of the ones he already wore.

Once he stepped out of the storage area.

“Have you all put them on?”

“Yes.”

The students lined up in formation in front of Cha Kyung-jin.

“Now, we’ll begin the class in earnest. Everyone, assume the Ma Bo stance.”

“Teacher, aren’t we going straight into martial arts training?”

“This is my first lesson. Only students who pass the Ma Bo stance will learn Ten Steps Divine Fist from me.”

Cha Kyung-jin spoke firmly.

The hesitant students gradually began to bend their knees and adopt the transparent chair stance.

“Stay in that position and raise your arms forward. Do not use your inner energy at all.”

The students stretched their arms forward.

So far, so good.

After 10 minutes, and around 30 minutes later…

“This… how much longer do we have to keep doing this, teacher?”

“You’ll maintain this until my lesson is over.”

“Huff.”

“My arms… they’re already trembling.”

It had only been 40 minutes since the class began.

“No internal energy is allowed.”

“If this keeps up, I won’t even make it to other classes.”

“I admit it….”

The school curriculum was simple.

There were only two timetables for morning and afternoon.

Each subject has two classes per week.

In total, a student can attend up to five subjects in a week.

To attend more than five subjects, they would have to attend evening classes.

If they don’t attend evening classes and wish to take more than five subjects, there’s only one way—passing the exams assigned by the teachers.

The remaining time is free.

Students could either attend the missed classes or engage in personal training.

This applied only to exceptionally talented students.

For most students, keeping up with five subjects a week was already challenging.

“S-Sir, I can’t go any further…”

Thud.

One by one, students began to drop out.

Sitting down, their bodies sprawled across the ground.

After an hour, only a third of the students remained standing.

Twenty more minutes passed.

The few students who had been holding on with sheer determination eventually raised their hands.

Only Lee Jun remained.

His face was the same as usual.

He hadn’t even broken a sweat.

Completely serene.

His face looked as if he could even eat while maintaining the Ma Bo stance.

Cha Kyung-jin observed Lee Jun.

‘He didn’t win over Gi-hong solely by tricks?’

Within the ranks of the Shinyul clan, most believed Gi-hong had underestimated Lee Jun and lost.

Cha Kyung-jin agreed with this opinion.

Lee Jun, who hadn’t received bloodline inheritance, mastered inferior martial arts.

From her perspective, it seemed like sheer luck that he defeated Gi-hong.

But seeing it firsthand, her thoughts were proven wrong.

Still, more time is needed to pass.

This training was something Gi-hong could have managed too.

***

“Wow. Is that even human?”

“We’re already three hours in.”

“How is he not losing his posture?”

At first, the students watched Lee Jun with curiosity to see how long he could hold on.

As time passed, curiosity turned into amazement.

By the time the morning classes were almost over, the students were staring at Lee Jun as if he were a monster.

Clap!

Cha Kyung-jin clapped her hands.

“The class is over.”

“Can we stop now?”

“Yes. Well done…”

“I could’ve gone longer though. It’s a shame.”

For Lee Jun, basic training was extremely easy.

The hellish training he received from Master Muguk had forged him into an ironclad body.

Cha Kyung-jin’s training couldn’t even be considered a warm-up.

“From the next session, Lee Jun will start learning the Ten Steps Divine Fist.”

“Are we not doing Ma Bo training anymore?”

“No need for it anymore.”

The students agreed.

Ma Bo’s training seemed pointless for Lee Jun.

With monstrous endurance and willpower, what was the point of wasting time on Ma Bo?

It was more beneficial to focus on martial arts training instead.

The students didn’t feel Lee Jun was receiving any special treatment just because Cha Kyung-jin was from the Shinyul clan.

After experiencing today’s training, they understood what was meant by the ‘Hellish Ma Bo training.’

Even after just an hour, a third of the students had dropped out.

No one dared question Lee Jun’s endurance after enduring for three hours.

“If a student like Lee Jun withstands Ma Bo’s training, they’ll move on to learning Ten Steps Divine Fist. Those who haven’t met the criteria will continue with basic training. Understand?”

Many students who came simply because of the teacher’s appearance were left stunned by the hellish nature of the training.

***

The next day of martial arts class.

The students, as always, took the Ma Bo stance.

Sweat-soaked uniforms.

Some had trained separately, showing significant improvement compared to the previous session.

But for them, holding on just a few more minutes was all they could manage.

Unlike them, Lee Jun received a book from Cha Kyung-jin.

“It’s the manual for Ten Steps Divine Fist.”

Lee Jun opened the book and gave a contemplative expression.

“As you can see from the manual, although Ten Steps Divine Fist is a modified version of White Steps Divine Fist, it’s still a difficult martial art to learn.”

“It seems so.”

“This isn’t a martial arts skill book obtained from a dungeon, nor is it registered in the martial arts registry. Therefore, you’ll have to master it by following the manual exactly.”

Lee Jun nodded quietly.

After scanning through the entire book, he closed it.

“There’s something you should be prepared for…”

Before her words could finish.

Lee Jun took the Ma Bo stance.

“Step your right foot back.”

As Lee Jun assumed a straight punch stance and extended his arm forward, a sudden gust of energy burst from his fist.

Bang!

The air around him exploded as if it had been struck by an invisible force.

Cha Kyung-jin, who was watching, couldn’t help but be startled.

“D-did you just…!?”

Lee Jun’s action.

He glanced at the manual once and then executed Ten Steps Divine Fist.

He failed to fully master it, but there was potential evident.

Just from that one attempt.

“Ack, so close.”

Lee Jun sighed, looking at the message that appeared just moments ago.

[Failed to master Ten Steps Divine Fist.] [Tsk tsk. Not even White Steps Divine Fist or the weaker Prowess—how can you not master such a lower-tier martial art at once?]

Master Muguk scolded him.

However, beneath the scolding, there was evident surprise in his expression.

To glance at the manual and immediately attempt to use the martial art was a feat achievable only by legendary geniuses.

Lee Jun, too, seemed to fall into that category.

Master Muguk muttered quietly to himself so Lee Jun wouldn’t hear.

[Thought he was a fool, but his talent keeps rising.]