Chapter 26: The Villain Xiao Meng

The sound of dull thuds echoed in the dry, cold air—puff, puff, puff—as if striking a rotten drum.

Meng Qi knew he was far inferior to Zhen Miao and had mentally prepared for defeat. Yet, when the fight began, he was shocked by the sheer gap between them. Even though Zhen Miao held his power at the level of Qi Accumulation’s Initial Perfection, and even though Meng Qi used only the Arhat Boxing, the difference was staggering.

Knowing Meng Qi’s “Iron Shirt” had just reached its initial stage, Zhen Miao’s boxing style was rigorous and forceful. Every strike targeted Meng Qi’s weak points—his temples, his eyes—ignoring deliberately exposed openings without haste. He gave Meng Qi no chance to trade minor injuries for more serious ones. Even when presented with seemingly perfect opportunities, Zhen Miao still reserved half his strength for defense, never deviating from targeting the vital areas.

Although Meng Qi had mostly mastered the Arhat Fist through continuous combat, when facing Zhen Miao’s swift yet precise variations, he still found his mind struggling to keep up with his eyes, or his eyes failing to coordinate with his hands. Were it not for relying on his “Iron Shirt” to withstand several heavy blows, he would have been defeated long ago. The thudding sounds were the impacts of Zhen Miao’s punches landing on Meng Qi.

Though none of the strikes hit critical points, the continuous blows left Meng Qi aching.

Still, this battle proved extremely beneficial for Meng Qi. He felt as if the variations of the Arhat Boxing were gradually becoming instinctive to his body.

He couldn’t help but silently thank Jiang Zhiwei for her guidance. Without her help in exchanging for the “Iron Shirt” technique, he would have suffered countless defeats before mastering any boxing style. Now, backed by the “Iron Shirt,” each sparring session was equivalent to experiencing many failures, allowing him to calmly internalize the boxing techniques into instinct.

Zhen Miao’s fists generated wind, his techniques strict and precise, gradually forcing Meng Qi into a desperate situation, leaving him no chance even to rely on the “Iron Shirt” to fight recklessly.

“No good. I must find a way out. If this continues for a few more moves, I won’t be able to hold on…” Relying on the “Iron Shirt” and knowing this wasn’t a life-or-death battle, Meng Qi remained calm, actively seeking an opportunity to counterattack.

Suddenly, he noticed a clear gap in Zhen Miao’s left side—an opening that allowed him to momentarily escape the frontal assault and catch his breath.

This time, Meng Qi’s mind and feet synchronized. He feigned an attack and immediately dodged toward the left.

As soon as his body moved, a leg wrapped in white cloth appeared from nowhere, directly kicking toward Meng Qi’s lower abdomen.

Oh no! Meng Qi inwardly cursed, quickly sidestepping to evade the leg. At that moment, a gust of wind brushed past his ear, and a fist halted beside his temple, its force causing his head to throb painfully.

“You win.” Zhen Miao withdrew his right fist, clasped his hands together, and a faint smile surfaced on his face, seemingly delighted at the chance to erase the humiliation from the previous day.

While reflecting on his gains and losses, Meng Qi returned the gesture: “Thank you, senior brother, for your guidance.”

Regardless of Zhen Miao’s intentions, such sparring had genuinely benefited Meng Qi greatly.

Suddenly, inspiration struck him. He recalled the deliberate opening Zhen Miao had created earlier—if he had used one of the steps from the Divine Steps technique, he could have avoided the counter-kick and instead drawn Zhen Miao into exposing a real weakness.

As this thought arose, Meng Qi blurted out: “Senior Brother Zhen Miao, please continue to guide me tomorrow.” Alas! He hadn’t thought of this until now—his mastery of the Divine Steps was still insufficient.

“Huh?” Several martial monks seemed not to hear clearly, looking at Meng Qi in confusion. Was he actually daring to challenge Senior Brother Zhen Miao again?

“If you can’t withstand ten of my moves tomorrow, don’t bother asking for guidance again,” Zhen Miao hesitated slightly before slowly nodding.

On the way to the dining hall.

“Tsk, tsk, are you getting addicted to getting beaten up?” Zhen Yong looked at Meng Qi as if seeing him for the first time, examining him from head to toe.

Zhen Hui looked puzzled at Zhen Yong: “Senior Brother Zhen Yong, isn’t that what heroes and chivalrous warriors are supposed to do? Never give up!”

Zhen Yong gave Meng Qi a strange look. What weird stories had Meng Qi been telling his younger brothers this time?

Meng Qi knew his behavior seemed odd, so he didn’t hide it: “Senior Brother Zhen Yong, I just thought of a secret move that could be used in that situation, so I blurted it out.”

“You’re not familiar with that secret move? You thought of it only after the sparring…” Zhen Yong caught the hidden meaning in Meng Qi’s words.

Meng Qi nodded, hesitating slightly before saying: “Wait, I need to go to the Martial Arts Hall to spar with someone.”

After the evening meal, Meng Qi meditated for a while practicing the “Shaolin Heart Method,” then eagerly entered the Martial Arts Hall.

His gaze swept the hall, and a smile immediately appeared on his face when he saw Zhen Liang engaged in sparring with another martial monk. Zhen Liang’s expression was fierce, his moves aggressive, as if trying to vent all his pent-up frustration from the previous day.

Meng Qi slowed his pace, circling around as he approached. The martial monk was outmatched and quickly overwhelmed by Zhen Liang’s pressure, receiving blow after blow until his face was swollen and bruised.

“Haha!” Zhen Liang let out a delighted laugh as the martial monk staggered out the door. But just then, he felt a powerful impact from behind, unable to stop himself from crashing into another martial monk.

“Hey! Little brother, you’re getting even more arrogant today, daring to ram into me from behind! Come on, let’s spar!”

That hated, detestable voice! Zhen Liang tensed his body, slowly turned around, wanting to say something bold, but his mouth involuntarily blurted out: “Senior Brother, I already have an opponent.”

“Really? I saw him leave. How about this—I’ll give you a quarter of an incense stick’s time to catch your breath.” Meng Qi said with a smile. His current appearance was delicate and handsome, his smile quite charming, but to Zhen Liang, it looked like the face of a demon.

Zhen Liang scanned the surroundings and found that aside from a few martial monks he was close to, the others had all stepped far away. He did have a bit of righteousness in him and didn’t want to drag his friends into this. After biting his lip, he said: “Senior Brother, let’s start now!”

Seeing Zhen Liang’s expression, as if he were ready to die and be reborn, Meng Qi smiled, his expression suddenly turning serious. With a loud shout, he launched the first attack.

After a quarter of an incense stick’s time.

“Senior Brother, I surrender! Can’t I just surrender already?” Zhen Liang lay on the ground like a dying dog, unwilling to get up.

Meng Qi rubbed his chin, where a hint of stubble was growing, and nodded with a broad smile: “Alright.”

At the very least, he had now truly mastered that one step from the Divine Steps. As long as Zhen Yong didn’t use techniques beyond the Arhat Boxing, Meng Qi could definitely give him a “surprise”!

Upon hearing Meng Qi’s words, Zhen Liang felt as if he had been granted mercy and quickly scrambled to his feet, fleeing toward the door.

After running a few steps, he suddenly stopped, pretending to be calm as he said: “My older brother is a disciplinary monk from the Precept Hall.”

“Oh? Are you going to call your big brother now?” Meng Qi said with a half-smile.

His response, phrased rather oddly, completely caught Zhen Liang off guard, leaving him momentarily stunned and unsure how to reply.

Meng Qi, with the life-or-death pressure and abundant resources of the Reincarnation World behind him, didn’t care much about disciplinary monks. He chuckled: “Senior Brother, my dharma name is Zhen Yong. I walk upright and act honorably. If I violate any precepts, I will willingly accept punishment. Junior Brother, aren’t you leaving yet? Want to spar some more?”

Upon hearing this, Zhen Liang was so frightened he scrambled away on all fours. He had “dominated” the Martial Arts Hall for over a year and had never encountered someone so unafraid of the disciplinary monks!

“Zhen… Zhen Yong? Junior Brother, are you sick?” Zhen Yong, standing nearby, asked in confusion. Why was Meng Qi calling himself Zhen Yong?

Meng Qi glanced at him: “Just having some fun. Our appearances and body types are quite different. No one will mistake us for each other anyway.”

Sigh, humor without an audience was truly boring.

…

The next day, after training ended, Meng Qi eagerly stepped forward, bowed, and said: “Please, Senior Brother, guide me once again.”

Zhen De and the other martial monks had been waiting for this moment since the beginning, yet when it actually happened, they still found it unbelievable. Had Zhen Ding’s brain been bitten by a dog? How dare he challenge Senior Brother Zhen Miao again!

Was it possible that the day before, taking advantage of Senior Brother Zhen Miao’s unfamiliarity with his capabilities, he had luckily won once, which then led him to mistakenly believe he was now on par with Zhen Miao, who had been holding back his true strength?

How arrogant!

Yesterday’s fight had clearly shown the gap!

Zhen Miao, maintaining a serious expression, nodded slightly, assumed a stance, and waited for Meng Qi to make the first move.

This sparring session resembled yesterday’s closely. Although Meng Qi had deepened his mastery of the Arhat Boxing, the gap between him and Zhen Miao remained vast. He could only reduce the number of punches he took by a few. Gradually, he once again found himself in yesterday’s desperate situation, being steadily forced into a corner by the composed Zhen Miao.

“I told you so. Where did he get the confidence to challenge Senior Brother Zhen Miao!” Zhen De was delighted with this development.

“Yeah, he’s just too arrogant and ignorant.” Other martial monks also chimed in. They instinctively disliked anyone who acted out of line: “Senior Brother Zhen Miao will definitely win again, just like yesterday!”

“Victory is certain, but Senior Brother Zhen Miao is always cautious. He won’t use the same move as yesterday again.” Zhen De said confidently.

This time, Meng Qi didn’t wait for Zhen Miao to create an opening. When he noticed Zhen Miao’s left shoulder slightly lowering, he suddenly used his shoulder to absorb the punch and charged toward Zhen Miao’s right side.

Zhen Miao had reserved power and hadn’t fully extended his move. He smoothly shifted his stance, dodging Meng Qi’s charge and launching a double-fist strike toward Meng Qi’s temples.

Suddenly, his vision blurred, and Meng Qi disappeared from sight!

It wasn’t that Meng Qi had moved too fast, but rather that in a quick crouch and turn, Meng Qi had chosen a direction and position completely unexpected by Zhen Miao, making his movements appear eerily strange and causing Zhen Miao to momentarily lose track of him, creating the illusion of Meng Qi vanishing.

Bad! As this thought crossed Zhen Miao’s mind, Meng Qi had already turned and shifted positions, their backs now facing each other.

At the same time, Meng Qi’s right elbow struck backward, powerfully hitting Zhen Miao’s back.

Puff! Meng Qi’s elbow landed on Zhen Miao’s back but felt as if striking empty air, most of the force dissipating. Glancing sideways, he saw Zhen Miao’s robe puffing up, absorbing the majority of the impact.

This wasn’t something achievable at the Qi Accumulation stage! A realization flashed through Meng Qi’s mind. He smoothly retracted his move and smiled politely: “You win, Senior Brother. You’re truly impressive.”

Zhen Miao’s face darkened with anger at losing again:

“Tomorrow, we fight again.”

His tone seemed to carry a hint of defiance, treating Meng Qi as a genuine rival.

The two combatants moved like hawks and rabbits, their fight too fast for the onlookers to follow. Before Zhen De and the others could react, the match had already concluded. For a moment, they stared blankly at Zhen Miao and Meng Qi, feeling as if everything were a dream, too surreal to be real.

After a while, their gazes toward Meng Qi turned genuinely respectful and cautious.

Regardless of the means, defeating Senior Brother Zhen Miao twice meant Zhen Ding must possess extraordinary abilities!

“Amazing! I can’t believe you’ve only been learning the Arhat Boxing for such a short time.” After the training ended, Zhen Yong approached Meng Qi and Zhen Hui, looking at Meng Qi as if seeing him anew.

Meng Qi couldn’t help but feel a bit proud and boasted: “I do have a little talent for martial arts.”

He couldn’t very well say it was thanks to the Reincarnation World.

“Are you going to the Martial Arts Hall again later?” Zhen Yong asked.

Meng Qi nodded vigorously: “Of course. I still need to prepare for tomorrow’s sparring with Senior Brother Zhen Miao.”

After dinner, having practiced his internal techniques, Meng Qi regularly entered the Martial Arts Hall.

As soon as he stepped in, he saw Zhen Liang tense up, immediately pulling over a martial monk to spar with, his moves now gentle and slow, as if wanting to prolong the fight indefinitely.

Other martial monks close to Zhen Liang also began sparring with others, deliberately avoiding giving Meng Qi any chance to “challenge” them.

“Why do I feel like I’ve become some kind of villain who bullies others…” Meng Qi muttered after a moment of silence, then chuckled. Actually, this feeling wasn’t too bad!

This time, Zhen Yong was rather cooperative, laughing and saying: “Evil monk Zhen Ding!”

For the following month, Meng Qi continued his repeated challenges and counter-challenges against Zhen Miao, losing more often than winning. In the evenings, he trained in the Martial Arts Hall. By the second half of the month, he found the monks there no longer posed a challenge, so he entered the Martial Arts Hall’s inner chamber, where he was repeatedly beaten but remained enthusiastic, because his progress in internal techniques, boxing, and swordsmanship was remarkably rapid.

“You will guard the main path of the back mountain tonight.” At noon that day, Xuan Chi came to announce a task.

Seeing everyone’s confusion, Zhen Miao explained: “The back mountain imprisons various demons and monsters subdued by our Shaolin Temple over the years. They must be constantly guarded. Don’t worry, the inner layers are guarded by our uncles and elders from the Dharma and Bodhi Halls. You are only responsible for patrolling the outer perimeter and basic security.”

Demons and monsters? Meng Qi inhaled deeply.