“Tripitaka Pavilion?” Zhen Yong raised his eyebrows and grinned, revealing a row of white teeth. “Brother Zhen Ding, since the martial monks don’t start practicing fists until after noon, why don’t I go with you guys to the Tripitaka Pavilion to help you clean? To be honest, I’m quite curious about that place too, hehe.”
“But…” Meng Qi was worried this might violate the monastery’s rules.
Zhen Yong smiled brightly and said, “Don’t worry. All monks in the temple are free to enter the lower two floors of the Tripitaka Pavilion. I just usually don’t have time. If you don’t believe me, you can go ask Master Xuan Xin.”
Before his words had even finished, Zhen Hui had already dashed into Xuan Xin’s meditation room like a gust of wind, leaving Zhen Yong momentarily stunned.
“Meng Qi dryly laughed and said, “Zhen Hui is just this kind of serious person.”
“Of course, of course,” Zhen Yong chuckled.
During this period, Zhen Yong often visited Meng Qi at the lay devotee’s quarters to ask about reading and writing, and often helped him and Zhen Hui with chores. He was quite generous and articulate.
“Master Xuan Xin said what Senior Brother Zhen Yong said is correct,” Zhen Hui ran out and loudly announced.
“Then let’s go,” Zhen Yong chuckled.
Located on a cliff behind Shaolin Temple, the Tripitaka Pavilion was an old four-story building standing alone and high, making any nearby flying birds highly visible.
After entering the Tripitaka Pavilion, Meng Qi poured himself a cup of plain water and drank it in one gulp. The journey had been too long, and the lingering summer heat had been particularly fierce, leaving him extremely thirsty.
Meanwhile, Zhen Hui walked to the bookshelf filled with Buddhist scriptures, pulling out one book after another and carefully flipping through each one.
“Hey, Junior Brother Zhen Hui, what are you doing? Do you like reading Buddhist scriptures?” Zhen Yong asked with amusement and confusion.
Meng Qi was also puzzled by Zhen Hui’s actions. He poured another cup of water and watched while drinking.
Zhen Hui’s expression was very serious, faintly revealing a hint of hope: “There might be instructions for supreme martial arts hidden between the pages of these scriptures.”
Spitting out the water in his mouth, Meng Qi sprayed it all over Zhen Yong’s head and face. Was this guy deeply addicted to martial arts novels and fantasy stories? Or did he trust Meng Qi so much that whatever Meng Qi said, he believed?
Zhen Yong wiped his face in bewilderment and looked at Meng Qi: “Brother Zhen Ding, what’s so funny about that? What Zhen Hui said is not without possibility.”
“That’s right! This was even secretly told to me by Senior Brother!” Zhen Hui flipped through the books with unusual seriousness.
“Hehe,” Meng Qi could only respond like this. Then, suppressing his amusement, he said, “Junior Brother, don’t rush. After all, we have to come here every day. Let’s clean up first, or we’ll be punished.”
Upon hearing these words from the senior brother he trusted most, Zhen Hui immediately put down the scriptures and joined Meng Qi and Zhen Yong in cleaning the Tripitaka Pavilion.
At about noon, when they had almost finished cleaning, just as Meng Qi was about to “browse” the scriptures, Zhen Yong suddenly covered his stomach and anxiously said, “Oh no, junior brothers, nature calls. Senior Brother will go first.”
Before he finished speaking, he rushed to the staircase, his footsteps echoing as he disappeared from Meng Qi and Zhen Hui’s sight.
Meng Qi didn’t think much of it and called Zhen Hui to carefully sort out the Buddhist scriptures, checking if there were any noteworthy places.
About a quarter of an hour later, Zhen Yong returned, his face pale and still holding his stomach.
“Senior Brother Zhen Yong, are you okay?” Meng Qi asked with concern.
Zhen Yong shook his head: “I think I must have eaten something bad.”
He then followed Meng Qi and Zhen Hui, slowly browsing the book titles in front of the shelves. Suddenly, he chuckled lightly: “There’s actually the manual for the Arhat Fist here.”
“The Arhat Fist? Isn’t that the martial art you seniors usually practice?” Meng Qi immediately leaned over curiously.
Zhen Yong pulled out the book and handed it to Meng Qi: “Yes, I thought it would be upstairs. I didn’t expect it to be on this floor.”
Meng Qi took the book and greedily flipped through it, wanting to memorize all its contents.
“Hehe, junior brother Zhen Ding, do you need senior brother to give you some guidance?” Zhen Yong said with a grin.
Meng Qi’s heart leaped with joy, but he was still a bit hesitant: “This, is it okay?”
Zhen Hui also widened his clear, bright eyes, looking at Zhen Yong with hidden excitement.
Zhen Yong pointed at the manual and said, “Since the manual is placed where all monks can freely access and borrow it, that means it’s basic knowledge that everyone can learn. It doesn’t violate the monastery’s rules.”
“Mm,” Meng Qi was still uneasy and took the manual back to the first floor, planning to ask the old monk in charge of book borrowing.
This old monk had withered yellow eyebrows and deeply wrinkled skin, looking like he might collapse at any moment. At this moment, he was half-dozing with his eyes seemingly closed.
“Great Great Great Senior, did this manual get placed in the wrong location?” Meng Qi asked cautiously.
According to Xuan Xin, the old monk guarding the pavilion was named Kong Hui, belonging to the same generation as the abbot Kong Wen, and was three generations senior to Meng Qi—Shaolin’s generations followed the sequence “Xin Kong Wu Xuan Zhen, Qing Jing Zhi Hui Shen.”
Master Kong Hui slowly opened his eyelids, cast a turbid glance at Meng Qi, and spoke slowly: “The Arhat Fist is widely circulated and has no special significance.”
In other words, Meng Qi could learn it! He thought joyfully inside, although this was a very ordinary martial art, it was still better than having nothing at all!
Filled with joy, he took the manual and returned to the second floor, solemnly bowing to Zhen Yong: “Please, Senior Brother, guide me.”
After that, until just before noon, Meng Qi and Zhen Hui practiced martial arts in the Tripitaka Pavilion, feeling as if their whole body’s strength was beginning to converge into one stream.
Since he needed to return for martial arts practice, Zhen Yong hurriedly took his leave, while Meng Qi and Zhen Hui walked contentedly along the cliff.
As they walked, Meng Qi noticed something wrong with Zhen Hui’s gaze, who kept staring at the deep abyss outside.
“Junior Brother, what are you looking at?” Meng Qi was quite puzzled.
Zhen Hui frowned and said, “Senior Brother, if I jumped down, would I get a supreme martial arts manual or a divine weapon? No, I don’t see any celestial sword dancing…”
Meng Qi’s expression immediately froze on his face. Oh no, he had corrupted the kid.
No, he had to correct this! Meng Qi thought for a moment. Seeing how easily Zhen Hui could be deceived, he half-heartedly tried to “rescue” him while also indulging his mischievous side: “Junior Brother, let’s change to a different story tonight.”
“What story?” Zhen Hui was very excited.
“Hehe,” Meng Qi grinned. “The story of Xia Yuhou by the Daming Lake.”
“Hmm, is she a supreme martial artist?” Zhen Hui asked with curiosity and excitement.
“…” Meng Qi was momentarily at a loss for words.
…
The bright moon high in the sky was covered by dark clouds, and the cold wind howled, making the paper windows creak. The lay monks each received an extra cotton quilt, but Zhen Ying and Zhen Guan were still shivering and curling up in a ball.
Meng Qi was completely unaffected. He sat cross-legged, his mind calm and focused, feeling the qi rise upward, transforming into golden nectar and jade dew, which flowed into the corresponding acupoints.
As soon as this qi filled in, Meng Qi immediately felt a sense of expansion in all 365 major acupoints throughout his body. The qi surged out, and the main meridians felt as if they had been washed by a flood, one after another expanding and opening up. This was precisely what was known as “qi filling the meridians naturally.”
For ordinary people, this step would take a certain amount of time, but Meng Qi’s body had already completed the “hundred-day foundation building.” Now, the qi was full and overflowing, and the meridians were unobstructed, already initially open.
Meng Qi slowly opened his eyes, feeling refreshed all over, as if he had inexhaustible strength. He understood that he had already taken the first step in martial cultivation.
He strongly resisted the urge to get out of bed and practice the Arhat Fist, exhaled deeply, and his heart was not filled with much excitement from this breakthrough. Firstly, the “hundred-day foundation building” was relatively simple, nothing particularly difficult, just a natural progression. Secondly, a few more months had passed, and his Arhat Fist was now performed quite skillfully. However, there was still no hope of leaving the lay devotee quarters.
And without leaving the lay devotee quarters, there was absolutely no way he could access higher-level martial arts, the supreme techniques that could transcend the boundary between heaven and man!
Sighing deeply, Meng Qi’s frustration and worries were all condensed into a long sigh.
…
“Zhen Ding, the lecture hall is closed for the next two days. You are responsible for cleaning Chanxin Courtyard and must not provoke any honored guests,” one morning after breakfast, Meng Qi was summoned by Master Xuan Xin.
“Honored guests? Master Xuan Xin, may I ask which sect’s experts are coming?” Meng Qi wanted to find out in advance to avoid offending the guests’ taboos.
Master Xuan Xin smiled: “The Shaolin Temple has invited martial arts sects such as Zhenwu Sect, Xuantian Sect, Xijian Pavilion, Huanhua Sword School, Qingchen Sect, and Dajiang Gang. They have sent their experts with young disciples to discuss martial arts together. In fact, it’s an opportunity for the talented young disciples from various sects to compete, exchange experiences, and broaden their horizons.”
Meng Qi inhaled sharply. These were all the major martial arts sects that Master Xuan Xin had mentioned before! For example, Zhenwu Sect and Xuantian Sect were two of the three major Daoist sects, Xijian Pavilion and Huanhua Sword School belonged to the six sword sects, and Qingchen Sect and Dajiang Gang were among the six most powerful sects in the world.
“Gifted young disciples?” Meng Qi asked instinctively, after all, he was also a young disciple of Shaolin’s Zhen generation, and couldn’t help feeling a bit of competitiveness.
Master Xuan Xin patted his round belly and laughed heartily: “Why are you asking this? Do you think you can compete with them? You’re just a lay monk who has just completed the hundred-day foundation building. Compared to them, you’re like a toad in the mud while they are phoenixes in the sky. Not only can’t you compete with them, you don’t even have the qualification to stand beside them!”
His sharp mockery made Meng Qi feel quite embarrassed, his blood rushing to his face, turning it red. Although his psychological age was already in his twenties with considerable social experience, he was still young and full of vigor, inevitably possessing a bit of a competitive spirit. When someone looked down on him like this, and thinking about the gap between him and those heavenly prodigies, it was naturally difficult to control his emotional fluctuations.
Master Xuan Xin seemed oblivious and continued, “I heard that among the young disciples coming this time, several have already entered the Qi-opening stage before reaching twenty years old. They might even have the potential to enter the Human Ranks in the future. What martial arts do you know? What supreme techniques do you master? However, our Shaolin Temple also has many talents. This generation’s Zhen Chang, Zhen Ben, and Zhen Miao are no worse than them.”
Then, he looked at Meng Qi sideways: “What are you waiting for? Go clean the Chanxin Courtyard quickly.”
Meng Qi gritted his teeth, calmed his emotions, and walked toward the Chanxin Courtyard with a broom.
Looking at Meng Qi’s back, Master Xuan Xin’s smile gradually faded, leaving only a slight curve at the corner of his mouth.
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