The moon shone bright and the stars were sparse; the north wind pierced to the bone. Meng Qi and Zhen Hui were walking back to the martial monks’ courtyard.
“Little junior apprentice, thank you for persuading Master to accept me as a disciple,” Meng Qi finally spoke after a long silence.
Although this wasn’t truly what he desired, he still appreciated the gesture from his junior apprentice.
Zhen Hui walked briskly, clearly delighted, and carelessly replied, “It has nothing to do with me. Master had already wanted to accept you as a disciple long ago.”
“Eh? How did you know that?” Meng Qi asked in astonishment.
Zhen Hui turned his head and looked at him strangely, “Didn’t he already copy two sets of secret manuals?”
Ah, right! How could I have forgotten! Meng Qi suddenly realized. He looked Zhen Hui up and down—could this guy possibly be a genius pretending to be foolish?
Feeling scrutinized, Zhen Hui became slightly uneasy and shrugged his neck, saying, “Senior apprentice, I didn’t steal your food.”
Huh? Meng Qi narrowed his eyes. No wonder I’ve felt hungry these past few days of wall-gazing punishment. I thought that was just how it was when one was being punished!
During the wall-gazing punishment, meals were always delivered directly to one’s room.
Only after Zhen Hui had taken several steps back did Meng Qi grit his teeth and say, “Fine, you’re at the crucial stage of opening your dantian, so you need sufficient food.”
“Yep!” Zhen Hui nodded honestly without any modesty.
As they talked, the two returned to the martial monks’ courtyard. Just as they entered their meditation room, Zhen Yong, who had heard the sound of the opening door, came searching for them.
“Junior apprentices Zhen Ding and Zhen Hui, you truly have the protection of the Buddha! To be selected by Senior Uncle Xuan Bei as disciples!” he exclaimed in congratulations, though his tone carried a hint of envy.
Meng Qi smiled and said, “I didn’t expect it either. I thought the reward would be one of the Seventy-two Marvelous Techniques.”
“Ahh, at that time, I was just too frightened… Otherwise… Ahh…” Zhen Yong sighed repeatedly, deeply regretting his decision to avoid trouble.
Since the incident at the back mountain, Meng Qi was no longer as close with Zhen Yong as before. Still, he tried to comfort him, “I was chosen because of the reward. As for Zhen Hui, he was selected because he performed well both in the martial monks’ courtyard and the service monks’ courtyard. Senior apprentice Zhen Yong, you still have a chance.”
“I hope so. Amitabha, I hope all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in heaven will open their eyes.” Zhen Yong sighed, suppressing his feelings of envy and jealousy. He then became enthusiastic again and asked, “Now that you’ve become disciples of Senior Uncle Xuan Bei, you’ll be able to learn the Seventy-Two Marvelous Techniques. May I ask what techniques the two junior apprentices have chosen?”
“I chose Golden Bell Cover, and junior apprentice Zhen Hui chose the Flower-Picking Finger.” Meng Qi answered casually while packing his clothes, as there was no need to hide such information.
Zhen Yong was taken aback. “The Flower-Picking Finger? Junior apprentice Zhen Hui, you actually chose the Flower-Picking Finger?”
His tone was a bit strange. Meng Qi raised his head and asked, “Senior apprentice Zhen Yong, is there any problem?”
Zhen Yong shook his head and forced a smile. “No, no problem at all. I was just thinking about how difficult it is to cultivate the Flower-Picking Finger, and how one cannot focus on other techniques while cultivating it. I was a bit worried for junior apprentice Zhen Hui. But considering that junior apprentice Zhen Hui is always focused and dedicated, I guess there’s no need to worry.”
He then turned to Zhen Hui with an expression of admiration on his face and said, “Junior apprentice Zhen Hui, the Flower-Picking Finger is directly derived from the ‘Tathagata Palm’ and is the best among the Shaolin Temple’s Seventy-Two Marvelous Techniques. You must cultivate it diligently. In the future, please guide me in martial arts as well.”
“Okay.” Zhen Hui continued packing his clothes with focused attention.
Knowing Zhen Hui’s personality, Zhen Yong wasn’t offended. He turned to Meng Qi and asked, “Junior apprentice Zhen Ding, you already have a foundation in Iron Shirt. ‘Golden Bell Cover’ is an excellent choice for you. Why didn’t you choose ‘Diamond Indestructible Divine Skill’ instead? It’s even more powerful and doesn’t conflict with your current skills.”
Meng Qi naturally wouldn’t repeat Xuan Bei’s words to belittle himself. He smiled and said, “My master told me to choose this one. I don’t know the reason either.”
“Ah, Senior Uncle Xuan Bei is a great master of this generation. There must be a profound reason behind his decision.” Zhen Yong nodded understandingly and smiled again. “Junior apprentices, in the future, please take care of your senior apprentice.”
“Of course.” Meng Qi didn’t want to dwell on this topic any longer. He looked out the window at the dark night and asked, “Senior apprentice Zhen Yong, during my wall-gazing these few days, did anything significant happen?”
Zhen Yong thought for a moment and said, “The significant matters related to us were the selection of disciples by the senior masters and senior uncles. You two don’t need to worry about that. Oh, there was another major event: junior apprentice Zhen Chang successfully passed the Copper Figure Alley and went on a pilgrimage journey down the mountain.”
“Junior apprentice Zhen Chang? The Copper Figure Alley?” Meng Qi’s mind immediately conjured the image of a tall, thin young monk. He was one of the top three strongest among the ‘Zhen’ generation and also served as a teaching monk in the martial monks’ courtyard, though his students were those practicing the ‘Arhat Formation.’
The first time Meng Qi met him, he had only one thought: this guy should play the monk Tang in Journey to the West. With his red lips and white teeth, tall and thin figure, and delicate demeanor, he seemed like the type that female demons would fancy. However, after Zhen Yong introduced him, Meng Qi learned that he was Zhen Chang, the most skilled martial artist among the ‘Zhen’ generation.
Zhen Yong nodded emphatically. “Yes, after a period of retreat, junior apprentice Zhen Chang has already opened his ear acupoints and achieved a certain level of mastery in both the ‘Arhat Subduing Demons Skill’ and the ‘Prajna Palm.’ Then he directly passed the Copper Figure Alley, becoming the youngest disciple to go on a pilgrimage journey.”
“He could pass the Copper Figure Alley just by opening his ear acupoints?” Meng Qi recalled what Jiang Zhiwei had mentioned. Even though she had opened four acupoints—eyes and ears—she still didn’t have more than a 60% confidence in passing the Copper Figure Alley. Zhen Chang had only just opened his ear acupoints, yet he managed to pass it? Could he possibly be even more powerful than Jiang Zhiwei? That didn’t seem right either. In their previous martial arts contest, Jiang Zhiwei had won the championship without even using her ‘Sword of Selfless State’ technique. Later, she also had improvements from the cycle space.
Zhen Yong glanced out the window and lowered his voice. “I heard from others that junior apprentice Zhen Chang barely made it through the Copper Figure Alley. He almost failed but managed to pass with a bit of luck.”
“I see.” Meng Qi said thoughtfully.
Zhen Yong continued, “Moreover, junior apprentice Zhen Chang is the first among the ‘Zhen’ generation to enter the acupoint-opening stage. He was originally capable of opening another ear acupoint, and his strength far surpassed senior apprentices Zhen Ben and Zhen Miao. However, he postponed his retreat for the martial arts contest and was defeated by Jiang Zhiwei of the Sword Washing Pavilion. Now, after another breakthrough, it’s only natural for him to pass the Copper Figure Alley.”
According to Shaolin Temple’s rules, Zhen Chang, as the first among the ‘Zhen’ generation to reach the acupoint-opening stage, was considered the ‘senior apprentice’ of the ‘Zhen’ generation.
Meng Qi pretended to be curious and carefully inquired about the details of the Copper Figure Alley. Then, satisfied with the information, he took his luggage and left the meditation room.
Under Zhen Yong’s repeated farewells, Meng Qi and Zhen Hui slowly walked to the courtyard entrance. Looking back, they saw that many meditation rooms still had their candles lit. Faintly, they could see numerous martial monks gazing at them. Icicles hung from the eaves, reflecting the moonlight, crystal clear yet cold.
…
“Master, where are you taking me?” The next morning, after the morning practice, Meng Qi was led by Xuan Bei toward the back mountain.
Could the special training location be in a cave somewhere at the back mountain?
Xuan Bei’s robe fluttered in the wind as he gazed ahead and said, “I’ve already asked permission from Senior Brother Xuan En. For the next while, you don’t need to go to the sutra hall anymore. Focus on cultivating the Golden Bell Cover and lay a solid foundation as soon as possible. As for learning characters, I will personally help you catch up.”
“Yes, Master,” Meng Qi looked around at the increasingly familiar scenery and asked, “Are we going to cultivate the Golden Bell Cover at the back mountain?”
“Not long ago,” he had faced many hardships here, evading and confronting Tang Shun, the master of the “Palm of Heaven and Earth,” and had obtained the true inheritance of the “A-nan Breaking Precepts Saber Technique” within a secret passage.
Xuan Bei nodded slightly, “Yes, you’ll know when we get there. Did you thoroughly read the Golden Bell Cover manual last night?”
“I’ve read it three times and have already begun practicing,” Meng Qi answered honestly.
He hadn’t wasted any time and was diligently cultivating the first stage of the Golden Bell Cover, refining his dantian once again.
Xuan Bei fell silent and continued walking forward. Meng Qi followed closely behind, passing through a narrow path between two cliffs. For the first time in a real sense, he entered the back mountain.
The mountains were layered, occasionally revealing strange peaks. However, as far as the eye could see, there was not a blade of grass. The red earth looked as if it had been watered with blood.
“It is said that a few years before Bodhidharma’s nirvana, he fought fiercely here against a great demon. The Pure Land he created was destroyed, and all sorts of barriers were shattered, resulting in the current state,” Xuan Bei slowly explained, seemingly sensing Meng Qi’s puzzled gaze. “Since then, generations of holy monks have stored their relics in the stupa here, using the power of Buddhism to transform this demon-infested land, allowing disciples below the external scenery level to walk here.”
Stepping onto the “blood-soaked land,” Meng Qi felt a chill creeping up from his feet. Visions of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, broken limbs and decaying bodies, evil ghosts and heavenly demons, all seemed to appear before his eyes.
“Amitabha Buddha,” a solemn Buddhist chant rang out, and all the illusions vanished. The sunlight shone brightly once again, though there was still no greenery.
“Disciples visiting the back mountain for the first time often experience similar hallucinations. Once you calm your mind, everything will be fine,” Xuan Bei kindly explained.
Meng Qi nodded. Internally, he was both startled and doubtful. This feeling was similar to when he touched the stone gate inscribed with “Those who enter this gate must forsake emotions, righteousness, and goodness,” though it wasn’t as vivid or terrifying, nor did it make cold sweat break out on his back. Was there any connection?
After bypassing several peaks and passing through several checkpoints guarded by yellow-robed monks and elders, Xuan Bei led Meng Qi toward the highest peak of the back mountain. As they walked, Meng Qi gradually noticed patches of greenery. Clear springs flowed down from the heights, forming pools where peculiar golden lotuses bloomed even in winter.
Walking through this mountain, Meng Qi felt his body and mind becoming pure and tranquil, forgetting all his worries.
After passing through several more checkpoints, Meng Qi saw a radiant glazed pagoda.
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