Chapter 25

With a long, steady breath, Meng Qi’s internal energy began to flow from his dantian, passing through the three gates, the life gate, and into the mud pill palace, finally converging at the middle of his chest, like snowflakes descending into the sea, where all rivers meet.

After a few rounds of circulation, Meng Qi gradually grasped the secrets of the Shaolin Heart Method. He then sank his breath, opened his eyes, and stood up.

At this moment, Xuanchi, who had just taught him the heart method, had already vanished. The sound of fists hitting flesh could be heard outside the meditation room.

Meng Qi’s heart stirred, and he stood up, ready to leave the meditation room and enter the martial arts hall.

This wasn’t because he didn’t value the cultivation of internal energy. Rather, apart from being assigned patrol or guard duties, he could only practice with the precept knife in the martial arts hall. As for circulating the energy and enhancing his internal strength, he could wait until the martial arts hall closed and return to his Zen room to do so.

“Little junior brother, are you going out together?” Meng Qi saw Zhenhui also open his eyes and asked casually.

Zhenhui’s face was rosy, his eyes dazed, as if he had just woken up. When Meng Qi asked, he replied somewhat embarrassedly, “Senior brother, that warm mouse was quite fun. I want to practice the heart method a bit more.”

“Hmm, you are still in the foundational stage. Try to open your dantian as soon as possible.” Meng Qi smiled, pushed open the door of the meditation room, and returned to the hall.

In the corner to the left of the martial arts hall, there was a weapons rack, mainly featuring long staffs and precept knives, with a few long swords mixed in. Two yellow-robed attendants stood on each side to prevent any accidental injuries during practice.

Meng Qi looked around and saw Zhenyong practicing the Luohan Fist with someone else. He didn’t go to greet him but walked straight to the weapons rack, picked up an unsharpened precept knife, weighed it, and began practicing the Five Tigers Interrupting the Gate Knife Technique, which Qi Xia had given him, slowly and clumsily from start to finish.

An attendant monk nearby saw Meng Qi practicing the knife and instinctively narrowed his eyes, his gaze sharp. After watching for a while, he realized Meng Qi was practicing the most basic and ordinary knife technique, shook his head, and turned to watch other monks practicing.

Meng Qi’s movements gradually became more fluid, and he forgot everything around him, immersing himself in his world of knife techniques. He swung the knife like the wind, gracefully and freely, constantly referring to the manual to correct his mistakes.

After an unknown amount of time, a thin layer of sweat appeared on Meng Qi’s forehead. He sheathed the knife, savoring the gains from his practice.

“Phew, if I can achieve this level of improvement every day, I should be able to master this knife technique in about a month.” Meng Qi exhaled, feeling secretly pleased, and then resumed his stance, swinging the precept knife again.

This time, Meng Qi’s Five Tigers Interrupting the Gate Knife Technique was quite messy because his focus was on his footwork. The knife technique was merely a cover for practicing the Divine Eight Steps, to avoid being noticed by the attendants.

After half an hour, Meng Qi, with a good memory, had roughly memorized the steps of the Divine Eight Steps. With his internal energy, the movements were not difficult, but he felt he was still far from mastering it, as if there was a barrier he couldn’t break through. Currently, he could only remember the complex steps, which were of no practical use.

“Looks like I need to practice in actual combat to find the key to these steps.” After practicing all night, Meng Qi was both mentally and physically exhausted. He returned the precept knife to the weapons rack and walked towards Zhenyong.

“Phew, Junior brother Zhen Ding, have you mastered the Shaolin Heart Method?” Zhenyong was bent over, his hands on his knees, panting heavily. The previous practice sessions had drained his energy.

Meng Qi smiled and said, “Senior brother Zhenyong, have you forgotten that I have already opened my dantian?”

“Right, what was I thinking!” Zhenyong patted his bald head and slowly straightened up. “Are we going back to the Zen room now?”

The Zen rooms in the martial monks’ courtyard were shared by two people. Meng Qi and Zhenhui lived next to Zhenyong.

Meng Qi nodded, about to call Zhenhui, when he suddenly saw a tall, muscular monk viciously collide with another monk.

With a thud, the thinner monk was pushed back several steps, looking both shocked and angry. Before he could speak, the tall monk growled, “You dared to bump into me? Do you want to practice with me? Fine, let’s go!”

The thinner monk’s face turned pale, showing obvious fear, but he didn’t refuse, assuming a stance and engaging the tall, vicious monk.

As expected, the thinner monk was quickly overwhelmed by the muscular monk’s punches, beaten up, and staggered towards the door of the martial arts hall, his nose and face bruised.

The bully-like monk proudly waved his fists, boasting to his companions.

Meng Qi was stunned, taking a while to recover. He turned to Zhenyong and asked, “Is this allowed?”

With eight attendants watching, he dared to provoke and beat up his fellow monks! And the beaten monk didn’t even call for help! Where were the Shaolin rules?

Though there are bullies and victims wherever there are people, Meng Qi thought Shaolin, with its high monks who had achieved enlightenment, should be a place of purity. Even if there were dirty deeds, they shouldn’t be so openly displayed.

Zhenyong whispered, “His dharma name is Zhenliang. He entered the temple three years ago and has just completed the initial stage of qi cultivation. He loves to bully the weak in the martial arts hall.”

“Rules?” Meng Qi asked in confusion.

Zhenyong chuckled, “These are our own rules in the martial monks’ courtyard. Anyone in the martial arts hall cannot refuse a practice request from any other monk. After all, if you are in the world, and someone wants to kill you, you can’t say, ‘I don’t want to fight you.’ This helps us get used to forced combat. However, monks who are close to completing qi cultivation are not allowed to enter here; they have their own practice hall.”

“Zhenliang takes advantage of this, picking monks he has conflicts with for practice. As for bumping into people, it’s considered a reasonable provocation in the martial arts hall to help monks get used to such situations and control their emotions.”

Meng Qi nodded, understanding the reason. “But the attendants should be able to tell if the practice is malicious or not, right?”

“It’s said that Zhenliang has an older brother in the Discipline Hall…” Zhenyong whispered, “So as long as he doesn’t violate the rules, the attendants turn a blind eye. Zhenliang is considered a bully in the martial arts hall.”

Meng Qi thought of the struggling monks in the labor courtyard and snorted, “If someone like him can be admitted to the martial monks’ courtyard, I thought Uncle Xuanku was a truly upright person!”

“It’s said that Uncle Xuanku was only responsible for the first few batches, and the later ones were chosen by other attendants. Anyway, when the senior monks come to pick disciples, they will consider their daily performance.” Zhenyong had no grudge against Xuanku.

Meng Qi reflected on his hasty judgment and narrowed his eyes at Zhenliang, who was loudly talking and laughing with others.

“Heh, I need actual combat practice the most, and I was just worried about finding a suitable opponent!” Suddenly, he walked over.

The pressure of death in the cycle world made him unable to be too cautious, and if he was expelled from Shaolin because of this, it would also fulfill his wish.

Seeing Meng Qi walk towards Zhenliang, Zhenyong was momentarily confused, just staring blankly at his back.

“Hmph, he refused to help me clean the courtyard.” Zhenliang looked at the hall entrance.

A nearby monk laughed lowly, “He doesn’t know how powerful you are, Zhenliang. Who in the martial arts hall can beat you?”

“Haha, they see me as gentle and think I’m easy to deal with?” Zhenliang laughed.

At this moment, Meng Qi walked up to him, pushed his shoulder, and with a thud, sent him flying.

Zhenliang stumbled back, disbelievingly looking at Meng Qi. He was always the one provoking others, but today, someone dared to provoke him?

Meng Qi smiled slyly, switched his hands, and cracked his knuckles, looking at Zhenliang. “You dared to bump into me? Do you want to practice with me? Fine, let’s go!”

What?

The sudden reversal stunned Zhenliang. His companions looked at Meng Qi in disbelief. Where did this young monk come from, looking so handsome, but so foolish?

Wasn’t this too bold?

Zhenyong’s face changed, about to step forward to stop him, but then he remembered that even Senior Zhenmiao had been defeated by Zhen Ding in the afternoon. He slowed his steps and watched the two with a smile.

“Damn! Bastard!” Zhenliang snapped out of his shock, furious. He was used to bullying others, not being provoked!

He imitated Meng Qi, cracking his knuckles, and growled, “Fine, let’s practice! If you don’t beg for mercy, I’ll call you my junior!”

The attendants’ expressions didn’t change, as if no conflict had occurred.

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhenliang charged at Meng Qi, his punches heavy and powerful.

Half an incense stick later, Meng Qi gave a few punches to the lying Zhenliang, stood up, and dusted off his robe, saying calmly, “Thank you for the practice. Junior, you need to practice more.”

During the fight, Meng Qi was initially familiarizing himself with the Divine Eight Steps and the Luohan Fist, struggling at first, which excited Zhenliang, who imagined Meng Qi crying and begging for mercy. But as Meng Qi became more proficient, he launched a fierce attack, using the Iron Shirt technique and the aura of life-and-death battles to quickly knock Zhenliang to the ground and beat him up.

“Junior…” Zhenliang growled through gritted teeth, unable to believe he had lost. Just a few breaths ago, he had the upper hand, but suddenly this young monk had become a ferocious beast, and his punches felt like tickles.

Meng Qi looked down at Zhenliang, “Junior, still not convinced? Let’s continue?”

Faced with this bully-like monk, Zhenliang could only clench his teeth, not speaking, and slowly got up.

Meng Qi, now proficient in the Luohan Fist and grasping the essence of the Divine Eight Steps, felt refreshed and looked around, ready to find another opponent.

The surrounding monks scattered like birds and beasts.

“Not giving me any face…” Meng Qi shook his head and looked at the bruised Zhenliang again.

Zhenliang shivered, and without thinking, ran away.

“Junior brother Zhen Ding, your body training is truly remarkable.” Zhenyong complimented, and at this moment, Zhenhui also came out of the meditation room.

Meng Qi reined in his fighting spirit and returned to the Zen room with them to practice the Shaolin Heart Method.

The next day, it was the same routine: fetching water, learning characters, and practicing. Near the end, Zhenmiao stood in front of Meng Qi with his hands behind his back. “Junior brother Zhen Ding, are you ready?”

“Ready.” Meng Qi answered firmly, stepping out of the line. The confrontation with a strong opponent made him feel both pressured and excited.