Chapter 6

"Scripture Pavilion?" Zhen Yong raised his eyebrows and then smiled, revealing a mouthful of white teeth. "Shi Di Zhen Ding, the martial monks only practice boxing after noon. Why don't I follow you to the Scripture Pavilion and help you clean? Hehe, to be honest, I'm also very curious about it."

"But..." Meng Qi was worried that this might violate the rules.

Zhen Yong smiled brightly and said, "Don't worry, all the monks in the temple can freely enter the first two floors of the Scripture Pavilion. I just don't have time usually. If you don't believe me, you can ask Uncle Xuan Xin."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhen Hui ran into Xuan Xin's meditation room, leaving Zhen Yong stunned.

Meng Qi chuckled, "Zhen Hui is just that serious."

"Should be, should be," Zhen Yong laughed.

In recent days, he often came to the service hall to ask Meng Qi about reading and sentence structure, and often helped him and Zhen Hui with chores. He was quite generous and good at speaking.

"Uncle Xuan Xin said that what Senior Brother Zhen Yong said is correct," Zhen Hui ran out and said loudly.

"Then let's go," Zhen Yong chuckled.

The Scripture Pavilion was located on a cliff at the back of Shaolin Temple, a four-story old building standing tall and prominent, even birds flying nearby would be very noticeable.

Entering the Scripture Pavilion, Meng Qi poured himself a glass of water from the table, drank it with his head tilted back. The journey was too long, and the autumn heat was particularly fierce, he was almost dying of thirst!

Zhen Hui, however, walked to the bookshelf where the Buddhist scriptures were placed, pulling out one book after another, flipping through them carefully.

"Hey, Shi Di Zhen Hui, what are you doing? Do you like reading Buddhist scriptures?" Zhen Yong asked, amused and puzzled.

Meng Qi was also puzzled by Zhen Hui's actions, re-poured a glass of water, and watched while drinking.

Zhen Hui's expression was very serious, with a hint of hope: "There might be a secret martial art written in the pages of the scriptures."

Pfft, Meng Qi sprayed out a mouthful of water, splashing Zhen Yong all over his face. Is this guy deeply poisoned by martial arts and fantasy stories? Or does he trust me so much that he believes whatever I say?

Zhen Yong wiped his face in a daze and looked at Meng Qi, "Shi Di Zhen Ding, what's so funny? What Zhen Hui said is not impossible."

"Yes, it's what Senior Brother secretly told me!" Zhen Hui flipped through the books with unusual seriousness.

"Ha ha." Meng Qi could only respond like that, then he gathered his comical mood and said, "Little Shi Di, don't rush. We have to come here every day anyway. Let's clean first, or we'll be punished."

Hearing his most trusted senior brother say this, Zhen Hui immediately put down the scriptures and cleaned the Scripture Pavilion with Meng Qi and Zhen Yong.

By the third hour of noon, they had almost finished cleaning. Just as Meng Qi was about to "flip through" the scriptures, Zhen Yong suddenly clutched his stomach and said urgently, "Oh, two junior brothers, I need to go to the bathroom."

As he spoke, he ran to the stairs, his footsteps echoing, and disappeared from Meng Qi's sight.

Meng Qi was not very concerned, calling Zhen Hui to carefully identify the classification and storage positions of the Buddhist scriptures, looking for anything noteworthy.

After about a quarter of an hour, Zhen Yong returned with a pale face, still clutching his stomach.

"Senior Brother Zhen Yong, are you okay?" Meng Qi asked with concern.

Zhen Yong shook his head, "I think I ate something bad."

He also began to browse the book titles on the shelves, and suddenly he chuckled, "There's actually a 'Arhat Fist' manual here."

"Arhat Fist? Isn't that the boxing form you usually practice?" Meng Qi leaned over quickly.

Zhen Yong pulled out the book and handed it to Meng Qi, "Yes, I thought it would be upstairs, but it's here."

Meng Qi took it and greedily flipped through it, trying to memorize all the content.

"Hehe, Shi Di Zhen Ding, do you need Senior Brother to guide you?" Zhen Yong said with a grin.

Meng Qi was delighted but also a bit uneasy, "Can we do that?"

Learning martial arts without permission would violate the temple rules!

Zhen Hui also opened his clear eyes wide, looking at Zhen Yong with excitement.

Zhen Yong pointed to the manual, "Since the manual is placed where all monks can freely borrow and read, it means it's a basic skill that anyone can learn, and it doesn't violate the temple rules."

"Um." Meng Qi was still uneasy, picked up the manual, and went back to the first floor to ask the old monk in charge of the scripture borrowing.

The old monk had withered yellow eyebrows and deeply wrinkled skin, looking as if he could die at any moment. He was dozing with his eyes half-closed.

"Great Uncle, is this manual in the right place?" Meng Qi asked cautiously.

According to Xuan Xin, the old monk in charge of the Scripture Pavilion was named "Kong Hui," and he was of the same generation as the abbot Kong Wen, three generations higher than Meng Qi—Shaolin's order is "Xin Kong Wu Xuan Zhen, Qing Jing Zhi Hui Shen."

Kong Hui opened his eyes, his eyes clouded, and slowly said, "The Arhat Fist is widely spread and has no special features."

In other words, he can learn it! Meng Qi thought with great joy. Although it's a very ordinary boxing form, it's still better than nothing!

He happily took the manual back to the second floor and solemnly bowed to Zhen Yong, "Please guide me, Senior Brother."

After that, until just before noon, Meng Qi and Zhen Hui practiced martial arts in the Scripture Pavilion, feeling as if their strength was beginning to coalesce.

Since they had to return to practice martial arts, Zhen Yong hurriedly said goodbye, while Meng Qi and Zhen Hui strolled contentedly on the cliff.

As they walked, Meng Qi noticed that Zhen Hui's gaze was off, always staring at the vast abyss outside.

"Little Shi Di, what are you looking at?" Meng Qi was quite puzzled.

Zhen Hui frowned, "Senior Brother, if we jump down, will we get a secret manual or a divine weapon? No, I don't see any gods dancing with swords..."

Meng Qi's expression immediately froze, finished, I've corrupted a child.

No, I have to turn this around! Meng Qi thought for a moment, seeing how easily Zhen Hui could be deceived, and said half in "rescue" and half in mischief, "Little Shi Di, let's change the story tonight."

"What story?" Zhen Hui was very excited.

Meng Qi chuckled, "The story of Xia Yuhé by Daming Lake."

"Um, is she a great martial artist?" Zhen Hui asked curiously and happily.

"..." Meng Qi was momentarily speechless.

...

The bright moon in the sky was covered by dark clouds, the cold wind was bone-chilling, and the paper windows creaked. Each of the service monks had an extra quilt, but Zhen Ying and Zhen Guan were still curled up in a ball from the cold.

Meng Qi was completely unaware of this, sitting cross-legged, his mind calm and focused. He felt the true qi rise, forming a golden fluid, transforming into the sweet dew of the willow branch, and filling the corresponding acupoints.

As soon as this true qi filled the acupoints, Meng Qi immediately felt a surge in his 365 major acupoints, the true qi gushing out, and the main meridians were like being flushed by a flood, expanding one by one, as the saying goes, "When the qi is full, the meridians open naturally."

Ordinary people would need some time for this step, but Meng Qi's body had already completed the "100-day foundation building." Now, with the qi full and overflowing, the meridians opened without any hindrance, all initially unblocked.

Meng Qi slowly opened his eyes, feeling refreshed and full of energy, realizing he had taken the first step in martial arts cultivation.

He resisted the urge to get out of bed and practice the Arhat Fist, took a deep breath, and felt no great joy from this breakthrough. First, the "100-day foundation building" was relatively simple, and it was a natural progression. Second, several months had passed, and his Arhat Fist was already quite proficient, but he still saw no hope of leaving the service hall.

Without leaving the service hall, he would have no chance to touch higher martial arts or the divine skills that transcend the human and celestial realms!

"Ah..." Meng Qi's myriad anxieties and troubles turned into a long sigh.

...

"Zhen Ding, the lecture hall will be closed for the next two days. You are responsible for cleaning the Chanxin Hall and must not provoke any distinguished guests." This morning, after breakfast, Meng Qi was called by Xuan Xin.

"Distinguished guests? Uncle Xuan Xin, which sect's experts are they?" Meng Qi wanted to find out to avoid offending the guests.

Xuan Xin smiled, "The True Wu Sect, Xuan Tian Sect, Sword Washing Pavilion, Huaxia Sword Sect, Qingchen Sect, and the Great River Gang, among others, have been invited by our Shaolin Temple. They are sending their skilled experts with young disciples to discuss martial arts. It's actually an opportunity for the exceptionally talented young disciples of each sect to compete and broaden their horizons."

Meng Qi drew a sharp breath. These were all the major martial arts sects in the world, as Xuan Xin had mentioned before. For example, the True Wu Sect and Xuan Tian Sect are two of the three major Daoist sects, the Sword Washing Pavilion and Huaxia Sword Sect are among the six sword sects, and the Qingchen Sect and the Great River Gang are among the six major sects in the world.

"Exceptionally talented young disciples?" Meng Qi asked subconsciously, after all, he was also a young disciple of the True generation of Shaolin, and he had a bit of a competitive spirit.

Xuan Xin rubbed his round belly and laughed, "Why are you asking this? Can you even compete with them? You, a service monk who has just completed the 100-day foundation building, are like a toad in the mud compared to a phoenix in the sky. You don't even have the qualifications to stand next to them, let alone compete!"

His sharp sarcasm made Meng Qi quite embarrassed, his blood rushing to his face, turning it red. Although he was mentally in his twenties and had some social experience, he was still young and hot-blooded, and it was hard to control his emotions when he was so belittled and thought of the gap between himself and those outstanding young talents.

Xuan Xin seemed unaware of this and continued, "I heard that among the young disciples of the sects coming this time, several are under twenty and have already entered the opening of the acupoints realm. They might have a chance to enter the human list in the future. What martial arts do you know? What secret skills do you understand? But our Shaolin Temple also has many talented people. This generation's Zhen Chang, Zhen Ben, and Zhen Miao are no less than them."

Saying this, he glanced at Meng Qi, "Hurry up and go clean the Chanxin Hall."

Meng Qi gritted his teeth, calmed down, and walked to the Chanxin Hall with a broom.

Xuan Xin watched Meng Qi's back, the smile on his face gradually fading, leaving only a hint at the corner of his mouth.