Meng Qi gritted his teeth and stared at the little bird, listening to its unpleasant voice. After a while, he slowly turned around and walked back to the front of Han Gui's "door", and once again sat down cross-legged to meditate.

  However, this time Meng Qi tore off two collar corners and stuffed them into his ears.

  "Naive! Does he think I won't be heard just because of this?"

  "Where was I? My grandfather's grandfather's grandfather? Let me start again from my grandfather's grandfather's grandfather's grandfather..."

  Meng Qi took a deep breath and whispered in his heart, "Be dumb, be dumb!"

  Under the double attack of cold air and noise, Meng Qi almost couldn't hold on for five hours, barely managing to get through it, his whole face pale, his body trembling all over.

  "Brrr, the chill is getting to me. If I don't warm up quickly, I'll be bedridden with a lingering illness later." "Lazybones" hasn't stopped talking from start to finish.

  Meng Qi moved out with difficulty, his voice low and hoarse: "Your words don't seem like a monster..."

  He intended to lure the guy to the side of the cell, tie him up, stuff his mouth, and be done with it - Meng Qi saw that this little bird was not very powerful, and didn't even trigger the Wan character.

  "Of course, as a Roc, I must learn to be rich and powerful, to reach the sky! " The little bird said shamelessly, "How can you stupid humans understand my great ambition? A swallow knows not the ambitions of a swan!"

  "I'm the Swan Goose..." Huo E inserted a word, disdainfully shifting his body slightly inward.

  "Really? What great aspirations do you have?" Meng Qi asked softly.

  "Are you trying to get close to me and then shut my mouth? I'm a Kunpeng, how could I be so easily deceived? You bald donkeys, just because I ate a few people, you caught me, but the tigers on the mountain have eaten many more people, and you didn't say anything about suppressing them! It's normal for wild beasts to eat humans, but it's not okay for demons like me?"

  Once it starts, it can't stop at all.

  Meng Qi was deeply regretful, shouldn't have spoken with this trash can...

  Under the double torture, Meng Qi's life became increasingly difficult, but Jin Zhongzhao's progress was exceptionally fast. A month and a half later, the third pass was successfully cultivated, and Jin Zhongzhao reached the stage of Qigong small success, equivalent to Tiebushan, with a much brighter future!

  "A half month earlier than expected..." Outside the "Cold Turtle" prison, Meng Qi looked at his upper body and felt a strange texture, his heart was both shocked and delighted. At the same time, he secretly prayed that the next reincarnation task would be after he had cultivated to the fourth level of the Golden Bell Shield.

  As he put on his monk's robe, Meng Qi furrowed his brow and looked at the chattering parrot, muttering to himself: "Is this ugly bird's noise also a kind of tempering? Can it polish one's mind?"

  Alas, I still can't help but want to stuff a towel into its mouth!

  "My grandfather's grandfather once found a relic in the sea, but unfortunately it had been emptied by people long ago. The ground was covered with bird droppings. It's strange, isn't it? A seabed relic with bird droppings. Hey, little monk, don't go! Alright, alright, we'll talk again tomorrow."

  Meng Qi's footsteps paused, his teeth clenched tightly.

  Because of the breakthrough ahead of schedule, he returned to Xuan Bei's small courtyard an hour earlier than usual. As soon as he pushed open the door, he saw Xuan Bei holding a sword and practicing his swordsmanship with ease.

  He wasn't surprised at all by Mo Ke's sudden intrusion, because he had sensed him from a very far distance.

  Meng Qi glanced around casually and planned to return to his meditation room first, waiting for a while before reporting that he had broken through the third pass of the Golden Bell Shield.

  It's not that he wasn't curious or didn't want to secretly imitate his master's swordsmanship, but rather he clearly knew that the level of swordsmanship his master was practicing had moves and changes that were extremely mysterious and obscure. Without a secret manual for reference, just watching would have no effect at all. That's why his master could practice his sword in the courtyard with abandon, without worrying about others watching.

  It was this glance that caused Meng Qi's feet to stick to the ground, unable to move no matter what, because this was the first move of "ānán Breaking Precepts Sword Technique", "Breaking Clarity"!

  Due to concerns that his master would discover him, Meng Qi had never had the opportunity to practice this knife technique and could only repeatedly rehearse it in his mind, preparing for when he entered the reincarnation space and tasks, where he could quickly practice it. Who knew that today, he actually saw an outsider expert practicing this technique, and it was still the initial stage of slow and unfamiliar changes.

  It turned out to be like this...... Seeing the master's display, Meng Qi's brain cleared up more than half of the doubts about knife skills, and there was a feeling of sudden enlightenment.

  "Zhen Ding, you've mastered the third stance?" Xuan Bei asked in a deep voice, his sword technique momentarily halted.

  "Meng Qi calmed his mind and spoke: 'Master, I was lucky enough to break through ahead of schedule.'"

  "You appear to be superficial and frivolous, but you have a strong willpower hidden inside, calm and deep. It's normal that you can achieve today's results." Xuan Bei nodded in approval, "Starting tomorrow, you'll practice the fourth level of cultivation in the gap between Huo Zu and Han Gui. Yes, I'll accompany you to the Sheli Pagoda, after all, it's hard for you to grasp the balance of cold and heat, yin and yang."

  "Yes, Master." Meng Qi asked with great interest, "Master, what sword technique were you just practicing? It looks incredibly profound, far surpassing the few sets I've been practicing by who knows how many times."

  Xuan Bei patted the Jie Dao: "'An Nan's Broken Sword Technique', it was only when you mentioned it that I became interested, in the future when you reach the stage of enlightenment, if you still want to learn this sword technique, I can teach you directly."

  "Thank you, Master." Meng Qi bowed and returned to the Zen room with a puzzled mind, only to see Zhen Hui happily munching on pastries with a blissful expression.

  "Huh, little brother, no training today?" Meng Qi found it strange.

  Zhen Hui happily said: "Senior brother, I opened up my dantian at noon, it was a reward from Master."

  He presented the dim sum in front of Meng Qi with a flattering expression, covered with saliva.

  "Have you already opened your dantian?" Meng Qi secretly curled his tongue, although normally speaking, opening the dantian only requires two to six months. Zhen Hui's three and a half months isn't anything special, some people can complete this step in just one month. But it must be known that Zhen Hui has already switched to practicing "Pinhua Finger", which is the most difficult technique of Shaolin, so it's not surprising that he couldn't open his dantian in three years!

  Zhen Hui nodded honestly and asked: "Shixiong, you seemed to have something to ask me just now?"

  Meng Qi decided not to care whether this guy was destined to be with him or not, and nodded: "I'll ask you, when did Master start practicing the Arhat's Broken Precept Blade Technique? Why did he want to practice blade techniques?"

  "A fortnight ago." Zhen Hui had a good memory, then looked at Meng Qi with confusion: "Senior brother, didn't Master teach you the knife technique?"

  "What?" Meng Qi was taken aback.

  Zhen Hui didn't understand why Shixiong would ask this kind of question, and seriously said: "Because Shixiong you want to practice knife skills."

  "This, maybe... Master is too good to us?", Meng Qi acknowledged that Zhen Hui's words made sense, but he was also quite uneasy, "Not being relatives or having any connection, why would Master be so good to us?"

  Zhen Hui had a matter-of-course expression: "What's with the 'neither familiar nor strange' attitude? He's our master, after all."

  "But Master wouldn't be nice to us for no reason." Meng Qi frowned tightly.

  Zhen Hui gave Meng Qi a mysterious glance: "Senior brother, you're also good to me, what's wrong with that?"

  Meng Qi curled up her lips and couldn't be bothered with this guy, so she took out a Lingzhi supplement pill and continued with her own "homework".

  …………

  "Here." Having entered the Sharira Tower, Xuan Bei stood at the outer edge of the boundary between Huo Ju and Han Gui's cells, pointing to the empty space in front of him.

  Meng Qi responded with a sound, walked over and sat down cross-legged, suddenly feeling as if his left half was being burned by fire, while his right half had stiffened blood vessels, one hot and one cold, colliding with each other, unprecedented torture and suffering.

  His teeth clenched tightly, Meng Qi didn't let out a single groan of pain as he began to circulate the fourth stage of the Golden Bell Shield's mental technique.

  As for the matter of the winged child, he didn't mention it to his master because his master had him cultivate here with the intention of tempering himself. If he couldn't even withstand the disturbance of idle chatter, then he might as well give up early on.

  Han Gui and Huo Ju slowly approached the iron railings, wanting to give Meng Qi the greatest torture.

  Chills and fever came together, Meng Qi's body felt as if it was being pierced by tens of thousands of steel needles at the same time, extremely painful.

  He internalized his energy and transformed it through the changes of cold and heat, slowly tempering his body.

  His body changed inch by inch, his dantian expanded step by step, and his meridians widened bit by bit. Meng Qi endured extreme torture while clearly feeling his own progress.

  Xuan Bei, who was standing beside him, nodded slightly and smiled: "Zhen Hui's cultivation of the Finger of Blooming Flowers is even more compatible with what Master expected. He has already opened up his Dan Tian yesterday and will soon achieve small success in Qi accumulation. Perhaps it won't take long for him to catch up with you."

  After opening the Dan Tian, accumulating small achievements is just a matter of accumulating true energy, so Xuan Bei thinks that true wisdom can be achieved quickly, and at that time, it will be equivalent to Meng Qi's strength, who has also accumulated small achievements.

  He said that in order to give Meng Qi a sense of urgency, but the sense of urgency was not helpful for Meng Qi's current cultivation, only adding a layer of mental obstacles, so as to better temper Meng Qi's temperament.

  "However, Zhen Ding, you have also exceeded my expectations as a teacher. The tenacity hidden within you is astonishing. If you continue to progress step by step like this, even if the beginning was slow, there will be a time when you'll soar to great heights. What others can achieve in a year, you might accomplish in just half a year. By then, you'll surely surpass Zhen Hui again."

  After giving a sense of urgency, he began to encourage Meng Qi, so that he wouldn't be overwhelmed by his mental obstacles.

  When the Golden Bell Cover reaches the fourth round, it is a major achievement in storing energy. At this point, one can condense and refine the apertures, preparing to open them up. For those who practice Finger Pointing to Flowers, this may take one year, two years, or even eight to ten years.

  After finishing speaking, Xuan Bei turned around and left, leaving Meng Qi alone here to endure the double torture of ice and fire.

  "You think that just because you've found a formidable monk, I'll be afraid?" Venerable Wing descended upon the scene once more.

  "What's Shaolin martial arts? I know where the 'Demon Emperor Scripture' is hidden! That's the only treasure left by the Demon Emperor, the greatest in heaven and earth..."

  "How about it? Let me out and I'll take you to the Demon Emperor's Palace?"

  For some reason, the sound of Weiyīzi always resonated in Meng Qi's heart, which could be called the most terrifying noise in the world. It was a spiritual torture that overlapped with the cold and heat of the flesh, doubling its power.

  Meng Qi's mind gradually became a bit distracted, unintentionally recalling the "Anan Breaking Knife Method" practiced by his master yesterday, and verifying it with his own understanding of the knife intent, cutting off the troubles and difficulties of the world, and severing the pure and clean.

  The hardships of the mundane world, yet a clear and pure mind... Meng Qi, who was being tormented by the cold, heat, and noise, suddenly had an epiphany. His will to fight became crystal clear, as if he saw the monk with a bitter face walking forward with difficulty but with an exceptionally firm determination.

  "Break the precepts and leave, the red dust is like a furnace, tempering my Buddhist heart!"

  Breaking the precepts and leaving, the red dust is like a furnace, tempering my Buddha heart... At this time, the various torments that my physical body and spirit are suffering, aren't they just like a blast furnace, tempering my inner and outer body?

  Boom!

  Meng Qi's knife intent bursts forth from within, his consciousness soars to great heights, and he clearly senses the tiny torments of both body and spirit. He feels them "tempering" his "self", compressing and changing it inch by inch.

  Outer demons are like a furnace, inner demons are like charcoal. Meng Qi carefully guards the center, letting the "clear and pure" sword intent fill his body!

  In the midst of internal and external pressures, Meng Qi, who was concentrating on his sword intent, didn't notice that a faint dark yellow color had begun to spread across his body.

  The sharp intent swept away, under the pressure of cold and heat, like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, it broke through layer upon layer of barriers, rapidly innovating itself to resist external demons.

  Crack crack crack, Meng Qi's entire body was filled with the sound of sizzling beans, and the dark yellow color became brighter and brighter, making him look like a bronze arhat!

  This is indeed the fourth pass of Jin Zhongzhao's great achievement!