"What?" With Xuan Bei's usual composure, he was also shocked speechless at this moment, his face filled with incredulity.

  Bam!

  He originally intended to throw the sword back onto the weapon rack, to comfort Meng Qi properly, but his hand shook, and the sword directly hit the weapon rack, bouncing off and falling to the ground, unable to be inserted as he had wished. This was absolutely abnormal for an outsider like him!

  Meng Qi exerted his full strength to operate the Golden Bell Shield's fourth heart method, and his skin flashed with a dark golden color. He repeated what he had said before: "Master, I've mastered the fourth stage of the Golden Bell Shield."

  "What happened to you?" Xuan Bei regained his composure, but couldn't hide the look of surprise.

  Yesterday, my apprentice just broke through to the third level, and today he has already practiced to the fourth level. This speed is simply like listening to a myth!

  Meng Qi spoke as soon as he entered the door, without raising his head, and said in a low voice: "Yesterday, my disciple watched Master practice swordsmanship, vaguely feeling that worldly affairs are like a furnace, cutting off my quiet intentions."

  "While practicing the fourth level of Gongfa today, I was hit with both cold and heat at the same time. On top of that, there were noisy little birds chirping nonstop beside me. The triple torture was unbearable, and it felt like I was being roasted alive. Just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, a disciple suddenly remembered this phrase and had an epiphany: 'The worldly dust is like a furnace, the heaven and earth are like a furnace, isn't the current suffering just the fire of the furnace burning my body, tempering my flesh, polluting my mind, and destroying my purity?'"

  Later on, later on, the disciple muddled through and practiced until he reached the fourth pass.

  All the feelings and epiphanies described by Meng Qi are real, except for the origin of that knife intent, which is nine true and one false, leaving no room for doubt.

  But he knew that his master was a keen observer, and the changes in his body and expression were hard to conceal from him, so he controlled his heartbeat, lowered his head, and didn't let his master see his emotions.

  After listening to Meng Qi's explanation, Xuan Bei's suspicious expression faded a lot, because these insights, if not true, would be impossible to explain perfectly and would definitely have loopholes.

  He pondered for a moment, and smiled comfortingly: "You're actually quite compatible with this knife technique. You were able to grasp the flavor of the technique just by watching it once, and even gained sudden insight from it."

  It's not difficult to grasp the rhythm, and when you truly observe a knife technique for a period of time, as long as you're not obtuse, you'll more or less have some feeling. The difficulty lies in understanding the true meaning behind it and grasping the essence of the knife technique.

  "Thanks to Master's demonstration of knife skills." Meng Qi quickly shifted the focus of attention to Master's practice of "Anan Breaking Precept Knife Skills".

  Xuan Bei slightly furrowed his brow and solemnly said, "This matter must not be spread outside. You are still in the probationary period, according to the sect's rules, you cannot watch me practice another ultimate skill, even if Master allows it."

  "Although you only grasped the rhyme, without getting the changing knife method and true meaning, but from this sudden enlightenment, the harvest is great, the Vinaya Hall may not believe that you just unintentionally observed once."

  Normally speaking, one must have observed from the sidelines many times before they can possess the foundation for enlightenment.

  "Disciple is being careful." Meng Qi was currently in a cautious and secretive state, looking for an opportunity to slip out and escape. He naturally didn't want to interact with that group of strict and serious monks. "But today, when I successfully cultivated the fourth stage, I was seen by Master Xuan Ku and Master Zhen Chang..."

  Xuan Bei and Wei nodded: "It doesn't matter, there are precedents for not taking three months to master the first four gates of Jin Zhong Zhao. They were all monks with a strong foundation. As long as Xuan Ku and Zhen Chang don't know you just mastered the third gate yesterday, they will at most praise you for being suitable for practicing Jin Zhong Zhao."

  The disciple felt relieved then. Meng Qi let out a long sigh of relief, which was a genuine reflection of his true emotions, authentic and unpretentious.

  "Hmm, you go and regulate your breath to solidify it." Xuan Bei said with a harmonious and joyful expression.

  As he entered the Zen room, Zhen Hui, who was in a resting phase, asked strangely: "Brother, why are you so early today?"

  "Heh heh, Brother Master, I've finally mastered the fourth level of Golden Bell Shield!" Meng Qi said with a pleased expression in front of his familiar younger brother, who was shocked and disbelieving.

  Zhen Hui nodded and said with a smile, "Senior brother, you've always wanted to practice the ultimate techniques of 'Dian Hua Zhi' and 'Wu Xiang Jie Zhi', but now it seems that 'Jin Zhong Zhao' is the most suitable for you."

  This guy has no common sense! And isn't this saying that I'm "all talk and no action"? Meng Qi secretly scolded Zhen Hui:

  "Maybe I can master another skill even faster?"

  "I don't know." Zhen Hui replied honestly, without any intention of flattering.

  Meng Qi coughed: "Of course, if I can master the fourth level of Jin Zhong Zhao in one day, then I, as a senior brother, will be unparalleled in the past and future."

  "Brother, you're so awesome!" Such a description was like a Jianghu legend or Wulin rumor, and Zhen Hui immediately became excited.

  Meng Qi covered his face and sighed lightly. This guy was indeed exceptionally perceptive, only then could he understand what was left unsaid. As for any underlying meaning, it was better not to hope for it.

  …………

  More than half a year later, it was again late autumn, with leaves drifting down and the sky being high and clear.

  On a cool moonlit night, Meng Qi and Zhen Hui carried lanterns and strolled through the temple. Tonight was their turn to patrol, and they had been assigned a relatively remote route.

  "What a wonderful life!" Meng Qi took a deep breath of the cool air and exclaimed in satisfaction.

  It's been ten months without a rotation task, it's really surprising!

  After Meng Qi passed the fourth level of the Golden Bell Shield, he resumed his morning and evening classes and restored his studies at the Scripture Hall. However, every afternoon, he would still go to the Sharira Pagoda to meditate and cultivate his energy in the harsh environment. Due to the slow progress of accumulating true energy and condensing his acupoints, which was a water-milling process, his advancement slowed down relatively.

  However, relying on the reasonable arrangement of "Lingzhi Supplement Pill" and the elixir provided by Xuan Bei, he still managed to accumulate energy in seven months and condensed the six apertures related to the eyes. Therefore, he hoped that the next reincarnation mission would be two months later, so that he could condense nine apertures and wait for the Tiancong Pill or bitter refinement to open his apertures.

  Of course, if the reincarnation task starts now, Meng Qi is not discouraged or intimidated. Compared to ten months ago, his own strength has made rapid progress, as if he had become a different person.

  Next to Zhen Hui, she was already used to her senior brother's occasional strange movements like a sudden gust of wind, and his praise was not surprising at all. Instead, she followed up by saying: "Yes, this kind of life is really good, can eat, sleep and practice."

  His slightly childish face smiled sincerely.

  In these ten months, his finger strength has not yet broken through to the "accumulation of great achievement" stage, but the progress is also extremely great, making Xuan Bei both surprised and delighted, feeling that he will break through in half a year.

  Moreover, he who was in the midst of a growth spurt, due to having no lack of food, sleep and exercise, had grown taller by a head, with his eyebrows and eyes opening wide, and his face looking handsome.

  Eating and sleeping are top priority, you pig! Meng Qi glanced at Zhen Hui sideways.

  After ten months, he had also grown a lot taller and was no longer a child's physique. He had a few more youthful looks, with fine downy hair growing above his lips. Moreover, his appearance had not become disfigured, and when sitting quietly, he looked elegant and handsome. The only thing that made Meng Qi slightly dissatisfied was that his eyes were slightly narrow and long, with a bit more of a pretty boy air, and less of a masculine aura.

  As they walked, Zhen Hui suddenly spoke up: "Shixiong, I think Shifu Zhen Yong is acting strange."

  "What's wrong?" Meng Qi asked in puzzlement.

  The surrounding trees stood upright, like a group of monsters in the dark night.

  Zhen Hui said with a bitter tone: "Zhen Yong Shixiong often takes me out and tells me stories, but his stories are not pleasant to listen to. He always asks about my progress in learning the 'Flower Picking Finger' technique and says he's very interested in this most difficult skill."

  Having heard the first half, Meng Qi still thought Zhen Hui was overthinking, but after Zhen Hui finished speaking, his expression turned solemn: "He asked you about the Pinhua Finger? Did he ask in detail?"

  "In detail, he always asks me what obstacles I have when I'm lucky, which routes I take, and why my cultivation can be so fast..." Zhen Hui said with a chatter, he didn't think it was anything serious, just pouring his heart out to his trusted senior brother.

  Master said can't tell outsiders, but Zhen Yong Shixiong keeps asking, really annoying, and always asks me to go out, delaying my cultivation!

  Meng Qi suspected that Zhen Yong wanted to secretly learn "Pinhua Finger". As a monk from the Wuseng Temple who had yet to make a name for himself, it was normal to have such thoughts. But why did he set his sights on the most difficult-to-learn "Pinhua Finger"?

  And now that I think about it, some details of being with Zhen Yong in the past were also a bit unusual.

  "Did you tell him about the 'Pinhua Finger' technique?" Meng Qi had to confirm this first.

  Zhen Hui shook her head: "Master told me I couldn't say."

  "Alright, let's report this to Master tomorrow morning." Meng Qi didn't want to investigate himself. What if he accidentally provoked an enemy that he couldn't handle? That would be troublesome. He might even be framed and accused of being ruthless. So, reporting directly to Master was the best choice.

  Zhen Hui didn't have the slightest doubt about his senior brother's suggestion, and nodded in agreement with a good mood. Just then, he turned his gaze and pointed to several large trees beside him: "Senior Brother Zhen Yong once went behind those trees."

  "What? How did you know?" Meng Qi was both shocked and suspicious.

  Zhen Hui said straightforwardly, "After we parted ways that time, I suddenly thought of a place in the story that wasn't clear, so I turned around to chase after Zhen Yong Shixiong and happened to see him hiding behind a tree."

  "What's next?" Meng Qi's mouth twitched slightly.

  Zhen Hui replied unconsciously: "I was afraid that Zhen Yong Shixiong was in the toilet, so I waited for a while. When he didn't come out, it was time to practice again, so I went back."

  Meng Qi nodded slightly and curiously walked over to the tree with a lantern, looking inside.

  There are still many big trees inside, layered and stacked, blocking the line of sight, making it hard to see clearly.

  Meng Qi listened carefully for a while, didn't hear any movement, then slipped into the gap between several trees, advancing cautiously without leaving any trace.

  Zhen Hui was full of enthusiasm and excitement, learning from his senior brother's appearance and actions, following closely behind.

  After walking for about ten steps, Meng Qi's eyes lit up, and there were no more trees blocking his view.

  This is a protruding cliff with thick clouds and fog below, the bottom cannot be seen - Shaolin Temple was built on the mountain, many places are cliffs rather than outer walls.

  "Cliff......" Meng Qi looked around in confusion, unable to understand why Zhen Yong had brought him here.

  Just took a few glances, Meng Qi suddenly froze, his heart moved, and he leaned in to listen. Then, he pulled Zhen Hui over, extinguished the lantern, and hid behind a large tree.

  A faint footstep sounded, and a figure clad in a grey monk's robe slipped stealthily inside.

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