Rewards and "Punishments"

Gusts of chilling wind cut through the cliff like scraping bone knives. Even in his thicker monk robe and underclothes, Meng Qi shivered uncontrollably, forced to circulate the Shaolin Heart Method, letting internal energy flow slowly through his body to ward off the bitter cold.

The path to the back mountain was lined with sentries every few steps. Even the cliff edges, where no one seemed able to pass, were guarded by warrior monks. Meng Qi, Zhenhui, and Zhending were stationed at the front of a narrow road leading straight to the back mountain, flanked by cliff walls on both sides, with dense, pitch-black forests ahead to the left and right.

"Senior Brother, are there White Bone Demons and Spider Demons in the back mountain?" Zhenhui, who had yet to open his Dantian and whose internal cultivation progressed slowly, hopped lightly in place from the cold, staring intently at the darkness at the end of the narrow road—the territory of the back mountain.

"White Bone Demon? Spider Demon?" Zhen Yong paused, then turned his gaze to Meng Qi, his expression once again asking, What strange stories have you been telling Little Junior Brother?

Meng Qi laughed heartily. Amid the life-or-death pressure of training for the Reincarnation World, this counted as one of his few pleasures: "Since Senior Brother Zhen Miao said it's demons and monsters, then there must be yaojing."

He wasn't very familiar with this topic, so he deliberately brought it up to see if Zhen Yong could shed some light.

Zhen Yong also gazed absently at the end of the narrow road, muttering to himself, "Real demons and monsters... how many have seen them? Since the era of 'Demonic chaos on Earth,' the Demon Race has vanished without a trace. At least us ordinary folk rarely, if ever, encounter them. There are only occasional tales of scholars meeting Fox Demons or experts subduing Snake Demons. Hah, I've never seen one myself."

Meng Qi nodded and didn't press further, since Zhen Yong clearly didn't know much.

The long night stretched on, and the north wind grew even colder. Zhenhui found a rock to sit cross-legged on in meditation, while Zhen Yong paced back and forth to ward off the biting cold.

With silence all around and high-ranking monks from the Damo and Bodhi Institutes watching behind them, Meng Qi gradually turned his focus to pondering the final step of the Eight Steps of Divine Travel. Suddenly, a bone-chilling gust of wind swept past. Meng Qi shivered, his mind clearing in an instant. A flash of insight struck, and all the obstacles in his understanding dissolved.

Having grasped the key to the last step of the Eight Steps of Divine Travel, Meng Qi's heart burned with eagerness, and he couldn't wait to practice.

Even though Zhen Yong "knew" he had a family martial art, Meng Qi still wasn't comfortable directly practicing the footwork unless he could conceal it with saber techniques. But that would make too much noise and risk being discovered by the patrolling Zhen Miao and the others, inviting scolding.

Looking around, Meng Qi clutched his stomach and said to Zhen Yong, "Senior Brother, my stomach's acting up. I need to relieve myself. I'll leave this to you."

Having experienced this several times himself back in the Scripture Depository, Zhen Yong wasn't surprised and chuckled, "Go ahead. If Senior Brother Zhen Miao and the others come by, I'll explain for you."

Meng Qi grabbed his precept saber, darted into the forest ahead in a few quick steps, and dared not go too far. He stayed close to the cliff wall, beginning to practice his footwork around the giant trees.

The Eight Steps of Divine Travel were exquisite and eerie, and with the deep night and darkness, Meng Qi moved like a ghost, appearing and disappearing.

"Not bad, this is it!" After a few rounds of practice, Meng Qi nodded in satisfaction and decided to return.

Just as he was about to step forward, he suddenly heard a faint grinding sound from the cliff wall. His senses sharpened instantly, and his mind moved with his feet, silently gliding behind a large tree to hide.

"Can my luck really be this bad?! Aren't the inner layers guarded by uncles and senior brothers? And there's a thick cliff wall in between!" Meng Qi's first instinct was demons and monsters.

He peeked out and saw that beside a slightly reddish giant stone, a large hole had silently opened in the cliff wall. A figure slipped out warily.

The figure fumbled at a spot behind the giant stone, the grinding sound resumed, and the stone wall slowly closed.

"A secret escape tunnel dug by demons and monsters?" Meng Qi guessed bitterly, regretting why he had entered the forest!

He had thought there would be at most some wild animals here, and with the harsh winter, they wouldn't be active—a perfectly safe spot. Who knew he'd run into this kind of trouble!

The figure turned and was about to run toward the other side of the forest.

At that moment, by the dim moonlight, Meng Qi clearly saw the figure's face.

Him? Meng Qi was shocked and stunned, nearly crying out, barely managing to bite his lip and hold back.

The person emerging from the back mountain was none other than Zhen Guan!

The same Zhen Guan who had attacked him, tormented by the hopelessness of revenge!

"Wasn't he expelled from the temple long ago?" Meng Qi wondered in confusion. He believed Xuan Xin hadn't lied to him about this, because Zhen Yan from the Servant Courtyard, who was on good terms with him, said he hadn't seen Zhen Guan since that day.

Meng Qi didn't act. He watched Zhen Guan disappear into the distance, knowing his own strength was far from enough to get involved in demon and monster affairs.

"A man must know his limits. Not everyone is a protagonist..." Meng Qi muttered to himself.

If he rashly opened that secret passage and went in, he'd likely not find demon inner cores or demonic divine arts, but instead be killed on the spot, devoured, or turned into a puppet. After all, the former was the privilege of a "protagonist," and he clearly didn't have that kind of "aura of fortune."

He quietly retreated from the forest, deciding to find someone capable of handling this to investigate. Though he had long resolved to leave the monastic life, he was still within Shaolin Temple for now. If the temple fell into chaos, he might well be caught in the crossfire.

"Junior Brother Zhending, did you eat something bad?" Zhen Yong teased as Meng Qi finally returned after a long delay.

Meng Qi's face was serious. "Senior Brother Zhending, I encountered something strange while I was relieving myself. I'm afraid I need to report it to the uncles and elders in the inner layers!"

"Huh? Then hurry up and send the signal flare!" Zhen Yong was startled. His eyes darted, and without asking what had happened, he told Meng Qi to fire the emergency signal.

Meng Qi's mouth twitched. This Senior Brother Zhen Yong, usually warm and generous, but at a critical moment, he's quite slippery—not asking anything, trying to stay out of it.

He didn't dwell on Zhen Yong's little schemes, just decided to keep a wary eye on him. At that moment, Zhenhui beat him to it, pulling a small bamboo tube from his robe, aiming it at the sky, and pulling the lid.

With a whoosh, a red light shot into the air, exploding into a brilliant display.

"Little Junior Brother is truly a man of action—didn't ask a thing and just sent the signal..." Meng Qi wiped a cold sweat from his brow, stood with his saber in front of Zhenhui, on guard against any possible attack.

Two or three breaths later, a figure flashed before Meng Qi's eyes. He saw a handsome but melancholic middle-aged monk, wearing a Yellow Monk Robe and a Red Kasaya, holding a string of black beads carved with Buddha images in his right hand.

"Yellow Monk Robe, Red Kasaya... Which institute's Chief Monk or Elder is this?" Meng Qi opened his mouth to address him but froze. Should he call him Uncle, Martial Granduncle, or Great Martial Granduncle? He didn't even know the man—this seniority business was a headache.

Still, seeing a high-ranking monk of this level arrive, Meng Qi felt somewhat reassured.

The middle-aged monk had arrived with a grave expression, but seeing the calm scene, his face relaxed. Noticing Meng Qi's hesitation, he guessed what was troubling him and smiled slightly. "This old monk's Dharma name is Xuan Bei. Why did you fire the emergency flare just now?"

Xuan generation—already a Chief Monk or Elder? Meng Qi was startled but suppressed his inner agitation and recounted the story he had rehearsed: "Uncle Xuan Bei, this disciple went to the forest over there to relieve myself and saw a secret door appear on the cliff wall..."

Xuan Bei listened calmly as Meng Qi finished, then nodded slightly. "You did well—neither reckless nor secretive. Are you certain that figure was Zhen Guan, the one previously expelled from the temple?"

"This disciple recognizes his face, but I don't know if it was a demon in disguise," Meng Qi answered honestly.

After asking for the exact location of the secret door and nearby features, Xuan Bei instructed, "Wait here and follow Xuan Chi back to the Warrior Monk Institute. Leave this matter to this old monk."

"Yes, Uncle Xuan Bei." Meng Qi was eager to leave this place. He couldn't shake the fear that demons and monsters might leap out from the surrounding darkness at any moment.

Without moving his feet or swaying his body, Xuan Bei vanished from the spot and reappeared at the edge of the forest. Around him, faint chanting and sutra recitations arose, with specks of Buddha light flickering—solemn, sacred, transcendent, as if an Arhat or Bodhisattva had descended.

"So this is what it feels like to be close to the peak of Outer Scenery..." Zhen Yong muttered to himself, staring in the direction where Xuan Bei had vanished.

Meng Qi looked over in surprise: "Senior Brother Zhen Yong, do you know that Martial Uncle?"

Zhen Yong snapped back to reality, speaking with deep emotion: "Aside from the Martial Uncles we see daily like Xuan Chi and Xuan Ku, I don't recognize the others. But this 'Xuan Bei' has a very famous reputation—I've heard Senior Brother Zhen Chang mention him."

Zhen Chang, the foremost of the three great disciples of the Zhen generation? Meng Qi knew of Zhen Chang; it was said he was even a bit stronger than Zhen Miao and Zhen Ben.

Zhen Yong continued: "Martial Uncle Xuan Bei was originally a Peak Expert who roamed the world, known by the epithet 'Seven Absolute Hands.' But later, disaster struck—his entire family was wiped out. Though he eventually took revenge, his enemy had deep backing, and a Grandmaster-level figure came to capture him. Already disheartened and weary of the world, this incident pushed him to escape into our Shaolin, take refuge in Buddhism, sever his worldly ties, and serve the Green Lamp Ancient Buddha."

"Because of his exceptional talent and single-minded devotion to the Buddha, the Abbot Master valued him highly, accepted him as a disciple on behalf of his own master, and made an exception to let him become a direct-line disciple, learning the Maha Demon Subduing Fist. He was extraordinary as well—in a short time, he broke through and entered the ranks of Grandmasters. Later, he became the first monk of the Xuan generation to step into the Eighth Heaven of Outer Scenery, just one step away from the peak."

"Figures like that are always full of legend..." Meng Qi thought quietly, while Zhen Hui listened with great interest.

Afterward, Zhen Miao and the others arrived, along with many yellow-robed monks Meng Qi didn't recognize. The three of them were led back to the Warrior Monk Institute by Xuan Chi.

The next morning, just as Meng Qi was about to go out to practice calligraphy and inquire about the outcome of the matter (since he had guarded the Back Mountain the day before, he didn't need to get up early to fetch water), the door was suddenly pushed open. The rather sinister-looking Disciplinary Monk Xuan Kong walked in, followed by a dejected Zhen Yong.

"Your discovery yesterday foiled some scheme of the Back Mountain demon. The Bodhi Courtyard will surely reward you, but it'll probably be a few days yet." Xuan Kong said with a forced smile. "However, Zhending, you abandoned your post while guarding the critical path. The Discipline Institute has no choice but to punish you. Considering your meritorious service this time, the penalty is three days of facing the wall in your Zen room."

Just three days of facing the wall? Meng Qi let out an "oh," unconcerned by this punishment—it was far too light. It would actually be a good chance to calm his mind and polish his Internal Energy.

He eagerly anticipated the reward from the Bodhi Courtyard. Would it be one of the Seventy-two Unique Skills?

Three days later, after finishing his evening meal delivered to him, Meng Qi completed his facing-the-wall penance and cheerfully pushed open the door.

"Eh, Little Junior Brother, why don't you look too happy?" Meng Qi ran into Zhen Hui returning as soon as he stepped out.

Zhen Hui said angrily: "Today, the Martial Uncles and Senior Uncles came to pick disciples, but you were stuck facing the wall and couldn't come out."

Meng Qi's face instantly darkened. So that was the real purpose!

Was it because of his earlier disrespect, or was it Zhen Liang's elder brother in the Discipline Institute?

He narrowed his eyes, his tone as calm as still water as he said to Zhen Hui: "Let's go to the Martial Arts Hall."

Although Meng Qi wasn't particularly eager to take a master—that would make leaving Shaolin much harder—he still couldn't be happy about this situation.

Just as he finished speaking, Meng Qi suddenly noticed two lines of writing on the thin snow in the courtyard:

"Second Samsara begins!"

"Please prepare yourself mentally. Future openings will no longer be announced in advance—you will be pulled in directly."