Chapter 339: A Walk Down Memory Lane
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
On the left was a steep cliff, on the right was a foggy valley with an invisible bottom. It would be tough for an ordinary person to walk on a road like this. Supposing that one part of the road collapsed, one could only escape by flying. Either that or they had to retreat and turn to another flat path to climb across. After all, no wise man would climb up on a winter night, for one could fall and break all their bones from any misstep or anxiety. However, if one took his time, it would be time-consuming.
After walking by several similar roads, Meng Qi and the other heroes finally came out of Dragon-rocky Mount at the time when the sky lit up. They then entered the realm of Qinzhou.
There was a touch of orange rose within the boundary between the sky and the earth. It lit the sky brightly and cast glorious beams.
Meng Qi breathed a sigh of relief. Not being recognized by that time indicated that he was temporarily safe.
His wound had already healed with the help of the Recover Pill. Even the headache and weakness caused by the Sacrifice Formula subsided. Basically, he would not be affected by the injuries anymore, but the broken Golden Bell s.h.i.+eld still needed more than half a day to recover.
However, that did not affect Meng Qi anymore. He had reached his peak in both strength and momentum through the previous thrilling battle, which was a compet.i.tion half in strength and half in mental a.n.a.lysis. Moreover, he made progress in Kung Fu, reacting to the heaven and earth, and in bladesmans.h.i.+p. Now his genuine Qi was plentiful enough to open the Mouth Acupore of the Eight Nine Mysteries. He found a balance in the Inner World and a better skill to avoid disaster.
In addition, Eight Nine Mysteries was a Peerless G.o.dly Kung Fu to sanctify the one practicing. If one kept practicing it, he would be incomparable in strength and invulnerable in battle. Its protection was even better than Golden Bell s.h.i.+eld and Vajra Unbreakable Force. Therefore, those practicing Eight Nine Mysteries who had just got in touch with Seven Acupores was actually more powerful than a consummate in Seven Acupores who practiced Golden Bell s.h.i.+eld. In this way, unless a Nine Acupores went all out, or had powerful movements or weapons, it would be difficult to hurt him.
Meng Qi made progress in practicing Eight Nine Mysteries faster than he had imagined. It was because the related acupore points had already been opened and concentrated by the genuine Qi of the Golden Bell s.h.i.+eld. Then he could manage Eight Nine Mysteries with half the effort. It took him little time on painstaking practice. What’s more, he had thoroughly remolded himself and gained experience through battles. Thus, he was about to catch up to the realm of the Golden Bell s.h.i.+eld.
Originally, Meng Qi could have broken through like Jiang Zhiwei in dangerous battles if he finished concentrating all the related acupore points of the eighth acupore while practicing Golden Bell s.h.i.+eld. All he needed to do was open the acupore using external genitalia and refine his Qi energy in depth. Unfortunately, he had a terrible foundation and could not give his all. However, he still gained a lot from it. In three months, he would surely open the eighth acupore!
In this way, Eight Nine Mysteries could catch up with Golden Bell s.h.i.+eld thoroughly in the later period when practicing the eighth acupore or the initial period with Nine Acupores opened. From then on there would be no need to pay attention to the main practice. That was to say, it was unnecessary for Meng Qi to exchange Golden Bell s.h.i.+eld for the last level. It was now the time to acc.u.mulate Karma points for the Exterior of the Eight Nine Mysteries. Thinking about the 10,000 Karma points, he had a headache.
Upon arriving at the nearby city, Meng Qi secretly left the team. He changed his appearance and went to Six Fan School’s secret meeting point. It was the city he had agreed to meet them in.
Meng Qi read the information provided by the Six Fan School and was lost in thought. “There were no Shaolin elders or presidents who had reached the Exterior or above in River East at the time… And recently no one left the temple except those who departed a long time ago…”
If it was considered that the trusted could be sent as contacts, it would be hard to investigate since there were too many Shaolin people from the Xuan generation that could pa.s.s through Bronzemen Lane.
…
“Where did the Green-robed Rider go?” Jiang Qing was full of doubt. His family was an aristocratic family living right in front of the Dragon-rocky Mount. They often did business with the merchants here, so they were quite familiar with the Turf Lords nearby. However, they found no trace of the Green-robed Riders after searching. “Did he secretly take a detour? Or did he hide in the depths of Dragon-rocky Mountain after breaking through the siege of the Shadow Cold Palm and the others?”
Cui Hao muttered to himself, “The one who you’re looking for may not be Green-robed Rider. ‘He’ may come in disguise.”
“You mean he’s some famous master? That makes sense. I said that a powerful master wouldn’t show up for no reason! Unless he received a golden chance or adventure, and suddenly came out from the mountain…” Jiang Qing was suddenly enlightened, “The Twelfth Cui, who do you think he would be?”
Cui Hao was silent for a while. Then he said, “The knife wound, sword wound, and electric burn mark, didn’t they remind you of anyone?”
“You mean Su Meng, the Killing Blade?” Jiang Qing suddenly came to a realization. He was then too shocked to speak.
For most people who wanted to know the origin of an acupores-enlightened master, he would think about the ranking on the Ranking List of Young Masters. Meng Qi ranked eleventh and was marvelous in using both knife and sword. He was famous all over the world so it was not difficult to think of him.
“He… he’s only eleventh on the list, isn’t he? Faced with a combination of the Shadow Cold Palm, Flame-scorching Devilman and Soul-losing Flute, I’m afraid that only the top five could do this!” Jiang Qing could not believe it.
Regarding this question, Cui Hao pondered for a while, but could not figure it out. He said bluntly, “Are you forgetting that Su Meng, the Killing Blade, was originally a Shaolin disciple and successfully learned Divine Skill, Golden Bell s.h.i.+eld? And it’s said that he turned to learn a similar skill. He can hurt others while being hurt, so he has an extra advantage when fighting.”
Jiang Qing gently nodded. He found it reasonable.
“However, to an extent, he’s worthy of the top ten in the list…” Cui Hao was rather jealous.
He was born into the Cui Clan from Pinjin and was a distinguished person. He was a year or two older than Su Meng, but he only opened the sixth acupore of “Ziyang Divine Skill”, which was handed down by his family. And in Battle-Ending Sword Scripts, he had just crossed the threshold. Therefore, for him, it was unsure if he could even be listed on the Ranking List of Young Masters, forget the top ten. Even his seventh brother, the legitimate son of Master Cui Zhe, the “Zi Ji Sword”, only ranked 14th.
As soon as he spoke, there was a noise in front of him. Cui Hao looked up and saw a young man wearing a green sleeveless outfit. He had a long knife and rode a white horse. He was good-looking and strong. He spoke loudly, saying,
“The Shadow Cold Palm, the Flame-scorching Devilman and the Soul-losing Flute worked hand in hand with the Unrelenting Tower to murder me, but I killed them one by one!”
“The Shaolin Temple is not far from here, but the road is full of danger. Unrelenting Tower and Heterodox Demons wouldn’t give up on killing me just like that. Follow me if you want to be rewarded and obtain war trophies!”
He galloped out of the city as he spoke.
Meng Qi had already talked to the local Sliver-badge Arresters about the change in plans. Now there was no need for second young master to show up. He would just appear and make some noise. The experts of the Exterior in Six Fan School would follow him secretly. He would also ask for masters nearby to help. They prepared to beat Heterodox Demons and the a.s.sa.s.sin above the red stairs of the Unrelenting Tower.
Originally, it would have been safest to try to change the appearance and constantly move forward. However, the closer he got to Shaolin Temple, the easier it was for him to be killed without a sound. No one would know, so no one would help him. Considering this, Meng Qi decided to have an adventure as he had nearly arrived at the Shaolin Temple.
Moreover, compared to the time in the Dragon-rocky City, it was not that dangerous. Whether the Exteriors took action and waited for the capturing of the a.s.sa.s.sin would only be possible, not certain. There may not be that many people. At most, the a.s.sa.s.sins would just be wary and put some obstacles in the way. However, now it was sure that the Sliver-badge Arresters in the Six Fan School would show up. With him and several Exteriors around, Meng Qi would have no worries.
Of course for Meng Qi, they mainly helped in threatening the Unrelenting Tower and Heterodox Demons.
“It was really Su Meng, the Killing Blade!” Jiang Qing was still astonished, though he had been mentally prepared. Stunned voices rose up around him.
Cui Hao stood still in a trance.
Watching Su Meng leave, Jiang Qing was about to call Cui Hao to keep up when he saw the expression on his face. He was confused. He waved his hand and asked, “What’s wrong, The Twelfth Cui?”
Cui Hao came back to his senses and whispered to himself, “It’s him. No wonder, no wonder…”
He saw Meng Qi just now and found him familiar. Thinking that Meng Qi had been trained in Shaolin Temple and his age at the time, he was suddenly enlightened. Su Meng, the Killing Blade, was exactly the little monk he had encountered in the lower level of the stupa!
At the time, he had failed to figure out the background of the little monk and made an erroneous judgment. His father had thought him ignorant and grounded him. Hence, he could only travel after a long time later.
Humph, every time he met Su Meng, he would suffer… The arrogance in Cui Hao’s heart suddenly dissipated and he now made up his mind to challenge himself.
…
The mountains were covered by snow and some plants were partly hidden and partly visible. The crowd came and went, so a simple market was formed. On the main road to the mountain there was a memorial gate. It read, “Mount Liantai”.
Meng Qi wore green robes and his garment fluttered in the air. He had a saber at the waist and his hands behind his back. He moved forward relaxed. As expected, he had had a safe journey all along after he broadcasted his ident.i.ty. Surely the monk backstage had no time to find the Peerless Master to fight with him. Moreover, he may not have been willing. After all, he knew that there was a traitor in the Shaolin Temple, but he did not know exactly who he was. It was impossible for Meng Qi to threaten him at the time. He would lose more than he could gain if he paid too much.
“On the day I left the mountain, I did want to escape halfway, but I never thought that I wouldn’t see the archway until today…” Meng Qi was somewhat upset. He stepped in and walked on the mountain road.
The Shaolin Temple in the main world was quite confident. No disciples were sent to guard the place at the foot of the mountain. It was shown that the mountain was not personal property. They only sent two disciples at the pavilion half way to announce the arrival of the guests so that they could prepare for a reception.
The snow was fresh on the empty mountain. The wind was cold and fresh, too. Meng Qi was not in a hurry. He just walked along the road and appreciated the scenery. He was safe since he had arrived. It was different from Zhen Chang’s event back then. Meng Qi let everyone know so that the Exteriors in the temple would take notice. It would be harmful to the monk mastermind to take action.
In the Pavilion halfway up the mountain, there were two grey-robed disciples standing straight and guarding the place. They dared not be negligent even for the slightest moment because they would be punished if they get caught by the Commandment Monk.
One of them was tall, about a good nine feet. He looked like an iron tower. Another had some stubble on his chin. It seemed that they grew so fast that they could be seen even after being shaved every day.
Suddenly, they saw a young man in a cyan robe walking from afar. There was a long saber as his waist and his hands were behind his back. He looked relaxed and pretty, even a bit familiar.
“Amitabha. Please wait, donor. What have you come to Shaolin temple for?” The young monk with stubble said while saluting.
Meng Qi looked at them and smiled. Here, he had some acquaintances. “Senior Brother Zhen De and Senior Brother Zhen He, did you forget your Junior Brother?”
They were precisely Zhen De and Zhen He who had entered with him in the beginning. They had even learned from each other at the time.
“Zhen, Zhen Ding? Su Meng, the Killing Blade!” Zhen De was too shocked to stand still. He paced back and forth with a stunned expression.
After being exiled from the mountain, Zhen Ding had become more and more famous and more powerful day by day. Compared to him, his fellow disciples were eclipsed. Originally, Zhen Miao and Zhen Ben had both achieved the sixth acupore and were able to pa.s.s through the Bronzemen Lane and leave the mountain. They could be considered good among the Shaolin disciples who learned slowly in the initial period to form a better foundation. However, compared with Zhen Ding, they were nothing.
One had to know, he was also practicing the Golden Bell s.h.i.+eld which was famous for its slow pace in progress!