Journey to the West: Tang Monk Conquers Everything

The night had deepened.

For Jiang Liu, the appearance of Esquire Zhang was merely a minor episode.

As the night fell, Jiang Liu lay quietly on his wooden bed, his mind filled with myriad thoughts.

He thought about his own ability issues. The Vajra Mantra was a level 5 skill, and he was still a bit short of that level to learn it, but after leveling up three times, he also had 3 skill points. Should he really put them all in Silencing Zen?

It was just a silence-type control skill. Even at a high level, it just extended the silence duration a bit; it wasn't very useful.

Furthermore, after thinking about the skills issue, Jiang Liu couldn't help but think of the "Flowing Clouds and Streaming Water" movement technique.

A skill book dropped by the system, he could instantly learn it by using 1 skill point.

But what about giving it to someone else? Could others also learn it?

Thinking of "Flowing Clouds and Streaming Water," Jiang Liu's thoughts inevitably drifted to Gaoyang, a slight smile curling the corners of his mouth while his heart began to feel some anticipation.

He thought about hurrying for dawn to come, and for the afternoon to arrive so he could meet her behind the mountain again.

"Liu'er, are you asleep?" Just as Jiang Liu's mind was flooded with thoughts, suddenly, a familiar voice rang from outside the Zen Room.

"Senior Brother Xuankong, I haven't slept yet, what's up?" Jiang Liu got up to answer, and with a creak, he pulled open the wooden door of the Zen Room.

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"In nine days, the Incense Offering Ceremony will start. Come with me," Senior Brother Xuankong's gaze fell on Jiang Liu, his tone somewhat mysterious.

As soon as he finished speaking, he didn't wait for Jiang Liu to respond and turned to leave.

Jiang Liu: "???"

Senior Brother Xuankong's reaction was a bit strange, and with a puzzled heart, Jiang Liu followed him.

They walked all the way to an open field next to Jinshan Temple's farmland. Under the night sky, only a crescent moon was visible, so under the dim night, Senior Brother Xuankong's face was indistinct, barely visible as a silhouette.

"Liu'er, in nine days the grand ceremony of the Incense Offering Ceremony will take place. You are still young. When you go down the mountain, make sure no one bullies you. I will teach you Arhat Fist, hoping you will have a means to protect yourself after you leave the mountain," Senior Brother Xuankong's indistinct figure said under the night sky, his voice echoing.

"Brother, do you all really have so little faith in me? Do you think that I definitely won't make it through the Incense Offering Ceremony?"

Although Jiang Liu had no intention of becoming a monk, just before, the head monk had made arrangements for him to work at a tavern in the future, and now Xuankong was secretly teaching him martial arts so he would have some means of self-protection after leaving Jinshan Temple.

These actions made him quite uncomfortable.

"You rascal, on usual afternoons when you have nothing to do, you sneak into the back mountain—do you really think I don't know? Secretly killing living beings, eating meat, you don't look like a Buddhist disciple at all," Senior Brother Xuankong said with displeasure.

"Err..." These words made Jiang Liu feel awkward, and he was momentarily lost for words.

Fortunately, he only knew about his killing and eating meat, not about his dealings with Gaoyang; otherwise, it would have been even more embarrassing.

"Enough of that, stop wasting words. This Arhat Fist is typically only taught to Buddhist disciples who have passed the Incense Offering Ceremony as a temple-guarding martial art. However, our Jinshan Temple doesn't stick strictly to all these rules, so I'll secretly teach it to you. I hope you will practice diligently after you leave the mountain.

You don't need to compete with others, but at least it will strengthen your body," he said, waving his hand and dismissing concerns about Jiang Liu breaking the precept of eating meat, and returned to the main matter.

"Thank you, Brother!" Although he could level up by fighting monsters and directly learn skills from skill books using skill points, Jiang Liu still felt the goodwill from Senior Brother Xuankong.

Furthermore, aside from system skills, could he also learn other skills? Jiang Liu grew curious as well.

Without any unnecessary words, practicing the Arhat Fist wasn't particularly difficult. As Senior Brother Xuankong put it, the most important thing in practicing the Arhat Fist was consistent practice. The longer one practiced, the deeper one's skill naturally became.

However, even for a few seemingly simple stances, Jiang Liu followed along in learning for a long time, yet he hadn't fully mastered them.

As for some of the breathing techniques that accompanied the fist movements, Jiang Liu was completely baffled and didn't understand much at all.

This instruction went on until the late night, over two Chinese Hours. Watching Jiang Liu struggle even with the basic movements, Senior Brother Xuankong remained silent for a long time. Under the night sky, his expression was completely obscured.

"Senior Brother, do I perhaps have poor aptitude?" Seeing that Senior Brother Xuankong had been silent for quite some time, Jiang Liu also started feeling somewhat embarrassed.

"It seems you're not very suitable for martial arts, your aptitude..." Senior Brother Xuankong shook his head slightly and paused when he broached the topic of Jiang Liu's aptitude, hesitating to continue, which was revealing of what he thought of Jiang Liu's capabilities.

"Alright, that's it for the Arhat Fist. You've barely memorized the movements, and fortunately, I have made a booklet of the relevant breathing techniques and movements for you to take. When you have time, you should study it thoroughly."

Clearly having lost all confidence in Jiang Liu's martial arts talent, which was as uninspiring as a block of wood, Senior Brother Xuankong pulled out a booklet he had prepared beforehand and handed it to Jiang Liu before turning and walking away.

"Ah..." Watching Senior Brother Xuankong's figure quickly disappearing into the night, Jiang Liu sighed helplessly.

If possible, who wouldn't want to be a martial arts prodigy?

But looking at it, it seemed like he would never be one in his lifetime.

However, thinking about how he could level up by fighting monsters and directly learn skills using skill points, Jiang Liu shook his head and threw that disappointment to the back of his mind.

In comparison, his "Golden Finger" was perhaps his greatest reliance on becoming stronger, right?

After securing the booklet of the Arhat Fist, Jiang Liu returned to his Zen Room and went to bed fully clothed.

After practicing martial arts all night, lying on the hard wooden bed left his body exhausted, which dispelled much of his restless thoughts, and soon, he fell into a deep sleep.

The night passed without further incident, and following the crowing of the rooster, Jiang Liu woke up feeling unusually refreshed from his sleep after practicing martial arts.

After getting up and washing up, taking advantage of the faint light of dawn, Jiang Liu was about to head to the kitchen to get busy. While folding his quilt, he saw the booklet on his bed, casually picked it up, and flipped through it.

Sure enough, it was a handwritten copy by Senior Brother Xuankong, with some breathing techniques written and several simple Arhat Fist stances illustrated.

How should I put it? Senior Brother Xuankong's drawings were quite abstract. If it wasn't for having practiced along the previous night for two Chinese Hours, he definitely couldn't have made out what the Arhat Fist stances meant.

Notification: Do you want to spend 1 skill point to learn the Arhat Fist?

Just as Jiang Liu was flipping through the Arhat Fist booklet, suddenly, a system notification appeared.

The sudden notification stunned Jiang Liu, then filled him with great joy.

He indeed lacked talent in martial arts. If taught through direct instruction, he could hardly learn anything, but if the martial arts were written down, turned into a martial arts manual or, in other words, a skill book, could he instantly learn them by spending skill points?

"Is this true? Besides the skill books dropped by the system, can other skill books also be learned by spending skill points?"

"In a way, it turns out I am a martial arts prodigy too!"