Chapter 1013: Each with Unique Skills

"How long have these cultivation techniques and visualization diagrams been hidden?"

"It looks like it's been several thousand, perhaps even tens of thousands of years."

Lu Yang rubbed his forehead. No one had discovered them for such a long time; how deeply had the eminent monks of Xitian Temple hidden these items?

Hiding them so profoundly, did they want them to be found, or not?

"Arhat Fist is fast and versatile, focusing on using inner energy to generate sounds like teeth chattering and thunderous roars, employing sound to enhance its might and energy to amplify its force..."

The teachings of Tofu Heavenly Venerable came from the sword.

Lu Yang's mastery of Arhat Fist was unmatched in the current era. With his guidance, Xin Ding's progress was naturally rapid.

Xin Ding practiced the fist technique in the courtyard. Thanks to his powerful spiritual sense, every movement was quite standard. After half a month, he was almost proficient enough to be considered an initiate.

"It truly is much stronger than Bodhi Fist." The more Xin Ding practiced, the more he felt the significant difference in level between Bodhi Fist and Arhat Fist. It was indeed worthy of being the supreme fist technique capable of achieving the Arhat Fruit status.

Just as Xin Ding was immersed in his practice, a warm current rose from his dantian, flowing through his limbs and bones, filling him with power.

"Did the medicinal pill finally take effect?"

Xin Ding was delighted. For his cultivation, under the guidance of Tofu Heavenly Venerable, he had exchanged a Minor Grass Rejuvenation Pill using his merit points. Although it was a pill that aided breakthroughs, its medicinal properties were gentle, and it would be absorbed slowly by the body after consumption.

As he practiced the fist technique for half a month, his body accelerated the absorption of the pill's properties, and he finally broke through from Qi Refining Level 5 to Qi Refining Level 6!

His pores expanded, absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to replenish the spiritual power depleted after his breakthrough.

"If I were to encounter Senior Brother Xin Cheng now, I could probably knock him down with one punch."

Compared to half a month ago, his strength had undergone a world-changing improvement. He had obtained the visualization diagram of the Buddhist founder, learned Arhat Fist, and his cultivation had broken through to Qi Refining Level 6.

Among the four servant monk courtyards—East, South, West, and North—very few servant monks possessed Qi Refining Level 6 cultivation. This meant that Xin Ding truly had the qualifications to compete for entry into the Warrior Monk Academy.

"Qi Refining Level 6 already?"

"Greetings, Martial Uncle Zhiyuan." Xin Ding exhaled and finished his practice, then pressed his palms together to greet the Deacon Martial Uncle, whose monastic name was Zhiyuan.

"Not arrogant, not impatient; excellent." Martial Uncle Zhiyuan praised him, sighing inwardly. If he had Xin Ding's temperament, he wouldn't have rushed his breakthrough so hastily back then, causing his cultivation level to fall.

He had been assigned to the servant monk courtyard for many years, becoming disheartened and not paying much attention to its management.

However, half a month ago, Xin Ding's victory over Xin Cheng caught his attention. Upon observing, he found Xin Ding to be a rare talent, and it would be a pity for someone with such a temperament to remain in the servant monk courtyard.

"Keep this string of prayer beads safe; you might find it useful during the Warrior Monk Academy selection." Martial Uncle Zhiyuan took a string of prayer beads from his wrist.

"Martial Uncle, this..." Xin Ding wanted to refuse. These were his martial uncle's prayer beads, definitely a treasure he couldn't afford.

Everything he owned combined couldn't buy it... Oh, wait, he had the Yinglong visualization diagram, the Arhat Fist manual, and a celestial sword.

"Take them. Your martial uncle isn't giving them to you for nothing; there's something I need your help with."

"This time, four servant monks will be selected to enter the Warrior Monk Academy. With your current abilities, entering won't be a problem."

"However, these four servant monks will also be ranked. The servant monk who ranks first in the selection can choose any century-old herb from the medicine vault. There's a century-old Spirit Pivot Grass in the vault, and I need you to choose that one."

For the past few days, Zhiyuan had been observing Xin Ding, and his once-dead heart was gradually reawakening. He no longer wished to be so decadent and wanted to return to the Golden Core stage. To do so, the Spirit Pivot Grass was indispensable.

Due to special reasons, he couldn't exchange for the Spirit Pivot Grass himself, so he could only use this Warrior Monk Academy selection as an opportunity to obtain it.

"Heavenly Venerable, this..."

"Take them. In the end, you're the one benefiting. This string of prayer beads has been blessed by Buddhist magic, and its value is even higher than a century-old Spirit Pivot Grass."

"Understood," Xin Ding agreed.

The servant monk courtyards were divided into East, South, West, and North. Xin Ding belonged to the East Servant Monk Courtyard, which was generally acknowledged as the weakest of the four.

All servant monks drew lots to fight in the arena, competing for four spots to enter the Warrior Monk Academy, and then the top four would battle to determine who was first.

Xin Ding stood out among the servant monks. His Qi Refining Level 6 cultivation alone was enough to sweep aside a large number of them.

Xin Cheng had also advanced to Qi Refining Level 6, but unfortunately, he was defeated once again by Xin Ding, who possessed a powerful spiritual sense.

Xin Ding advanced steadily, reaching the top eight. Having just broken through to Qi Refining Level 6, he was ironically the weakest among the top eight. Furthermore, coming from the East Servant Monk Courtyard, no one was optimistic about his chances.

Xin Ding's opponent was a servant monk from the West Servant Monk Courtyard who had been cultivating at Qi Refining Level 6 for a year and was highly expected to enter the Warrior Monk Academy.

The winner of their match would enter the Warrior Monk Academy!

"Senior Brother Zhiyuan, I didn't expect you to come to a place like this. In previous years, you never cared about the Warrior Monk Academy selection."

A monk wearing the same attire as Zhiyuan approached. It was Zhixing, who managed the West Servant Monk Courtyard.

"What, do you really think this kid named Xin Ding can defeat someone from our West Servant Monk Courtyard?"

"We'll see." Zhiyuan remained unmoved by Zhixing's provocation.

Zhixing sneered and said nothing more. He felt a surge of satisfaction thinking about Zhiyuan, the once-promising prodigy who had made it onto the Earth Ranking, who had been led astray by beauty, rashly attempted a breakthrough, failed, and was subsequently assigned to the servant monk courtyard, receiving the same treatment as him.

Zhixing was about to watch the match, eager to see how Xin Ding would lose and what Zhiyuan's reaction would be.

But when he looked at the arena, the battle was already concluding, and Xin Ding had knocked his opponent flying off the stage with one punch!

A cheer erupted from the East Servant Monk Courtyard!

Someone from their East Servant Monk Courtyard could finally enter the Warrior Monk Academy!

How could it have ended so quickly? He had only exchanged two sentences with Zhiyuan!

"You gave him the prayer beads!?" Zhixing's eyes widened in disbelief, not expecting Zhiyuan to make such a drastic move.

He saw Xin Ding using Bodhi Fist with the prayer beads wrapped around his hand, his punches emanating Buddhist light. Their people from the West Servant Monk Courtyard were no match at all!

According to the rules, only one's own items could be used in the competition, not borrowed ones. This meant that the string of prayer beads, so precious that it made him envious, had been given to Xin Ding!

"External possessions, why can't they be given away?"

"You!"

After Xin Ding's match concluded, the other three matches ended one after another. All four of these individuals would enter the Warrior Monk Academy.

"It seems it will be the four of you. It's quite a coincidence that each of the four servant courtyards has a representative." A monk from the Warrior Monk Academy came out to officiate. After noticing the prayer beads on Xin Ding's hand, he subtly glanced at Zhiyuan, who was not far away.

Was that formidable being, ranked among the top ten on the Earth Ranking, finally about to awaken?

"According to the rules, the four of you will now battle in the arena. The last one remaining on the stage will be the top-ranked servant monk."

Being the top-ranked servant monk not only allowed one to choose herbs from the medicine vault, but more importantly, the amount of resources received upon entering the Warrior Monk Academy would also be significantly different.

Lu Yang stretched. Up to this point, Xin Ding hadn't even used Arhat Fist. Facing the remaining three servant monks would be no problem.

"Who do you think will win?"

"Of course, it will be Senior Brother Xinan from our West Servant Monk Courtyard. Originally, Senior Brother Xinan wasn't outstanding, but a year ago, his cultivation suddenly advanced by leaps and bounds, and he's now at Qi Refining Level 7!"

"Pfft, does cultivation level represent everything? The ultimate winner might be Senior Brother Xinchen from our South Servant Monk Courtyard. It's said that his original cultivation talent was terrible, and he was at the bottom of the servant monks. Then one day, it was as if he had opened a spiritual aperture, completely changing his former cowardly demeanor. He defeated the influential members of our South Servant Monk Courtyard and became the senior brother in one fell swoop."

"It's definitely Senior Brother Xinping from our North Servant Monk Courtyard. Everyone says he awakened a hidden formless physique. In battle, he's invincible among those of the same level and can easily challenge those at higher levels. When Senior Brother Xinping was at late-stage Qi Refining Level 5, he defeated a late-stage Qi Refining Level 6 cultivator. To win the first-place prize, he even declined an invitation from the Warrior Monk Academy to participate in this competition instead!"

Lu Yang: "..."

Why do these three opponents sound formidable?