Martial Arts: Starting from a Seemingly Real System

The Shaolin Four Courtyard is located in the middle of the sect's building complex. There are cross courtyards on both sides, which are the Medicine King Hall and the Sutra Repository. There are two large halls on the left and right of the main courtyard in the middle, which are the residences of the Arhat Hall and the Prajna Hall.

Yan Kuan led Qiao Rui to find Master Wuwang. The old monk was meditating and practicing Zen. The two men stood respectfully by the side, not daring to go forward to disturb him.

After about an incense stick of time, the old monk slowly opened his eyes. The two people who were waiting came over to greet him. Yan Kuan said, "Master, Qiao Rui has finished his punishment and returned to the third courtyard. He has just passed the assessment to enter the fourth courtyard."

"I have personally assessed it, and it is indeed extraordinary!" He added with a smile.

Wuwang's eyes were clear, revealing his approachable kindness. He laughed and scolded Yan Kuan, "In the past, you always looked down on being the duty coach, thinking that the merit points were too little. But this time you rushed to do it. It turns out that you wanted to wait for Qiao Rui to come out so that you could fight him."

"Hehe!" Yan Kuan laughed foolishly twice, his old face slightly red.

"You go down first and clean up your room. Let Qiao Rui sleep with you later, and you can practice with each other day and night!" Wuwang smiled and waved his hand, driving Yan Kuan away.

"That's great, thank you, Master!" Yan Kuan was overjoyed. He winked at Qiao Rui, then bowed and left.

"Yan Kuan is my youngest disciple, only three or four years older than you. He is extremely talented and obsessed with martial arts. He loves to compete with others, but he has a kind and generous personality. You can get closer to him in the future." Wuwang looked at Yan Kuan's back with loving eyes and said to Qiao Rui.

Qiao Rui nodded in agreement. Since he entered Shaolin, Yan Kuan was the easiest young man he had ever met to get along with.

After chatting for a while, Wuwang stopped smiling and said calmly: "It's surprising that you got out of the back mountain so quickly. Although you have high aptitude, you shouldn't have completed the punishment so early. But is there any external help?"

"This..." Qiao Rui was speechless and a little embarrassed.

The master said that I cannot casually mention his name, and I cannot easily reveal the ten drawings. But if I don't give a reasonable explanation, it will be difficult to fool people. I can't say that I picked up a secret book in the back mountain, right?

Qiao Rui thought about it but couldn't come up with a prudent excuse. His eyes rolled around anxiously. He accidentally met Wuwang's bright eyes like a candle. He couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. He had to bite the bullet and said, "I was lucky enough to meet a master in the back mountain who gave me some pointers."

"Master? Are you Uncle Dingyi?" Wuwang said.

"Master also knows him?" Qiao Ruiqi asked.

“There are only a few people in Shaolin who know about the existence of Uncle Dingyi, and I happen to be one of them.” Wuwang said with a smile, “You are blessed to have his personal guidance.”

It turned out that he was an insider. There was nothing to hide. Qiao Rui breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "I am indeed very lucky to have the honor of being accepted as a disciple by Master. Now thinking about it, it seems like a dream."

Wuwang's hand trembled as he fiddled with his rosary beads. "You said that Master Dingyi has accepted you as his disciple?"

"Yes!" Qiao Rui replied.

After hearing this answer, Wuwang's calm face finally changed. Confused, disappointed, and a little happy, it finally turned into a bitter smile, "Amitabha, good, good! It seems that there is no fate between you and me to be a master and a disciple."

Seeing Qiao Rui looking at him blankly, the old monk adjusted his mind, restored his usual calmness, and slowly said, "I was delighted when I first saw you in Mount Shu, and later I became even more satisfied when I saw you punishing evildoers in the martial arts world.

I wanted to accept you as my disciple directly, but you appear to be respectful and humble on the surface, but in fact you are arrogant and unruly in your heart, and you have too much violent temper. So I took the opportunity of your mistake and deliberately sent you to the back mountain for training. I wanted to use the profound Buddhist teachings of Uncle Dingyi to make you gain some insights.

I never thought that my uncle also saw your intelligence and took you in as his disciple, but I lost my composure a little bit just now."

At this point, Wuwang smiled and sighed, "Now that I think about it, Uncle Dingyi has profound Buddhist knowledge and broad knowledge. He will not bury your talent. This is also a great thing for you."

"Thank you very much for your kindness, Master!" Qiao Rui said with emotion. Although he had an understanding of the whole thing, he was still moved to hear Wuwang say it himself. Master Wuwang was really good to him, and any grudge he had towards Shaolin in his heart disappeared.

Of course, Ma Wencai is an exception.

"Still calling me Master?" Wuwang smiled and said, "Uncle Dingyi can be considered as half of my mentor. When we are alone, you can call me Senior Brother."

"Yes, Senior Brother!" Qiao Rui agreed, then scratched his head and asked, "Then what should I address the Fourth Courtyard disciples?"

"You were so secretive at the beginning, probably because your uncle-master has warned you not to reveal any information about him. Then you should just pretend to be an ordinary fourth-courtyard disciple and call each other brothers!" Wuwang said.

Nodding, thinking about the purpose of entering the Fourth Courtyard, Qiao Rui asked curiously: "What do the disciples of the Fourth Courtyard Prajna Hall do on a daily basis?"

"Generally, lay disciples who have just entered the Fourth Courtyard will complete tasks to accumulate merit points in exchange for advanced martial arts while continuing to practice intermediate martial arts. Merit points are not so easy to accumulate. Since they cannot learn advanced martial arts in a short period of time, they choose to practice other intermediate martial arts in order to consolidate their foundation and learn by analogy."

"For lay disciples in the fourth courtyard, you can learn elementary and intermediate martial arts at will. Advanced martial arts require merit points in exchange. Top-level martial arts cannot be taught lightly except to disciples of high monks." Wuwang explained.

"What about the Yi Jin Jing?" Qiao Rui thought of this miraculous skill that could change one's root bone qualities. He was very dissatisfied that his master had evaluated his high-quality root bone qualities as slightly worse. If he could improve his root bone qualities to the best or even the best by practicing the Yi Jin Jing, he would see what the old monk would say.

"The Yi Jin Jing and Xi Sui Jing are both peerless magical skills, and are the treasures of this temple." Wu Wang's expression suddenly became serious, and he slowly said to Qiao Rui: "These skills can only be taught to Shaolin disciples! Only those with outstanding talents! Only the abbot or the first disciple can be taught!"

Qiao Rui's face turned bitter when he heard this. Of the three conditions, he could only barely meet the second one, right? It looked like he had no chance. Just as he was feeling annoyed, he suddenly thought of someone and asked, "It is said that more than a hundred years ago, Hero Linghu had learned the Yi Jin Jing?"

“Just because it cannot be taught lightly doesn’t mean it cannot be taught. The circumstances were special at the time, so I taught Senior Linghu a simplified version of the Yi Jin Jing.” Wuwang said.

"Oh?" Qiao Rui's eyes lit up, and a glimmer of hope ignited again, "I have three top martial arts that I want to present to my master. Can I exchange them for the Yi Jin Jing training?"

"No!" Wuwang said in a calm tone, but his attitude was unquestionable.

It seems that Yi Jin Jing is indeed not for him. Qiao Rui hung his head, looking disappointed. He had to settle for the next best thing and asked, "Then what martial arts should I change to? Please teach me, brother."

"Master Uncle Dingyi, didn't you plan your future martial arts path?" Wuwang was surprised. A master would usually arrange this kind of thing for his disciples, so that the disciples would not take a detour and waste time.

"No!" Qiao Rui shook his head, "Master wants me to learn Buddhism from him."

"Oh?"