Martial Arts Crossover: My Wife is the Top Scholar

Chapter 80 The Five Young Rats, All Wiped Out

When talking about Zhan Zhao, one cannot help but mention the Five Rats.

Speaking of the Five Rats, we have to... *slap slap*!
Firecrackers went off in the distance. A fat monk was ambushed by firecrackers and jumped around. Five mischievous children surrounded him, laughing and joking.

The fat monk was Jiekong, the head of the vegetable garden.

He was also in charge of the dining hall at Daxiangguo Temple.

As the saying goes, even a cook won't starve in a year of famine.

As the saying goes, a big head and a thick neck mean you're either a tycoon or a cook.

Jie Kong's figure fits perfectly.

He looks like a chef.

Young Master Zhu and Tang Zhuquan are a perfect match.

He looks like a rich young master.

Jie Kong is a master of physical cultivation, possessing immense strength. He is skilled in using a coiled iron rod, employing ten sweeping strikes and ten decisive blows to sweep away thousands of troops. His only drawback is his low agility.

On the battlefield, Jiekong, clad in heavy armor and wielding a spear and halberd, would charge like a tank.

Fighting in the vegetable garden, he was annoyed by five lively children and couldn't catch a single mouse no matter what moves he made.

You can't catch one.

Catching five mice is even more impossible.

The Imperial Cat and the Five Rats are a classic combination.

The young imperial cat is leveling up by fighting monsters.

The five young rats are also going through hardships.

This is, after all, the territory of the Great Xiangguo Temple, which houses thousands of monks. Jiekong is the head of the dining hall, in charge of the stomachs and spleens, and enjoys extremely high prestige within the Great Xiangguo Temple.

At a command, dozens of monks charged forward, wielding clubs.

Li Zhaoting flashed forward, blocking Jie Kong's path.

“Master, monks are compassionate. These children are hungry, so it’s no big deal for them to eat some vegetables. Why make such a fuss?”

"Who are you? How dare you interfere in my affairs?"

"My name is Li Zhaoting, please give me some face."

Li Zhaoting gently blew on his hair.

Jie Kong subconsciously took a half step back.

Oh my God!

What is the jinx doing at Daxiangguo Temple?
"It is fate that we meet. This is my donation for incense money to Daxiangguo Temple. Please be kind enough to accept it."

Li Zhaoting took out a gold ingot.

Jiekong, now with a way out, immediately nodded: "Thank you for your generosity, Benefactor Li. Benefactor Li, this humble monk does not wish to commit any verbal offenses. These little children are truly..."

"Jade must be carved to become a useful object. Children need guidance from their parents and elders. I will teach them well."

"Thank you for your trouble, Benefactor Li."

Jiekong waved his hand, and the warrior monk retreated.

Jie Kong followed closely behind and ran away.

He didn't want to say another word to Li Zhaoting.

She was afraid that Li Zhaoting would kill her with his mouth.

Legend has it that Li Zhaoting's tongue is sharp enough to kill even the Iron-Shoe Bandit with a single sentence, and terrify Zhao Yidao of Taihang with just two sentences. His sharp tongue is even more effective than a swift knife.

Li Zhaoting turned to look at the five young rats.

The five young rats were also watching Li Zhaoting.

"Justice Bao: The Three Heroes and Five Gallants"

The Three Heroes refer to:
Zhan Zhao, the "Southern Hero";
Ouyang Chun, the "Northern Hero";

"The Twin Heroes" Ding Zhaolan and Ding Zhaohui;

The Five Righteous Men refer to the Five Rats:
Lu Fang, nicknamed "Sky-Drilling Rat";
Han Zhang, nicknamed "The Thorough Mole";
Xu Qing, nicknamed "The Pangolin";
Jiang Ping, nicknamed "River-Turning Rat";
Bai Yutang, the "White-haired Rat";

The one whose martial arts skills are most misrepresented is... Zhan Zhao!
In TV dramas, Zhan Zhao is invincible. Even if he is not the best in the world, he is at least in the top three. He can fight against all kinds of gods and demons with his chivalrous martial arts.

In traditional storytelling, Zhan Zhao's martial arts skills are average. By the time he became the White-Browed Hero, he was just a nobody on the roadside, easily defeated by any random extra in twenty rounds.

Zhan Zhao wanted to cry but had no tears.

I, a dignified Southern Hero, am not even as good as a background character.

Li Zhaoting, having gathered his chaotic thoughts, asked, "Are you all destined to become my disciples?"

Bai Yutang asked, "Become an apprentice? You're a weak and bookish scholar, what skills can you teach us? I want to become a martial arts master, I don't like studying."

"To become a master, you must read more books; otherwise, even if martial arts manuals are right in front of you, you won't understand them."

"Stop looking down on us! Show us your skills first, and if you're really good, we'll follow you!"

"Is this okay?"

Li Zhaoting flicked his finger and unleashed a burst of sword energy.

With a loud bang, the brick pile at the corner collapsed and shattered into dust.

The five rats opened their mouths in horror.

Abbot Yan Hui of Daxiangguo Temple taught them basic martial arts, so they had some martial arts foundation, similar to Qu Feiyan. They could break one or two bricks with their bare hands, but they couldn't even dream of shattering a pile of bricks with a flick of their fingers.

Lu Fang laughed and said, "Take a look at this!"

He leaped up, grabbed the tree trunk, and scrambled up the tree faster than a monkey.

Just as he was about to show off to Li Zhaoting, he suddenly felt someone tap him on the head. Turning around, he saw Li Zhaoting standing on a willow branch, smiling at him. Lu Fang fell down in shock. Li Zhaoting reached out and grabbed Lu Fang around the waist, and they floated back to the ground.

Han Zhang said, "Take a look at this one too!"

Han Zhang grabbed a shovel from the vegetable garden and started digging rapidly in the ground, quickly creating a large pit.

Li Zhaoting stomped his right foot down hard, and his true energy spread along the ground, exploding out of the crater.

Xu Qing is skilled at drilling holes, so he can't demonstrate.

Jiang Ping jumped into the clear water pond in the vegetable garden.

Jiang Ping, nicknamed "River Rat," is a first-rate swimmer. He can move up and down in the water, and suddenly felt a pain in his ankle, as if he had been bitten by a poisonous snake.

Upon closer inspection, it was indeed Li Zhaoting.

"brush!"

Li Zhaoting carried Jiang Ping out of the water.

"You five, do you submit?" Li Zhaoting put Jiang Ping on the ground.

The five rats exchanged a glance and knelt on the ground.

"Disciple greets Master."

I can’t accept it!
Li Zhaoting's martial arts skills are terrifying.

This far exceeded the Five Rats' imagination.

I could never have imagined such profound martial arts skills.

Li Zhaoting looked up at the sky with a smug expression.

It feels so damn good to show off!

No wonder the mad old Taoist priest likes to force people to become his disciples.

Unfortunately, my martial arts skills are not up to par yet, otherwise I would definitely have blown up a mountain to show them, made the Five Rats kneel on the ground and call me a god, and then taken them as my disciples.

"Listen up, my name is Li Zhaoting, I am from Jinling, my courtesy name is Buyi, I am skilled in swordsmanship, and my sect has no rules and regulations, only four rules."

First, one must not commit crimes or indiscriminately kill innocent people;

Second, one must not commit adultery, plunder, or bully the weak;

Third, one must not betray one's country or one's ancestors;

Fourth, students must learn to read and write; early romantic relationships are strictly prohibited.

Other rules will be added later.

Go take a shower, change your clothes, and eat first!

Li Zhaoting led the Five Rats away from Daxiangguo Temple.

Meizhu led the five rats to bathe and change clothes.

Soon, the five children shone brightly.

Feng Suzhen took out five red envelopes: "I am your teacher's wife Feng Suzhen, and this is your aunt Meizhu. A teacher for a day is a father for life. From today onwards, I am your mother. This is a gift for you."

The five rats called out loudly, "Greetings, Mother!"

The five of them lost their parents at a young age and had never experienced parental love; this voice was truly heartfelt.

The five rats were all very clever children. When they were bathing and changing clothes, they discussed it and decided that five little beggars, neither royalty nor rich kids, wouldn't be worth much if they were sold. They wouldn't be worth as much as this outfit!

Since that's the case, why not just accept it?
Anyway, I don't have anything worth scheming about!
At worst, it's just a worthless life!
Li Zhaoting snorted twice: "You five, starting tomorrow, you will begin reading and writing. You will have a day off every five days. Meizhu, you are in charge of teaching them. This is the imperial ruler; whoever misbehaves, you can beat them!"

Li Zhaoting took out a long ruler.

The Five Rats: Is it too late to run away now? We came here to learn martial arts! We don't want to do our homework!

It's obviously too late to run now!
Mei Zhu prepared lessons overnight.

Lan Fenghuang made faces and winked.

Feng Suzhen looked at the five children with a smile.

Martial arts masters refine essence into qi, qi into spirit, spirit into emptiness, and emptiness into the Dao. When they reach the stage of refining essence into qi, they will refine the essence, making it difficult to conceive offspring.

Especially the Longevity Technique, which allows one to ascend to the innate realm in one step. Without any foundation, one immediately begins refining essence into qi, so how can one retain it!
It's not that there's no solution.

Once martial arts skills reach a certain limit and break through the limitations of refining spirit and reversing emptiness, one can reverse the Heavenly Gang and reverse the transformation of essence into qi, thus enabling the conception of offspring.

The previous practitioner of the Longevity Technique, Kou Zhong, failed to achieve it in his youth, while Xu Ziling successfully broke through. Therefore, Kou Zhong had no descendants, while Xu Ziling had a daughter.

Li Zhaoting and Feng Suzhen were both exceptional geniuses.

There's no particular rush for this.

Li Zhaoting is full of confidence in making a breakthrough.

Feng Suzhen was also full of confidence.

Feng Suzhen was only worried about one thing: that Li Zhaoting was taking advantage of his mastery of Qi cultivation to philander.

This is much safer than a small umbrella!
Martial arts, advancing technology, changing lives!
……

The next morning, an invitation arrived from Daxiangguo Temple.

Master Yanhui invited Li Zhaoting to participate in the debate at Daxiangguo Temple. Li Zhaoting chuckled to himself, thinking that the old man had good judgment, inviting him instead of Bao Zheng.

Temples are not comfortable receiving female guests.

Feng Suzhen and Lan Fenghuang are still dressed as men.

Meizhu prepared her lessons at home.

Lu Fang, Han Zhang, Xu Qing, and Jiang Ping waited at the inn for class. Bai Yutang went to the Daxiangguo Temple with them. It wasn't because he received special treatment, but because among the Five Rats, Bai Yutang was the most learned. He knew four or five hundred characters, while the other four were almost illiterate and needed to catch up on their knowledge.

"Master, is literacy required to practice martial arts?"

"Here, this is the number one divine skill in the world. I will pass it on to you, hoping that you can become a grandmaster."

Li Zhaoting tossed a book to Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang excitedly opened the manual, only to find hundreds of scribbles on it, which seemed to be characters. He didn't recognize a single one and felt completely confused.

"Master, is this a martial arts manual?"

"There are four extraordinary books in the martial arts world, namely:"

Cihang Jingzhai's "Cihang Sword Manual";
The "Heavenly Demon Strategy" of the two sects and six paths of the Demonic Path;
The ancient "Illustrated Record of the God of War";
The Secret of Longevity by Guang Chengzi, the ancient imperial tutor;
The scroll in your hand is the Longevity Manual. It is entirely written in pictographs, and its contents are obscure and difficult to understand. Masters throughout history have provided hundreds of thousands of words of annotations.

Since the appearance of the Longevity Manual, only three people have been able to comprehend its unparalleled martial arts: two were the Twin Dragons of Yangzhou during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and the last one was your master.

Kid, study hard!
"I have high hopes for your talent!"

Li Zhaoting ruffled Bai Yutang's hair.

Bai Yutang nodded confidently.

The five rats each have different personalities. The other four are either calm or decisive, but Bai Yutang is the only one who is born with a penchant for showing off and is a reckless and hot-blooded hero.

His strength is his passion, his weakness is his recklessness.

In the original story, he died because of his recklessness.

This part must be strictly disciplined. It's not wrong to like showing off, but it's a big mistake to be mindless and reckless.

To entertain the distinguished guests, Daxiangguo Temple arranged its highest-level lineup, with the abbot, the head monks, and the heads of each department all gathered in the Mahavira Hall, creating a solemn and dignified atmosphere.

Bai Yutang couldn't help but shrink his neck.

Li Zhaoting found a seat and sat down.

Feng Suzhen and Lan Fenghuang sat beside her.

Inside the main hall, Jieyi, Jiechen, Jiexian, and others were debating with Damozhi and Kumozhi.

Bodhidharma's martial arts skills were not very good, but he was a first-rate debater. Kumārajīva was even more outstanding, and he persuaded the Great Xiangguo Temple to retreat step by step, gaining an absolute advantage.

(End of this chapter)