Chapter Twenty-Seven: Doubting Life

“Woof woof!”

Amid the crowd’s confusion, a dog suddenly dashed onto the challenge platform.

“What’s that? Where did the dog come from?”

“Yeah, is this silly dog not afraid of death? The fists and kicks up there don’t have eyes…”

“Look! Isn’t this dog one of Xiao Yan’s accomplices?” A monk noticed the dog, who, though drooling as he stared fixedly at the filth on the Eighteen Arhats, still obediently stood by Xiao Yan’s side.

“Haha… This is ridiculous! So if you’re not strong enough, you bring a dog to fill out your ranks?”

“Hahaha… Well, looks like we’ve found our dog stew for tonight…”

“Shhh… Quiet…”

Even the Eighteen Arhats were baffled, but after a moment of straightforward thought, they recovered.

“A dog?” the Sack Arhat sneered. “We have ten Arhats here! Do you really think you can win?”

“Heh… Actually, it’s not just one dog. You’ll find out soon enough…” Xiao Yan grinned, waving his arm to signal Skyhowl Dog that dinner was served.

“Woof woof!” Skyhowl Dog bolted out like an unbridled colt.

With a nose that turned at the scent of filth and a hunger festering for three days, the dog was wild—baring fangs and claws, heading straight for the filthiest spot.

Hmm?

Sack Arhat froze, surprise flashing across his face.

The dog’s speed was astonishing—before he could react, he felt a sharp pain in his staff… and then it was reduced to a corn cob…

Damn…

This dog is something else…

No ordinary dog could move like that…

And it threw itself at him so recklessly, biting with death-defying ferocity, forcing the Sack Arhat to stumble off the platform, unconscious.

!!!

What just happened…

“That dog’s gone mad, hasn’t it?”

The spectators were restless—after all, the Arhats in the Arhat Hall were all experts. How could one get instantly defeated by a dog?

“This dog… Why do I vaguely sense some inner energy from it? Am I imagining things?”

“No way… Actually, I think I felt it too…”

The monks broke into heated discussion.

Only Xiao Yan knew what had happened that moonless, windy night. When Fahai had been forced to probe Skyhowl Dog’s dantian, he’d been shocked to find its capacity even greater than Xiao Yan’s.

That night, Xiao Yan finally understood what it meant to be less than a dog. It was also the night he gave up on dog stew and decided, with modern training techniques, to raise a martial arts dog!

Of course, that night, Fahai had inevitably infused some inner energy into the dog…

…

“Damn it… Watch me butcher you! I’ll take your wretched dog life!”

A familiar Arhat, the Meditative Arhat, stepped forward and hurled a savage punch at Skyhowl Dog, not holding back.

The Sack Arhat had felt proud after his earlier words—after all, it really was just a dog; his words weren’t wrong. It deserved to lose its dog life…

With this punch, Meditative Arhat was confident he’d turn the dog into a meat pie.

“What a pity—still couldn’t help much, and now it’ll cost the dog’s life…” Not far off, Master Huiji shook his head in regret.

“It’s not so bad, at least we dealt with one Arhat,” the junior sweeping monk nodded eagerly, thoroughly entertained.

Li Bai, since the dog appeared, had fallen silent. With his mastery of internal energy, he could sense more than others—he could even detect something unusual within the dog…

Just as the punch was about to land, Xiao Yan’s lips curled into a faint smile. He murmured, “Enough of the spectacle. It’s time to make a move…”

At that crucial moment—

“Pa…”

A small stone shot out from the crowd, striking Meditative Arhat’s wrist directly.

“Bang!”

The stone made Meditative Arhat’s hand tremble—clearly it contained inner energy.

His expression changed; his arm suddenly lost all strength…

“Who… Who ambushed me?” Meditative Arhat scanned the crowd warily, not daring to lower his guard.

He could tell the inner energy in the stone was formidable. Whoever threw it had to be a master—one whose internal strength was at least at the twenty-fifth level.

A true elite!

But who?

Elder Huiren frowned slightly, looking toward the crowd. He saw a very familiar bald head, but it couldn’t be…

“Could it be… the Evil God of Fiery Clouds? Then, who exactly is this Xiao Yan? What’s his connection to the Evil God of Fiery Clouds?”

Li Bai’s brow furrowed. He hadn’t forgotten his purpose for coming up the mountain.

The Evil God of Fiery Clouds!

With a single move, he’d gravely wounded Da Vinci—Li Bai knew he couldn’t match that. He had to face this master!

“Who’s so bold as to ambush the Eighteen Arhats?” Elder Huiji demanded angrily.

“This won’t do. I’ll go teach him a lesson!” Striding forward, Elder Huiji grumbled, “What an unruly fellow!”

“Master, perhaps… you should let it go… You might not be able to handle him…” Zhuge Yixiu had a good guess who the person was, but couldn’t be sure, so he tugged at his master.

“Hmph! I, Huiji, have never feared anyone! If I find out who it is, I’ll beat him till he questions his own existence!”

“Master, you’re so mighty!” Zhuge Yixiu gave a big thumbs up, obviously buttering him up.

“…”

Elder Huiji had just finished speaking when he spotted a bald man sneaking around, tossing stones at the platform. “You scoundrel! I’ve found you!”

Elder Huiji’s eyes widened in anger as he stormed over, with Zhuge Yixiu and the little sweeping monk following suit.

The bald man slowly turned around to face Elder Huiji. “What do you want?”

Hmm?

This man… That bald head looks familiar… Isn’t he the abbot?

“…” Elder Huiji was silent.

“Hey… Abbot… Just now my master said he’d beat you till you questioned your existence…” Zhuge Yixiu immediately changed his target, switching to flatter the new authority.

“Er… Abbot… Yes… well done! Don’t listen to Yixiu’s nonsense. I was just saying whoever throws those stones is really satisfying…” Elder Huiji took a couple of steps, steadied himself, and forced a smile.

“Hmph, those Arhats want to bully my dog? Not a chance…”

The abbot, stubborn as ever, ignored the others. He turned back and flung another stone at the Arhats, giving a proud thumbs-up. “Good dog!”

Skyhowl Dog was not only alive but had grown so powerful—it delighted the abbot to no end.

He remembered a time when the dog’s only trick was peeing on his bald head—who would have thought…

…

“Woof woof…” As if it understood human speech, Skyhowl Dog, seeing Meditative Arhat suffer a setback, leapt up and gnawed out another corn cob.

Meditative Arhat fell!

“Woof woof…”

Skyhowl Dog eyed the filth remaining on the eight other Arhats. Salivating, he looked up to Xiao Yan for instructions.

“Heh… Let’s go…” Xiao Yan swung his Shovel of Excrement, shouting.

And so, man and dog boldly charged into the midst of the Arhats…

In an instant, dust swirled across the challenge ground, the clatter of weapons filled the air, and occasionally a stone would fly in from outside…

Elder Huiren stood by, utterly stunned. Since he’d taken charge of the Arhat Hall, no one had ever succeeded in breaking through.

Yet today, for the first time, he saw the Pagoda-Arhat collapse, and the Sack Arhat’s staff reduced to a corn cob…

Only eight Arhats remained out of eighteen?

Now these eight were stuck in the challenge, facing Xiao Yan’s Eighteen Arhat Formation?

Who, in the end, was the one breaking through?

Everything had happened so suddenly…

What surprised him most was that the man gleefully throwing stones from a distance was, in fact, the abbot…