Gu Long's World: Starting with the Legend of Chu Liuxiang

The King of Kucha laughed and said, "This is Kunmi from my kingdom. Although he is naturally clumsy, he does have some strength despite his clumsiness. How about the two of you have a contest?"

Jiang Fengyue said, "Please make your move."

"Check-in!"

"Sign in to Kunmi successfully and gain the ability to leverage external forces."

Jiang Fengyue thought this ability came at just the right time; since the opponent was unarmed, it wouldn't be appropriate for her to use a sword.

After the King of Kucha whispered a few words to Kunmi, Kunmi swayed and walked up to Jiang Fengyue. This man looked to be eight feet tall, with a huge body and a weight of no less than three hundred pounds.

Jiang Fengyue stood still, indicating that Kunmi should make the first move.

Kunmi stretched out his hand, which was larger than a palm-leaf fan, and pushed Jiang Fengyue hard.

Jiang Fengyue remained completely still, but with a single finger she touched Kunmi, causing Kunmi to stumble back several steps.

The King of Kucha exclaimed in surprise, "Your skill is truly remarkable!"

Kunmi was unconvinced and clenched his fist again, throwing a punch. Jiang Fengyue reached out a hand, grabbed his fist, pulled and pushed, and Kunmi flew out, falling to the ground and unable to get up.

The King of Kucha stared wide-eyed, clapping his hands and exclaiming, "Well done! A brave warrior indeed! Please, everyone, take your seats!"

Jiang Fengyue and the others took their seats.

The King of Kucha introduced the people sitting on the other side, and said with a smile, "I am a hospitable person, and these five are distinguished guests whom I have invited from afar. You must have heard of their reputations."

Jiang Fengyue looked at them. The three on the left were probably the Wu brothers and the lone bandit Situ Liuxing. The one on the right wearing green must be "Ruthless Assassin" Du Huan. The sickly-looking person sitting next to him must be Liu Yanfei, the former Huashan disciple who had retired under the alias Wang Chong.

"Check-in!"

"Sign in with Wu Qingtian successfully and obtain the martial art Dragon Swimming Sword."

"Sign-in for Wu Baiyun successful. Obtained the martial art Dragon Travel Sword. Duplicate acquisition detected. The Dragon Travel Sword has been converted into one thousand taels of silver."

"Successfully checked in as Situ Liuxing and gained the Lightness Skill 'Great Steps'."

"Sign-in successfully, Du Huan has gained the ability to be immune to all poisons."

"Signing in as Liu Yanfei has been successful, and you have obtained the martial art Huashan Sword Technique."

Jiang Fengyue never expected that the repeated rewards could be turned into silver, but it was better than nothing. The lightness skill she gained was completely useless, as there was no one in the world who could compare to Chu Liuxiang's lightness skill.

What delighted him most was this ability to be immune to all poisons. He hadn't expected to receive such a useful reward from such a minor character. The thing he feared most when traveling the martial world was being poisoned by treacherous villains.

As for the Huashan sword technique, although it cannot compare to Yidianhong's sword technique, it still allowed him to make further progress in the way of swordsmanship.

The series of rewards left Jiang Fengyue stunned for a while.

After regaining his composure, Jiang Fengyue said in a deep voice, "If Your Highness only intends to rely on these few people to deal with the experts hired by your traitorous officials, you're probably going to die even sooner."

Upon hearing this, the King of Kucha was greatly alarmed and exclaimed, "How do you know... who you are?!"

The King of Kucha slumped down and said, "Could you be the people those traitors invited to take my life?"

Jiang Fengyue said, "Your Highness, do not be alarmed. We came to the desert only to track down our enemies, who are the group of people who are secretly assisting those traitors in hindering Your Highness's restoration of the kingdom."

The King of Kucha asked, "Is this true?"

Jiang Fengyue said, "That's absolutely true. We came here to join forces with the Prince to deal with these troublesome enemies."

At this moment, Du Huan, who had been sitting still, finally couldn't sit still any longer. He jumped up and sneered, "You have quite the nerve, looking down on us like this. Don't you even know your own names?"

Jiang Fengyue felt that since they were going to join forces with the King of Kucha, there was no need to hide their names anymore. She smiled and introduced them one by one: "I am Jiang Fengyue, this is Hu Tiehua, and this is..."

Before Jiang Fengyue could finish speaking, Du Huan suddenly burst into laughter and said, "Hu Tiehua? You're saying he's 'Flower Butterfly' Hu Tiehua?"

Du Huan pointed to Chu Liuxiang next to Hu Tiehua and said jokingly, "You say he's Hu Tiehua, then isn't this Chu Liuxiang?"

Chu Liuxiang smiled wryly and said, "I am indeed Chu Liuxiang."

Du Huan laughed wildly and said, "You people don't even bother to think before you lie."

He added, "Chu Liuxiang, is it? Let's see if you can withstand one of my moves!"

After saying that, Du Huan rushed out and slashed down with his palm. He wore five dark steel rings on his hands, each of which was coated with a deadly poison that could kill on contact with blood.

Jiang Fengyue said, "If you want to spar with Brother Chu, you'll have to be able to beat me first."

Jiang Fengyue knew it was time to use the immunity to all poisons she had previously obtained from Du Huan.

With a gentle roll of his sleeve, he caught Du Huan's outstretched hand, just in time to touch the steel ring laced with deadly poison.

Chu Liuxiang exclaimed in surprise, "Xiao Jiang, it's poisoned!"

Du Huan chuckled and said, "Too late! You're about to die a horrible death."

Jiang Fengyue said, "Really? Then let's wait and see."

Jiang Fengyue stood there for a while, but nothing happened.

Du Huan exclaimed, "How is this possible..."

Jiang Fengyue laughed and said, "You struck me with your palm, now it's my turn to retaliate."

Jiang Fengyue drew her sword and swung it lightly. With a clang, Du Huan's hand with the steel ring fell to the ground. Du Huan knelt down and hugged the hand, then quickly fainted from the pain.

Just then, Wang Chong, who had been listless, suddenly perked up and exclaimed, "What a fast sword!"

Wang Chong stood up, moved, and said, "In all my years, I have never seen such a fast sword. Even if all of you here today attacked together, I'm afraid it would be difficult to defeat him with just one sword."

Jiang Fengyue laughed and said, "You flatter me. My swordsmanship is nothing special. I have heard that the Huashan swordsmanship of the past had a move called 'Rainbow Piercing the Sun,' which was truly a peerless masterpiece in the martial arts world."

After hearing this, Wang Chong's eyes dimmed, and it seemed as if tears were about to well up in his eyes. He sat down and stopped talking.

Upon seeing Jiang Fengyue's superb martial arts skills, the King of Kucha was overjoyed and said, "With a master like you here, even if that traitor sends a hundred men to kill me, I will not be afraid."

Jiang Fengyue said, "That's very good. However, after this ordeal, I'm a little tired. Perhaps we should talk about some things after we've had a good nap."

The King of Kucha laughed and said, "Very well! Men, escort these heroes to rest."

……

At night, the tents were brightly lit.

The King of Kucha invited everyone here again, but three people were no longer there. Du Huan had been scared away by Jiang Fengyue, Situ Liuxing was nowhere to be found, and Wang Chong was a strange man who could not be invited no matter how the King of Kucha tried to get him to come.

The King of Kucha cleared his throat and said, "Now everyone here is one of our own. What I am about to say concerns those traitors. Please keep this a secret for me."

The Wu brothers replied in unison, "Your Highness, please speak freely. We brothers are by no means untrustworthy."

Jiang Fengyue said, "We came here to hunt down the people behind them. We hope Your Highness can reveal more information about those traitors so that we can better deal with them."

The King of Kucha laughed and said, "I trust you completely. With your skills, if you wanted to take my life, I certainly wouldn't live tonight."

The King of Kucha said in a deep voice, "In the past year, I have been assassinated many times. The assassins hired by those traitors are all famous figures in the Central Plains."

Jiang Fengyue laughed and said, "Sometimes, the more famous a person is, the less capable they are."

The King of Kucha said, "As far as I know, those traitors recently spent a lot of money to invite several top-notch masters from the Central Plains. It is said that one of them has unparalleled swordsmanship. I wonder how he compares to Young Master Jiang."

Jiang Fengyue looked at the sword in her hand, thinking of Yidianhong's perpetually cold face, and smiled, "Perhaps they are evenly matched."

Just then, Wu Qingtian, one of the Wu brothers, stepped forward. His face was tense as he asked, "Does Your Highness know their names?"

The King of Kucha said, "I only know that four of them arrived in this area seven days ago, but the whereabouts of the most skilled swordsman are quite mysterious."

Wu Baiyun, another member of the Wu brothers, asked, "How did Your Highness learn of this information?"

The King of Kucha sighed, "Although I was harmed by treacherous officials, fortunately there are still some loyal people in the palace who have been secretly passing messages to me."

Jiang Fengyue said, "No matter who comes, I will never allow Your Highness to suffer any harm."

The King of Kucha exclaimed excitedly, "I am relieved to hear your words!"

After a while, the King of Kucha's expression turned somber again, and he sighed, "I have another matter on my mind."

Jiang Fengyue said, "Please speak freely."

The King of Kucha asked, "Have you ever heard of the 'Star of Bliss'?"

Jiang Fengyue said, "Although I have never heard of it, based on the name alone, I guess it must be a very valuable gem."

The King of Kucha said, "Yes, yes! The 'Star of Bliss' is a priceless gem."

The King of Kucha sighed again, "It's a pity that it has now fallen into the hands of others. I had invited five top-notch martial arts masters from the Central Plains to escort the 'Star of Bliss,' but they have all turned into corpses."

Jiang Fengyue said, "Presumably, the person who stole the 'Star of Bliss' is either one of those traitors or someone who is inextricably linked to them."

The King of Kucha said, "The person who stole the gems sent a letter saying that if we want to get them back, we must send five thousand li of gold, five hundred pearls, and fifty jade discs."

Wu Qingtian exclaimed in surprise, "A single gemstone can be worth so much? Has this man gone mad?"

The King of Kucha sighed, "He is not insane."

Wu Qingtian asked, "Has Your Highness agreed to his request?"

The King of Kucha replied, "Indeed."

Jiang Fengyue asked, "Why is Your Highness doing this?"

The King of Kucha said, "Because there is a secret in this 'Star of Bliss' that only I know, and its value far exceeds five thousand taels of gold."

Jiang Fengyue said, "So Your Highness wants us to send the items over in exchange? That way, if they can't produce the Star of Bliss, these things won't be given to them for nothing."

The King of Kucha's eyes lit up, and he said, "You are truly a kindred spirit to me. Would you be willing to go?"

Jiang Fengyue laughed and said, "Although I don't have time to deliver it myself, any of the four of us going can ensure everything goes perfectly smoothly. Right, Lao Hu?"

Hu Tiehua said, "If I can't get that 'Star of Bliss' back safely, I'll let you kick my head like a football."