The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

For Chu Luren to learn the Northern Dragon Subduing Technique is equivalent to learning a new sect leader skill, and even a month might not be enough!

Unexpectedly, in just one afternoon, Chu Luren not only demonstrated the Southern Dragon Subduing Technique in a clear and concise manner, but also completely mastered the Northern Dragon Subduing Technique!

Well, after all, they already have considerable expertise in the Southern Dragon Subduing Technique...

When Chu Luren asked him about dinner, Hong Qigong blushed and said, "Of course I have to eat dinner. Besides, I haven't even learned the Southern Dragon Subduing Technique yet. You can't just kick me while I'm at it!"

In fact, Hong Qigong had already learned almost everything. Although he was not like Chu Luren, who seemed to have mastered the skill, he didn't need to be taught anything more and could cultivate on his own.

However, the two of them using the Northern and Southern Dragon Subduing Palms to counter each other did indeed help to enhance their understanding and allow them to discuss things with each other.

“That’s right, Brother Chu, don’t be so stingy. Chief Hong is as famous as my father, so we should treat him well… Besides, since it’s Chief Hong who wants to learn, it won’t delay our trip.” Huang Rong said very considerately.

only……

Hong Qigong always felt that Huang Rong's closeness to him was a little too intimate!

Why are you saying this? It's as if you're just taking advantage of your age to freeload and expect me to teach you palm techniques.

You even specifically emphasized that I am on par with your father... Isn't that embarrassing, old beggar?

How could an old beggar like me endure such injustice?

"These asparagus smell delicious!" Hong Qigong praised as he ate.

"Don't worry, I, the old beggar, won't eat your food for nothing. Since you have things to do, I won't delay your journey. Judging from your appearance, you're going to Zhongnan Mountain? I'll accompany you to Guanzhong first. By the way... I, the old beggar, am not only skilled in the 'Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms'!" Hong Qigong also deduced the destination from the direction Chu Luren was traveling.

After all, the fact that Chu Luren came from the Ancient Tomb Sect of Zhongnan Mountain was widely known because it was included in the stories of the thirty-six figures on the Heavenly Ranking.

Hong Qigong didn't want to force himself on the trip, but he was really itching to learn about the Northern and Southern Dragon Subduing techniques with Chu Luren that afternoon, not to mention... there was also delicious food to enjoy.

If he's already taught the "Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms," then there's nothing he can't teach except the "Dog-Beating Stick Technique."

As for the "Dog-Beating Stick Technique," only the leader of the Beggars' Sect can learn it. This is not only symbolic, but also because the "Dog-Beating Stick Technique" is equivalent to the general outline of the Beggars' Sect's Dog-Beating Stick Formation...

With the "Dog-Beating Stick Formation," the Beggars' Sect's advantage of having a large number of people can be brought into play. Once the "Dog-Beating Stick Technique" is mastered, it means that the "Dog-Beating Stick Formation" has no mystery in front of them!

The power of this staff technique itself is secondary; however, it is the lifeblood of the Beggars' Sect and must never be passed on to outsiders. Only the sect leader can learn the entire technique.

Of course, other martial arts styles include Free and Easy Wandering, Hun Tian Gong, Copper Hammer Hand, Lotus Palm, Iron Broom Leg...

For the Chu Lu people, it was a case of "might as well learn it if I don't want to," since it was all second- or third-rate skill.

Huang Rong practiced diligently, which pleased the old man, and she even imparted a lot of martial arts knowledge to him.

In addition, Hong Qigong had always said that he had things to do and could only teach Chu Luren for a month at most, and could only stay in the same place. However... Chu Luren learned it in one afternoon, and it was not necessary to learn the later skills. So, Hong Qigong followed Chu Luren on his journey west.

More than half a month later, seeing that they were almost at Chang'an, Hong Qigong specially took out half a gourd of wine. Huang Rong also realized that Hong Qigong was leaving, so she "occupied" the inn's kitchen and made dinner extra lavish.

"Little Tai Sui is indeed a genius of the world. No wonder he became famous throughout the land in less than two years," Hong Qigong exclaimed.

"So-so," Chu Luren said modestly.

As Hong Qigong spoke, he deliberately said to Huang Rong, "Little Huang Rong... although your family has a deep tradition of martial arts and you have a clever streak, your talent in martial arts is probably not as good as Little Tai Sui's!"

"So what if it's not good enough? Whether you're happy or not doesn't depend on your martial arts skills." Huang Rong said in a very easygoing tone.

Hong Qigong was taken aback at first, then pointed at the little girl and laughed a few times. The old beggar was quite old, so he could naturally see Huang Rong's personality. He might not be too upset if she said her martial arts were low, but if he said her talent was inferior to others, she would be able to take it in stride, given her temper that was even more proud than her father's.

This "indifference" made Hong Qigong somewhat amused. Looking at Mu Wanqing beside Chu Luren and thinking about the scandal between the Red and White Tai Sui and the Red Serpent Fairy... Hong Qigong wondered if he should bring up this matter the next time he saw Huang Yaoshi.

Of course, Chu Luren didn't hear anything about his martial arts skills being superior to Huang Rong's.

His ability to quickly master martial arts is entirely due to his special consciousness, which can form martial arts badges for easy and intuitive understanding. After that, he was equipped with the Dream God Body, which is at the level of a martial arts prodigy, so he could naturally master most of the skills in a short period of time.

“Slurp, ha…” Hong Qigong took a sip of wine, sighed, and said, “A few years ago, when some of my Beggars’ Clan brothers were ambushing corrupt Qing officials, they encountered skilled fighters recruited by the Qing government. Fortunately, a father and daughter who roamed the martial world saved them. Otherwise, when this old beggar arrived, I fear many of my brothers would have been lost.”

Upon hearing Hong Qigong's words, Chu Luren immediately knew who he was referring to and what he wanted to say.

In the original work, Mu Nianci learned the "Free and Easy Wandering" technique after she and her father saved members of the Beggars' Sect. This technique was taught to her by Hong Qigong.

The fact that Hong Qigong brought this up out of the blue must be because of some past grudge...

Chu Luren guessed that Hong Qigong must have encountered them again and learned about his situation—this was one of the reasons why Hong Qigong took the initiative to befriend him and so easily agreed to exchange martial arts techniques after Chu Luren spoke up.

On one hand, he wanted to talk to Chu Luren and the Yang family father and daughter. On the other hand, he also felt from this incident that although Chu Luren's reputation was not good, his character was not bad.

"Is it the Yang... Mu family father and daughter?" Chu Luren asked with a smirk while sucking on a crab leg.

“Not bad.” Hong Qigong didn’t say anything more.

"Tch, what does that have to do with me?" Chu Luren spat out the crushed crab shell.

Seeing Chu Luren's reaction, Hong Qigong understood that the little Tai Sui didn't want to pay any more attention to him, and would probably pretend not to recognize him if they met again. So he changed the subject...

“The Northern Beggars’ Gang has been very busy lately, so I won’t accompany you to Zhongnan Mountain. Tomorrow, this old beggar has to go back to attend to important matters!” Hong Qigong finally remembered that he was the leader of the Northern Beggars’ Gang.

"Then I wish Elder Hong a safe journey." Chu Luren had become more familiar with Hong Qigong these days.

"Before the old beggar leaves, there's something he needs to remind you of," Hong Qigong said, his expression becoming more serious.

"Could it be about the mysterious person from Juxian Manor?" Chu Luren guessed.

"No, don't you already know something about the mysterious man?" Hong Qigong may seem unruly, but he is quite perceptive. He even suspects that Chu Luren already knows the mysterious man's origins!

Before Chu Luren could decide whether to refute or admit it, Hong Qigong had already skipped the topic: "This old beggar just wants to remind you that the more martial arts you know, the better, or the more profound the better... This old beggar and your elder brother both used the same set of Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms to conquer the world. You already know quite a few profound martial arts, and in terms of martial arts, you can rank among the top five of the younger generation. You should try to specialize in one, or... try to forge your own path."

Chu Luren felt grateful that Hong Qigong had reminded him of his martial arts cultivation, and raised his cup, saying, "Thank you for the reminder, Elder Hong. I have learned a lot!"

Chapter 226 The Situation in the Imperial Court

Chu Luren took Hong Qigong's parting words to heart; this wasn't the first time someone had given Chu Luren such a reminder.

Of course, because of my own special mindset, I can only listen to half of this advice!

For the Chu Lu people, the more martial arts skills they have, the better. With more martial arts skills, they can integrate more fragments, which should be considered as the remnants of the will of the founder of martial arts that they have absorbed.

However, the concept of "specialization" is not without merit. Even martial arts skills that have already been "mastered" still have great potential to be explored, not to mention things like "the unity of mind and energy" or "the unity of power and technique."

Although it has the ability to "integrate," no matter how much it integrates, it still needs to be categorized. It's impossible to integrate everything into one martial art, otherwise it would definitely be a disaster...

After much thought, Chu Luren still had no clue what to do. He felt there were too many martial arts techniques to practice, so he secretly decided to use the time outside of the "Dream God's" daily internal energy cultivation to refine a set of "techniques" to try it out.

However, choosing which specific type to cultivate is still overwhelming!

Several days later, when they arrived at Zhongnan Mountain, Chu Luren only had some vague ideas and still insisted on "adding points evenly".

"Brother Chu, there seems to be someone ahead." Mu Wanqing could vaguely see someone on the mountain path ahead, and... they were lying down.

"Let's go take a look." Chu Luren rode his horse directly to the front.

As you get closer, you can hear groans. They look like Mongolian strongmen, and some are dressed as Tibetan monks, but their clothes don't look like those of regular Mongolian soldiers.

"Who are you people, and why are you groaning at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain? Are you trying to corrupt the morals of Zhongnan Mountain?" Chu Luren asked.

Of course, there's no need to ask; it's not the kind of groans that corrupt morals, but rather the groans of people whose arms and legs have been broken!

They chattered away, making it difficult for Chu Luren to understand much of what they were saying.

They probably saw the Chu Lu people riding over and shouting, so they started cursing and yelling, but they didn't really understand what the Chu Lu people were saying.

"Great hero! We are retainers of Prince Huodu, and we have been attacked by bandits. Please help us!" A man who was mostly Han Chinese shouted to the Chu Lu people.

The other Mongol strongmen and Tibetan monks all looked like they were cursing, but the Han people understood the "habits" of people in the martial arts world better—the prince's retainers? They might just kill them all if the prince was displeased... At worst, they could just run far away!

At this moment, Mu Wanqing and Huang Rong were both dressed in men's clothing and carrying weapons, making them undoubtedly people from the martial arts world!

"Huo Du?" Chu Luren recognized the name immediately.

“That’s right! My Prince Huodu is a disciple of the Grand Preceptor. We were originally going to worship at the mountain, but after Prince Huodu and his group went up the mountain, we were attacked by villains who were guarding the mountain path. If you, hero, would be so righteous as to help us, my prince will surely reward you handsomely afterward!” This Han Chinese man, whose number was unknown, hurriedly shouted.

Princes weren't as "valuable" as they sounded in the Mongol Yuan dynasty.

Although compared to ordinary people or even slaves, it certainly meant being a respectable person, it didn't mean "son of the king," but rather a noble title...

In the original version of the novel, Huo Du was a close descendant of Temujin—but only a "close descendant," not a "direct descendant," indicating that he was not a descendant of Temujin.

In the new version, he is directly Jamukha's grandson, and has no relation to Temujin at all. It was only because Temujin was concerned about his "sworn brother" whom he had killed that he bestowed a noble title upon his descendants.

Regardless of the version, Huo Du's status as a "prince" is actually far less important than his status as a "disciple of the Golden Wheel Monk".

"Imperial Preceptor? The Golden Wheel Monk is already the Imperial Preceptor?" Chu Luren was somewhat surprised.

"Indeed, the hero has just arrived in the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, hasn't he? Kublai Khan has already appointed the Golden Wheel Monk as the Imperial Preceptor, and Prince Huodu is the Imperial Preceptor's second disciple..."

Seeing that he was about to emphasize Huo Du's status again, Chu Luren impatiently interrupted, "Kublai Khan is already able to appoint the National Preceptor on behalf of the Mongols?"

"This...Kublai Khan is the king of the Central Plains, so naturally he can be appointed as the Grand Preceptor. Moreover, Möngke Khan also greatly respects the Golden Wheel Grand Preceptor..." The Han man was slightly dissatisfied, probably because he felt that the Chu Lu people were too arrogant.

At this time, in the vast world of martial arts, although everyone was calling it the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, to be precise, "Yuan" still only referred to Kublai Khan's Yuan Prince's Palace.

The historical timeline in this vast world is quite chaotic, but from the perspective of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty alone, the situation is close to the time when Möngke Khan ascended the throne...

Möngke and Kublai Khan were brothers and both grandsons of Tolui. Tolui died young, but with the strong leadership of his mother, Sorghaghtani Beki, Tolui's descendants eventually defeated Ögedei's line, and Möngke became the Great Khan of the Mongols.

While the Tolui lineage was still under heavy suppression, Möngke was cultivating relationships with various princes in the heart of Mongolia and outwardly assisting the Ögedei lineage, while Kublai Khan was responsible for managing the Han Chinese territories in the Central Plains—a place that was not considered a good place by most of the great Mongol nobles…after all, it was not suitable for grazing horses!

Later, after Möngke assassinated the Great Khan of the Ögedei line, he dragged along some of the Mongol princes and supported himself to succeed as the Great Khan of the Mongols. Theoretically, the Great Khan of the Mongols at this time was still recognized by the other khanates, but people's hearts were inevitably becoming more and more chaotic and he was increasingly ignored.

Historically, after Möngke Khan's death, Kublai Khan succeeded him as Great Khan, and destroyed the Southern Song Dynasty, establishing the Yuan Dynasty.

For the Han Chinese, Kublai Khan's presence is extremely strong. However, for other khanates, the recognition of Kublai Khan was not as great as that of Möngke Khan or even Kublai Khan's brother Ariq Böke. They did not recognize Kublai Khan's status as the Great Khan of the Mongols. After all, Kublai Khan did not follow any formal procedures and directly proclaimed himself Great Khan in Shangdu (now within the territory of Zhenglan Banner, Xilin Gol League).

Moreover, Kublai Khan's background was largely comprised of people from Sinicized regions, and he had a large number of Han Chinese officials under his command, which made him somewhat out of step with other khanates. Initially, the other khanates supported Kublai Khan's younger brother, Ariq Böke.

However, Kublai Khan managed to defeat Ariq Böke after fighting for four years with the support of the Central Plains.

Even though Kublai Khan won, the other khanates still did not recognize his title. The Ögedei Khanate directly fought with him, and the war lasted for nearly half a century. In the end, the Ögedei Khanate was destroyed, but it only made the other khanates recognize the Yuan Empire's suzerain status. There was no real Mongol Great Khan.

In the vast world of martial arts, the so-called "Mongol Yuan" refers precisely to the Mongol people who wreaked havoc on Han lands—like Guo Jing, because Li Ping had gone far enough away, the Mongols there had no concept of Han people and were still fighting among the surrounding tribes...

Furthermore, in the vast world of martial arts, Kublai Khan's situation was clearly more precarious...

Kublai Khan's place of origin is not only missing from the historical record, but it is also in a state of unrest, with war raging everywhere. Chu Luren suspects that even without his "interference", it would be difficult for Kublai Khan to rely on the "Mongol Yuan" to defeat other khanates.

Unless Kublai Khan could have swallowed up the Western Xia, Dali, Tibet, and most importantly the Song Dynasty before then, but it seems there is little hope now!

Similarly, the rebel armies within Mongol territory did not fare as well as those in the same historical period...

After all, this meant that they also lacked the southern lands for supplies, and Kublai Khan's version of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty was actually more resilient in all aspects than the late Yuan Dynasty, except for its hard power!

"Did Kublai Khan still heavily rely on the Golden Wheel Monk, even at the cost of the position of Imperial Preceptor? Dali... or Xiangyang?" Chu Luren muttered to himself as he rode past, ignoring Huo Du's retainers who tried to stop him, leaving them to continue groaning on the ground.

Chapter 227 Going Up the Mountain