The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

However, "Vitality Finger" is now almost the only offensive weapon available to the Chu Lu people...

If he were to fall into a trap, Chu Luren would be left with no options, so he hesitated.

However, he didn't hesitate for long. On the very day that Kumozhi and Blood Saber Ancestor wrote in their posts, Chu Luren calmed his mind and body to the sound of the morning bell at Tianlong Temple. He then sat cross-legged on the bed in his room and fused "Vitality Finger" with "Six Meridians Divine Sword"...

After all, Tianlong Temple will no longer be a peaceful place in the near future, so Chu Luren felt that he should improve as soon as possible.

After the fusion, Chu Luren was not in a hurry to see the result. Instead, he put all the "fusion fragments" into his brow and entered a state of enlightenment.

Including the remaining two quarters of an hour, plus the explosive power of the Six Meridians Divine Sword and the Vitality Finger, Chu Luren had nearly an hour and a half of enlightenment waiting for him!

Suddenly, the Chu Luren, who had been sitting cross-legged, moved and began to walk around the room, his movements unpredictable.

Based on Chu Luren's current experience, enlightenment can be used for combat, efficient cultivation of internal energy, or further deepening of understanding of martial arts.

Cultivating internal energy is extremely efficient during moments of sudden enlightenment, but this is undoubtedly also related to the type of internal energy cultivation method...

Even if Chu Luren could cultivate the equivalent of a year's worth of an ordinary person in an hour, how could a year's worth of cultivation of a health-preserving technique or breathing exercise be the same as a year's worth of cultivation of the Nine Yang Divine Skill or the Tai Xuan Scripture?

Originally, Chu Luren possessed the "Northern Darkness Divine Skill," which was also a very profound internal skill. It directly pointed to the Northern Darkness True Qi, not only developing all thirty-six acupoints in the body and allowing for rapid cultivation, but also enabling the meridians to operate in both Yin and Yang ways. When cultivated to a high level, it had the same effect as the Nine Yang Divine Skill, making it "a martial art that can be picked up anywhere in the world."

However, after Chu Luren combined it with Lingbo Weibu, which is both internal and external, although the result was good due to his good luck, it became more inclined towards external skills, namely movement techniques and lightness skills, and became less outstanding in accumulating internal strength.

This is equivalent to enhancing some of the characteristics of the Northern Darkness Divine Art into the Lingbo Steps.

Although its internal energy alone would be enough to establish a sect in the martial arts world, for the current Chu Lu people, it would be more efficient to focus their "enlightenment" on the external energy of Kunyou Void.

Most importantly, if Chu Luren were to actually fight against top-tier experts like Kumārajīva and Blood Blade Ancestor, his most useful skill would be "Kun Soaring Through the Void," which would directly determine how many moves Chu Luren could withstand from the two.

As for internal energy and attack methods?

Given the huge difference in strength, it doesn't really matter whether the Chu Lu people are weaker or weaker!

If anyone were watching, they would notice that Chu Luren was walking faster and faster in the room...

At first, it looked like it was walking, but gradually it even started to move around in small areas, its body like a swimming fish.

Half an hour later, the entire room was like a fish tank, and inside, several large white fish seemed to be swimming leisurely at times and darting about to avoid their natural enemies.

Half an hour later, not only the fish, but the entire room was filled with ripples and mist, as if it had truly become a water tank. At this time, there was only one large fish swimming in the somewhat crowded "water tank" for him...

From beginning to end, not a single thing, not even the bed, chairs, tea set, or incense burner on the table, was touched!

Therefore, ordinary disciples of Tianlong Temple had no idea that someone in the room was having an epiphany. Only Zen Master Kurong and Zen Master Yideng, after Chu Luren had been having an epiphany for more than an hour and was almost at the end, vaguely sensed something and glanced in the direction of Chu Luren's room.

"Amitabha, this benefactor Chu has good aptitude and good fortune," Kurong chanted a Buddhist prayer.

Unlike before when he used "enlightenment" to fight and accumulate internal energy, this time when Chu Luren was focused on comprehending the moves, his "abnormal movements" were slightly greater.

However, Kurong's attention was soon drawn to the temple gate...

Kumārajīva and Blood Saber Ancestor have arrived as promised!

Although their requests were extremely rude, they had presented their visiting cards in a normal manner and did not show any hostility. Therefore, despite their tension and vigilance, the monks of Tianlong still followed the rules of the martial arts world and led the two in.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Making the Voices of Passersby

"Permanence and impermanence, the withering and flourishing of two trees, north, south, west, and east, neither false nor empty..."

When Chu Luren finished his enlightenment and arrived in front of the Buddha Hall, Kumozhi had already met and confronted the six monks of the Heavenly Dragon, and in one sentence he revealed the origin of the Zen practiced by Zen Master Kurong.

The phrase "two trees withered and flourishing" refers to the scene of Shakyamuni attaining enlightenment under two trees. The "two trees" do not refer to two trees, but rather to two trees in each of the four directions: east, west, south, and north, each with one tree withered and the other flourishing.

Zen Master Kurong's appearance was also half withered and half flourishing at this time—one half of his face was covered with wrinkles, like withered tree bark, while the other half of his face was smooth and shiny, and white and plump, like a baby's bottom that had been powdered with talcum powder...

Upon hearing Kumārajīva speak of this Buddhist verse, Chu Luren felt a slight understanding. Unfortunately, he was not a true genius of enlightenment. He was only touched by the lingering afterglow of his recent enlightenment, but the inspiration vanished in an instant.

Although Kumārajīva came from Tibetan Buddhism, he was well-versed in all schools of Buddhism and had a considerable reputation in the Central Plains Chan school. His current Dharma name is Mahāchakra Vidyāna, and he is one of the two great Vajrayana Dharma Kings, on par with the Golden Wheel Dharma King.

Fortunately, the Golden Wheel Monk was summoned by the Mongol Yuan dynasty and went north alone to spread the Dharma. Otherwise, if Kumārajīva and the Golden Wheel Monk had arrived together, Tianlong Temple would have faced even greater difficulties.

"Amitabha Buddha, the National Preceptor has come from afar. This old monk has failed to greet you properly. Please forgive me," Zen Master Kurong said slowly and deliberately.

Although his meditation practice had been exposed, Ku Rong was somewhat surprised, but he did not show it on his face.

"Master, you are too kind. I believe you all already know the purpose of my visit. May I ask if you would be so kind as to grant me the request to pay respects to my deceased friend?" Kumārajīva said these very inappropriate words with an innocent expression.

Kumārajīva made an excuse, saying that he had promised Murong Bo that he would use the Six Meridians Divine Sword manual to burn at Murong Bo's grave as an offering.

Demanding a secret manual from another sect for this reason is quite arrogant...

"Meeting is fate, parting is also fate, the National Preceptor is attached to appearances." Ku Rong's Zen skills were so profound that he remained unmoved.

“It was my recklessness. The Six Meridians Divine Sword is a treasure of your temple, and I should not have asked for it. However, I still cannot let go of the promise I made back then... I did not come empty-handed. This is the essence of the Shaolin Temple's Seventy-Two Arts and the method to counter it. I offer this in exchange, which shows my sincerity. I wonder what Zen Master Kurong and Master Yideng think?” Kumārajīva said confidently.

Yideng and Kurong were not to be underestimated. Although Kumārajīva had not learned the Buddha's compassion at all and his mind was full of greed for martial arts and the desire to help Tibet conquer the Central Plains, he was not a mindless and reckless person.

In his view, being able to exchange the Seventy-Two Ultimate Skills for the Six Meridian Divine Sword would be the best possible outcome.

Not only did he obtain the Six Meridians Divine Sword, but... when Shaolin finds out that the Seventy-Two Arts have been acquired by Tianlong Temple, how could they possibly let it go?

If this could affect the relationship between the Song and Dali, that would be even better!

Upon seeing the manual of the seventy-two unique skills, Chu Luren, knowing it was a trap, still had his eyes light up and kept swallowing hard, thinking to himself that if he had these, he would be rich.

Not to mention what martial arts techniques he could develop, just the fact that he could have a "sudden enlightenment" for three days and three nights would make him capable of fighting even Kumārajīva after leaving the mountain!

Duan Yu, standing beside him, was puzzled, wondering if Brother Chu had fallen in love. Following Chu Luren's gaze, he saw Kumārajīva's bald head and couldn't help but shudder, secretly taking a few steps away from Old Chu...

Not to mention the Chu Lu people, even those of the Ben generation, including Abbot Benyin, were tempted and showed signs of desire. Only Yideng and Kurong remained unchanged.

"Amitabha!" Yideng chanted, and his profound internal strength calmed the minds of the others of the same generation.

“Amitabha, the Seventy-Two Arts are indeed good, but monks only seek the tranquility of the Buddha and the peace of mind. The National Preceptor is attached to appearances, so please return.” Ku Rong was not tempted at all.

Benyin and the others, remembering their earlier behavior, were filled with shame and repeatedly chanted Buddhist prayers.

The Blood Saber Ancestor, who had been silent until now, snorted coldly: "Hmph, it seems that Dali doesn't value the Grand Preceptor's feelings of missing his old friend, nor does it respect the Seventy-Two Shaolin Arts!"

Compared to Kumārajīva, although the Blood Saber Ancestor also belonged to the Black Sect of Esoteric Buddhism, his understanding of Buddhism was not much like that of Kumārajīva. At most, he only knew some distorted "Joyful Zen".

Moreover, regardless of whether his actions were good or evil, Kumārajīva at least appeared dignified and maintained his masterly demeanor. Outwardly, he was a completely enlightened monk, while Blood Saber Ancestor... everyone in the martial arts world knew him to be a complete lecher!

He had a fleshy face and cold eyes, and didn't seem like a kind person.

However, right after the Blood Blade Ancestor spoke, a series of faint voices echoed in front of the hall.

"Huh? This guy actually knows the Seventy-Two Shaolin Arts?"

"He looks so fierce!"

"A Tibetan monk stole the Seventy-Two Shaolin Arts! Let's hurry to Shaolin and report him!"

"That's right, let's report them together, let's report them together..."

"It seems that Tantric martial arts are not very good, so they even have to steal Zen martial arts. Tsk tsk."

The voice rose and fell, moved left and right, sometimes hoarse, sometimes sharp, and sometimes overlapped. However, Kumārajīva realized that there was no one "ambushing" around, but someone was using sound magic to disturb them. It should be... the same person!

That's right, it's not that some demons or monsters have come to Tianlong Temple again, but rather that Chu Luren is using "ventriloquism" to pretend to be a passerby.

On the way to Tianlong Temple, Duan Zhengming also taught Chu Luren the trick of "transmitting sound over a thousand miles".

It's not some profound martial art, just exquisite...

Its sole function is to make it easier to generate sound using internal force, which is equivalent to using internal force to create a virtual sound source from a distance, making it much more ingenious than simply using internal force to generate sound.

In this respect, one can exert full internal strength and produce an effect of twenty or thirty percent!

To put it simply and directly, it means...

That's intimidating!

Duan Zhengming usually uses this trick to show off...

Now, the Chu Lu people have combined it with another sonic skill called "ventriloquism".

Ventriloquism can not only replace the vocal cords to produce sound, but it is also a rather evil sound technique that can bewitch people's minds and interfere with their internal energy. However, one must have strong internal energy to do so.

In the original story, Duan Yanqing's disciple Tan Qing used this trick to feign supernatural abilities at Juxian Manor, but it was exposed by Xiao Feng's roar, and he died on the spot from the backlash...

When Kumārajīva saw that Zen Master Kurong was not taking the bait, and that someone was even mocking him and threatening to report him to Shaolin Temple, he realized that the Zen Master Kurong was not taking the bait and that someone was even mocking him and threatening to report him to Shaolin Temple.

Kumārajīva, a monk, though full of schemes and tyranny, never imagined that someone would be so shameless!

He simply dropped his hypocritical facade and said coldly, "When Master Murong was alive, he called the Six Meridians Divine Sword the number one sword technique in the world. In my humble opinion, that may not be true. Moreover, if the Six Meridians Divine Sword were really that profound, I'm afraid no one in your temple would be able to master it. They would have to resort to such underhanded methods... or perhaps seek help from Shaolin Temple?"

Chapter Twenty-Four: Kumārajīva

Originally, Chu Luren had not held out much hope when he combined "ventriloquism" and "long-distance sound transmission" on his way to the palace.

After all, sound-based techniques, unlike movement techniques which can be won purely through skill, are all based on internal strength, and none of them rely solely on vocal power.

With his meager internal strength, wouldn't using sound techniques just be humiliating him?

The purpose of the fusion was mainly to obtain some fusion fragments for future use.

After the two are combined, it still mainly relies on ventriloquism, but it also has the effect of transmitting sound over long distances, which can indirectly transfer the sound source. The effects of bewitching the mind and disturbing internal energy are almost gone, but the advantage is that there will be no backlash if it is broken...

Although it has little practical effect in combat, it allows Chu Luren to pretend to be passersby to his heart's content!

It was Chu Luren who deliberately made a sound to disturb Kumārajīva's mind. However, since Kumārajīva dared to learn the seventy-two unique skills given to him by Murong Bo, he was clearly not someone who would be intimidated by Shaolin.

Kumārajīva looked around at the group from Tenryū-ji Temple and suspected that they were the ones putting on a show...

However, almost all the functions of "ventriloquism" are focused on concealment, which is equivalent to using the method of transmitting sound over long distances to simulate ventriloquism.

The original wonders of ventriloquism are gone, but it has become harder to detect. Even if one forcibly breaks it with stronger internal energy, it only disperses the virtual sound source and does not harm Chu Luren.

Not finding the culprit was one thing, but Kumārajīva decided to resort to force. Upon seeing this, the high monks of Tianlong Temple all became on guard.

"Then this humble monk will use the martial arts of Tantric Buddhism to test the Six Meridians Divine Sword of Dali!"

As he spoke, Kumārajīva took a few steps in front of the hall and stood with Kurong, Yideng, and the others, separated by the large cauldron in front of the hall.

With a wave of his hand, Kumārajīva unleashed a powerful, almost sword-like palm force that ignited the six long incense sticks in the incense burner from a distance of more than ten steps!

It is the esoteric Buddhist technique "Flame Blade"—similar to the Six Meridians Divine Sword, named as a sword technique, but actually a special kind of palm force.

Although Kumārajīva forcibly practiced the 72 Shaolin skills shared with him by Murong Bo through the "Xiao Wuxiang Gong" he obtained from the Empress Dowager of Western Xia, his most proficient technique was still the Flaming Blade!

Especially after learning from the Seventy-Two Arts, the power of the Flaming Blade has reached a new level!

This explains why Kumārajīva was so obsessed with the Six Meridians Divine Sword—if Chu Luren had mastered the Flaming Blade before, he would definitely have used this move to fuse with the Six Meridians Divine Sword...