The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

Chapter 229 The Invincible Ground

While Chu Luren was astonished that Huo Du had summoned so many experts, the way the Quanzhen Sect assigned its personnel was truly speechless...

If the ninety-eight men who blocked the plain-clothed man halfway up the mountain were here now, these "hodgepodge" experts wouldn't have a chance to act so violently!

However, of the three sets of the Big Dipper Formation, only one was in front of the palace, while the other two were in the wrong place, fighting to the death with friendly forces.

Seeing that the Seven Masters of Quanzhen were in dire straits, the man in plain clothes didn't care about anything else. With a few leaps, he crossed the battlefield in front of the hall and arrived at the gate of the main hall!

Two Mongolian strongmen, each the size of a Ma Guangzuo, tried to block him from the left and right, but the man in plain clothes grabbed and lifted them without moving them. Knowing that the two men had solid lower body skills and that the upward force was only halfway there, he immediately changed to a horizontal push and sweep. Instantly, the two men flew out of the window one after another, and the man in plain clothes also rushed into the hall.

Several skilled fighters saw someone enter and charged straight at the man in plain clothes, but they were all struck by his palms from the left and right and forced to vomit blood and retreat!

Chu Luren also realized it at this moment—the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms!

It is slightly different from the two I have learned, but it is still undoubtedly the "Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms".

Chu Luren had some doubts about his identity at first, but now he was certain that this person was undoubtedly Guo Juxia!

After all, before Chu Luren, there were only three people in the world who were skilled in the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms, and Chu Luren knew the other two.

In this way, it makes sense that he didn't dare to tell the truth before and kept his identity a secret...

In the original work, Guo Jing, who came to Zhongnan Mountain at this time, was just a hermit on Peach Blossom Island. Even if his stance was "anti-Mongol", he would not be afraid to reveal his identity, after all, there were countless people in the martial arts world who were "anti-Mongol".

However, the great hero Guo in the martial arts world went to Xiangyang more than ten years earlier than Guo Jing!

If Guo Juxia's identity were exposed now, it would be very likely that he would be besieged by the Mongols. Once exposed, it would be bad for both himself and the Quanzhen Sect. Therefore, it is not surprising that Guo Juxia did not want to reveal his identity when there were many people talking.

Seeing that this person was a tough opponent, the lama who was fighting with Qiu Chuji and was leading the attack became anxious. He turned his head slightly and gave a signal. One by one, the dozen or so lamas stopped fighting. The experts of the Quanzhen School were naturally unwilling to take advantage of others. Seeing that the other party had stopped first, they also slowed down their internal energy.

"Are you also a disciple of Quanzhen?" the leading lama asked in a distinctive accent.

"Indeed, Master Ma, Master Qiu, and Master Wang are all my teachers. And who are you? Judging from your attire, you are a monk. Why don't you cultivate in peace and instead come to disturb the tranquility of Chongyang Palace?" Guo Juxia gave a vague self-introduction, then questioned the other party sternly.

Clearly, Guo Jing was much more "pragmatic" than Guo Jing at this point in the original work.

“I am Sangye, the protector of the Dharma King!” the Grand Lama said.

Chu Luren clicked his tongue in amazement—the Golden Wheel Monk even had a protector? Then he immediately thought of Sangjie… wasn’t that the top master of Tantric Buddhism in “The Deer and the Cauldron”?

When Chu Luren entered the hall, he happened to run into another group of people.

One of the two leaders dressed as a noble young man among the Han people... which was also the direction that the Chu Lu people once wanted to strive for!

The other person had a thin face and a gaunt body, but he was holding a vajra that was probably as thick as a goose egg and as long as a person.

As soon as the two entered, the young man dressed as a nobleman glanced at Sang Jie with a hint of disdain...

"Gentlemen, the fight has already begun, do you still want to obstruct me?" This young nobleman was indeed Huo Du.

The skinny guy next to him is naturally Darba—Darba is a skinny guy in the original work, and he is specifically described as very thin. However, the various TV series versions have some stereotypes about fat people, so they "transformed" the simple-minded Darba into a fat guy.

In fact, Huo Du had no intention of coming to Quanzhen; he was going straight to the Ancient Tomb. It was only on a whim that Sang Jie decided to take advantage of the situation and wipe out Quanzhen as well. Huo Du also needed Sang Jie to help him intimidate Quanzhen, so they acted together.

Sangjie was Jinlun's protector, not Huo Du's. Huo Du, a lay disciple, couldn't command Sangjie. In the end, Sangjie became the expert he recruited, along with the people Sangjie brought, to fight the Quanzhen Sect to the death!

"So you're the toad who wants to eat swan meat?" Chu Luren looked at Huo Du with disdain.

Ever since the "refined gentleman of a turbid world" persona failed to be created, Chu Luren has always looked down on guys dressed like this—they're just vulgar!

Although Huo Du was cunning, he always tried his best to maintain the image of a refined gentleman. He was taken aback when a young man suddenly started yelling at him.

"How dare you! And who are you? Are you also a junior of the Quanzhen Sect?" Huo Du's voice turned cold, though his Mandarin was quite good.

"I am Chu Luren from the Ancient Tomb Sect. Our Ancient Tomb Sect does not hold marriages. We don't have princes or kings. Go back to where you came from!" Chu Luren dismissed him.

"Hehehe, Chu Luren... Hmm, I've heard of him too, but do you think it's possible for me to retreat with just a few words?" Huo Du said disdainfully, while secretly glancing at Guo Juxia.

With two more experts now on the way, Huo Du was quite troubled. Moreover, the fool who had been lured away down the mountain should be returning soon!

"Oh? Mongolian customs are different. Do they have to play a tune to send you off when you come down the mountain?" Chu Luren retorted sarcastically.

Sending someone off with a suona horn is not a good omen!

"Hahaha, you Han people are still so arrogant. You made a list of chivalrous heroes for your own amusement, and you actually believe it? I see you're young, so I won't deceive you... If you can take my fan within thirty moves, I will take my men and retreat. If not... you can use your suona to send your Dragon Sect Leader to his wedding!" Huo Du laughed loudly... It was hard to tell who was more arrogant.

However, the list of chivalrous heroes does not have much credibility in the eyes of the Mongols. After all, none of the Mongol masters are ranked. Moreover, in their minds, the list of chivalrous heroes is still the one from ten or twenty years ago, a ridiculous list where Jiang Feng and Duan Zhengchun were flying around at the top of the Heavenly List. At that time, the Mongol Yuan Dynasty naturally publicized this matter to criticize the list of chivalrous heroes, which has left the Mongols with this impression to this day.

If you really want Mongolian masters to submit, you'll have to make a name for yourself or subdue them by force!

In Huo Du's opinion, Chu Luren looked much younger than him, so how could his martial arts be better than his?

Seeing this guy's arrogance, Mu Wanqing couldn't help but sneer, "Brother Chu, don't compete with him! What if he just tears the fan to pieces and throws it around? Wouldn't he win by tearing it into thirty-one pieces?"

Upon hearing this, Huo Du's face turned cold, and he said, "What a joke! How could I, a mere prince, resort to such tricks? Only you Han people could come up with something like this!"

Upon hearing this, Chu Luren glanced at the fan in the man's hand, then looked at him...

"So? Do you dare or not?" Huo Du pressed, feeling that Chu Luren's attitude didn't seem like he was hesitant out of fear.

"Let's forget it. I'm afraid that if you make a move, you'll just shove the fan into your own back passage. Wouldn't that put you in an invincible position? Even Master Zhang might not be able to 'take' it away." Chu Luren said with a serious expression.

Huo Du: (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻

Everyone: ...

Chapter 230 Performance in the Face of Battle

Upon hearing Chu Luren propose such an idea, which made all the Han people present want to distance themselves from him, and which Mu Wanqing and Huang Rong also scoffed at, Huo Du was furious.

Ignoring his previous "young nobleman" persona, he roared, "You're asking for death!" and then unfurled his fan, attacking Chu Luren...

Chu Luren felt incredibly relieved—you guys have to break the persona I can't maintain!

As for the fan that Huo Du gestured towards him, Chu Luren also dealt with it carefully. This fan was made of steel ribs, so although it was called a fan, it was actually his weapon.

Huo Du's cunning and stinginess lie precisely in this.

Although he looked down on the chivalry list and the heavenly list, Huo Du mentioned taking the fan within thirty moves, as if he was letting Chu Luren win. On the other hand, the fan was actually his handy weapon. If he could take away his handy weapon in thirty moves, what difference would it make from taking his life in thirty moves?

At first glance, it seems like he's letting others win, making it even harder to defeat him than usual...

Chu Luren didn't bother with any of that nonsense. The two of them started fighting directly. Facing Huo Du's aggressive attack, Chu Luren managed to dodge the fan's edge just as it was about to cut him. The true energy extending from the fan couldn't break through Chu Luren's protective "Minor Returning to Emptiness Force"!

Huo Du feigned a cold laugh, then twisted his wrist, changing the straight thrust into a horizontal slash, aiming to strike Chu Luren's chest. However, Chu Luren used his heels as a pivot, defying gravity, and like a roly-poly toy, he only swayed in a circle, still managing to dodge Huo Du's fan.

And with this swift movement, not only did he dodge the fan, but when he returned to his original position, he had already cut right up to Huo Du!

Originally, the steel fan was considered a short-range, unorthodox style, good for close combat. However, at this moment, Huo Du's fan was outstretched and not yet closed when Chu Luren ambushed him, causing his moves to become slightly disordered.

Chu Luren then seized the opportunity to grab his shoulder and elbow, preventing him from retracting his fan...

Huo Du felt a strange internal force surging into the two places that were being held, echoing each other, making it difficult for him to exert his own strength. He then raised his left hand and struck Chu Luren's chest and abdomen, trying to force him to let go.

However, Chu Luren neither dodged nor avoided the blow, taking it head-on, and then... grinned at Huo Du.

Huo Du felt as if his internal strength was not yet fully developed, and his external martial arts were not even working properly. His palm was hitting a wet cowhide, and he felt no force at all. He wanted to use his internal strength to hurt people, but once he released his internal strength from his palm, he couldn't stop!

In fact, Chu Luren's "Minor Return to Emptiness Force" didn't have that much suction power. If Huo Du had calmed down, he could have easily shaken him off. However, when he saw Chu Luren grinning at him, he felt that this person's skills were even more strange. In a moment of panic, he frantically channeled his internal energy, and instead felt that the suction power was getting stronger and stronger.

Before long, Chu Luren had captured one of Huo Du's arms. However, when Huo Du struck Chu Luren with his other hand, it had no effect whatsoever. In fact, Huo Du's expression changed.

Darba, standing to the side, felt sorry for his junior brother and immediately started cursing in his own language.

Chu Luren didn't understand, so he ignored him. Seeing this, Darba disregarded all the rules of the martial world and directly swung his Vajra Pestle, striking Chu Luren from the side!

"Watch out!" Upon seeing this, Guo Juxia tried to stop him with his palm.

However, although it seemed that Chu Luren and Huo Du were locked in a stalemate, Huo Du was actually being restrained. Chu Luren stretched out his arm and, maintaining the posture of holding one of Huo Du's arms, swung him up to meet Darba's Vajra.

Darba clearly didn't test which was harder, his junior brother or the vajra, nor did he have the skill to control his strength. The two of them were thrown to the ground like tumbleweeds, both spitting blood!

In fact, Darba was more seriously injured. He was in a hurry to stop, but was hit by Huo Du again, and seven or eight tenths of his strength was wasted.

In retrospect, these two fellow disciples were wronged. If they had truly been calm and collected in their attacks, even Huo Du alone would have been difficult to defeat without Chu Luren activating his Dream God technique. Chu Luren was constantly circulating the "Minor Returning to Emptiness Force" through his own meridians. Although he wouldn't lose, it would likely have to be a protracted battle.

Clearly, the Golden Wheel Monk's decision to take him as a disciple wasn't solely for the purpose of befriending the Mongol nobility. Indeed, Huo Du had every reason to be proud; among the younger generation in their twenties and thirties, Huo Du was definitely among the top!

Not only has his internal strength reached a high level, but his foundation is also based on the Great Handprint style of martial arts. At the same time, his moves are unique, with more agile variations, making him difficult to deal with.

He simply lacked experience in fighting to the death. After being caught off guard by the Chu Lu people, he made a series of blunders and his will to win was too weak!

Darba may look simple-minded, but it is precisely this simplicity that has made him highly skilled in the powerful martial arts of Tantric Buddhism. Like Ma Guangzuo, he is also naturally gifted with incredible strength.

However, when they actually clashed, Chu Luren seemed to defeat them all with ease—this was not uncommon, as martial arts is not just about who has the most profound skill and the most exquisite moves; one's state of mind in battle is also very important.

In the original work, Blood Saber Ancestor's martial arts were evenly matched with any one of the "Falling Flowers and Flowing Water" members. However, the five fought fiercely in the snow valley, and in the end, three of the Four Heroes of the South died and one chickened out of fear, making Blood Saber Ancestor a great victor...

Of course, the Four Heroes of the South are not just for show; they are all seasoned veterans of the martial world. However, when they encountered Blood Blade, an invincible genius who fought to the death, Chu Luren's performance was nothing more than "bullying a child" compared to Blood Blade's actual combat prowess.

Seeing that Huodu and Darba were seriously injured in no time, Sangjie shouted angrily, "How dare you! You dare to injure the Dharma King's disciple!" With that, he and his fellow disciples surrounded and attacked Chu Luren.

Upon seeing this, Chu Luren fell asleep in the blink of an eye...

Four lamas, including Sangjie, directly attacked Chu Luren, while nearly ten others stood guard around them—after all, there was only one opponent, and having too many people would prevent them from using their skills effectively and would only interfere with each other.

The high lamas all follow the typical powerful and forceful approach of Tantric Buddhism, each wielding the powerful mudra...

Chu Luren's entire body suddenly burst forth with golden light, his robes and hair fluttering even without wind. Then, he directly used the "Dragon Soaring Through Heaven and Earth Twenty-Eight Forms" to attack them head-on!

In his dream state, Chu Luren not only possessed even greater internal strength, but also had more expansive and resilient meridians, and his internal energy was inexhaustible.

This means that when the Dream God makes a move, he will not be hampered by the consumption of internal energy, and the pressure on his meridians will be very small!

Chu Luren unleashed palm strikes from all directions, each strike employing the full force of the "Qian Hexagram, Ninth Line: The Dragon Regrets Its Exaltation," each strike delivered with all its might. He continued with four consecutive palm strikes without pause, showing no concern for exerting too much force and potentially injuring himself.

The four great lamas who practiced Tantric palm techniques were actually held back by Chu Luren. Only Sangjie was able to take two steps back to dissipate the force after exchanging palm strikes. The other three were forced to retreat and had already suffered some minor injuries!

This is the right way...

If Chu Luren were to be like the Seven Masters of Quanzhen, foolishly confronting the four of them with a contest of internal strength, he would probably be crushed by all four of them. After all, among the top-tier masters, Chu Luren is not considered to have abundant internal strength. Even if he had endless internal strength, he would not be able to withstand their direct counterattack!

“Your kung fu is very impressive,” Sangjie said after a pause.

"Master Sangjie, we originally respected you as a master and were not impolite. If you still want to make a move, let's settle the score for the previous ambush on our Quanzhen Sect juniors!" Qiu Chuji had caught his breath and spoke angrily, which shook the walls and tiles.

Seeing that the Seven Masters of Quanzhen were also stepping forward, Sangjie knew he wouldn't get away with it today...

As soon as the seven men stepped aside, Chu Luren realized that Yin Zhiping was sitting cross-legged in the spot where the seven men had been providing cover. He seemed to be at a crucial point in his practice, and even though the fighting outside was raging, he didn't stop.

Chapter 231 Complaint

Upon seeing the scene inside the hall, Chu Luren immediately understood why the Seven Masters of Quanzhen had acted foolishly earlier.