The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

"Are you aware of the Izumo Kingdom's delegation coming to the capital?" Chu Luren asked a seemingly unrelated question.

"I know! It seems they're marrying a princess to them. I wonder if my sister-in-law will be pretty." Yunluo still had the mind to gossip.

"Is the state guesthouse far from here?" Chu Luren then asked.

"The state guesthouse is next to the palace, and it's more than half of Lin'an City away from here... What's wrong?" Yunlu asked, puzzled. Why were the Chu Lu people so concerned about the Izumo Kingdom delegation?

"Izumo and Fusang both belong to the Eastern Kingdom, and are closer to the eastern coast of China. They have always been vassals of the Song Dynasty, but recently the Fusang Kingdom has been trying to integrate the Eastern Kingdom... The leader of the assassins last night doesn't seem to be here today. I have some suspicions about the Izumo delegation! Do you know when the Izumo envoy will enter the palace to see the emperor?" Chu Luren explained simply.

"No way? If the delegation from Izumo Kingdom had something wrong, why would they kidnap the Queen Mother and alert them? Wouldn't it have been better to just have that princess assassinate the Emperor?" Yunluo wasn't stupid.

Chu Luren couldn't explain this mystery, because the root cause was that the Divine Marquis had no intention of killing the Emperor and Empress Dowager at all; he simply wanted to lay the groundwork to deal with Cao Zhengchun and ensure that there was no strong opposition in the capital.

Otherwise, with the emperor and empress dowager both dead, it wouldn't be his turn, as an uncle with an awkward background and born to a palace maid, to inherit the throne!

"Perhaps they didn't intend to kill your royal brother, but only wanted to embarrass the Song Kingdom." Chu Luren could only hastily come up with an excuse.

Although Yunluo was still not entirely convinced, she thought for a moment and then said, "Three days later is the Double Ninth Festival on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, a day when all officials are off and there is no court assembly. This time, Izumo Kingdom is sending a bride for a marriage alliance, so the palace should bestow Double Ninth cakes at that time. The delegation may very well ask for an audience under the pretext of expressing their gratitude!"

Upon hearing this, Chu Luren slowly nodded: "Then the day after tomorrow, early in the morning, when the Izumo Kingdom delegation is most likely to enter the palace, I will send you out, and then immediately return to search for and rescue the Empress Dowager... Remember the statements we exchanged before."

“What do you mean by ‘confession’? It sounds awful…” Yunluo said, pouting. Then she patted Chu Luren’s shoulder and said, “Don’t worry, this princess is very righteous. Just say that I invited you into the palace, and that we came out together to save Mother. I will definitely not let my brother kill you!”

"Yes, yes, thank you for your righteous help, Princess." Chu Luren spoke in a tone that sounded like she was coaxing a child.

Yunluo, upon hearing this, also expressed her dissatisfaction: "Look how righteous I am! Unlike some people, who even hide their salted fish... By the way, do you have any more on you?"

Chu Luren: ...

……

Chu Luren did not discuss the issue of salted fish with Princess Yunluo anymore. Instead, he seized the time and tried to improve his martial arts skills in the remaining two days.

The purpose of "going to the palace for help" was mainly to distract Yunluo. The reason for warning Yunluo not to go to the Dragon Guard Manor was just to be on the safe side. After all, the Divine Marquis was the mastermind behind it all. In reality, even if they went to the palace for help, they would most likely not be able to rely on the experts of the Song court.

Given the distance from here to the palace, if Chu Luren rescues the Empress Dowager and can hold out until the Song court's experts arrive to help, Yagyu Tajima-no-kami will definitely have already retreated. Otherwise, even if the Divine Marquis arrives, he will have no choice but to capture him.

This is Lin'an, the central government seat of the Song Dynasty. Even though Yagyu Tajima-no-kami's martial arts are superior to Chu Luren's, he can only retreat first if he cannot defeat Chu Luren in a short time.

In addition...

Chu Luren pondered that, considering his motives, Yagyu Tajima-no-kami probably wouldn't "kill" the Empress Dowager.

After all, killing the Empress Dowager now is not in the Divine Marquis's interest, otherwise it would greatly affect the reputation of the Dragon Guard Manor!

While rescuing the Empress Dowager was certainly not as perfect as having her rescued by the "Imperial Secret Agents" he had trained, it was still better than simply killing her—Chu Luren was just a passerby and not one of Cao Zhengchun's people.

Moreover, Chu Luren believed that if he were the Divine Marquis, he would never have given the Japanese the power to make such an important decision as "whether to kill the Empress Dowager" on the spot. On the contrary, he would have imposed all sorts of restrictions on this matter!

The fact that the battle would not drag on and that no one would kill their hostages was also the source of Chu Lu's confidence.

Of course, all of this is based on the premise that Chu Luren will not be killed by Yagyu Tajima-no-kami in a short time; otherwise, it would all be in vain. If someone kills him, they can simply find another place to hide.

Chu Luren had previously felt that the assassin leader, who was suspected to be from Karasuma, should have martial arts skills similar to his own when he "suddenly attained enlightenment of the Dream God," while Yagyu Tajima no Kami was even better than him!

If the Karasuma were present when they took action, even if the Chu Luren escaped on their own, it would be a problem. Therefore, they specifically chose a time when the delegation met with the emperor.

Facing Yagyu Tajima-no-Kami alone, the chances of victory are slim, and delaying him for even a short while is not a safe option. However, at the very least, in the worst-case scenario, Chu Shika-no-Kami can escape on his own.

However, this way, the Empress Dowager cannot be saved, the crime cannot be completely cleared, and in the future, one will have to circumvent the Song court's henchmen. Furthermore, if the Empress Dowager cannot be persuaded, Yunluo's words will not be completely credible, which will definitely affect her reputation. Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, Chu Luren still wants to save the Empress Dowager.

With only a day and a half to prepare, Chu Luren focused his attention on the "Indestructible Vajra Divine Skill" and the "Power Absorption Technique" in his mind...

Chapter 260 Fusion Divine Skill

"Grandmaster Lin Chaoying is awesome, Grandmaster Wang Chongyang is awesome, Senior Mu is awesome, the Indian monk is awesome, the Strange Hero of Tianchi is awesome..."

"The founder of the Free and Unfettered Sect is awesome, the master of the Heaven-Mending Technique is awesome, the nameless Shaolin monk is awesome, the eccentric hero of Tianchi is awesome..."

Chu Luren said that perhaps when he used to make sweeping generalizations, he called everyone bald monks, Taoist nuns, yoga monsters, old monkeys, etc. But now he is willing to reconcile and call everyone "awesome". Let's put aside our old grudges, join hands and walk towards a better tomorrow!

Just by looking at Chu Luren's "Awesome Sutra", you can tell that this time it is a fusion of "Immortal Ape Taking Peaches + Absorbing Power Technique" and "Dream God + Vajra Indestructible Divine Skill".

That's right, in the end, Chu Luren decided to make use of the two divine skills to improve his strength as soon as possible!

The side effects of the Absorption Technique were something that even the Strange Hero of Tianchi and Gu Santong hadn't figured out a solution for. Chu Luren wasn't confident that he could solve it himself, so he definitely wouldn't merge it with his original body's "Minor Chaos Technique." Instead, he chose to cultivate the "Immortal Ape Taking Peaches" technique with his Dream God Body.

In essence, the "absorption" technique in the "Absorption Technique" can be seen as a forced and intense form of dual cultivation, and the target is other martial artists, rather than the various foreign objects targeted in the "Divine Foot Scripture".

After all, unlike the "Star Absorbing Technique" and the "Northern Darkness Divine Art," the "Power Absorption Technique" doesn't simply absorb foreign internal energy...

This aligns somewhat with the "Immortal Ape Taking Peaches" story, which incorporates elements from the "Divine Foot Classic".

The "Indestructible Vajra Divine Skill" must be selected from the "body" and cannot be changed; it must be directly integrated with the "body" that has already been cultivated.

Normally, there is no choice.

However, due to the existence of the "Dream God Body", Chu Luren effectively possesses two "bodies". In addition to the "Kunpeng Mending the Heavens Technique", the body of the Dream God is the "Dream God"!

For the Chu Lu people, the two are two sides of the same coin.

After much deliberation, Chu Luren decided to use "Dream God" to merge with "Invincible Vajra Divine Skill".

Because the "Kunpeng Mending the Sky Skill" is inherited from the "Transforming Peng Skill" of the Xiaoyao Sect, its effects tend to improve flexibility and agility, and its artistic conception leans towards freedom and detachment from external influences.

Needless to say, the "Invincible Vajra Divine Skill" is powerful in both offense and defense, and its essence is indestructible and eternally immovable!

They're simply not a good match...

On the contrary, the "Dream God's" Immortal Ape True Qi is a burst-type skill, and it excels in both offense and defense, and it is at least complemented by some other skills.

Most importantly, in Chu Luren's view, the "Dream God" is ultimately secondary; when faced with risky situations, one's own true self is more important!

Chu Luren did not intervene in the fusion of "Immortal Ape Stealing Peaches" and "Absorption Technique" – if the internal energy became "only usable under enlightenment", then the Dream God would be mostly useless.

However, for Chu Luren to intervene in the fusion of the "Dream God" and the "Invincible Vajra Divine Skill" through sudden enlightenment...

The direction of guidance is to make the integration results more inclined towards "meridian enhancement" or "strength enhancement", rather than focusing too much on enhancing physical fitness itself!

Otherwise, although there are two "bodies", the body is ultimately the same, and adding points may cause some unpredictable problems.

"Power Enhancement" is similar to "Minor Returning to the Void Power," which uses power to circulate within the body to enhance offense and defense, essentially providing a buff. This avoids conflicts between different martial arts techniques.

After a while of spouting "Awesome Mantra"...

Internal energy fusion... The Great Sage steals the Elixir Scripture!

Chu Luren spotted the new internal skill at a glance, and the name seemed increasingly familiar—before, fusing the "Divine Foot Scripture" was like taking a peach, but now, fusing the "Absorbing Power Technique" has directly become "Stealing Elixir"?

Moreover, the celestial ape went a step further, being named "Great Sage"...

Putting aside the flaws in the name, Chu Luren was basically satisfied with the effect after the fusion. It further enhanced the ability to seize the essence of the outside world and also possessed the nature of the Absorption Technique, which "seizes the creation of heaven and earth and devotes the whole world to one person".

However, the reason why it is only "basically" satisfactory is that this enhancement does not quite match the palm techniques that Dream God is currently good at, nor the sword techniques that Dream God is good at after enlightenment.

Ah! We shouldn't call him "Dream God" now, but rather... "Golden Immortal"!

The "body" of the Dream God's Body, which is also the "Dream God," became a "Golden Immortal" after merging with the "Indestructible Vajra Divine Skill."

Judging from its name, "The Invincible Vajra Divine Skill" leans towards the Buddhist style. In India, "Vajra" refers to diamonds, and in Buddhism, it also implies "one who cannot cut through."

In terms of the nature of the techniques, Chu Luren did not actually find many traces of Buddhist martial arts.

Of course, this may also be due to Chu Luren's limited perspective. Perhaps among the martial arts that Tianchi Guaixia referenced back then, there really were many Buddhist martial arts.

After all, Chu Luren didn't know much about Tantric martial arts. Within the Buddhist lineage, Chu Luren mostly knew Zen martial arts—in comparison, Tantric martial arts tended to focus more on physical strength, while Zen emphasized mental state.

However, after this fusion, perhaps due to the strong Taoist style of "Dream God", the fused object was named "Golden Immortal", a typical Taoist term.

Taoism believes that "gold" means immortality and is imperishable. Even in the Song Dynasty, which revered Taoism, Buddha was referred to as "the Greatly Enlightened Golden Immortal".

The effect goes without saying—if it were the current Chu Luren, even if he were no match for Cao Zhengchun in their sword and palm exchange, he wouldn't be injured.

The biggest obstacle at this time is that the true "Invincible Vajra Divine Skill" and "Absorption Technique" require the simultaneous cultivation of qi and blood to reach the highest level. Otherwise, without Vajra True Qi, it is impossible to operate the Invincible Vajra Divine Skill to its strongest state, and without the Absorption Technique's comprehensive body, it is impossible to fully digest the gains from the Absorption Technique.

Gu Santong, who mastered both techniques, initially did not use the "Absorption Technique" to absorb the internal energy of others. He only focused on cultivating the "Indestructible Vajra Divine Skill" both internally and externally. Later, after mastering the "Indestructible Vajra Divine Skill," he began absorbing the internal energy of others because he was imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison and had no hope of knocking on the Heavenly Gate.

Even so, in terms of the "Absorption Technique" alone, Gu Santong is indeed inferior to Shenhou...

Gu Santong didn't know how the Strange Swordsman of Tianchi managed to cultivate two skills perfectly simultaneously.

Chu Luren has now essentially mastered the body of the "Indestructible Vajra Divine Skill" and the Qi of the "Absorption Technique," which inevitably makes them somewhat incompatible. His "Golden Immortal" status is somewhat superficial, and the offensive and defensive enhancements are greatly weakened. The "stealing pills" effect of the "Great Sage Stealing Pill Scripture" is also like Sun Wukong's indiscriminate consumption of golden pills, making it difficult to exert its maximum effect.

With Chu Luren's current martial arts skills, there is no way to solve this problem unless he tries his best to merge the "Golden Immortal" and the "Great Sage Stealing the Elixir Scripture" into the same martial art, so that the "qi" and "body" are the same skill and can naturally be in harmony.

However, Chu Luren is still somewhat undecided...

After all, judging by the current configuration, Chu Luren thought that he should have no problem blocking Yagyu Tajima no Kami, so he didn't gamble any more!

Chapter 261 Rescue

It was early morning on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month.

From the "Playboy's" southern garden came sounds of lewd behavior in broad daylight...

The Japanese ronin are used to this; when it comes to being a playboy, the playboy is the most playful.

However, today's situation is indeed somewhat different!

For some reason, Yagyu Tajima-no-kami felt uneasy, so he came to the South Garden of "The Playboy".

Although he was standing openly at the gate with a serious expression, the way Yagyu was closing his eyes and listening intently did make him seem rather lewd!

A moment later, Yagyu suddenly realized something and wanted to rush into the house, but after a slight hesitation, he took a half step back. After a pause, Yagyu realized what was happening and quickly turned around and ran towards the backyard.

Meanwhile, in the backyard, an old woman was trapped inside a huge jar, with only her head sticking out.

A brief shout and the sound of fighting at the door made the old woman open her eyes and look around. Then she saw Chu Luren burst in, while the ronin guarding outside was already lying on the ground.

Upon seeing the old woman, Chu Luren rushed to her side: "Are you the Empress Dowager? You must be right... I am Yunluo's friend, and I have come to rescue you!"

The Empress Dowager had been imprisoned for two days in the large jar, and her mental state was very bad. There were also ronin deliberately speaking Chinese around her, gossiping about Princess Yunluo being "picked". The old lady was already exhausted, and when she suddenly saw Chu Luren, she couldn't help but burst out with strong gratitude and expectation.

Using the affair between Hua Gongzi and Yunluo to provoke the Empress Dowager was an impromptu act by the Japanese. However, deliberately humiliating the Empress Dowager mentally, just like Karasuma did in the original work, causing the old lady to feel desperate, was indeed at the request of the Divine Marquis and was done intentionally!

The goal was to greatly "boost" the reputation of the Dragon Guard Manor after the imperial spies rescued the Empress Dowager.

But now it's the Chu Lu people who benefit...

"Yunluo, she is now..." The Empress Dowager recalled the previous "rumors," feeling fortunate that someone had come to her rescue, but also worried about her daughter.

“Yunluo is very good. It was Yunluo and I who were deliberately putting on an act to rescue you, sir.” Chu Luren said as he stepped forward and shattered the jar.

However, the Empress Dowager was still unable to move on her own—she had been struck by the "Dislocating Tendons and Bones Technique," which had dislocated all the major joints in her limbs!