The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

When Blood Saber Ancestor was about to corner Chu Luren, Chu Luren actually had a 80% chance of escaping unscathed by activating his meridians to unleash his latent finger energy.

It is indeed a pity that he did not inherit the offensive nature of the Six Meridians Divine Sword. However, from another perspective, if the offensive nature of the Six Meridians Divine Sword were to be the main focus, the new martial arts would probably be quite useless with Chu Luren's current internal strength.

Unlike now, where victory can be secured!

At this moment, Chu Luren used his previous finger strength to induce a reverse flow of internal energy, which suddenly slowed down the Blood Saber Ancestor's arm by half a beat, creating an opportunity for Duan Yu to deal damage.

However, at that moment, Duan Yu... gave a thumbs up in an ordinary way!

Not to mention Chu Luren, even the Blood Blade Ancestor didn't react for a moment - he originally thought that even if he didn't die this time, he would be badly injured. With his strong combat instinct, he was prepared to exchange an arm for a way out and then escape immediately.

However, Duan Yu merely gave him a thumbs-up, without any energy surging out...

Duan Yu was also stunned when he saw this. He looked at his fingers and then gestured a couple of times, but nothing happened.

Chu Luren was so angry he almost vomited blood—why did it have to "go out" at this crucial moment?

Chu Luren's previous control also exposed the hidden finger energy. The pulsating finger energy, which was already very weak to Blood Blade Ancestor, was easily dispersed after being exposed...

"Oh."

Seeing that Duan Yu's martial arts had failed, the Blood Saber Ancestor grinned maliciously, quickly calmed his anger and embarrassment, and calmly attacked Duan Yu.

Even when Chu Luren tried to stop him, Blood Blade Ancestor refused to engage in combat.

Originally, Blood Blade Ancestor was more interested in his movement technique, but now... Blood Blade Ancestor was obviously more concerned about his own safety and wanted to eliminate the "occasional bursts" of output first!

"Yu'er, be careful!" Yideng had only recently become a monk and was clearly not yet at the level of being unmoved by the eight winds.

At the same time, Kumārajīva, who was originally in the Six Meridians Sword Formation, also seized the opportunity. With a slight smile, the Flame Blade, which had previously been powerful and fierce, suddenly changed its aura.

As Kumārajīva swung his wrists, palms, and arms, the fiery blade energy displayed a dazzling display, leaving afterimages in all directions and at bizarre angles—quite reminiscent of the Blood Blade Ancestor's "Blood Battle in All Directions" style!

Logically speaking, compared to the Blood Saber Ancestor, Kumārajīva was a genuine Tantric master. Although he had learned the "Lesser Formless Skill" based on Taoist principles, his own techniques were mostly from the powerful Tantric lineage...

When wielding the Flaming Blade of the Tantric school, there is no need to use the "Minor Formless Skill" to imitate it. In the previous gestures, the blade energy was indeed powerful and fierce.

At this moment, suddenly using the sword energy of the Flaming Blade to fight the mysterious Blood Blade was somewhat contradictory, and it might not actually perform better than before. However... this sudden change in style really made the Six Heavenly Dragon Monks, who were originally besieging Kumārajīva, feel uncomfortable!

In addition, since Yideng was distracted by Duan Yu's side, he was caught off guard by Kumārajīva's attack. Ben Guan and Ben Can were directly hit in the chest by the flame blade energy, and were forced to retreat several steps. Their Six Meridians Sword Formation was broken!

At the same time, Kumārajīva probably understood that with Kurong and Yideng around, he might not gain any advantage if he pursued them, so he simply took the opportunity to break away from the sword formation and also grabbed Duan Yu.

Chu Luren could barely block a few moves from the Blood Blade Ancestor, and even then, it was difficult to hold him off. When Kumārajīva attacked again... it was clearly beyond Chu Luren's capabilities.

Duan Yu's Six Meridian Divine Sword still failed to "work" again, and was directly seized by Kumārajīva at the Jianjing acupoint, where it was controlled.

"stop!"

"Amitabha! What is the meaning of the Grand Preceptor's capture of my Prince of Dali?"

A rebuke from Yideng and the chanting of Buddhist prayers echoed through the air...

When Ku Rong specifically mentioned Duan Yu's secular identity, the subtext was clearly a warning to Kumārajīva: if he didn't release Duan Yu, things would no longer be a matter of "jianghu affairs"!

However, in Kumārajīva's heart, martial arts always came first, Tibet second, and Buddhism and morality were secondary. At this moment, he laughed and said, "Hahaha, Master Kurong misunderstands... This humble monk only took this young friend to pay his respects at the grave of my old friend Murong because he seemed to know the true Six Meridians Divine Sword. Farewell!"

As Kumārajīva spoke, he had already used his lightness skill to leave. Seeing Kumārajīva leave, Blood Saber Ancestor could only glare at Chu Luren, as if to remember him, before also using his lightness skill to depart...

Kumārajīva was already extremely skilled in martial arts, and his lightness skill was also quite good. As for Blood Saber Ancestor, being a lecherous thief, even if he was good at fighting, he still couldn't be weak in lightness skill.

After the two left together, Yideng wanted to chase after them but was stopped by Kurong—otherwise, the ending would probably have been that the Crown Prince and the "former emperor" were kidnapped together.

"A young person's many hardships are not necessarily a bad thing..."

"Amitabha"

Master Kurong was very open-minded. The four masters of the Ben generation even sang a Buddhist chant behind him like straight men.

Chu Luren felt that they were stirring up trouble and rolled his eyes at them, but Yideng calmed down a lot after hearing this.

This is probably the difference between having or not having innate wisdom...

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Is It My Fault?

Kumārajīva and the Blood Saber Ancestor kidnapped Duan Yu.

Although they said things like "it's great for young people to experience hardship," everyone knew that they didn't push too hard mainly for safety reasons.

The good news is that, given Kumārajīva's intentions, Duan Yu should be safe for the time being, and Yideng has also asked Chu Luren to return to Dali City for help.

Of course, nine times out of ten it won't lead to anything...

Kumārajīva and Blood Saber Ancestor dared not confront the army head-on, but how could the army catch up with Kumārajīva, who was determined to leave?

Chu Luren agreed and was about to leave Tianlong Temple that day. Before leaving, Benxiang specially came to him and said, "Benefactor Chu, please wait a moment."

"What advice does Master Benxiang have for me?" Chu Luren asked, noticing that Master Benxiang seemed to have something on his mind.

"Amitabha Buddha, to my shame... Ten years ago, I was entangled in a karmic matter because of an old friend. Now, my six senses are not yet purified, and I still have lingering thoughts about it..." Benxiang said somewhat embarrassedly.

Upon hearing this, Chu Luren's eyes immediately lit up with gossip—he assumed the true nature of Chu Luren was "that kind of" impure desire.

Whether Benxiang truly failed to notice or not, Chu Luren's thoughts were vulgar and he went straight to explaining, "On the 26th of August this year, the Lu family in Nanhu, Jiaxing, may face annihilation. If Benefactor Chu is going to the southern part of the Great Song Dynasty and has the time, you may visit... If such a calamity truly occurs, I hope Benefactor Chu will do his best to save them. If it is beyond his power... then please collect their remains, lest the good people of the Lu family be left to rot in the wilderness."

"Rest assured, Master. If you wish for evil spirits to harm people, I will do my utmost to help," Chu Luren replied.

Hearing of some "disaster that could wipe out an entire family," Chu Luren immediately kept it in mind—of course, as Chu Luren said... he would do his best.

Although he knew that according to the story of Tianlong, Duan Yu should be fine, Chu Luren would definitely go to Suzhou to see him. Even if it wasn't for Kumachi and Duan Yu, Mantuo Manor alone was worth a visit. Jiaxing... was also on the way, and it was the end of February, so there was still plenty of time.

At first, Chu Luren thought this fortune teller was a bit mystical, actually predicting things six months from now, even down to the exact day.

However, as he was descending the mountain, a thought suddenly occurred to him, and he felt that the matter of Lu Village seemed somewhat "familiar"!

“Luzhuang in Jiaxing… Could it be her?” Chu Luren suddenly realized.

This incident sounds somewhat similar to the massacre of the Lu family by Li Mochou in "The Return of the Condor Heroes"!

According to Chu Luren's memory of "The Condor Heroes", Li Mochou should have fallen in love with Lu Zhanyuan more than ten years ago. However, Lu Zhanyuan fell in love with He Yuanjun, which made Li Mochou cold and cruel. She appeared at Lu Zhanyuan and He Yuanjun's wedding and wanted to kill the "adulterous couple", but was stopped by "a master from Tianlong Temple".

The reason why the little-known Lu family in Jiaxing, Jiangnan, became involved with "Tianlong Temple" can be traced back to a tragic fate stemming from He Yuanjun.

He Yuanjun was originally the adopted daughter of Wu Santong, one of the four "hereditary" bodyguards of the Duan family. However, Wu Santong... actually developed romantic feelings for his adopted daughter.

However, Wu Santong was, after all, a righteous man, and even when he was moved by emotions, he was restrained by reason and never showed them.

However, after learning that He Yuanjun was getting married, he was devastated and became somewhat erratic, even trying to cause trouble at the wedding...

Lu Zhanyuan's messy affairs have nothing to do with Tianlong Temple, but Wu Santong... the Dali Duan family can't stand to see him so shameless!

Therefore, a master from Tianlong Temple left the mountain and traveled to Jiaxing to protect the Lu family and stop Li Mochou and Wu Santong from causing trouble.

However, the master did not use excessive force at the time. After all, not to mention Wu Santong, Li Mochou was also a "victim". Therefore, after stopping them, he only made them swear that they would not seek revenge against the Lu family within ten years, and then let them leave.

As for this "master of Tenryu-ji Temple", in the latest revision, it was directly changed to Yideng. However, Chu Luren now estimates that it is most likely... Master Benxiang!

It is estimated that Benxiang's original intention was that ten years might allow Li Mochou and Wu Santong to let go of their resentment, or at least allow Lu Zhanyuan and his wife to live in peace for ten years.

However, unexpectedly, some rumors in the martial arts world show that Li Mochou has become infamous over the past ten years... especially the last six or seven years, and does not seem to have let go of her resentment at all!

Dali is currently going through a turbulent period, and the Prime Minister had promised ten years ago not to interfere in this matter again, so he only mentioned it to Chu Luren.

The reason I know the date is because August 26th marks exactly ten years...

If Li Mochou has already let go of her resentment, then naturally there will be no problem. But if she continues to hold a grudge, it will never be too late!

Benxiang hadn't seen Li Mochou for ten years, but now the "Red Serpent Fairy"... or rather the "Red Serpent Witch" had quite a reputation in the martial arts world. He didn't know if Chu Luren was up to the task, so he just let Chu Luren decide for himself, keeping his mind to "let fate decide".

Having figured this out, Chu Luren became even more concerned about the matter. As for whether he could stop Li Mochou in six months... Chu Luren felt that it depended on the results of his trip to the east!

Back then, Wu Yazi and Li Qiushui of the Xiaoyao Sect lived in seclusion in Langhuan Paradise. After a series of changes, only the Beiming Divine Skill and Lingbo Step remained in Langhuan Paradise. The other martial arts manuals are now in Langhuan Jade Cave of Mantuo Manor.

It is said that, in addition to unparalleled martial arts such as the Yi Jin Jing and the Six Meridian Divine Sword, it also includes martial arts from various other schools and sects...

If Chu Luren could manage to "plunder" the Langhuan Jade Cave, he would consider himself rich!

Moreover, in the "Li Qiushui Welfare Hand-drawn Version" of the "Northern Darkness Divine Skill" obtained in Langhuan Paradise, it was written that her "successor" should take this silk to Langhuan Jade Cave to learn martial arts, and then "kill all the disciples of the Xiaoyao Sect" for her.

Although Duan Yu was thoroughly manipulated in front of the fairy sister's jade statue, he did not want to kill innocent people indiscriminately. He was not even very interested in the "Northern Darkness Divine Art". He felt that looking at the portrait of "Li Qiushui's welfare hand-drawn version" was a desecration of the fairy sister. He only practiced two parts of it in a daze.

However, compared to them, the Chu Lu people have much lower moral standards!

Not only did he thoroughly enjoy reading "The Northern Darkness Divine Art" and collect the entire book, but he also kept the silk, waiting to "redeem the prize" at the Langhuan Jade Cave.

As for slaughtering all the disciples of the Free and Unfettered Sect...

Chu Luren wasn't interested, since the only people who could be considered disciples of the Free and Unfettered Sect, besides Li Qiushui herself, were Wu Yazi and Tong Lao.

Chu Luren had a very good reason for this: Wu Yazi was the rightful owner of the Xiaoyao Sect and the Langhuan Paradise. I went to learn the martial arts of the Langhuan Paradise, and then I helped him avenge his family and even reunite with his children. What does it have to do with you, Li Qiushui?

As for "Li Qiushui's Hand-drawn Welfare Edition" and such, you insisted on leaving it there for me to see, is that my fault?

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Departure

After returning to Dali City, Chu Luren immediately met with Duan Zhengchun and told him about the Tianlong Temple incident.

In his haste, Duan Zhengchun immediately sent men to search the area. The news they received confirmed that "two Tibetan monks" had already left Dali with a "young scholar-like man".

Moreover, they didn't head north back to Tibet, but instead went east...

Dali is located in the southwest, and to the east lies the Xiangxi region of the Song Dynasty. It seems that at least in the statement "to go to the tomb of Murong Bo in Jiangnan", Kumārajīva should not have lied.

This only made Duan Zhengchun and Dao Baifeng even more worried.

If Kumārajīva had taken Duan Yu back to Tibet, Dali could have negotiated through diplomacy. But now that he's gone to the Song Dynasty, Dali has no power to send troops there. Even though the Song Dynasty is weak now, it's still a force to be reckoned with, far stronger than Dali.

Moreover, Kumārajīva was not a Song person, so it's easy to see that the Song court wouldn't take on this troublesome matter willingly...

Duan Zhengchun finally managed to calm Dao Baifeng down. Chu Luren then said, "Uncle Duan, don't worry, Brother Duan is a lucky man... I was just about to go to Jiangnan to visit Mantuo Manor, which has some old ties with the Murong family. If that Tibetan monk is really related to the Murong family, then this connection could be used to mediate."

"A connection with the Murong family? Excellent! Nephew Chu, I'll leave it to you then." Duan Zhengchun's face lit up with joy, but... he seemed unaware of what Mantuo Manor looked like.

Seeing this, Chu Luren had no choice but to subtly remind him: "That's right, I was entrusted by the elders of Madam Li Qingluo, who is now in charge of Mantuo Manor. Although I have never met Madam Li Qingluo, I believe she must be a kind and understanding person!"

Outsiders only know that the person in charge of Mantuo Villa is "Madam Wang", and few people know the maiden name "Li Qingluo". In fact, these are not mentioned on the silk, mainly relying on the "precognition" of Chu Luren.

However, Chu Luren wasn't going to show Duan Zhengchun the silk anyway, and wasn't afraid of revealing any flaws, so he simply exposed the matter.

That's right, Duan Zhengchun and Li Qingluo... also had a "fate".

"What? Qingluo..." Duan Zhengchun looked surprised upon hearing this.

Dao Baifeng, who had finally calmed down, immediately exploded: "Fine! It was those little bitches you provoked again. That Tibetan monk has no grudge against us. Maybe it was Li Qingluo who ordered him... Waaah... Yu'er, our lives are so miserable!"