The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

"Do you believe I can transform?" Cheng Shifei threatened while resisting.

"I don't believe it." When Chu Luren made his move, he had already used the "Seven Illusions Rainbow Light Finger Force" to entangle his Vajra Indestructible Force.

If Cheng Shifei had already transformed, Chu Luren wouldn't have been able to inject even a fraction of his finger strength into his meridians. However, now it would be easy for Chu Luren to subdue him.

After all, just a few days ago, Cheng Shifei was just an ordinary hoodlum. He simply used the internal energy and indestructible strength that his father gave him without any effort.

Once Chu Luren understood the principle, subduing him was very simple—just like how an ordinary person can't beat Ultraman, but taking away the transformation device is easy...

Yunluo was also at the door, sometimes peeking through her fingers, sometimes looking left and right down the corridor—in her words, she was "keeping watch" for Chu Luren!

"Alright, alright! I've finished reading... but it wasn't anything useful." Chu Luren said, pursing his lips.

Cheng Shifei gave him the middle finger, saying, "You didn't say that before."

"You should take a closer look at yourself. You were subdued so easily. If Senior Gu knew, he would cry," Chu Luren reminded him.

If Cheng Shifei can fully master his internal energy and learn all the martial arts skills he possesses, even if Chu Luren were to achieve enlightenment, it would not be easy for him to defeat Cheng Shifei before he transforms!

"I know, I know, here..." Cheng Shifei said, stretching out his hand.

Seeing Chu Luren's stunned expression, Cheng Shifei said, "We can't just look at it for free, can we?"

I always felt that this statement was easy to misunderstand, but Chu Luren still gave him half of the Robin Hood-style small fund.

"Hey, is there any kung fu you can teach me? Like the kind that absorbs my energy!" Yunluo came in and patted Chu Luren.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Shifei shuddered: "Ugh... you can teach and learn slowly, I won't bother you." With that, he left, his skin crawling with goosebumps.

"Don't say things that could be misunderstood, that's the Star Absorption Technique!" Chu Luren insisted that it was the Star Absorption Technique.

Unfortunately, Cheng Shifei did not possess the "Star Absorbing Technique." Otherwise, even if he could not truly master it, he could at least allow Chu Luren to understand the nature of the technique and even simulate it.

That's right. Cheng Shifei's martial arts, like the treasures in Langhuan Jade Cave, are all "camera versions." This is because they are essentially deciphered. After absorbing the opponent's meridians, he reverse-engineered the martial arts, rather than creating them. They have subtle differences from the original versions, so they failed to form badges.

At the same time, these martial arts techniques have all been simplified by Gu Santong, in order to achieve their effects more quickly and easily!

Therefore, Chu Luren's gains were quite substantial. Firstly, although he couldn't learn it in his physical body, he was able to master it to a great extent in his Golden Immortal body.

Secondly, some of the martial arts techniques contained within were very useful to Chu Luren, such as the "Dissolving Power Technique" and the "Yi Jin Jing"...

Among those whom Gu Santong absorbed in the Heavenly Prison were probably disciples of the Starry Sky Sect, possibly even direct disciples. Although they hadn't mastered the complete technique, they did understand some of the "Dissolving Power Technique," not to mention the other Starry Sky Poison Techniques, which Gu Santong also "deciphered."

In this way, the chances of Chu Luren facing Ding Chunqiu in the future will be much greater.

While Gu Santong did not fully decipher the Yijinjing, he gained a profound understanding of it and even deciphered a version that could be "quickly mastered".

While not as miraculously effective as the original Yi Jin Jing, it still retains some of its mysteries, becoming "Yi Jin Jing Tips," which can be surprisingly effective in many situations.

For the people of Chulu, this also provides great guidance for understanding the true Yijinjing.

The various cultivation techniques from different schools and sects broadened Chu Luren's horizons once again. Although they couldn't be directly integrated, digesting them would greatly solidify his foundation...

"Let's put martial arts aside for now, let's go somewhere." Chu Luren was still a little uneasy because he hadn't learned the true Star Absorbing Technique. What if the Divine Marquis sent someone to test him?

"Where are we going? Are we investigating a case?" Yunluo's eyes lit up, probably thinking that investigating cases would be fun.

"Qunyu Academy," Chu Luren said directly.

"Qunyu Courtyard? What kind of place is that?" Yunluo wrinkled her nose, clearly having never heard of it. It was evident that she had never actually traveled the martial world, and that she was usually protected by imperial guards, both openly and secretly, when she left the palace.

"A place where scholars and literati composed poems and exchanged verses..."

Chapter 269 Sending a Friend Home

"Two, please! No kids over eighteen!"

……

After a series of coded signals, Chu Luren was led into a quiet room, while Yun Luo, dressed as a man, was made to sit idly in the main hall...

"Weren't we supposed to be reciting poems? Why is business so bad?" Yunlu muttered to herself, and the madam gave her a strange look.

"The time isn't right yet; inspiration comes at night!" Chu Luren replied casually.

Yunlu rolled her eyes at him—it was clearly a code word exchange just now, how could she not have seen it?

Because it was during the day, there were hardly any guests, and Chu Luren was simply invited to a quiet room without needing to disguise himself.

"Help me contact the Holy Maiden and tell her... to deliver what you promised me as soon as possible!" Chu Luren said to the woman he was meeting.

Although Chu Luren's relationship with Ren Woxing was not harmonious after he saved him, he still did not give up and asked Ren Yingying for the "Star Absorbing Technique" that she had promised him!

After all, Ren Woxing is Ren Woxing, and Ren Yingying is Ren Yingying. No matter how unhappy Ren Woxing is with Chu Luren, he might still hand over the "Star Absorbing Skill" if Ren Yingying begs him. Of course, it's obvious that it would be the version without the secret to harmonizing internal energy, leading to a qi deviation.

Even Ren Woxing's own method of regulating his internal energy was not very perfect; in the original work, he died from qi deviation.

However, Chu Luren didn't mind, after all, he didn't really want to absorb anyone's internal energy, he just wanted to simulate the effect of the "Star Absorbing Technique"...

However, Chu Luren also had a headache. The way the "Star Absorbing Technique" was practiced was completely different from ordinary internal energy cultivation. Normal internal energy cultivation, even the "Northern Darkness Divine Art", only involved the internal energy flowing in the meridians in the opposite direction to most other techniques. Therefore, it would attract the internal energy of others. In reality, there was no "suction force". Only when the acupoints were directly next to the acupoints of the other party would the other party's internal energy "flow" in.

The Star Absorbing Technique is different. Its characteristic is that it creates a cavity in the dantian, which not only allows it to absorb other people's different kinds of true energy, but can even generate a real "suction force"!

This means that the Star Absorbing Technique is incompatible with other internal energy techniques. In the original work, Linghu Chong only mastered the Star Absorbing Technique when he had almost lost all his internal energy. After mastering the Yi Jin Jing to harmonize the different types of internal energy, he never used the Star Absorbing Technique again, so it was probably useless...

Therefore, Chu Luren hesitated, wondering if the "Star Absorbing Technique" could really be simulated using "Minor Chaos True Qi".

We can't just abandon the Star Absorbing Technique and start all over again just to learn it, can we?

Chu Luren could only hope that after obtaining the "Star Absorbing Technique," he could develop a simplified version of the martial art like Gu Santong, or... try to fuse it and see if the "Minor Returning to the Void Force" could be further improved and possess more of the characteristics of the Star Absorbing Technique.

"If something is delivered, will Young Master Chu still be in Lin'an?" The woman who made the contact didn't know what the Holy Maiden had promised, but she still asked about the delivery method.

"If nothing unexpected happens this month, I'll stay in Lin'an. If it drags on until next month, I'll probably go to Jiaxing," Chu Luren said.

If September is over and the Dragon Guard Manor and the Eastern Depot still haven't found anything, Chu Luren doesn't plan to continue accompanying them.

Anyway, the Marquis's goal is just to embarrass Cao Zhengchun, not to actually kill the emperor, so let's just watch them fight like dogs.

"Young Master Chu, please rest assured, we will pass the message on to the Holy Maiden as soon as possible. Does Young Master Chu have anything else to attend to?"

Qunyu Academy still has professional ethics—it's one of the few places that still addresses someone as "Young Master Chu"!

It should be noted that Chu Luren had already changed back into his usual clothes while at the inn.

"Give me a copy of the information about the Izumo Kingdom delegation." After thinking for a moment, Chu Luren decided to help.

It's not exactly meddling... On the contrary, no matter how much effort Chu Luren put into this matter, the credit belongs to him.

Unfortunately, the Sun Moon Cult didn't collect much information about these official matters; they only had half a page with the most basic details.

In comparison, the introduction to the various schools of kendo and ninjutsu in Japan, as well as the famous martial arts masters, is much more complete.

……

After leaving the Qunyu Courtyard, Yunlu nudged Chu Luren with her shoulder and asked, "How is it? Any news?"

"Hmm?" Chu Luren was slightly surprised.

Seeing this, Yunluo pouted: "Anyone can tell that what you were doing just now was a code, okay? Qunyu Academy... which faction's secret base is that?"

"The Sun Moon Cult." Chu Luren didn't keep it a secret when he saw that Yun Luo had figured it out.

In any case, such news could not be kept from the Dragon Guard Manor, and the existence of the Lin'an Jade Courtyard was itself a tacit approval.

The Qunyu Academy in Lin'an didn't go out of its way to collect too much official intelligence...

How deep is the water in Lin'an?

In the original novel "The World's Number One", Cheng Shifei was forced to transform in a gambling den right after receiving the initiation, because he won too much and was then sabotaged by the gambling den...

Although Cheng Shifei is indeed unable to exert much of his strength because he does not know martial arts, he is definitely not comparable to an ordinary master!

To put it simply, in terms of martial arts alone, if it were Yue Buqun cheating at a gambling den in Lin'an, his legs would be broken.

Yunluo was somewhat disappointed when Chu Luren mentioned that the Sun Moon Cult didn't have any useful intelligence...

"How about we check out the state guesthouse tonight?" Yunluo suggested, her eyes darting around.

"Don't be ridiculous. Is the State Guesthouse a place for random inquiries? If you're going to be so arrogant, why not just try your luck against that Wuhuan? Wouldn't that be more direct?" Chu Luren shook his head repeatedly.

Anyway, the credit will definitely be mine, so there's no need to work so hard.

"So what do we do now?" Yunluo asked, bored.

"Where are some good places to eat fish and crabs in Lin'an?" Chu Luren asked after thinking for a moment.

Previously, Chu Luren only ate vegetarian noodles in front of Xiang Wentian. When he was with the Japanese, the food was not to his liking either. At that time, the Japanese were dirt poor, and their "cuisine" style was practical.

“Okay, I know a good place. I’ll treat you to dinner, and you treat me to salted fish! By the way, your salted fish smells really good. How come before… okay, okay, I won’t mention it.” Yunlu felt Chu Luren’s gaze halfway through.

The restaurant recommended by Yunluo was actually on a boat on West Lake outside the city. The food was really good, but because it was too far away, and because Yunluo insisted on listening to Chu Luren talk about things in the martial arts world during the meal, they lost track of time while listening and talking.

When the two came to their senses, they realized it was already quite late.

"Oh no! It's almost time for the palace to close... Should I go to an inn for the night?" Yunluo glanced at the moon and realized something was wrong.

"Stop fooling around, or your brother and mother will think you're lost again! I have a plan, grab me!"

In order to catch up with the palace gates, Chu Luren pulled her along using the dolphin running method, and finally they made it before the gates closed.

Just as the palace gates were about to close, the Grand Secretaries of the Council of State Affairs, along with officials from the three ministries who were working inside the palace, came out after their shifts...

Everyone was probably so used to seeing Yunluo dressed as a man that they all pretended not to notice.

Chu Luren originally thought that some old scoundrel would come out and say a few words—after all, in the last few episodes of the original work, when the all-powerful Marquis wanted to marry Su Xin, all these people stood up and said a few words. In the end, the Marquis won over the Ten Generals and finally suppressed the opposition in the court.

Now that these people have seen the princess getting close to a martial arts figure, shouldn't they stand up for her?

Of course, I had nothing to be ashamed of; it was just that dinner was too late and I was taking my friend home.

But I didn't want to know...

Surprisingly, no one said anything?

Chu Luren escorted Yun Luo inside as if he were just taking a regular friend home, and all the officials on duty pretended not to see him and Yun Luo.

No, actually I did have something to say, but I was pulled away by my colleagues...

Chapter 270 "The Gentleman"

After Yunluo went inside, Chu Luren saw Eunuch Sun seeing several Grand Scholars off to their sedan chairs, so he took the initiative to go over and exchange a few pleasantries, and then casually said, "Do all these officials finish their shifts so late?"

It was already quite late; I didn't expect they had waited until the palace gates were closed before coming out.