The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

Upon hearing this, Ren Yingying waved her hand and blew away the gauze curtain. Then she pursed her lips and said, "What's the big deal about making a trip in person? I'm just glad that Young Master Chu doesn't blame me."

"Why would I blame you? You didn't get the Star Absorbing Technique?" Chu Luren asked with some concern.

"Young Master Chu is joking. If I hadn't even gotten the promised 'Star Absorbing Technique' from my father, how could I have the audacity to come and see you? You still hold a grudge about what happened in the Heavenly Prison, don't you?" Ren Yingying said, feigning resentment.

The degree of this "pretending" is just right; it's a "pretending" act that makes it obvious to everyone.

Chu Luren grunted twice but didn't say anything...

"My father has been imprisoned by Dongfang Bubai for a long time, so his temperament is inevitably biased. I apologize to you on his behalf," Ren Yingying said apologetically.

"It's nothing. I already possess the 'Star Absorbing Technique,' and there's also the agreement from before regarding the 'Phantom Shadow Technique,' which is why I agreed to help. No matter what happens in the meantime, as long as we get the 'Star Absorbing Technique,' it won't affect our agreement." Chu Luren coldly hinted to Ren Yingying to hurry up and hand over the manual so that they could settle their differences.

"The Star Absorbing Technique is right here, but if Young Master Chu wants to take it away like this, I won't allow it... You must sincerely not blame me first." Ren Yingying deliberately took out the manual first to indicate that she didn't really "disagree".

Chu Luren could also see that Ren Yingying was taking the opportunity to tease him again, just like when they were discussing music before!

So Chu Luren deliberately feinted—he poured himself a cup of wine, then channeled a force from the "Ten Unmarked Techniques" into it, throwing it straight at Ren Yingying…

“There should be a proper way to admit your mistakes. Holy Maiden, please have a drink first.”

The wine glass, spinning, "slowly" and steadily flew towards Ren Yingying.

Ren Yingying didn't know the truth of the matter, but she knew it must be a superior hidden weapon technique. However, looking at Chu Luren, she bit her lip and decided to reach out and catch it if it hit her head.

As Ren Yingying had expected, the cup itself didn't have any harmful force; she easily caught it with a simple reach. However, the spinning force instantly sent the wine flying out of the cup, shooting a hole the size of a chopstick into the roof...

At the same time, taking advantage of Ren Yingying looking up, Chu Luren silently channeled his Dragon Crane Great Capturing Qi and remotely took the manual from her table.

Just as Ren Yingying felt a pang of sadness, thinking that Chu Luren was determined to sever ties with her, she heard Chu Luren say, "Since Miss Ren is not going to drink, then I will always remember the Sun Moon Divine Sect's broken promise. As for this manual... let's just say that Miss Ren gave it to me voluntarily as a friend!"

Hearing Chu Luren's somewhat unreasonable words, Ren Yingying's mood brightened. Then, as if she had thought of something, she lowered her head slightly and said, "Since Young Master Chu says that I am a friend, then as a friend, may I ask... what exactly did you, my father, and the Left Envoy say about me?"

Chapter 280 Reminder

Ren Yingying really wanted to know how Chu Luren had talked to her father and Xiang Zuoshi about his own affairs!

Why do they all sound so... strange when they mention Chu Luren in front of me?

When he spoke of Chu Luren, his words to her were veiled in mystery, leaving her puzzled...

What exactly did Chu Luren and the others say?

When Ren Yingying first met Chu Luren, she thought he was a pretty good "weirdo"—after all, it was quite abrupt for him to suddenly start playing the victim!

However, since Chu Luren saved Qu Feiyan and later punished several outsiders suspected of molesting women, Ren Yingying's overall impression of him was positive.

However, what truly left a lasting impression was when Chu Luren "overheard" her plan and, during his piano lesson with her, they actually only discussed musical scales...

This made Ren Yingying, who usually controlled tens of thousands of evil cultivators, feel that "this person is unpredictable".

The real shift in this "curiosity" occurred not long ago when Ren Woxing and Xiang Wentian initially thought that most of the Chu Lu people had not escaped, so they offered Ren Yingying kind words of comfort.

After much comforting and reassurance, Ren Yingying herself began to accept the premise that she would be extremely saddened by Chu Luren's death.

Furthermore, after learning that Chu Luren was still alive, Ren Woxing sternly warned her not to have much contact with Chu Luren. This caused Ren Yingying, whose rebellious phase had been indefinitely postponed, to experience rebellious emotions for the first time at the age of eighteen.

Chu Luren was taken aback by Ren Yingying's question—what had I said to them? About Ren Yingying…

Chu Luren recalled for a moment, then said, "I'm just telling the truth, don't deny it!"

Ren Yingying: ? ? ?

Ren Yingying received an unexpected answer once again, but she was relieved to know it was from Chu Luren.

"I have already taught you the Star Absorbing Technique, but you should know that although the Star Absorbing Technique can absorb the true energy of others for its own use, it does not have a method to harmonize different kinds of true energy. Even the method that my father himself comprehended cannot eliminate this hidden danger." Ren Yingying's tone became serious, and she instantly switched to a "getting down to business" mode.

That old geezer was indeed wicked!

He handed over the "Star Absorbing Technique" in a version without harmonizing his internal energy—probably because he thought that even if Chu Luren could truly master it, he would one day still need his help.

However, since Ren Yingying brought it up herself, it was clear that she didn't want Chu Luren to develop any problems from practicing this skill.

"Don't worry, don't worry, I really can't possibly cripple myself and then practice it, can I?" Chu Luren said this, but his hands were already diligently flipping through the book. Even while talking to Ren Yingying, he didn't take his eyes off the book.

Ren Yingying felt a surge of frustration, then pursed her lips and said, "Once upon a time, there was a man who loved practicing martial arts and only trusted his own skills. Later, his subordinates pierced his collarbone and imprisoned him at the bottom of a lake for twelve years."

Chu Luren was also surprised—I treated you as a friend, and you actually compared me to your father?

"Do you know why?" Chu Luren asked.

"Why?" Ren Yingying had a bad feeling. What she wanted to say was "because she was too obsessed with martial arts," right? Did you find something strange about it again?

"Because he didn't practice the 'Sunflower Manual' back then, and even gave it to his subordinates!" Chu Luren said seriously.

Ren Yingying: ...

For a moment, Ren Yingying was speechless.

Chu Luren was not lying about one thing: he genuinely didn't care about the "method for harmonizing different types of internal energy" that Ren Woxing had kept hidden.

Ren Yingying said that her father's method was not perfect, and that he was probably just trying to cover it up. Ren Woxing was petty, after all, she didn't want to slander her father in front of Chu Luren. In reality, Ren Woxing deliberately didn't teach it!

However, Chu Luren knew that Ren Woxing's so-called method of reconciliation did indeed have great hidden dangers. In the original work, he suddenly went mad and died when he returned to his peak and wanted to continue his dream of unifying the martial arts world!

From the very beginning, Chu Luren had no hope for Ren Woxing's method of reconciliation...

There is no way to avoid problems when absorbing foreign true energy. The "Northern Darkness Divine Art" requires skin-to-skin contact and acupoint alignment during absorption, and it is not an unlimited absorption method. Once "indigestion" occurs, it will become unreliable. Even the "Absorption Technique" of the Strange Hero of Tianchi, although it does not have the danger of going into demonic possession, is still troubled by the upper limit!

In comparison, the "Divine Foot Scripture" is much more reliable. Although one is about dual cultivation between different species and the other is about dual cultivation between the same species, Chu Luren's current perspective has already shown that "reducing the excess and supplementing the deficiency" is the right path.

Cultivating by borrowing from other objects involves using the meridian structure that one lacks to "patch" oneself up, thereby gaining some magical abilities. It does not mean directly taking the other party's true energy and using it.

The Absorption Technique absorbs energy along with the meridians, which is similar to the Divine Foot Scripture. It can indeed suppress the risk of going astray to the greatest extent. However... we are all human, and our meridians are basically the same. It is just a simple accumulation of "quantity".

Therefore, cultivating with beings of different kinds is "taking from the surplus to make up for the deficiency", while cultivating with beings of the same kind is "taking from the deficiency to give to the surplus"!

Having too much "excess" creates a barrier of knowledge and understanding, which in turn locks in one's own potential.

Needless to say, the "Star Absorbing Technique" can't even handle the conflict between different types of true energy. Absorbing too much of this stuff will kill you!

Chu Luren never expected to accumulate internal energy using such unorthodox methods; otherwise, the "Absorption Technique" would have been far more perfect.

The reason for their desire for the "Star Absorbing Technique" was twofold: first, to further deceive the Divine Marquis; and second, to value its ability to "relieve force."

That is, the direction of the "Star Absorption and Earth Penetration Technique" - Xiang Wentian couldn't master the "Star Absorption Technique", so he came up with the "Star Absorption and Earth Penetration Technique". However, in Chu Luren's opinion, although Xiang Wentian's "Star Absorption Technique" is still very crude, in terms of its concept, it is more reliable than the "Star Absorption Technique".

Especially after merging with "Phantom Minor Technique" to form "Minor Return to Emptiness Force", it did not have the defect of occupying the meridians of the legs. It was equivalent to receiving the opponent's true energy and directly using part of the properties of "Phantom Divine Skill" to turn it into nothingness!

In terms of practicality, this is what Chu Luren is looking forward to regarding the "Star Absorbing Technique" and the "Phantom Divine Skill" that he may acquire in the future.

Even if they choose to integrate more techniques in the future, Chu Luren will still choose martial arts that focus on "force reduction" and "damage absorption"...

"Is Young Master Chu going to sea later?" Ren Yingying felt a little jealous when she saw that Chu Luren was still in front of her, completely ignoring her and looking at the manual.

However, this feeling was fleeting—from the age of six, she grew up beside the enemy who imprisoned her father, and at the age of twelve, she commanded the evil forces affiliated with the cult. The "Holy Maiden" was not used to this kind of emotion and did not like it.

"Yes." Chu Luren nodded.

"Going to visit friends."

"kindness."

"A man?"

"female."

Peach Blossom Island.

"Huh? You know that?" Chu Luren looked up in surprise.

"Don't forget where you are," Ren Yingying reminded her—the intelligence capabilities of the Qunyu Academy are quite strong.

Chu Luren was still a little confused. Why would Qunyuyuan ask about him for no reason?

In an instant, Chu Luren understood—that made sense. He had promised her he would come to Lin'an to rescue her father, so of course he would keep an eye on me. Knowing that I had separated from Rongrong and that I had recently said I would go to Jiaxing, he could naturally guess.

Seeing Chu Luren's knowing look, Ren Yingying blushed, as if she had truly been seen through.

However, he quickly composed himself and reminded Chu Luren, "Since you are going to visit the Eastern Heretic, you'd better know... Three months ago, the Western Poison Ouyang Feng appeared in Luoyang. Later, some people saw him in Zhongzhou and Huainan. The last piece of information we received was that he was suspected of appearing in Chongzhou half a month ago."

Judging from his journey, he's likely heading to Jiangnan. Moreover, rumors circulate that Ouyang Feng wants to win over the Eastern Heretic and help him quell the Western King's rebellion. Since you're going to Peach Blossom Island, you must be careful.

Chapter 281 The Family Member

After leaving Qunyu Courtyard, Chu Luren kept thinking about what Ren Yingying had reminded him of—Ouyang Feng, the Western Poison, had come from the Western Regions to Guanzhong and then to Huainan, and was suspected to have arrived in Jiangnan, with Peach Blossom Island as his target!

Chu Luren wasn't particularly afraid of Ouyang Feng himself...

Of the five great sword masters, apart from Wang Chongyang who has long since passed away, only Ouyang Feng remains whom Chu Luren has yet to meet.

Of the other three, the Southern Emperor was Chu Luren's elder. At that time, Chu Luren's martial arts were not yet fully developed, and he only knew that the Southern Emperor was very powerful. However, he gradually realized that, relatively speaking, the Southern Emperor was the one who had made the slowest progress in recent years. After becoming a monk, his state of mind was elevated, and he began to gradually accumulate strength and catch up.

If he were still at the level he was at before becoming a monk, Chu Luren wouldn't even need a sudden enlightenment to be confident enough to compete with Uncle Duan.

When Chu Luren encountered Huang Yaoshi, he was barely considered a figure in the martial arts world. He was already somewhat embarrassed after just parrying three of Huang Yaoshi's full-force attacks.

When Chu Luren finally encountered Hong Qigong, the Northern Beggar, he was no match for him, but they were able to discuss martial arts and even spar with each other without risking their lives. Even if they fought desperately, they could still go toe-to-toe if they had an epiphany.

If we take the Eastern Heretic or the Northern Beggar as a reference, then Chu Luren believes that he would not suffer much loss if he faced Ouyang Feng head-on. He should be at the level of Yagyu Tajima-no-Kami, or even slightly inferior, just between Karasuma and Yagyu Tajima-no-Kami!

After all, the second Mount Hua Sword Tournament hasn't even arrived yet, and the five masters of the tournament are all middle-aged and still growing...

Of course, winning is unlikely, and fighting against a master of this level requires a state of enlightenment to cope. If the opponent knows Chu Luren's true strength, there is a risk of being dragged down and killed.

but……

No one could have guessed that the Chu Lu people would suddenly have an "enlightenment" when facing their enemies. If they didn't have the will to fight to the death, they would probably test each other out and then not fight to the death.

Even if things go wrong, the Chu Lu people are confident they can escape unscathed!

Just thinking that Huang Yaoshi might not be on Peach Blossom Island right now, and might still be holed up on Sky Cliff training his dog, Chu Luren couldn't help but worry about Huang Rong and Mu Wanqing.

Peach Blossom Island is protected by a maze formation, but if Ouyang Feng is determined to break it, there might be a way!

Chu Luren originally planned to stay in Lin'an until October—waiting for the latest "Heroic List" to be released, to stir up some trouble before leaving. After all, Lin'an was the central government of the Song Dynasty, and stirring up trouble here would be the most efficient way.

However, upon learning of Ouyang Feng's whereabouts, Chu Luren decided to set off immediately!

Early the next morning, Chu Luren went to bid farewell to Princess Yunluo...

"Hmm, okay... Ah? So soon?" Yunluo seemed a little distracted.

"I heard an enemy is going to my friend's place, I need to get there as soon as possible." Chu Luren said, glancing at Yun Luo, then asked, "What's wrong? Did something happen?"