The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

Lu Chengfeng originally wanted to persuade his junior sister to stay a little longer, but Chu Luren was determined to leave. Before leaving, Huang Rong entrusted Lu Chengfeng with the "important task" of clearing out the poisonous snakes on Peach Blossom Island...

Afterwards, Lu Guanying personally led a group of people to sail the boat and take his master and hero Chu to Mantuo Manor.

Li Qingluo was probably feeling unwell lately, and she was giving Chu Luren a hard time. However, Chu Luren was relieved to see that there was no sign of a fight breaking out at Mantuo Manor.

Although Mu Wanqing and Li Qingluo ignored each other, at least they hadn't made a scene to each other's faces...

And just as Li Qinglu was being sarcastic, Chu Luren suddenly suggested, "Madam Li, I have recently learned a skill to counter Ding Chunqiu. Next year... I will take Yuyan to Leigu Mountain to find her maternal grandfather!"

Li Qingluo was already displeased when she saw Chu Luren arrive, and that he had brought another daughter along, not just the daughter of Sister Qin.

Upon hearing Chu Luren mention Leigu Mountain, Li Qingluo immediately forgot everything else—she knew that her father was still trapped in Leigu Mountain, never seeing the light of day!

Chu Luren didn't go to welcome Wu Yazi back earlier for two reasons: first, he was worried that Ding Chunqiu would harm Wu Yazi if he found out; second, he was worried that Wu Yazi might be too eager for revenge and directly pass on his skills to Wang Yuyan...

Now that the Chu Lu people have a way to deal with Ding Chunqiu, they naturally have nothing to worry about.

When Chu Luren used the "Chaos Technique" to imitate the Zhuha True Qi, he was very effective against Ding Chunqiu. However, he hesitated because he felt his strength was insufficient before entering the Golden Immortal state. Once he entered the Golden Immortal state, he lost the poison resistance of the Zhuha True Qi.

Now that Chu Luren has decided to go to Leigushan to welcome back Wuyazi after visiting Fuzhou, Su Xinghe no longer needs to pretend to be deaf and dumb!

Upon hearing Chu Luren mention this matter, Li Qingluo's first reaction was to offer some advice—after all, she now knew her daughter's thoughts and didn't want Chu Luren to go to his death when he wasn't sure he could win.

However, upon hearing that Chu Luren was completely confident, Li Qingluo immediately perked up, urging Chu Luren to capture Ding Chunqiu as soon as possible so she could use him as fertilizer...

After Huang Rong arrived at Mantuo Manor, she also privately discussed returning to Lin'an with Yun Luo. Chu Luren didn't know what kind of spell she had cast on Yun Luo, but the latter not only agreed but was also very enthusiastic!

However, after dinner, Wang Yuyan specifically sought out Chu Luren and spoke to him about something else...

"Brother Chu, I want to go somewhere later. Can you come with me?" Wang Yuyan asked earnestly.

"Hmm? Where is it? If it's in the south, we'll go there on our way to Fuzhou. If it's in the north, we'll go there when we go to pick up your grandfather. If it's in the west... we'll go there on our way to Dali!" Chu Luren had arranged everything perfectly.

Wang Yuyan shook her head and said, "It doesn't have to be that far, it's right here at Taihu Lake... I want to go see my cousin."

"Murong Fu? He's gone back to Suzhou?" Chu Luren was taken aback upon hearing this.

Upon hearing this, Wang Yuyan bit her lip and said, "That's right! There's something I wanted to... clarify with him before!"

“Alright! Murong Manor is also in Taihu Lake, so we can set off tomorrow.” Chu Luren readily agreed.

Chu Luren guessed that Wang Yuyan wanted to confront Murong Fu about what happened at the Apricot Grove...

As for why we didn't go before?

She probably called me along because she was worried that Murong Fu would act desperately and harm her.

Chu Luren applauds her for this cautious behavior...

Chapter 326 A New Weapon for Impressive Style

The next day, Chu Luren originally wanted the others to wait at Mantuo Manor while he and Wang Yuyan went to Murong Manor.

After all, Wang Yuyan went to see Murong Fu probably to settle things once and for all, and it would be inconvenient for others to follow.

However, Mu Wanqing had already had enough of staying at Mantuo Villa, especially after learning that Wang Yuyan was leaving, and she was unwilling to stay any longer. Therefore, Huang Rong took the opportunity to suggest that she and Yunluo could set off back to Lin'an right away—Taihu Lake was not far from Lin'an.

Wang Yuyan didn't even notice that Mu Wanqing was going along...

Therefore, in the end, everyone left together, but from the moment they left Mantuo Manor, they each took different waterways. Chu Luren took Wang Yuyan and Mu Wanqing to Murong Manor in the northeast, while Huang Rong and Yunluo went south to Lin'an.

Chu Luren also came to terms with it. Yunluo had the honor of a princess, and Huang Rong had the ability to be a strategist. As long as they weren't targeted by the arrogant Marquis, they wouldn't be in any danger in Lin'an.

As for petitioning for a marriage decree?

Leaving aside the fact that Chu Luren's previous "warning" still holds true, with Huang Rong, this little devil, around, even the court officials and eunuchs might not be able to defeat her.

Moreover, after making this trip to Murong Manor, Chu Luren will meet Lin Pingzhi in Fuzhou around the New Year. If all goes well, Chu Luren will be able to return to Lin'an in March or April of the following year.

"Brother Chu, are you sure you don't need to find two farmhands to row the boat? Brother Duan... isn't here this time." Wang Yuyan looked at Chu Luren with some concern.

At this point, Wang Yuyan already knew about her background and finally understood why that "Young Master Duan" had been acting strangely.

Huang Rong and Yun Luo were picked up and dropped off by people from Mantuo Manor, but Chu Luren refused and only asked for a small boat.

"What you're saying! It's as if I bullied my third brother while he was rowing! Didn't I play the suona for him while he was rowing?" Chu Luren didn't like hearing this.

Upon hearing this, Wang Yuyan slightly turned her head away, perhaps out of embarrassment...

"Hey, you don't want the two of us to row, do you?" Mu Wanqing glared at him and said.

“Of course not. I saw someone at Guiyun Manor before,” Chu Luren said slowly.

"Rongrong's senior sister?" Mu Wanqing blurted out.

"Hmm? I did see Mei Chaofeng, but I'm not talking about her, but someone else... That person called himself 'Iron Palm Water-Walking' Qiu Qianren, who can sail on the lake using his internal energy." Chu Luren continued the previous topic.

“I heard it from Rongrong too, but Rongrong said that person might have used some kind of mechanical trick to help them,” Mu Wanqing said, frowning.

After all, the small boat carrying the three of them had not been modified with mechanical arts.

“I don’t know how he navigates the boat, but after thinking about it carefully, it’s not impossible to navigate the boat using internal energy!” Chu Luren said, raising his chin.

As we all know, internal force has no reaction force, which is why "Ladder to the Clouds" can allow one to step on the right foot and ascend to the sky.

Therefore, Chu Luren felt that he should be able to sail a boat with his internal energy, provided that the boat was not too big. Moreover, for Chu Luren, "Beiming" and "Guixu" formed a self-contained cycle, and his internal energy was almost not lost!

The boat we have now, while not as small as a sampan or a speedboat, is just a small boat with a wooden cabin canopy.

Wang Yuyan, whose martial arts skills were even more profound, frowned upon hearing this and said, "Brother Chu, don't push yourself too hard. Even if you can do it, I'm afraid you won't be able to go far before you're exhausted..." As she spoke, Wang Yuyan suddenly blushed and said, "Actually... you don't need to be in such a hurry to show off."

However, Chu Luren has become so accustomed to lowbrow tastes that he forced himself to say, "Sometimes, having a higher level of sophistication can save you a lot of trouble!"

Chu Luren sat cross-legged at the bow of the boat, and soon the small boat began to slowly and steadily sail northeast.

You can vaguely see that the water around the small boat is rippling as if a fish larger than itself has swum by!

It was as if an invisible Kun fish was enveloping the ship, its huge tail fin swaying up and down, its wings swaying back and forth, and its body twisting left and right from time to time.

It's probably three times faster than paddling with a paddle, and as the Chu Lu people become more skilled, they are gradually increasing their speed.

Unfortunately, Chu Luren is still in the trial stage and needs to concentrate. Otherwise, if he could get up and play a suona while sailing with his internal energy, the coolness would be even more impressive!

"It moved! It really moved!" Mu Wanqing exclaimed in amazement.

“Let’s prepare, in case Brother Chu’s internal strength can’t hold up for a while…” Wang Yuyan said, glancing helplessly at the pair of shipwrights on the ship.

Upon hearing this, Mu Wanqing ignored the oars and pulled Wang Yuyan into the cramped wooden cabin awning, asking curiously, "What exactly is this 'cousin' you want to see?"

She had also noticed that Wang Yuyan's relationship with the person she was about to meet seemed somewhat "abnormal".

……

Leaving aside their private conversation, what Wang Yuyan didn't expect was that Chu Luren's light boat not only traveled at a speed that was almost as fast as a regular assault boat, unlike the slow speed of an ordinary wooden canopy boat, but also... for two or three hours in a row, Chu Luren showed no signs of exhaustion!

The reason for stopping was that Chu Luren needed to eat—after all, if he wasn't in a state of enlightenment, Chu Luren couldn't eat and output at the same time, but occasionally chewing on a couple of salted fish was no problem.

Chu Luren estimated that once he was fully proficient, he would be able to drive the boat with his true energy while playing the suona at the bow.

For two consecutive days, except for the nights when Chu Luren would rest and recuperate—actually, he would transform into a Golden Immortal and catch up on his studies overnight—he would continue to practice using his internal energy to control the ship.

The very next evening, as the Chu deer were traveling along the lakeside land, they suddenly heard a commotion on the shore...

After all, Chu Luren and Mu Wanqing were both from out of town, and Wang Yuyan... although she hadn't been staying home much lately, she had been traveling around with Chu Luren and wasn't very familiar with the terrain of Taihu Lake near their home. The three of them could only use the most basic method—marking directions and finding their way along the shore and the small islands they could see.

These past few days, it has occasionally startled people on the shore, since such a small boat without anyone rowing it is quite noticeable.

At this moment, Chu Luren would stand up in advance, proudly putting his hands behind his back, "unintentionally" highlighting the suona (a traditional Chinese wind instrument) and salted fish jar at his waist...

Ordinary people, even under the scorching sun, would quickly leave upon seeing it, fearing they had encountered something unclean. As Chu Luren had predicted, the people of the martial arts world were also "terrified," watching Chu Luren's ship sail away with faces full of admiration!

As evening approached and darkness fell, Chu Luren heard a sound and got up to strike a pose again.

Although it's still dark and they're far from the shore, Chu Luren estimates the other side will have a hard time seeing his signature suona horn clearly. But at least the rumor that someone on Taihu Lake "rides the wind and travels in a boat" will spread. Coupled with the eyewitness account from the daytime, this will still add to his reputation...

However, the four men and women on the shore seemed to be in some kind of emergency. They didn't notice the strangeness of their boat at first. When they saw the boat, their first reaction was to call out to it, wanting it to come closer so they could hitch a ride!

The other party clearly also possessed internal energy. At this moment, he exhaled and made a sound, using his internal energy to "blow" the sound over.

However, some of them soon noticed the strangeness of Chu Luren's ship, and the shouts and greetings gradually subsided.

At this moment, Chu Luren was still fifty or sixty feet away from the shore, but even in the dim light, it was clear that these people were hesitant and wary, lingering without leaving, obviously because something was chasing them...

Chapter 327 The Southern Treasure

Several months ago, Little Fish left the Valley of Villains and began his journey of "causing havoc on the world"...

Little Fish was raised from childhood by five of the Ten Great Evils: "Bloody Hand" Du Sha, "Headless Li Dazui," "Smiling Dagger" Haha'er, "Neither Male nor Female" Tu Jiaojiao, and "Half-Human, Half-Ghost" Yin Jiuyou.

When it comes to the ability to be "bad," it can be said that apart from his martial arts skills being somewhat lacking, he has reached the pinnacle.

When he left the Valley of Villains, even the villains in the valley breathed a sigh of relief!

Feng Qingyang once said that the most powerful techniques in the world are not found in martial arts, but in schemes and tricks...

If he could meet Xiaoyuer, he would surely lament that he had seen too few schemes and tricks, and that his understanding of them was too shallow!

If there's one thing about Little Fish who grew up in the "bad waters" of so many villains that isn't bad, it's that his "heart" isn't bad—not the "inherently good nature" used to whitewash villains, but Little Fish's genuinely "heart is not bad."

In the original work, Xiaoyuer's "evil" is reflected in his fondness for exploiting people's weaknesses to change their fates, and then watching those who have been changed while secretly laughing on the sidelines. This includes, but is not limited to, "causing merchants who want to take advantage of others to go bankrupt," "causing honest people to succumb to temptation and fall into depravity," and "causing beggars to suddenly become rich and have their morals collapse"...

Having grown up in the Valley of Villains, Little Fish has no empathy for worldly suffering—he doesn't care about money, so when he sees others grieving because they've lost everything, or showing different faces because they've suddenly become rich, he just finds it funny.

As for the pain that he could truly empathize with, Xiaoyuer was unwilling to inflict even a fraction of it on others...

In the original ending, Xiaoyuer pleaded with Yan Nantian to spare the lives of Jiang Biehe and his son. Even the Five Evils, if they hadn't distrusted Xiaoyuer and were determined to kill him, wouldn't have died in their internal strife.

To use the description in the original work—Xiaoyuer wanted to be a bad guy, but he didn't want to disappoint the uncles and aunts who raised him. Otherwise, if he were a good guy, how could he bear to kill them?

The reason why Du Sha and the others were so terrified and determined to kill Xiao Yu'er after learning that Yan Nantian had regained his power and that Xiao Yu'er had known the truth all along was because they couldn't imagine that Xiao Yu'er, who grew up in the Valley of Villains, was actually a truly "good person" who had already forgiven them and had no intention of seeking revenge...

As a result, they all ended up getting themselves killed, which can be considered a fitting retribution.

Before leaving the valley, Xiaoyuer learned from the mysterious "Mr. Copper" that his father's killer, the "Yihua Palace," had sent its true disciples to travel the martial arts world. Therefore, he confidently headed towards Jiangnan.

As a result, they coincidentally encountered Tie Xinlan, who was disguised as a man and carried a treasure map. Later, they met Zhang Jing, who wanted to steal the treasure map, and Gu Renyu, who accompanied her...

After a series of exchanges and scheming, the four chased each other until they finally encountered a group of snake chasers. The four went from being pursued one another to being in the same boat, and were chased together to the shore of Taihu Lake.

Zhang Jing suggested going to Murong Manor...

Firstly, the Zhang and Gu families are old friends of the Murong family. Murong Manor's reputation and strength are enough to make the visitors back down. Secondly... at least on the water, the snake can't swim over, right?

For some reason, there were very few boats on Taihu Lake today. When they finally spotted one, Zhang Jing and Tie Xinlan immediately shouted.