The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

Seeing the situation reach a stalemate, Zhong Zhen stepped forward and asked Murong Jiu, "The Five Mountains Sword Sect thanks you for your righteous help, young master. May I ask your honorable name?"

The people of Songshan were also curious about who had ruined their plans...

Mount Song is in Henan, and Mount Heng is even further north, so they had heard of the name "Southern Murong" but had never seen him!

"My surname is Murong. Master, you should quickly check on the disciples of the Hengshan Sect," Murong Jiu said with a humble smile.

"So you're the renowned Murong clan of Gusu? I've heard so much about you..."

Upon seeing Chu Luren arrive, Murong Jiu deliberately imitated his "ideal type," exchanging a few pleasantries with Abbess Dingjing and fully embodying the persona of a "noble young master of the martial arts world," which made Chu Luren grimac.

The people from the Songshan Sect looked awkward again. They had originally thought about whether they could sabotage the situation, but Murong Fu was too famous.

A year ago, when he was embroiled in lawsuits, things were alright. However, in the past year, thanks to Chu Luren's meddling, Shaolin and Wudang have been placed at the center of the vortex.

Furthermore, in terms of major decisions, the Songshan Sect also tends to put Shaolin in a precarious position, so when faced with Nan Murong, they can only admit their inferiority.

Meanwhile, Zhong Zhen, who had the most ideas, saw this scene and became even more suspicious that Chu Luren and Nan Murong had known each other for a long time, which was why they had stirred up trouble and splashed Shaolin earlier!

"Brother Murong, have you recognized the martial arts styles of these people?" Chu Luren interrupted Murong Jiu by bumping her from behind with his shoulder after seeing her pretending for so long.

Murong Jiu gave him a subtle glare before saying, “Regardless of the commoners, the one lying over there knows the Shaolin Stone Palm, but his technique is not pure; he should be a lay disciple of Shaolin. The three over there, judging by their swordsmanship, should be the Three Heroes of Jibei if I’m not mistaken. The two on the stone steps are the Ruan brothers from Shandong… And the others over there don’t need me to guess; I recognize them—they are Chief Lü and Chief Feng of Jinsha Village.”

Murong Jiu recounted their identities one by one as if they were his own, picking out the most important ones and revealing their identities. He didn't forget to add at the end, "The one who bewitched the Hengshan disciples should be the Five Poisons..."

Chapter 370 I chatted and laughed with the Holy Maiden

"The Five Poisons Sect! They really are members of the Demonic Sect!" Zhong Zhen exclaimed impatiently as soon as he heard Young Master Murong mention the "Five Poisons Sect".

Murong Jiu glanced at him and then said, "It's not the Five Poisons Sect of Miao Jiang, it's the Five Poisons Sect of Shanxi."

The Five Poisons Sect of Miao territory is a sect specializing in the use of poisons. It has a history of over a hundred years and is the sect to which He Hongyao belongs. In recent years, due to the influx of Han Chinese who find the name "Five Poisons Sect" unpleasant, it is also known as the "Five Immortals Sect".

The Five Poisons of Shanxi refers to five masters in the Shanxi martial arts world who are skilled in using poison and cultivating poison techniques—both are called "Five Poisons," but they are actually completely unrelated!

Even the Five Poisons Sect believes that the Five Poisons refer to poisonous snakes, scorpions, centipedes, spiders, and toads; while the five members of the Five Poisons Sect in Shanxi are codenamed Scorpion, Centipede, Spider, Toad, and Golden Silkworm... without any poisonous snakes.

If it were the Five Poisons Sect, everyone would know that it's one of the largest affiliated sects of the Sun Moon Sect. The presence of members of the Five Poisons Sect would almost certainly indicate an ambush set by the demonic sect. However, now…

Although many of these unorthodox practitioners have connections with the Sun Moon Cult, they do not represent the Sun Moon Cult.

"The Five Poisons of Shanxi are here too? Where are they?" Chu Luren was stunned upon hearing this—the Five Poisons of Shanxi? Aren't they the poison masters in "The World's Number One" who almost killed Cheng Shifei and Gui Haiyidao?

In terms of one-on-one combat and head-on confrontation, they may only be at a level that is relatively outstanding among ordinary experts, but the poison skills of these five people should not be underestimated!

"No, I only saw a spider, and she didn't fight me or care about the lives of these people. She just ran away," Murong Jiu corrected.

The five poisonous creatures of Shanxi are all referred to by code names, and the only female among them is "Spider"!

"Leaving aside the Five Poisons, I never imagined that the famous Three Heroes of Jibei would also submit to the Sun Moon Sect?" Lu Bai's tone was full of anger at their lack of ambition.

Although the three heroes of Jibei had done some "shady" things in their daily lives, they could be considered to be neither entirely righteous nor entirely evil. Their martial arts skills and reputation were among the best in the world, and they had been living in seclusion for a long time, so they were quite prestigious.

At this moment, the three heroes of northern Hebei and others caught their breath and stood up one by one.

"We brothers admit defeat after encountering Young Master Murong and Chu Taisui today... Release the Hengshan Sect disciples and let's retreat!" The leader of the Three Heroes of Jibei, with a long white beard, stood up and called to the other men in black.

They didn't discuss any specific conditions; they were certain that neither Nan Murong, Hong Bai Tai Sui, nor the Five Mountains Sword Sect would be shameless enough to keep them after they had voluntarily released them.

"Oh? From this, it seems that you three insects of Jibei were sent by the Sun Moon Cult?" Chu Luren asked, feigning curiosity.

"Indeed! What advice does Lord Chu have?" Han Tuishan, with his white beard, neither wanted to diminish his reputation nor dared to take Chu Luren seriously. On one hand, his tone was forceful, but on the other hand, he did not even refute the "three insects".

Suddenly, Chu Luren made a move, his left hand sweeping out towards the three heroes of Jibei, and an astonishing suction force burst forth from his palm. Instantly, these "three insects" not only felt the real suction force, but also had their meridians twitching. When they tried to resist, they felt their internal energy becoming disordered, and they could only be pulled towards Chu Luren!

Just as the three were about to reach Chu Luren, Chu Luren stopped his palm strike and spat it out, sending them all flying back...

"Star Absorbing Technique! This is the real Star Absorbing Technique! You, you..." Han Tuishan's face turned deathly pale.

The people of Songshan Sect also became wary upon seeing this—they only knew that Chu Luren knew a "simplified version" of the Star Absorbing Technique, but it was later proven that Xiang Wentian also knew that move.

Therefore, although Chu Luren always claimed to have a close relationship with the Holy Maiden, and Songshan also attacked Chu Luren in this way, in reality, the people of Songshan did not completely believe it!

However, this technique is clearly the genuine "Star Absorbing Skill," and it could not have been taught to someone who is not closely related to the Demonic Sect and, moreover, to Ren Woxing's lineage.

"Nonsense! This is the 'Absorption Technique,' go ask Iron-Blooded Marquis if you don't believe me, he can testify!" Chu Luren said casually, saying things that no one believed.

Before anyone could question him, Chu Luren changed the subject, saying, "However, it's true that I have a good relationship with the Holy Maiden. When I see her later, I'll ask her if she sent you to Fujian to cause trouble for my brother Lin! We were chatting and laughing together last time, and now she's turning her back on me? Let's see if she has any shame..."

As Chu Luren spoke, he didn't forget to conceal Ren Yingying's true age—from what he said alone, one couldn't tell that Ren Yingying was young.

All the affiliated sects of the Sun Moon Sect were under Ren Yingying's command. If the Sun Moon Sect sent them, Dongfang Bubai might not know, but Ren Yingying could not possibly not know.

The three heroes of northern Hebei... and the other men in black present turned green with fright upon hearing this.

Was it instigated by the Holy Maiden?

of course not!

They were confident that the Hengshan Sect was safe and wouldn't seek confirmation from the Sun Moon Sect. Moreover, even if rumors surfaced later, the Sun Moon Sect wouldn't actively distance itself from the matter—the Five Mountains Sword Sect was nothing to them; they could simply clash with it!

Since we're already on opposing sides, what's one more messy issue?

However, now that "Chu Taisui, who is very familiar with the Holy Maiden, has taken the initiative to ask, it would be considered that they are impersonating the Sun Moon Divine Sect. In that case, the Holy Maiden will definitely issue a kill order."

This is far more terrifying than being hunted down by the leader of the Five Mountains Alliance, and the outcome would be far more tragic!

Before the three heroes of Jibei could speak, someone immediately said, "Lord Chu! We are on the same side... To be honest, we brothers came here at the invitation of the three heroes of Jibei. If we had known about your friendship with the Holy Maiden, we would never have dared to rob Brother Lin!"

"That's right, you three worms from Jibei, did you receive orders from the Holy Maiden? If not, then don't you dare spout nonsense!"

"The Five Poisons of Shanxi aren't members of our cult either. Aren't they all people you gathered together? I had no idea this was the Holy Maiden's order..."

The crowd was immediately outraged and refuted the words of the three heroes of northern Hebei!

Chu Luren could tell that there were indeed quite a few people present who were affiliated with the Sun Moon Sect. After all, the Sun Moon Sect had tens of thousands of affiliated sects and unorthodox experts, most of whom were usually scattered and unaffiliated, so it was normal to be able to find some.

Including the three heroes of northern Hebei, they did indeed go to pay homage to the Holy Maiden and register their names there...

Of those who came this time, only a handful of people, including the Three Heroes of Jibei, were truly acting under Zuo Lengchan's orders. The rest were incited by self-interest, and the "content" of the Sun Moon Cult was indeed quite high.

The others initially thought that the three heroes of Hebei were using the name of the Sun Moon Sect to escape, so they did not stop or refute them.

But now, seeing how serious Chu Luren was, especially since he seemed to have a really close relationship with the Holy Maiden—looking at this "Star Absorbing Technique," they also felt it was real!

How could they not rush to deny it?

"Oh? So this was all orchestrated by you three heroes of Jibei?" Chu Luren asked, staring at the three men.

"No, that's right! The three of us brothers coveted the Lin family's sword manual..." Han Tuishan's voice was hoarse, so he had no choice but to admit it.

Chapter 371 Seeking Death

"You coveted the Lin family's swordsmanship, so you falsely claimed to be acting on the Holy Maiden's orders?" Chu Luren pressed aggressively.

"This... we only called upon the brothers of the Divine Sect, we did not falsely convey the Holy Maiden's orders! We were unaware of the relationship between Chu Taisui and the Holy Maiden before, so we used the Divine Sect's banner to guard against retaliation from the Five Mountains Sword Sect." Han Tuishan still wanted to keep the secret that they were actually "instructed by Zuo Lengchan".

"Hehe, that's strange. You've come here specifically for the 'Evil-Repelling Sword Technique,' yet you're so eager to ambush the Hengshan Sect? And you're all just tying them up without killing them? What's your purpose in doing this? Are you being instructed by someone else? Have you made large-scale connections within the sect and gained the Holy Maiden's approval? Did Blackwood Cliff allow you to act? What are you planning... to provoke a decisive battle between the Sun Moon Sect and the Five Mountains Sword Sect?" Chu Luren asked in a series of questions.

The question made the three heroes of Jibei grow paler and paler. Finally, the eldest, Han Tuishan, glared at him and said, "It was I, Han, who was greedy for swordsmanship and harmed all my brothers!" With that, he raised his sword and slashed at Abbess Dingjing on the other side.

Before Ding Jing could react, she hurriedly drew her sword to block, but Han Tuishan's strike was only a feint, and Ding Jing's sword pierced his chest, killing him instantly.

"Big brother!" the two heroes of northern Hebei cried out in grief.

The two exchanged a glance, both noticing the resolute look in each other's eyes. Simultaneously, they drew their swords and slashed at the Hengshan disciples who were being held back by their blades...

Dingjing was startled by the sudden turn of events. If they were to attack her now, this kind-looking nun would most likely hold back. But... would she kill a hostage?

The Hengshan disciples were now completely unable to resist, but how could the unorthodox martial arts experts who were holding knives to their throats watch the three heroes of Jibei kill the Hengshan disciples?

They weren't afraid of offending the Five Mountains Sword Sects, since everyone was inherently divided into righteous and evil, and whether they faced this or not, their relationship remained the same.

However, they absolutely could not afford to offend the Holy Maiden or their protectors. They immediately disregarded the hostages and instead raised their knives to block the attack. As a result, the second and third of the three heroes of Jibei, just like the eldest brother before, were easily killed on the spot with a death wish...

"Amitabha Buddha," Master Dingjing chanted the Buddha's name with some reluctance.

Normally, these people from Songshan would definitely have said a few more things—"Master, don't sympathize with the demonic sect, this is just womanly compassion," and so on...

However, among those present were those who had been in contact with Zuo Lengchan, and they dared not make any sarcastic remarks, lest someone feel a sense of shared fate and expose the Songshan Sect!

Having killed the two unorthodox fighters, the second and third of the three heroes of Jibei, he quickly threw down his knife and knelt before Chu Luren, saying, "Lord Chu! We were all deceived by these three scoundrels. We have nothing to do with the Holy Maiden, nor did we intend to offend you!"

“That’s right, that’s right. Lin Pingzhi… no, Ancestor Lin has a relationship with you, so he’s also our living ancestor. If we had known earlier, how would we have dared to come?”

Once this started, people around them knelt down and begged for mercy. The remaining few, still nervously holding knives to the Hengshan disciples, used the hostages to give themselves some sense of security...

Seeing this, anyone who didn't know better would think that Chu Luren was really some kind of leader of the Sun Moon Cult.

Seeing this, Ding Jing frowned slightly and said, "Lord Chu, why don't we spare them this time... It's also to save the disciples in our sect."

Chu Luren thought to himself, "It seems I really underestimated Zuo Lengchan!"

If we weigh the pros and cons, the three heroes of Jibei were indeed in a situation where death was inevitable. After all, it was they who spoke up and said that it was "instructed by the Sun Moon Sect." No matter how they tried to deny it, the Five Mountains Sword Sect and the Sun Moon Sect would not let them go in the future.

However, under these circumstances, their decision to go to their deaths was not simply a matter of "weighing the pros and cons." At the very least, they had some intention of protecting Zuo Lengchan's secret!

It seems that Zuo Lengchan is not only an ambitious man, but at least... a somewhat charismatic one. Those he wins over are not just driven by self-interest.

Upon hearing Master Dingjing's words, Chu Luren understood that even the person in question no longer wanted to pursue the matter further and only wanted to rescue his disciple.

As for how far the Hengshan Sect can think, whether the exposure of the lies of the Three Heroes of Jibei can lead to the involvement of the mastermind within the Five Mountains Sword Sect, Chu Luren has no idea.

"Get out!" Chu Luren snapped at the evil sect members, sending them packing.

Upon hearing Chu Luren speak, the members of the evil sect present felt as if they had been granted a pardon. They immediately released the hostages and scrambled away from Twenty-Eight Shops.

Chu Tai Sui was, after all, a renowned expert, so the evil sect members weren't afraid that he would do something as unethical as being taken hostage and then continuing to hunt him down after being released...

"Thank you so much, Lord Chu and Young Master Murong, for your help. Otherwise, my Hengshan disciples would have been in grave danger today!" After rescuing several of the leading disciples and verifying that the antidote left by them was safe, Dingjing immediately came to thank the two men with her hands clasped together.

“Master Dingjing, there’s no need to be so polite. In my opinion… their going to great lengths to kidnap the Hengshan disciples doesn’t necessarily mean they intend to harm them.” Murong Jiu said, glancing at Chu Luren.

Murong Jiu had already realized that Chu Luren wanted Ding Jing to think things through more and also suspected the motives of these people.

However, Chu Luren's "reputation of the cult" was too high before, which had already aroused Ding Jing's instinctive aversion. Although Ding Jing was very grateful for his kindness to Hengshan, she found it difficult to follow his line of thinking.

This is why Chu Luren directly drove away those demons and monsters—if things were to be investigated further, Ding Jing would be even more resistant, especially if any Hengshan disciple were injured, then Chu Luren would be caught in the middle.

Therefore, Murong Jiu spoke these words on behalf of Chu Luren, and sure enough, when Master Dingjing heard this, she showed a thoughtful expression.

Seeing Murong Jiu looking at him with a smug and boastful expression, Chu Luren secretly gave her a thumbs up... only to be met with a glare from Murong Jiu.

"Whatever these thieves want to do, it's ultimately not a good thing. If it weren't for Chu Taisui and Young Master Murong's righteous intervention, we would have had to let them have their way!" Ding Jing said, glancing faintly towards the direction of Mount Song.