The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

In the original work, the "Crimson-Eyed Ice Toad" is no less miraculous than the "Manggu Crimson Toad," and may even be more powerful.

The "Manggu Zhuha" is the ancestor of all poisons and is said to be the mount of the plague god. The "Zhujing Bingchan" is the opposite of the "Manggu Zhuha" and "Bingcan" and its effect is to cure all poisons!

Legend has it that if ingested, the "Crimson-Eyed Ice Toad" is a good medicine for healing injuries and diseases. No matter how serious the external or internal injuries are, they can be cured by taking the "Crimson-Eyed Ice Toad".

This is a wasteful one-time use. The truly miraculous effect is that no matter what kind of poison one is poisoned by, the Crimson-Eyed Ice Toad can suck it out. Afterwards, simply soaking it in strong liquor will restore the body to its original state, making it reusable...

For humans, "detoxification" is clearly a more valuable function than "poison," because killing someone doesn't necessarily require poison, but if someone is poisoned, "detoxification" is essential to save their life.

Chu Luren's desire for dual cultivation was already unbearable!

When the Tiger's Roost Escort Agency was on guard at night, they also used a double layer of defense, one yin and one yang – on the surface, Han Qing was still carrying the pills, but in reality, they were with Chu Luren, the "little escort."

Chu Luren, this "little bodyguard," was simply resting quietly alone in his room; he didn't seem to be protecting the elixir at all...

However, Han Qing believed that Hu Guinan would be able to see through such precautions!

As expected, Hu Guinan didn't disappoint Chu Luren; he secretly sneaked into the roadside inn that night...

Moreover, Hu Guinan's lightness skill is very special. In terms of speed, it is not even possible for ordinary people to move around. However, it has a unique advantage - it makes no sound at all, and it can be perfectly combined with a set of illusion techniques and bone shrinking skills.

Just like the fake Princess Ri-soo back then, she could completely cover her body with a seemingly flattened piece of clothing, making it appear as if she had vanished from the spot...

While on the move, Hu Guinan also made perfect use of his surroundings to conceal his figure.

Although there were sentries from the Tiger's Roar Escort Agency in the trees nearby, Hu Guinan sneaked in little by little within their line of sight and was not detected!

As expected, Hu Guinan entered and went straight to Chu Luren's room.

He blew out a sleeping incense, searched the room, and finally looked at the young bodyguard who was sitting cross-legged on the bed, thinking to himself with disdain: He's sleeping so soundly, yet he's pretending to be cultivating!

After a familiar routine, Hu Guinan reached his wicked hands into Chu Luren's arms...

When Chu Luren woke up, he couldn't help but grin—he had to admit, compared to this, being woken up by A Zi's touch was much easier to accept.

After all, the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was this weasel-faced fellow with two wispy mustaches, kneeling in front of his bed, his hand still on his chest, his face contorted in pain...

This person is really not suited to be a thief; their appearance is far too honest, as if they're afraid others will think they're a good person.

He only knows martial arts now; if he were to steal on the street, he'd probably starve to death—his appearance is so striking that anyone who sees him would want to clutch their purse.

Ah Zi is still the most pleasing to the eye!

"You, you..." Hu Guinan couldn't pull his hand away at all. At the same time, he felt his internal energy being continuously absorbed by the person in front of him through his Laogong acupoint. He was already feeling weak in the knees.

Chu Luren gently channeled his inner strength, shaking him away.

Hu Guinan leaned back, seemingly falling to the ground, but in reality, he rolled over and headed towards the window.

Even though his whole body was still limp due to the loss of internal energy, he was still quite agile...

However, Chu Luren remained seated on the bed without moving. He simply reached out and pulled Hu Guinan back with the suction force of "Guixu" out of thin air!

"I don't know where I offended Lord Chu. With your status, don't you think it's beneath you to bully a nobody like me?" Hu Guinan said, half aggrieved and half admitting defeat.

Chu Luren could understand some of his grievances. Back then, that Taoist priest Yu Zhenzi was just as shameless, ambushing him in the room and even kneeling to the side to facilitate the sneak attack... A renowned master? Bah!

“That’s not entirely unreasonable. If word gets out in the martial arts world that I caught you, the thief, it won’t make me look like a prodigy…” Chu Luren nodded as he spoke.

The matter of reputation in the martial arts world is sometimes just a load of nonsense.

Was Tian Boguang truly uncontrollable back then? Did the people of Chulu have to rid the people of this scourge?

Not entirely. It's just that if you don't provoke him, even sect leaders like Yue Buqun and Yu Canghai wouldn't bother to specifically hunt him down.

Otherwise, if word gets out in the future, it might become, "You're so proactive, could it be that your wife and daughters are the victims?"

However, Hu Guinan felt a chill in his heart—judging from these words, Chu Taisui wanted to silence him.

Although Chu Luren didn't seem to have any murderous intent, in Hu Guinan's eyes, this was "Chu Tai Sui," a ruthless killer. If he wanted to kill, why would he need any murderous intent? He could just kill someone casually.

"How about this, if you have any treasures that would make me want to sell them, treasures that would show off my worth, you can take them out now, so as not to damage my reputation."

Chu Luren was kind and approachable, and proposed a very reasonable solution.

Chapter 401 Jiading Prefecture

"You'd better think again. Is there anything good that can both detoxify and heal? It's not so simple for me to search for it myself," Chu Luren emphasized to Hu Guinan, who had only taken out his personal belongings.

Hu Guinan would definitely carry such a life-saving item with him at all times!

Seeing that Chu Luren had explained things in such detail, Hu Guinan didn't understand why Chu Taisui knew about it, since he had only used it a few times and never shown it to anyone. But he knew that there was no way he could escape.

"This thing was given to me by an old Taoist priest before he died. Originally, I thought..."

"Whatever you want, I'm now guiding you to abandon evil and do good. In return, you'll give me the Crimson-Eyed Ice Toad. Are you still unwilling?" Chu Luren interrupted directly.

Otherwise, if he were to reveal that he intended to give it to Meng Bofei, wouldn't it seem as if he had stolen something from Meng Bofei?

Chu Luren is a reasonable and law-abiding person!

Seeing Chu Lu staring intently at him, Hu Guinan didn't dare to say anything more, only stammering, "Did Chu Taisui promise that he would let me go if I handed over the items?"

"No, I didn't do anything to you. I just advised you to abandon evil and do good. Make a vow that from now on... you will not steal from the poor, you will not steal from those who can save your life, you will not steal from righteous people, and you will not steal from those who are related to me. Then you can leave!" Chu Luren said righteously.

Upon hearing this, Hu Guinan honestly swore an oath, then took out a small square box, held it up with both hands, and handed it to Chu Luren, saying, "I have learned the principles of being a person after being enlightened by Chu Taisui. I have such a rare treasure, a sacred object for healing wounds and expelling poison. I am willing to offer it to Chu Taisui as a token of my appreciation!"

"Well, I believe you've gained something more important than the Crimson-Eyed Ice Toad today. To put your mind at ease, I'll accept the gift. Now you can go." Chu Luren took it, feeling its icy coolness, and then revealed a smile of doing a good deed.

Hu Guinan was deeply moved, but without saying much, he turned and hurriedly left.

This time, he did not use his special movement technique, so his figure was clearly seen by the scouts outside. However, just as he called out to his companions, Hu Guinan had already used his lightness skill—a normal lightness skill—to leap and fly away.

When Han Qing arrived, he learned that Hu Guinan had left. He hurried to Chu Luren's house and found Chu Luren leisurely playing with a small box...

"Don't worry, Chief Han, Hu Guinan has been persuaded by me to abandon his evil ways and turn to good. He has vowed that even thieves will have a code of honor from now on and will not steal from anyone connected to me!" Chu Luren said confidently.

Han Qing felt that Chu Luren's words didn't make any sense at all—why not steal from people related to you, does that mean you have a code of honor among thieves?

This isn't abandoning evil and embracing good; it's clearly submitting to you!

However, on the surface, Han Qing still said with a face full of enthusiasm, "Fortunately, we had Hero Chu, otherwise Tiger's Roost Escort Agency would have been in this predicament..."

"You're too kind, Chief Escort Han. I believe that even without me, Tiger Crouching Escort Agency will be able to reach Bishan safely for the rest of the journey," Chu Luren said, handing the Heavenly Mountain Life-Returning Pill back to Chief Escort Han.

Han Qing was probably impressed by the character of the "backbone of the martial arts world" and didn't bother to open and check it at all.

The next day, Chu Luren parted ways with the Tiger's Lair Escort Agency, taking with him the newly acquired Crimson-Eyed Ice Toad, and headed to Miangu County to reunite with Murong Jiu and the others, before heading to Jiading Prefecture...

The land of Bashu, now under the Song Dynasty, was divided into Lizhou Circuit, Tongchuan Circuit, Kuizhou Circuit, and Chengdu Prefecture Circuit. Chengdu Prefecture Circuit had three prefectures and eleven counties under it, including Jiading Prefecture, which is roughly the location of Leshan in later times.

Even though Leshan is quite far from Mount Emei across the vast lakes and rivers, it's still only a little over 100 li (about 50 kilometers) away...

Having traveled swiftly by boat and horse, the Chu people had no intention of wasting another day or two and had no intention of directly plunging into Mount Emei.

Instead, they first went to Jiading Prefecture, which was relatively bustling in the surrounding area, to gather some information.

Chu Luren originally thought that with so many heretical and unorthodox people using "copies" of treasure maps or tracking each other, they must have found their way to the vicinity of Emei Mountain, and by now the news must be spreading like wildfire throughout Jiading Prefecture...

Unexpectedly, after inquiring around, Chu Luren discovered that the most "scene-stealing" rumor in Jiading right now was not about Mount Emei, even before visiting Qunyu Academy, but just casually listening in a restaurant!

"The earth dragon turned over two months ago? Huh? Isn't that around the same time as what happened at Wudang?" Mu Wanqing heard people at the next table talking and couldn't help but whisper to Chu Luren to confirm.

Chu Luren listened intently to the various other rumors...

After that earthquake, a cave was blasted into the mountainside where the Leshan Giant Buddha is located, about knee-high.

At first, everyone thought it was an "eye" left by an earthworm after it turned over, which was dangerous, unlucky, and had no benefits, so naturally no one was too curious about it.

However, strange rumors began to circulate later. For example, some people nearby heard roars that were indistinguishable from those of wild animals, and others said they saw lights inside the cave at night...

What's even stranger is that the surrounding weather has become unusually hot, and sometimes the cave even spews out hot air.

It was near the Buddha statue, and later a high-ranking monk went inside to investigate... but never returned.

However, a Buddhist master entered to investigate... and did not return.

Thus, rumors began to circulate that it contained the secret manuals and divine weapons of past masters, and a large number of evil sect masters entered it... and never returned!

This cave seems to devour people. It's alright to look at it from the outside, but no one who goes deep inside ever comes out alive!

Especially the last batch...

Many of the evil sect members who died for food were lured here because Yan Nantian's treasure was suspected to be in Jiading Prefecture. As a result, there were quite a few of them, and several groups of them went in, but none of them ever returned!

"Is the rumor really that outrageous? Hey, should we go check it out later?" Mu Wanqing was getting a little excited.

Even Azi and Chuluren taught her a modified version of the "Dissolving Power Technique," so Mu Wanqing had naturally already practiced more than one divine skill. Although with her aptitude, the effect was just so-so, she had certainly become much bolder.

However, Chu Luren was still very clear-headed and immediately shook his head and said, "Why look at those things? Let's be honest, go to Emei, solve the treasure map problem, wait and see if Xiao Linzi comes, calculate the date, and then head straight to Henan for the Zhenlong Chess Game!"

Leshan, Giant Buddha's knee, caves, hot springs...

Chu Luren felt that this setting was strangely familiar, and it seemed that quite a few things had been "radiated" by Lao Zhang this time.

Moreover, if what Xiao Jiu Jiu said is true, some of them are as peaceful as Zhen Wu while others are extremely irritable, then the one from Leshan seems to be the latter!

Chapter 402 The martial world kissed me with pain, but I responded with a song.

The "Zhenwu" of Wudang Mountain left a very deep impression on the people of Chulu.

Although Chu Luren didn't use his full strength at the time, since he was just being taught "Little Dragon Turtle Strength," Zhenwu was even less serious than Chu Luren!

If they really got serious, Chu Luren not only felt that he was no match for Zhenwu, but even felt that... even Brother Qiao Feng wouldn't be a match for Zhenwu.

His imposing size was one aspect, but Zhenwu's powerful internal energy also left a deep impression on Chu Luren, even a psychological scar...

Ouyang Feng's giant snake was also very large, and Chu Luren's Xiao Hong and Bing Bing were also very intelligent and had amazing abilities. However, they were fundamentally different from Zhenwu, because they had meridians but no internal energy!

As for "Bingbing", it naturally refers to "Zhujing Bingchan" - don't be fooled by how she usually lies in the small box, completely different from Xiaohong. She likes to stay still and is most comfortable when there is no light.

The Crimson-Eyed Ice Toad is entirely white except for its blood-red eyes, which is the origin of its name.

It's usually kept in a box, silent and still, seemingly with very little self-awareness...

In reality, Chu Luren discovered that its intelligence was no less than Xiao Hong's, but because it was too lazy and not motivated enough, Hu Guinan probably didn't even notice this!

On the contrary, in the state of the Dao embryo, the spiritual sense that does not have direct logical thinking is very keen in this respect.

Chu Luren even suspected that the reason why Xiao Hong, Bing Bing, and even Zhen Wu all liked him was largely due to the intangible impression of the Dao Embryo.

It would be perfect to live alongside wolves and insects, with tigers and leopards as companions, deer and roe deer as friends, and macaques as kin...

Of course, more importantly, none of them belong to the violent type. Chu Luren had absolutely no intention of going to check out the mysterious cave in Leshan!