The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

"There's a good chance we'll meet. Then we can have a drink and chat with Brother Mo Qi and Brother Yin Liu." Chu Luren and Mo Shenggu are quite compatible.

Firstly, Mo Shenggu is the youngest among the Seven Heroes, only in his early thirties, and secondly, he is a very generous person.

"I hope there will still be a chance then..." Yin Liting said, somewhat absentmindedly.

Although Yin Liting was not yet forty, he was in a weak and depressed state, just like Linghu Chong who had attended his junior sister and Lin Pingzhi's wedding ten times.

"Sixth Brother!" Mo Shenggu called out to him.

"Huh? Oh! I meant, Brother Chu, have a safe journey!" Yin Liting finally came to his senses.

Chu Luren guessed that he was already fast-forwarding to the idea of ​​dying together with Yang Xiao.

Yin Liting suddenly hesitated for a moment and asked, "Brother Chu, has Master ever... said anything to you about the Ming Cult?" It seemed that Yin Liting had also vaguely sensed something.

"Never mind, Brother Chu, pretend I didn't say anything. There is only one thing I absolutely must do in my life, but I won't make things difficult for you, Brother Chu." Yin Liting turned back on his own without his seventh brother stopping him.

After all, if Master Zhang had given instructions to Chu Luren privately, he certainly wouldn't have wanted them to know, so why would he ask again?

"Brother Chu, take these coats. The weather over there is unpredictable," Shui Sheng said, handing Chu Luren a few light winter coats.

The reason for the "thin" winter clothes is twofold: firstly, there wasn't enough time, and secondly... the Chu Lu people didn't really need winter clothes, so they opted for something thinner for convenience.

"Thank you, Miss Shui." Chu Luren readily accepted it.

It was white; Chu Luren rarely wore such a bright color...

"Brother Chu, please be careful. Don't neglect your health for the sake of national stability." Shui Sheng said this to Chu Luren. If word got out, many people would probably laugh.

However, Mo Shenggu and Yin Liting did not laugh; instead, they kept their faces serious and pretended not to hear.

Actually, it was somewhat impolite for Shui Sheng to suddenly interrupt Chu Luren and the two senior uncles' conversation, but Mo Shenggu and Yin Liting couldn't say anything more at the moment.

After all, Lengyue Manor is located in Jingbei, right behind Xiangyang. Although Shui Sheng was being sarcastic, she subtly pointed out that the Yuan Mongol army might have a chance to move south for "certain reasons," which made Yin Liting and Mo Shenggu uncomfortable... but they could only endure it.

Shui Sheng could not disregard the grudges between Wudang and Mingjiao, but the heroes of Wudang could not disregard the fact that the Mingjiao rebels were holding back the Mongol Yuan dynasty.

Shui Sheng's words were undoubtedly somewhat insulting, but both junior uncles pretended not to hear them.

Chu Luren got excited at this point and recited a line of poetry, since few people could see his noble sentiments so clearly.

……

In just over a month, Chu Luren and his two companions traveled from Wudang to the Tibetan border. After all, even the weakest of them, Liu Sheng Piaoxu, possessed the strength of a first-rate master. Moreover, despite her seemingly weak appearance, she was actually resilient and exceptionally hardworking.

Originally, Chu Luren was going to continue north, but that day, at a roadside tea and wine stall, he encountered a group of martial arts practitioners, seven or eight of them, including monks and laypeople, discussing something. When they saw outsiders approaching, they deliberately lowered their voices...

Not to mention Lianxing, Chu Luren and Liusheng Piaoxu could still hear it.

"That fellow has recently gone mad with qi deviation, going on a killing spree everywhere. We can't just sit here and wait to die!"

"My senior brother went to the Dragon Cave to reason with him, but he was also ruthlessly killed by that Xuanhuangzi. How can we not avenge this?"

"That's right, there's no need to talk about chivalry with someone who's gone mad with power."

"Those two women over there are really pretty. What incredible luck this kid had..."

"Alright, don't cause any more trouble. Maybe it's one of the servants!"

Chu Luren: ? ? ?

Chapter 576 Dragon Cave

Meanwhile, in this roadside inn, several martial arts practitioners were whispering amongst themselves, which initially went unnoticed by Chu Luren...

After all... even if the demons and monsters under Lingjiu Palace were to rebel, they would still have some substance.

The Thirty-Six Caves and Seventy-Two Islands may be a motley crew, but the leaders should at least be third-rate figures, or even second-rate if they are stronger. Otherwise, the Child Granny would not even look at them. And the martial arts of these people right now... are simply not up to par.

So Chu Luren didn't think about what relationship they had with Lingjiu Palace. But when things suddenly started to get sarcastic, Chu Luren was very unhappy!

DUANG——

Chu Luren didn't say much, and simply placed the suona from his cloak on the table.

Immediately, the faces of the people at the next table turned pale.

"Your Excellency is... the formidable Red and White Grand Duke of the martial world, the hero Chu... Chu...?" The man who had just said Chu Luren looked like a servant stood up tremblingly and clasped his hands in greeting.

"I dare not claim to be a hero, I am but a passerby, well... but not even a servant." Chu Luren said coldly.

The burly man knelt down with a "thud": "This lowly man is blind to the great man's worth and cannot utter a word of praise. Please calm down, Your Excellency!"

Chu Luren's face darkened upon hearing this. This made his style seem even less "heroic".

"Who in the martial world doesn't know that I, Chu, am humble and modest? Would I stoop to your level?" Chu Luren said with a straight face.

"Yes, yes, yes, I was just being presumptuous!" the big man immediately chimed in.

Chu Luren always felt that there was something strange about what he said.

"Who is this Xuanhuangzi you just mentioned?" Chu Luren asked helplessly, changing the subject, while also feeling that the name Xuanhuangzi sounded familiar.

Is there a Dragon Cave among the Thirty-Six Caves?

This Chu Luren can't remember...

"This villain is the master of the Dragon Cave in Tibet. He is usually neither righteous nor evil. Recently... it seems that he has become extremely violent due to practicing evil arts and going astray. He even kills and drinks blood... We beg Hero Chu to do justice!" Immediately, the others at the table also complained to Chu Luren.

"Going mad from cultivation? Killing and drinking blood?" Chu Luren frowned, feeling that this matter was too mysterious.

"Has this person ever acted like this before?" Chu Luren suddenly thought of something and asked another question.

"This... seems to happen every year, but this year is especially bad, and quite a few people have already been killed."

Does it happen every year?

Chu Luren became increasingly suspicious that this guy might not be from the Thirty-Six Caves—perhaps he had just been humiliated by the people from Lingjiu Palace and was in a bad mood, so… he was just being a scoundrel?

"Where is the Dragon Cave?" Chu Luren asked.

Seeing that the Red and White Tai Sui actually intended to get involved in this matter, everyone started describing it all at once.

"You wait here for me, I'll go see... what kind of evil technique it is," Chu Luren, Lianxing, and Liusheng Piaoxu said.

Chu Luren had no interest in the mutual harm among these heretical sects, but if this Qiulong Cave Xuanhuangzi was indeed one of the cave masters of the thirty-six caves, then Chu Luren could follow this clue to confirm the current situation of his cheap master uncle!

Therefore, the Chu Lu people naturally wouldn't bring Liu Sheng Piaoxu along...

"Okay, be careful on your journey. I'll take good care of Piaoxu," Lianxing said kindly.

The surrounding area was already sparsely populated, and the Dragon Cave was not far away. Chu Luren traveled alone using his lightness skill and arrived in a little over an hour.

Moreover, when they arrived, the Dragon Cave was quite lively. They saw an ugly Taoist priest wearing a tattered yellow robe fighting with two lamas.

The two lamas were talking in a garbled language that Chu Luren couldn't understand, but the ugly Taoist priest could understand them and even spoke Mandarin: "Kill them if you want, I'll kill you all too!"

Judging from their appearance, these two lamas have also come seeking revenge...

Chu Luren didn't waste any words and rushed out from the side, his figure crashing directly into the place where the three were fighting. He didn't make any special move, but the internal force generated by his fall was enough to knock the three of them off their feet.

"Are you Xuanhuangzi?" Chu Luren asked, looking at the ugly Taoist priest in his robe.

“I… I am indeed the one who came here. I was unaware of your visit and did not greet you from afar…” Xuanhuangzi did not look like he had just been knocked down, nor did he have the arrogance he had shown towards the two lamas. He immediately got up and answered.

"Is your Dragon Cave under the jurisdiction of the Spirit Vulture Palace?" Chu Luren asked, feigning hostility.

"No!" Xuanhuangzi said immediately without thinking.

"Oh? No... how do you know about Lingjiu Palace?" Chu Luren looked at him with great interest.

Lingjiu Palace is rarely heard of by ordinary people in the martial arts world.

“Little Dao…” Xuanhuangzi was speechless for a moment, while still thinking about how to explain himself.

But at that moment, Chu Luren directly asked, "Fine! It seems you are still a loyal subject, willing to be devoted to that old woman and remain faithful? Then I will kill you first!" He silently apologized to his senior uncle.

“I am not a loyal subject… No, what I mean is, it was that wicked woman who forced me to do this! Hero, you are wise, what grudge you have with that wicked woman has nothing to do with me, I have also suffered as a result of her!” Xuanhuangzi cried out hurriedly.

"Oh? Tell me then, what harm did you suffer?" Chu Luren asked leisurely.

After that, Xuanhuangzi started to play the victim. He never mentioned that he himself was no good either. He only said that Tianshan Tonglao used the "Life and Death Talisman" to control him, exploiting him every year and sending palace maids to humiliate him.

Although he feared the Child Granny, in his opinion, the martial arts skills of the person in front of him were already unbelievably high.

"So, the old woman forced you to kill and drink blood?" Chu Luren continued with a stern face, showing no sympathy whatsoever.

Xuanhuangzi immediately said, "Hero! Don't listen to those lowlifes' nonsense. I... I have indeed killed quite a few people recently, but... but they are all grudges between the martial arts world, and I am by no means innocent."

He didn't dare say it was "eliminating harm for the people," but only that it was "a feud between江湖恩怨" (jianghu genju, a term referring to the complex relationships and rivalries within the martial arts world). It's clear that... it was indeed a case of dogs fighting each other.

Chu Luren remained silent, so Xuanhuangzi had no choice but to continue: "It's because it's time to deliver the antidote again. I had prepared offerings and tributes, and I was prepared to be insulted by those vile people. But for some reason, they haven't come yet this year. And this year, my life-and-death talisman has afflicted me very early. So I... I killed people and drank their blood to alleviate the symptoms."

To paraphrase what Xuanhuangzi said before, the Life and Death Talisman in this great martial arts world is not insurmountable—human blood is best taken from virgin boys, or from people who have cultivated Yang internal energy, or from deer or bear blood, all of which can alleviate the frequency and symptoms of the Life and Death Talisman's attacks.

In fact, it's somewhat similar to the method used by the Green-Winged Bat King to suppress the cold internal energy and cause it to go mad!

Hearing that Lingjiu Palace hadn't sent anyone over recently, Chu Luren had some suspicions. Could it be... really this year?

Chapter 577 I've come to see my senior master.

"You say you hate Tianshan Tonglao, but is that true? You didn't go to Lingjiu Palace to inform her as soon as I left, did you?" Chu Luren looked at Xuanhuangzi suspiciously, as if he were calculating how to kill him to silence him.

"Absolutely not! Great Hero Chu, you are wise enough to know that none of us, who have been tormented by the 'Life and Death Talisman' to the point of being neither human nor ghost, are loyal to that wicked woman! If Great Hero Chu were to raise his voice and call for help..." Xuanhuangzi seemed to want to use Chu Luren as a tool to fight Tonglao to the death.

However, Chu Luren is not Murong Jiu, so how could he fall for such a trick?

Moreover, this is different from the fundamental purpose of the Chu Lu people...

"I will deal with that wicked woman myself, why would I need to join forces with you? Tell the other demons and monsters that if they want to get rid of the control of Lingjiu Palace, they should behave themselves and not interfere in my affairs with Lingjiu Palace, otherwise... humph!" Chu Luren threatened deliberately.

"No, no, I wish you great hero Chu a swift success." Xuanhuangzi immediately kowtowed repeatedly.

Of course, that's not necessarily what he was thinking—after all, if Chu Luren killed Tianshan Tonglao, wouldn't the antidote for the "Life and Death Talisman" also fall into his hands?

It's really hard to compare whether being threatened by Tong Lao or being threatened by Chu Tai Sui is worse!

Chu Luren didn't care what he thought in his heart; he just wanted to make him think that he was an enemy of Tianshan Tonglao.

Before leaving, Chu Luren asked for the exact location of Lingjiu Palace...

Afterwards, Chu Luren prepared to go to Misty Peak to first investigate his master's situation. If he had indeed lost his power and needed protection, Chu Luren was confident that he could handle his master, especially since he had the Nine Heavens and Nine Departments in Lingjiu Palace to join forces with.

The reason for leaving this topic unsaid with Xuanhuangzi is just in case.