The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

"Yes! Is Yang Xiao here? I have something to discuss with him!" Zhuang Zheng said with a stern face.

"This... The acting leader has been waiting for a long time. Just now, the Bat King and the Five Wanderers also went to pay their respects to the acting leader..." This guard was naturally Yang Xiao's man. At this moment, he forced himself to call him "acting leader" and described the Bat King and the Five Wanderers' coercion as "paying their respects." Under Zhuang Zheng's piercing gaze, he dared not raise his head.

Of course, Yang Xiao only refers to himself as "acting leader" now, after all, he knows that no one is convinced of his authority, so he only says that "the one who holds the Sacred Flame Token is the leader".

However, with the Sacred Flame Token nowhere to be found and a new leader yet to be appointed, it is only natural that he, as the highest-ranking Left Envoy, would act as the leader.

"Enough! Take me to see that guy surnamed Yang!" Zhuang Zheng interrupted.

The guard knew what time it was, and since the matter had already been discussed, he didn't dare to say anything more. He quickly led the way for Zhuang Zheng, and when he saw Chu Luren following, he didn't ask any further questions.

Chapter 608 Thorough Handling of Matters

Upon arriving at the Holy Flame Hall, the cultists who had led the way withdrew, and Zhuang Zheng and Chu Luren walked straight in, only to find...

At this moment, a somewhat handsome but scumbag man was holding down the two men with his palms on either side—one in a white robe and blue cloak, with a thin, pointed face, as if he had undergone liposuction; the other was also fierce-looking and ugly...

There was also a plump, kind-looking monk, a bald man with a stern face who was now blind in one eye, and a Taoist priest wearing an iron crown... The three of them were also positioned behind the fierce-looking man!

One side consists of one person, and the other side consists of five people. At this moment, they are holding their ground and are clearly fighting each other with their internal strength.

Another middle-aged man with a cold face, dressed as a scholar, then circled around behind the old scumbag...

When Zhuang Zheng entered and saw this scene, he immediately exclaimed indignantly, "You bastard! Our Five Elements Flag brothers are risking their lives down there, and you're risking your own people's lives up there? Leng Qian, are you still going to ambush Yang Xiao from behind and kill him?"

The scholar, upon hearing this, became enraged: "I'm not targeting anyone, I'm breaking up the fight!"

What he meant was that he didn't intend to ambush Yang Xiao, but rather to strike a non-vital area to force Yang Xiao to let go.

Leng Qian is known as Mr. Cold Face; he usually refuses to utter an extra word...

The reason why it is so difficult to determine a winner in this current battle of internal strength is that the two sides do not trust each other, fearing that if they withdraw their strength, the other side will suddenly increase it.

Leng Qian, along with the fierce-faced Zhou Dian, the seemingly kind-looking Monk Shuobude, the one-eyed Monk Peng, and the Iron-Crowned Taoist Zhang Zhong, were none other than the Five Wanderers of the Ming Cult!

Leng Qian didn't intend to really hurt Yang Xiao, but he was ultimately on his brother's side and wanted Yang Xiao to withdraw his strength first.

Zhuang Zheng was furious at their embarrassment and said angrily, "Isn't it enough that you've already lost face in front of outsiders? Get out of here immediately! Anyone who dares to use trickery and hurt their own brother will have my spiked club ready to be handed over!" With that, Zhuang Zheng slammed the spiked club down hard, and a small pit was broken in the ground.

The old scumbag... that is, Yang Xiao, showed a disdainful look at this moment. He was obviously someone who would listen to reason but not force, and even planned to make you lose your life if you dared to attack.

Among them, the Laughing Buddha, whose temper was the best, quickly said upon seeing the situation, "Left Envoy Yang, the five of us brothers and the Bat King have come here for matters concerning our sect. You know that Zhou Dian is just like this. We have no ill intentions. Now that a great enemy is at hand, let's stop fighting!"

That's right, Zhou Dian just launched into a tirade, mocking Yang Xiao, the "acting leader," for leading the Ming Cult to its doom. Yang Xiao retorted, and Zhou Dian even tried to attack, but...

Like the Calabash Brothers saving their grandfather, one after another they all put in their best effort.

When Yang Xiao first saw them coming to help, he was also thinking of their past relationship with him. However, he also remembered that the Five Wanderers had the worst falling out with him back then, and even swore when they left that they would never return to Bright Peak.

Therefore, when Yang Xiao saw the Five Wanderers return this time, he was worried that they might be ostensibly there to provide assistance, but in reality, they were targeting him.

After a slight disagreement, he felt even more strongly that these rogues wanted to harm him!

Although fighting with internal strength is extremely dangerous, Yang Xiao has a portion of the "Great Shift of Heaven and Earth" taught by Yang Dingtian, so he is not afraid of group battles at all.

Even if Yang Xiao only mastered the first two levels, it was enough for him to secretly transfer internal energy.

At this moment, he appeared to be fighting five against one, but in reality, he was guiding their internal energy to fight each other, which is why he was able to handle things so easily.

However, Yang Xiao had also discovered that these people... didn't seem to have any ill intentions. When they first clashed over internal strength, it was said that Monk Peng and Taoist Tie Guan only wanted to pull Zhou Dian away. Moreover, before Leng Qian made his move, he deliberately reminded him that he was going to attack his limbs, so that he would withdraw his palm and stop fighting.

Originally, Zhuang Zheng wanted to play the hero and make it seem like he was forcing them to stop, which Yang Xiao absolutely refused to do. But now that he had to say a few soft words, Yang Xiao took the opportunity to say, "Alright, Bat King, the four free spirits, let's count to three and then stop at the same time to avoid accidental injury."

Chu Luren instinctively looked around—in the original work, it was at this moment that Cheng Kun entered Bright Peak through the secret passage and wiped out Yang Xiao and the others in one fell swoop…

However, Cheng Kun was clearly not around. As far as he knew, "Yuanzhen" had never come to Bright Peak...

After all, his true identity has already been exposed, and Shaolin Temple would never allow him to come to Bright Peak in order to avoid suspicion.

Because of the extreme sensitivity involved, Chu Luren probably wouldn't dare to come quietly himself.

Without Yuanzhen causing trouble, Yang Xiao, the Bat King, and the Four Wanderers slowly counted one and two together. Just then...

"Are you going to stop after counting to 'three,' or do you want me to shout 'stop' again before stopping?" Chu Luren reminded them, worried that they hadn't discussed it properly.

Yang Xiao, the Bat King, and the Four Wanderers: ...

"Why are you being so indecisive? Of course, you should stop after counting to 'three'!" Zhou Dian shouted irritably.

"Sorry, sorry, but I interrupted you. You'd better agree on whether you'll start counting from the beginning again or just count 'three' directly," Chu Luren said considerately.

"Of course... start counting from the beginning!" Peng Yingyu was so angry that her old eye injury started hurting again.

But if they counted to "three" directly, they were afraid they would be caught off guard.

"Well, I think it would be better to count backwards. That way, you'll have a subtle suggestion to gradually reduce your effort. If you count from one to three, you'll always feel like you need to increase the intensity," Chu Luren suggested.

"That seems... to make sense."

"That makes no sense! Just count from one to three!"

"Whatever, hurry up and count, I'm freezing to death."

Because Yang Xiao secretly used the "Great Shift of Heaven and Earth," the Four Wanderers were currently suffering from the Bat King's icy true energy.

"one……"

"three……"

Everyone: ...

"Monk Peng, are you out of your mind? I'm telling you, start counting from 'one'!"

"Both the Bat King and Leng Qian counted to three, only you and Shuobude counted to 'one'!"

"What does Leng Qian have to do with this? He's not using his internal energy!"

Seeing that they couldn't reach a consensus, Chu Luren suggested, "Why don't we let Mr. Leng count by himself, and everyone else just listen?"

"Shut up!" Zhou Dian, Peng Yingyu, and the Iron-Crowned Taoist all shouted in unison, their tempers quick.

"Brother, take a break. We won't be in chaos without you," even the good-natured Shuobude complained.

Zhuang Zheng then twitched his lips and said, "Brother Chu, let's ignore them."

However, at this moment, the Bat King, who had been silent all along, suddenly turned pale, as if he could no longer bear it.

"Old Bat!" Among the group, who was closest to Wei Yixiao, he quickly asked, "What's wrong?"

Wei Yixiao couldn't answer either; his strength was waning...

The Four Wanderers felt that Yang Xiao's strength had suddenly weakened, and they didn't have time to withdraw their power. The Bat King, on the other hand, felt that Yang Xiao suddenly increased his strength and rushed towards him. Thinking that he was trying to cheat, he immediately spat out a mouthful of blood that was red with purple and then turned blue. He had already suffered a hidden injury, and his Frost True Qi was in disarray. He hadn't had time to absorb blood to calm it down. Now that the time had dragged on, he naturally couldn't withstand it!

Although Yang Xiao was a master of martial arts, he was inevitably flustered at this moment. He had to restrain the strength of the scattered people to prevent the Bat King from being injured further. At the same time, the Bat King's mouthful of blood was coming towards his face. Before he could even react, he felt waves of cold energy. If he were hit, he would probably not be in good shape either...

At this critical moment, a white figure flashed by, and in the blink of an eye, it moved around the group—blocking, deflecting the force, and shaking off the poisonous blood, all in one smooth motion!

The group leaned back, and although they had suffered minor injuries, they had at least managed to separate...

"Fortunately, I, Chu, happened to pass by, otherwise wouldn't you all be fighting each other today?" Chu Luren sighed, having accomplished another good deed of the day.

Chapter 609 The Ming Cult Members

"Zhuang Zheng! What kind of shady characters did you bring to Bright Peak?" Zhou Dian shouted while adjusting his breathing.

At this point, they were only slightly injured, after all, Chu Luren had just made a well-planned move, only dissipating their force and using his strength to completely freeze and throw aside the poisonous blood spat out by the Bat King.

They were merely experiencing the aftershocks of each other's internal forces...

Chu Luren glanced at Zhou Dian with displeasure—how could this person not appreciate kindness?

Zhuang Zheng then quickly added, "Left Envoy Yang, Bat King, and the five wandering immortals, this is the renowned Chu Tai Sui."

Upon hearing this, the others were surprised and looked at his waist, but they didn't see the jar. However... under the cloak, they could vaguely see a stick-like object that was propped up, which was undoubtedly a suona!

"Dressed so well, I really wouldn't recognize him," Zhou Dian muttered to himself.

Indeed, in their minds, Chu Tai Sui shouldn't be dressed like this.

"As you all may not know, Chu Taisui recently inherited the position of the Venerable Master of Lingjiu Palace and wants to establish a Righteous and Heroic Alliance. This time... he wants to invite our sect to join the alliance. I, Zhuang Zheng, cannot make the decision on my own, so I asked him to come up here so that we can all make a decision together," Zhuang Zheng said at this moment.

“Lingjiu Palace? The Child Granny… is she gone?” Yang Xiao asked upon hearing this.

As expected, the Ming Cult did know something about this neighbor.

"My former senior master is no longer here, and a new beginning has arrived," Chu Luren said truthfully.

However, others simply assumed that this might be a religious description of death.

"Master Uncle? So Chu Tai Sui is from the Xiaoyao Sect?" Monk Shuobude asked.

Chu Luren was taken aback at first, then realized what was going on—the Ming Cult had been on Bright Peak for many years and naturally knew the true identity of their "neighbor" on Misty Peak, and knew that Lingjiu Palace was built later.

"Indeed, I have come today to pay my respects to my esteemed neighbors," Chu Luren said, bowing.

"I have failed to provide adequate hospitality, and my neighbors have come to laugh at me," Yang Xiao said, adopting the demeanor of a host.

Zhou Dian, who had always disliked Yang Xiao's behavior, chimed in with another sarcastic remark: "Isn't entertaining him with such a huge joke considered proper? It's just too proper, Zhou Dian's Zhou!"

Chu Luren could also see that this guy would criticize anyone, not just his own people, but even himself.

At this moment, "Shuobude" noticed that Wei Yixiao's condition was not right and quickly asked, "Old Bat! How are you?"

"Heh... I didn't expect... that Left Envoy Yang actually mastered the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth? I wonder... what level he has reached?" Wei Yixiao stammered, having already seen through Yang Xiao's trick.

It wasn't that he was scared, but rather that his icy inner energy had gained momentum...

Upon hearing this, the Five Wanderers were startled, but then, recalling the situation just now, they understood.

"I am unworthy to have received instruction from Master Yang, and I have only reached the second level so far." Yang Xiao said modestly, but with a hint of pride.

"I see. No wonder it's the sect's most treasured skill. Even Sect Leader Yang has only reached the fourth level. You, Yang Xiao, have only reached the second level, which is quite good." Zhou Dian hurriedly said, afraid that others would forget that he had a mouth.

They only praised the divine skills, but not Yang Xiao, and incidentally used Yang Dingtian to put him down...

Yang Xiao didn't want to pay him any attention, but Zhou Dian felt that he was being looked down upon, so he continued, "Was Chu Taisui's move just now the Star Absorbing Technique? It's a pity that Left Envoy Yang has only mastered the second level, otherwise we could have known just how much the Eastern Cult has actually gained!"

His tone implied that Old Yang's skills were too rudimentary and didn't represent the true essence of "The Great Shift of Heaven and Earth"...

Upon hearing this, Yang Xiao was about to lash out again, but at this moment, the Bat King couldn't help but groan, as if he was about to succumb to the backlash of the cold.

"Old Bat, should we go down the mountain and grab someone? There are plenty of people around here who can be sucked up!" Peng Yingyu was already rubbing her hands together, eager to get started.

The six major sects, and even some who wanted to take advantage of the chaos, have now arrived near Bright Peak.