The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

However, with other experts from the Western Xia First-Class Hall catching up, Chu Luren had much more time. Among them were naturally some whose martial arts were superior to Yun Laosi's, but no one could match his lightness skill...

In addition, Chu Luren was already far away from Helian Tieshu. Twenty breaths later, he had run more than two miles away before being caught up by a man with a pale face, faintly tinged with blue, whose legs were not quite bent when using his lightness skill and who was jumping straight like a zombie.

His movements seemed stiff, yet in a single leap he covered six or seven zhang (approximately 33-40 meters), appearing and disappearing like a ghost...

"Be careful, it's a master from the Xiangxi Zombie Sect!" Wang Yuyan turned her head to observe the approaching figure and quickly warned Chu Luren.

Just as he leaped up and caught up with Chu Luren, and the mourning staff was about to strike, Chu Luren suddenly sprang up and unexpectedly snatched the pure steel mourning staff away, and then delivered a finger strike to his chest!

However... Chu Luren cried out in pain and then abandoned the mourning stick.

The pursuers knew perfectly well that Chu Luren had been deliberately concealing his abilities, but it was too late to fire his arrows now. Helian Tieshu hesitated for a moment, but then the zombie man stiffly said, "General Helian, he has been poisoned by the poison sand in my staff. Even if he can suppress the poison, it will definitely affect his internal energy!"

Upon hearing this, Helian Tieshu laughed heartily, "Hahaha, all thanks to Mr. Xiaoxiangzi! Men, send two teams to chase after them!"

Chapter 86 I'll lend you this

An ordinary person with light-footed skills is naturally not as fast as a horse, especially since the horses of the Western Xia delegation are all fine steeds.

However, a martial arts master with exceptional lightness skills can certainly outrun a galloping horse over short distances...

However, a person's internal strength and true energy are ultimately not as enduring as a horse's stamina. For long-distance travel, especially when rushing, riding a horse is definitely more cost-effective.

The exact distance of this "long distance" varies from person to person. There are only a handful of people in the world who can truly outrun a horse, and they are all masters of internal martial arts with special internal energy and are skilled at circulating their qi.

Chu Luren's escape was quite a rollercoaster ride...

It was thanks to Yue Laosan that Yun Zhonghe was stopped; otherwise, Chu Luren would have been caught up in just a few breaths. If the distance hadn't been widened and he had rashly exposed his strength, Helian Tieshu might have gritted his teeth and refused to give Yue Laosan any face!

Yun Zhonghe did not pursue, and even Xiao Xiangzi, whose martial arts were no less than Mu Gaofeng's, only caught up with Chu Luren after he had ridden two miles away and was no longer visible in the bamboo forest.

Moreover, Chu Luren was caught off guard. Facing the mourning staff that was about to knock him off his horse, Chu Luren suddenly turned around and, at the most opportune moment, which was also the most painful for Xiao Xiangzi, he used his middle finger, index finger, and thumb to pinch the end of the mourning staff wrapped with the banner, following Xiao Xiangzi's force. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he used a clever trick to easily knock the unsuspecting Xiao Xiangzi off the staff!

However, this also triggered a mechanism in the mourning staff, which sprayed out a stream of poisonous sand from the tip, directly burning Chu Luren's palm. Only then did he cry out in pain and throw down the mourning staff.

Fortunately, this startled the others as well.

Mu Gaofeng, whose martial arts skills were similar to Xiao Xiangzi's and who had an old grudge against Chu Luren, was already a step slower due to his physical limitations. When he saw Xiao Xiangzi's weapon being taken away, he was even more startled and did not give chase...

After a while, Helian Tieshu caught up with Xiao Xiangzi, who had retrieved the mourning staff. Xiao Xiangzi then told Helian Tieshu that Chu Luren had been poisoned by his sand again.

Thanks to the delay, the pursuers and Chu Lu people were able to put some distance between them!

Given the lightness skill of the people from Yipintang, even if it were Xiaoxiangzi, it would be difficult for him to catch up using his lightness skill after creating this distance, so he could only chase on horseback.

It was already late, and hearing the sound of horses' hooves behind him, Chu Luren dared not be careless and continued to gallop at full speed.

Wang Yuyan had no strength left in her body and could only awkwardly lie on the horse's back, feeling so jolted that she almost threw up.

Although she had rarely left home since childhood and had some princess-like qualities, she was fortunate to have no princess temper and was rather submissive.

They are usually like this; even if they are not comfortable or used to it, they are unwilling to say it. So they are even less likely to be willful at this time.

“Brother Chu… that person should be Xiao Xiangzi! He is also a renowned figure in the martial arts world of Xiangxi. I never expected that he would defect to Xixia… It is said that he was inspired by seeing ‘a poisonous toad spitting out poisonous sand and poisoning a giant python’ and installed a poison-spraying mechanism in his mourning staff. Although it is not as colorless and odorless as the sleeping gas of the Xixia people, its toxicity must be more potent. You now…” Wang Yuyan explained with some concern, fearing that Chu Luren might be careless and allow the poison to continue to spread.

"It's alright, as long as we don't fight, we can always resolve this gradually!" Even in the darkness, Chu Lu could barely see that his right palm was already bluish-black, and the color was even spreading to his forearm. He had no feeling on the outside of his hand!

Fortunately, the internal meridians are still unobstructed, so the "poison resistance" is high enough. In particular, the Toad buff can ignore the poison and gradually neutralize it.

Ordinary internal martial arts, no matter how profound the skill, can only "force out the poison." If not done properly, it will force the poison from one meridian to another, making it difficult to operate and inefficient. The Zhuha BUFF True Qi, however, directly resolves the poison, requiring only a slow and steady process.

As long as Chu Luren doesn't use this arm to fight, he'll be fine!

Whether it was a coincidence or not, it was already dark when the Beggars' Sect was having its internal strife, and it was completely dark when Chu Luren fled. And just then...

"Don't you feel that the weather is getting colder?" Chu Luren suddenly asked.

It was the end of June, and July was fast approaching, a time when the weather was turning cool. However, the climate in Wuxi shouldn't be this cold. Chu Luren was a little worried that the poison he had been poisoned had gotten worse without him realizing it.

Fortunately, Wang Yuyan then said, "It looks like... it's going to rain! That's how it is at this time of year."

It rained at this time, and it's hard to say whether it's good or bad.

The good thing is that it's getting darker and the rain will make the hoofprints harder to spot, making it easier to escape. The bad thing is... at this point, the Chu Lu people have no time to seek shelter from the rain or put on an umbrella!

Because of the pursuers, the Chu Lu people dared not turn back towards Wuxi City and could only flee to wherever was convenient.

Before long, it really started to rain, and it started to rain harder and harder!

At first, you could still hear the sound of horses' hooves amidst the rain, but gradually the sound of hooves faded away, as if the chase had stopped.

Just to be on the safe side, Chu Luren rode his horse for another half an hour. He didn't want to stop, but his horse was almost exhausted, and he saw a watermill nearby.

"Brother Ma, thank you for your hard work." Chu Luren said, helping Wang Yuyan off the horse, and then gave the horse a finger strike.

Chu Luren didn't understand the horse's meridians either; he just made it jump around a bit to startle it more and make it run around some more.

The mill was deserted at the moment, so Chu Luren naturally climbed over the wall and came in. He and Wang Yuyan were already soaked, but it was always good to have a place to take shelter from the rain.

Chu Luren is alright. Not to mention that he has achieved a certain level of internal strength now, even before he transmigrated, he was young and strong, and getting caught in the rain in August or September wouldn't be a problem for him.

But Wang Yuyan was already shivering from the cold. The chilling breeze didn't seem to numb her nerve reflexes; she was still shivering all over.

Fortunately, there was dry firewood in the mill, so Chu Luren took some and started a fire. Anyway, it was still raining, so he wasn't afraid of the Western Xia people chasing after him.

With the warmth of the campfire, Wang Yuyan, leaning against the wall, felt much better...

"Wait a minute." Chu Luren saw that she was still trembling but didn't say anything, and was worried that something bad was going to happen.

So Chu Luren adjusted his "Minor Chaos Technique" to "Extreme Yang" internal energy. In a short while, a reddish light appeared on Chu Luren's face as he sat cross-legged, and his soaked clothes began to steam.

In less than a quarter of an hour, Chu Luren's body was completely dry, much faster than if he had been roasted over a campfire...

"Change into my clothes," Chu Luren said, acting as a guardian, without any hint of romance.

"I...I can't move!" Wang Yuyan said shyly, her face, which had been pale from the cold, turned a little red.

"Then I'll lend you my right hand." Chu Luren frowned upon hearing this, then reluctantly said.

"No...that's not a good idea." Even though Wang Yuyan knew she shouldn't be impulsive right now, she still hesitated about this matter.

"Don't worry, Miss Wang, my right hand is completely numb right now. It's just moving by using my internal energy to activate my meridians," Chu Luren said calmly.

Wang Yuyan then noticed that Chu Luren's palm was completely black, and the blackness was almost spreading to his elbow!

"Ah! Brother Chu, then you should... quickly circulate your internal energy to expel the poison!" Wang Yuyan hurriedly said, recalling that Chu Luren's right hand had also been very stiff during his movements.

Chu Luren disliked tedious, melodramatic scenes the most. Wasn't it usually just a matter of time before the enemy arrived? So he said impatiently, "Then hurry up! You give me instructions, and I'll just close my eyes. Right now, I can't feel my right hand, so I can only do simple grabbing, picking up, and releasing!"

“Okay…” Wang Yuyan felt a little wronged after being scolded, but looking at Chu Luren’s right hand, which had turned black, she couldn’t complain at all and was even a little touched.

Chapter 87 Suspected Murong

"Thank you, Brother Chu! Please use your internal energy to expel the poison!" Wang Yuyan, dressed in Chu Luren's clothes, said with her face flushed red.

Judging from her complexion, she doesn't seem to be cold anymore.

Upon hearing this, Chu Luren opened his eyes and immediately hung Wang Yuyan's clothes around the campfire. Because he was worried about her catching a cold, he had even changed her inner clothes. Chu Luren was now wearing boxer shorts, which made Wang Yuyan afraid to look up.

However, Chu Luren didn't think anything of it, simply treating it as if he were in a swimming pool...

Actually, when I was directing Chu Luren's right hand before, my fingertips and the back of my hand were scratched quite a bit, but... it had little to do with Chu Luren, and Chu Luren didn't even notice it. In the end, only Wang Yuyan felt it, so she wouldn't bring it up.

"Why don't you go to sleep first?" Chu Luren asked.

After Wang Yuyan nodded, Chu Luren knocked her down and then went to the side to circulate his internal energy to neutralize the poison!

……

Exhausted and shocked, Wang Yuyan fell asleep quickly, but after only two hours, she woke up restlessly again.

From the perfect angle, you could see Chu Luren wearing a pair of flat-fronted jackets, sitting cross-legged and practicing his internal energy. His right hand... had almost lost its ink color!

At this moment, Wang Yuyan really hoped that Chu Luren could help her turn over and change her perspective, but she didn't want to disturb him by making a sound.

Just as Wang Yuyan was feeling troubled, she suddenly heard the sound of horses' hooves outside.

However, Chu Luren had already opened his eyes and frowned as he looked outside. Seeing this, Wang Yuyan said worriedly, "Brother Chu, your poison..."

"It's been resolved. There should only be one person who came." After listening, Chu Luren looked at Wang Yuyan and the clothes drying around her.

Clearly, it was too late to remove the clothes from Wang Yuyan's body. Chu Luren now had two choices: one was to fight in women's clothing, and the other was to fight with his underwear on...

The latter is definitely the better choice!

Even if it's just a swimsuit, it's better than wearing Wang Yuyan's women's clothing, right?

"You two adulterers inside, why aren't you coming out?" A rough, hoarse male voice rang out from outside.

However, based on Chu Luren's years of experience as a passerby, this voice is fake!

Chu Luren opened the window a little and carried Wang Yuyan over so she could see outside.

A bearded man dressed as a Western Xia officer rode up on horseback, sword at his side.

"Take a look at his tactics for me in a bit!" Chu Luren whispered to him.

Chu Luren, not being an senile, naturally deduced that the person chasing after him was most likely Murong Fu in simple disguise.

Speaking of Murong Fu's way of thinking, it is really strange, just like someone born at the end of August or the beginning of September in the Western calendar.

Not only do they never make the right choices, but their logic is also completely abnormal...

In the original story, Duan Yu saved Wang Yuyan at this time, but Murong Fu actually chose to follow her all the way, only thinking about catching her in the act and making Wang Yuyan feel ashamed.

Putting aside the fact that Duan Yu was only thinking about saving people at the time, Wang Yuyan was completely unable to move, and it was not a shameful matter in the first place. Moreover, why didn't he come out to play the hero and save the beauty immediately, but instead insisted on forcibly "catching them in the act"? What was he thinking?

It's awkward, like there's some kind of peculiar fetish...

Now that Chu Luren has saved Wang Yuyan, there is even less reason to worry—Duan Yu at least genuinely had the intention to loosen the soil, but if you can't even trust me, Chu Luren, are you even human?

A righteous-looking Chu Luren, dressed in a pair of flat-fronted jackets, pushed open the door and said, "You barbarian general, don't judge a gentleman by your own petty standards!"

The bearded warrior from Western Xia: !!!

Gentleman? You should put your clothes on first!

The man who appeared to be Murong Fu was so frightened that he took a half step back, and then, enraged, drew his saber.

Chu Luren knew that this person was very likely Murong Fu, so he naturally dared not be careless.

After previously fusing with "Unwavering Soul of Sound" and comprehending "Flowers in Full Bloom," Chu Luren had about a quarter of an hour's worth of fusion fragments remaining, all of which were now activated by him.

Chu Luren was also puzzled. In the original work, when Murong Fu met Duan Yu, he politely exchanged a few words before taking action. Why was he so uncivilized when it came to himself?