The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

If we really fight head-on, we'll probably be defeated by Xiao Xiangzi.

Helian Tieshu remained calm and composed, showing no sign of embarrassment despite Chu Luren's taunts. After all, he was not a member of the martial arts world, so he had no psychological burden in simply using poison to resolve the situation.

Instead, Yue Laosan, Sha Tongtian, and others had strange expressions...

Logically speaking, the martial arts masters of Yipintang are not exactly good people. The reputation of the Four Fiends is not for nothing. Sha Tongtian and others are from the water bandits, and Xiao Xiangzi is also blinded by greed!

Normally, these people shouldn't feel embarrassed, but Chu Luren's song "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer" is still having an effect.

Unless one is like Helian Tieshu, who doesn't consider himself a member of the martial arts world at all, or is so "evil" that his thoughts are all-encompassing, even the slightest guilt will be magnified at this time, thus affecting his momentum.

Among the masters of Yipintang, only the seemingly foolish, burly man who was grabbing meat appeared unaffected...

"Hahaha, how can those stinking beggars compare to Qiao Feng? What kind of Beggar Clan skills can you see from them?" Helian Tieshu laughed loudly, actually praising Qiao Feng.

"I am no longer the leader of any gang... If General Helian wants to see the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms, I will gladly grant his request. However, I would like to ask General Helian to release the Beggars' Gang brothers first!" Qiao Feng said in a stiff tone.

He was already seething with anger, and if it weren't for the fear of something unexpected happening, and the advice from his second and third brothers to try diplomacy first, Qiao Feng would never have bothered to play along with him.

"If Chief Qiao has any request, this general will naturally comply. As long as Chief Qiao agrees to join my First-Rank Hall, not only will my Western Xia honor Chief Qiao as the First Warrior and the First-Rank Hall's First Respectful Elder, but... the position of Beggar Clan Chief will naturally still belong to Chief Qiao." Helian Tieshu pretended to be magnanimous and generous, his tone carrying these temptations.

Upon hearing that Qiao Feng was to become the number one warrior of Western Xia, Xiao Xiangzi frowned slightly, but said nothing for the time being.

"Of course, our Western Xia is also eager to recruit talented young people like Young Hero Chu. As for Prince Duan... the Song court has always regarded Dali as a vassal state, which has long been a source of resentment for our Western Xia. We intend to form an alliance with Dali to attack from both the north and south and divide up the Song court's Sichuan and Chongqing territories!" Helian Tieshu made empty promises to Chu Luren and Duan Yu.

There may have been some genuine sentiment involved, but what would happen after the Song Dynasty lost Sichuan and Chongqing, and Western Xia and Dali were directly adjacent? It's easy to imagine.

As for the promise made to Qiao Feng...

Indeed, if both sides are willing to cooperate, the Beggars' Sect's fools can be easily subdued, and as for ambitious and intelligent people like Chen Youliang, they can be dealt with in advance.

If it were someone who only pursued power, they might have agreed. Chu Luren even thought that he could continue to deal with it and settle the score after releasing the person.

However... Qiao Feng is Qiao Feng. The faint sounds of tiger roars and dragon cries emanated from his body, and his clothes and long hair moved without any wind!

"I, Qiao Feng, am a fine man, and the entire Beggars' Clan are all upright men. How could we possibly submit to your Western Xia? As the general wishes, let us witness the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms!"

As Qiao Feng spoke, he rushed towards Helian Tieshu. Xiao Xiangzi and the strong man who scooped meat were not to be trifled with. They blocked his way from the left and right. One of them, with a seemingly stiff movement, swung his mourning stick across the ground, while the other picked up a bronze cudgel as thick as a strong man's arm.

Chapter Ninety-Four: Melee

Inside the main hall of Tianning Temple, after the "disagreement broke down," the sound of Qiao Feng's accumulated true energy, resembling the roar of a dragon, reverberated so loudly that the dust on the roof tiles seemed to fall down...

At the same time, phantom images of dragon heads and bodies appeared on Qiao Feng's arms, and his palms, like two dragons snatching a pearl, were pushed out with an astonishing momentum—it was the "Shocking the Hundred Miles" move from the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms!

Among the eighteen ways of "processing internal force into palm force" in the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms, "Shocking the Hundred Miles" is one of the most powerful and impressive.

Xiao Xiangzi and the meat-scooping strongman stood on either side of Helian Tieshu, their mourning stick and bronze cudgel aimed at Qiao Feng's palms!

Even when facing two opponents alone, the "Shocking the Hundred Miles" move still forced Xiao Xiangzi to retreat five or six steps, almost back to where Helian Tieshu had originally been sitting. His already pale face turned even paler, while the burly man only retreated two or three steps...

As soon as Qiao Feng made his move, the experts from the First-Class Hall around him also made their moves. Helian Tieshu, perhaps having been in charge of the First-Class Hall for a long time, was used to this kind of scene and did not care much about his image. He flipped backward and hid behind the Buddha statue, and the Xixia soldiers around him immediately covered him.

Seeing that there was no time to "capture the king", Chu Luren hurriedly instructed Duan Yu: "Third brother, go and circle around Yun Zhonghe and Ye Erniang. If your nephew dares to make a move, glare at him!" Then he went to meet the eager Mu Gaofeng.

At this moment, even without entering a state of enlightenment, Chu Luren could openly and honestly "fight one-on-one" with Mu Gaofeng, with a 10% chance of winning and a 10% chance of losing—as for the other 80%? It would be a draw!

Once you enter a state of enlightenment, you can basically win against Mu Gaofeng with a 90/10 chance.

Having just fused the "Dragon-Capturing Skill" and the "Crane-Controlling Skill," Chu Luren was not short of fusion fragments. Seeing the urgency of the situation, Chu Luren immediately focused on comprehending the skill!

Mu Gaofeng had a vague feeling that Chu Luren's style had changed. Although this wasn't the first time he had felt this way about Chu Luren, he felt that he was much more difficult to deal with this time, even before they had fought.

A blurry sensation caused by the accumulation of internal energy also appeared on Chu Luren's body, but it was far less obvious than that of Qiao Feng, and there was no sound at all.

Chu Luren didn't draw his sword; instead, he used his hand skills to grab and pinch Mu Gaofeng. Compared to the power of Qiao Feng's Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms, Chu Luren's Dragon Crane Grappling Technique was undoubtedly more focused on technique and more suitable for "flowers in full bloom."

The hunchback is a person, and the sword is also a hunchback...

Swish!Swish!Swish!

But then a strange sword light appeared, coiling towards Chu Luren like a venomous snake, while Chu Luren advanced instead of retreating.

In a daze, Sha Tongtian and Hou Tonghai seemed to see a slender, long hand reach out from beside the flower branch where the venomous snake was coiled. At the most beautiful moment of the flower's bloom, ignoring the venomous snake reaching towards them, the back of the hand caressed the snake's cold back. With a flick of the wrist, the hand forced open the snake's mouth, and with a pinch and twist of three fingers, the flower was broken off...

The timing was so perfect that one instinctively didn't want to ruin it!

However, just as Mu Gaofeng felt that the point where he exerted force with his left elbow was restrained by invisible true energy, and it looked like he was about to "send" his right shoulder into Chu Luren's hands, he immediately bent over, almost burying his head between his legs.

The "hump" on his back not only makes it difficult for Mu Gaofeng to move around, but also makes it impossible for him to bend backward. The range of motion of his shoulder and neck joints is also greatly affected. However... when he bends down, he is surprisingly flexible.

Following the force of the "Dragon and Crane Great Capture," his left arm scooped down, passing under his crotch and striking his "hump" from behind.

Chu Luren was prepared. He took a step back and squinted, mimicking the true energy of the Vermilion Toad. The poisonous smoke spewed from the humps of the Wooden Camel was not as potent as the poisonous sand of the Xiao Xiangzi. Moreover, Chu Luren was on guard and was relieved in an instant, though he was still a little teary-eyed from the smoke!

Instead, Mu Gaofeng's face paled a bit—Chu Luren guessed that his camel hump was probably not fake, but rather the result of practicing some kind of poisonous skill.

However, in the blink of an eye, Hou Tonghai and Sha Tongtian reacted and attacked Chu Luren from both sides to prevent Chu Luren from pursuing Mu Gaofeng.

Of the two, Sha Tongtian was more skilled in martial arts and much more robust. He wielded an iron paddle, which, although not as powerful as the strongman's bronze cudgel, was clearly a heavy weapon. Hou Tonghai had a distinctive appearance, with three fleshy bumps on his forehead, and wielded a three-pronged fork. It was obvious that they were both from a water-based background...

Their martial arts skills were not as good as Yue Laosan's. If we disregard lightness skills, Sha Tongtian might not be weaker than Yun Zhonghe, and Hou Tonghai was even worse. However, they were both stronger than Zuo Zimu, whom Chu Luren had fought.

If Chu Luren were to have an epiphany, he could defeat Chu Luren in three to five moves if he were to fight him alone. However, if the two of them were to join forces, they could last for more than ten moves. After all, the advantage of fighting two against one or three against one is still very obvious. There have always been many masters who have been beaten to the point of desperation by opponents who are one level weaker than them.

Of course, if there are more than three people, they may restrain and block each other, and if they are not in sync, their combat power will be reduced.

The ordinary Western Xia guards did not rush forward at this time, precisely because of this concern...

On a plain, charging on horseback would be fine, but in this small temple, a swarm of attackers would leave no room to maneuver.

However, Sha and Hou were fellow disciples and usually worked together to do business on the upper reaches of the Yellow River without any investment. Although they didn't know any combined attack techniques, they at least cooperated well!

Although it was hard to say he could put up a fight, he managed to hold out until Mu Gaofeng caught his breath. Facing the three of them working together, Chu Luren was still in a very comfortable position, but it would probably take more than a hundred moves to win.

On the other side, Duan Yu, Ye Erniang, and Yun Zhonghe were just spinning around and around...

As expected, Yue Laosan did not make a move, but this time he did not stop Yun Zhonghe either.

At the same time, a loud "DUANG" was heard from Qiao Feng's side!

Because Qiao Feng's background music was the strongest, Chu Luren could tell without even looking that Qiao Feng, even when fighting two opponents and injured, still had a significant advantage against the two strongest people from Yipintang present.

However, the loud noise at that moment even momentarily drowned out Qiao Feng's background music...

Chu Luren was now fighting three against one, yet he could retreat at will. He glanced over and saw Xiao Xiangzi, who was holding one end of the coffin, retreating seven or eight steps, knocking over the incense altar in front of the Buddha, and then crashing into the Buddha statue with the remaining force!

Xiao Xiangzi's pale face had turned somewhat white...

However, he was quite proud of the fact that Qiao Feng had also taken two and a half steps back!

Just now, it was Qiao Feng who "blasted" his mourning staff out of his hand. Xiao Xiangzi was also going all out – he actually raised one end of the coffin and smashed it at Qiao Feng. Qiao Feng originally used the move "Frost and Ice" to strike the bronze staff that the strong man was holding horizontally with both hands.

Just as the force was about to strike, seeing the coffin coming at him, he immediately used his other hand to unleash the fastest move from the Eighteen Palms, "Leaping Over the Abyss," clashing with the oncoming coffin. Only then did he retreat two and a half steps, causing everyone present to gasp in astonishment...

Chapter Ninety-Five: Longevity Wood

Qiao Feng placed his palm against the coffin, took two and a half steps back, and then exclaimed in approval: "Good! You have actually mastered the 'Longevity Wood Skill' of the Xiangxi Zombie Sect, which no one has been able to master for over a hundred years? It's a pity that you can see through life and death, but you can't see through fame and fortune. You are willing to be a lackey of the Western Xia people. I'm afraid you will never become a grandmaster!"

Xiao Xiangzi, holding the coffin, stiffly shifted his waist and said in a low, hoarse voice, "No need for Bei Qiao Feng to worry."

When first learning the Longevity Exercise with Longevity Wood, one should practice with cedar wood, using the "meridians" of the cedar wood to align with the meridians of the human body.

Just like Duan Yu accidentally mastered the True Qi of the Toad after swallowing it—which also utilized the "meridians" of an external object.

However, Duan Yu's success was due to the nature of the toad itself and his good luck, which led him to accidentally master it. In contrast, the "Longevity Wood Technique" requires the artificial selection of external tools.

This single step alone makes it incredibly difficult to learn and almost leads to its extinction.

After all, a practitioner not only needs to be suited to the martial art, but also needs to find a piece of cedar wood that is suitable for both the art and himself. How difficult is that?

After entering the gate, the cedar wood is chopped, with four pieces of the best quality, six pieces of the middle quality, and so on, up to twelve pieces of the worst quality. Each piece is then used in conjunction with the body to perform exercises, and finally, they are assembled into a coffin. Only then can one be considered to have entered the inner sanctum.

After mastering the technique, practicing it in one's own coffin not only accumulates internal energy but also has the effect of cultivating both internal and external strength. While practicing internal energy cultivation, it can make muscles, bones, and skin tougher, and... one can even use the coffin as a weapon!

Xiao Xiangzi's coffin was the external artifact he used to cultivate the "Longevity Wood Technique." Otherwise, an ordinary coffin would have been shattered after he and Qiao Feng clashed palms.

However, Xiao Xiangzi's coffin not only perfectly contained his internal energy, but also enhanced it. Under the infusion of his internal energy, it had a high degree of resistance to external forces and true energy shocks.

It's like how Qiao Feng could shatter a stone with one palm, but couldn't shatter a master of internal martial arts whose inner strength hadn't dissipated.

Because the martial arts level in this vast world is significantly higher than in the original work, many martial arts techniques have become "strange," so Chu Luren was unaware of the mysteries of the "Longevity Wood Technique," only vaguely remembering it...

This martial art should be the "serialized version," that is, the first edition, of the ultimate skill that Xiao Xiangzi practiced. It was very strange in itself. In the original work, when Yang Guo first met him, Xiao Xiangzi was in a coffin, but the coffin stood up by itself and hopped along the way!

In later versions, the three heroes of Mongolia were weakened to varying degrees, and the Longevity Technique was no longer mentioned. Xiao Xiangzi also started walking on his own.

Chu Luren was also secretly anxious: Why hasn't Murong Fu released the poison yet?

If I remember correctly, in the original work, at this point, Murong Fu continued to disguise himself as a Western Xia person and learned the complex technique of releasing "Sad Breeze." After leaving behind the words "Use their own methods against them, use a bewitching poisonous wind, and return the treasure to you," he released the poison, rendering everyone in the hall unconscious...

Duan Yu, who was immune to the poison and explosion, was naturally unharmed. He then calmly treated his own people and left in front of Helian Tieshu, who could only curse him.

This was one of the reasons why Chu Luren was confident at first—after all, the previous Western Xia warrior was probably Murong Fu, and in the end he was convinced by his own character, so he shouldn't have refrained from poisoning him, right?

As soon as Chu Luren murmured the words "The mournful wind is coming," the Western Xia soldiers in the palace fell down in droves. Apart from Duan Yu, Chu Luren, and Qiao Feng, only the giant with the bronze staff remained standing.

Duan Yu seemed completely unaffected, even curiously watching the fallen man. Qiao Feng also staggered slightly, his body emanating scale-like true energy from the Dragon-Capturing Skill, which then returned to his own body before he regained his footing...

Chu Luren was similar to the big man in that he was affected, but not seriously. After hesitating for a moment, Chu Luren squatted down and pretended to be weak.

If this were the first time Chu Luren had been exposed to this toxic wind, and he had remained in this poisonous environment for so long, he would no longer need to pretend; he would truly be losing his strength.

However, having already gained experience once before, Chu Luren's Zhuha True Qi has also improved—real Zhuha feeds on various poisons, and naturally develops stronger resistance to the poisons it has ingested.

As long as Chu Luren continues to circulate the Zhuha True Qi, there shouldn't be much of a problem. The rate at which the toxin is being absorbed is slowing down, indicating that the person releasing the poison is not releasing it continuously. The amount of soothing breeze in the air is decreasing!

Unexpectedly, at this moment, Helian Tieshu did not panic as expected, nor did he curse as he did in the original work—he thought there was a traitor among them.

I was simply surprised that Duan Yu was unharmed!

"Nurhaci, continue releasing the poison! Ma Zhuangshi, quickly deal with Qiao Feng!" Helian Tieshu hurriedly ordered his deputy outside and the burly man.

Chu Luren then realized that the poison was actually released by the Western Xia people themselves... Where did Murong Fu go?

Could it be that after discovering my character, they felt relieved and left?

But now is not the time to think about these things. Helian Tieshu is ruthless enough. He is clearly targeting this guy surnamed Ma. He has a certain resistance to Beisu Qingfeng. Seeing that Qiao Feng is not easy to deal with, he forcibly poisoned himself as well, preparing to let that guy surnamed Ma kill everyone!

"Huh? He's been poisoned. Isn't that bad?" the burly man asked innocently.

Qiao Feng was indeed in poor condition, even worse than Chu Luren and the big man surnamed Ma.

“Ma Guangzuo! He’s been poisoned, but you’re not. That means you’re more powerful than him. Kill him, no problem!” Sha Tongtian said urgently.