The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

It wasn't until a few days ago when Boss Wu arrived that he scolded the previous person in charge and changed the expenses for the Emei group to a level that was more favorable than those for ordinary allies.

"We also want to thank Brother Chu and the Righteous Alliance for their care. Zhiruo and the Emei disciples will always remember it." Zhou Zhiruo said, her face blushing.

Ostensibly, she came to express her gratitude...

Although Chu Luren didn't know exactly how to take care of Zhou Zhiruo, he still said, "It's my pleasure, it's my pleasure. Just let me know if you need anything."

Then, Chu Luren remembered the matter of the Heaven-Reliant Sword and added, "The matter of the Heaven-Reliant Sword..."

Chu Luren didn't notice that Zhou Zhiruo's expression tightened slightly, but she continued, "I also have some clues, so don't worry."

Zhou Zhiruo was taken aback upon hearing this, and then quickly said, "No rush... I mean, I am already extremely grateful that Brother Chu can take it to heart."

Chu Luren also felt that Zhou Zhiruo seemed a bit strange, and then suddenly realized something...

"Don't worry too much about Xia Ke Island, Zhi Ruo. Just go! I'll definitely bring you back with me." Chu Luren guessed that Zhou Zhi Ruo was worried about Xia Ke Island.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhiruo's eyes darted around for a moment, and she lowered her head and said, "Of course I believe in Brother Chu!" Then she secretly bit her lip and said, "I won't bother you any longer. My senior sisters and junior sisters are waiting for me to return."

Seeing Zhou Zhiruo leave in a hurry, Huang Rong, who was rolling her eyes to the sky, said disdainfully, "When did you discover the clues to the Heaven Sword?"

Previously, Chu Luren had asked her to investigate the matter of Zhou Zhiruo losing the Heaven Sword on her way to the Southern Shaolin Temple. Huang Rong thought to herself that she had not found anything, so where did Chu Luren get the clues?

I never imagined that someone with thick eyebrows and big eyes like you would develop the habit of bragging whenever you see a pretty woman after you've gotten a bit fairer-skinned.

"I just found it. I just saw Liu Yunshi, and he told me... the Dragon Slayer Saber is also missing," Chu Luren revealed the clue.

Huang Rong: ...

There really are "some clues"!

After all, "The supreme weapon of the martial arts world is the Dragon-Slaying Saber. Without the Heaven-Reliant Sword, who can rival it?" In the legends of the martial arts world, the Heaven-Reliant Sword and the Dragon-Slaying Saber were originally a pair.

Not to mention, Chu Luren also told Huang Rong about the true secret of the swords!

Many people in the martial arts world speculate that the Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber might need to be placed together to unlock the secret—after all, although there are many divine weapons in the martial arts world, this sword and saber are closely related and even have matching proverbs.

While the loss of the Dragon-Slaying Saber and the loss of the Heaven-Reliant Sword may not necessarily be directly related, they are certainly not unrelated either.

only……

Is this your clue?

Huang Rong really wanted to complain...

However, Huang Rong then thought of something else and muttered meaningfully, "When the Heaven Sword was lost, there were many rumors in the martial arts world that the Southern Shaolin Temple wanted to collect the Heaven Sword and the Dragon Saber."

Chu Luren looked at Huang Rong in confusion—who said it was just a rumor? How could we not know? Why bring this up?

“If the Heaven Sword hadn’t been lost, then we could spread the rumor that the Emei Sect wanted to collect both the Dragon Saber and the Heaven Sword,” Huang Rong said, following the logic.

Chu Luren still didn't understand and asked, puzzled, "Why spread rumors like this? And we can't spread rumors, because Xiao Zhao now judges that it's very likely the Red Turban Army who came to the alliance meeting stole the Dragon-Slaying Saber..."

Chu Luren explained to Huang Rong what Liu Yunshi had told him earlier.

"Which Red Turban Army generals have come?" Huang Rong asked, noticing that Chu Luren was standing tall and proud.

Finally, there's a problem that a Chu Lu person can understand, and one that they had considered before!

"I've already sent Liuyun Envoy back to ask Xiao Zhao for the list!" Chu Luren said arrogantly.

Seeing this, Huang Rong wanted to pout, but in the end she couldn't bring herself to do it, so she praised, "As expected of Brother Chu..."

Chapter 942 Testing

That evening, Xiao Hong flew back, bringing with her the list of the righteous army who had come to Xuwen to form an alliance with the Ming Church.

After carefully examining it and finding nothing amiss, Chu Luren handed it over to Huang Rong—Chu Luren had only checked whether it contained anything deeply connected to the martial arts world.

After all, stealing the Dragon-Slaying Saber is not something that only a righteous army would do!

If someone rebels while simultaneously believing that a single sword can command the world, then they are being far too naive.

However, Chu Luren didn't see anything. The one most closely associated with the so-called "Jianghu forces" was basically the rebel army of the Five Wanderers of the Ming Cult. It was unlikely that they would steal the Dragon-Slaying Saber from Xiao Zhao.

"It's getting late, Rongrong, you can look at it again tomorrow... I'm going out for a bit," Chu Luren instructed.

By the way, Chu Luren also plans to go to that manor tonight, to take a look around without anyone noticing. If he can find the Dragon Slayer Saber in someone's room, that would be even better.

After handing the intelligence over to Huang Rong, Chu Luren set off directly outside the city and entered the Ming Cult's secret villa without being detected. Well, Chu Luren was definitely one of those people who could come and go silently under the noses of the three envoys, Feng Yunyue.

Unfortunately, the rebel representatives in the village were clearly not foolish enough to discuss the "theft of the Dragon-Slaying Saber" in private, and even if the Dragon-Slaying Saber was still in the village, it must have been properly hidden away.

Chu Luren can look around unnoticed, but if he wants to search everywhere, he will inevitably make noise in some places.

To avoid further misunderstandings, Chu Luren withdrew from the manor first...

Chu Luren pretended not to hear any of their private opinions about the Ming Cult that he overheard.

Anyway, no one was heard to have any ill intentions. Most of the complaints were about the Ming Cult suddenly "returning" to the ranks of the uprising and claiming to be the source of many righteous armies.

Whether Xiao Zhao can win them over depends on her performance. Chu Luren doesn't want the information he gained through his "heavenly eye" to influence Xiao Zhao's judgment.

After all, a few complaints in private don't prove anything. If Chu Luren were to take a stroll around Xuwen County, he might even run into righteous people from the Righteous Alliance who would be gossiping about him behind his back...

Therefore, the people of Chulu usually prefer to ignore what they hear!

When Chu Luren returned to the inn, he found that Huang Rong's room was still lit, so he went up and knocked on the door.

Huang Rong opened the door and let him in. Sure enough, Chu Luren was on the table and saw the intelligence she had given Huang Rong earlier. He complained, "Didn't I say we could look at it tomorrow?"

“The representatives of the various Red Turban Army factions won’t stay long, and we can’t keep them at the manor forever. It’s better to leave sooner rather than later.” Huang Rong looked a little sleepy and stretched her back. She noticed that Chu Luren was staring at her waist, so she glared at him.

"Then take a look first, I'll write you a body-refining cultivation method... Have you been diligently practicing the 'Yi Jing Bone Forging Chapter' of the Nine Yin Manual lately, without any body-refining cultivation? Although external martial arts cultivation is more arduous, it is ultimately beneficial to the muscles and bones, especially after practicing the 'Yi Jing Bone Forging Chapter.' Without combining it with external martial arts cultivation, it's easy to have an excess of internal yin..."

Chu Luren launched into a long-winded explanation to Huang Rong, preparing to write her a body-training exercise derived from Indian yoga—Huang Rong had good talent, but lacked the motivation for rigorous training, and her martial arts skills were previously broad but not proficient.

Huang Rong simply rolled her eyes at this.

“Go back to your room and write it down. I’m pretty sure it’s a thief!” Huang Rong said, handing one of the pages to Chu Luren.

The inscription above reads "Zhou Xiong," a representative of the rebel army.

Behind it was a Red Turban rebel army in the Longnan area, which was related to Monk Peng. The initial leader of this rebel army was Peng Yingyu's disciple, but it was later severely damaged by the Mongol Yuan army, and the first leader had died many years ago.

The current rebel army is a small-scale force formed by the remnants of the original force that have regrouped and developed.

It can be considered one of the rebel forces closely related to Peng Yingyu...

"You suspect Monk Peng? No way?" Chu Luren thought for a moment. Although Peng Yingyu was neither good nor evil, he was extremely courageous and had deep feelings for the Ming Cult. Even if he was out of his mind and wanted the Dragon-Slaying Saber, he wouldn't do such a thing.

“No, it’s not Monk Peng’s problem. Look at the first leader,” Huang Rong corrected and reminded him.

“Zhou Ziwang, Zhou Xiong’s cousin… well, he died at the beginning of the uprising… what happened?” Chu Luren still didn’t understand.

"Forget it, you don't need to know too much right now. I'm only about 70-80% sure... But we can give it a try!" Huang Rong suggested directly.

"Try it? No way! What if we wrong them... Although this rebel army in Longnan is insignificant, if a scandal breaks out at this time, it will definitely greatly affect the other rebel armies' views of the Ming Cult!" Chu Luren said hurriedly, then thought for a moment and said, "If it has nothing to do with Monk Peng, then we can notify Xiao Zhao first, and then find Monk Peng..."

Chu Luren still wanted to find Monk Peng to resolve the issue.

"Then we might not be able to find the Dragon-Slaying Saber! Listen to me, we'll just try it out. Even if we fail, it won't make others think that the Ming Cult doesn't trust them!" Huang Rong's eyes flashed with cunning... no, wisdom.

Chu Luren didn't quite understand what Huang Rong meant, but Huang Rong had already leaned closer and was whispering something in Chu Luren's ear.

Well, Chu Luren originally wanted to say that no one was listening around and there was no need to be so careful—there were only a handful of people in the martial arts world besides Yaoyue, and probably no one could listen to Chu Luren without being discovered.

After a slight hesitation, Chu Luren didn't say anything more and quietly listened to Huang Rong whispering to him.

"Brilliant!" Chu Luren's eyes lit up after hearing this.

……

Late that night, Xiao Zhao received a message from Xiao Hong. The next day, Xiao Zhao specially took out the sword case and, in front of many representatives of the rebel army, told them the story of the Dragon-Slaying Saber...

Everyone wore expressions of "Wow, that's impressive!" but then thought to themselves: "They're just江湖人 (jianghu people, martial arts practitioners) after all, completely unreliable! What makes a knife 'command the world'?"

"I know that a single sword can't do much. To overthrow the tyrannical Yuan, we still need righteous people like you to work together with our sect... However, since this Dragon-Slaying Sword has been obtained by our alliance, it will naturally be handed over to our sect. This is not only an encouragement for overthrowing the tyrannical Yuan, but also a token that we can use to seek assistance from the Righteous Alliance in the future!"

While introducing the Dragon-Slaying Saber in a reasonable way, Xiao Zhao also brought up the Righteous Alliance, which was a way of making the Righteous Alliance more visible.

If Dai Qisi were here, she would definitely be glaring at her daughter right now—this silly girl, why did she take the initiative to side with the enemy?

Just then, the Cloud Envoy suddenly came to report that people from the Snow Mountain Sect had come to cause trouble, seemingly because of... what happened with Yang Xiao!

"Everyone, don't worry. Stay in the back hall for now. They've probably only discovered the beginning and end of my Ming Cult... Three Envoys, come with me to see Hero Bai!"

Although Xiao Zhao said that, several envoys who were confident in their martial arts skills still wanted to go with her. In the end, Xiao Zhao couldn't refuse, and...

Before leaving, Xiao Zhao, who was traveling light and had few attendants, "casually" handed the knife box to Zhou Xiong.

"Zhou Changshi, you stay in the back hall and keep it for me for now," Xiao Zhao said, her eyes, which seemed to speak volumes, peeking out from behind her thin veil as she gave him a deep look.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 943 Lost and Found

As Zhou Xiong took the knife box, he felt that there was something more to say in the leader's eyes!

Zhou Xiong felt the knife box in his hand becoming increasingly heavy. He moved his mouth, but didn't say anything, only managing to utter, "Master... don't worry."

What else could he say?

We can't very well ask to inspect the goods in front of everyone, can we?

That would be too deliberate. The cult leader himself said that the knife is just symbolic, and now that there are rivals coming to inspect it, what position do I have to inspect the goods?

If we don't inspect the goods, what if the knife is lost or replaced when the cult leader returns?

Simply stating that the cult leader framed him lacks sincerity; at least a basic investigation is necessary...

The problem is that I can't resist searching!

It really was Zhou Xiong who took the "Dragon-Slaying Saber"—he originally had no desire for the Dragon-Slaying Saber, but on his way to Xuwen, his cousin whom he hadn't seen in a long time came to find him.

When Zhou Ziwang's rebel army was defeated by the Yuan army, Zhou Ziwang was killed. Several of his personal guards protected Zhou Ziwang's only daughter as they fled to Sichuan to avoid disaster. However, while crossing the Han River, they were intercepted by the Yuan army...

After that, there was no further news. Zhou Xiong once thought that his niece had been killed. It wasn't until several years later, when the remnants of his army rose up again and once again raised the banner of Zhou Ziwang, that his niece heard the news and wrote to him.

It turns out that she was rescued by Master Zhang by chance, and later Master Zhang took her to Emei Mountain, where she became a disciple of Miejue's sect—yes, she is the current Zhou Zhiruo!

Zhou Xiong was overjoyed to learn that his sworn brother's daughter was still alive. However, because they lived in different places and he was doing something that risked his life, the uncle and nephew did not meet, only exchanging letters during festivals.

Apart from Jingxuan, the eldest disciple among the nuns of the Emei Sect, no one else knew about Zhou Zhiruo's background...