The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

"Huh? Who are you two? Did you come here yourselves?" Tie Zhan stared at Chu Luren with his bull-like eyes.

There was nothing he could do; that bastard always had that silly grin on his face. After glaring at him for a while, Tie Zhan gave up and could only glare at the other one.

"Mad Lion, these two are guests invited by the island lord, unlike you, an unwelcome guest," Zhang San mocked.

That's right, Tie Zhan came to the island on his own!

Initially, he also wanted to enter the stone chamber, but a group of senior martial artists stopped him. At first, they didn't want him to "go astray" and be hindered by the martial arts in the stone chamber. Later, moved by Tie Zhan's pure heart in pursuing martial arts, they started taking turns beating him up...

Therefore, Tie Zhan was not affected by Shi Shi for the time being.

Seeing that Chu Luren and Gou Zazhong were young and different from the other guys who stayed in the "Stone Sinking House", Tie Zhan assumed that they had also found Xia Ke Island on their own and did not enter the stone chamber.

However, a group of old guys had sharp eyes and could see that Chu Luren and the dog-like bastard were no ordinary people...

"There are guests this young? Come on! Fight me!" Tie Zhan had just been tricked and beaten up by that shorty, and now he was actually looking for a fight.

"This must be the infamous Iron Warrior Master Tie, right? Master Tie is quite carefree, going straight overseas and leaving that troublesome seed to his daughter. He's not afraid of getting into trouble at all," Chu Luren mocked.

"Ah! You know my daughter? How is she? Is she married? Has she been bullied by some brat?" Tie Zhan immediately remembered that he had a daughter and showed concern.

"As for the wedding, there probably wasn't one, but I've seen her walking with a young man a lot before... Well, come to think of it, that young man's family and Master Tie's family are old friends." Chu Luren said deliberately.

"Family friends? What family friends do I have? Could it be the descendants of the good-for-nothing I crippled?" Tie Zhan smacked his head, unable to think of anyone.

"They have a very close relationship. The uncles who raised that young man are Du Sha, Li Dazui, Haha'er, Tu Jiaojiao, Yin Jiuyou... Aren't they all old friends of Master Tie?" Chu Luren said with a clear conscience.

Many of the elderly members of the Sunset Red Band had never heard of these names, but Tie Zhan jumped up and shouted, "Outrageous! Outrageous! These shameless bastards, I'm going to fight them!"

Tie Zhan was very agitated when he heard that his daughter was dating such a dangerous person.

Seeing Tie Zhan so excited, the elders didn't try to dissuade him. Instead, they looked at him with smiles, probably as if he were their "lively grandson."

He's not persistent in anything except martial arts, so he might not really want to go back to the Central Plains. Besides... if he really does want to go back, all the old guys will just be happy for him!

It's better than them, who can't even leave if they want to...

"I am Lady Xiao, may I ask the names of the two young gentlemen?" The old lady who had been playing the flute asked Chu Luren and the dog bastard.

Although she is advanced in years, one can still tell from her features that Ms. Xiao must have been a woman of exceptional beauty in her youth.

Chu Luren naturally realized that this wasn't his real name. Why would someone who plays the flute be surnamed "Xiao"? And why would he specifically call her "Nüshi" (female historian)?

"I am... Zhou Beijun, the Ten Great Martial Saints!" Chu Luren also gave his pseudonym without hesitation.

But the nickname is real... at least Chu Luren himself thinks it is!

Upon hearing this, Lady Xiao's eyes widened, realizing that Chu Luren was using a false name—everyone is the same, so a false name is very fake.

These old fellows, although they were able to avoid some of the influence of the Dao patterns of heaven and earth, which is what Chu Luren called the "lying flat level," at the same time, they had to temper their minds, even "forgot" their own names, and forcibly found solace in the music of mountains and rivers...

All thirteen people used aliases. The one who played the flute claimed to be a descendant of Xiao Nongyu and took the name Xiao Nüshi; the one who played the drum claimed to be a descendant of Mi Heng and took the alias Mi Shiba; the one who played the zither followed Yu Boya and called himself Yu Ziya...

However, there's a reason why he uses a pseudonym; how could a young man like him make fun of himself?

Immediately, the elders looked at Chu Luren's waist, and then the group of old men and women laughed.

"So, young brother, you also understand music theory? How about we play a tune together?" Mi Shiba smiled when he saw Chu Luren's suona.

Before joining Liu Bang's uprising, Zhou Bo played the funeral dirge. When he held a high position of power, he commanded the imperial guards, also known as the "Northern Army" during the Han Dynasty.

The Chu Lu people called themselves "Zhou Beijun" and carried suonas. Everyone knew what that meant. Zhou Bo didn't have suonas at that time, but they were indeed played at funerals later. All professions have the custom of recognizing their ancestors, and many later generations regarded Zhou Bo as one of the "ancestors" of the suona.

"And what about this young man?" Yu Ziya asked, looking at the bastard.

“My name is Dog Bastard,” Dog Bastard replied with a grin.

Lady Xiao, Mi Shiba, Yu Ziya: ...

The elders were momentarily at a loss for words—was this a joke? That's going too far!

"My real name is Dog Bastard! If you seniors really can't bring yourself to call me that, you can call me Shi Yidao!" Dog Bastard quickly explained, and then offered his "stage name" as a compromise.

Seeing his sincere expression, the elders were taken aback at first, then laughed and said, "Young brother, you have attained enlightenment and are not bothered by your name. Your realm is much higher than ours. We admire you..."

The "Sunset Red Orchestra" invited Chu Luren to play together. Although Tie Zhan was envious, he could only watch from the sidelines. He thought to himself that he would first see how good this kid was by playing the suona. If he was a good opponent, he would challenge him to a duel later!

Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tick-tick-tick—

This time, Chu Luren didn't perform solo; the other elders also joined in, each contributing their signature instruments!

What appeared to be a harmonious ensemble, though lacking any palpable killing intent, was nonetheless a battleground of swords and shadows—a group of old men, eager to test the mettle of the "Zhou Bei Army," appeared to be playing in perfect harmony without any disruption, but in reality, each was vying for attention.

It wasn't just a test of "Zhou Beijun"; several old guys were also getting playful and wanted to be the first to try...

However, halfway through the piece, all that could be heard was...

despair--

despair--

despair--

The Chu Lu people's suona horns grew ever louder!

Originally, I just wanted to test how far this kid could go, but unexpectedly... Chu Luren suddenly took the lead, and the sound of the suona burst forth, with other instruments becoming accompaniment!

Now the elders became even more serious, but Chu Luren was only just beginning to show his strength...

Chapter 953 A Superior Skill

Chu Luren and the thirteen elders played together. At first, everyone played together and did not immediately start to fight each other.

But gradually they all revealed their true colors, vying to be the "protagonist" in this ensemble...

However, Chu Luren took it a little more seriously and immediately stood out after starting to sing in a long, drawn-out tune.

After all, in terms of internal strength, Chu Luren is stronger in a one-on-one fight, and he's playing the suona!

Suddenly, the "world situation" changed from a fragmented landscape of warring states to one dominant power, devouring and consuming everything in its path...

As soon as Chu Luren became the lead musician, the elders could no longer sit still. They thought to themselves: "This young man has no musical ethics! He's bullying our refined music just because the suona is so loud!"

Taking this as an opportunity, the elders stopped being polite and began to work together.

The situation was restored to the state of thirteen rebel kings. Although it shocked the "King of Men", the fact that the king had the upper hand and was outnumbered meant that he lost the upper hand in terms of momentum. It was equivalent to acknowledging the temporary leadership of the Chu Lu people.

The melody changes again, and suddenly war rages across the land, as if the emperor's kingdom is in peril...

ta-ta-ta--

But at this moment, Chu Luren once again made a high-profile statement—Chu Luren is now performing at his peak and beyond!

After all, playing music requires an ensemble to truly elevate one's performance. The current ensemble of the elders, especially one with a touch of eccentricity, is precisely what makes the Chu Lu people more and more courageous in their "battle".

To an outsider at this moment, the suona playing by the Chu Lu people, accompanied by the melody, already revealed distorted light and shadow...

After most of the country fell, the "King of Men" fought a desperate battle, broke through the siege of thirteen rebel groups, and once again became the most powerful in the world!

Although they ultimately failed to regain control of the country, the various rebel kings had exhausted all their tricks and retreated to the outskirts, obediently submitting to the emperor and paying tribute...

As the climax of the long note reached its peak, the Chu Lu people's suona came to an abrupt end.

At this moment, Chu Luren's face was also flushed, obviously because his true energy had been too agitated during the performance.

These thirteen old guys joining forces are aiming to take on Yaoyue!

If it were a direct confrontation, Chu Luren would be no match for him. Even if he was good at group battles, he couldn't withstand the fact that at this level, everyone would definitely have their own trump cards. You should know that Yaoyue's "Mingyu Gong" is also good at fighting against many opponents.

If Chu Luren were to truly fight thirteen against one, his only chance of victory would be to engage the enemy at sea or on a ship—once they were all in the sea, Chu Luren would have the home-field advantage, and besides, the group of old men and women would certainly not be as physically fit as Chu Luren…

However, if we're talking about who's the best in terms of sound, Chu Luren not only performed exceptionally well under pressure and made further progress, but the suona itself also had the advantage!

Just like how, even without internal strength or musical skills, the suona is still good at "stealing" the center position in ordinary performances.

In this way, it even briefly created a situation where Chu Luren single-handedly suppressed the "Sunset Red Band"!

Imagine a group of thirteen elderly musicians, whose combined age is a thousand, playing a suona (a traditional Chinese wind instrument), and a young man comes along and drowns them all out—what an imposing scene that would be!

This gave Chu Luren the feeling of "punching the South China Sea nursing home"...

"Excellent! Truly, heroes emerge from among the young!" Mi Shiba praised without reservation.

He just beat the drum, and his arm hurts from swinging it so much; he definitely didn't hold back.

“Zhou Beijun… Hey! You can actually live up to that name!” Ghost Child said breathlessly.

The instrument he used was the "shakuhachi," which evolved from the flute in Japan.

Before coming to Xia Ke Island, Gui Tong Zi spent many years traveling in Japan, but he was not a local.

Rather, it was because of his short stature that he was not well-liked in China, which is why he went to Japan, where people are generally not tall...

The Yagyu clan had good genes among the Japanese, and as a noble samurai and martial artist, they were well-nourished, so their physique was considered tall even by Chinese standards.

In reality, among ordinary Japanese people, the demon child could only be described as short in stature, not as obviously deformed.

So he happily stayed in Japan...

Thirty years ago, when he came to Xia Ke Island, he was already the leader of the Iga Sect, and also Duan Tianya's ancestor.

Combining Chinese martial arts with Japanese ninjutsu, he is a master who appears only once every few centuries in the Iga school. In terms of his status in the Japanese martial arts world, he is even above Nemuri Kyoshiro and Yagyu Tajima-no-kami.

When the demon boy was still around, Yagyu Tajima-no-kami didn't even dare to speak loudly in front of the Iga sect...

"Kid! Fight me!" Mad Lion Iron Warrior jumped out, pointing at Dog Bastard and shouting.

"Huh? Uncle, why are you fighting?" The bastard hadn't even reacted yet.

"You blockhead! You bully the weak and fear the strong?" Ghost Child kicked Tie Zhan.

“He’s really good. Even if you all teamed up to play music and sing, you couldn’t stop him. I’m definitely no match for him. The other one… should be pretty good too. That way, we’ll have more motivation to fight!” Tie Zhan glared at Gou Zazhong with fierce fighting spirit in his eyes.

Tie Zhan was honest enough to feel that Chu Luren was too strong, and he didn't even have a chance to fight back, so it wouldn't be interesting to fight him. On the contrary, Gou Zazhong... was probably also very strong, but Tie Zhan didn't know exactly how strong he was, so he would be more motivated to fight him.

However, his words offended many, and the elders began to condemn him...

"I won't fight, I won't fight," the bastard shook his head repeatedly.

"A real man doesn't need to be so indecisive! Besides... when you see me, the Mad Lion Iron Warrior, whether you fight or not is not up to you!" Iron Warrior said, and with a loud shout, he charged towards the bastard.

The bastard dog just looked embarrassed and simply closed his eyes...

Fine, if you insist on hitting me, then go ahead!

Tie Zhan unleashed his "Crazy 108 Strikes," his hands flashing out afterimages, and his elbows, knees, and foreheads all became weapons, unleashing waves of chaotic power onto the bastard.