The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

squeak-

The giant rat opened its mouth, letting out a sharp screech, and then charged at Chu Luren. At this moment, pus splattered from the part where its body was connected to the mechanism.

It's hard to say how destructive the pus is, but... it makes Yaoyue unwilling to get close.

So it became Chu Luren fighting this giant rat all by himself!

This rat was fast and agile. The force of its sharp claws as it swung down made Chu Luren realize that this thing was no weaker than the Tibetan snow monster or the Emei giant ape.

With a single swipe of its claws, the sharp claws cut deep into the stone wall. As Chu Luren dodged, it swept its claws back, leaving several feet deep scratches on the stone wall. Stone chips and fragments flew towards Chu Luren.

With a single gulp, accompanied by venom and a pungent odor, countless steel needles shot out…

In a flash, Chu Luren saw several steel pipes protruding from the rat's throat—presumably the nozzles of a hidden weapon.

Chu Luren then clapped his hands together, and a half-body phantom of the golden Buddha appeared around him. He also clapped his hands together, slapping all the steel needles that were shot at him into place, where they remained suspended in mid-air. After a slight release, they all fell to the ground...

The giant rat turned its head and bit at Chu Luren's "Law of Heaven and Earth". However, Chu Luren immediately formed palms with both hands and launched them with the force of snatching a pearl. Instantly, the original Law of Heaven and Earth dissipated and was replaced by the phantom of the True Martial Dragon Turtle. The dragon turtle's head, which resembled both a dragon and a turtle, stretched out its long neck and bit back!

As Chu Luren's palm strike changed, the dragon turtle phantom, which was locked in a stalemate, suddenly produced another snake head from its carapace, which bit directly at Wei Wuya on the rat's back.

Wei Wuyuan's actual combat ability was extremely poor. After all, with limbs like an infant's, it was obvious that physical training would not lead to anything, and his meridians would inevitably be crippled as well...

However, Wei Wuyuan's reaction was faster than Chu Luren had expected. He pulled the lever, and the control position was completely reversed. The "small" Wei Wuyuan was embedded headfirst into the giant rat's body, while what was flipped up was a metal shield-like shield covered by the hide of some unknown animal.

Chu Luren was unable to break through the "shell" directly, and even with his internal energy, he seemed unable to do anything to Wei Wuyuan.

Even so, Chu Luren still sensed that Yaoyue was looking at him.

In the past, Chu Luren wouldn't have thought too much about it, but now he couldn't help but wonder if his progress in "following the laws of heaven and earth" had surprised or even excited Yaoyue.

In terms of the ultimate state of mind, the "Dharma of Heaven and Earth," Chu Luren is more proficient than Yaoyue.

Inviting the Moon is driven by the ultimate power of Qi, forcibly pushing forward...

While Chu Luren's "qi" only reached the Heavenly Gate level, not the Heavenly Gate itself, and he was inferior to Yaoyue, at the same time, Chu Luren's "heart" had truly reached the Heavenly Gate level!

Combined, Chu Luren's "Law of Heaven and Earth" should be inferior to the Sweeping Monk, but it is more skillful than Yaoyue's.

Not long ago, the Heavenly Gate of Techniques was also broken open. As long as Chu Luren meditates for a period of time, he will be able to push his "techniques" to the Heavenly Gate level as well.

Of course, Yaoyue's reaction won't be as obvious as Su Ying's.

Furthermore, because of this disgusting giant rat that kept spraying pus, Yaoyue showed no intention of approaching it...

If Chu Luren weren't around, Yaoyue would have had no choice but to fight quickly and reluctantly. However, now that Chu Luren is present, Yaoyue chooses to stay far away.

Lianxing seemed inclined to help, but she was stopped by Yaoyue just as she was about to gather her strength.

"Dirty," Yaoyue reminded her.

Lianxing had no choice but to quietly retreat again...

For the Chu Lu people, this giant rat was perfectly manageable—after all, it was a combination of mechanical arts and strange beasts, so naturally it also had the weaknesses of both.

Compared to ordinary martial arts practitioners, this type of martial art has relatively fewer techniques and simpler offensive and defensive methods!

People usually subdue others with force, and this big rat doesn't have the strength to crush them, which is already a huge disadvantage.

After sparring with it for a while and figuring out most of its tricks, Chu Luren became increasingly adept at handling it.

At this moment, Chu Luren suddenly unleashed another palm strike, and the illusory image of the dragon turtle reappeared. Just then, Wei Wuyuan, as well as Yaoyue and Lianxing who were watching from the sidelines, seemed to vaguely see a huge Bagua plate appearing with Chu Luren at its center...

Just like the Tai Chi diagram when Zhang Wuji used the true meaning of Tai Chi at the Southern Shaolin Temple, the focus of Chu Luren's Bagua plate is not on the Yin-Yang fish in the middle, but on the Bagua symbolizing "Heaven, Earth, Wind, Thunder, Water, Fire, Mountain, and Lake" around it!

The techniques "Heart to Heart" and "Following the Laws of Heaven and Earth" are used simultaneously, and the Bagua diagram that appears in the mind resonates with the visible phantom of the dragon turtle's shell...

Wei Wuyuan seemed to sense something at this moment, and suddenly pulled the control lever. The giant rat ran to the corner and started digging downwards!

The floor here had been tampered with; it was much thinner than elsewhere, and the giant rat vanished in an instant...

"Stop!" Yaoyue shouted and chased after him.

We still don't know where Hua Wuque is being held.

"Wait a minute..." Chu Luren couldn't stop him in time, and could only chase after them together.

Chapter 986 Sculpture

The "One Heart Sutra" and the "Myriad Paths Diagram" are the two main cultivation methods of the Chu Lu people, symbolizing the continuous cycle of beginning and end.

However, one was too profound and the other too complex, and Chu Luren did not fully master them.

Among them, the Chu Lu people also have a gradual approach to the "Ten Thousand Paths Map"...

The Bagua diagram was the biggest inspiration, with the Taiji diagram at the center and the Bagua pattern around it, but this is not the complete version.

There are even more complex ones, with outer rings of Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, Five Elements and Meridians, Sixty-Four Hexagrams... which can be layered on top of each other and endlessly deduced!

Furthermore, the Dragon Turtle Strength of the Chu Lu people is based on the "Dragon Turtle" and "Bagua," making it easy to deduce from this foundation.

Therefore, Chu Lu recently developed an external, turtle-like strength...

Moreover, the combination of "following the laws of heaven and earth" and "heart to heart" is also "the mind and the power in harmony," which is quite powerful.

Unfortunately, Wei Wuyuan was cowardly as a mouse. After sensing that something was wrong, he refused to confront Chu Luren head-on.

Despite being told not to, Yaoyue chased after him, and Chu Luren could only catch up with her.

"Wait! Yaoyue, I know where Que'er is, ignore this stinky rat!" Chu Luren shouted.

Chu Luren said "can," not that he already knew—he was planning to go back now and ask Su Ying if there were any hidden cells here.

Unfortunately, Yaoyue didn't stop. After digging through the floor, she found herself in a downward-facing tunnel, with many traps and obstacles along the way...

It was precisely because of their familiarity with the mechanisms and the constant triggering along the way that Wei Wuyuan and the big rat were able to chase and escape from Yaoyue.

However, Yaoyue eventually caught up completely, but at that moment, Wei Wuyuan's "chair" bounced out...

Meanwhile, the giant rat's eyes turned blood red, completely consumed by the color of blood, and it launched a frenzied attack on Yaoyue.

Chu Luren cleared away all the traps along the way, and with Lianxing following him, he was a step too late to arrive. Just then, the big rat had already been turned into a zombie by Yaoyue—a "zombie" as in frozen.

"Wait... alright, let's go in and take a look, but if we can't find Wei Wuyuan, we'll go up and think of another way." Chu Luren wanted to stop Yaoyue, but then he noticed that behind the rat was a double stone door.

The stone gate is carved with reliefs of two women. Although stone carvings are rarely lifelike, this one is remarkably expressive, especially in its portrayal of their temperament. Chu Luren immediately recognized that it was modeled after Yaoyue and Lianxing...

Obviously, it's impossible to expect Yaoyue to pretend she didn't see it.

Seeing that Yaoyue's face was so gloomy it looked like it was about to drip water, Chu Luren took the lead and made up his mind that if there was anything bad inside, he would destroy it immediately.

Chu Luren placed his hand on the stone door in an easy-to-push position...

"Be careful with your hands," Yaoyue's icy voice drifted over.

Chu Luren: ...

creak-

Chu Luren pushed open the door and found various life-size human sculptures inside...

The main characters are undoubtedly Yaoyue and Lianxing; some scenes depict the two of them getting married to someone, while others show them kneeling in submission...

These sculptures all bear a strong remnant of "heart." Although they are just grayish-white stones, one can imagine the colors in them at a glance, creating a lifelike and seemingly moving effect.

However, it can be seen that Wei Wuyuan harbors a complex mix of feelings towards Yaoyue and Lianxing, including hatred, but also immense respect... or rather, a perverse form of worship.

In both cases, the two men remained aloof, their expressions at most conveying a gentle submission, without any overly lewd expressions.

This can be seen from Wei Wuyuan's training of Su Ying!

Even so, after seeing something from behind Chu Luren, Yaoyue was already furious enough...

Chu Luren couldn't find a target to destroy for the time being, after all... these statues lacked a male protagonist!

Upon first glance, Chu Luren was preoccupied with his imagination—it was actually quite satisfying.

So there wasn't time to destroy it...

However, as Chu Luren continued reading, he discovered a statue depicting Wei Wuyuan whipping Yaoyue and Lianxing, who were apologizing to him. It seemed to be about the time he severely injured Wei Wuyuan before he apologized.

The whips looked like they were being swung, and you could almost see the clothes trembling...

No! "Wei Wuyuan" is actually moving!

Chu Luren struck out with a palm, and Wei Wuya looked at him and sneered. Then... he was "shattered" from a distance by Chu Luren's palm force.

However, it wasn't fragments of flesh and blood, but rather a pile of rubble, as if what Chu Luren had just seen was just an illusion, and that it had been a sculpture from the very beginning!

"Be careful, something's not right here." Chu Luren had just warned when they heard a cracking sound.

Following the sound, one could see that next to the sculpture that had just been "married," there was a fragment frozen into ice shards. Judging from its broken state, it should also be a statue of Wei Wuyuan.

Chu Luren searched around and found that each sculpture contained a hidden mechanism that could pop out Wei Wuyuan's sculpture. At the same time, Chu Luren suspected that he also knew a clever illusion technique, and that for that moment he was definitely a real person!

He merely used the sculptures here, especially the lingering emotions on them, to dull Chu Luren and Yaoyue's senses, and then used his own sculptures to replace them, thus achieving this "appearing and disappearing without a trace" effect.

Without hesitation, Chu Luren stabbed the statue next to the one depicting "Inviting the Moon and Pitying the Stars Reading 'Admonitions for Women'"—a place where Wei Wuyuan's statue could have sprung up—to pieces with a single blow.

Destroy all the places where he can hide or change locations, and naturally he will have nowhere to escape!

However, Chu Luren did not expect that there were multiple traps inside.

Directly destroying this part of Wei Wuyuan's statue caused the remaining "heart" within the sculpture to erupt even more intensely.

In his daze, Chu Lu also began to hallucinate.

It felt as if I were holding a ruler, testing Yaoyue and Lianxing on the contents of "Admonitions for Women," and if Yaoyue answered incorrectly, I would even hit her hand with the ruler...

puff-

Chu Luren laughed out loud.

However, a chill startled Chu Luren awake. He saw Yaoyue looking over with a blank expression, and Chu Luren quickly composed himself.

"Cough cough, Lianxing, you guard the door, Yaoyue... you watch the surroundings, leave all this to me, I'll make sure he has nowhere to escape!" Chu Luren said as he went to smash another one.

Well, if Yaoyue and Lianxing find out, they will definitely be very indignant. It's better not to affect their mood. I'll handle it all!

As for whether there is any danger after falling into a hallucination?

Chu Luren's "heart" is only higher than Wei Wuyuan's. Even if these sculptures are a mixture of his purest (perverted) emotions, they cannot truly shake Chu Luren.

Moreover, as long as he harbors even the slightest murderous intent, or his aura locks onto something, Chu Luren will naturally sense it under the warning of the Heavenly Spirit Embryo...