The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

"How much do you know about the dragon veins?" Long'er asked Chu Luren directly after entering the room.

"It is said that... there are eight dragon veins in the world, located in the eight directions of the Central Plains. Some superstitious beliefs hold that whoever occupies a dragon vein will possess the fortune to rule the Central Plains?" Chu Luren said, half-denyingly.

After all, this was what Murong Jiu had told him, but in the end, Chu Luren didn't believe it!

"Occupy the dragon vein? Heh, perhaps it's true... But when I go to find the dragon vein, it's not to offer sacrifices or worship it, but to completely seize it!" Long'er said with great momentum.

However, perhaps thinking about his own situation, he quickly lost heart.

"Seize the dragon vein? The true essence of a divine beast?" Chu Luren guessed what she meant.

“That’s right. Even in an era when the Heavenly Gate has been fully open for a long time, the Dragon Vein Divine Beast is still the most outstanding among all divine beasts, and its true essence is also very different from that of ordinary divine beasts…” Long’er explained.

The more powerful the divine beast, the stronger its "true essence"!

Animals like the Yeti and the Emei Giant Ape can only be considered exotic beasts, and they are also affected by the opening and closing of the Heavenly Gate, but they do not possess true essence.

Dragon vein divine beasts are the most top-tier divine beasts, and their true essence is naturally extraordinary. The legendary dragon essence and phoenix blood are nothing more than this.

Moreover, according to the records of the Divine Dragon Sect, the Dragon Vein Divine Beast is a divine beast born under the influence of the "Dragon Vein". It can be said that it has some of the properties of the Dragon Vein itself. After absorbing the true essence of the Dragon Vein Divine Beast, one's power can be increased several times within the Dragon Vein range!

A master who has absorbed the true essence of the dragon vein is already a martial arts grandmaster. With such a significant improvement, who in the world could rival him?

"Is this a record from the Divine Dragon Sect's scriptures?" Chu Luren's tone was slightly skeptical.

After all, things like dragon veins and divine beasts...

Although it does exist in this world, it has never been systematically studied!

The martial arts system has not yet progressed to this level, and the centuries-long cycle of "Tianmen" has buried many records and traditions.

The Holy Maiden of the Divine Dragon Sect spoke in such detail that Chu Luren began to question her.

"The founder of my sect was Zhongli, the wife of Zhuang Zhou from the pre-Qin period!" To increase his persuasiveness, Long'er revealed the long history of the Divine Dragon Sect.

"Huh? Wife... how did you create the 'Divine Dragon Maiden Technique'?" Chu Luren immediately noticed the blind spot.

Long'er: ...

Is this the normal reaction for a person?

“The patriarch is naturally different from other patriarchs…” Long’er said through gritted teeth.

"And then?" Chu Luren changed the subject.

"Zhuang Zhou possessed the Dream Butterfly True Essence and was one of the top masters when the Heavenly Gate opened. He and Hui Shi, along with other masters, went to sea to search for the Eastern Dragon Vein and found the Kun Fish... Although they did not succeed, the two masters, the founder and his wife, had a fortuitous encounter and tracked the Kun Fish for a long time." Long'er recited a record from the Divine Dragon Sect.

"Is the divine beast of the Eastern Dragon Vein the Kunyu of the Eastern Sea?" Chu Luren interrupted to confirm.

Chu Luren recalled the anecdote that the Cloth Bag Monk had told when he obtained the "cloth bag".

Was what he saw back then the legendary Kun fish?

"Not bad." Long'er frowned slightly in disdain, then said, "Didn't you inherit the lineage of the Free and Unfettered Sect? Don't you know anything about who your founder was?"

"Hmm?" Chu Luren's heart stirred upon hearing this.

Long'er frowned and said, "It seems you really don't know... The lineage of Zhuang Zhou's martial arts is the lineage of the Xiaoyao Sect! When the incident happened on the island before, some of us sisters wanted to seek help from the Xiaoyao Sect, but..."

Mentioning this matter, Long'er was also quite helpless—the Free and Unfettered Sect? They're in an even worse state than the Divine Dragon Sect!

It was only then that Chu Luren learned that the "Xiaoyao Sect" was actually a lineage of Zhuang Zhou, but considering the origins of their martial arts... it didn't seem so surprising.

Upon hearing this, Chu Luren curled his lip and said, "Hmph, so what if we find it... What does a friendship from over a thousand years ago count for? Some people still frame us without a second thought, without even considering the ancestral bond."

Moreover, the Xiaoyao Sect has no similar records.

After all, the previous generation's Xiaoyaozi was not properly passed down to Wuyazi, but disappeared after going to sea.

Long'er did not deny this point—at that time, she had already allied with Wu Sangui, and was naturally on the opposite side of Dongfang Bubai and Chu Luren. Moreover, she wanted to force the Mu family to rebel against Dali, so she instigated Chu Luren and the Mu family on Wei Xiaobao's advice.

"So... then what you're familiar with should also be the Kun fish, right? Why not go look for the East Dragon Vein, but instead focus on the Northeast Dragon Vein?" Chu Luren was even more confused.

Long'er replied matter-of-factly, "Dragon vein divine beasts are not something one person can defeat... Fish swim in the sea, who can catch them?"

"So, neither Patriarch Zhuang Zhou nor Patriarch Zhongli succeeded... Then, regarding the dragon vein you mentioned, has anyone ever succeeded?" Chu Luren first felt he needed to confirm that those ancient texts weren't just random writings.

"Guiguzi, Guiguzi once slew the divine beast Da'ao of the west and obtained the true essence of the dragon vein, making him invincible in the west!" Long'er strongly proved that she was not talking nonsense.

"Then...did your ancestor get married first and then create the 'Divine Dragon Maiden Skill,' or did he create the skill first and then fall in love with Patriarch Zhuang Zhou?" Chu Luren was really curious.

Long'er: ...

"do not know!"

Chapter 1014, Section 42

Long'er interrupted Chu Luren's question impatiently, not understanding why Chu Taisui always missed the point...

Shouldn't we be concerned with finding the dragon veins outside the pass right now?

Chu Luren felt that this involved the creation process of the "Divine Dragon Maiden Skill," a very profound martial arts issue. As for the dragon veins outside the pass...

"Of the eight copies of the Forty-Two Chapters Sutra, I have three. How many copies have you gotten your hands on?" Chu Luren asked directly.

Long'er: ...

Chu Luren already knew that the secret of the dragon vein was related to the "Forty-Two Chapters Sutra". Long'er had also expected this, but he was not sure before, as he had several copies of it.

Seeing that the Holy Maiden of the Divine Dragon Cult remained silent, Chu Luren said disdainfully, "You don't actually have any of them, do you?"

"I have two books!"

Chu Luren continued to express his disdain, while Long'er gritted her teeth and said, "Your three books... were actually obtained from the traitors I taught, weren't they?"

That's right, all four books that Chu Luren read were given to him by Mao Dongzhu.

Upon hearing that Chu Luren had "stolen" "his scriptures" and then mocked him, Long'er felt a pang of sadness.

Considering that she had almost completely lost her martial arts skills and had just given gifts, Chu Luren didn't hold it against her and changed the subject: "Where did you get your two books from? Have you discovered the secret behind them?"

Upon hearing this, Long'er shook her head somewhat dejectedly, and then said, "It seems that we need to find all eight volumes to uncover the secrets within."

Upon hearing this, Chu Luren reached out his hand towards her.

Long'er was stunned for a moment upon seeing this, then bit her lip and did not make any demands. Instead, she obediently took out two scriptures from her bosom, which she had probably prepared beforehand.

When Chu Luren saw the scripture, he already frowned deeply, and after taking it, his nostrils twitched even more.

Long'er's face immediately flushed red, thinking to herself: Is this guy some kind of pervert? He didn't do anything during that opportunity just now, but now he's doing it again...

Is that a look of disgust on your face? I'm really sorry for soiling the scriptures.

"Where did this come from? The map and ginseng roots inside are gone!" Chu Luren touched the cover briefly and then put the book down.

The map fragments were one thing, but the ginseng root had a very faint smell; however, the Chu Lu people could still detect it.

"What?" Long'er was startled upon hearing this.

He immediately picked up the scripture and examined it carefully. Sure enough, he found that the cover had been re-stitched, and his face turned pale.

Seeing Chu Luren staring at her, Long'er said with a gloomy expression, "It's Wei Xiaobao! How dare he!"

Just then, one of Long'er's trusted confidants came in and whispered something to her.

Long'er knew that Chu Taisui could hear her, but she didn't stop him—because she had just been sent to investigate those who had been near the bathing area, and Long'er didn't want Chu Taisui to really think that she had poisoned him!

It's like I'm offering myself up for free...

Upon hearing the whispered words, Chu Luren's lips curled into a slight smile—it was Wei Xiaobao again! It seemed that his demonic thoughts had erupted several times before not simply because he had seen Ake, but also because he had done quite a few things.

Long'er's face was ashen; she never imagined that a scoundrel would bring her to such a state...

Wei Xiaobao never considered the serious consequences of being discovered later. In his view, the beautiful saintess was going to give Ake a bath, and then she would most likely entertain Wu Kang. Even if it wasn't Wu Kang, it would be someone else. He just thought it was to find a son-in-law for Wu Sangui!

So, administering some strong medicine was merely to "enhance the mood," to prevent Ake from revealing that Wu Sangui wanted to reunite with her as father and daughter...

He never imagined that the medicine would ultimately be used on the saintess. If only he had known… if only he hadn’t left!

"Go and fetch that wretched child! Be careful... don't let him find out anything. Just say that I have other important matters to discuss with him." Long'er immediately gave the order.

"Yes."

After the female disciple left to carry out her orders, another messenger arrived shortly afterward with an urgent report: "Holy Maiden, something terrible has happened! Prince Pingxi has arrived with a large number of people and has surrounded the area!"

The Divine Dragon Sect's base in Luoyang was a large mansion in a secluded alley. At this moment, there was a commotion outside, as if they were surrounded by the personal guards of the Prince of Pingxi.

Upon hearing this, Long'er's expression darkened further. She thought to herself, "Could it be that that brat is working with Wu Sangui? So he crippled my martial arts first? No! If Chu Taisui hadn't arrived, I should already be dead from the poison..."

"That kid most likely misunderstood that you were going to give Ake to someone, and he also knew that she was Wu Sangui's daughter, so he drugged Ake and then instigated Wu Sangui to come over, so that Wu Sangui and Ake would lose face." Chu Luren pointed out the key to the matter.

This finally helped Long'er sort out her thoughts.

Ake's face turned pale—she knew Wu Sangui's reputation all too well, and besides, Chu Taisui's Righteous Alliance was also an enemy of Wu Sangui. She was actually his daughter, and Chu Taisui knew about it...

However, considering the heavy enemy forces outside, Ake gritted her teeth and said, "Hero Chu, you hide first. I... I can pretend to be your father and lure him away first, then... I'll come back to find you, okay?"

Chu Luren was stunned when he heard this, and then he realized that Ake not only had poor martial arts skills, but Jiunan had not taught her with care, so she didn't even have the most basic eyesight. She couldn't see that he could leave whenever he wanted, and that if Wu Sangui came in without any precautions, he would be the one in danger!

Her view on martial arts was still at the level of "Even if Master Chu is strong, he can't defeat so many people".

"That's not necessary. Although Wu Sangui has many troops, they can't stop me," Chu Luren said modestly.

Long'er then said, "Then you should hide first. I'll test him out. I can't reveal that there's something wrong with my martial arts... Also, there's a copy of the 'Forty-Two Chapters Sutra' in Wu Sangui's hands. If he doesn't cooperate, we can find a way to kidnap him and exchange it!"

"Where are the last two books?" Chu Luren asked after thinking for a moment.

Chu Luren has three books, all given to him by Mao Dongzhu. The Divine Dragon Cult has two books, but the contents have been taken by Wei Xiaobao. One book is in the hands of Wu Sangui, and it should be the one left behind by the leader of the Plain Blue Banner who wanted to overthrow the Qing and restore the Han dynasty after Wu Sangui defeated him.

There were two more books left... Chu Luren didn't bother to remember which ones he found, and the fragments had already been taken by Murong Jiu.

“The one from the Plain Yellow Banner is definitely in the hands of the royal family, either with the young emperor or with the old emperor at Mount Wutai. The one from the Bordered Blue Banner was previously obtained by Mao Dongzhu, and people in the sect became entangled with her because of it. In the end, her identity was discovered, and now the real Empress Dowager has been rescued, while the imposter’s whereabouts are unknown,” Long’er said.

Chu Luren nodded upon hearing this, roughly understanding why Mao Dongzhu had been unreachable lately. She had indeed been exposed, and the reason for this was that she had obtained another copy of the "Forty-Two Chapters Sutra," leading to constant clashes with the Divine Dragon Sect and ultimately resulting in her identity being revealed…

Chapter 1015 Kidnapping

At Chen Yuanyuan's request and after she informed on him, Wu Sangui arrived at the headquarters of the Divine Dragon Sect.

Wei Xiaobao went to Chen Yuanyuan first, indirectly informing Wu Sangui—after all, he and the old turtle didn't like each other, and Wu Sangui had seen him touch his nose several times. If he went to talk to Wu Sangui, Wu Sangui would probably kill him first!

He hurriedly told Chen Yuanyuan that Wu Kang had gone to the headquarters of the Divine Dragon Sect, seemingly for Ake...

As expected, Chen Yuanyuan fell for the trick and hurriedly went to find Wu Sangui—otherwise, wouldn't it have been a huge scandal if she had said that Ake was Wu Sangui's daughter?