The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

In the original work, it was Xiaolongnu and Yang Guo who, by chance, discovered the secret of the combined attack of this sword technique!

After obtaining the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra, Chu Luren studied it diligently. With his current extensive knowledge and the corroboration of his "semi-spoiler" foresight, he naturally discovered many of its wonders.

For example, the internal energy cultivation techniques in the first six volumes, when practiced by two people together, can be described as being stable yet restless, restless yet stable, neither restless nor stable, and both stable and restless... The requirements for mental state in each volume are ever-changing!

If one grasps the essence of it, one can progress rapidly. However, if one's mindset is contrary to it, one will have to put in more effort and there is a risk of going astray or becoming possessed by evil spirits.

Such a complex state of mind can only be found in couples, especially those who are deeply in love but have never made their feelings clear, creating a sense of ambiguity.

True couples who practice together tend to be less impulsive because they are so familiar with each other...

Chu Luren even suspected that Lin Chaoying herself had not reached the highest level of cultivation, since, judging from her state of mind, it was merely Lin Chaoying's wish and expectation.

After obtaining the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra, Chu Luren did not rush to cultivate or fuse with it. Now that Chu Luren has the "Dream God Body", he can cultivate on his own even without fusing with it, and he is at the level of a "martial arts prodigy"!

"Dream God" is currently cultivating the "Minor Chaos Technique," and his progress is rapid even without badges. If he were to equip badges, he could progress even faster.

In fact, compared to the original version of "Bei Ming Divine Skill", the cultivation speed is faster, and when combined with the physique of a martial arts prodigy, it is easier to achieve success.

On the contrary, although the "Minor Chaos Technique" is not inferior to the "Northern Darkness Divine Technique" in terms of grade, it is not as cost-effective as the "Northern Darkness Divine Technique" because the "Dream God Body" itself does not have innate energy and therefore cannot change its meridian structure.

The reason Chu Luren chose the Lesser Chaos Technique was that he was prepared to switch to a better option later.

After all, once Chu Luren has an epiphany in the "Dream God" state, he will be unable to cultivate in peace. Therefore, if he changes his internal energy, he will need to consider the compatibility issues with the previous one, just like ordinary people.

Most of the meridians in the "Northern Darkness Divine Art" are the opposite of ordinary internal energy cultivation methods. Like the "Star Absorbing Technique," it is the martial art least suitable for switching to other internal energy cultivation methods. However, the "Little Chaos Art" can be smoothly transitioned to almost any martial art because of its variable nature.

Although the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra was exceptionally brilliant, it did not reach the point where Chu Luren was determined to switch to practicing it; he simply "collected" it for the time being.

After Wang Yuyan joined the Ancient Tomb Sect, Chu Luren stayed for three more days before deciding to say goodbye and leave.

As everyone was seeing him off, Li Mochou mysteriously called him back, pulled him aside, and seemed to want to say a few words to him alone...

As Chu Luren was puzzled, Li Mochou said in a pretentious tone, "Since Young Master Chu has become a member of our Ancient Tomb Sect, shouldn't you take the initiative to step forward if the sect leader has any problems?"

"This...Does Sect Leader Long have any enemies?" Chu Luren looked at Li Mochou with a puzzled expression, as if to say, "No one bullies her except you."

Li Mochou continued in a raised tone: "Six months later, on May 15th, is the birthday of the sect leader's junior sister... which is actually the day she was taken back to the Ancient Tomb."

Chu Luren continued to look at her, vaguely sensing that... Li Mochou seemed to be feeling guilty?

"Ahem, this is my junior sister's eighteenth birthday," Li Mochou said after a pause.

"So what?" Chu Luren still didn't understand.

“So perhaps someone will use the ‘martial arts contest to find a husband’ as an excuse to cause trouble in Zhongnan Mountain!” Li Mochou said through gritted teeth.

Chu Luren: ...

There is clearly a necessary logical relationship here—why would someone necessarily come to hold a martial arts contest to find a husband once someone turns eighteen?

However, Li Mochou kept staring at him, trying her best to create an atmosphere of "Don't ask who instigated it".

Actually, there's no need to ask anymore!

It's certain that Li Mochou still harbored resentment towards her junior sister, so she spread rumors everywhere. Now she's too embarrassed to admit it and wants Chu Luren to resolve it.

Moreover, Chu Luren then realized that there was indeed such a scene in the original work—when Guo Jing brought Yang to Zhongnan Mountain, they were mistaken for "lecherous thieves" seeking to marry Xiaolongnu, and were stopped by the Quanzhen Sect's sword formation...

It was precisely because of this that Guo Jing and Zhao Zhijing became enemies. However, Guo Jing, being simple-minded, didn't take it to heart. Instead, he thought that Zhao Zhijing's martial arts were quite good, as he could withstand a few of his moves, and that he was a reliable teacher for Yang Guo. He never imagined that Zhao Zhijing hated him for making him lose face.

The reason for this incident was that someone spread a rumor in the martial arts world that there was an unparalleled beauty in the Tomb of the Living Dead in Zhongnan Mountain who would hold a martial arts contest to find a husband on her eighteenth birthday, which attracted the Mongol prince Huo Du.

"I can't possibly get involved in some kind of martial arts contest to choose a husband, can I?" Chu Luren said with difficulty.

"Nobody's telling you to actually find a husband! As an outer sect elder, you should just drive away all the suspicious people who believe the rumors!" Li Mochou said irritably.

"If that's all... then fine, May 15th, I've got it." Chu Luren's reluctant expression made Li Mochou rub the Ice Soul Needle.

The fourth year of the Tiansheng era had a leap twelfth month, meaning there were two twelfth months, which meant there were still nearly seven months left. Naturally, Chu Luren wouldn't be idle. If he had time in February, he would like to go to Wudang again.

As for now, after leaving the ancient tomb, Chu Luren did not go far, but instead prepared to "explore" the surrounding area!

Chapter 125 Investigating Hidden Dangers

After leaving the Ancient Tomb Sect, Chu Luren did not go far, but instead wandered around and explored the surrounding area.

If Granny Sun finds out, she'll probably think he has ulterior motives...

In reality, the Chu Lu people meant well!

There is a "backdoor" in the ancient tomb that no one knows about. What if our enemies find out about it? Wouldn't that be very dangerous?

Even if they aren't your enemies, what if you attract a thief or a womanizer?

Li Mochou is indeed fierce, but wouldn't a young lady be startled if someone suddenly sneaked into her home?

Besides the Nine Yin Manual, Chu Luren was also investigating potential safety hazards—I'm doing all this for the Ancient Tomb Sect!

After all, this Tomb of the Living Dead was built by Wang Chongyang after his failed uprising and when he was disillusioned with life. His original intention was to place the Dragon-Slaying Stone if the enemy came in to kill him, and then... he would leave through the underwater secret passage.

Wang Chongyang didn't even tell Lin Chaoying about this, fearing that she would use it to mock him for being both pretentious and lacking resolve...

After a night of hardship and sleeping in the open, the Chu deer finally found a decent pool of water the next day—they had found two before, but both were too shallow.

"The distance and depth between this pool and the ancient tomb seem quite plausible." After making a rough assessment, Chu Luren stripped down to only his shorts.

After all, Chu Luren only saw some descriptions of secret passages in the original work; he still had to search for them himself to find them.

As for why we had to take our clothes off?

Nonsense! Chu Luren's martial arts skills are far from being able to separate water, and Chu Luren's swimming ability is only average, and it is inconvenient for him to swim while wearing clothes.

On the contrary, among the miscellaneous arts of the Free and Unfettered School is the "Breath-Holding Skill". When Chu Luren went into the water, he first entered a state of enlightenment, then fell asleep and emerged with the "Dream God Body".

The Dream God can easily perform breath-holding exercises. The reason for the sudden enlightenment is that, although the Dream God cannot cultivate in the state of enlightenment, it can reduce the consumption of its internal energy, allowing the Dream God to maintain its state for longer!

Chu Luren went into the water to experience it. As he circulated his internal energy, the feeling of suffocation instantly disappeared. Moreover, the Dream God's internal energy was unaffected by consumption; as long as his own internal energy could sustain the Dream God, that was enough...

On his first dive, Chu Luren discovered an underwater passage, but his internal energy had already been depleted by 70%, so he went ashore to recuperate.

Two hours later, Chu Luren went into the water again. This time, in the secret passage, after consuming half of his internal energy, he had no end in sight. To be on the safe side, Chu Luren withdrew first.

Two more hours passed, and it was already night. It was too dark underwater, so Chu Luren meditated for the night and tried again the next morning...

Having learned from previous experience, he moved more quickly underwater this time, and finally reached the other side of the pool after consuming nearly 50% of his internal energy.

This sealed room, which hadn't been opened for at least twenty years, was thankfully well-oxygenated, and Chu Luren probably had another ventilation opening.

Moreover, Chu Luren could vaguely see some of the situation inside the secret room—with Chu Luren's internal strength and the comprehensiveness of the "Minor Chaos Skill," he did indeed have the ability to see at night. However, so-called night vision requires some light, and it cannot reach the legendary realm of "a white light arising from an empty room."

After some searching, Chu Luren took a torch from the wall and ignited it with his extreme Yang internal energy, which then provided great illumination.

Sure enough, the Nine Yin Manual was visible on the wall, and there were even stone steps leading up to it on one side...

However, it lacked the Sanskrit general outline that even Wang Chongyang couldn't understand; it only contained the internal cultivation techniques in the first volume and the parts related to deciphering the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra in the second volume's external cultivation techniques.

Chu Luren began by reading the second half of the book, which contained a great deal of information. He discovered that it contained the three techniques of releasing acupoints, holding one's breath, and shrinking bones, which were described in the Nine Yin Manual and were derived from the Daoist Canon.

There are also three external martial arts techniques: "Soul Transfer Technique," "Nine Yin Divine Claw," and "White Python Whip Technique." One is a mental manipulation technique, another is a hand technique, and the last one is a whip technique. There is also a somewhat sinister sound technique called "Ghost Prison Yin Wind Roar."

Then Chu Luren looked at the internal energy cultivation technique of the first volume of Nine Yin Manual...

Although without the "General Principles," it is not a complete Nine Yin Manual and cannot reach the ultimate state of "harmony between Yin and Yang," and has the drawback of "excessive Yin," it is still very possible to practice it.

According to Zhou Botong's account in the original work, the Nine Yin Manual originated from Huang Shang's re-editing of the Daoist Canon. From countless Daoist scriptures, he comprehended a set of unparalleled martial arts. Later, when suppressing the rebellion of Fang La, the previous leader of the Ming Cult, he killed many of the Ming Cult's Dharma Kings and Dharma Protectors. Moreover, at that time, many major sects of the Ming Cult cooperated with him, and some of the people Huang Shang killed were even members of these major sects...

So, after beating the young, the old came. Huang Shang was outnumbered but still managed to kill several of his enemies before escaping. A group of shameless old men went and killed Huang Shang's parents, wife, and children. Huang Shang deeply hated these martial arts people and hid in the deep mountains, where he devoted himself to studying martial arts for many years. He incorporated his enemies' moves into the Taoist martial arts manual, believing that he was not only invincible but also capable of fighting against overwhelming odds!

However, after Huang Shang emerged from seclusion, he discovered that decades had passed since he began studying martial arts. Among the martial arts practitioners who had killed his family, the once vibrant and beautiful female warriors were now elderly women confined to their sickbeds.

Huang Shang searched around and only found an old woman whose mind was no longer clear. So... Huang Shang was saddened but also let go of his hatred. After feeding the old woman a bowl of porridge, he left and reorganized what he had learned, hoping to continue it. This is the "Nine Yin Manual"!

Chu Luren pondered that without the general outline, it couldn't be considered a complete "Nine Yin Manual," but even with only the internal energy cultivation of the first volume, it should still be practiced.

However, after reading the first volume several times, not only did the "badge" not appear in his mind, but... based on his own accumulation, Chu Luren also vaguely felt that the first volume was missing content.

“Something seems to be missing up ahead. Could it be… in the coffin up there?” Chu Luren looked at the stairs to the side.

Climbing the steps, at the very top, directly above, was a heavy wooden plank. Chu Luren groped around and discovered a mechanism that could be twisted, allowing him to lift the plank.

With a loud crash, the wooden board was lifted, but it only opened a small angle before getting stuck!

Chu Luren went up through the crack and felt around. He realized that since the secret passage was under the coffin, the normal procedure was to open the coffin lid first and then lift the bottom panel. However, he was trying to get out from under the coffin, but the bottom panel was blocked by the coffin lid.

After all, it was a coffin prepared by Wang Chongyang for himself. Although no one had been buried yet, Chu Luren was still very careful and did not resort to violence. He moved around for a long time and finally, without opening the coffin lid, he managed to pull down the bottom board...

When the torch shone on it, sure enough, there were words inside the coffin lid. On it were Wang Chongyang's arrogant boasts about himself, and... there was also some content from the beginning of the first volume!

After reading everything, the badge was finally completed...

But just then, the coffin lid was dragged!

Chapter 126 Supernatural Events in the Ancient Tomb

When Hong Lingbo and Wang Yuyan first entered the ancient tomb, they were partly afraid of the eerie place, and partly... curious.

The ancient tomb is indeed large, and it will take some time to familiarize oneself with all the paths, secret chambers, and mechanisms.

The two were getting familiar with their surroundings when they suddenly heard a series of strange noises, "bang," "bang," and so on.

"Ah! Uncle-Master, what...what was that sound?" Hong Lingbo was startled.

Wang Yuyan was actually a little scared, after all, she was not as good as Hong Lingbo in terms of martial arts. However, she still did not forget to maintain the composure that a lady should have and tried to say calmly, "It should be my senior sisters or Granny Sun activating some mechanism."

“But nobody’s over there, right?” Hong Lingbo clearly didn’t accept this explanation.

“Well… the mechanisms in the ancient tomb are so complex, perhaps in some places the mechanisms are spread out so widely that if you activate one here, the mechanism room over there will also vibrate!” Wang Yuyan put it another way.

"Uncle-Master, should we... go take a look?" Although Hong Lingbo was cowardly, he still made a statement that wouldn't last five minutes in a supernatural movie.

Hong Lingbo regretted her words as soon as they were spoken, but Wang Yuyan, after hearing them, had already forced herself to say, "Okay, okay!"

After Wang Yuyan finished speaking, she wanted to swallow her words back, but with her junior disciple beside her, it didn't seem appropriate. The two looked at each other and laughed awkwardly for a long time, neither willing to be the first to speak, so they slowly moved towards the place where the voice came from.

result……

"Master, Uncle-Master, that looks like... the final resting place of our Patriarch!"

Hong Lingbo and Wang Yuyan had also figured out the direction from which the sound was coming from. What was even more alarming was that the sound was still coming out, but it was much more "subtle" than before, as if something was being slowly moved!

The two quickly turned around and ran back the way they came, calling Li Mochou, Xiaolongnu, and Granny Sun to come with them.

When everyone returned to the ancestral master's spirit chamber, the sound had stopped...