The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

Instead of being able or willing to actively encourage them to change their ways, he forgot his initial "idol," Liu Zhengfeng. When Liu Zhengfeng befriended Qu Yang, the first thing he did was to make Qu Yang swear an oath never to harm anyone from the Five Mountains Sword Sect, and Qu Yang indeed never broke his oath until his death.

However, considering the people he could befriend, Chu Luren believed that although Linghu Chong could not match Qiao Feng's chivalrous spirit and was rather petty in his sensitive areas, he was still a worthy person to befriend.

after all……

Even among righteous people, there are very few who would risk their lives to save a fellow member from another sect whom they do not know. Linghu Chong's "insignificance" only becomes apparent when compared to "great heroes" like Qiao Feng and Guo Jing, who are either righteous and loyal or dedicated to their country and people.

However, in Chu Luren's previous life, a bunch of martial arts public accounts and self-media took advantage of the resurgence of feudal morality that "a teacher's kindness is greater than heaven" to persistently smear Linghu Chong and create popularity. They didn't even need to read the original work and directly fabricated their own settings, which caused his infamous reputation.

It's roughly the same formula as "Pigsy, who made the greatest contribution to the journey to the West" and "Liu Bei, who was thick-skinned and shameless".

……

"Halt! The Huashan Sect is closed and will not receive guests for the time being."

Chu Luren was stopped by a young disciple as soon as he approached the Huashan Sect's gate.

“I remember you…you are the sixth disciple of Sect Leader Yue, aren’t you?” Chu Luren recognized him immediately when he saw the monkey perched on his shoulder.

Lu Dayou, the sixth disciple of Mount Hua, was someone Chu Luren had met before at the Golden Basin Washing Hands Ceremony.

When Lu Dayou heard that Chu Luren recognized him, he broke out in a cold sweat. Fortunately... after thinking about it carefully, he also recognized Chu Luren. Otherwise, if the other party recognized him but he couldn't remember the other party's name, wouldn't that be disrespectful to the other party?

"So it's Master Chu. Are you here to visit? Well, my master has gone down the mountain to eliminate evil and is not currently in the sect."

Lu Dayou realized halfway through his sentence that although Chu Luren was highly skilled in martial arts and his reputation in the martial arts world was on a completely different level from that of the younger disciples, he shouldn't have had much of a relationship with his master, given his age.

Perhaps he's here to catch up with Lin Pingzhi? Lu Dayou was somewhat reluctant to let Chu Luren in... after all, he didn't like Lin Pingzhi now, but he wouldn't be rude to Chu Luren.

"It was precisely because of this matter that I ran into that scoundrel Tian Boguang at the foot of Mount Hua. I heard that Sect Leader Yue was supposed to be chasing after that scoundrel in eastern Shaanxi, so..."

"Ah! Oh no! If he's on Mount Hua, could he be trying to lure us away from our mountain?" Lu Dayi was startled and somewhat panicked. This could be seen as a microcosm of the decline of Mount Hua.

"Don't worry, don't worry, I've already finished him off easily. I just happened to be in Huashan to let you know that you can go to Shaanxi and call Sect Leader Yue back..."

Chapter 134 Senior Mu

After Chu Luren killed Tian Boguang, he came to the Huashan Sect and was naturally treated as an honored guest.

Although when Lao Yue left, he instructed Huashan not to entertain guests to avoid being taken advantage of by treacherous people, it was not a strict order. If a senior from the righteous path of the martial arts world really came to visit, they would definitely be received.

Moreover, even though Chu Luren's status was somewhat inferior, he was still a rising star who had only emerged this year. However... he had killed Tian Boguang and come to Mount Hua to deliver the message, so that Old Yue wouldn't have wasted his time!

Such an important matter naturally requires us to invite them in and treat them well; otherwise, when Yue Buqun returns, he will blame them even more.

However, this also exposed the biggest weakness of the Huashan Sect – too few elders!

Because of the sword qi dispute back then, Yue Buqun's peers of the "Bu" generation, and even his elders of the "Qing" generation, either died in the fight, went into seclusion in despair, or split off and became like venomous snakes in the dark, watching Yue Buqun and waiting for the Sword Sect to make a comeback.

Normally, among the Huashan Sect, the only person of Yue Buqun's generation is his wife Ning Zhongze, who cannot compare to the other four sects of the Five Mountains Sword Sect.

Even though Hengshan is relatively weaker, it still has the Three Steadfast Hengshan, and the strongest Songshan, besides its leader Zuo Lengchan, also has the Thirteen Protectors of the same generation, all of whom are formidable masters...

It's not just a lack of combat power; in the current situation, with Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze not at home and only juniors remaining, it's impossible to make it a grand occasion!

Although Chu Luren is young, he is already quite famous in the martial arts world, especially after killing the notorious lecher Tian Boguang. In comparison, the younger disciples of the Huashan Sect are all just ordinary people. Linghu Chong, who had a little bit of fame and was even trying to use Tian Boguang's head to boost his career and climb the individual rankings, is now still reflecting on his mistakes!

Fortunately, Chu Luren didn't care about these things. After entering the mountain gate, he went to catch up with Lin Pingzhi, whom he knew better, and planned to persuade him to go to the Cliff of Contemplation together later.

Behind the scenes, Laudenau and others had already begun to discuss...

"Second Senior Brother! You should make a decision, should we have a banquet tonight or not?" Lu Dayou was extremely impatient with Lao Denuo.

Lao Denuo was the oldest among the disciples, already over fifty years old, slightly younger than Yue Buqun. However, because of Yue Buqun's health-preserving appearance, he looked older than Yue Buqun!

Lao Denuo was already a disciple with prior skills, so he couldn't be the eldest disciple or successor. Moreover, Linghu Chong was an orphan adopted by Yue Buqun and his wife, and his adoption date was actually earlier than Lao Denuo's. Therefore, Lao Denuo was the second disciple among the disciples.

"It's going to be a banquet, but who can host it... this..." Laudenau was also conflicted.

After all, Linghu Chong was still meditating on the Cliff of Contemplation. In terms of status, the second disciple of the prestigious Huashan Sect was now the highest-ranking. However... being older doesn't automatically make one a senior. Even if he were to preside over the banquet, he wouldn't be able to command the atmosphere!

"How about... we say that our second senior brother is actually our martial uncle?" Yue Lingshan said, a little petulantly.

"My little junior sister, don't be silly! If Master comes back, he'll expel me from the sect!" Laudenuo slapped his forehead in distress.

"Junior Sister, did that Lin fellow upset you?" Lu Dayou noticed that Yue Lingshan was throwing a tantrum.

"Who said that? How could Xiao Linzi offend me?" Yue Lingshan said, glaring at Lu Dayou, which made him not dare to ask any more questions.

Lin Pingzhi had, after all, rescued Yue Lingshan as a hero, and he was also handsome. When Yue Buqun took Lin Pingzhi as his junior sister, Yue Lingshan took a different view of this "young and handsome man" and immediately decided that she would no longer be his junior sister...

In terms of the order of their apprenticeship, the earliest was Linghu Chong, who was adopted at a young age. The second was Lao Denuo, who became Yue Buqun's apprentice when he was in his thirties and already possessed martial arts skills. The third was Yue Lingshan, Yue Buqun's daughter who was born late in life. However, when they were senior and junior disciples, Yue Lingshan was always the "junior sister".

Until Lin Pingzhi became a disciple, Yue Lingshan took the initiative to become the seventh disciple, that is, to become Lin Pingzhi's senior sister!

He not only liked to tease his junior brother, but also unusually devoted himself to teaching him swordsmanship, which made Lin Pingzhi very unpopular within the sect. It also caused Linghu Chong, who learned about this, to be troubled on the Cliff of Contemplation...

When Lin Pingzhi first joined Huashan, his fellow disciples all targeted him because of Yue Lingshan—after all, everyone had tacitly agreed that "senior brother and junior sister" were a couple, so they didn't "make a move." You, a newcomer, dare to steal our junior sister right away?

Especially people like Lu Dayou, although they don't have any bad intentions, as fans of Linghu Chong, they often bully Lin Pingzhi under the guise of sparring. This is also why Yue Lingshan secretly taught Lin Pingzhi swordsmanship!

However, unlike in the original work, Yue Lingshan doesn't see everything about Lin Pingzhi as good. What she mainly dislikes is that he always mentions "Brother Chu." The two even had an argument once about who is more powerful, "Brother Chu" or "Senior Brother."

In the end, of course, it ended with Lin Pingzhi apologizing...

This time, Chu Luren killed Tian Boguang and came to Mount Hua to deliver the news. Lin Pingzhi was very happy, which made Yue Lingshan, who had always "monopolized" her junior brother, a little jealous.

This is not surprising, after all, Yue Lingshan's feelings for Lin Pingzhi started from that awkward moment of hero saving the beauty, and she was "tired of being the junior sister" and had "the novelty of being the senior sister".

The fact that the other senior brothers were subtly targeting Lin Pingzhi further fueled Yue Lingshan's protective instincts and rebellious spirit.

However, the person Lin Pingzhi admires and relies on most now is not her, which makes Yue Lingshan somewhat depressed...

“Junior Sister, why don’t you… go and beg ‘that senior’ to come out of seclusion? This year is almost over, and there’s nothing urgent in the sect.” As Laudenuo spoke, a scheming glint flashed in his eyes.

If Yue Buqun were present, he would definitely be on guard—after all, Yue Buqun had already discovered Lao Denuo's identity as a "Songshan Sect spy," but deliberately kept him around to mislead Zuo Lengchan.

“This… But over the years, my father has never troubled Senior Mu. He only invites Senior Mu to the New Year’s banquet every year. Is it really necessary to invite Senior Mu out just to entertain the Chu Lu people?” Yue Lingshan frowned upon hearing this.

“Junior Sister, you don’t understand. Over the years, Master has never really entrusted that senior with anything. He has only invited him to the banquet every year. Since that’s the case… we should take this opportunity to invite that senior to host the banquet today. Then, when Master invites him again during the New Year, he might agree. Wouldn’t that bring our relationship closer?” Laudenuo said, making perfect sense.

Upon hearing what Laudenuo said, all the disciples agreed and began to persuade Yue Lingshan together...

The senior they were talking about was none other than Mu Renqing, who was now living in seclusion on Mount Hua, but whose mountain was not on the same mountain as the Mount Hua Sect!

Back then, Mu Qingren was also a master of the Qing generation of Huashan, and was considered the number one Qi Sect master at the time. However, during the later sword-qi conflict, not only did a large number of disciples die, flee, or get injured in the internal strife, but the Qi Sect also resorted to some underhanded tactics, which greatly disappointed Mu Qingren.

In a fit of anger, Mu Qingren changed his name to Mu Renqing, and none of his disciples followed the seniority of the Huashan Sect. He then withdrew from the Huashan Sect.

Chapter 135 Convincing the Fanboy

When Yue Lingshan was a child, she accidentally came to Hunyuan Peak and met Mu Renqing.

Perhaps due to his advanced age and tenderness for children, Mu Renqing usually strictly forbids Huashan disciples from approaching his Hunyuan Peak, but he treats Yue Lingshan very well. As a result, Yue Buqun took the opportunity to try to get close to her a few times.

After some back and forth, Mu Renqing finally agreed to Yue Buqun's request to help the Huashan Sect once a year...

Yue Buqun was also good at interpersonal relationships. He never actually instructed Mu Renqing to do anything. He simply invited him to attend the annual New Year's banquet.

Without the previous promise, Mu Renqing would not have paid any attention. However, Yue Buqun treated this as an "annual event" and invited him. Although Mu Renqing never gave him a warm welcome, he still attended every year.

It was already almost December. Although hosting a banquet for Chu Luren was a small matter, Lao Denuo's pretext was to use this small matter to put his promise to Mu Renqing and then invite him again during the New Year. If Mu Renqing was still willing to come, wouldn't the relationship between them be more relaxed?

Seeing that Lao Denuo said so, and that the other senior brothers also agreed, Yue Lingshan, without much thought, agreed and headed to Hunyuan Peak.

……

Chu Luren was unaware of the plight of the Huashan disciples, let alone Yue Lingshan's thoughts. At this moment, he was still drinking with Lin Pingzhi—Tian Boguang's fine wine was not being wasted.

However, Lin Pingzhi was still young and had previously resembled a rich young master more than a young swordsman. The wine that Tian Boguang chose for Linghu Chong was a bit too spicy for him, and he grimaced a little after drinking it. He was just barely keeping "Brother Chu" company.

"It's a pity that on Hengshan that day, that shorty Yu was shrewd enough to see that I was following him, so he deliberately created a diversion and escaped, otherwise... sigh." Chu Luren looked as if "shorty Yu was almost scared to death by me".

Lin Pingzhi was also saddened upon hearing this, but he still comforted him, saying, "Brother Chu, there's no need to blame yourself. My senior brother saw my parents at that time, and their meridians had already been shattered by that scoundrel. That guy never intended to spare my parents' lives!"

"Leaving aside these past events, how is Brother Lin doing on Mount Hua? From what I see..." Chu Luren didn't finish his sentence, after all, they were fellow disciples.

"No, no, everyone is very kind to me! Especially my master, mistress... and senior sister, and of course, my senior brothers are also very friendly and upright," Lin Pingzhi said immediately.

Firstly, he didn't want to appear to be bullied, and secondly, it was related to his upbringing.

Lin Zhennan's Fuwei Escort Agency relied on its influence to travel all over the country, managing to win over heroes from various sects and mountain strongholds during holidays...

What is meant by "carrying a caravan on a journey"?

With connections made between both the legitimate and illegitimate factions along the way, the escort route was considered complete.

The same principle applies to Lin Pingzhi's upbringing—if your senior brother bullies you, you must treat him well; otherwise, if things fall apart, everyone will suffer!

"Hmm... Senior Sister is very good to you?" Chu Luren said, feigning a teasing tone.

Upon seeing this, Lin Pingzhi immediately blushed and said, "No, it's not that she's very nice to me... no, that's not what I meant! The senior brothers all thought that senior sister and senior brother were a couple."

"What good is their 'thinking'? I thought all the heroines in the world would fall in love with me at first sight." Chu Luren didn't care much.

"This... Senior Brother is a very good person..." Lin Pingzhi still lacked the courage to steal, but he insisted on pretending that he had no intention of stealing.

"Who is better, me or Brother Linghu?" Chu Luren interrupted.

"Of course Brother Chu is the best!" Lin Pingzhi blurted out without even thinking.

"Then why isn't your senior sister paired with me?" Chu Luren said with a pout.

"This..." Lin Pingzhi understood what Chu Luren meant, but still sighed and said, "Alas, my family has suffered a great change, how could I have such thoughts?"

“That’s not right. People can’t live just for hatred. I’m sure Uncle Lin and Aunt Lin wouldn’t want you to live like this,” Chu Luren said weakly.

Indeed, for Lin Pingzhi, revenge was a must; otherwise, he could never be truly at ease or carefree. It wasn't something that could be resolved simply by thinking things through.

At this moment, Lin Pingzhi showed a conflicted expression, as if he had made a tough decision... He looked around, then leaned closer and whispered to Chu Luren, "Brother Chu... why was Senior Sister... why was she there in Fuzhou? And... with Senior Sister's martial arts skills, how did it become my turn to be the hero who rescued her..."

Sure enough, although Lin Pingzhi was spoiled since childhood and was somewhat naive before the family upheaval, he was not stupid. How could he not have any doubts now?

If this suspicion is not voiced, it will only fester until even Yue Lingshan comes to hate it.

"This... Yue Buqun is a very cunning man. It's hard for me to say what he's thinking. But one thing I do know is that if he really had some kind of shady conspiracy, he certainly wouldn't let his daughter get involved, especially since she's just an innocent young girl." Chu Luren said, abandoning the facts and talking about logic.

If Lin Pingzhi himself had no doubts, Chu Luren wouldn't have dared to speak ill of Yue Buqun to his face without any basis. He could only offer subtle reminders. Now it seems that Chu Luren underestimated Lin Pingzhi's emotional intelligence.

Upon hearing this, Lin Pingzhi frowned for a long time, then gradually relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief, as if he had also come to understand this point.

Lin Pingzhi had guessed that Yue Buqun would have designs on the Evil-Repelling Sword Technique when he became Yue Buqun's disciple, but what troubled him the most was Yue Lingshan.

"However... does that mean Brother Chu also thinks that my master really wants my family's 'Evil-Repelling Sword Technique'?" Lin Pingzhi smiled bitterly.