The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

Then he chuckled again, and used a fire poker to break up the mud clods with a "bang, bang, bang," saying as he did so, "Little beggar, time for beggar's chicken! Delicious beggar's chicken!"

As the clay cracks open, a rich and pure aroma is released, capable of stimulating one's most primal desire—appetite.

The people from Zhenyuan Escort Agency were also quite tempted, but... not to mention the misunderstanding that had just occurred, and the fact that they didn't eat food of unknown origin while on a escort mission, which was a basic professional courtesy, they could only swallow their saliva.

Seeing that his senior sister also seemed to want some, Lin Pingzhi took out some money from his pocket and said, "Young man, how about I buy half a chicken from you?"

"Little beggar eats beggar's chicken, young master, would you like to buy half a chicken?" the little beggar said deliberately.

Hearing the little beggar keep calling out "Beggar's Chicken, Beggar's Chicken," Lin Pingzhi felt embarrassed. Yue Lingshan pulled him and said, "Little Lin! We're not eating!"

This little beggar was clearly doing it on purpose to provoke people, as if he enjoyed watching everyone argue...

Seeing Mu Wanqing's hesitation, and knowing that he himself smelled the fragrance, Chu Luren stepped forward and said, "Young brother..."

"Do you want to eat 'Beggar's Chicken'?" the little beggar asked deliberately, emphasizing his words.

"No, it's just a matter of satisfying my appetite, but... my elder brother used to be a beggar, and he used to be the leader of the beggars. When I see this chicken, I think of my elder brother whom I haven't seen in a long time. I was overwhelmed with emotions and burst into tears. If you could share half a chicken with me, so that I can remember my elder brother, that would be wonderful!" Chu Luren said with great emotion.

Little beggar: ……

Not far from Shaolin Temple in Putian, Qiao Feng, disguised and having secretly made his way there, suddenly felt an itch on his nose...

Chapter 163 The Rooster Crows at Midnight

"Heh...heh, you and your older brother have such a good relationship!" Although the little beggar cursed "shameless" in his heart, since the other party had already said that, and after thinking about it, he also found what Chu Luren said amusing, so he chuckled and gave half a chicken to Chu Luren without even taking Chu Luren's money.

However, Chu Luren, not wanting to gain any advantage, returned the favor with two salted fish...

Mu Wanqing stared intently at the little beggar for a few more moments before Chu Luren tore off a chicken leg for her, interrupting her observation.

After eating it, Chu Luren was amazed – there were no spices at all, yet this chicken… was so delicious!

The little beggar and the Chu deer shared the chicken, and after eating it all, they huddled in a corner to rest.

There were no accommodations in the dilapidated temple, so everyone just made do for the night without complaining. Chu Luren simply sat cross-legged to regulate his breathing—in reality, he was practicing his skills in a dreamlike state.

Chu Luren has decided to also train the Dream God's internal energy, sacrificing endurance for explosive power!

Moreover, with the fusion fragments obtained from the "True Understanding of the Five Sacred Mountains" series, Chu Luren was able to further enhance his internal strength.

With Chu Luren's martial arts skills, as long as his internal strength reaches the level of Yu Canghai and Mu Gaofeng, he will be able to rival Qiu Chuji. Even if he encounters the Blood Saber Ancestor again, he will not be in too much danger. This refers to Chu Luren's normal state, without needing to dream or have a sudden enlightenment!

Naturally, the "Dream God" that can be supplied at that time will also be stronger.

It just takes a few months to improve, after all... spending too much time in deep meditation every day will lead to mental fatigue and reduce the efficiency of practice!

However, this time Chu Luren did not "sleep" for the full four hours. It was the middle of the night, and the snow outside had not stopped. However, everyone in the temple was woken up by the crowing of roosters.

Chu Luren had already opened his eyes before the rooster crowed, vaguely sensing something, but before he could investigate or warn anyone, the rooster crowed outside.

This startled everyone in the temple awake...

"Damn it! It's not even dawn yet!"

"Wait, there are no houses around here, and it's snowing heavily, so why is there a rooster crowing?"

"Head镖师, shall I go out and take a look with Xiao Chen?"

"No, no matter who it is, if they're going to pretend to be supernatural, then we can't make a scene. We'll stay in the temple and keep watch. There's no need to separate!" Chief Escort Wu offered his professional advice.

“Escort leader… chicken… chicken…” A bodyguard looked at the little beggar who had also been startled awake with a hostile expression.

Well, the little beggar ate chicken before, and now there's a strange chicken crowing. It's not impossible to make connections, especially since the little beggar's behavior, from BMW to chicken, is really infuriating. So, people are taking their anger out on him.

"What? Do you think I ate 'Beggar's Chicken' and came to claim my life in the middle of the night?" the little beggar retorted defiantly.

“You…” The bodyguard was annoyed upon hearing this.

"Everyone, no need to argue! The people who came here are probably after me. Brother Wu, please take care of my parents' coffins!" Lin Pingzhi dismissed the Zhenyuan Escort Agency.

Lin Pingzhi had long ago said that if they encountered any martial arts figures who were after him, Zhenyuan Escort Agency should ignore them. The "escort" they were protecting was only the coffins of Lin Zhennan and his wife, not Lin Pingzhi.

If the villains were truly after Lin Pingzhi, or rather, after the "Evil-Repelling Sword Technique," even the Zhenyuan Escort Agency might not be able to control them.

However, at this time, Lin Pingzhi also listened to Wu Biaotou's advice and decided to remain unchanged for the time being!

However, the rooster's crowing outside seemed to come from near and far, sometimes appearing to be right outside the window, but there was no further reaction from the rooster; it simply kept crowing.

"Something's not right! This crowing sound is making me sleepier the more I listen to it?" Mu Wanqing was the first to say.

It does have some effect, but it's not like the usual sonic techniques that induce sleep. It's impossible to fall asleep to the sound of roosters crowing. The so-called "getting more sleepy the more you listen" is more like an instinctive reaction to hearing a familiar alarm clock—a conditioned reflex feeling of "sleepy," but because it's so noisy, you can't fall asleep.

"If we're kept up like this all night, we probably won't be able to fight tomorrow. Brother Wu protected my parents' coffins, so the enemy must be after me!" Lin Pingzhi said, and then he was about to leave. Yue Lingshan and Linghu Chong also stood up.

But just then, Chu Luren whispered to stop him, "Wait! Let me play a tune first!"

Then Chu Luren pulled out a suona from his waist—tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tick-tick-tick…

The song "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer" filled the hearts of everyone in the temple with a sense of pride. Linghu Chong, who had been frowning these past few days, finally relaxed a bit.

Then... seeing Lin Pingzhi and Yue Lingshan, under the "background music", they inexplicably looked at each other, and then looked away at the same time, but their hands were clasped together - under the "Swordsman" state of mind effect, Linghu Chong's combat power decreased by 20%.

Of course, Chu Luren is not aiming for the "Laughing at the World" state of mind right now; he is simply using the unique ability of sound transmission and soul searching within the Unwavering Soul Sound to pinpoint the opponent's location!

At this moment, Chu Luren looked extremely bizarre—the frequency of his finger movements was completely out of sync with the melody, as if the sound and image were not in harmony, and his movements were much faster than his voice.

In the end, he managed to play a 15-minute piece in the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, and the sound was still playing normally.

Even after Chu Luren stopped, "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer" did not stop!

Chu Luren was able to achieve the "delayed playback" effect before, but now that his internal energy is more abundant, he can even compress it to about half.

Chu Luren silently put away his suona, adopting a superior posture—making up for the lack of pretentiousness he had missed while playing the suona earlier, in the remaining time!

Meanwhile, the fellow outside, pretending to be a ghost, clearly unaware of the Free and Unfettered Sect's telepathic soul-searching technique, continued to imitate a rooster's crow and was quickly located by Chu Luren...

And it's not just one or two!

Just as a distant rooster crowed, Chu Luren suddenly made a move, flicking a pebble towards a broken window in a completely different direction.

"what!"

The rooster's crowing came to an abrupt halt with a scream of pain!

"Huh?" The little beggar exclaimed in surprise, seemingly startled by Chu Luren's kung fu.

Meanwhile, their adversaries outside had clearly realized that these "tricks" were no match for the Chu Lu people, and they had stopped hiding their tracks.

Amidst a flurry of footsteps, a dozen or so people gathered from all directions. Two entered through the door, while the rest broke in through the window…

The newcomers were vaguely divided into three groups. There were two people at the door, one wearing a full-face mask and the other with big eyes, who were obviously from the same group. The others rushed in from the other four sides, East Six and West Seven, which were vaguely divided into two groups.

The six people on the east side were dressed in bright red and yellow or in flowery clothes, which was very flashy. The seven people on the west side were all dressed in black. They were all slightly hunched over, but had strong hands and feet, and they were accompanied by a vicious dog that was bigger than a wolf.

"Zhenyuan Escort Agency is on a mission to help Young Master Lin of Huashan return home in his coffin. We have neither money nor valuables. We hope that any passing heroes will do us a favor and offer some tea money..." When Wu, the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort), saw these three groups of strange people, he already knew things were going badly. He quickly announced the name of Zhenyuan Escort Agency and declared that there was no money involved in this trip.

However, before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by the "big-eyed" man at the door: "Shut up! We grandpas don't care about your tea money, and we're not interested in the dead ghosts of the Lin family. If you know what's good for you, hand over the Lin family's 'Evil-Repelling Sword Technique,' and we might spare the lives of more than a dozen of you!"

Sure enough, they came for the "Evil-Repelling Sword Technique".

Chapter 164 Peerless Master Detection Causes Thick Fog

Chu Luren didn't know if it was a coincidence, but the current situation really did overlap with the original work in a mysterious way—fifteen evil masters ambushed the Huashan Sect in a dilapidated temple!

The difference is that none of these fifteen people are wearing night clothes or masks. Chu Luren can understand this, since these people look so strange and their features are too obvious. Even if they wore masks, it would probably be useless.

One of the two people at the door was wearing a mask, a full-length mask that completely covered his eyes and nose, making him look like a blank canvas!

The person next to him was the complete opposite, with eyes as big as copper bells, which looked quite strange on his thin, oval face.

"So it's those two nocturnal creatures, the gray bat and the owl. I wonder how they got involved with petty thieves? Could it be... that two more people are going to be added to the twelve constellations? It's a pity that there are no bats or owls among the zodiac signs!" Chu Luren revealed the identities of the two.

Gray Bat and Owl are quite famous among the evil sect masters. If the evil sect were to create an "Evil Bandit Ranking," the two would at least be ranked near the top.

As for "chicken crowing and dog thievery," it refers to the other two groups of people—the six in bright red and yellow are the crowing guests of the twelve constellations, and the seven men in black who keep dogs are the Black Dog Star!

Among the heretical sects, the Twelve Constellations are not inferior even to the headquarters of the Sun Moon Divine Sect.

Hearing Chu Luren's words, everyone in the temple broke out in a cold sweat. Even Mu Wanqing, who was usually fearless, took two more steps closer to Chu Luren.

Those who were truly caught in the crossfire, their eyes darting around as if searching for a way out.

In today's martial arts world, although there are no explicit rules, the most widely recognized and standard record of a peerless master is "VS Xia Ke Dao".

The principle of the two envoys of reward and punishment is to limit the number of moves to 100. If someone can fight two opponents and survive 100 moves, they will not force the cards to be dealt to them. Otherwise, Xia Ke Dao would have to consider the pressure. Each of the two envoys of reward and punishment who have appeared in the past is a first-class master on their own. If they can withstand 100 moves when they work together, they can be considered the best of the best.

In the vast world of martial arts, when Xia Ke Island issues the decree of rewarding good and punishing evil, it is not only aimed at the sect leader. However, there are only two envoys for rewarding good and punishing evil, and the decree can only be issued for one year. Only those with families and livelihoods can be found. Lone heroes will find it difficult to hide unless they actively seek them out.

Since thirty-six years ago, Xia Ke Island has issued an annual decree to reward good and punish evil, and has been irrationally inviting people to the island for porridge. Of those who have been to Xia Ke Island, fewer than five have returned.

The first one is Zhang Sanfeng. Thirty-six years ago, when the first reward and punishment decree was issued, it caused quite a stir. Because of the many rumors circulating in the martial arts world, the nearly seventy-year-old Zhang, after receiving the reward decree, decided to go to Xia Ke Island to find out the truth...

No one knows what happened. In any case, two months later, Lao Zhang returned and didn't mention anything about what happened on the island. He only reminded the masters of the major sects to try not to go to the island. The Wudang sect leader received the reward order every year, but Song Yuanqiao would naturally not disobey his master's order.

When other righteous people inquired about the whereabouts of their elders, Zhang Sanfeng only replied that "their lives are safe," without mentioning why they hadn't returned.

Twenty-six years ago, Zhao Wushi went to Xia Ke Island and made an agreement with the island lords Long and Mu—the reward order for good deeds could not be forcibly issued to the island, and the punishment order for evil deeds could not be issued to the heroes certified on the "Heroic List".

Sixteen years ago, Yaoyue underwent a drastic change in temperament, transforming from a ruthless and indifferent person into a cold and cruel one. The two messengers of reward and punishment arrived as promised... and then she died.

Xia Ke Island sent another pair of envoys to reward good and punish evil halfway through the journey, but they did not go to Yi Hua Palace again, and suffered a second defeat at Blackwood Cliff.

At that time, Ren Woxing had the upper hand within a hundred moves, and if the fight dragged on, Ren Woxing would win—he had come close to becoming a peerless master.

Others, like Yang Xiao, the acting leader of the Ming Cult, could only withstand a hundred moves at most in a real fight. They were considered top-tier masters and not to be trifled with. Ding Chunqiu and his ilk, however, used unorthodox methods to render the two envoys of reward and punishment helpless, thus making them a step weaker.

Most recently... six years ago, Dongfang Bubai defeated the two envoys of reward and punishment within a hundred moves and pursued them for three days and three nights, and was also considered a peerless master.

Wei Wuyuan, one of the twelve constellations, is known to many as hiding in Turtle Mountain. Although he has not officially established a sect, he has taken in many disciples and is known as the "Disciple of Wuyuan". Turtle Mountain, which has a family and business, is treated the same as Evil Valley - the two envoys of rewarding good and punishing evil will not come to cause trouble.

Moreover... Wei Wuya is incredibly ugly and a dwarf, yet he dared to propose to Yaoyue and Lianxing back then and still survived, which already proves his strength.

In addition, the Dragon is the most mysterious, and few people have seen it. Some of the other constellations are individuals, while others are groups of several people. Their overall strength is no less than that of the Ten Great Villains.

The Ten Villains, though all "villains," have different professions, but the Twelve Zodiacs are very consistent—they are a group of bandits!

Moreover, the Ten Villains usually do their own thing. Apart from the five who live in the Valley of Villains, the others rarely join forces. Even the strongest, Du Sha and Tie Zhan, cannot gather all ten villains together.

The twelve constellations are different. Apart from the "Dragon Constellation," which is elusive and rarely seen, the other ten constellations all worship Wei Wuya as their leader and usually cooperate with him.

In terms of prestige, it certainly can't compare to the Sun Moon Divine Sect, which has many vassals. However, if we only compare the number of experts at the Blackwood Cliff headquarters, and if Wei Wuyuan's mechanical arts and other unorthodox methods are considered to be on par with Dongfang Bubai, then the Twelve Constellations and the Blackwood Cliff headquarters can be considered to be evenly matched.

Of course, the twelve constellations usually work together in twos and threes, rarely appearing together, since it would be difficult to divide the spoils if there were too many...