The world of martial arts, the immortal swordsman in the mortal realm.

Chapter 110-125, Martial Arts Advance Again, Encounter with Qiao Feng [Requesting Monthly Tickets!]

"Most people in the martial arts world seem to be idle lads with nothing to do. Many martial artists have limited talent. Once they've mastered their skills, they can't improve much further. They're always full and love to cause trouble, fight, and join in all sorts of excitement."

On an official boat on the canal, in an elegant cabin, Lu Chen was chatting with Huang Rong.

To attend the martial arts tournament at Shaolin Temple, the two planned to first take a boat directly to Bianjing (Kaifeng) and then walk to Shaolin.

Although this method is a bit slower, it is more comfortable and convenient, and it won't take up too much practice time.

Upon hearing Lu Chen's words, Huang Rong looked at him with suspicion.
"Brother Lu Chen, are you hinting at something?"

"how come?"

Lu Chen quickly clarified:

"I'm just talking about a common phenomenon in the martial arts world. Many martial artists use broadening their horizons as an excuse, but when masters fight, those with poor skills can't even understand what's going on. How much can that broaden their horizons? If they're not careful, they might even lose their lives."

"Just like that time at Juxian Manor, many people went there purely to join in the fun and make a name for themselves. They had no relationship or grudge with Qiao Feng, and they were not chivalrous people who were eager to help others. They were not qualified to drink the farewell wine with Qiao Feng. They just wanted to take advantage of the crowd and cut Qiao Feng with a knife so that they could have something to brag about later."

"Unexpectedly, Qiao Feng turned out to be a super Khitan. Many people who came to join in the fun ended up injured, crippled, or even dead... However, they won't learn much from this experience. This time, the Shaolin martial arts tournament will surely attract countless martial artists to join in the fun as well."

Huang Rong smiled sweetly:
"The more people, the better. The more people, the more impressive you'll be. How about we stage a 'Divine Sword Suppresses Shaolin'?"

Lu Chen shook his head:
"I'm afraid they can't control it. Shaolin has the Sweeping Monk."

Huang Rong asked curiously:

"Is that old monk really that powerful?"

Lu Chen sighed:
"The protective true energy can extend three feet outward to form an energy wall. How profound must this skill be? Many people's force from three feet away cannot harm anyone, let alone defend against it. This three-foot energy wall alone is almost unbreakable in this era."

Even with his "skin refining" skills, Lu Chen dared not let the finger strike him with Kumārajīva's "Formless Finger," yet it could not shake the three-foot-high aura of the Sweeper Monk in the slightest.

Qiao Feng's full power of the Dragon Subduing Palm disappeared instantly upon hitting the qi wall, without even a ripple.

Even later, when Qiao Feng and Murong Fu combined their attacks and struck the qi barrier, the old monk used the force to fly away.

This defense is ridiculously strong.

Why is Qiao Feng hailed as the best in actual combat?

Because he was the only one who could find such an opportunity, taking advantage of the disappearance of the Sweeper Monk's aura barrier, to make the Sweeper Monk vomit blood with a single palm strike.

The Sweeper Monk not only has incredibly strong defense, but his attacks are also unstoppable.

Even Murong Bo was no match for the Sweeper Monk.

If the Sweeper Monk truly intended to kill, he probably wouldn't even need a second move to kill Xiao Yuanshan and Murong Bo.

His lightness skill was also ridiculously strong. He carried Xiao Yuanshan and Murong Bo with both hands, and even Qiao Feng, who was empty-handed, couldn't catch up with him.

Lu Chen felt that the only weakness of the Sweeper Monk was that his physical body was still mortal and he had not yet achieved indestructibility.

Furthermore, the three-foot-high aura wall is an active skill.

If the skill is not released in time and the energy barrier is not erected, you will still be injured if you are hit by a sufficiently fierce attack.

Even so, one can perhaps glimpse the glory of the "prosperous era of martial arts" from the Sweeper Monk.

That being said, with Lu Chen's current cultivation level, if he disregarded the cost and used "Sword One" to withstand the three-foot-high qi barrier, he could still pierce through the sword.

However, doing so would consume too much of his true energy. Even if he defeated the Sweeper Monk, he would still be suppressed by Shaolin, and there would be no question of "the divine sword suppressing Shaolin".

After chatting for a while, the two sat facing each other on a low couch and practiced their fist and palm techniques.

The two used the "shifting of stars" technique in every move, borrowing and deflecting each other's force, and even using a gentle, invisible palm strike as a ping-pong ball to bounce back and forth between them, thus training their control.

Anyone who makes a mistake and disperses the palm strike, or whose rebound is inaccurate, will be punished by having a sticker pasted on their face.

This was a little game that Rong'er came up with on the boat, a way to play and practice at the same time, so Lu Chen was happy to play with her as much as possible.

This kind of use of the "Shifting Stars" technique tests agility and skill, and is limited to palm and fist moves. Even though Lu Chen's martial arts are far superior to Rong'er's, he can't gain any advantage. The two are evenly matched.

One moment Rong'er made a mistake, the next Lu Chen slipped up, and both of them ended up with a lot of notes stuck to their faces.

After playing and training for a while, Lu Chen suddenly raised his eyebrows. The "Sword Body Refinement" that had been tempering for nearly two months was completed in this training session, and his entire right hand was tempered in a natural way.

It only took seven days to refine the skin of the entire palm.

Although the difficulty of "refining flesh" is several times greater than that of "refining skin," Lu Chen's skill is also constantly improving. The deeper his skill, the faster the tempering. In theory, he should be able to successfully temper the muscles of his right hand in at most half a month.

However, since leaving Wuliang Valley, he first obtained the Six Meridians Divine Sword, then the Lesser Formless Skill, and then the Star Shifting Technique—all of which are divine skills that require him to spend time and effort to study and master.

Although he wouldn't focus on the "Minor Formless Skill" and would only use it as an auxiliary technique, he needed to pave the way for Rong'er. Therefore, he had to start from the basics and cultivate it little by little. However, he didn't need to go too deep into it; he just needed to confirm that the Qi circulation path was correct.

Even so, given the profound nature of the Lesser Formless Skill, merely verifying the techniques layer by layer still consumed a considerable amount of his time and energy.

In addition, without the high-pressure environment of a mountain waterfall constantly impacting him, his efficiency in tempering his sword body was undoubtedly affected. It took him nearly two months to complete the tempering of his entire right hand today, almost unintentionally.

Of course, this level of cultivation efficiency is already quite good.

He was only nineteen and a half years old, and was still half a year away from turning twenty. He was already invincible in the world of Condor Heroes. In the world of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, he could suppress Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils with a single sword. He could fight Kumārajīva for a thousand moves without being at a disadvantage. He could also easily suppress Murong Nan and his four great retainers.

For someone his age to possess such martial arts skills, he is already a monster or a prodigy.

Therefore, even though the tempering of his sword body has slowed down a bit recently, he remains calm and unhurried.

At this moment, the muscles in his entire right hand had been successfully tempered, and his one-handed defense had reached a new level. On a whim, Lu Chen jumped off the low couch, drew out a snowflake-patterned iron sword that Murong Fu had given him as a gift for the second time, held the sword in his left hand, and slashed it fiercely at his own palm.

Ah!
Rong'er exclaimed in surprise and was about to stop him when she saw Lu Chen strike her palm with his sword. It only made a muffled sound like hitting rotten leather, and only a shallow white mark appeared in her palm.

Lu Chen chuckled and slashed at the back of his hand with his sword again, which only produced a muffled sound and left a white mark.

"This... your sword body has improved again?" Huang Rong asked in surprise.

“Not bad.” Lu Chen nodded with a smile: “I have successfully ‘refined’ my right hand. Now I can catch weapons with my bare hands without having to deliberately avoid the sharp edges.”

Previously, he had caught weapons from skilled fighters with his bare hands, while also having to avoid the sharp edges of swords and blades.

Now, even if Murong Fu were to wield the Snowflake Iron Sword, he couldn't harm Murong Fu's right hand.

In low-martial-arts worlds like The Legend of the Condor Heroes and Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, the only way to injure his hand would be with divine weapons like the Heaven Sword or the Dragon Saber.

"Honestly, he didn't even say a word before suddenly drawing his sword and slashing himself. It gave me quite a fright."

Huang Rong patted her perfectly curved chest and pouted in annoyance.

"A sudden achievement has brought me a moment of excitement." Lu Chen smiled, put down his sword, walked to Huang Rong, raised his right hand, and placed his palm facing Rong'er:

"Rong'er, use all your strength and strike me a few times."

"Hmm? Could it be that you can accumulate more external energy?"

Huang Rong guessed, raised her slender hand, and without hesitation, used all her strength to strike his palm three times.

With each high-five, she felt the force of the palm strike vanish as if it had disappeared into the sea, and she couldn't even feel the rebound of the force.

After the third high-five.

Lu Chen suddenly thrust his palm out to the side towards the window.

As the palm struck, the air exploded with a muffled thud, unleashing a visible milky-white shockwave that sent Huang Rong's hair flying and her skirt fluttering.

A transparent, water-like wave of air rushed towards the window, surged out, and then soared more than three zhang away before slowly dissipating.

Huang Rong's eyes widened, and she clicked her tongue in amazement:

"Was that a palm strike that split the air just now?"

Lu Chen nodded and smiled:

"Indeed. It is the power of the palm strike that, after accumulating your three consecutive palm strikes and adding my own palm power, can strike from three zhang away, and it has real and undeniable destructive power until it dissipates. However, even so, this kind of palm strike from a distance is more of a show than a real combat skill, and it is difficult to hurt a true master."

The force of the palm strike is direct and unpredictable, and it is powerful and imposing, unlike the Six Meridian Sword Qi, which is invisible and intangible. A skilled person with quick reflexes can react quickly enough to dodge or parry.

Huang Rong smiled and said:

"But in close combat, borrowing the opponent's strength several times and accumulating it for a burst can also give the opponent a big surprise."

"exactly."

Lu Chen raised his right hand:

"With the successful refinement of the palm muscles, the accumulation of external force is no longer limited to the meridians and acupoints. The palm muscles, and even the skin, can all serve as 'reservoirs.' The current limit for accumulating external force is approximately three palm strikes from you, Rong'er. If combined with a burst of my own true energy, the power can be increased by about 70% to 80%."

This 70-80% increase doesn't even include the 10% increase from the "beggar's version of the Qilin Arm".

Including the beggar's version of the Qilin Arm, the amplification could reach up to 90%—Lu Chen remembered that in the world of Tianlong, there seemed to be a technique called "Three Waves of the Yangtze River," which could stack palm force three times, amplifying the palm force three times. But his base stats were too high; a 90% amplification would already be good.

With his current skill level, if he were to suddenly unleash an attack with 90% increased power during the fight, even someone with superior skill would likely be injured if caught off guard.

Of course, this method cannot be used all the time.

Any seasoned and highly skilled master, as shrewd as a ghost, would be extremely cautious once they realized he possessed such abilities, and would never easily withstand his sudden burst of attacks.

However, the "first impression kill" technique can still be surprisingly effective.

In addition, this method has other limitations.

Because "shifting stars" cannot make external force one's own, when rebounding, one can only use the force that was borrowed to unleash the force.

For example, if the borrowed force is palm force, it can only be unleashed as palm force, at most becoming fist force. If the force is controlled more precisely, it can be released with finger techniques, but it cannot be transformed into sword light or sword energy, which are completely different in nature.

The Murong family's "Shifting Stars" technique works the same way; whatever martial art the enemy uses to attack, the force returned is the same, and the nature of the force itself cannot be changed.

Having successfully "refined" his hands, he can now withstand the swords and blades of masters even with his bare hands. He also has an additional trump card: using leverage to build up power and unleashing a sudden burst of force. Of course, this is something to celebrate.

Huang Rong borrowed the ship's kitchen, cooked a few dishes, and drank with Lu Chen.

Savoring the delicious food and sipping the fine wine, before we knew it, the city lights were already on.

As the wine flowed freely and the atmosphere grew warmer, the beautiful woman under the lamplight had eyes as clear as water, a flushed face, and pink lips, making her even more charming. Lu Chen couldn't help but feel a surge of desire, and before he knew it, what he was tasting was no longer fine food and wine, but rather a stunningly beautiful young woman with smooth, creamy skin and a fragrant aroma...

The journey along the canal was easy, and the two practiced their skills individually or sat facing each other to practice their moves, improving their skills little by little each day.

Before they knew it, they had arrived in Bianjing.

Rong'er had read "The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendor" and was very curious about the prosperity of Bianjing. Since she had arrived in Bianjing, she naturally wanted to experience the magnificent scenes described in the book firsthand. Lu Chen then accompanied her on a three-day tour of Bianjing.

Out of curiosity, he inquired among the common people about a wealthy man named Lu Junyi—Guo Jing's ancestor was Guo Sheng, the "Sai Rengui" of Liangshan. Logically, there should have been Liangshan generals in this Tianlong era.

It turned out that it was probably too early, and they didn't manage to find out about a wealthy man nicknamed Jade Kirin, who was famous for his spear and staff skills.

Lu Chen didn't take it to heart. After touring Bianjing with Rong'er, they headed to Dengfeng.

When they arrived in Xinyang City, they were looking for a restaurant to rest when they suddenly encountered someone going crazy on the street.

It was a burly man with a full beard, wielding two large steel axes, wildly swinging them in the street, aimlessly hacking at the air. Pedestrians scattered to avoid him, fearing they would be hurt by the crazed man.

Upon seeing the burly man from afar, Lu Chen thought he had run into Li Kui, the Black Whirlwind, and was about to go over and give him a good thrashing when he heard the man shout:
"Brother Fu, step back quickly and don't worry about me. A great villain is coming. It's more important to report to the lord!"

A truly wicked person?
Reporting to the lord?
Lu Chen's heart skipped a beat, realizing that this person was probably not Li Kui, because Black Whirlwind would only call him "brother," not "lord."

Just then, a tall, imposing man emerged from a tavern on the street.

The burly man was in his thirties, dressed in a gray cloth robe, with thick eyebrows, large eyes, a high nose, a wide mouth, and a square face. He exuded an imposing aura when he looked around.

He walked up to the burly man who was wildly swinging his axe and said:
"Hey buddy, how about I buy you a drink?"

The axe-wielding man glared angrily at the imposing giant and roared:
"Get out of my way, you wicked man, don't harm my master!"

As he spoke, he swung his large axe and brought it down on the tall, imposing man's head.

Passersby gasped in surprise at the sight, only to see the burly man suddenly dart forward, snatch the axe from the man wielding it, and then, with a half-embrace, drag the axe-wielding man towards a roadside tavern, saying:

"Hey buddy, come on in and have a drink..."

Seeing a scene that seemed somewhat familiar, Lu Chen pondered for a moment. He looked into the tavern and saw a girl in red sitting at a table.

The young girl was about the same age as Huang Rong, and was beautiful and charming. At this moment, she was smiling and staring intently at the tall and imposing man.

Seeing this, Lu Chen was certain.

The imposing man and the girl in red were clearly Qiao Feng and A'Zhu.

As for that axe-wielding man, he was one of the four bodyguards of Prince Duan Zhengchun, who had forgotten his son.

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(End of this chapter)