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

Chapter 46, pages 53 and 54: Rong'er's Little Wish

"Sister Rong'er, Brother Lu Chen! Come visit us often!"

At the entrance of the ancient tomb, the young dragon girl, dressed in a snow-white fur coat and wrapped up like a little white bear, waved repeatedly to Lu Chen and Huang Rong.

Early this morning, Lu Chen and his companion bid farewell to the head of the Ancient Tomb Sect, intending to leave Zhongnan and continue their planned journey.

The leader of the Ancient Tomb Sect, along with Little Dragon Girl, Granny Sun, and Li Mochou, who had finally completed her confinement and passed the examination, came out to see them off.

At this moment, Li Mochou, dressed in a thin white robe, seemingly oblivious to the chill of the post-snowfall chill, stood gracefully in the biting wind, holding Xiaolongnu's hand, and waved to Lu Chen and Huang Rong, saying:
"Rong'er, Brother Lu, farewell to the martial world!"

During her confinement, she first cultivated diligently day and night on the jade bed, and then practiced the "Tendon-Changing and Bone-Forging Chapter." Now, her skill level has increased by 20% to 30% compared to before she returned to the mountain. And this has only been a month.

She believed that as long as she trained hard for another year or two, reaching the top level in the martial arts world would be no problem at all.

The opportunity to learn the "Yi Jin Duan Gu Pian" was entirely thanks to Lu Chen and Huang Rong, in addition to the previous experience of being taught martial arts by Hong Qigong. In Li Mochou's mind, Lu Chen and Huang Rong were already her most precious partners.

When she said "See you in the martial world," the leader of the Ancient Tomb Sect glanced at her with slight displeasure, but there was nothing he could do about it.

She's not actually a particularly strict person.

Even though Li Mochou broke the sect rules and sneaked down the mountain, she had no intention of expelling Mochou from the sect.

But if we run it again next time...

The head of the Ancient Tomb Sect looked at Lu Chen, who was tall and imposing, and then at Huang Rong, who was inseparable from Lu Chen, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

If she runs away again next time, that's one thing, but if she gets involved in romantic relationships, then she really has to be expelled from the sect.

"Sister Long'er, Sister Mochou, Granny Sun, Senior Lin, until we meet again!" Huang Rong waved with a smile. As Lin Chaoying's personal maid, the head of the Ancient Tomb Sect naturally took the surname of her mistress.

Lu Chen waved to everyone, said goodbye, and then took Huang Rong's soft hand, walking with her into the forest and gradually disappearing into the distance.

As the two figures gradually disappeared into the forest, a hint of envy and longing surfaced in Li Mochou's eyes, but it quickly turned into determination.

Her martial arts skills are still far from perfect.

Now that I have obtained such an opportunity as the "Yi Jin Duan Gu Pian" and possess such a treasure of my sect as the "Han Yu Bed," I should diligently cultivate and give Brother Lu and Rong'er a surprise when we meet again in the future.

The sect leader of the Ancient Tomb Sect glanced at Mo Chou, sighed inwardly, shook his head, took Long'er's small hand, and said softly:
"Go back. Cultivate diligently. The day you can defeat your master, whatever you want to do will be beyond your control."

Li Mochou smiled sweetly and affectionately took her master's arm:
“Master, you flatter me. You have taken me in, taught me martial arts, and shown me kindness as deep as a mountain. I will never be disrespectful to you in this lifetime.”

At most, I'll just sneak down the mountain...

The mountain path was covered in snow, rugged and slippery.

Lu Chen and Huang Rong, however, walked on flat ground as if on solid ground, and even competed in lightness skills.

Lu Chen carried the Azure Gang Sword in his hand, and on his back were the Xuan Tie Heavy Sword and the broken ordinary steel sword. Despite the weight of over eighty pounds, his speed was not slow at all. With a light touch of his toes, he could leap two or three zhang across, and his figure was extremely light and graceful.

After practicing the Yi Jin Duan Gu technique, his skill level increased significantly, and the influence of the Xuan Tie Heavy Sword on his lightness skill and movement techniques was greatly reduced.

Furthermore, he also learned the "Golden Goose Skill," and now his lightness skill can be ranked among the top in the martial arts world.

Although Huang Rong's skill was far inferior to Lu Chen's, she was already extremely skilled in lightness skills and had also learned the Golden Goose Skill. When she flew across the rugged snowy road, she was like a graceful crane dancing, her elegance and speed no less than Lu Chen's.

The two chased each other for a while on the mountain road. Huang Rong briefly took the lead. When she saw a pine tree bent by the weight of snow by the roadside, she immediately chuckled, ran over, kicked the trunk, and used the recoil to fly away.

Just then, Lu Chen ran to the tree, and a large amount of snow fell down on his head with a whoosh.

"Naughty."

Lu Chen smiled and drew his Azure Gang Sword, using a cloud sword technique. The dense sword light created a patch of azure clouds above his head.

Another chilling sword wind howled out, and the snow falling overhead was first blocked by "Azure Cloud" and then blown away by the sword wind, turning into snow powder that scattered in all directions. Lu Chen was completely untouched by the snow.

"Is having good swordsmanship a big deal?"

Huang Rong gave a light snort and made a face at him again:
"Come and catch me if you dare!"

With that, he lightly touched the snow with his toes and darted away.

Lu Chen chuckled, sheathed his sword, and with a swift movement, gave chase.

For a moment, the snowy mountain road was filled with the light and melodious laughter of young girls.

The two of them played and frolicked their way down the mountain. Along the way, they encountered several young Taoist priests from the Quanzhen School, but no conflict arose. They simply exchanged curious glances and then passed each other peacefully.

After descending the mountain, the two traveled eastward. This time, they did not leisurely stroll through the mountains and rivers, but instead used their lightness skills to travel the entire way. In just a few days, they arrived at Dengfeng County.

Find an inn in Dengfeng County to rest for the night.

The next morning, Huang Rong disguised herself as a wealthy young master dressed in fine clothes and fur, with her hair tied up in a jade crown and a folding fan in her hand.

Lu Chen, dressed in a bamboo hat and black clothes, carrying a long sword and wearing a black cloak with red embroidery, disguised himself as Huang Rong's bodyguard. The two then went up Shaoshi Mountain to scout out Shaolin Temple under the guise of pilgrims.

During the era when the Five Great Masters dominated the world, Shaolin Temple, lacking top-tier masters, basically did not participate much in martial arts affairs.

However, as the ancestral temple of Zen Buddhism, it is still necessary to perform normal religious duties such as receiving pilgrims.

Lu Chen and Huang Rong donated a generous sum of money as incense oil, deposited their swords at the Guest Reception Courtyard, and then, guided by the guest monk, toured Shaolin Temple, getting a general idea of ​​its layout.

The Sutra Repository does not receive worshippers, and the two were unable to see it in person.

However, the location of the library can be roughly determined by using the process of elimination.

After a half-day of sightseeing, the two had a vegetarian meal at Shaolin Temple. They then retrieved the Qinggang Sword, bid farewell, and descended the mountain. They rested and recuperated at an inn in the county town until midnight, then changed into their night clothes and went back to Shaolin Temple.

Having scouted the location during the day, sneaking into Shaolin Temple at night was naturally not difficult.

At least with the current level of Shaolin's masters, they are no match for Lu Chen and Huang Rong, who possess exceptional lightness skills.

If it were Shaolin Temple during the Tianlong or Yitian era, given Lu Chen's current cultivation level, he certainly wouldn't dare to easily sneak into the Shaolin Sutra Pavilion with Huang Rong.

It doesn't matter at this time of year.

Even if they were discovered, Lu Chen was confident he could break out with Huang Rong.

Under the cover of night, the two scaled the high walls and entered the temple. Following the route they had planned during their daytime visit, they stealthily made their way through the temple, stopping and starting to avoid the patrolling monks. They reached the location of the scripture pavilion, which they had roughly identified during the day, and after another half hour of searching, they finally found it.

Of course, there were martial monks guarding the library.

Lu Chen and Huang Rong only planned to come once tonight, find what they wanted, and leave, so they didn't care about disturbing the guards.

Lu Chen entered through the window, drawing the attention of the guarding monks from the front, while Huang Rong launched a sneak attack from the side, throwing hidden weapons at the monks' pressure points. Before the two guarding monks could give any warning, they had already fallen into a deep sleep. Lu Chen and Huang Rong exchanged a smile and began searching for martial arts manuals.

Practicing Shaolin martial arts too much is not only useless but also harmful. Therefore, Lu Chen had a clear goal: to find only sword techniques and not even look at the other special skills.

Huang Rong was rather curious about the 72 Shaolin Arts.

However, she kept Lu Chen's warning in mind and only looked through some finger technique manuals such as "Daluoye Finger" and "Maha Finger".

Peach Blossom Island possesses two unique finger techniques: Orchid Finger Flicking Technique and Finger Flicking Divine Skill. When she looked through the Shaolin finger technique manual, she only had the idea of ​​"learning from others' strengths to improve oneself," intending to borrow and refer to them, but she did not intend to seriously practice them.

Lu Chen quickly found a Luohan Sword Technique and a Bodhidharma Sword Technique.

Huang Rong flipped through the manual twice, helping him quickly memorize it. She also memorized everything she wanted to see. This trip could be considered complete, and she could leave now.

However, Lu Chen found a dusty handwritten copy of the Lankavatara Sutra in the corner of a bookshelf. Upon opening it, he discovered an internal energy cultivation method hidden in the gaps between the text. It was none other than the Nine Yang Manual.

Practicing the Nine Yang Manual in its entirety is harmful. If one fails to master it, vigorous exertion of the energy can lead to the loss of one's power and death.

However, the requirements for mastering all the skills are too demanding.

Even someone like Zhang Wuji, whose temperament and talent were perfectly matched and who had no shortage of spiritual resources, still had to cultivate diligently for several years before he had an unrepeatable fortuitous encounter in the cloth bag of the Cloth Bag Monk, before he could achieve complete mastery. Ordinary people simply cannot encounter such an opportunity.

However, relying primarily on one's own internal strength while incorporating some of the essence of the Nine Yang Manual poses no harm. For example, the Shaolin Nine Yang Manual of Zen Master Wuse, the Wudang Nine Yang Manual of Zhang Sanfeng, and the Emei Nine Yang Manual of Guo Xiang all only grasped a portion of the essence of the Nine Yang Manual, yet they were all extremely powerful and superior internal strength techniques.

Lu Chen would not go and learn the Nine Yang Cultivation.

However, it is still possible to extract some of the essence of the Nine Yang and use it as a reference for comparison with the Nine Yin.

Furthermore, the Nine Yang Manual has the characteristic that "all martial arts techniques are readily available." Although one must master it to possess this characteristic, studying the essence of the Nine Yang Manual will certainly be beneficial for him in the future when he reverse-engineers and deduces the opponent's sword techniques in battle.

Lu Chen then found the complete set of four volumes of the Lankavatara Sutra, and he and Huang Rong each took two volumes to memorize.

Although his memory wasn't as perfect as Huang Rong's, he was an excellent test-taker in his previous life, and in this life he was at the peak of his memory, so memorizing things was no problem for him, and he didn't even need to remember them accurately.

Remembering things too precisely can actually be detrimental.

Like Zhang Sanfeng, Guo Xiang, and Zen Master Wuse, it's enough to just remember the general idea and understand a few key points.

Huang Rong quickly memorized the contents of the two books in her hands. Seeing that Lu Chen had also finished flipping through his two books, she couldn't help but ask in surprise:

"You wrote it all down?"

Lu Chen shook his head: "I only remember the general outline."

"Then please write it down for me again."

"Don't."

Lu Chen said solemnly:
"You have already memorized several finger techniques and sword techniques, and you have also memorized two books of scriptures. If you continue to memorize them, it may exhaust your mental strength and damage your spirit. That's enough. Memorizing the general outline is sufficient."

Seeing his concern for her mental well-being, Huang Rong felt a warm glow in her heart, and the corners of her pink lips couldn't help but curl up slightly. She then said:
"If I only remember the general outline, I'm afraid I won't be able to cultivate it. Wouldn't that be a pity?"

"It's not a pity."

Lu Chen laughed:

"You know my 'superpower.' For me, divine martial arts are not exactly easy to obtain, but they are not that precious either. As for the Nine Yang Manual, we will only select the essentials and refer to one or two of them. After all, I want to specialize in swordsmanship, and I will only practice the Tendon-Changing and Bone-Forging Chapter of the Nine Yin Manual. As for you, Rong'er, no matter how many martial arts you have, it will be meaningless to you."

Huang Rong was half-hearted in her practice and disliked meditation. The Nine Yang Manual was purely internal cultivation, without any external techniques, which didn't suit her personality at all. Besides, the Nine Yang Manual was too dangerous; even if she wanted to practice it, Lu Chen wouldn't allow her to.

Since Lu Chen had already made his decision, Huang Rong would no longer object.

The two put the four volumes of the Lankavatara Sutra back in their original places and quietly left the library, disappearing without a trace.

As dawn broke, the two martial monks guarding the scripture pavilion regained consciousness after their acupoints were released. Recalling what had happened the night before, they were terrified. One of them quickly went to inform the abbot, while the other, pale-faced and covered in sweat, inspected the martial arts manuals stored in the scripture pavilion.

When the abbot arrived with the heads of the various monasteries, including the Bodhidharma Hall and the Arhat Hall, the warrior monks who had examined the secret manual breathed a sigh of relief and stepped forward to report with faces full of joy:
"Abbot, none of the martial arts manuals or rare Buddhist scriptures in the Sutra Repository are missing. It seems that the two men in black who broke into the Sutra Repository last night did not steal any treasures."

The abbot of Shaolin Temple, his face ashen, led the other senior monks to investigate personally. They discovered that what the martial monk had said was indeed true, leaving them all utterly perplexed.

Two thieves went to great lengths to sneak into the library, knocked out the guarding monks, but didn't take anything.

Has Shaolin's unique martial arts lost its appeal to outsiders?
Considering Shaolin's former dominance in the martial arts world and its 72 unique skills that shook the world, and then considering its current state of affairs where the Five Greats dominate the martial arts world, Quanzhen is thriving in the north, and Shaolin is almost silent, the abbot and other senior monks of Shaolin can only sigh with regret and console themselves by saying that Shaolin is the ancestral home of Zen Buddhism, and that Buddhism is the foundation, while martial arts are just a secondary skill.

……

After leaving Shaolin Temple and returning to the inn, Huang Rong quickly copied down the secret manual she had memorized, lest her memory fade and she make mistakes over time.

Lu Chen also copied down the two volumes of the Nine Yang Manual, which he had only roughly memorized.

After copying the texts, the two studied the martial arts manuals. Lu Chen glanced at the Nine Yang Manual and compared it with the Nine Yin Manual to ponder its essence. After gaining some understanding, he began to practice the Arhat Sword and the Bodhidharma Sword.

Huang Rong pondered several finger techniques, such as the Doroye Finger and the Maha Finger, and after gaining a general understanding, she stopped studying them in depth and planned to take them back to her father for reference.

Seeing that Lu Chen had started practicing swordsmanship, she didn't want to appear too lazy, so she also started practicing the Yi Jin Duan Gu technique.

During this period, she practiced the Yi Jin Duan Gu technique the most, since the positive feedback was obvious and she was very motivated to practice it.

On Lu Chen's side, without anyone to teach him personally, he had to cultivate by himself using the secret manual, which was slightly more difficult.

Even with his talent for swordsmanship, it took him a whole day to learn the Arhat Sword and the Bodhidharma Sword.

Of course, I've only learned it so far; my swordsmanship is still quite shallow and I need to keep practicing and improving.

At this point, he had mastered eight sword techniques, which was already one of the prerequisites for unlocking "Sword Three"—mastering four new sword techniques. He also had one more sword technique to prepare for unlocking "Sword Four".

Unfortunately, he hasn't even mastered "Sword One" yet, and he hasn't unlocked "Sword Two" either, let alone "Sword Three".

However, it's always good to be prepared and plan ahead.

Furthermore, mastering each additional sword technique would also enhance his overall strength.

After all, the essence and spirit of "Sword One," and even the "sword aura," can be integrated into any sword technique.

The more sword techniques you master, the more difficult it will be for your opponent to deal with you.

After staying in Dengfeng County for two days, the two continued their journey north, and more than ten days later, they finally arrived in Zhongdu.

As the capital of the Jin Dynasty, Zhongdu was home to almost all of the Jin's top nobles and wealthy merchants. At that time, it had not yet gone to war with the Mongols, and its prosperity was only slightly inferior to that of Lin'an in the Song Dynasty.

Huang Rong was still dressed as a wealthy young master in fine clothes and a jade crown, and even in the dead of winter, she carried a folding fan, which she would occasionally unfold and wave. Her smug appearance really did have a bit of an aristocratic air.

Lu Chen continued to disguise himself as her bodyguard, wearing a bamboo hat and cloak, and followed her with a cold expression, carrying a sword. From time to time, at her instruction, he would pay the bill and buy some novel trinkets that were rarely seen in Jiangnan.

By the afternoon, Lu Chen was laden with bags and bundles, his cool, aloof swordsman persona completely worn out. So the two returned to the inn, intending to rest for the night and visit the Zhao Prince's Mansion the next day.

Lu Chen had already informed Huang Rong that Mei Chaofeng was hiding in the residence of Wanyan Honglie, the Prince of Zhao in the Jin Kingdom. So, after strolling around the streets that day, the two also found out the location of the Prince of Zhao's residence and were ready to pay him a visit.

To be honest, Lu Chen had originally thought that he might stumble upon the famous scene of Mu Nianci's martial arts contest to find a husband.

However, after wandering around the market for most of the day, I didn't see any excitement about the martial arts contest to find a husband. I don't know if Yang Tiexin and Mu Nianci haven't arrived in Zhongdu yet, or if the matter has already passed.

Lu Chen guessed that it probably hadn't started yet.

After all, when inquiring about the Prince Zhao's residence, I hadn't heard of any recent troubles there.

I've heard that the Prince of Zhao's mansion has issued a "recruitment order," with Wanyan Honglie eagerly seeking talented individuals and sincerely inviting heroes from all walks of life.

Furthermore, because Lu Chen and Huang Rong had shown off a little while gathering information at the teahouse, the people in the teahouse who received the tip from Huang Rong thought they were martial arts heroes responding to the Zhao Prince's Mansion's "recruitment order" and introduced them to several talented people from the mansion.

For example, there are the Yellow River Gang bosses, the "Ghost Gate Dragon King" Sha Tongtian and the "Three-Headed Flood Dragon" Hou Tonghai, the Tantric master "Five-Finger Secret Knife" Lingzhi Shangren, the "Thousand-Handed Butcher" Peng Lianhu, and the "Ginseng Immortal Old Monster" Liang Ziweng.

It is said that there was also a great figure from the Western Regions.

That one's entourage was truly extraordinary. He traveled in a fleet of pure white camels, not a single stray hair on his body. He was surrounded by women dressed in white, each with a captivating figure and alluring beauty, including even a blonde, blue-eyed foreign woman...

Upon hearing this news, Huang Rong immediately told Lu Chen a small wish:
"Brother Lu Chen, I really want a white camel too..."

Rong'er finally made a small wish, and Lu Chen, who had been living off his wife the whole way, readily agreed, also including the matter of finding Ouyang Ke to beg for alms from the white camel in his action plan.

Then Huang Rong made another suggestion:

"Since the Prince Zhao's mansion wants to recruit martial arts heroes, why don't we sneak in openly? With our martial arts skills, Wanyan Honglie will surely treat us like honored guests. Then, whatever we want to do in the Prince Zhao's mansion will be a piece of cake, right?"

Huang Rong wanted to play, and Lu Chen naturally allowed it.

Furthermore, Mei Chaofeng is highly skilled in martial arts. Even if Lu Chen could defeat her or capture her alive, the fight would inevitably alert everyone in Wanyan Honglie's mansion.

Escaping from the siege of the royal guards and Jin soldiers while carrying prisoners would be extremely difficult. It would be much easier to follow Huang Rong's advice and act as a "guest minister".

He readily nodded in agreement.
"That's it!"

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(End of this chapter)