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

Chapter 48, paragraphs 57 and 58: Lu Chen's Secret Technique, the Formless Sword Finger!
"What kind of unparalleled geniuses has Wanyan Honglie recruited..."

After the Jin Kingdom F4 left, Huang Rong rubbed her aching stomach from laughing and said to Lu Chen:
"They're all so good at clowning around. Are they trying to make someone laugh themselves silly before going over to take their head?"

Lu Chen also laughed:

"Those guys are indeed a bit comical, but they probably have some real skills."

While the Jin Kingdom's F4 may only be considered comedic figures in the face of the Five Greats, they are actually all "regional overlords".

Master Lingzhi had no rivals in Tibet, which fostered his absolute confidence that he didn't even put the Five Great Masters in the eye.

Liang Ziweng dominated Changbai Mountain only twenty years ago, but he was severely beaten by Hong Qigong, who was traveling in Changbai Mountain, and developed a serious psychological trauma related to the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms.

The Yellow River Gang, led by the brothers Sha Tongtian and Hou Tonghai, was known as the Yellow River Overlords. Even if they couldn't dominate the entire Yellow River, they were quite influential in the Central Plains section of the Yellow River.

Peng Lianhu, the "Thousand-Handed Butcher," was also a notorious and notorious figure in the underworld.

Just from the fact that they dared to challenge the Seven Masters of Quanzhen, and that Master Lingzhi could fight Wang Chuyi to a standstill, it's clear that these people are no ordinary individuals.

Of course, nowadays Lu Chen can even fight the head of the Ancient Tomb Sect to a draw, or even gain the upper hand. Whether it's the Jin Kingdom F4, Ouyang Ke, or even Mei Chaofeng, they are basically no match for him.

Even Huang Rong, who had eaten the Bodhi Snake and practiced the "Yi Jin Duan Gu Pian" (a martial arts manual), possessed martial arts skills that combined the strengths of the Eastern Heretic, the Northern Beggar, and the Central Divine. Even if her skills were somewhat mixed and not refined, she might still be able to hold her own against Ouyang Ke.

"When Wanyan Honglie returns, he will surely host a banquet for us. Those few who are not convinced that we two young people are on equal footing with them will definitely test us then."

Huang Rong said with a smile:
“We’ll show them a little something then, and let them see what we’ve got. And that Ouyang Ke, I don’t like the way he looks at me, Brother Lu Chen, please teach him a lesson for me.”

“I don’t like it either.” Lu Chen had already thought of this, and nodded, “I will teach him a lesson then.”

Huang Rong nodded with a smile, then thought for a moment and said:
“Ouyang Ke calls himself the young master of White Camel Mountain. Since he is the ‘young master,’ he is probably a close relative of the Western Poison. The Western Poison is, after all, a master of the Five Greats who is on par with my father and Seventh Master. It will be enough to teach Ouyang Ke a lesson, so that he won’t call his parents, which would be detrimental to us.”

She herself wasn't worried about the Western Poison bullying the weak, after all, she also had a father who was one of the Five Greats.

I'm afraid that the Western Poison will take action against Lu Chen.

When Qi Gong was teaching them in Xiangyang, he would chat about the Five Greats in his spare time. He mentioned that the "poison" in Western Poison not only referred to his ruthless methods, but also to his extreme skill in using poison. If he really wanted to use poison without regard for his reputation, he could kill people without shedding blood.

Lu Chen, of course, knew the true relationship between Ouyang Ke and Ouyang Feng, and nodded, saying:

"Don't worry, I know the severity."

"When are we going to capture the Black Wind Duo?"

"No rush. There's another great benefit to be gained from the Prince Zhao's mansion. Once we've secured that benefit and thoroughly investigated the layout of the mansion, we can then go and capture the Black Wind Duo..."

After chatting for a while, Lu Chen started practicing his sword again. Rong'er had also been intermittently cheering up lately and had started practicing the Yi Jin Duan Gu Manual seriously.

She has mastered a wide variety of martial arts, though none of them are particularly profound. However, her skills are numerous, varied, and unpredictable, making her adept at catching people off guard. But her internal strength is still insufficient; she needs to improve it to unleash the true power of those flashy techniques.

Before we knew it, it was already evening.

A steward surnamed Jian came to Hanmei Garden and invited the two to a banquet in the "Fragrant Snow Hall".

The two followed Steward Jian out of Hanmei Garden, and after winding their way through the vast Prince's mansion for quite some time, they arrived at Xiangxue Hall. There, they saw Tang Zude waiting at the door. Upon seeing them, he immediately greeted them with a beaming smile and cupped his hands in greeting:

"Young heroes, I have already recommended you to the Prince, and the Prince has specially prepared this banquet to welcome you."

"Thank you, Commander Tang!"

Huang Rong smiled and cupped her hands in greeting, about to enter with Lu Chen, when Tang Zude rubbed his hands together and said with a grin:

"Your Highness, being of noble birth, did not carry any weapons when entertaining guests. You two..."

As he spoke, his gaze fell on the Azure Gang Sword that Lu Chen was holding.

"As it should be."

Lu Chen was no longer helpless without his sword, so he handed the sword to a guard.

Tang Zude instructed the guard:

"Take good care of Young Master Lu's precious sword. If anything goes wrong, you will be held responsible!"

The guard responded with trepidation, clutching the Qinggang Sword tightly in his arms like a baby. Tang Zude nodded in satisfaction, then raised his hand to Lu Chen and Huang Rong with a beaming smile, saying, "Please, you two!"

He led the two through the hall, past a landscape screen, and into the brightly lit hall.

Those who had met during the day, including Sha Tongtian and Ouyang Ke, were already seated in the hall. A middle-aged man in fine clothes sat at the head of the table. Upon seeing Lu Chen and Huang Rong's youthful appearance, a slight surprise flashed in his eyes, but he still smiled heartily and rose to greet them.

"I am delighted that you two young heroes, so young yet possess such astonishing skills, and are willing to serve me and the court."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Master Lingzhi said:
"Your Highness, please wait! The skill level of these two young fellows is only based on Commander Tang's account; none of us have witnessed it firsthand. If Commander Tang has been misled by their trickery and mistaken brass for real gold, wouldn't that be a laughingstock?"

Tang Zude's face flushed red, but he didn't dare to provoke a great master like Lingzhi Shangren, so he could only look at Wanyan Honglie with a wronged expression.

Wanyan Honglie also harbored suspicions.

However, to maintain his image of humility and respect for scholars, he naturally couldn't personally step forward to question it. At this moment, Master Lingzhi's opening rebuttal was undoubtedly exactly what Wanyan Honglie wanted.

He didn't stop Lingzhi Shangren from questioning him, but simply smiled at Lu Chen and Huang Rong and said softly:
"Master Lingzhi is straightforward and speaks his mind without any ill intent. Please do not take offense, young heroes."

Huang Rong quickly unfolded her folding fan, waved it twice, and laughed:
“It’s alright. What Master Lingzhi said makes sense. Since His Highness has spent a lot of money to recruit talented people, then we brothers, who want to make a living in the Prince’s mansion, should naturally show off our skills and let everyone have a taste.”

As she spoke, she strolled to the table where the snacks were laid out, picked up a few watermelon seeds, and flicked them with her slender fingers.

Whoosh whoosh!
With a sharp, piercing sound, five watermelon seeds transformed into afterimages, shooting out and embedding themselves in a candle as thick as a child's arm ten paces away.

Upon closer inspection, everyone saw that the five melon seeds were neatly embedded in the candle body from top to bottom, with the distance between each pair of seeds being just one inch, not an inch more or less.

Moreover, the five melon seeds were embedded more than halfway into the candle, with the depth being exactly the same, not a bit more or less.

This skill with hidden weapons surprised the experts in the Prince's mansion.

They were all discerning enough to see how exquisite Huang Rong's hidden weapon skills were. Besides her excellent accuracy, her control of force was also incredibly precise. They couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding—these two kids probably had some real skills, and there would likely be two more opponents to contend with!
Then Yan Honglie clapped his hands and praised with a smile:

"Young Master Huang, your kung fu is truly impressive! Indeed, heroes have always emerged from among the young!"

As he spoke, he personally took a jade cup, poured a cup of "Jinlan Wine" used by the Jin Kingdom's royal family, and called a maid to present it to Huang Rong.

Hearing Wanyan Honglie's high praise and his personal pouring of wine for Huang Rong in a jade cup, all the experts from the royal palace were displeased.

On the surface, they appeared to be amicable, but in reality, they were constantly vying for power and influence in front of Wanyan Honglie, each wanting to outdo the others and claim the title of the top expert in the Prince's Palace.

Seeing Huang Rong steal the spotlight and receive praise and wine from the prince, the other masters were merely filled with envy, but the self-confident and invincible Lingzhi Shangren couldn't wait to step forward:

"A mere skill in concealed weapons is nothing but a trivial technique, hardly worthy of serious consideration. What kind of real skill is that?"

These words offended several people at once—Liang Ziweng was a master of concealed weapons, Sha Tongtian was also skilled in using concealed weapons, Peng Lianhu, nicknamed "Thousand-Handed Butcher," was adept at both launching and catching concealed weapons. Even Ouyang Ke knew some concealed weapon skills.

As a result, Lingzhi Shangren's indiscriminate attack immediately angered many people, who then held a grudge against him.

But the Venerable Lingzhi, confident in his invincibility and utterly fearless, dipped his hands into the washbasin on his table and arrogantly declared:

"True superior martial arts rely on internal energy as their foundation; everything else is illusory! You two should watch closely!"

As he spoke, he slowly rubbed his hands in the basin, as if he were washing them. But soon, wisps of white steam began to rise from the water in the basin, and fine bubbles rose from the water, making it look as if he had boiled the water.

This display of skill greatly surprised Wanyan Honglie, and Sha Tongtian, Liang Ziweng, and Peng Lianhu also looked on with caution.

Even Ouyang Ke couldn't help but frown, thinking to himself that although Lingzhi Shangren was arrogant and conceited, he was not just an ordinary frog in a well, but a frog with some real skills.

At least in terms of internal strength, he's probably not much inferior to Ouyang Ke.

Huang Rong also clapped her hands with a smile and praised:

"Master Lingzhi's skill in boiling water is truly remarkable. With this skill, even if one is walking in the wilderness in winter without any kindling, there is no need to worry about not having hot water to drink. One can even cook meat soup instead of eating cold dry rations."

Hou Tonghai, a master of extortion, instinctively retorted:

“Lingzhi is a monk, how can he eat meat? Besides, even if he can boil water, he doesn’t have a pot when he’s traveling in the wilderness, so how can he boil water and make soup? So unless he carries a pot with him, his skill in boiling water is no use at all. He will still have to drink cold water and get an upset stomach.”

"..."

Everyone looked at each other with strange expressions, neither laughing nor crying.

Master Lingzhi was so angry that his eyes twitched:

The Buddha was demonstrating internal martial arts to you, and you guys are telling me to drink hot water and boil meat soup?

Is this some kind of question about whether or not we can get hot water, whether or not we can cook meat soup, or whether or not we'll get an upset stomach?

The key point is the Buddha's astonishingly powerful internal strength!
While finding it amusing, Lu Chen secretly pondered:
Master Lingzhi can boil water with his bare hands, indicating that his internal energy cultivation follows a masculine and intense path. He is also a Tibetan monk, nicknamed "Five-Finger Secret Knife," so could his martial arts and internal strength possibly be a legacy of Kumārajīva?

Well, Master Lingzhi doesn't know how to wield a flame sword; perhaps he only inherited some incomplete skills from Kumārajīva...

Just as he was pondering this, the Venerable Lingzhi, who felt that his talent had been wasted, suddenly stood up and pointed at Huang Rong, saying, "In martial arts, who is superior and who is inferior can only be determined by their skills! Little White Dragon Huang Rong, do you dare to spar with me and let me test your abilities!"

You little brat dare to mock the Buddha's amazing internal strength as "the skill of boiling water"? Then the Buddha will use his real skills to teach you a lesson and let you know your place!

"Does the Venerable One wish to engage in a martial arts contest?"

Lu Chen said calmly:

"Do you dare to have a match with me?"

Master Lingzhi intended to teach "Little White Dragon" Huang Rong a lesson, but "Little Sword Demon" Lu Chen had come with Huang Rong, so teaching him a lesson was the same. He then proudly raised his head.

"Why don't you dare!"

Then he looked around:
"The hall is too cramped to move around freely, let's go to the courtyard and show off our skills!"

After saying that, he swaggered out of the hall.

Lu Chen remained calm and walked out of the hall.

Seeing this, Tang Zude quickly said:

"Young Master Lu, your sword..."

He had brought Lu Chen and Huang Rong into the Prince's mansion and introduced them to the Prince. Since it concerned his merits, he naturally didn't want to see Lu Chen lose, so he quickly reminded Lu Chen to bring his sword.

Lu Chen waved his hand:

“Since the Master does not use weapons, I naturally do not need to use them either.”

As he spoke, he walked around the screen and left the Fragrant Snow Hall.

Wanyan Honglie ordered his servants to remove the screen, so that everyone could see from the hall to the courtyard outside the door. At this time, Lingzhi Shangren was already standing in the courtyard, with his hands behind his back, looking at Lu Chen in a carefree manner.

Lu Chen stopped ten steps in front of him, silently confronting Lingzhi Shangren.

Everyone in the hall rose from their seats and came to the doorway, watching the two facing off, occasionally whispering among themselves.

"Old Peng, who do you think will win?"

“Is it Master Lingzhi? Although this monk isn’t very bright, his martial arts skills are indeed impressive. Young Lu is still young, and it’s hard to say whether he can win with weapons, but when it comes to fists and feet, I don’t see how he has any chance of winning.”

"I think so too. Lu Chen is nicknamed Little Sword Demon. His skills are probably all in the sword. If he abandons his strengths and fights Lingzhi Shangren with his bare hands, he probably won't be able to withstand Shangren's 'Great Handprint'. In less than ten moves, Lu boy will probably vomit blood and be seriously injured."

Hou Tonghai, the argumentative troll, snorted twice:

"Having witnessed Master Lingzhi's skill in boiling water, Lu boy still dares to fight empty-handed. His hand skills must be superb. I bet he can win!"

Ouyang Ke sneered, took out a folding fan with a sachet hanging from it, waved it twice, and said indifferently:
"Judging from his appearance, the man surnamed Lu is not even twenty years old. No matter how talented he is, how much internal strength could he possibly have? How could he possibly be a match for Master Lingzhi?"

As he spoke, he gave Huang Rong what he considered an elegant smile.

Huang Rong curled her lips, snorted coldly, and ignored him, staring intently at Lu Chen.

Seeing this, Ouyang Ke felt a surge of anger and hoped that Lingzhi Shangren would beat Lu boy half to death on the spot.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Master Lingzhi confronted Lu Chen for a moment, then spoke arrogantly:
"Young man Lu, you are young and of junior status, so this old monk will let you make the first move! Go ahead and make your move."

Lu Chen smiled slightly, put one hand behind his back, and extended the other forward, making a "please" gesture:

"It would be better if you made the first move, Master. You finally got to show off in front of the Prince. If I make the first move, how will you have a chance to strike?"

"..."

Everyone was stunned. They never expected that this kid would say such arrogant words in such a calm tone. They all said that it was no wonder that this kid was named "Demon". This "Little Sword Demon" really had a bit of evil about him.

Master Lingzhi was so angry he was practically fuming. He let out a low growl:
"Young Lu, you asked for this!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he moved swiftly, lunging towards Lu Chen. At the same time, he thrust his palm horizontally, delivering a powerful handprint that slammed into Lu Chen's chest. His momentum was as fierce as a bear pouncing on its prey, and the force of his palm caused the air to tremble slightly, faintly emitting a muffled thunderous sound.

Master Lingzhi's "Great Seal" is indeed powerful, and his skill is indeed profound.

However, Lu Chen's former sparring partner was named Hong Qigong, and his specialty was the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms.

When Hong Qigong suppressed his power to the same level as Lu Chen, Lu Chen could withstand a hundred or so moves of the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms, let alone Lingzhi Shangren's Great Handprint.
Even to Lu Chen, who was used to seeing the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms, Lingzhi Shangren's movements and palm techniques were full of flaws. If he had a sword, he could have forced Lingzhi Shangren into a disadvantageous position in an instant and turned him into a bloody mess in less than ten moves.

Of course, he didn't have a sword at the moment, so his attack range was insufficient, and he couldn't catch any openings he saw.

But it doesn’t matter.

Compared to Hong Qigong's Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms, Lingzhi Shangren's technique was full of flaws and could not harm him in the slightest.

boom!
A sharp palm wind swept towards him, and Lu Chen's figure was like a feather being blown by the wind, drifting lightly backward with the palm wind.

Master Lingzhi strode forward, striking repeatedly with both palms, his momentum fierce and aggressive.

Lu Chen was like a bird flying through a raging storm, his figure elusive, sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right, always narrowly avoiding Lingzhi Shangren's palm strikes at the last possible moment.

There is no sword technique in the world that involves standing still and slashing at someone.

Every sword technique has corresponding body movements and footwork. The more advanced the sword technique, the more exquisite the body movements and footwork.

Although this kind of movement and footwork is not the professional light-body skill of leaping and bounding high, it is still quite capable of dodging and shifting within a small area.

Lu Chen is proficient in many superior sword techniques, including the Ancient Tomb Sword Technique, which is the fastest in the current era. He has mastered each sword technique to perfection, even surpassing its master. Naturally, his body movements and footwork have also reached the corresponding level.

With his extraordinary aptitude for swordsmanship, he has even begun to integrate the essence of various sword techniques into one.

Although it is not yet fully completed, his current dodging skills have reached a level that even the head of the Ancient Tomb Sect can only barely match him.

Such agility is such that, apart from the top masters at the Five Greats level, no one can even touch him in a one-on-one situation.

Even now, Lingzhi Shangren had exhausted all his strength and displayed his martial arts to the fullest, but no matter how fierce his palm strikes were or how sharp his palm techniques were, he could not even touch a single hem of Lu Chen's clothes.

More than a hundred moves have passed in the blink of an eye.

While everyone marveled at Master Lingzhi's powerful and unrestrained palm techniques, they were secretly terrified by Lu Chen's graceful and swift movements.

Master Lingzhi grew increasingly enraged as he fought, and roared in fury:
"Young man surnamed Lu, is all you can do is hide? If you're so capable, why don't you go head-to-head with Master Buddha and fight him for three hundred rounds!"

"Three hundred rounds?"

Lu Chen chuckled softly:
"If you can withstand even one of my moves, then I will consider myself defeated."

As he spoke, his shadowy, shifting figure suddenly stopped.

Upon seeing this, Master Lingzhi quickly mustered all his strength and struck him in the chest with a palm.

Lu Chen suddenly raised his hand, his index and middle fingers joined together to form a sword finger, and with a sword gesture, he thrust forward with his sword. He actually used two fingers to meet Lingzhi Shangren's "great handprint" that was powerful enough to split stone tablets!
"not good!"

Hou Tonghai slapped his thigh:
"The bet was lost! Master Lingzhi's palm strike was fierce, and that brat Lu was too overconfident; his fingers are about to break!"

Before he finished speaking, Lu Chen's sword finger had already touched Lingzhi Shangren's palm.

puff!
With a soft sound, blood splattered.

Master Lingzhi cried out in pain and leaped backward. When he looked up, he saw a deep, bone-revealing hole in his palm!
"Great!" Huang Rong exclaimed, clapping her hands in delight.

The rest of the spectators gasped in disbelief.

They had all witnessed the power of Master Lingzhi's palm strike.

Even Ouyang Ke, considering that he could only use his fists and palms to meet Lingzhi Shangren's powerful palm strikes, dared not use two fingers to meet them head-on.

Unexpectedly, Lu Chen not only used his finger strength to forcefully resist Lingzhi Shangren's most powerful and fierce palm, but also broke through his palm strength with a single finger, injuring his palm!

Such finger strength was something none of the people present had ever seen before.

"What kind of sorcery is this?"

Master Lingzhi looked at Lu Chen with shock and anger, absolutely refusing to believe that the young Lu Chen would have such sharp finger strength, and insisted that he had used sorcery.

"Magic?"

Lu Chen raised an eyebrow and said in a serious tone:

"My move is called 'Formless Sword Finger,' a unique secret technique of mine. The Master has never seen such a skill before and regards it as a demonic art, but I don't mind. In any case, the outcome will be judged by history."

As he spoke, he became too lazy to pay any more attention to this self-deceptive master, who was known as a "zero-IQ genius" on the internet in his previous life, and turned his gaze to Ouyang Ke:
"Young Master Ouyang comes from a prestigious family. May I ask if you could offer some guidance?"

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(End of this chapter)