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

Chapter 29, Li Mochou's First Appearance
On the banks of the Han River, in a rather bustling port town.

Lu Chen, dressed in black, wearing a bamboo hat, carrying a heavy black iron sword on his back and holding a steel sword that Huang Rong had bought for him, walked on the town's streets with Huang Rong, who was carrying a green steel sword.

Having mastered the heavy sword technique, and with the Bodhi Serpent entering its breeding protection period and having no snakes to eat, the two spent a few days in the mountains with the Divine Eagle, feeding it all sorts of wild game before bidding it farewell and leaving the mountains.

Throughout the journey, Huang Rong expressed her regret:
"What a pity, Brother Eagle doesn't want to come with us..."

Although she often bickered with the eagle, she actually liked the intelligent and majestic eagle brother very much, and once wanted to take it to Peach Blossom Island.

Unfortunately, the eagle was unwilling to leave that valley.

“Brother Eagle is here to guard Senior Dugu’s tomb. Besides, the Bosqu Snake is a rare spiritual creature with extremely demanding requirements for its habitat. It is very likely that it can only reproduce and grow in that valley and cannot survive outside of it. Therefore, besides guarding the tomb, Brother Eagle may also be reluctant to leave its granary.”

Lu Chen laughed:

"We'll come to visit Brother Eagle often from now on."

"Hmm." Huang Rong nodded, smiling sweetly, "Where do we go next?"

Lu Chen thought for a moment and said, "How about we go visit Shaolin Temple first?"

He wanted to visit Shaolin Temple, not for the Nine Yang Manual—with the "Immortal Slaying Sword Intent" teaching, why would he need the Nine Yang Manual?
Collecting more sword techniques is enough.

Furthermore, the Immortal Slaying Sword Dao is a sharp path of unstoppable advance, invincible, capable of slaying gods and immortals alike.

The Nine Yang Manual requires a certain state of mind: "To be happy in success and joyful in failure," and "Let him be strong, the bright moon shines on the great river." Zhang Wuji's temperament is very much in line with the Nine Yang Manual, but Lu Chen is not.

He appears gentle and easygoing, but that's merely the refinement of a scholar. As for his true nature...

Just by looking at his daily sword practice, with its relentless intensity that he wouldn't stop until he was completely exhausted, one can tell how fierce and determined he is by nature.

Therefore, even if Lu Chen could find the Nine Yang Manual at Shaolin Temple, he would not cultivate it. At most, he would refer to the martial arts concepts that suited him and accumulate some resources for the future when "all sword techniques in the world are readily available".

He wanted to go to Shaolin Temple, mainly for swordsmanship.

Swordsmanship is also one of the Seventy-Two Arts.

Lu Chen wanted to visit the Sutra Repository to admire the Shaolin sword techniques and stock up on resources to unlock the "Immortal Slaying Sword Intent"—one of the two prerequisites for unlocking "Sword Two." Although he had already achieved "two extraordinary sword techniques," there were still higher-level sword intents such as "Sword Three" and "Sword Four," which required learning more sword techniques as "keys" to unlock them.

The higher the level of sword intent, the more "keys" are needed.

"Sword Two" only requires two extraordinary sword techniques, "Sword Three" requires four, and "Sword Four" requires eight, which is an exponential increase.

Therefore, even though Lu Chen has not yet mastered "Sword One" and has not yet unlocked "Sword Two," he still needs to start planning ahead for the future.

"My father told me that Shaolin was once known as the martial arts school of the world, and there was a saying that all martial arts in the world originated from Shaolin."

Huang Rong said with a smile:

"However, many years ago, Shaolin closed its doors and stopped engaging with the martial arts world except to receive ordinary pilgrims. I don't know if there are any masters left now."

Lu Chen said, "Shaolin is, after all, a major sect with a complete lineage, so it should still have some experts, but it just doesn't have any top-tier experts at the level of the Five Greats."

He knew very well that Shaolin's closure was due to the chaos caused by the Fire-Worker Monk. As a result, Shaolin was divided and weakened, and for a long time it did not produce any top masters. During the era of the Five Greats before and after the Five Greats, it was not even mentioned. It was not until the era of Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber that it rose again to become one of the major sects that dominated the martial arts world.

Therefore, now is the perfect time to visit Shaolin Temple.

Having decided on their destination, the two found an inn in town to rest for the night before setting off again early the next morning.

After booking the room, the two found a table in a corner of the inn's lobby and ordered a few of their signature dishes to change things up. "They're supposed to be their signature dishes, but they don't taste nearly as good as the simple dishes you make, Rong'er."

Lu Chen ate with a look of disgust. From Shaoxing Prefecture to the mountains for more than a month, he had been eating Huang Rong's cooking. Even though there were fewer kinds of ingredients in the mountains, Huang Rong's magical cooking skills, which could turn the rotten into the miraculous, had long since spoiled his palate.

Huang Rong loved hearing Lu Chen praise her, and her face lit up with a smile as she cheerfully replied:

"The chef here is a bit lacking in skill, but he still has some unique features. Try this braised eggplant; it's not bad."

As she spoke, she placed a piece of food on Lu Chen's plate.

Lu Chen took a bite and nodded:
"Barely okay."

Suddenly, the entrance to the inn darkened, and a tall, slender girl entered, dressed in an apricot-yellow outfit, with a lake-green silk sash around her waist. She carried a bundle, held a long sword, and wore a bamboo hat.

The young woman casually glanced around the hall, found an empty table, took off her straw hat and bundle, placed them on the table, slammed her longsword on the table, and said in a soft, charming voice in a boisterous manner:
"Waiter, two pounds of cooked beef, two steamed buns, and a pot of good wine!"

Upon hearing her words, Huang Rong couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Hearing Huang Rong's laughter, the girl looked in the direction of the sound. She initially intended to glare at her fiercely, but upon seeing that Huang Rong was a bright and charming young woman, she softened her tone and said only with displeasure:
"why are you laughing?"

Huang Rong said with a smile:

"According to the Song Dynasty's Criminal Code, anyone who intentionally kills an official or privately owned ox shall be sentenced to one and a half years of penal servitude. If an ox is stolen and then killed, the crime shall be increased by one degree. Although old, weak, or sick oxen can be slaughtered after being reported to the government, inns generally do not openly sell beef. Sister, you are obviously a stranger. If you openly ask for beef in the inn, the inn will not dare to sell it to you."

As she spoke, she thought to herself that this girl looked to be seventeen or eighteen years old, a year or two older than her, but seemed somewhat naive. The way she ordered beef from the waiter was clearly imitating the outlaws, but she didn't realize that this kind of behavior wouldn't work in the town.

Upon hearing Huang Rong's explanation, the young girl's fair cheeks flushed slightly, and she changed her address to the helpless-looking waiter:

"I won't have beef. Just bring two of your best dishes."

After the waiter went to the kitchen to report the dishes, the young woman bowed to Huang Rong again and said in a hearty manner:
"My name is Li Mochou. Thank you for your guidance, young lady. May I ask your honorable name?"

Li Mochou?
Which one from the Ancient Tomb Sect?
How did we end up here?
Upon hearing the girl introduce herself, Lu Chen, who was sitting with her back to the door and could only hear her voice but not see her face, curiously glanced to the side and saw that the girl was indeed quite beautiful, with exceptionally fair skin and a rather good figure.

Just as she was curiously observing, Huang Rong smiled and cupped her hands in a gesture of respect to Li Mochou:

"My surname is Huang, and my given name is Rong. Sister Mochou, you can call me Rong'er. This is my brother Lu Chen. Lu as in land, and Chen as in steady and reliable."

"Nice to meet you." Lu Chen nodded politely to Li Mochou.

When Li Mochou first entered the martial world, she wasn't yet the kind of person who would kill at the drop of a hat, especially those with the surname "Lu" who had turned into dark and sickly individuals. At this time, she was still somewhat naive, full of fresh curiosity about the martial world. Seeing Lu Chen carrying a large sword on his back and another sword beside him, and Huang Rong also having a sword a foot longer than the usual three-foot sword, she couldn't help but ask with a smile:
"Are you two also martial arts practitioners?"

Huang Rong said with a smile:
"I've just practiced a few self-defense techniques. Judging from Sister Mochou's appearance, have you mastered your skills and come down from the mountain? May I ask which school or sect you belong to?"

"cough……"

Li Mochou coughed lightly, her gaze shifting, and her originally bold tone became somewhat hesitant:
"Well, I just casually practiced a few self-defense techniques..."

The Ancient Tomb Sect is a reclusive sect, and she had secretly slipped down the mountain without her master's knowledge, so how could she dare to reveal her sect? She could only gloss over it.

Just then, the waiter finished reporting the dishes to the kitchen and brought Li Mochou a pot of wine and a small dish of cold appetizers. Li Mochou quickly poured herself a cup of wine and offered a toast to Huang Rong and Lu Chenyao.
"It is fate that we meet in the martial world. I raise a toast to you both..."

Huang Rong could tell from Li Mochou's tone that her background was a bit unusual. She smiled and raised her cup to accept Li Mochou's toast. She was thinking of asking her a few more questions when she suddenly heard a commotion at the entrance of the inn. Several burly men walked in noisily.

(End of this chapter)