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

Chapters 40, 41, and 42: Hong Qigong's Reward [Two-in-One]

Although Hong Qigong was pleased with himself, he did not lose his mind.

What if Rong'er is just sweet-talking me to make this old beggar happy?

This little girl looks innocent and well-behaved, but after all, she is Huang Yaoshi's daughter. Who knows if she might turn out to be a "little Eastern Heretic"?

Hong Qigong looked at Huang Rong with a smile and said:
"What reward does Rong'er want? Let me make it clear first, I, Old Beggar, am just a beggar leader with nothing of value, so I don't have anything good to give you."

Huang Rong smiled and said:

"Don't worry, Master Qi. As people of the martial world, how could we covet worldly possessions? May I ask, Master Qi, what is your most prized martial art?"

Upon hearing her question, Hong Qigong thought to himself, "Sure enough, this little girl is a little devil from the East, so clever and cunning. She used her words to put me, the old beggar, in a bad way, but she was actually trying to find out my martial arts skills so that she could help Huang Yaoshi outdo me in the next Mount Hua Sword Tournament!"
Thinking this to himself, Hong Qigong remained outwardly calm and continued to speak with a smile:
"The old beggar's proudest martial art is, of course, the Beggar Clan's signature move, the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms. Didn't your father tell you that?"

Huang Rong remained unfazed and said with a smile:

"I did say that. But Rong'er is young and playful, so she forgot!"

Hong Qigong snorted:
"You little brat, you don't actually want me to teach you the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms, do you?"

Back when he participated in the Mount Hua Sword Tournament, he hadn't fully mastered the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms moves, and his palm power was far from perfected, but he was already quite formidable at that time, and even Wang Chongyang greatly admired him.

Therefore, Hong Qigong believed that Huang Yaoshi must have memorized the power of his Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms and had specifically instructed his daughter to inquire about his progress in the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms if she had the chance, so as to prepare for the next Mount Hua Sword Tournament.

Unfortunately, little girl, you're not shrewd enough, far less cunning than Huang Yaoshi. Your intentions were exposed too early, and the old beggar won't fall for your tricks.

Just as she was thinking this, she saw Huang Rong and Lu Chen exchange a glance and smile:

"Since the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms is the Beggars' Sect's ultimate martial art, we certainly dare not ask for this reward."

Ok?
Why not inquire about the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms?

Did I misunderstand Rong'er?
Now Hong Qigong was somewhat confused:
"Then what do you want?"

Huang Rong asked, "Does Master Qi have any sword techniques he is skilled in?"

"Swordsmanship?" Hong Qigong was taken aback. "Why ask about swordsmanship?"

"Because we want to learn swordsmanship!"

Huang Rong said crisply:
"Since Master Qi participated in the Mount Hua Sword Tournament and even earned the title of the Northern Beggar among the Five Greats, his swordsmanship must be very impressive."

"..."

Hong Qigong was speechless for a moment, then explained:
"The Mount Hua Sword Tournament, though named a 'sword tournament,' is in reality a 'martial arts tournament.' Weaponry skills are not limited to swords; knives, spears, clubs, and any weapon will do. But the old beggar's primary weapon of practice is not a sword..."

Huang Rong immediately looked disappointed:
"So, Master Qi can't use a sword? But I seem to remember my father saying that the Five Greats are all very knowledgeable and proficient in all eighteen weapons..."

Hearing her say that, Hong Qigong felt a little embarrassed:

"Heh, who said this old beggar can't use a sword? I just, well, I just focus on the Beggar Clan's traditional martial arts, and I don't specialize in swordsmanship. My swordsmanship is just a little inferior to my preferred weapon."

"really?"

Huang Rong flashed a big smile:

"Seventh Master knows how to use a sword! That's wonderful! Seventh Master, please teach us a few sword techniques as a reward."

"And several sword techniques... Where did this old beggar get so many sword techniques..."

Hong Qigong secretly grumbled to himself.

However, since Huang Rong wasn't trying to find out about his "Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms" but only about his swordsmanship, which wasn't important to him, it means that her praise of him earlier wasn't just empty flattery, but was entirely true.

This also shows that Rong'er is different from her father; she is a naive and honest good girl.

In that case, the old beggar must not let her down!
Upon realizing this, Hong Qigong laughed heartily and said:

"Although the old beggar knows quite a bit of swordsmanship, he wouldn't look down on ordinary second- or third-rate swordsmanship given your background. Fortunately, the old beggar does have a powerful swordsmanship technique that he can actually show off."

"That was a sword manual that I obtained by chance in the Changbai Mountains when I traveled to the Northeast twenty years ago. It is said that when you master it to the highest level, you can develop a 'sword aura' that will give your sword an extra killing range. If your sword is only three feet long, but you can develop a half-foot sword aura, then your three-foot sword can injure your enemy from half a foot away, making it impossible for your enemy to defend against it."

"Old Beggar did not specialize in swordsmanship, so he did not make a name for himself. I don't know if this is true or not, but judging from the sword manual's moves and mental techniques, it is indeed a pretty good swordsmanship."

A sword beam that can injure someone from a distance?

Huang Rong's eyes lit up, thinking to herself that this swordsmanship sounded quite formidable.

Lu Chen also felt that this sword technique seemed to have some merit.

It's important to know that in the era of The Legend of the Condor Heroes, there weren't many martial arts techniques that could injure someone from a distance.

Among the martial arts of Peach Blossom Island, there is only one called "Splitting Palm" which is specifically trained to use palm force from a distance. It is regarded as one of Huang Yaoshi's signature skills, but it is ridiculed as "splitting palm force, every palm splits the air" and is far inferior to the "White Rainbow Palm" that can turn in mid-air in the Tianlong era.

In this era, Huang Yaoshi's "Finger Flicking Skill" also required the use of small stones and other ammunition to achieve long-range attacks.

While Hong Qigong's Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms are powerful, the palm force is only released upon contact. Although the resulting palm wind is imposing, it does not cause actual damage, unlike Qiao Feng's technique of combining two palm forces to injure someone from a distance of three zhang.

By the time of The Return of the Condor Heroes, the Five Greats had all practiced the Nine Yin Manual to some extent, their skills had deepened, and their power had reached a high level, allowing them to attack from a greater distance. Huang Yaoshi's "Finger Flicking Skill" could shoot out finger force from a distance without needing ammunition, and Yideng's "One-Finger Divine Skill" could also strike a distance of one zhang (approximately 3.3 meters).

Yes, even when Yideng's "One Finger Divine Skill" reached its peak in the later stages of The Return of the Condor Heroes, he could only strike from a distance of about ten feet when facing Jinlun Fawang, who had cultivated the Dragon Elephant Skill and Prajna Skill to the tenth level.

The flying flame blades, Six Meridian Divine Sword, Dragon Capturing Skill, White Rainbow Palm Force, remote acupoint striking, and three-foot qi wall from the Tianlong era, along with Qiao Feng's stacked palm force and his Dragon Subduing Palm Force that strikes three or four zhang away from a distance, would be considered divine skills in this era.

However, this does not mean that the Five Greats of the Condor Heroes were less talented than their predecessors in the Tianlong era.

Lu Chen believes that this is likely because many of the unique martial arts techniques that flourished during the Tianlong era were lost.

Many of the advanced martial arts techniques of the Xiaoyao Sect did not survive to the time of The Legend of the Condor Heroes.

Kumārajīva's Flaming Blade also did not survive.

The Duan family of Dali also lost the Six Meridian Divine Sword. The Lingbo Weibu and Beiming Divine Skill that Duan Yu learned were not passed down to the Duan family either.

The Murong family's Canhe Finger and Douzhuan Xingyi techniques are long gone.

The unique skills of capturing objects from a distance, such as the Dragon-Capturing Skill and Crane-Controlling Skill, have not been passed down.

Perhaps it was the great upheaval caused by the rise of the Jin Dynasty, the destruction of the Liao Dynasty, and the invasion of the Song Dynasty that led to the loss of many unique skills.

Or perhaps Dugu Qiubai, who called himself "Demon," killed too many people and destroyed many traditions.

Regardless, Lu Chen was very interested in the sword technique that Hong Qigong had mentioned.

However, he also had a sense of déjà vu; the keywords "Changbai Mountain" and "sword's edge" seemed familiar.

In his memory, there seemed to be someone who had obtained a sword manual in Changbai Mountain and mastered the sword's edge.

Upon careful recollection, he gradually remembered that it seemed to be the Tianlong era, with a "Sword God" named Zhuo Bufan.
Although Zhuo Bufan didn't have many scenes and his battle record wasn't great, and the title of "Sword God" was a bit of a stretch, he had a certain amount of discussion on the internet in his previous life because of his seemingly powerful "sword aura," which made him remember him.

So, could the sword manual that Hong Qigong obtained in Changbai Mountain be the same sword technique that the "Sword God" Zhuo Bufan practiced?
Can a sword manual be preserved for this long?

Or perhaps the sword manual was carved on stone? Well, the origins of the sword technique don't really matter; the important thing is that Hong Qigong also thought it was quite good.

Although Hong Qigong was not skilled in swordsmanship, he fought against Huang Yaoshi and Wang Chongyang, who were skilled in swordsmanship, during the Mount Hua Sword Tournament. Besides the One-Finger Divine Skill, the Southern Emperor might also know swordsmanship.

Therefore, even if Hong Qigong humbly claimed that his swordsmanship was only average, his judgment in assessing the strength of sword techniques was certainly not flawed.

Lu Chen and Huang Rong exchanged a glance, and Lu Chen nodded slightly to her. Huang Rong immediately made the decision:
"Seventh Master, let's learn this sword technique!"

Hong Qigong laughed:
"Alright, then this old beggar will teach you this sword technique. Hmm, Rong'er is Huang Yaoshi's daughter, Lu is Huang Yaoshi's disciple, and Mochou is also Lin Heroine's successor. Since you are all descendants of my old friends, the three of you can learn together."

Li Mochou was overjoyed. She never expected to be able to learn a sword technique that even the "Northern Beggar" said was good, and it was even taught by the "Northern Beggar" himself. The benefits of this far outweighed those of practicing the sword manual and sword scriptures on her own.

With the Five Greats' martial arts prowess, a few casual words of guidance would be enough for her to benefit from.

Overwhelmed with surprise and joy, she glanced gratefully at Huang Rong and Lu Chen, then hurriedly bowed to Hong Qigong to express her gratitude.

However, it was already late, so Hong Qigong simply used his wooden practice sword to demonstrate the sword moves and footwork briefly, giving Lu Chen and the other two a general impression.

Afterwards, Hong Qigong told them that he would come back early the next morning to carefully break down their moves and teach them the mental techniques for channeling and controlling their internal energy, before he drifted away.

After Hong Qigong left, Li Mochou's cheeks flushed as if she were drunk, and she excitedly thanked Huang Rong and Lu Chen repeatedly:
"Sister Rong'er, Brother Lu, thanks to you both, I've also had this wonderful experience!"

Lu Chen said with a smile:

“Miss Li, you’re too kind. It’s fate that we met in the martial world. We’ve fought side by side to wipe out evil gangs, so we’re already good friends.”

Huang Rong also laughed:
"That's right. Besides, the reason why Master Qi included Sister Mochou is because Sister Mochou's ancestor had a past relationship with Master Qi."

She was a little curious about who Li Mochou's "Master Lin" was. Since she had a past relationship with Qi Gong, she must be an extremely powerful female knight-errant.

That night, Lu Chen lay in bed, counting the sword techniques he had mastered and those he was about to acquire.

Having mastered the "Yue Maiden Sword Technique," he successfully unlocked "Sword One."

Having mastered the "Falling Blossom Sword Technique" and the "Heavy Sword Technique," one of the two prerequisites for unlocking "Sword Two" has been met.

"JX3" requires four sword techniques.

Hong Qigong will teach him one sword technique immediately, and then he can slowly figure out Li Mochou's sword technique, which will make up two techniques.

If you visit the Shaolin Temple's Sutra Repository again, you might find one or two sword techniques. If you're lucky, you can unlock all four sword techniques in "Swordsman Online 3".

However, simply gathering all the sword techniques is not enough.

One of the two prerequisites for "Sword II" was complete mastery of "Sword I," but this was still not achieved.

"No rush. I'm currently studying Sword One and making progress every day. At this rate, I might be able to master Sword One in less than six months. Then, I can directly unlock Sword Two..."

After pondering martial arts for a while, Lu Chen collected his thoughts and intended to rest, but he couldn't help but think of Rong'er.

With Li Mochou around these past two days, he and Rong'er have had far fewer opportunities to get close—although their previous so-called "closeness" had always been very measured, at most holding hands and chasing each other around, nothing more, but...

"Forget it, let's just consider it an act of kindness. Saving a lost girl and pulling her out of the abyss of darkness indirectly saves many more people, which is a great deed. Anyway, Rong'er is still young, there's plenty of time..."

Lu Chen comforted himself in this way.

Huang Rong also tossed and turned in her bed, unable to sleep.

Previously, every night, Lu Chen would tell her stories, sing songs, and tell her interesting stories about the "immortal realm".

But now that Li Mochou is here, it's inconvenient to bring up the topic of the "Immortal Realm," and it's also not very convenient to chat, sing, or tell stories. I want to be a little mischievous with Lu Chen and chase and play around with him, but it's a bit embarrassing to do it in front of Li Mochou.

"Sigh, as expected, traveling with three people has many inconveniences..."

Huang Rong pouted, feeling down for a moment, but quickly cheered up again:
"But these are minor matters. The important thing is to help Lu Chen comprehend the sword technique... Later, when we take him to Peach Blossom Island and then to the Immortal Realm, we'll have plenty of time to have fun together."

Thinking about taking Lu Chen to visit Peach Blossom Island in the future, and then going to the Immortal Realm with him to ride a cruise ship, train, airplane, warship, and spaceship to the moon... Huang Rong's pink lips curled up slightly, and her eyes couldn't help but show a lot of longing.

Well, things like taking a warship or a spaceship to the moon were activities she added herself; Lu Chen never dared to make such a guarantee...

Early the next morning, Hong Qigong arrived as promised and began to teach Lu Chen and the other two swordsmen.

"Seventh Master, what is this sword technique called?"

"This, Old Beggar really doesn't know. The sword manual is engraved on the stone wall of a cave in Changbai Mountain, but it has no name. You can call it the Nameless Sword Technique or the Changbai Sword Technique."

"The Nameless Sword Technique and the Changbai Sword Technique don't sound good. Brother Lu Chen, what do you think should be called this sword technique?"

"Hmm, the White Rainbow Sword Technique?"

"Alright, let's call it the White Rainbow Sword Technique! Seventh Master, you have no objections, right?"

“You little rascal, you’ve already named it, what objections could this old beggar possibly have? Anyway, it’s the Nameless Sword Manual, so you can name it whatever you want.”

Thus, this nameless sword technique, which was obtained from a cave wall in Changbai Mountain and was suspected to have been practiced by Zhuo Bufan, the "Sword God" of the Tianlong era, was named "White Rainbow Sword Technique".

The White Rainbow Sword Technique, in terms of moves, is not as elegant and exquisite as the Falling Petals Sword Technique or the Ancient Tomb Sword Technique, but when wielding the sword, the sword light is crisscrossing, as fast as lightning, sharp and ruthless, aggressive and pressing, with more offense than defense, making it a fierce and ruthless sword technique.

Li Mochou was quite satisfied with this, because this sword technique could just make up for the weakness of her sword technique in terms of killing power.

Huang Rong approached learning with a playful attitude—she possessed family-inherited martial arts, and other martial arts, unless they were top-tier techniques like the Nine Yin Manual, were optional to learn.

However, she is playful by nature and loves novelty, so she will definitely learn any new kung fu she has the opportunity to do.

However, once she has learned it, she usually puts it aside and doesn't constantly study it or improve it.

As for Lu Chen, his focus when learning swordsmanship even impressed Hong Qigong, and his comprehension surprised Hong Qigong.

In his view, Huang Rong and Li Mochou already possessed excellent martial arts comprehension.

Looking across the world, it's rare to see such promising talents as these two.

However, Lu Chen's swordsmanship comprehension surpasses that of the other two. Whether it is the moves or the mental techniques, he understands them immediately upon hearing them.

With such exceptional talent, it's no wonder that even someone as proud and picky as Huang Yaoshi would accept him as his last disciple.

Hong Qigong was amazed by Lu Chen's unparalleled comprehension, but he didn't know that before Lu Chen unlocked "Sword One," his comprehension could only be described as "good," far from being "excellent."

Huang Rong learned the thirty-six moves of the Yue Maiden Sword after only reading the sword moves breakdown once and listening to the breathing techniques twice. She was able to teach Lu Chen as his master. However, it took Lu Chen four whole days to learn the complete Yue Maiden Sword under Huang Rong's careful instruction.

Although this was because he was a beginner in martial arts and his foundation was too weak, he was naturally inferior to Huang Rong, who had practiced martial arts since childhood and was proficient in advanced sword techniques such as the Falling Flower Sword Technique and the Jade Flute Sword Technique, and could apply them to other situations. However, his sword comprehension at that time was far inferior to Huang Rong's.

It wasn't until he unlocked "Sword One," obtained the sword intent imprint, and touched upon the principles of swordsmanship that he truly understood. His swordsmanship comprehension increased day by day, and even Huang Yaoshi recognized him as a "swordsmanship prodigy." Now, he even has the ability to deconstruct and reverse-engineer swordsmanship techniques from moves and the force on the sword.

Furthermore, Lu Chen's comprehension of swordsmanship will not stop there.

As the "Sword Intent of Immortal Slaying" is unlocked layer by layer in the future, his sword comprehension will continue to improve and become stronger.

[Two chapters have been combined into one today, please vote with your monthly tickets!]

(End of this chapter)