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

Chapter 68, 83: Rong'er truly lives up to her reputation as an old man's nemesis! [Seeking monthly votes!]

Back at their lodgings, Cheng Buyou and Cong Buqi took the sika deer that Lu Chen had carried all the way back. They skinned and butchered it with knives, their skills appearing extremely proficient. It seemed that after living in seclusion in the mountains for more than ten years, they had long been adept at such tasks.

Feng Buping went to the cellar and took out the stored radishes, cabbage, dried mushrooms, sausages, etc., to prepare a meal to treat the two children.

Then, when he went to cook, Huang Rong entered the kitchen with a smile:

"Uncle Feng, let me cook. I'm a great cook."

"you?"

Feng Buping glanced at her slender, delicate hands, her skin soft and pink, and a slightly stiff smile appeared on his face:

"You, a pampered young lady who has never lifted a finger in the kitchen, can cook?"

Huang Rong nodded repeatedly:

"Yes, I can. Not only can I, I'm really good at it."

Feng Buping chuckled, thought for a moment, and pointed to the cutting board, "Try cutting a radish first."

If you can't even cut vegetables, don't claim to know how to cook.

Huang Rong chuckled, rolled up her sleeves, picked up the kitchen knife, and deftly began to chop.

An expert will know if there is one as soon as he takes action.

Feng Buping could tell from Huang Rong's knife skills that she was exceptionally good; she could probably even carve flowers on a radish with a cleaver.

Now Feng Buping no longer doubted Huang Rong's cooking skills. After watching her chop vegetables for a while, he said:

"I'll go get the venison."

Huang Rong said, "Do you have any red dates? I'll make a pot of red date stewed venison."

Feng Buping nodded: "Yes. I'll go get it."

An hour or two later.

It was pitch black outside, the cold wind was like a knife, and snow was falling heavily.

The wooden dining room, however, was warm and inviting.

Hard firewood burned in the hearth, and the open flames made the three old faces of Feng Buping, Cheng Buyou, and Cong Buqi glow red. The three brothers wielded their chopsticks with great speed and ate with great enthusiasm.

"Delicious, so delicious! Senior brother, Rong'er's cooking is a hundred times better than yours!"

Cheng Buyou's mouth was greasy, and he kept praising it.

"Young Lu is so lucky to have such a sweetheart as Rong'er. Doesn't that mean he can eat such delicious food every day?"

Cong Buqi also ate with a satisfied expression, praising the food highly.

“Uncle Cong, I’m not Lu Chen’s lover, I’m his fiancée. My father has approved our engagement.”

Huang Rong pouted and corrected her.

Cong Buqi and Cheng Buyou laughed heartily.

Feng Buping also said with a smile:

"So you're a young couple who're already engaged. Young man, you're incredibly lucky."

Lu Chen nodded and smiled:
"Uncle Feng is right."

While chatting and laughing, eating and drinking, the three old swordsmen, who lived in seclusion deep in the mountains and had to take care of their own food and clothing, and who had never tasted such delicious food even when they occasionally went down the mountain to eat at a restaurant, were already full and were half sitting and half leaning on their chairs to catch their breath.

Cong Buqi winked at Lu Chen:

"Kid, do you know what the sika deer is also called?"

"What is it?" Lu Chen really didn't know the other name for the sika deer.

“The sika deer is also called the medicinal deer, which is very good for replenishing yang energy.” Cong Buqi chuckled and said, “You just ate a lot of red dates stewed with venison. Be careful not to get a fever tonight and have trouble sleeping.”

"..."

Lu Chen was speechless. So this old guy was lying in ambush here all along.

Lu Chen understood Cong Buqi's implied meaning, but Huang Rong looked completely bewildered:
"Uncle Cong, why does taking a lot of yang energy make me feel hot and unable to sleep?"

Before Cong Buyou could speak, Cheng Buyou burst out laughing:
"Of course it's because Lu has you as his little wife."

Huang Rong became even more curious:

Why can't I sleep when my brother Lu Chen is around?

Well, although she had watched TV in the main world and watched a few movies with Lu Chen, the TV shows she watched were all cartoons and the movies were all animated films, so she still knows nothing about matters between men and women.

Seeing Huang Rong's innocent and carefree demeanor, Cheng Buyou and Cong Buqi were overjoyed.

Feng Buping said with a flat face:
“Junior Brother Cong, Junior Brother Cheng, why are you saying these things to a little kid? You two are disrespectful elders.”

Cong Buqi and Cheng Buyou exchanged a glance, looked at Lu Chen, then at Huang Rong, and chuckled.

Although it's a bit disrespectful to elders, these two dolls are really adorable.

Besides, they're already an engaged couple, so a few jokes won't hurt, right?
"If you want to fall asleep at night, you need to practice more."

Cheng Buyou laughed and said:
"Once you've exhausted all your energy, you'll naturally be able to sleep. Since young Lu has practiced martial arts, go to the snow later and practice for an hour or two; that should be enough."

Huang Rong asked:

"Uncle Cheng, aren't you having a fever and can't sleep?"

Cheng Buyou laughed heartily:
"We know Qigong. Venison is very nourishing, which is perfect for practicing Qigong, so of course we can sleep well."

Yes, as swordsmen of the Sword Sect, their internal energy is very strong!

Feng Buping, in particular, was extremely skilled in qigong.

“I do practice every night. I’ll practice more tonight,” Lu Chen said with a smile.

I used to think these three old men were quite despicable when I watched The Smiling, Proud Wanderer.

But if you think about it carefully, every time they appear, they're there to cause trouble for others, and it's always the protagonists who are targeted. Their aggressive attitude naturally makes those who identify with the protagonists feel that they are despicable.

But if you put yourself in their shoes, it's not hard to understand their resentment—Mount Hua is known as the "Sword Sect," but the Sword Sect, which focuses on swordsmanship, was wiped out by the Qi Sect, which focuses on internal energy cultivation, leaving only the three of them. The Huashan Sword Sect was even taken over by the Qi Sect.

Unable to return to their original sects, they were forced to live in seclusion in Zhongtiao Mountain for more than ten years, thinking every day about avenging their elders, fighting back to Huashan, and reclaiming their sect. How much resentment and unwillingness must they have been harboring in their hearts?
Now that the opportunity has finally arrived, I'm going to unleash my fury and humiliate the Qi Sect to the fullest!
In their daily lives, they certainly couldn't always be in that state of wanting to gloat and thoroughly humiliate the Qi Sect.

They lived self-sufficiently in the mountains, hunting, farming, raising chickens, cooking...

These three old swordsmen, who do everything themselves, are not much different from ordinary people, and are even quite down-to-earth.

Making funny faces and joking around with the young couple added to their vibrancy and even cuteness.

Life's twists and turns are truly unpredictable.

On a snowy night, after a hearty meal, Lu Chen sat around the warm fire pit, accompanied by Rong'er, chatting and joking with the three old men who were actually villains. Occasionally, he could hear the rustling sound of snowflakes falling on the roof and the ground. A strange sense of peace and tranquility arose in Lu Chen's heart.

Unbeknownst to him, the pent-up frustration he had accumulated from his experiences in the main world was swept away.

With a clear and tranquil mind, true energy flowed naturally, and insights into the "Sword Imprint" came one after another. The prototype of a sword move also suddenly appeared in my mind.

The intent of the Zhuxian Sword is ultimately a sword of great destruction, great slaughter, and great annihilation.

Even in such a peaceful and serene atmosphere, with such a clear and tranquil state of mind, Lu Chen's sudden sword move, which seemed to be a divine gift or a sword technique originating from the depths of his heart, was still a ruthless and deadly killing move.

Unwittingly, Lu Chen experienced a rare and serendipitous "enlightenment".

Not only did he obtain the prototype of the killing move, but he also gained a deeper understanding of the principles of "Sword Two"—the balance of hardness and softness, lightness and heaviness, and the interplay of illusion and reality.

Feng Buping, Cheng Buyou, and Cong Buqi were unaware of his change.

Only Huang Rong, who was with him day and night and inseparable from him, seemed to sense something and glanced at him, her bright eyes revealing a hint of inquiry.

Lu Chen smiled and gently squeezed her hand, giving her a coded signal that everything was alright. Huang Rong smiled brightly and then chatted merrily with the three old men again.

Let's chat for a while to digest our food.

Lu Chen called out to Feng Buping and the other two, then got up and went outside. Amidst the swirling snow, he assumed a fighting stance and slowly began practicing the Yi Jin Duan Gu Pian (a martial arts manual).

Since his injury last time, after slowly practicing the Yi Jin Duan Gu Pian for two days, he had vaguely grasped its mysteries.

The Yi Jin Duan Gu chapter comes from the first volume of the Nine Yin Manual.

The first volume of the Nine Yin Manual is a cultivation method that Huang Chang comprehended from the Daoist Canon.

Since it is a Taoist practice, how could it not contain the wonders of "yin and yang"?
At that time, he had just unlocked "Sword II" and vaguely sensed a change in Yin and Yang.

That is why he was able to comprehend the subtle mystery of "yin and yang" from the Yi Jin Duan Gu chapter.

So now when he practices the external martial arts of Yi Jin Duan Gu Pian, he always does it slowly and leisurely.

The movement resembled pushing a heavy millstone.

The blood and qi in his body seemed to have become two grinding stones, grinding and polishing each other, giving rise to a more refined, powerful and profound true qi. At the same time, it subtly improved his physical constitution and physique with a higher efficiency than before.

Although Feng Buping and the other two also practiced qigong, they clearly distinguished between swordsmanship and qigong.

A technique is a technique, and qigong is qigong; they should never be confused, nor should one cultivate internal strength from the outside in.

Therefore, they practice techniques but not internal energy, and they practice internal energy but not techniques; when they practice internal energy, they simply meditate.

Having no understanding that practicing moves is also a form of internal energy cultivation, they naturally couldn't comprehend Lu Chen's Yi Jin Duan Gu external martial arts.

I just felt that Lu Xiaozi's punches were a bit too slow.

The three of them together weigh nearly 180 pounds, and they occasionally practice health-preserving boxing, yet their movements are much faster and more powerful than his.

"Young Lu's boxing... which master taught him that? Could he be just fooling him?"

Cong Buqi muttered to himself.

"Alright, stop watching. You're all seasoned veterans. Don't you know that watching others practice martial arts is a big no-no? Go back and meditate."

Feng Buping spoke calmly, glancing at Lu Chen's incredibly slow punching stance, and shook his head:
"However, this punch... is indeed too slow."

The wind was very strong outside.

The wind howled sharply, like the wailing of ghosts.

Therefore, none of them heard the low, mournful whistling sound emanating from the airflow surrounding Lu Chen as he slowly clenched his fist.

The three old men from the Sword Sect went back to their rooms to practice their internal energy.

Before leaving, she naturally showed Huang Rong the room that had been arranged for her and Lu Chen.

Feng Buping even found clean bed sheets and a newly made thick quilt.

After making the bed, Huang Rong went outside into the snow and, together with Lu Chen, began practicing the Yi Jin Duan Gu Manual.

Lu Chen naturally taught her the secrets of cultivation.

Although she didn't have a sword intent imprint to comprehend, with her comprehension, she could still grasp some of the tricks. When she slowly practiced the Yi Jin Duan Gu chapter, the improvement in her physical constitution, the enhancement of her physique, and the increase in her power were all much stronger than before.

Of course, no matter how powerful the Yi Jin Duan Gu Chapter is, it is only a part of the first volume of the Nine Yin Manual.

Even if you only cultivate the Yi Jin Duan Gu chapter, there is a limit to its potential.

The true essence of this skill lies in the four characters "易筋锻骨" (Yi Jin Duan Gu), which have an excellent effect on improving physical constitution and strengthening the body. Further progress in cultivating stronger internal energy techniques will then be even faster.

Lu Chen follows the path of entering the Dao through the sword. From the imprint of sword intent, he can comprehend the method of cultivating "true sword qi". Therefore, he has no need for internal energy, but he is eager for resources that can quickly improve his power.

Unfortunately, it seems that there are no rare and precious treasures in the world of Laughing at the World.

As for Rong'er's internal skills, Lu Chen felt that the "Xiao Wu Xiang Gong" of the Xiaoyao Sect would be quite suitable for her.

If we go to the world of Tianlong in the future, we can try to get her the Lesser Formless Skill.

Of course, if there is an opportunity to go to a world with a higher energy level and obtain stronger cultivation techniques, that would be the best.

Huang Rong practiced for an hour and felt a little tired, so she went to the door, moved a chair and sat down. She watched Lu Chen practice for a while, and then her eyelids started to droop. She told Lu Chen that she was going back to her room first.

Lu Chen practiced until midnight as always before returning to his room. After a quick wash, he went to the room that Feng Buping had arranged for him and Huang Rong.

Huang Rong was curled up in a thick quilt, and as always, a large empty space was left for him on the left side of the bed.

Lu Chen got onto the bed, intending to meditate, but seeing Rong'er curled up in a ball, and thinking about the biting wind and heavy snow outside, he finally took off his outer clothes and crawled into the quilt.

As soon as he crawled into the blankets, Rong'er wrapped her arms around him and her legs around his.

The soft, silky feel of Rong'er's skin told Lu Chen that she only had two pieces of underwear that she had bought in the main world.

"Rong'er, are you still awake?" he asked in a low voice.

Rong'er responded groggily, sounding like she was half asleep.

Feeling Rong'er's soft body, Lu Chen took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, immersing his mind in the sword intent imprint.

Winter nights are cold.

But it's very warm inside the thick new quilt.

Amidst the soft rustling of falling snowflakes, Rong'er nestled in Lu Chen's arms, her hands and feet tightly embracing him, and finally drifted into her deepest and sweetest dream.

The next day.

Lu Chen slept until dawn, a rare occurrence.

He gently moved Rong'er's hands and feet away, then dressed and got out of bed.

Before even stepping outside, one could hear the faint whistling of sharp sword winds emanating from the open space outside.

He went out through the main door of the main room and saw that there was a thick layer of snow outside.

In the snow, Feng Buping, dressed only in a single layer of clothing, was practicing his sword. His body leaped and undulated, his swift sword strikes were as fast and unpredictable as lightning, and the chilling sword wind was overwhelming.

The fierce sword wind spread out for several meters, even sweeping away layers of snow from the ground.

"That's my senior brother's 108-style Gale Sword Technique," Cheng Buyou's voice came from behind him. "Young Lu, can you understand it?"

In the martial arts world, watching someone practice martial arts without permission is a major taboo.

But Lu Chen walked out through the main gate openly, while Feng Buping did not stop practicing his sword, clearly not minding him watching.

Perhaps Feng Buping thought that Lu Chen, with his martial arts foundation, wouldn't be able to understand his swordsmanship?

Little did they know that after Lu Chen unlocked "Sword Two" and comprehended the various contradictory yet mutually transformative changes of the Sword Two imprints, his sword comprehension had reached a new level. He could now understand any sword technique or move at a glance.

The key to exerting force can only be discovered through hands-on experience.

Lu Chen didn't bully the old man; he pretended not to understand.

Cheng Buyou nodded and answered truthfully:
"I can understand it."

"If you don't understand, then... what?"

Cheng Buyou only realized what he was saying halfway through his sentence, and looked at Lu Chen with a surprised expression:

"What did you say? Can you even understand it?"

Lu Chen's tone was certain:

"Yes, I can understand all the moves."

[This chapter is 4K words long. Two chapters today, please vote with your monthly tickets!]

(End of this chapter)