Playing with fantasy beasts in the martial arts world

Chapter 143 Another Martial Arts Method of the Ancient System

Bang!
The soup spoon was kicked away, and the owner's hand, which had been holding the spoon, was raised high, even trembling slightly, but his expression remained unchanged.

The soup spoon swirled, and the bamboo chopsticks held in the other hand stabbed out.

The sharp sound of wind cutting through the air sent chills down one's spine.

But even with such a fast hand movement, it still couldn't match the speed of the young man's legs.

With a swift, lightning-fast leg sweep, she can always preemptively block the boss's moves before they even reach him, rendering them ineffective as a real threat.

It seemed like they were evenly matched, but anyone with even a little knowledge of martial arts could tell that the young man was far superior to the noodle stall owner.

This is not a difference in realm, but a difference in martial arts skills.

Just like people, some live in luxury while others can't even fill their stomachs.

"What amazing legwork!" a young man eating noodles exclaimed, but there was no fear in his tone; instead, he was full of eagerness to try.

He instinctively gripped the sword in his hand, but then glanced at the one-armed, one-eyed man in black sitting opposite him, suppressing his restless impulse.

The boss tried to attack again, but his feet were already pinned down by the boss's wife, making it difficult for him to move.

"We don't have any good wine here, but our braised tofu is really good," the proprietress said with a smile to the previous customer who had ordered wine.

Then he turned to the guests who wanted to have drinks and said, "Please sit inside the shed, sir. I will bring you the food and drinks right away. After I'm done with this, I'll sit down and have a couple of drinks with you."

As he spoke, he reached out to lead the two of them into the shed.

The simple tent had only two small tables, which had already been occupied by the three people who arrived first. Fortunately, a table usually wasn't just for one person; it was usually equipped with two chairs and stools, just like a teapot usually comes with several teacups.

Unfortunately, there were three people sitting in the shed, but only one seat was left.

The proprietress quickly moved a chair over and placed it closer to the stove, saying with a smile, "The shop is small and the roof leaks, please bear with us, gentlemen!"

As he spoke, he glanced at the two who had just arrived, seemingly anticipating what would happen if they started fighting over seats.

It's just a seat, not a dragon throne, it shouldn't be that big of a deal.

However, everyone present was a member of the martial arts world, and martial arts people value their reputation above all else, so they would not easily give up this position.

However, the man who arrived first seemed not to notice anything unusual. He simply sat down on the chair placed at the back and leaned back lazily.

He seemed lazy, a bit stupid, and somewhat numb. He didn't react to the wary, mocking, or disdainful looks from others.

"The world is so vast, and people are so small. It seems we are destined to sit at the same table."

"How about I buy you a drink?" the man said.

"Not good!" The man in blue sitting on the right wasn't exactly rude either, because he added, "I don't drink alcohol."

The man touched his nose, looking extremely disappointed. He seemed to think it was such a pity that someone didn't like drinking when the wine was so delicious.

"If he won't drink with you, I will!"

“But drinking alone isn’t fun. How about we play a little game? We can ask each other questions. You don’t have to answer, but if you don’t answer… you can’t drink. You can only watch others drink!” The young man who arrived later, who wanted to drink with courtesans, plopped down in the chair directly opposite the man in blue and said to the man next to him.

"What kind of logic is this? Shouldn't the person who doesn't answer drink?" The man touched his nose again, looking somewhat troubled.

"Isn't the penalty drink a reward for a drunkard like you?" Cha Nan turned to look at Chu Liuxiang beside him. He was lucky; he only had to go through three worlds and cross three interdimensional gates to find Chu Liuxiang.

Although most people know Chu Liuxiang because of the line "The young master loses his beauty when he is surrounded by flowers, while the thief king leaves fragrance under the moon", Cha Nan also remembers this scene, remembers this temporary noodle stall, and knows what this noodle stall is doing now.

In short, although this noodle shop looked suspicious and the people who came to eat there didn't seem like good people, what they were about to do was indeed a good thing... It's just a pity they didn't succeed.

Before Cha Nan could finish speaking and before Chu Liuxiang could reply, someone clapped and laughed, "Well said! Punishing a drunkard by making him drink is like making rats guard the granary gate."

The newcomer's laughter was hearty and loud. He walked with his back ramrod straight. His clothes were freshly changed and very crisply washed. A long sword with a black sheath was tied to his belt, and the brass hilt and guard were polished to a gleaming shine.

He did put in a lot of effort to make a good impression on others.

Unfortunately, all of this could no longer conceal his disheveled, haggard, and weary state; he simply hoped that others wouldn't notice.

"I've met a kindred spirit who appreciates fine wine, but it's a pity I can't drink with you! There's also an interesting young man here; if we have the chance, let's get drunk together sometime!" With that, the man strode up to the noodle stall and shouted in a loud voice, "I want a bowl of noodles, a large bowl."

The noodle stall owner stared at him wide-eyed, looking him up and down, seemingly incredulous, yet also blaming this person for jumping out and causing trouble.

The middle-aged man with the sword was also glaring at him, then suddenly sneered: "Why don't you speak? What do you mean by this? Do you think I, Jiao Lin, am too old to eat your noodles anymore?"

His voice was hoarse with anger: "I don't care whether I eat this bowl of noodles or not, but I'm going to show you whether I still have the ability."

Having said that, he drew his sword.

It was clear that his method of drawing the sword was completely correct and standard, but his hand was indeed not very steady.

The noodle stall owner, who had just been humiliated by Cha Nan, suddenly thrust out a pair of bamboo chopsticks, aiming to poke Cha Nan's eyes with a double-dragon-bead-attacking motion.

Before his sword even reached the other man's heart, the other man's bamboo chopsticks were already at his eyelashes.

He had no choice but to retreat.

He only took one step back when the bamboo chopsticks suddenly struck down, hitting his wrist bone with a 'clang', and the longsword fell to the ground.

As the longsword fell to the ground, Jiao Lin seemed to have suddenly fallen from a tall building into an abyss of no return.

In that instant, all the weaknesses he had tried so hard to hide were suddenly exposed: his aging, his dejected appearance, his unsteady eyes, and even the worn-out areas on his collar and cuffs were all clearly visible.

But no one wanted to look at him anymore.

He slowly bent down, picked up the sword that had been knocked to the ground, and retreated step by step, his eyes fixed on the noodle stall owner's bamboo chopsticks.

He was trembling, his eyes filled with despair and fear, as if he knew that with every step he took back, he was one step closer to death.

Chu Liuxiang suddenly stood up, first took out a piece of silver and placed it on the table, then opened an oil-paper umbrella and went over to help him.

"I can tell you're craving a drink." He smiled and said, "The tofu here is well-prepared, but the liquor... it smells too sour. Let's go somewhere else to drink!"

As he spoke, he turned his head and called out to Cha Nan, "The game you mentioned sounds interesting, so why don't you come along too?"

Upon hearing this, Cha Nan stood up and followed behind him without saying anything more.

Wearing traditional high clogs, they trudged through the mud, while a brand-new oil-paper umbrella shielded them from the drizzle. One person supported another, and the third followed behind them like a shadow. The three of them gradually walked out of the alley.

Among the three assassins, the one-armed man in black, wielding a black bamboo pole, looked at them with murderous intent in his single eye. The man in blue suddenly stood up, and another young man also gripped his sword. The noodle stall owner was also ready to leap into the air.

"Can't move!"

The proprietress suddenly slammed her hand on the table: "None of you are allowed to move. Whoever moves will die."

The noodle stall owner's expression changed.

“I can’t listen to you this time. We can’t leave Jiao Lin alive!” He lowered his voice: “This matter is too important. Jiao Lin already knows a little bit about it. Even if people in his line of work are very cautious, we can’t take the risk.”

"Because we can't take risks, we absolutely cannot move," the old woman said. "If we move, our plan will surely fail."

"Are you afraid of Jiao Lin? Can't you see that he's finished?"

“I’m not afraid of Jiao Lin!” the proprietress sighed. “Ten Jiao Lins are not worth a single finger of that man.”

"Which one?" the boss asked, after all, there were two people who had suddenly appeared just now.

"Are you afraid of that drunkard who dresses like a playboy?"

"Is he still that frivolous and lecherous playboy who has good legwork?"

"Absolutely right, that's exactly what I'm afraid of!" the proprietress said with certainty.

“I originally wanted to kill them too, but luckily I suddenly recognized who he was, otherwise we would probably be finished by now.”

The one-armed man suddenly sneered: "Do you recognize who I am? Have you already forgotten who I am?"

The proprietress sighed softly: "I know you are a fearless person, and I also know that since your defeat in Bashan, you have fought against the masters of the ten major sword sects for four years, and even went to other worlds to find sword masters to fight, and you have won most of the battles. Last month, you actually killed Diancang Zhuo Fei with a single move."

The one-armed man sneered, "I killed more than just Zhuo Fei in one move."

"But you absolutely cannot kill that person in one move!"

"No one in the world can kill him in a single move, nor can anyone kill him in a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand moves."

She gently told these people, "Because I remember that he seemed to have never lost in his life."

The one-buttocked man was horrified and moved: "Who exactly is he?"

The proprietress finally uttered the man's name. The name she spoke was like some kind of spell, carrying an incredible magic that caused everyone's expression to change and everyone to shut their mouths.

The name she uttered was 'Chu Liuxiang'!
Chu Liuxiang was observing Cha Nan because he had never seen anyone like Cha Nan before.

He could tell that although the young man's leg techniques were quite good, he was only a martial artist whose internal strength had just reached the first level. A young man like him was already quite good, but he had been caught in a situation where he was facing several well-known and ruthless figures in the martial arts world who were not afraid to kill. Yet he was able to remain calm and composed. Chu Liuxiang thought that when he first started out, he might not have been so calm.

However, Cha Nan wasn't looking at Chu Liuxiang. Someone like Chu Liuxiang wasn't someone whose fate could be discerned with just a glance.

Cha Nan was looking at Jiao Lin.

He was really curious as to how Jiao Lin's strength had declined to this extent.

After all, he was an assassin, and a well-established one at that. The fact that an old assassin could live to be over forty years old already showed that his skills were once quite extraordinary.

However, Jiao Lin's current skill level is not even second-rate.

Huang Yaoshi and Yideng's qi and blood have declined, and their strength has greatly decreased because they are already eighty years old. Eighty-year-old people should not have too many expectations of them.

However, Jiao Lin, despite his disheveled appearance, should be less than fifty years old.

Even if he wasn't at his peak at this point, he should still be maintaining at least 70-80% of his level. Besides, Jiao Lin didn't have any broken hands or feet, nor was his martial arts crippled. He didn't seem to be seriously injured and still recovering.

"What are you looking at?" Jiao Lin was very sensitive to Cha Nan's gaze, since Cha Nan wasn't trying to hide it.

"You used to be pretty good, but why are you so weak now?" Cha Nan said bluntly. When a person is confident, he has the right to say whatever he wants. If anyone has a problem with him, the three grandmasters he has recruited into his team will teach them how to speak properly.

Jiao Lin's face stiffened, and his complexion darkened even further.

"You must be from another world!"

"Then you probably learned traditional internal energy cultivation, which involves moving internal energy through the twelve regular meridians and the eight extraordinary meridians, storing the internal energy in the dantian, and regulating it centrally."

“It’s a little different here. Some people, in order to make a living, survive, and make a name for themselves, will take shortcuts. Instead of storing their internal energy in their dantian, they will gather it in the meridians and acupoints of their arms, constantly strengthening a few meridians to speed up their attacks.” Chu Liuxiang gave Cha Nan the answer he wanted on behalf of Jiao Lin.

Upon hearing this, Cha Nan suddenly realized what was going on.

To put it bluntly, most of the masters in the metal-based martial arts world have complete lineages and systems of inheritance, and they follow the path of strengthening their bodies first and then defeating their enemies. In short, they are called "Qi Sect". On the other hand, some martial arts practitioners in the ancient system follow a path that is even more extreme than the "Sword Sect" and is even more focused on immediate gains.

Tempering only one meridian and circulating internal energy within only one or a few meridians can indeed grant considerable combat power in a very short time, but it sacrifices the future. One only has a few years of peak performance. Once the body is no longer young and can no longer bear the burden of those strengthened meridians, an overall decline will occur.

For those who choose the path of martial arts, there is no concept of innate talent, grandmaster, or great grandmaster, and they cannot achieve longevity through martial arts training.

However, there is no doubt that this training method can quickly produce a group of young people in the martial arts world who are capable of competing with veteran experts. It is not uncommon for inexperienced young men to take down many well-known masters one after another, relying on their youth, good health, and fearlessness.

Of course, in the ancient martial arts world, there are definitely not only this type of martial artist.

There are those who have a complete lineage, who can incorporate their inner strength into their dantian and cultivate step by step to higher levels. However, these are mostly from famous sects or aristocratic families with orderly lineages. Those country bumpkins can only rely on constantly honing their skills to make their way in the world.

"By the way! I haven't yet asked your name, young brother?" Chu Liuxiang didn't introduce himself because he could tell that Cha Nan had already seen through his identity.

Therefore, there is no need for further introduction.

(End of this chapter)