Republic of China era: Actor? Please call me Martial Arts Master!

Chapter 199 The Roar of the Vajra Lion

The water of Xuanwu Lake is so deep that its bottom cannot be seen.

The plum rain fell heavily.

The waterside pavilion and stage extend outwards, plunging straight into the pitch-black lake.

Directly in front of Lu Cheng lay the vast expanse of Xuanwu Lake.

In my eyes, I saw a brightly lit villa on the island in the middle of the lake—the Song Mansion.

The old troupe leader was shirtless, his veins bulging.

He poured all his strength into the two thick wooden mallets in his hands, striking the large drum that was half a person tall.

"Thump, choke, just—"

The sound of drums echoed beneath the hollow waterside pavilion, its powerful boom amplified by the surface tension of the water.

Lu Cheng's eyes were slightly half-closed.

A surge of blood and energy flowed upstream along his spine, breaking through the twelve-story tower, and finally reaching between his chest and the back of his head.

The Taoist breathing techniques, the "fishing toad force" of internal martial arts, and the "copper hammer voice" that Peking Opera's painted-face roles require the most skill to achieve, all resonated within this nearly flawless inhuman body!

"Bao Longtu—sitting in meditation at Kaifeng Prefecture—"

Boom!

The high-pitched aria of "Xipi Daoban" was not a human voice at all, but rather the sound of a giant bronze bell being violently struck at the bottom of the lake.

There seemed to be a righteous spirit in that voice that could cleave through the turbid world.

The moment that shout was uttered, a burst of golden light exploded deep within Lu Cheng's sea of ​​consciousness.

[Current Play: The Case of Chen Shimei]

[Character: Bao Zheng (a male role with a distinctive, powerful voice)]

[Commentary: You harnessed the power of sound from the water's surface, transforming it into thunderous force. Ignoring an army of ten thousand, you judged the world's powerful with a single blow of the gavel! You shattered courage with sound, killing without a trace!]

[Reward Obtained: Ultimate Skill - "Vajra Lion's Roar" (Fragment Completed)! This is a lost sonic martial art that integrates internal energy into the vocal cords, producing a sound capable of shattering glass and intimidating enemies. It has an extremely destructive effect on those with weak wills.]

"Buzz—"

A vast amount of memory, like a sudden awakening, instantly flooded Lu Cheng's mind.

The Lion's Roar!

This is not the crude skill of those martial arts practitioners who rely on shouting at the top of their lungs, but a supreme martial art that has been lost for a long time and perfectly integrates internal energy with sound waves.

On the waterside stage, the old troupe leader's drumbeats were coming to an end.

Lu Cheng tilted his head slightly.

He took a deep breath, facing the endless plum rains of Jiangnan.

This breath was taken very long and very deep.

The rain within a ten-foot radius was abruptly pulled off its trajectory by his suction force, turning into two long white streams of water vapor that flowed back into his lungs through his mouth and nose.

The chest cavity swelled, and the fake pills boiled.

He completely integrated the newly comprehended [Vajra Lion's Roar] energy into the final and most weighty sentence of the verdict in the play "The Case of Chen Shimei".

His gaze pierced through the ten miles of night rain, fixing on the arrogant Song Mansion.

"Bring on this Chen Shimei—"

"open--

Lu Cheng suddenly took half a step forward, and the century-old tree beneath his feet let out a mournful cry.

"Test!!!!!!!!!"

Boom—Crack—!!

The shout of "Zha" exceeded the limits of human hearing.

No sound.

In a mere 0.01 seconds, everyone around Xuanwu Lake felt as if all sound had vanished from their ears, and the entire world fell into absolute silence.

Followed by.

A visible white sonic wave burst forth from Lu Cheng's mouth.

The shockwave, fan-shaped, skimmed the dark surface of Xuanwu Lake and swept across it with terrifying force, destroying everything in its path.

"Boom!"

It was a visually stunning experience.

The vast surface of Xuanwu Lake was actually cleaved in two by this silent wave of air.

The earthquake created a white ditch that was several meters wide and several feet deep!

The waves on both sides were swirled high, like the Red Sea parted by Moses, with overwhelming force, rushing straight towards the island in the middle of the lake, ten miles away.

The Song Mansion, the outer defense line.

Hundreds of fully armed German-trained soldiers were hiding behind sandbags and bunkers, holding machine guns and nervously watching the opposite bank.

Suddenly, they saw a huge white wave surging onto the lake, accompanied by a low-frequency vibration that sent chills down their spines.

Before they could even react...

"ah----"

"My ears, my head."

The sonic waves pierced through the rain and crashed hard onto the island in the middle of the lake.

The German-trained soldiers who were the first to be hit felt as if their eardrums had been pierced by a red-hot steel needle. With a "plop," bright red blood gushed out from their ears and nasal cavities.

【The Vajra Lion's Roar】is designed to shatter hearts and courage!

These normally well-trained soldiers were now in a state of mental blankness, their vestibular nerves completely destroyed, and they had lost all sense of balance.

They screamed and dropped their prized German-made submachine guns and Mauser rifles, clutching their heads tightly with their hands.

He rolled and convulsed in agony in the muddy trenches.

Some people were so shocked by the sound that they lost control of their bladder and bowels and fainted on the spot.

And this is just the beginning.

"Crash! Bang! Bang!"

The residual force of the sound waves struck the luxurious Chinese-Western style villa at the Song Mansion.

To guard against assassination, Song Peilun specially spent a lot of money to order high-strength bulletproof glass from across the ocean, as well as expensive windows inlaid with Western stained paintings.

In that instant, it felt as if I had been struck by a thousand heavy hammers.

The physical structure of bulletproof glass collapses instantly under the resonance of extremely high-frequency sound waves.

At the same time, all the windows shattered with a deafening roar, turning into a shower of fine powder that filled the air, like a crystal-clear rain of glass.

Deep within the villa, in a top-secret underground safe room.

Song Peilun was slumped on a leather sofa, clutching a glass of whiskey tightly in his hand, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.

He was surrounded by reinforced concrete walls that were half a meter thick.

However, when that word "guillotine," which sounded like it came from the deepest hell, pierced through all obstacles and landed in his ears with a chilling sense of judgment, it was a moment of truth.

"Clatter".

The crystal wine glass in Song Peilun's hand fell to the ground and shattered.

His well-maintained face instantly lost all color.

My heart stopped for a split second at that moment.

"He...he didn't want to assassinate me—"

Song Peilun fell off the sofa with a thud.

He trembled all over, a bone-chilling cold rushing from his tailbone straight to the top of his head.

He finally understood.

Lu Cheng did not sneak into the mansion like a rat under the cover of night to assassinate him, as he had imagined.

Lu Cheng stood on the stage of the waterside pavilion ten miles away and openly sang "The Case of Chen Shimei".

He was making a declaration to the whole world.

Today, I, Lu Cheng, will valiantly and squarely trample over your German-equipped battalion's defenses, shatter your bulletproof shell, and take the head of you, Song Peilun, this traitor to the country!

This is an open conspiracy; this is a psychological attack!

This is to use the most extreme fear to scare him, a high-ranking cabinet official, to death in this steel cage.

"A madman—he's a god, and he's a madman."

Song Peilun was in despair, only to find that he didn't even have the strength to stand up.

On the stage of the waterside pavilion.

The wind stopped, and the rain ceased.

It seemed that even the plum rain season in Jiangnan was shaken back half a step by Lu Cheng's shout.

The old troupe leader's thick wooden mallet clattered onto the wooden board.

He and those amateur actors in the troupe all had their mouths agape, wide enough to fit an egg.

With a thud, they all knelt down behind Lu Cheng, their posture ten times more devout than when worshipping the patriarch in a temple.

A single shout shook the island in the middle of the lake, shattering the glass beneath the water.

How could this be an ordinary person who performs opera?

This is clearly a thunder god descended from heaven!

The old troupe leader shakily got up and found a clean, rough porcelain teacup from somewhere.

He brewed a bowl of cheap but steaming hot tea dust with boiling water, held it in both hands, and crawled to Lu Cheng's side.

"Master—Immortal Lu—"

The old troupe leader's voice trembled, his eyes filled with awe.

"You shouted so loudly, you must have strained your voice. Have some hot tea to soothe it."

Lu Cheng slowly turned around.

His handsome face showed no sign of exhaustion or weakness; it remained as gentle and serene as ever.

He glanced at the bowl of steaming coarse tea, then looked up at the villa on the lake island ten miles away, now shrouded in silence and chaos.

He didn't reach out to take it.

Lu Cheng smiled slightly and gently patted the old troupe leader on the shoulder.

"Let the tea warm up first."

"This Chen Shimei hasn't even turned his back yet."

Lu Cheng's tone was as casual as if he were going out to buy two packs of peach shortbread from a shop on the corner.

"I'll be right back."

"Kill someone, then drink."

Before he could finish speaking...

Lu Cheng swayed.

Instead of taking the stone bridge and causeway leading to the island in the middle of the lake, he stepped directly off the edge of the waterside stage and landed on the turbulent surface of Xuanwu Lake.

"Master!" the old troupe leader exclaimed in surprise.

But the next second, the old troupe leader's eyes widened as if he had witnessed the most incredible miracle in the world.

Lu Cheng did not sink into the water.

The moment his black cloth shoes with their thousand-layer soles touched the lake surface, the transformative energy of his [Half-Step Embracing the Elixir] technique, emanating from his feet, instantly altered the surface tension of the water like a blooming white lotus.

【Ghostly Steps】—Leaving no trace on water!

He was like a weightless feather, casting a long white afterimage on the lake surface thanks to the mist rising from the rainy night.

too fast!

Moving as fast as a ghost, weaving through the blind spots of gunfire and searchlights.

"Fire! He's on the water! Fire!"

On the island, several machine gunners, barely waking from the sonic shock, pulled the triggers of Browning heavy machine guns with red eyes.

"Da da da da da".

Dense flames tore through the night, and bullets, like a net of fire, rushed toward the blue figure on the lake.

however.

Lu Cheng moved across the water as if it were flat ground, his figure shifting left and right, each blink perfectly avoiding the bullet's trajectory.

His spiritual awareness of "seeking good fortune and avoiding misfortune," combined with his ultimate movement technique, made what appeared to be an impenetrable barrage of bullets appear full of flaws in his eyes.

He didn't even draw his sword.

Amidst the hail of bullets, Lu Cheng stood with his hands behind his back, his clear and melodious voice once again echoing across the lake of carnage.

This time, it wasn't the ferocity of the painted-face character, but rather the desolation and heroism of the red-faced character.

He sang "The Single-Sword Meeting," the song about Guan Yu going to the meeting alone with his sword!

"The mighty river flows eastward, its waves rising in countless layers—"

"Leading these dozens of people, navigating this small boat—"

In this song, Lu Cheng once again infused it with the remaining powerful energy of "The Roar of the Vajra Lion".

The sound wasn't loud, but it was like a demonic chant.

With an air of arrogance that disregarded all heroes, he precisely slipped into the ears of the machine gunners and guards.

The sound disturbed their minds and amplified their deepest fears.

"The devil, you can't hit him, you simply can't hit him."

"I'm not playing anymore, I want to go home."

The soldiers on the outer defensive line suffered a complete mental breakdown under the piercing influence of the incantation "The Single-Sword Meeting".

Already terrified by the story of "The Case of Chen Shimei," they dropped their weapons, covered their ears, and scattered in all directions.

Without shedding a drop of blood!

Lu Cheng didn't even kill a single ordinary soldier. With just a play, a song, and his unfathomable cultivation, he completely dismantled the supposedly impregnable German-equipped defenses of the Song Mansion.

"Whoosh."

Lu Cheng lightly touched the last lake stone with his toes, and his figure soared up like a roc spreading its wings, landing steadily in front of the collapsed pure copper carved gate of the Song Mansion.

The bluish-gray long gown fluttered slightly in the wind and rain, its hem untouched by a drop of mud or water.

He stepped over the shattered glass and the wailing soldiers, and entered the spacious and luxurious front courtyard of the Song Mansion.

However, the moment he stepped into the courtyard...

"Crunch."

The hidden doors around the courtyard opened simultaneously.

Thirty-six strong figures dressed in tight-fitting black training uniforms with red ribbons tied around their waists surged out from all directions, surrounding Lu Cheng in the very center.

There was not a trace of fear, nor any confusion caused by the sound waves.

These thirty-six people had terrifyingly empty eyes, like killing machines that had lost their souls.

Their temples bulged high, their breathing was steady and long, and each step they took on the waterlogged stone slabs made a muffled "thump, thump" sound.

They were all experts at the peak of internal strength.

Moreover, they practice the same style of boxing.

Bajiquan.

Lu Cheng stopped in his tracks, his gentle eyes narrowing slightly as he saw through the group's true nature at a glance.

These are the thirty-six "Eight Extremes Death Warriors" that Song Peilun painstakingly created using the resources of the Jinling Martial Arts Academy, countless precious medicinal herbs, and cruel secret methods.

They lacked social skills and fear; their minds were filled only with the purest muscle memory and killing techniques.

"Set up the formation."

Among the thirty-six men, the leader of the assassins let out a low growl.

"Swish, swish, swish."

The thirty-six people instantly moved in a peculiar pattern, forming a mysterious formation that completely blocked all of Lu Cheng's escape routes.

This is the long-lost ultimate combined attack technique of the Bajiquan sect.

【Eight Extremes Dragon Locking Formation】!

Even a Grandmaster of Transformation Force, once trapped in this formation, will be worn down and crushed by the thirty-six continuous, fierce and invincible Eight Extremes Dark Forces!

"kill."

The thirty-six assassins didn't utter a single unnecessary word.

In an instant, thirty-six thick arms, like thirty-six steel whips, came from all directions with sonic booms that tore through the air, attacking Lu Cheng's major acupoints.

"Heart-Piercing Elbow", "Tiger Climbing the Mountain", "Standing Cannon Reaching the Sky"

All of them are the most ruthless and direct Bajiquan killing moves!

Faced with such a terrifying combined attack that could instantly turn an elephant into mincemeat.

Lu Cheng did not back down.

He didn't even bother to draw the long sword, "Po Lu," from its black sheath at his waist.

"To use a knife against you would be an insult to this martial art."

Lu Cheng uttered a sentence indifferently.

He slowly pulled his right hand out of his sleeve and clenched his fist tightly.

"Click."

Lu Cheng's spine emitted a thunderous, crisp sound, as if a true dragon had awakened.

He actually abandoned the "softness" of Tai Chi and the "spirit" of Xingyi, and instead bent his legs slightly, assuming the most authentic and ancient starting stance of Bajiquan.

"Since you practice Bajiquan, today I will use Bajiquan to teach you what the true principles of boxing are."

"boom!"

Lu Cheng neither dodged nor flinched, but stomped his foot hard.

The jade-colored pseudo-core of the [Half-Step Embracing Core] stage suddenly erupted within his dantian, and a terrifying aura, ten times more domineering than the combined power of these thirty-six assassins, surged into the sky from his body.

"Stick to the mountain."

Lu Cheng's shoulder suddenly slumped, and he crashed directly into the three assassins rushing towards him.

"Bang bang bang".

The three assassins, all at the peak of internal strength, felt as if they had crashed into an unshakeable mountain the moment they touched Lu Cheng's shoulder.

Their prized Bajiquan internal energy was instantly shattered under the crushing force of Lu Cheng's unreasonable Danjin.

"puff----"

The three men coughed up blood, their ribs shattered, and they flew backward like kites with broken strings.

"Fierce, not stiff. Your fists only have killing intent, not heart."

Lu Cheng charged through the thirty-six-man Dragon-Locking Formation like a tiger among sheep.

His punches weren't fast, but each punch carried the power of heaven and earth.

"Your 'top elbow' technique, with power originating from the shoulder, has too shallow a foundation."

Lu Cheng delivered a backhand elbow strike, striking a soldier's chest with surprising speed and force.

The assassin didn't even have time to scream before he passed out.

"Your 'fierce tiger climbing the mountain' technique only knows how to smash downwards, without understanding 'the unity of waist and hips, and the sinking of qi to the dantian,' is like water without a source."

Lu Cheng threw out both fists, forcefully blocking the combined attack of the four assassins, and then his arm trembled.

A spiraling, explosive force erupted, directly dislocating and fracturing the arms of the four people.

This was not a balanced battle of formations and encirclement at all.

This was a devastating martial arts instruction session.

Lu Cheng used his Bajiquan intent, which was purer, more powerful, and more domineering than theirs, to brutally tear apart their formation.

"Thump, thump—"

In the short time it takes to burn half an incense stick.

Song Peilun's proudest trump card: thirty-six Bajishan assassins.

They were all lying haphazardly in the rain-filled courtyard, their bones broken and tendons snapped, and none of them could stand up.

Lu Cheng stood amidst the wails of agony.

His long, gray-blue robe remained clean and tidy, without a single wrinkle.

He withdrew his fist and gently patted the water droplets off his sleeve.

Then, he raised his head and looked towards the depths of the courtyard, at the heavy security door leading to the underground chamber.

"Chen Shimei" (a character from a Chinese folktale known for abandoning his wife, Chen Shimei).

"Bao Longtu's plane has arrived."