"Lin Haixian was famous throughout the Haidong Three Provinces for his Listening Waves Sword. He had forged a three-foot sword aura and wielded the One Sea Sword."
"He once heard that a sect affiliated with a Holy Land was oppressing the people, so he charged in with his sword and used killing to stop the killing."
"Though Phoenix Flying Lady hunted him afterward, he still managed to escape and remained active throughout the Haidong Three Provinces."
"Three Moons of East River was built at the heart of the river where it flowed into the sea. Its founder's identity was a mystery, but anyone who suffered an injustice could write it down and place it in the Lotus Lamp."
"Once the Lotus Lamp was set adrift, the river would carry it to the Three Moon Pavilion."
"Even if the injustice came from the Tianwu Holy Land, the Three Moon Pavilion dared to intervene."
"Then there was Daoist Ruxi, who wore a plain cloth robe and carried an unsharpened wooden sword as he roamed the land, righting wrongs with his blade!"
"..."
Lu Bai rode along, listening as Luo Chuan told him all sorts of stories about the Jianghu.
Lu Bai had to admit that, though he scoffed at the notion that one had to be utterly devoted to the Martial Path to reach its peak, people with convictions—with something they were truly devoted to—were more likely to become experts.
He didn't know if it was survivorship bias, but there seemed to be few ordinary experts in the Jianghu.
Every expert seemed to have all sorts of quirks or some other memorable trait.
Whether only people like that could become experts, or whether becoming an expert caused people to develop quirks, was hard to say.
In any case, there were plenty of experts in the Martial Forest who stood by their convictions.
They couldn't stand injustice and held on to ideals that were perhaps a little naive.
Even when faced with the tide of the times, they dared to swim against it, fearing neither power nor death, all to defend truth and justice.
People like that were rare, but they did exist.
What Lu Bai wanted to do now was find them and tell them that the Holy Lands were no good, but the Hundred Flower Grave had also been corrupted by Outer Realm Demons and was no good either.
And Lianwu Mountain, which wanted to serve as a go-between for both sides, was even worse.
None of these powers were any good, and we had no strength to speak of—we were far too weak.
So we'd join forces!
While bringing these chivalrous people together, Lu Bai, who was no good himself, could blend in and reap benefits from both sides.
"Master, who should we look for first?" Luo Chuan asked from beside him. Though he'd grown more mature, he still had some youthful fantasies.
A group of martial arts experts, united by their sense of chivalry, gathering to foil a conspiracy and uphold justice in the Martial Forest—that was the sort of story found only in novels.
At that moment, Luo Chuan imagined himself as the hero: apprenticing himself to the mysterious Blood Monk, learning peerless martial arts, then visiting the great seniors of the Martial Forest and, with their support, making his way to the very top.
Of course, that daydream ended before it even began.
Instead of answering Luo Chuan right away, Lu Bai smiled kindly.
Earth was a "realist" dimension. The sort of thing that happened in the old days—when one school of Taiji could shake the world and a single Wild Horse Parts Its Mane could leave countless martial arts grandmasters dumbfounded—was no longer possible.
In other words, the Earth boxing styles Lu Bai knew weren't all that useful in this Martial Forest Dimension.
Apart from those, the only martial arts he had were the three techniques he'd gotten from the Hundred Flower Grave.
I have to gripe about this world again. How does nobody ever carry manuals around? Lu Bai had searched who knew how many corpses by now, but still hadn't found a single martial arts manual.
The Black Tiger Stronghold had been the same. There hadn't been a single manual in the entire place. The few bandits who knew martial arts had learned only two or three moves through hands-on instruction.
So after taking Luo Chuan as his disciple, Lu Bai hadn't taught him any so-called peerless martial arts. Instead, he wanted to get the Luo Family's inherited martial arts out of him.
"Good disciple, think about it. As your master, I need to know what martial arts you're practicing so I can give you the right guidance."
"Knowledge is meant to be shared."
"If you have an apple and give me some, we'll each have half an apple."
"But if you have knowledge and share it with me, then we'll each have a whole share of knowledge."
"That's cooperation. That's a win-win!"
"Think bigger. You need to broaden your horizons."
For a moment, Luo Chuan felt that Lu Bai made a lot of sense, yet he also felt he'd been thoroughly swindled.
"Master, aren't you Blood—" Luo Chuan swallowed the last two words under the pressure of Lu Bai's murderous glare.
That damn nickname.
Lu Bai's resentment toward the nickname deepened a little more.
But changing a nickname was extremely difficult in the Martial Forest.
There was even a saying: names could be given wrongly, but nicknames could never be mistaken.
As long as Lu Bai remained in the Martial Forest, that nickname would follow him for a long time.
Following the faint sensation within him, Lu Bai realized it would probably be a while before he could leave this dimension.
Of course, despite everything that had happened, he'd been in this Martial Forest Dimension for less than half a month.
His own sense of things told him it would take about two or three months before he could leave.
How to make the most of that time while also ensuring his safety after leaving the dimension had become his top priority.
In the end, Luo Chuan still handed over the Luo Family's inherited Mountain and River Fist.
He was already aboard the bandit's ship. Getting off wouldn't be so easy.
And as he spent more time with Lu Bai, Luo Chuan had come to recognize some of his traits.
Lu Bai might laugh and joke with you, acting like you were close, but in truth, you mattered to him less than a stray cat or dog by the roadside.
Whatever he wanted, he would take by force. There was no haggling.
You could call him "Master" a hundred times, and you still wouldn't have a place in Lu Bai's heart.
After getting the Mountain and River Fist, Lu Bai compared it with Flowery Fists and Embroidered Legs.
That wasn't something he could do in a day or two, though.
"Come on. Let's head to the nearest place, East River, and see this Three Moon Pavilion for ourselves."
Lu Bai said, urging his horse toward the river.
They'd probably spend most of the time ahead on the road.
Of course, Lu Bai did have some principles. Along the way, he'd have to find a way to make Luo Chuan a little stronger.
After all, Luo Chuan was called a disciple but might as well have been a tool.
If a tool started acting up, it could cause serious trouble, from armed labor protests to overturning the world and slaughtering gods and demons.
And so this strange little party set off for East River.
Meanwhile, the reputation that had once been confined to the area around the Hundred Flower Grave spread far and wide after the two men from Lianwu Mountain fled in defeat.
Blood Monk Lu Bai began to make a name for himself throughout the Jianghu.
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