Chivalry Worth a Thousand Gold

"Lin Haixian, famous throughout the Haidong Three Provinces for his Listening Waves Sword, has honed a three-foot sword aura and wields the One Sea Sword."

"He once heard that a sect affiliated with the Holy Land was oppressing the common people, so he took up his sword and ascended the mountain, using slaughter to end slaughter."

"Although he was later hunted by the Phoenix Flying Lady, he still managed to escape and has remained active in the Haidong Three Provinces ever since."

"The Three Moons of East River established the Three Moon Pavilion in the center of the river where it meets the sea. Their specific identities remain a mystery, but any injustice can be written into a Lotus Lamp."

"Once a Lotus Lamp is placed into the river current, the water will carry it directly into the Three Moon Pavilion."

"Even if the injustice originates from the Tianwu Holy Land, the Three Moon Pavilion dares to intervene."

"Then there is Daoist Ruxi, dressed in simple cloth robes, carrying an unsharpened wooden sword, wandering the four corners of the world to uphold justice with his blade!"

"..."

Lu Bai rode his horse, listening to Luo Chuan recount various tales of the Jianghu.

It had to be said, although Lu Bai disdained the claims that one must be sincere to the martial path to reach its peak, he acknowledged that those who possessed such persistence—those who were sincere toward a certain ideal—were more likely to become experts.

He did not know if it was survivor bias, but 'ordinary' experts in the Jianghu seemed to be quite rare.

Every expert seemed to possess various eccentricities or, at the very least, impressive traits.

As for whether only such peculiar people could become experts, or if they developed these quirks after reaching the pinnacle, it was hard to say.

In any case, there were quite a few such experts in the Martial Forest who held onto their own convictions.

They could not stand to see these injustices and harbored naive ideals.

Even when facing the 'tide of the times,' they dared to swim against the current, unafraid of powerful authorities or death, all to defend truth and justice.

Such people were few, but they were not non-existent.

What Lu Bai wanted to do now was find these people and tell them that while the Holy Land was no good, the Hundred Flower Grave had also been corrupted by the Outer Realm Demon and was equally rotten.

The Lianwu Mountain faction, which sought to become the white glove for both sides, was even worse.

Facing these forces that were all equally corrupt, they lacked the strength; they were too weak.

Therefore, they must unite!

While uniting these chivalrous souls, Lu Bai—a man who was also 'no good'—could mingle among them and reap the benefits from both sides.

"Master, who should we look for first?" Luo Chuan asked from the side. Although his temperament had matured significantly, he still carried some of a youth's fantasies.

A group of martial arts experts gathering together out of chivalry to thwart conspiracies and uphold justice in the Jianghu—that was the stuff of storybooks.

Luo Chuan was currently imagining himself as the protagonist, apprenticing under the mysterious 'Blood Monk,' learning peerless martial arts, then visiting various martial arts seniors, and with their support, rising to the pinnacle of the Jianghu.

Of course, this daydream ended before it even began.

Lu Bai did not answer Luo Chuan's question immediately; instead, he smiled kindly.

Earth was a 'realistic' dimension; the old-fashioned days where a single Taiji move could shock the world, or where a simple 'Wild Horse Parts Its Mane' could make countless grandmasters drop their jaws, were no longer possible.

In other words, the Earth-style boxing Lu Bai had mastered held little significance in this Martial Forest Dimension.

Aside from those, Lu Bai only possessed three martial arts techniques obtained from the Hundred Flower Grave.

I have to complain about this world again; nobody has the habit of carrying manuals with them when they go out. Lu Bai had looted corpses countless times by now, yet he had never found a single martial arts manual.

The same was true for the Black Tiger Stronghold; there were no manuals in the entire camp. The few bandits who knew martial arts had only learned a move or two through hands-on instruction.

Therefore, after taking Luo Chuan as his disciple, Lu Bai did not teach him any so-called peerless techniques; instead, he wanted to extract the Luo family's ancestral martial arts from him.

"Good disciple, think about it. As your master, I certainly need to know what martial arts you practice so I can provide targeted guidance."

"Knowledge is meant to be shared."

"If you have an apple and share it with me, we each end up with half an apple."

"But if you have a piece of knowledge and share it with me, we both end up with a full piece of knowledge."

"This is cooperation; this is a win-win!"

"You need to broaden your perspective."

For a moment, Luo Chuan felt that what Lu Bai said was very reasonable, yet he also felt as if he had been taken for a ride.

"Master, you aren't the Blood..." The last two words were swallowed back as Lu Bai shot him a murderous look.

That damned nickname.

Lu Bai's resentment toward this moniker deepened even further.

However, changing a nickname in the Jianghu was extremely difficult.

There was even a saying that there were no wrong nicknames, only wrong names.

As long as Lu Bai continued to drift through the Jianghu, this nickname would follow him for a long time.

As for Lu Bai himself, he followed the faint intuition within him and realized that it would likely take some time before he could leave this dimension.

Of course, despite having experienced quite a lot, Lu Bai had only been in this Martial Forest Dimension for a little over a week, not even half a month.

According to his own intuition, the time required for him to depart would be roughly two to three months.

How to utilize this period to maximize benefits while ensuring his own safety after exiting the dimension became the top priority.

In the end, Luo Chuan handed over his family's martial art, the Mountain and River Fist.

He was already on a pirate ship; getting off would not be so easy.

Furthermore, through his interactions during this time, Luo Chuan had discovered some of Lu Bai's traits.

He might appear to be laughing and joking with you, seemingly on good terms, but in reality, your importance to him was not even equal to that of a stray cat or dog on the side of the road.

If he wanted something, he would inevitably take it; bargaining simply did not exist.

Even if you called him "Master" a hundred times, Lu Bai would never hold a place for you in his heart.

After obtaining the Mountain and River Fist, Lu Bai began comparing it with the Flowery Fists and Embroidered Legs.

However, this was not a matter of a day or two.

"Let's go. First, we head to the nearest East River to see what this Three Moon Pavilion is all about."

Lu Bai said, spurring his horse and galloping toward that direction.

Most of the time ahead would likely be spent on the road.

Of course, Lu Bai still had some bottom lines; along the way, he would have to find a way to make Luo Chuan a bit stronger.

After all, the current Luo Chuan was called a disciple, but written as a tool.

If a tool threw a tantrum, the impact on matters could be quite severe, ranging from armed protests for unpaid wages to changing the heavens and earth, or even slaughtering gods and exterminating demons.

And so, a strange combination set off toward the East River.

At the same time, the reputation that had previously been limited to the vicinity of the Hundred Flower Grave spread completely following the defeat and retreat of the two from Lianwu Mountain.

The Blood Monk, Lu Bai, began to make a name for himself in the Jianghu.