The Legend of the Condor Heroes

After the drinks, Qiu Qianren spoke out, " Brother Lu, Gui Yun Manor is leader among all heroes of the lake, and thus your skills must be good. I wonder whether you are wiling to display a stance or two for me?"

Master Lu answered hurriedly, " Junior's skills are nothing compare to senior's, I'm afraid I'll make an embarrassment of myself. Furthermore, I have been crippled for a long time now and have given up on the skills my teacher taught me long ago."

Qiu Qianren replied, " Who is your teacher? I may know him."

Master Lu gave a long sigh and his face paled. After a long while, he answered, " Junior is dumb and rough and is unable to serve my teacher. Due to the doings of others, my teacher has disowned me. This is such a shameful story and I do not want my teacher's name to be smeared due to this. I hope Senior understands."

Lu Guanying thought silently, " So father was disowned by his teacher and thus never displayed his skills. Even I don't know what a skilled fighter he is. If it weren't for that Jin dog who hurt me, father would never have displayed his skills. He must experienced a very devastating and hateful event in his life." Lu Guanying was deeply saddened and disturbed by this thought.

Qiu Qianren answered, " Brother here is at the peak of his life and is the leader of a group of heroes. Why not take this opportunity to make your name known? It will help extinguish the wrongdoings made to you and make the seniors in your school regret."

Master Lu replied, " Junior is crippled and is hopeless. Senior's advice is insightful but I cannot accept it."

Qiu Qianren answered, " Brother is too courteous. There is a pathway but I'm not sure whether brother will agree to take it."

Master Lu answered, " Then I shall bother Senior here to help me out."

Qiu Qianren laughed softly but continued eating and did not answer. Master Lu knew that this man had hidden himself for twenty years and thought, " There must be some reason why he has resurfaced in Jiang Hu. Since he is a senior master, it is not proper for me to probe further and I can only wait for him to tell me."

Qiu Qianren spoke, " If brother does not want to display your skills, it's fine by me. Gui Yun Manor is famous for it's name and the leader must be from a famous school."

Master Lu gave a small laugh, " The matters in Gui Yun Manor has all along been handled by my son Guanying. His teacher is Reverend Ku Mo of Yun Qi monastery."

Qiu Qianren answered, " Ah, Ku Mo is a skilled fighter of Xian Xia sect which is affiliated to Shaolin. His skills are also commendable. How about Junior Master display some stances for me?"

Master Lu said, " It is the child's fortune to receive some pointers from Senior Qiu."

Lu Guanying thought it rare to be able to meet such a highly skilled master and his advice would be insightful and precious and thus, had hoped to receive a few pointers. He immediately walked to the centre of the hall and said, " Elder, please give some pointers."

With that, he positioned himself and displayed his best stance, "The Luo Han subduing the tiger fists" which created some wind while he punched; he was indeed the disciple of a skilled martial artist. His skills were unique and he displayed for a while more before roaring out aloud which sounded like a tiger's roar; the candle lights wavered and a gust of wind breezed past the four corners of the room. The servants felt a chilling sensation and were startled by his performance. Lu Guanying continued with a palm technique while shouting out aloud, looking very impressive. He did a flip and crouched on the floor, suddenly stretching his left palm out straightly, displaying a stance of the "Ru Lai Buddha Palm". After a while more, his roar grew softer but the pace of his Luo Han Fists quickened and at his last stance, he attacked the ground and the force traveled and broke some bricks nearby. Lu Guanying flipped back up into position, and with his left arm into the air and his right leg kicking out, he steadily and motionlessly forming an image of a Luo Han Buddha.

Guo Jing and Huang Rong cheered out loud and shouted, " Excellent Palm Technique!"

Lu Guanying took back his stances and stood in normal position again and turned to face Qiu Qianren who gave a slight smile.

Master Lu asked, " How is this child's set of palm techniques?"

Qiu Qianren answered, " Passable."

Master Lu said, " If it's far from perfect, I hope Senior gives some pointers."

Qiu Qianren replied, " Your son's palm techniques can be used to build up his body but is useless when fighting an opponent."

Master Lu answered, " I would like to hear Senior's comments so that he can improve."

Guo Jing could not understand as well and thought silently, "Junior Master's skills are not formidable, but how can Elder say that it's useless?"

Qiu Qianren stood up and walked to the middle of the hall and returned back to his seat with a two pieces of bricks, which Lu Guanying had earlier broken. He did something with his hand and a cracking sound was heard as the brick broke into little pieces. He kneaded the pieces and it turned to powder, which floated off the table. Everyone was astonished by what they saw.

Qiu Qianren swept the dust and powder on the table into his clothes and walked to the middle of the hall before shaking off the powder onto the ground. He laughed softly as he went back to his seat and said, " It is commendable for Junior Master to be able to break the bricks with a palm but think about this: The opponent is not a brick and will not stand there deadly, waiting for you to attack him or her. Furthermore, if the opponent's internal energy is stronger than yours and your palm strikes him or her and she reflects the strike, you will be heavily injured yourself."

Lu Guanying nodded silently.

Qiu Qianren sighed and continued, " There are many martial artist these days but only a few can be considered skilled fighters."

Huang Rong asked, " Which few?"

Qiu Qianren replied, " Wulin's well-known five greats. Eastern Heretic, Western Poison, Southern Emperor, Northern Beggar and Central Divinity. However, Central Divinity Wang Chongyang has the most profound skills. As for the other four, they are skilled in their own ways. But a person has strengths as well as weakness. If one knows their weakness, it is not difficult to defeat them."

With those words, Qiu Qianren shocked Master Lu, Huang Rong and Guo Jing. Lu Guanying did not know of the five greats and did not know why the rest were surprised. Huang Rong was actually in awe of Qiu Qianren when she saw his various display of skills but when she heard his disrespect towards her father, she was furious and gave a polite laugh before asking, " Then if Elder can defeat the five greats, wouldn't it be great for you?"

Qiu Qianren answered, " Wang Chongyang has already passed away. I was caught up with some affairs at home during the Hua Shan tournament, and hence, could not attend it, allowing that old Taoist to steal the number one title. That time, five of them were competing for the "Nine Yin Manual", saying that the most skilful fighter and winner would get the manual. They dueled for seven days and seven nights and Eastern Heretic, Western Poison, Northern Beggar and Southern Emperor lost. After that, when Wang Chongyang passed away, there was chaos again. I heard that that old Taoist passed the manual to his martial brother, Zhou Botong. Eastern Heretic, Huang Yaoshi rushed there and Zhou Botong was not his match, therefore allowing the former to steal half of the manual away. No one knows what happened later.