All Heavens: A Role-Playing System Starting from Tianlong

Chapter 60 Strategic Shift

"Thank you for your trouble, Imperial Preceptor."

Li Qiushui first thanked Kumārajīva, then turned to Tonglao with a smile: "Senior sister, you've lived for so long, but you haven't made any progress. You still can't keep secrets."

Looking at the old woman's gloomy face, she said with increasing smugness, "You must be quite shocked now. You didn't expect the helper I found to be so powerful, did you?"

"You're talking nonsense!" Granny Tong gritted her teeth.

"To be honest, I didn't expect it either." Li Qiushui suddenly sighed, her tone tinged with a touch of melancholy. "The little monk I casually gave guidance back then will have such strength more than thirty years later."

I was quite taken aback when I saw him again yesterday.

She sighed, her voice low and wistful: "I can only say that we're all getting old. New talents emerge in every generation. Senior Sister, you were once the most talented of the three of us, but even you are no match for this little monk."

The old woman snorted coldly and said nothing.

After Li Qiushui finished her sigh, her tone turned fierce again: "Senior sister, the score between us will be settled today."

As soon as she finished speaking, she flipped her hand and struck out with her palm. An invisible palm force tore through the air, heading straight for the Child Granny.

The old woman dodged to the side. But the palm strike unexpectedly changed direction in mid-air and attacked her again.

"Straight and Curved at Will! White Rainbow Palm Force!" The Old Woman's expression changed. "You wicked wretch, you've actually mastered it!"

She retaliated with a palm strike, dispersing the force of the palm. But before she could retaliate, Kumārajīva's fiery blade energy was already upon her.

The old woman had no choice but to deal with the sword energy first. Just then, Li Qiushui closed in and entangled herself with her.

Palms flashed and the wind howled.

The old woman fought two opponents, and after more than twenty moves, she began to struggle and faced constant danger.

Her heart sank. In a one-on-one fight, she didn't take either of them seriously. But they weren't strong enough to take on both of them at once.

Although Li Qiushui and Kumārajīva were teaming up for the first time, both were top-tier experts who cultivated the same internal energy, so there was no situation where one plus one was less than two.

The fact that each of them could steadily unleash their own strength was enough to overwhelm Tong Lao.

Another palm strike came, and Tong Lao managed to block it, but was forced back several steps by the force.

At the same time, fighting two opponents at once, the speed at which her true energy was depleted was far greater than when dealing with them one by one.

She gritted her teeth, thinking to herself that she couldn't let things continue like this.

The old woman channeled her inner strength into her chest and raised her hand to unleash the ninth move of the Tianshan Six Yang Palms, the Song of Heavenly Yang.

The Tianshan Six Yang Palms is a highly skilled palm technique that combines Yin and Yang energies, as well as hardness and softness. Yang Ge Tian Jun is the most powerful move within it.

This move emphasizes using extreme strength to perform the most yang transformation. As soon as the palm strike was unleashed, the temperature in the stone chamber rose sharply, and a strong wind howled, as if a blazing sun had crashed down from the sky.

Li Qiushui and Kumārajīva were confident of victory and naturally did not want to fight her head-on.

The two of them simultaneously dodged to the side, avoiding the sharpness of the palm strike.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Tong Lao shifted her feet and rushed towards the entrance of the stone chamber like an arrow.

She is running away!

Kumārajīva reacted with lightning speed. In a flash, he caught up with the Child Granny, and with a wave of his right hand, a fiery blade of energy slashed down from the sky.

"Bang!" The blade energy struck Tong Lao solidly on the back.

Her previous move, Yangge Tianjun, had consumed a lot of her internal energy. How could she possibly withstand this flaming blade attack with only her protective qi?

With a muffled groan, the old woman was sent flying backward, crashing through the stone chamber door and falling into the long tunnel outside.

This stone chamber is a secret room within the Spirit Palace, a forbidden area for the palace maids, and usually only Tong Lao is allowed to enter.

Using the force of the collision, the old woman created some distance between herself and her pursuers.

She hastily wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, gritted her teeth, and used her lightness skill to run wildly into the depths of the tunnel.

Behind them, Li Qiushui and Kumārajīva were hot on their heels.

"Senior sister, don't go—" Li Qiushui's voice drifted over, "After all these years, don't you want to get closer to your little sister? You're so heartless."

Even though the old woman knew that the other party was deliberately provoking her and trying to distract her from answering, she still couldn't help but curse back: "You wretch! When I went to the Western Xia palace to find you in the past, why didn't you come out to be intimate with me?"

Hiding like a coward! Now that you have help, you've become quite arrogant, daring to swagger in front of me!

After she finished scolding him, she glanced at Kumārajīva and spoke again: "You actually passed on the Lingbo Weibu (a martial arts technique) to him as well?"

Li Qiushui chuckled lightly: "Since we are dealing with a master like Senior Sister, we must be fully prepared."

Fortunately, the young monk was exceptionally talented and had already mastered it on the way there.

The old woman sneered, "Little monk, this wicked woman has ulterior motives! Her earlier address as 'Imperial Preceptor' already revealed your identity to me."

She was thinking, "If I escape alive today, I'll have one more person to take my revenge on in the future. If you help me kill this bitch now, I can forgive and forget what happened earlier!"

Upon hearing this, Li Qiushui's smile widened even further: "Senior sister, you really are someone who refuses to back down. Saying things like that will only strengthen the Imperial Advisor's resolve to kill you."

She turned to look at Kumārajīva, smiling brightly, and said, "Don't you agree, Grand Preceptor?"

Kumārajīva remained silent, focusing solely on the pursuit. It was unclear whether he lacked the strength to speak or simply didn't want to get involved in the feud between the two.

The three chased each other through the tunnel, their palm strikes and sword energies clashing and shooting out, shaking the tunnel walls and causing dust to fall from them.

"Huff—huff—huff—"

The old woman had already been hit by a flaming blade, and now she had to fight two opponents while running around, constantly turning around to strike with her palms. Her internal energy recovery speed could not keep up with the consumption.

Her breathing grew heavier and heavier, and her steps began to falter.

Li Qiushui noticed her change and her voice became even more relaxed and comfortable: "Senior sister, I advise you to save your energy. If you run out of internal energy and break your technique, that old face of over ninety thousand years old will reveal its true form. With your dwarf figure and that old tree bark-like face, be careful not to frighten the Imperial Preceptor."

The old woman was so angry that she was trembling all over.

But she was in such a bad state that she dared not speak again and just ran frantically with her head down.

But her speed slowed down, and the distance between the three of them kept closing.

Ten zhang (approximately 33 meters).

Eight feet.

Five zhang (approximately 10 meters).

Just as they were about to escape the tunnel, and could see the light of the exit ahead, a sudden whooshing sound arose behind them!

Knowing something was wrong, the Old Woman turned and struck with her palm, colliding head-on with Li Qiushui's white rainbow palm strike coming from mid-air. At the same time, Kumārajīva's fiery blade energy had already slashed to her side!

"Bang—!" The old woman took the blow head-on, her body trembled, and her forward momentum came to an abrupt halt.

In that instant, Li Qiushui had already used the momentum to float past her, landing steadily in front of her, and with a backhand palm strike, forced her back half a step. Meanwhile, Kumārajīva's figure swayed, and he actually swept past her side, blocking the only exit.

The two men, one in front and one behind, had her sandwiched between them.

The Old Woman took a deep breath, channeling her remaining inner strength, and roared to the sky: "Where are the maids of the Nine Heavens and Nine Departments? Quickly come to the back hall to help!"

Then she turned to the side, leaning against the tunnel wall, facing off against the two men.

Although she was already showing signs of fatigue, the fierce glint in her eyes remained undiminished.

"help?

'

Li Qiushui laughed so hard she almost fell over. "I think it's to collect your corpse, Senior Sister."

'