All Heavens: A Role-Playing System Starting from Tianlong

Duan Yanqing did not pursue, but first looked down at Zhang Cheng lying on the ground. Seeing that his chest was obviously caved in, and that he was already beyond saving, he then looked away.

Because of damage to his vocal cords, Duan Yanqing was unable to speak normally, so he developed a ventriloquism technique to replace speaking.

However, this technique has a taboo—if one encounters someone with profound skill, it can easily backfire and cause harm.

At this moment, the masked man's martial arts skills were unfathomable, so he simply stopped speaking and wrote on the ground with his iron staff:

"And who are you? I know Ye Erniang fairly well. Among the people she knows, there should be none with such superb martial arts skills as you."

Could you be the father of her lost child? The one who taught her martial arts?

Ye Erniang was nicknamed "the one who does no evil". She was originally a peasant girl. When she was eighteen, she was seduced by a man with high martial arts skills and great status and lost her virginity to him.

The man then left, leaving her with only a few martial arts manuals and a child.

Ye Erniang gave birth to the child, but the child was stolen by thieves before the child was even a year old.

From then on, she began to steal other people's babies, playing with them for a day before killing them, day after day, venting her pain of losing her child on others.

As the leader of the Four Evils, Duan Yanqing naturally knew about this past.

The masked man glanced at the writing on the ground and said indifferently:

"You don't need to ask so many questions." His voice was aged, clearly indicating he was not young. "Anyway—you're going to die soon."

As soon as he finished speaking, he moved and headed straight for Duan Yanqing.

Duan Yanqing, wielding his iron crutch as a sword and unleashing the power of his One-Finger Divine Skill, engaged the masked man in battle.

As the leader of the Four Evils, his martial arts skills were so high that few in the martial arts world could rival him.

Now, wielding his crutches, he moved like two dragons, soaring up and down, each strike carrying the power to shatter stone. Combined with the formless and intangible power of the One-Finger Divine Skill, his attack was even more formidable.

But that masked man... was even stronger.

His palm strikes were incredibly fierce and powerful; each strike was like a mountain collapsing, unstoppable. Duan Yanqing's iron staff collided with it, causing his tiger's mouth to go numb and his internal energy circulation to become slightly sluggish.

Ten moves.

Fifteen moves.

Twenty moves.

Duan Yanqing's forehead was beaded with sweat, and his breathing quickened. In all his decades of fame, he had never encountered such a terrifying opponent. This masked man's martial arts were simply on another level.

The masked man's palm strikes grew ever more powerful, pressing forward relentlessly. It seemed that in just a few more exchanges, he would be able to kill the leader of the Four Evils with a single blow.

Right now!

Behind him, the burly man who should have been dead suddenly sprang up!

Zhang Cheng leaped up, his long sword aimed straight at the masked man's back.

The masked man sensed something was amiss. He continued to suppress Duan Yanqing with one hand, while turning around and striking Jianfeng with the other.

In his view, this palm strike was enough to deflect the incoming sword.

But just as he unleashed his palm strike, the sword light before him suddenly split into three, transforming into three beams of sword light.

One of the strands was intercepted by his palm strike and dissipated in mid-air.

A swift attack aimed at his back, which he dodged in a hasty sidestep.

The third stab—pierced straight into his lower abdomen.

"Swoosh!" The sword pierced several inches into the flesh, then vanished like a phantom.

The masked man swayed, clutching his abdomen and taking several steps back to create distance between himself and the two men.

Zhang Cheng wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, stood shoulder to shoulder with Duan Yanqing, and smiled at the masked man:

"Anyone can launch a sneak attack. You can't take this, can you?"

The masked man looked down at the wound on his abdomen, his brow furrowed.

That sword strike was clearly just a simple straight thrust, but halfway through, somehow, one sword suddenly multiplied into three. After it struck, the extra sword shadows vanished into thin air.

He casually pressed a few acupoints on his abdomen to stop the bleeding and seal the meridians, then looked up at Zhang Cheng and said, "What kind of sorcery is this?"

Watching his opponent's actions, Zhang Cheng thought to himself: This is what you call sorcery, okay? I stabbed your liver right through with my sword. Even if acupressure can stop the bleeding, is it really okay for your liver function to stop?

He remained outwardly calm, casually remarking, "This move of mine is called 'Condensing Qi into a Sword,' not bad, right?"

Duan Yanqing nodded slightly to the side.

As the former crown prince of Dali, he was knowledgeable and knew that his family's Six Meridian Divine Sword was a similar ultimate technique. Therefore, he easily believed what he said.

Condensing qi into a sword? The masked man frowned deeply.

He pondered to himself: with his skill level, if he knew the method of circulating energy, gathering it into a shape and keeping it condensed, it seemed he could indeed achieve a similar effect.

However, this requires extremely profound internal strength cultivation and exquisite control over the circulation of true qi.

Then, considering that this man had taken a blow he was determined to deliver, yet was still able to get up and launch a sneak attack—it seemed that he had underestimated this man before.

Thinking of this, the masked man took a deep breath and attacked again.

Seeing this, Zhang Cheng decisively spoke up: "Boss Duan, with a formidable enemy at our side, how about we join forces to repel them first, and then settle our personal grudges?"

Although he succeeded in his sneak attack and inflicted a wound on the masked man, he dared not be careless in the slightest.

In the entire world of Tianlong, there are definitely not many masters stronger than Duan Yanqing, and even fewer who are associated with Ye Erniang.

The man in black before them was either Abbot Xuanci of Shaolin Temple, who had come to rescue his old flame, or Xiao Yuanshan, who was plotting to expose their relationship and ruin Xuanci's reputation.

Considering the black-clad man's previous dominance over Duan Yanqing, Zhang Cheng felt that Xiao Yuanshan, one of the Four Great Masters, was more likely to be the culprit.

Facing such a master, there is absolutely no chance of winning in a one-on-one fight.

Duan Yanqing glanced at him and slowly nodded.

He had no real choice. The masked man's killing intent was undisguised, and his martial arts skills were exceptionally high. If they didn't join forces, they would surely be defeated one by one.

The two immediately joined forces and fought against the masked man.

Despite his abdominal injury, the masked man remained as ferocious as ever. Fighting two opponents, he still managed to gain a slight advantage. His palm strikes whistled through the air, forcing Zhang Cheng and Duan Yanqing to respond with their full strength with every blow.

However, he was injured after all, and it was impossible for him to win in a short period of time.

For a moment, the three were locked in a stalemate.

But Zhang Cheng knew in his heart that this couldn't go on.

He was in the worst condition of the three.

Although he had absorbed the internal energy of Yun Zhonghe and Ye Erniang in succession, his internal energy was now full and surging. In terms of the total amount of internal energy, he had already reached the threshold of the level of masters like Duan Yanqing, Murong Fu, and Ding Chunqiu.

However, he had taken a solid blow earlier, and only thanks to the Northern Darkness Divine Art dissipating some of the force of the blow, coupled with the abnormal physique brought by the [Soldier] class, was he able to withstand it.

If it weren't for his [Soldier] class allowing him to maintain mobility even while severely injured, he wouldn't be considered a combatant at this moment.

The current stalemate is maintained for two reasons: first, the opponent is wary of the sword technique that "condenses qi into a sword, which splits into three," and dares not fight with all his might; second, Duan Yanqing is doing his best to help him, blocking some of the attacks. Otherwise, he would have been swept out of the battle long ago.