All Heavens: A Role-Playing System Starting from Tianlong

But Zhang Cheng felt it wasn't enough.

He was currently lying on Duan Yanqing's back, and due to the nature of the Beiming Divine Skill, he dared not use his internal energy to avoid accidentally injuring his teammates.

As for brute force alone... in the current battle between two masters of the Four Great Masters level, someone like Yue Lao Er, who is only at the level of Yue Lao Er, is unable to intervene.

So he simply did nothing, just lay on Duan Yanqing's back, keeping an eye on the battle while focusing on recovering from his injuries.

After watching for a while, he finally seized the opportunity and let out a strange roar when the masked man and Duan Yanqing were locked in fierce combat and their moves were intertwined.

With the boost from that roar, Duan Yanqing's speed suddenly increased dramatically!

The iron staff, which was originally sweeping halfway through the attack, suddenly accelerated in mid-air, breaking through the masked man's interception and striking his right chest.

The masked man changed tactics in the face of danger, using his years of experience to forcefully twist his body at the last moment, avoiding a vital spot—but he was still hit.

"Pfft—" A mouthful of blood spurted from his mouth, splattering onto his chest, clearly indicating a serious injury.

Using the recoil from the attack, he retreated several feet, grabbed Ye Erniang from the ground, and rushed into the forest without looking back.

Duan Yanqing was naturally unwilling to let his opponent leave, but his legs had not fully recovered. Even with Zhang Cheng's [Battle Cry Inspiration] buff, his speed was still inferior to his opponent's.

He chased for a while, but seeing the distance between them widening and the other person disappearing into the woods, he had no choice but to give up.

Thirty breaths passed quickly, and the power that had suddenly surged within Duan Yanqing receded like a tide.

Zhang Cheng slid off Duan Yanqing's back and bowed to him.

"Boss Duan, could you please protect me for a while? I need to catch my breath."

Before he could finish speaking, he closed his eyes and fell straight backward.

As he fell, the aura effect of [Cooperative Combat] completely dissipated.

Duan Yanqing felt the vibrant regenerative power within his body suddenly vanish, and the sensation in his legs became blurred once more...

With lightning speed, he caught the fallen Zhang Cheng with one hand, and with the other hand, he used his One-Finger Divine Skill to press against Zhang Cheng's back—using his internal energy to prolong his life and heal his injuries.

At this moment, he absolutely could not let Zhang Cheng die.

Not only because this man knew the thing that was more important to him than his own life... but also because he saw in this man the hope of returning to normalcy.

Zhang Cheng noticed Duan Yanqing's movements behind him and finally relaxed his guard.

He was actually pretending to be unconscious to test Duan Yanqing's attitude.

Although the other party has been identified as an allied force by the system, Duan Yanqing is not like Mu Wanqing or Yue Laosan. Whether he will always be of one mind with him remains to be seen.

Especially now that Zhang Cheng's injuries are severe and he is unable to maintain a balanced fighting position, he dares not trust him too easily.

Therefore, while he still had some fighting strength left, he pretended to be unconscious to observe the situation.

Black Rose is now close by. If Duan Yanqing really turns against him, he will use the blessing of [Iron Cavalry Accompanying] to ride away.

As for why he didn't use the Northern Darkness Divine Skill to launch a sneak attack while still on Duan Yanqing's back—not to mention that Zhang Cheng still has some sense of shame and wouldn't do something like backstabbing an ally first.

Even considering that the Northern Darkness Divine Art cannot absorb larger forces with smaller ones, the suction force generated by his current total amount of true energy would take an extremely long time to shake Duan Yanqing's internal energy. If they were to fight, Zhang Cheng himself would definitely be the first to die.

Fortunately, the test went relatively well. Duan Yanqing not only showed no intention of harming him, but instead used his One-Finger Divine Skill to heal him. Now Zhang Cheng could finally relax and faint.

Previously, he had been suppressing the effects of his severe injuries by using [Resilience Enhancement] to forcibly maintain his combat power.

However, this method would continuously deplete his mental energy, and now that Duan Yanqing was there to protect him, there was no need for him to further injure himself.

……

Duan Yanqing was unaware that Zhang Cheng had a special constitution; as long as he didn't die on the spot, even the most severe injuries could be slowly healed.

He knew the man's injuries were severe and he urgently needed treatment. Therefore, he continuously channeled the power of his One-Finger Divine Skill into Zhang Cheng's body, attempting to stabilize his condition.

However, Zhang Cheng's Beiming Divine Skill had already achieved a minor success. As soon as these slowly injected streams of true energy entered Zhang Cheng's meridians, they were directed and dissolved by the Beiming True Energy and stored entirely in his dantian.

Duan Yanqing was clueless. He felt as if the internal energy he had transferred was like a mud ox entering the sea; once it entered the other person's body, it disappeared without a trace and could no longer be sensed.

He was anxious, but dared not stop. He could only desperately try to increase his internal energy, hoping that quantitative change would lead to qualitative change.

His desperate pouring of energy caused Zhang Cheng's internal energy to accumulate more and more.

As one side waxed and the other waned, the balance of power between the two sides finally began to tilt. Zhang Cheng's side became the "greater" one.

Duan Yanqing, who was transferring his energy, suddenly realized something was wrong. A suction force came from Zhang Cheng's body without warning, causing his power to leak out wildly!

This is... the Great Art of Dissolving Power?!

He was terrified and tried to pull away, but it was too late. The suction force was so strong that he couldn't easily break free.

Left with no other choice, Duan Yanqing had to first stabilize his internal energy, gather his true qi, and try to slow down the rate at which his internal energy was being lost, while at the same time quickly thinking of a way to break the deadlock.

The two remained locked in this stalemate. One was unconscious, the other unable to move.

Time passed slowly. Not long after, Duan Yanqing's ears twitched slightly, and he heard someone approaching.

There were two people who arrived, their footsteps light and quiet, both possessing a certain level of martial arts skill. They stopped nearby, seemingly observing the situation.

Duan Yanqing spoke using ventriloquism: "Now that you two are here, why hide yourselves?"

Upon hearing this, Mu Wanqing and Zhong Ling slowly emerged from behind a nearby tree, their faces filled with vigilance.

Black Rose had driven them all the way to the vicinity, then stopped and remained motionless.

The two were puzzled, but they had seen some bloodstains on their way here, and knew that Zhang Cheng should be nearby. So they followed the traces and searched all the way here.

When they found him there, they discovered Zhang Cheng unconscious, with a disfigured, strange man in a green robe pressing a finger against his back.

Mu Wanqing was about to rush forward, but Zhong Ling stopped her, signaling her not to act rashly.

The two observed for a while and saw that the strange man maintained the same posture, seemingly not trying to harm Zhang Cheng. However, their knowledge was limited, and they really couldn't figure out what the strange man was doing.

Until the other party spoke up, revealing their whereabouts.

Mu Wanqing stepped forward, staring coldly at Duan Yanqing: "Who are you? What are you doing to Zhang Lang?"

Upon hearing this, Duan Yanqing felt relieved.

"You know him? That's wonderful! It seems there's always a way out."

Your Zhang Lang was seriously injured, and I used the power of the One-Finger Divine Skill to heal him, but something went wrong.

Since you two are acquainted with him, please help separate us.

Upon hearing this, Mu Wanqing stepped forward, ready to reach out and pull him.

"Wait!" Duan Yanqing hurriedly shouted, "You mustn't touch us—use that longsword over there to separate us."

He gestured with his gaze toward the longsword that Zhang Cheng had dropped on the ground.