Zongwu: Aspiring to be the mastermind behind the scenes

Chapter 370 Heavenly Gang Child Skill, All Rivers Flow into the Sea
Entrance to the Heavenly Prison.

Watching Shangguan Haitang being led away, Cao Zhengchun turned around and said with a smile, "Divine Marquis, please!"

Zhu Wushi snorted coldly, reached out and grabbed the dragon head nail on his body, pulling it out instantly, drawing out a spray of blood.

His strength was extremely formidable; what ordinary people considered vital points were nothing to him.

These nine dragon-head nails work together to form a "Nine Dragons Sealing Veins" formation, simultaneously piercing nine vital points to seal off Zhu Wushi's power.

Now that two have been pulled out, the remaining seven, though still sealed, are much less powerful, allowing Zhu Wushi to find a weakness in the true energy flowing within his body.

Moreover, it is a major flaw.

In an instant, Zhu Wushi unleashed his divine power, his true energy surging within his body, emitting a roaring sound like a raging river.

The remaining seven dragon-head nails immediately began to tremble.

In just a few breaths, a violent force suddenly erupted from Zhu Wushi's body, and the seven dragon-head nails were expelled from his body at the same time by Zhu Wushi's powerful strength.

Carrying a bloody aura, it flew in all directions.

It actually pierced through the bluestone slabs on the ground, nailing them to the surface.

He casually flung out two dragon-head nails, piercing the throats of two gatekeeper eunuchs.

He then leaped out of the palace.

Upon seeing this, Cao Zhengchun suddenly attacked, his powerful internal energy killing all the dozen or so eunuchs around him. Then he shouted, "Guards! Iron-Blooded Marquis has escaped from prison!"

He channeled his inner energy, causing the voice to pierce through the entire Eastern Depot, but it didn't sound like his own voice at all.

After a few breaths, he turned back to his own voice and roared, "You Zhu Tiedan, how dare you escape from prison to avoid punishment!"

He then rushed out immediately.

By the time Liu Xi of the Eastern Depot and other experts from the palace arrived, the two men had already disappeared from sight.

Both Zhu Wushi and Cao Zhengchun were powerful beings with the Three Flowers Gathering at the Top.

Moreover, one of them was the emperor's uncle, a member of the Ming imperial family.

The other was the head of the Eastern Depot, who wielded great power.

The lightness skills these two practiced were naturally among the best in the world.

At this moment, the two of them exerted their full strength, their figures sweeping over the houses as if they were flying.

Ordinary people have poor eyesight and can't even see a person's shadow.

Even highly skilled martial artists with keen eyesight can only see afterimages.

Throughout the entire capital, no one was able to hunt down these two.

This allowed the two to leave the capital with ease.

During the chase, Cao Zhengchun was able to keenly perceive that Zhu Wushi's speed was much slower than his own.

He was delayed for a moment before catching up, which gave Zhu Wushi the advantage of being the first to act.

However, during the chase, Cao Zhengchun gradually caught up with Zhu Wushi, which proved the difference in their speed.

This situation played right into Cao Zhengchun's hands.

He actually proposed to release Zhu Wushi and then hunt him down, killing him in the process, which naturally showed he had enough confidence.

This confidence stemmed from the treatment Zhu Wushi received in the imperial prison.

Having been imprisoned in the dungeon for many days, Zhu Wushi was given only a small amount of food each day. Although this was enough to sustain his survival, it inevitably caused his condition to deteriorate.

Moreover, there were nine dragon-head nails that pinned Zhu Wushi down in nine vital spots.

Even though they've all been pulled out now, the damage caused by those nine dragon-head nails can't possibly be repaired in such a short time.

Both of them are Grandmasters of the Three Flowers Realm, and there is no significant difference in their strength.

This has been proven by the numerous clashes between the two sides in the past.

But right now, one has been starving for days and has suffered heavy losses.

One is full of energy and vitality, completely at their peak.

Although the two have not yet fought, the scales of victory have already tipped in their favor.

Although this method of doing things was extremely despicable, Cao Zhengchun didn't care about such things at all, since it concerned his own life.

If Cao Zhengchun hadn't been worried that Zhu Wushi's strength had declined too drastically and that he would be overtaken by other experts in the capital or the palace, he would have wanted to poison Zhu Wushi's food beforehand.

The two sides moved in opposite directions, one in front and one behind, chasing each other.

The capital city was quickly left far behind by the two.

Cao Zhengchun didn't care that Zhu Wushi had run a bit far. To him, it was actually better to be far away, so as to avoid being found.

Coincidentally, Zhu Wushi thought the same thing.

The two ran for a full half hour. Finally, Zhu Wushi ran directly to the surface of the Yangtze River, pointed his finger, and a blast of extremely cold finger force flew out, turning a small section of the river water into ice.

Then he stepped onto the ice and drifted with the current.

Cao Zhengchun arrived in an instant, grabbed a dead branch by the river, threw it into the river, and then stepped on the branch, chasing after it with the current.

Legend has it that Bodhidharma, the founder of Shaolin Temple, once obtained a reed from alms on the banks of the Yangtze River, threw it into the river, and crossed the river on the reed. This is the well-known story of crossing the river on a reed, which is almost universally known in the martial arts world.

This story has spread widely for two reasons. First, the person who did this was the founder of the Shaolin Temple, and Shaolin Temples in various countries helped to promote it, so it naturally spread.

On the other hand, it is because Bodhidharma crossed the Yangtze River.

The Yangtze River is known throughout the world for its rapid and fierce flow, and its width far surpasses that of ordinary rivers.

Therefore, everyone knows how difficult it is to do this.

If it were an ordinary, calm, and relatively narrow river, any person with innate talent could easily cross it, and this story wouldn't have spread.

What Zhu Wushi and Cao Zhengchun are doing now is exactly the same.

It is evident that Bodhidharma, the Patriarch of the past, must have had the same level of cultivation when he crossed the river.

However, Bodhidharma was only facing a group of pursuers at that time, and there were no masters among them.

Zhu Wushi and Cao Zhengchun, however, would have to face a powerful opponent of equal strength on this very river.

Zhu ignored the ice and plunged into the river without any pause. On the contrary, Cao Zhengchun first found a dry branch on the bank, which took him very little time, but he was still a bit behind.

During this time, Zhu Wushi took the lead and made preparations.

The surging river suddenly came to life, transforming into three water dragons that rushed towards Cao Zhengchun.

Cao Zhengchun was not afraid at all, and did not even react. The Heavenly Gang Boy Skill was activated on its own, and a thick qi emanated from his body, transforming into an arc-shaped protective shield that completely blocked the three water dragons.

Zhu Wushi had long known that this move would be useless against Cao Zhengchun, so he completely ignored its outcome. As soon as the three water dragons were unleashed, he had already formed his hands into claws and made a grabbing motion towards the sides.

The Yangtze River basin is long and vast, with riverbanks that can be plains or mountains, and much more.

Zhu Wushi deliberately chose a mountain peak to leap into the river, so the two of them are now on the Yangtze River with cliffs on both sides.

He made a grasping motion with both hands, and his incredibly powerful true energy transformed into a spiral suction force, directly drawing a large chunk of the cliffs on both sides together, merging them into a small mountain several tens of feet high. Under Zhu Wushi's control, this mountain crashed directly towards Cao Zhengchun.

"Well done!"

Cao Zhengchun reached out and slapped the hill, unleashing a burst of true energy that landed on the small hill like a giant hand supporting the sky, possessing boundless power, forcefully pushing the hill back in front of Zhu Wushi.

Zhu Wushi remained calm and composed, his inner energy surging forth.

For a moment, the two experts at the Three Flowers level actually used this small mountain as a arena to fight with their true energy!

When true energy collides, some aftershocks will inevitably spread outwards.

The Yangtze River is already turbulent, and with the push of these aftershocks, it becomes even more unpredictable, stirring up wave after wave that crashes against the banks, producing a sound like a dragon's roar.

Upon hearing this sound, the people on both sides of the Yangtze River thought that the river had broken through the channel and a flood was imminent. Their faces changed drastically, and they immediately packed up their belongings to escape the disaster.

Meanwhile, in the river, the contest of their inner energy intensified.

Xiao Shan moved back and forth between the two, and its original size of tens of feet tall was reduced to one-third in size due to the collision of their true energy.

The soil was incredibly compacted!

In this contest, Zhu Wushi gradually lost ground.

Cao Zhengchun's lips curled into a smug look. With a burst of true energy, he unleashed the purebred Xiaoshan sword with unwavering determination, hurtling towards Zhu Wushi.

Zhu Wushi's expression darkened, and he suddenly unleashed a surge of powerful true energy, pushing the small mountain back a section. He then stomped on the ice beneath his feet, using the force of the impact to perform a light-footed technique, and leaped onto the riverbank.

"Want to run?"

Cao Zhengchun also exerted his strength suddenly, blasting the small mountain into pieces, and then chased after it while stepping on the river.

The two seemed to have returned to the previous chase situation, but this time, Cao Zhengchun caught up with Zhu Wushi in a short time.

This is naturally because Cao Zhengchun felt that they were far enough away from the capital, and therefore did not intend to move the battlefield further away.

Zhu Wushi was caught up, but he didn't panic. He turned around and flicked his fingers, releasing a series of blazing pure yang finger forces that pierced towards Cao Zhengchun.

Cao Zhengchun remained fearless, letting Zhu ignore his attacks.

Those pure yang energies were all blocked by the protective qi three feet in front of him.

Zhu ignored the slightest sign of discouragement and unleashed a series of moves, sometimes slashing with his palm like a knife, sometimes thrusting with his fingers like a sword, sometimes changing his posture unpredictably, and sometimes throwing a powerful punch that sent bricks flying.

With his martial arts skills, he could execute all kinds of martial arts moves with unparalleled smoothness and fluidity, as if these different moves and styles of martial arts originally belonged to the same school.

Faced with these moves, Cao Zhengchun simply stood firm. With the Heavenly Gang Boy Skill activated, his entire body was enveloped in qi, allowing the opponent to attack. However, every stream of true qi, whether sharp or weak, unpredictable or straightforward, was like a mud ox sinking into the sea before his qi, leaving no ripples.

Thus, Zhu Wushi used dozens of moves, but Cao Zhengchun only responded with defense and did not launch any attacks.

Of course, this is also because Cao Zhengchun was not good at attacking.

The Heavenly Gang Boy Skill he cultivated was a very special martial art specializing in the cultivation of internal energy. Moreover, it was a skill for boys who had been boys since childhood, so the true energy he condensed was extremely pure, yang, and extremely strong.

Even though Shi Guanyin cultivated the Heavenly Martial Nerve, and her true energy was as vast as the sea, she still had to condense it into protective energy when defending.

Cao Zhengchun, on the other hand, only needed to circulate his internal energy, and his inner energy would naturally arise.

In particular, he has been practicing this skill since childhood, for more than fifty years now. His skill has long been ingrained in his bones and marrow. Whenever he encounters danger, his brain doesn't even react, but his body does. He immediately activates the Heavenly Gang Child Skill, transforming it into protective energy.

Therefore, Cao Zhengchun was never worried about any sneak attacks or ambushes.

Despite its remarkable effects, the Heavenly Gang Boy Skill is not without its weaknesses. It focuses on defense and is somewhat lacking in offensive capabilities.

It's one thing to suppress those of lower cultivation levels on ordinary days, but when facing Zhu Wushi, who is of the same cultivation level, it's really not up to par.

Even so, Cao Zhengchun didn't care.

What's the point of focusing on defense?

Only by focusing on one point can you reach the pinnacle!

Life is finite; it is completely impossible to be omnipotent.

In order to excel, one must dedicate all their limited time to the same thing.

Just like now, he and Zhu Wushi are of equal cultivation. Zhu Wushi has used dozens of different offensive moves, but they are all useless in the face of his Heavenly Gang Child Skill defense!
Seeing this, Zhu Wushi gave up. What was already wonderful for ordinary martial artists was just an ordinary move for him.

Suddenly, he clenched his fists in front of his chest, and his true energy flowed into his fists.

Although it is the same true energy, it presents two completely different forms when manifested on the two fists.

His left fist was fiery and masculine, radiating an orange-red glow, as if it were burning with flames, even distorting the air itself.

His right fist, however, was cold and silent, emitting a bright white light. The chilling aura caused the ground to be covered with a layer of frost on the right side of Zhu Wushi's body.

Such combined power of ice and fire was concentrated in his fists.

With a resounding crash, their fists collided, and the two beams of light instantly clashed together, transforming into a strange beam of light that was distinctly red and white yet closely intertwined, which slammed down towards Cao Zhengchun.

Upon seeing the strange phenomenon of ice and fire, Cao Zhengchun frowned, and his expression changed drastically in an instant. He activated the Heavenly Gang Child Skill to its maximum in a flash, and the protective energy around his body began to flow.

Strands of qi flowed like rivers, converging at a single point!
Those who can become Three-Flower Grandmasters, though not as talented as Great Grandmasters, are still far superior to ordinary people.

In his youth, Cao Zhengchun could actually be considered a genius. Although his talent couldn't compare to Ximen Chuixue's now, it was roughly on par with Huo Tianqing, and perhaps even slightly surpassed.

Otherwise, it would have been impossible to cultivate the Heavenly Gang Child Skill, let alone reach this point.

Having cultivated the Heavenly Gang Boy Skill for decades, Cao Zhengchun was by no means someone who would rest on his laurels. He had already made innovations based on this divine skill.

One of them is this move, 'All Rivers Flow into the Sea'!
To circulate the strongest and hardest qi like the softest water is an extremely high skill.

Cao Zhengchun, however, concentrated all this water-like qi into a small area. Although this made the qi defenses in other places thinner, the area where it was concentrated was exceptionally strong!
This move is specifically designed to counter single-target attacks from powerful individuals.

At this moment, it will be used to counter Zhu Wushi's combined ice and fire attack!
(End of this chapter)