All Heavens: A Role-Playing System Starting from Tianlong

Chapter 128: Stepping on the right foot with the left foot to ascend to the sky, but this will reduce your maximum health.

"Little monk, now we can finally settle our score."

The red figure moved like lightning, arriving in the center of the arena in the blink of an eye. With a palm strike, it aimed straight for Kumārajīva's face.

Kumārajīva reacted swiftly, deflecting the palm strike with a swift movement. The instant their arms met, their internal forces collided, scattering their energy and forcing the onlookers, including monks, to retreat several steps.

The Old Woman's attack missed, but she didn't stop, her palms flying as she launched a series of attacks. Kumārajīva remained calm and quickly countered with several moves.

The two engaged in close combat, their palm techniques flowing with unparalleled grace, leaving the Shaolin monks mesmerized.

The palm strike was extremely powerful, and the aftershocks of the clash felt like a knife scraping the face. Even after retreating several steps, the onlookers still felt as if they were on the summit of a high mountain, with howling winds blowing in all directions.

The lower-ranking monks of Shaolin Temple gradually could not withstand the attack and began to shrink back. The senior monks of the Xuan generation, however, were not afraid of the palm strikes and used their internal energy to resist.

The two fighters grew increasingly fierce, their palm strikes whistling through the air, sending stones flying. The monks could only retreat further and further, clearing a large space in the plaza for the two to continue their battle.

Behind them, the leaders of the nine departments of Lingjiu Palace, along with the island lords and cave masters, followed one after another. They were all dumbfounded to see someone actually able to fight their lord to this extent. Their eyes widened, their mouths slightly agape, their faces filled with disbelief.

Zhang Cheng glanced at Li Qiushui beside him and transmitted his voice, "Sister Li, aren't you going up to help?"

Li Qiushui responded telepathically, saying calmly, "Didn't the sect leader also not go up? Knowing Senior Sister's personality, if she went up to help now, she would definitely complain afterwards. Let her be."

Zhang Cheng's gaze fell upon the two figures exchanging blows, and he suddenly asked, "How come the Tibetan National Preceptor suddenly knows so many of the Free and Unfettered School's martial arts?"

Li Qiushui remained silent for a moment before saying, "I joined forces with him to besiege my senior sister earlier."

Later, my senior sister and I received news of our senior brother, and we were so flustered that we completely forgot about him. I suppose he later went and read all the Free and Unfettered Sect texts that my senior sister had.

Just then, Kumārajīva's moves suddenly changed, switching to a set of soft and subtle palm techniques.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Cheng turned to look at Li Qiushui and transmitted his voice, "It seems that it's not just Sister Wu's books that have been stolen."

Li Qiushui's face turned ugly: "That little monk is so sly. He must have taken advantage of my absence to look at all the stone carvings I left in the Western Xia palace."

Looking at the battle, Zhang Cheng continued to transmit his voice: "I'm afraid it's more than that. Not only are these newly learned moves, but his internal strength is also much stronger than when I last met him."

In the square, Tong Lao grew increasingly angry as the fight progressed. She was fiercely competitive, and seeing that this little monk, who had been no match for her last time, was now able to fight her on equal terms, fueled a fire in her heart.

She suddenly channeled her inner strength, her palm technique abruptly changing from the Tianshan Six Yang Palms to the Tianshan Plum Blossom Hand, engaging in close-quarters combat with every move a preemptive attack. The two fought with lightning speed, exchanging a hundred rounds in a short period.

In the arena, two figures, one red and one yellow, flew and clashed, their palm strikes creating a powerful wind that sent stones flying. The surrounding bluestone slabs were shattered inch by inch by the aftershocks of their battle.

The Shaolin monks watched in horror. Several elderly monks of the Xuan generation exchanged glances, their eyes filled with shock. Such martial arts were unlike anything they had ever seen in their lives.

Seeing that the two were still locked in a fierce battle, Zhang Cheng swayed and floated up, directly inserting himself between them.

Taking advantage of a gap in their exchange, he reached out with his left hand and grabbed at the palm strike that Kumārajīva was about to deliver.

Kumārajīva quickly changed his move, withdrawing his palm strike and dodging the grab. At the same time, he threw a punch with his other hand, aiming straight for Zhang Cheng's chest.

Zhang Cheng neither dodged nor avoided, and threw a punch with his other hand.

"Bang!" The two fists collided. Kumārajīva was no match for the force and was knocked back several steps before he could regain his balance.

On the other side, the old woman's palm strike was already upon her. She glanced at who it was, abruptly withdrew her palm strike, and with a flick of her fingers, she forcefully withdrew the force she had just released back into her palm.

It was only because her skill had reached a state of perfection that she could control her movements so smoothly. If it were anyone else, that palm strike would have already landed on Zhang Cheng's back.

Kumārajīva steadied himself and looked up at Zhang Cheng: "With Zhang Junma's martial arts skills and status, why did you suddenly interfere with my sparring with this senior shaman and launch a sneak attack on this humble monk?"

Could it be that the Prince Consort is worried that Senior Wu is no match for this humble monk, and wants to take her place in this battle?

After withdrawing her palm, Tong Lao walked to Zhang Cheng's side and stood shoulder to shoulder with him, then looked up at him.

"This is between this young monk and me; I'll handle it myself."

Zhang Cheng glanced down at her and said softly, "Given our relationship, there's no need to distinguish between us. Just leave it to me."

Upon hearing this, the old woman stopped talking and silently retreated outside the battle circle.

Kumārajīva glanced between the two men, lost in thought: "So it turns out that Zhang Junma and this senior shaman have quite a history."

I wonder what your relationship is?

Zhang Cheng said calmly, "Lingjiu Palace is under the jurisdiction of the Xiaoyao Sect. She is the master of Lingjiu Palace, and I am the head of the Xiaoyao Sect. Grand Preceptor, do you think our relationship is?"

He paused, a slight smile playing on his lips. "More importantly, after a series of fierce battles, shouldn't the Imperial Advisor rest for another half an hour?"

Upon hearing this, Kumārajīva's expression changed slightly. The defeat of Dali in the past had always been regarded as the greatest shame of his life.

Hearing Zhang Cheng bring up the matter again, he immediately lost face and said in a deep voice, "No need. Zhang Junma's demeanor is even more impressive than before, but this humble monk has not stood still either; my cultivation has greatly improved. The exchange just now was merely a moment of carelessness, allowing Junma to gain the upper hand. From now on, Junma must be careful."

With a flick of his sleeve, a surge of powerful internal energy erupted from his body, causing his robes to flutter even without wind, making him even more imposing than before.

When Tong Lao, who had retreated to Li Qiushui's side, saw this, her expression became even more unpleasant.

This little monk didn't even use his full strength when he fought me just now?

Kumārajīva searched Misty Peak but could not find Li Qiushui. Unwilling to give up, he returned to the Western Xia Palace to wait for her to come to him.

After waiting for several days without success, he decided to conduct a thorough search of the palace and unexpectedly found the stone inscriptions of the Xiaoyao Sect's martial arts treasured by Li Qiushui. With his photographic memory, he memorized all the contents of the inscriptions before leaving satisfied.

The martial arts techniques carved on the stone were exquisite and complemented the Xiaoyao Sect classics he had seen at Lingjiu Palace, giving him a deeper understanding of Xiaoyao Sect martial arts.

He recalled Murong Bo's words before his death: the Shaolin Yi Jin Jing was comparable to the Dali Six Meridian Divine Sword. Since he couldn't obtain the Six Meridian Divine Sword, he might as well acquire the Yi Jin Jing first.

Confident in his profound understanding of Shaolin martial arts, he believed the monks of Shaolin Temple were no match for him, so he headed east to Shaoshi Mountain. Unexpectedly, before even reaching the mountain, he encountered a masked man with extraordinary martial arts skills and a furtive demeanor.

In the ensuing fight, the masked man was no match for him and revealed his true identity—his old friend Murong Bo. It turned out that Murong Bo had faked his death years ago and had been hiding in Shaoshi Mountain all these years.

With the help of Murong Bo, who was familiar with Shaolin, Kumārajīva secretly stole the original copy of the Yi Jin Jing.

Although the scriptures were all in Sanskrit, Kumārajīva was able to understand them. He hid in the Shaolin Temple and practiced them repeatedly for several days, but the results were minimal. Instead, he felt unwell when he practiced his skills.

Kumārajīva sensed something amiss and, upon closer examination, discovered that the arrangement of the text was unusual. Upon further investigation, he found that the scripture contained numerous diagrams of qi circulation drawn with invisible herbal sap.

He practiced according to the diagram, and his previous discomfort was greatly relieved, while his internal strength increased rapidly. Kumārajīva thought that no one in Shaolin had mastered the Yi Jin Jing for many years because they had not found the right method.

Little did he know that this drawing was actually another extraordinary skill, called the "Sutra on the Accomplishment of the Divine Footwork in the Samadhi of Desire." This skill was created by an ascetic monk and could transform the suffering endured by the practitioner into internal energy.

Kumārajīva used the Taoist "Xiao Wuxiang Gong" as a foundation and forcefully practiced the Buddhist supreme martial art "Yi Jin Jing". The internal forces of Taoism and Buddhism clashed, and the pain he felt when practicing the skills earlier was a sign that his fire had entered the demonic realm.

However, now that he has obtained the "Divine Foot Scripture," the suffering he had endured from qi deviation has been transformed into an inexhaustible source of internal energy, which has allowed his cultivation to progress rapidly.

However, this led to him becoming increasingly injured the more he practiced, and the more injured he became, the more he practiced. Although his internal strength cultivation progressed by leaps and bounds, the hidden injuries in his body accumulated more and more, and he was unaware that his death was imminent.