All Heavens: A Role-Playing System Starting from Tianlong

Chapter 136 Stop!

"Over there—it looks like it collapsed?" A sharp-eyed martial artist pointed in the direction of the Sutra Repository, his voice full of surprise and doubt.

In the distance, smoke and dust rose from the sprawling Zen temple area, accompanied by occasional muffled booms, as if the earth were turning over.

"What's going on?" someone chimed in.

"Go and see!" Among the Shaolin monks, a monk of the Xuan generation suddenly changed his expression and rushed in that direction first. The Sutra Repository was a very important place in the temple; if anything were to happen to it, it would be a serious matter.

Seeing that there was still something to eat, the crowd of heroes in the vicinity stopped rushing to leave. Led by the Shaolin monks, the group headed in a grand procession towards the direction from which the commotion had come.

Before even getting close, one could hear a series of booming sounds coming from afar, interspersed with the ear-piercing sounds of bricks collapsing and beams breaking.

As the group drew closer, the scene before them became increasingly clear—

The once neat and tidy courtyard of the meditation room has now been turned into a mess of ruins.

Amidst the broken walls and ruins, two figures clashed and collided at an almost imperceptible speed. Each collision was like a thunderclap, and wherever the scattered energy passed, bricks, stones, grass, and trees were reduced to dust.

In such a confrontation, even the high-ranking monks of the Shaolin Xuan generation could only barely catch two blurry afterimages.

All I could see were figures flying around and palm winds whistling, making it impossible to see the changes in their moves.

A monk of the Xuan generation squinted for a while, then whispered to Abbot Xuanci beside him, "Senior brother, the person who fought that Headmaster Zhang—judging from his attire, seems to be a disciple of our Shaolin Sect?"

Xuan Ci's eyesight was ultimately superior to that of Qi Ta Qu, and he saw things more clearly. He stared at the figure in the green robe for a moment and slowly said, "That person's attire and appearance indicate that he is a servant monk in this temple who performs miscellaneous tasks. However, I don't know why he possesses such extraordinary cultivation."

Although the serving monks are Shaolin monks, they are only ordained without formal apprenticeship, do not receive martial arts instruction, do not practice meditation, and are not classified as "Xuan" or "Hui".

The generational ranking of "Xu" and "Kong".

Aside from chanting scriptures and worshipping Buddha, they usually only did menial tasks such as lighting fires, farming, sweeping, and rough construction work. The warrior monks in the temple never took them seriously.

Who would have thought that such an extraordinary master was hidden among this group of menial servants?

"Hey, step back if you don't want to die."

A languid female voice suddenly rang out, interrupting the crowd's surprise and whispers.

The crowd looked in the direction of the sound and saw two figures sitting side by side on the eaves of a still intact side hall not far away. One was dressed in fiery red, and the other in snow-white; they were none other than the missing Granny Tong and Li Qiushui.

When Zhong Ling saw that it was the two of them, her eyes lit up. She grabbed Mu Wanqing beside her and used her lightness skill to arrive at the eaves in a few leaps.

"Sister Wu, Sister Li!" Zhong Ling curiously peeked out, watching the two figures locked in fierce combat. "Brother Zhang is fighting so hard, why don't you two seem worried at all?"

The old woman crossed her arms and looked at the arena: "There's nothing to worry about. That guy has already abandoned his sword; he's clearly confident of victory."

Li Qiushui chuckled softly and said in a gentle voice, "Little Ling'er, don't you know your Brother Zhang's temperament?"

He's not at all arrogant. Since he didn't ask us for help, he must know what he's doing, and we don't need to worry about him.

.

Just as the old woman had said, Zhang Cheng had long since stopped using sword techniques. He was fighting bare-handed, using only the Tianshan Plum Blossom Hand to exchange blows with the gray-robed old monk.

The reason for this is that this old monk is an extremely rare sparring partner.

Ever since learning the essence of the Xiaoyao Sect's martial arts from Tong Lao, Li Qiushui, and Wu Yazi, Zhang Cheng has been lacking a suitable opponent to hone his skills.

Although he had sparred with Tong Lao and Li Qiushui many times, his strength was definitely superior to theirs. At most, those exchanges could only increase his experience in techniques, and could not be considered a true honing of his skills.

But this old monk was different. Zhang Cheng had already figured out his opponent's background when they clashed with swords earlier.

This old monk, having cultivated some unknown method, could mobilize just as much internal energy as him in the same amount of time.

Since his opponent had no intention of killing him, the exchange would not trigger any warnings of danger, allowing Zhang Cheng to focus entirely on the martial arts sparring itself.

Such an opponent should not be wasted. Zhang Cheng simply abandoned sword techniques, turned off all system abilities that could be turned off, and only used the Tianshan Plum Blossom Hand to fight the enemy.

The two exchanged blows, their pace quickening with each move. Zhang Cheng's understanding of the Tianshan Plum Blossom Hand techniques passed down by the Child Granny deepened, and his internal energy circulation became increasingly refined.

The previously stagnant progress in integrating the internal energy cultivation method of the Free and Unfettered Sect has begun to slowly loosen up.

Thanks to this, his internal strength output increased steadily, and each move he made contained more concentrated and elusive power than the previous one.

This forced the old monk to push himself beyond his limits time and time again, pushing his Shaolin skills, honed throughout his life, to an unprecedented level before he could barely withstand the attack.

However, Zhang Cheng's meridians, through the daily damage and repair from "Practicing While Standing," became exceptionally strong and robust. The old monk's meridians, on the other hand, were made of flesh and blood, and the immense pressure from this head-on clash was unimaginable.

The old monk struggled to hold on, but ultimately could not withstand Zhang Cheng's increasingly powerful and unrestrained offensive.

Zhang Cheng, however, was engrossed in the fight. He felt that the thin membrane preventing the three divine skills from completely merging was as thin as a cicada's wing, and only a final spark of spiritual light was needed to pierce it.

"Again!" he shouted, cutting into the old monk's palm shadow. His right hand feinted, diverting the opponent's blocking momentum, while his left hand slightly bent its five fingers, seemingly grabbing and striking, using the "Plum Blossom and Snow Contending for Spring" move from the Tianshan Plum Blossom Hand, directly striking the old monk's empty gate under his ribs.

This move concentrated all of his internal energy, which had reached its peak, and his profound understanding of the Free and Unfettered Martial Arts into a single point.

The powerful internal force in the claws shattered the old monk's protective energy with overwhelming force, and the old monk swayed, clearly unable to fight any longer.

"Hoo—" Zhang Cheng sighed, abruptly stopping his attack. At this moment, his control over his internal energy had reached a state of perfection, allowing him to control it at will, stopping it as soon as he thought of it.

Just a little bit more —

Zhang Cheng withdrew his palms and stood still. The deduction of the technique in his mind was almost perfect. Only two or three more rounds were needed for this brand-new ultimate skill, which was derived from the three great divine skills of the Free and Unfettered Sect, to be fully born.

However, this final step was crucial. The old monk before him was exhausted and no longer able to fight him or help him complete the final deduction.

Seeing Zhang Cheng stop, the old monk also ceased his attacks. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and his face was pale, clearly indicating that the fierce battle had injured his meridians.

He raised his hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, regulated his breathing, and glanced at the dark mass of people rushing towards him in the distance.

Seeing that Xiao Feng and his son had arrived, and knowing that Murong Bo and the others had been killed, he put his hands together and bowed slightly: "Amitabha. Congratulations, Benefactor Zhang, on breaking through the pass in the midst of the fierce battle, and your martial arts have reached a new level. Looking at the martial arts world today, I'm afraid there is no one who can match you."

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