Be a proper Taoist priest in The Condor Heroes

Thinking back to my thoughts when I first left the teahouse, I want to slap myself. What a jinx...

The woman before him was barely breathing, her body riddled with sword and knife wounds. Clearly, she had been on a desperate chase and had used her last strength to reach the Yellow River Gang's dock for help.

Su Yan's heart sank, and she subconsciously wanted to back out.

He only wanted to inquire about the ship's schedule and had no intention of getting involved in any grudges. But before he could even get up, the door to the private room was kicked open, and a burly man led a dozen or so henchmen in black barged in. It was none other than Zhao Heitan, the leader of the Black Sand Gang, whom he had heard about from the teahouse.

He was burly and robust, with broad shoulders and a thick back like an iron tower, exuding a savage and fierce aura. His skin was as black as charcoal, just as his name suggested, and a hideous scar ran diagonally from his brow bone to the corner of his eye, adding to his menacing appearance. His hands were rough and thick, with shiny black palms and large, prominent knuckles, revealing the hardness of years of fighting. One glance was enough to tell that he was a ruthless and difficult character.

The aura of a peak third-rate fighter suddenly erupted, his eyes as fierce as knives.

"Liu Yuru! Where do you think you're going!"

He spotted Liu Yuru on the ground and Su Yan beside her at a glance, and immediately roared angrily.

"Good! You've been hiding well, and you even have accomplices! Today, both of you are going to die!"

Su Yan's mind went blank, completely bewildered. He didn't know Liu Yuru at all; this was a completely undeserved disaster!

"Misunderstanding! I don't know her, I just came to ask about the ship!"

He hurriedly explained, while simultaneously drawing the iron sword from his waist with his right hand and circulating his internal energy in his dantian.

"Misunderstanding? If it were a misunderstanding, why did you draw your sword? Do you think I'm stupid?"

Zhao Heitan ignored him completely, and his two black palms smashed down with a whooshing sound. It was the Black Sand Palm, and the palm force was wrapped with blood and qi, aiming straight for Su Yan's face.

"Let her be buried with that little bitch from the Liu family!"

The palm strike was incredibly powerful, and Su Yan dared not take it head-on. He dodged to the side and thrust his sword straight at Zhao Heitan's ribs, purely as a self-defense counterattack.

He could see clearly that Zhao Heitan was much stronger than him, and with more than a dozen henchmen, he had no chance of winning in a direct fight. He could only stall for time and hope that the Yellow River Gang would hear the commotion and come over.

"Hmph, you dare to rebel after just entering the third rank!"

Zhao Heitan scoffed disdainfully, dodging the sword's edge and striking Su Yan's wrist with his left fist, attempting to knock the iron sword away. Su Yan twisted his wrist, changing the sword's thrust into a slash, unleashing a "consecutive slash" towards the opponent's thigh. He used his footwork to its fullest extent, maneuvering and dodging in the cramped private room, barely avoiding the henchmen's encirclement.

Liu Yuru seemed to sense the movement while unconscious, letting out a muffled groan, but still didn't wake up. Su Yan inwardly groaned. He had intended to keep a low profile, but had been dragged into this life-or-death struggle. Since there was no way to avoid it, then... kill!

Su Yan's eyes narrowed, and he circulated all his qi and blood. He suddenly exerted force with the "Smashing Tablet Hand" technique, punching a henchman next to him in the chest. The amplification of his mastery level of heavy strikes was unleashed, and the henchman groaned, spitting out blood as he flew backward.

At the same time, he slashed vertically with his longsword, forcefully splitting open the longsword of another henchman, directly cleaving the henchman in two from the shoulder.

"If you don't believe me, then fight!"

Enraged by this, Zhao Heitan intensified his attack, his fists pounding like hammers, each strike aimed straight for vital points. Su Yan could only defend passively; his iron sword was struck by the opponent's fists, and although the impact numbed his hands, it seemed to be within his tolerance range?

There was no disorder in the flow of Qi and blood or internal energy.

He immediately abandoned his passive defense and began to use the Su family sword technique.

Seeing this, Zhao Heitan launched an even fiercer attack, his fists like hammers, each strike aimed straight for vital points. Su Yan could only defend passively; his iron sword was struck by the opponent's fists, the impact numbing his tiger's mouth. However, he unexpectedly discovered that although the opponent's fists were powerful, their power was limited.

This peak of third-rate seems to be nothing special after all?

With a sudden impulse, Su Yan abandoned his defensive stance and alternated between the fierce power of the Su family swordsmanship and the heavy blows of the "Smashing Tablet Hand." He lowered his waist and shoulders, clenched his left fist, and smashed it toward Zhao Heitan's chest, while simultaneously thrusting his right longsword straight for the opponent's throat. In the alternation of offense and defense, he gradually stabilized the situation.

The proficiency level on the panel is jumping rapidly.

Host: Su Yan

Age: 16

Martial arts:

Rank E - Su Family Sword Technique (Mastery, 230/400) [Consumable -25%, Armor Penetration +25%, Pressure +30%]

Rank E - Leap Technique (Mastery, 355/400) [Consumable -25%, Agility +30%, Evasion +30%]

Rank E - Monument Slayer (Mastery, 16/200) [Critical Strike +10%]

Realm: Third-rate martial artist.

Although he hadn't fully practiced the techniques several times, his proficiency with all three martial arts had improved, especially with the Stone-Smashing Hand. Although he hadn't counted how many punches he had thrown, it was definitely not more than 15 times.

Real-world practice is indeed the fastest way to improve!

Su Yan was overjoyed and decided to let down her guard, sheathing her sword and fighting Zhao Heitan with only her fists.

"I'm furious! You're asking for it, kid!"

Zhao Heitan was both shocked and furious. He was astonished to see that the young man in front of him was so arrogant, confronting him with only his fist techniques. Su Yan's "Smashing Tablet Hand" was already highly proficient. Every punch was infused with qi and blood, and Zhao Heitan could feel that the force of the punches was sometimes heavy and sometimes light, making them impossible to defend against.

Zhao Heitan unleashed his full power in the Black Sand Palm, the palm wind carrying a foul stench, but Su Yan dodged it by sidestepping. Su Yan pressed his advantage, blocking with his left hand and slamming his right fist into Zhao Heitan's shoulder. A loud "crack" was heard, the sound of bones shattering was clearly audible.

Zhao Heitan screamed in agony, his blood churning, and he looked at Su Yan with disbelief in his eyes. He never expected that a mere third-rate kid could suppress him, a peak third-rate player, with just his fist techniques!

Su Yan pressed his advantage relentlessly, his footsteps and leaping techniques making him even more agile, his "Smashing Stele Hand" moves all deadly.

Deadly moves were unleashed one after another; with a whoosh of punches, the square table in the private room was shattered and wooden chairs flew everywhere. The remaining henchmen were terrified, and not one of them dared to step forward to help.

The proficiency level on the panel was still rising rapidly, and the progress of the "Smashing Stele Hand" skill was visibly increasing. Su Yan was in high spirits, and such an opportunity to improve proficiency was rare, so he naturally wanted to make the most of it.

Zhao Heitan gradually weakened, his breath growing weaker and weaker, the injury to his shoulder preventing him from fighting with his full strength. He tried to break free, but Su Yan held him tightly, each collision causing his blood and qi to become disordered.

Finally, Su Yan spotted an opening, slumped off his horse, and punched Zhao Heitan in the chest. At the same time, he grabbed Zhao's neck with his left hand and with a little force, the sound of his throat bones breaking could be heard.

Zhao Heitan's eyes were wide open, his face filled with resentment and fear as he fell to the ground, lifeless.

Panting heavily, Su Yan looked at the corpse on the ground and was about to clean up the mess when hurried footsteps came from outside the private room. The bearded manager led more than a dozen Yellow River Gang disciples and rushed in. When they saw the tragic scene in the room and Zhao Heitan's corpse, their expressions changed drastically.

"This...this is Zhao Heitan, the leader of the Black Sand Gang?"

The steward exclaimed in surprise, his eyes filled with awe as he looked at Su Yan.

Su Yan nodded, her tone indifferent.

"He was chasing this girl; I was acting purely in self-defense."

As soon as he finished speaking, a burly man strode over. It was Lei Hong, the leader of the Yellow River Gang. He was also a third-rate peak-level expert with a restrained aura. He immediately saw the unconscious Liu Yuru and the dead Zhao Heitan on the ground. He then looked at Su Yan and clasped his hands in greeting.

"Thank you so much, young hero, for protecting Miss Liu!"

Lei Hong quickly walked up to Su Yan, clasped his hands in thanks, and expressed his gratitude.

"Miss Liu came to me for help. I didn't expect Zhao Heitan to be chasing her so relentlessly. If it weren't for you, she might not be alive today."

Su Yan gave a wry smile and rubbed his shoulders.

"Chief Lei, you're too kind. I just came to ask about the ship; it was purely by chance."

He had no interest in getting involved in these grudges; he just wanted to confirm the ship's schedule as soon as possible and leave with the road permit in three days.

Lei Hong, however, did not think so. He personally helped Su Yan sit down and asked someone to fetch wound medicine, speaking sincerely.

"Whether it was by accident or not, you are Miss Liu's savior and a distinguished guest of my Yellow River Gang. I'll reserve two of the best seats for you on the boat three days from now, and the ferry crossing will be completely free!"

As he spoke, Lei Hong had Liu Yuru carried away to receive treatment, and then had the bodies in the private room cleaned up. He also warmly invited Su Yan to rest in a private room at the dock.

As she spoke, Liu Yuru slowly woke up, saw Su Yan and Lei Hong, and spoke weakly.

"Thank you... thank you young hero, thank you Chief Lei..."

The wound on her shoulder was still bleeding, and her face was as pale as paper.

Looking at the situation before him, Su Yan felt helpless. He just wanted to wait for his travel permit and find a boat to cross the river peacefully, but he ended up in this mess in a private room at the dock and was dragged into the conflict between the Liu family, the Black Sand Gang, and the Yellow River Gang.

On the panel, the proficiency of the "Smashing Stele Hand" skill had risen to 86/200, and the Su Family Sword Technique had also broken through to 230/500. Su Yan nodded in satisfaction. Truly, misfortune may be a blessing in disguise, and a blessing may be a misfortune in disguise.

Before long, the Liu family arrived after hearing the news. Upon seeing the unconscious Liu Yuru, they repeatedly thanked Su Yan and Lei Hong. Lei Hong arranged for someone to take Liu Yuru back to the Liu family, and then turned to Su Yan and said...

"Young hero, you can rest assured and relax here for the next three days. I'll have people guarding you, so you'll have nothing to worry about!"

"Thank you for your kindness, Chief Lei, but I have other important matters to attend to. I will definitely arrive on time in three days."

Su Yan thanked Lei Hong and politely declined his offer to stay.

Lei Hong did not insist and sent someone to escort Su Yan back to the city, treating him with great courtesy along the way.