Courtyard House: A System Connecting Two Worlds, Resources for the Nation

Seeing Xiao Feng stand with his feet apart, palms hanging down slightly, and the lines of his shoulders and back taut but not stiff, like a strong bow just drawn half an inch, Zhou Feng steadied his breathing before channeling the internal energy in his dantian.

Although he has not yet fully mastered the Six Meridians Divine Sword, he already has the Shaoshang and Shangyang styles at his fingertips.

Shao Shang's sword moves with a powerful and imposing force.

The Shangyang sword was drawn from the index finger, light and swift.

Zhou Feng immediately used the Shaoshang Sword, its sword energy invisible, yet Xiao Feng accurately detected it.

The latter pushed off with his feet, dodged the sword energy to the side, and then charged directly at Zhou Feng like a tiger.

He didn't have any fancy opening moves; it was just a plain straight punch that went straight for Zhou Feng's face with a whooshing sound.

This ordinary straight punch unleashed a power akin to divine skill. Even before the fist landed, Zhou Feng felt gusts of wind from the punch, his hair flying backward.

Zhou Feng used the Lingbo Weibu technique instantly, slashing half a zhang to the right. At the same time, he pointed his index finger, and the Shangyang Sword shot out from his fingertip, aiming straight for Xiao Feng's right shoulder.

With his powerful internal energy, this silent sword strike was almost as powerful as a bullet.

Xiao Feng's eyes narrowed, and he dodged to the side again. The sword energy grazed his arm, tearing his sleeves.

Although it didn't injure his skin, its power was evident.

A deep dent had appeared on the tree trunk behind him, with wood chips flying everywhere.

"Young Master Zhou, what powerful sword energy!"

Xiao Feng grinned and lunged forward again.

He held a superior position within the Beggars' Sect, and his martial arts skills were also exceptional.

Even if they wanted to find someone to be their opponent, there was no one to choose from.

Even if the four elders came up together, they wouldn't pose any threat to him, and the effect of sparring with them would be almost nonexistent.

It's much more fun to fight against these young heroes of the martial world!

Moreover, knowing that Zhou Feng's lightness skill was formidable, Xiao Feng did not hold back much.

He transformed his fist into a palm and struck Zhou Feng with three consecutive palms, each one faster than the last. The palm wind stirred up the dust on the ground and even formed a layer of gray air waves that pressed down on Zhou Feng.

Zhou Feng unleashed a flurry of attacks with his Six Meridians Divine Sword, but relying solely on the Shaoshang Sword and Shangyang Sword, he was unable to completely shatter the palm strike from Xiao Feng. Helpless, he could only use the Lingbo Steps to dodge continuously.

Unfortunately, even after dodging the first two palm strikes, the force of the third palm strike still struck Zhou Feng's body.

He was pulled to the side and staggered half a step. He felt a powerful internal force, almost solidified, pour into his shoulder, making half of his body go numb.

Fortunately, the Absorption Technique of the Northern Darkness Divine Art automatically protected his body, quickly converting and absorbing the external internal energy that had invaded his meridians, which allowed Zhou Feng to return to normal.

The two then engaged in a fierce battle, exchanging nearly a hundred blows.

Xiao Feng's moves were wide and sweeping, each move carrying a powerful momentum.

Wherever the palm wind and fist force passed, the weeds on the ground were all flattened, and even small trees as thick as a bowl would be broken in half if they were just swept by them.

Zhou Feng, on the other hand, relied on the elusive steps of Lingbo Weibu to move between Xiao Feng's attacks, alternating between the Shaoshang and Shangyang Six Meridian Divine Sword techniques.

Although Xiao Feng didn't possess Zhou Feng's top-tier lightness skill, his combat experience was far too rich. Every time the sword energy was about to strike him, he could instinctively dodge it without suffering any real harm, only his clothes became tattered.

However, Zhou Feng's weaknesses were all exposed to Xiao Feng within those hundred moves.

His internal strength was clearly several levels deeper than Xiao Feng's, but the utilization rate of his internal strength in his moves was ridiculously low.

Moreover, while the Six Meridian Divine Sword is powerful, the timing of its strikes is problematic, its efficiency is not very high, and its moves are rigid, consisting of only a few repetitive strikes...

These techniques would be fatal in a true duel between masters. In fact, Xiao Feng was intentionally feeding Zhou Feng a hundred moves in this battle; otherwise, Xiao Feng would have already been able to severely injure Zhou Feng after only a dozen or twenty moves.

After exchanging another thirty or forty moves, Xiao Feng began to consciously close in on Zhou Feng, immediately throwing the latter into a flurry of activity.

Finally, Xiao Feng created a flaw, causing Zhou Feng to fall into the trap, as pointed out by Shao Shang Sword.

But while dodging to the side, he lunged forward, grabbing Zhou Feng's wrist with his left hand and striking him in the chest with his right.

With this palm strike, Xiao Feng used only 30% of his strength, sending Zhou Feng flying without causing him any serious injury.

After landing, he staggered a few steps and then stopped.

The two separated, and Xiao Feng stopped his attack, catching his breath for a few moments. Laughing, he walked towards Zhou Feng: "Young Master Zhou, your skill is truly impressive! Among all the people I've met in my life, your inner strength is easily among the top three! Your invisible sword energy is also beginning to take shape. If you can fully master it in the future, there will probably be only a handful of people in the world who can withstand it!"

Zhou Feng gave a wry smile. The palm strike to his chest still felt a little dull, but the Northern Darkness Divine Art had already started operating automatically, and he returned to normal in the blink of an eye.

"Chief Qiao, you're too kind. I possess only internal strength; before you, I'm like a child. Besides, you haven't even used your Dragon-Capturing Skill, the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms, or the Dog-Beating Staff Technique yet. You're simply toying with me!"

Zhou Feng even sounded somewhat dejected when he said this.

He had previously invited Xiao Feng to spar, imagining the Six Meridian Divine Sword versus the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms, a fight so fierce it would darken the sky and obscure the sun and moon.

In reality, the other person used the simplest Taizu Changquan (a style of Chinese martial arts) to fight him for over a hundred rounds and then knocked him down.

Even with Zhou Feng's limited combat experience, he could tell that Xiao Feng was training him.

This is incredibly embarrassing.

Xiao Feng noticed Zhou Feng's expression and suddenly burst into laughter: "Young Master Zhou, there's no need to worry too much. Since joining the Beggars' Sect, I've fought countless battles, large and small, and suffered numerous injuries. My combat experience is naturally quite rich. In martial arts, three parts depend on internal strength and seven parts on actual combat. As long as you fight more people in the martial world and hone your timing, transitions, and close-quarters combat skills to perfection, I'm sure there are very few people who can defeat you."

At this point, Xiao Feng's face showed a hint of doubt: "There have been many conflicts between my Beggars' Sect and the Western Xia First-Class Hall. I have also fought with the Four Evils quite a few times. Although Young Master Zhou's internal strength is profound, with your actual combat ability, it may not be easy for you to kill three of them by yourself."

Xiao Feng's gaze was very straightforward, but it didn't contain much doubt, only some questions.

The message, personally delivered by the Dali Duan family, was naturally reliable. However, given Zhou Feng's strength, defeating the Four Evils would not be an easy task.

Zhou Feng's lips curled up slightly: "Chief Qiao is right. I couldn't kill all three of them by myself. But the internal energy I used was somewhat peculiar; it was the Northern Darkness Divine Art, the treasure of the Free and Unfettered Sect, which has the effect of absorbing internal energy. And my men also had decent weapons, much more powerful than ordinary bows and crossbows, capable of taking lives from a hundred paces away. That's how I managed to take care of the three of them."

When associating with someone like Xiao Feng, there's no need for any pretense. Just treat him with sincerity, and he will naturally reciprocate.

Sure enough, after hearing Zhou Feng's words, Xiao Feng only frowned slightly before immediately relaxing.

After staring at Zhou Feng for a few seconds, he suddenly burst into laughter and patted Zhou Feng's shoulder forcefully: "Good! In all my years of wandering the martial world, what I admire most are straightforward and honest men! Using some methods to deal with enemies is perfectly acceptable; there's no need to hide it. In the end, martial arts in this world are just tools. A knife can kill, a hidden weapon can kill, and internal energy can kill!"

"The killer is a person, not a weapon. If you use a concealed weapon to kill an evil person, that's acting on behalf of Heaven; there's nothing to hide!"

Zhou Feng nodded and didn't explain further. The two walked back side by side towards Wuxi City.

On the way, they ran into Tie Jianguo and his group, who were driving a horse-drawn carriage and chasing after them along the pass.

Tie Jianguo, sitting in the driver's seat, breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Zhou Feng and Xiao Feng walking back from under the shade of the trees, chatting and laughing.

The two boarded the carriage and returned to Songhelou.

The lobby downstairs was already full of people. Zhou Feng asked the waiter to open a private room for him, ordered the food and drinks, and then asked him to go upstairs to inform his wife to come down.

Xiao Feng then realized, "I didn't expect Madam Zhou to be here as well. It was rather presumptuous of me to have Young Master Zhou challenge me to a duel earlier."

"Chief Qiao, you're too kind. I was the one who suggested the duel, how can you be blamed! Let's drink first!"

The two men downed another bowl of wine with gusto, and only then did a few crisp sounds come from outside the door.

Immediately following, under Xiao Feng's increasingly strange gaze, Zhao Pan'er, Sun San Niang, Bai Ling, Qin Jingru, Lou Xiao'e, Zhong Ling, Mu Wanqing, and Wang Yuyan entered the private room one after another, filling the room to capacity.

"This...this...Young Master Zhou, may I ask who you are...?"

Everyone talks about having three wives and four concubines, but there were nearly ten people coming in. This was the first time Xiao Feng had ever seen such a scene.

Zhou Feng quickly explained with a smile, "Chief Qiao, you misunderstand. These five are my wives, and the other three ladies are just my friends."

Xiao Feng breathed a sigh of relief; it turned out he had misunderstood.

Exactly, who travels the world with eight wives? Even if three of them are friends…

That doesn't make sense!

Five wives is quite extravagant!

Who knew this Mr. Zhou was so dashing and debonair!

"Young Master Zhou is truly blessed with good fortune; each of your five wives possesses an extraordinary air about her. I, Qiao, am filled with admiration!"

Zhou Feng smiled, but didn't elaborate, simply raising his bowl in return. After they drank some more wine, the conversation shifted to other topics.

Upon hearing that Zhou Feng had come from Yanziwu, Xiao Feng's tone carried a hint of regret: "I have long heard of Nan Murong's reputation, and I originally intended to challenge him, but I have been preoccupied with many trivial matters lately, so I had to give up."

"But I have a close friend who died a violent death more than two months ago. Everyone says that Murong Fu was the one who poisoned him. Sooner or later, I will have to meet with him and have a discussion with him."

Wang Yuyan, who had been sitting to the side listening to their conversation with great interest, suddenly widened her eyes: "Chief Qiao, isn't there a misunderstanding? My cousin wouldn't do such a thing."

Xiao Feng's gaze instantly fixed on Wang Yuyan's face. After a long while, he sighed softly: "The fatal wound my friend suffered was inflicted by his own signature technique. It was an example of using the enemy's own methods against them."

Although he was heartbroken by Ma Dayuan's death, he would not hold a grudge against a young girl like Wang Yuyan because of Murong Fu.

"But my cousin has always respected the Beggars' Sect and Chief Qiao. How could he commit such a heinous act of killing innocent people? Could he be a friend of Chief Qiao...?"

Before Wang Yuyan could finish speaking, Xiao Feng shook his head: "My friend has been famous for a long time, is upright and humble, and has always acted with great composure. How could he have offended Young Master Murong for no reason?"

Wang Yuyan was at a loss for words, her lips trembling for a long time.

Before she could speak again, there was a knock on the door.

Tie Jianguo opened the door and saw several ragged men kneeling on one knee outside. "Chief," they said, "something's happened at the Righteousness Branch. Unidentified people have broken in and injured several brothers. They're powerful, and the brothers couldn't hold them off. We've come to report!"

Xiao Feng suddenly stood up, slammed the wine bowl on the table, and glared at everyone: "Young Master Zhou, I still have some matters to attend to in my gang, so let's call it a day. We can drink and chat again another day!"

Zhou Feng's gaze shifted, then swept over Wang Yuyan sitting to the side, and he suddenly said, "Chief Qiao, I'll go with you too. More people mean more strength, and if the other side is troublesome, we'll have someone to help."

"Okay! Thank you very much, Young Master Zhou!"

Xiao Feng wasn't one to fuss over trivial matters, so upon hearing Zhou Feng's words, he immediately nodded without saying anything more.

Recently, the entire martial arts world has been in turmoil, and it is a time of great turmoil.

Although Zhou Feng's performance was not good during their sparring session, what level of master is Xiao Feng?

At this moment, Zhou Feng's martial arts skills were even surpassing those of the four elders of their Beggars' Sect!

If any problems do arise, it will definitely be a great help!

As Xiao Feng prepared to go downstairs, Zhou Feng led the women down after him, with Tie Jianguo and the others following behind carrying gun cases. Both carriages were led out by Bai Lang and Qin Ming.

After leaving Songhelou, Xiao Feng took the lead, using his lightness skill to run along the long street towards the east of the city, each step covering a distance of several feet.

Meanwhile, Tie Jianguo and his three companions drove their horse-drawn carriage and sped away from behind.

Fortunately, Zhou Feng's carriage was a specially made product with excellent shock absorption, so even at high speeds, it didn't feel too bumpy.

From afar, the group entered a country path and ran for several miles before arriving at an apricot grove!

Before the group even got out of the carriage, they heard a sarcastic voice coming from the apricot blossom bushes not far away: "My young master Murong is going to Luoyang to meet your leader, so why are all the Beggars' Clan members in Wuxi? Isn't this deliberately avoiding him? You're all cowards and timid, yet you've made my young master make a wasted trip! This is simply outrageous!"