Yang Guo travels back in time to become Duan Yu, a different kind of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils.

Chapter 80 Heinous Crimes

Yang Guo's attack was incredibly fast, fueled by hatred. By the time Duan Yanqing realized the danger, it was already too late. When he reached her and saw Ye Erniang lying heavily injured on the ground, he was filled with shock and fear.

What was astonishing was that Yang Guo's martial arts had reached such a level. Even if Ye Erniang had underestimated him, even he himself would have found it extremely difficult to severely injure her within two moves. Duan Yanqing clearly saw that Yang Guo had just used the Six Meridians Divine Sword, the secret technique of Tianlong Temple. Even if Ye Erniang fought with all her might, she could only withstand one or two more moves at most.

What he feared was that the situation had already deteriorated. Ye Erniang's fate was unknown, and now only he and Yue Laosan remained on their side, surrounded by experts, including Duan Yu, a master of the Six Meridians Divine Sword. Today, he feared he might truly perish here.

But he was always resolute. This opportunity was hard-won. Once Duan Zhengchun was allowed to return to Dali safely, the palace was heavily guarded and the chance to assassinate him again would be as difficult as climbing to heaven.

Duan Yanqing stretched out his iron staff, bent down, and wrote on the smooth bluestone slab beneath his feet.

"Impressive skills. You've mastered the Six Meridians Divine Sword in just a few days."

But a continuous hissing sound could be heard; the iron staff scratched the stone as if it were sand, each of the sixteen characters penetrating deep into the rock.

During a rebellion years ago, his throat was severely injured and he lost his voice. Later, through a fortuitous encounter, he mastered the art of ventriloquism. This skill, combined with superior internal energy cultivation, can bewitch the mind and confuse the insane; it is an extremely powerful and evil art. However, this art relies entirely on mental strength to suppress the opponent. If the opponent's internal energy cultivation surpasses that of the user, the technique will fail and instead backfire on the user.

Seeing Yang Guo unleash the Six Meridians Divine Sword, he guessed that the opponent's internal strength might not be weaker than his own, so he dared not rashly activate his ventriloquism technique to disturb him.

The enemy's mind.

Yang Guo saw this and understood, then smiled faintly. "A contest of internal strength, huh? Then so be it."

He focused his energy into his index finger, making the invisible sword energy of the Shangyang Sword extremely fine and sharp, like an invisible fine steel carving knife.

A sharp, grating sound rang out as the sword energy touched the weathered, bluish-gray stone before him, sending stone dust fluttering down the surface. Yang Guo slowly rotated his wrist, his fingertips tracing the stone's surface with sword energy, calmly outlining characters stroke by stroke.

Thanks to you, I will never forget. Today, with this battle, all grudges will be settled.

The same sixteen characters.

"Thanks to you" means that all the current circumstances are due to Duan Yanqing, implying that he used the Yin-Yang Harmony Powder back then, which led Yang to this world by a twist of fate.

"Or dare not forget," this bizarre "gift" is unforgettable for both Duan Yu and the person residing in this body, and they dare not forget it for even a moment.

"Today's battle will settle all grudges." Let's not dwell on past entanglements and disputes any longer, and let's put an end to them in this battle. The victor lives, the loser dies.

Duan Yanqing stared intently at the newly carved characters on the bluestone, his heart churning with turbulent emotions.

Carving characters in stone with sword energy is a hundred times more difficult than striking someone. When fighting an enemy, all you need is fierce and violent energy; but carving characters requires precise control. Too much internal force will shatter the stone surface, leaving it full of pits; too little internal force will only leave a shallow white mark, not penetrating the stone deeply.

With just this skill of controlling his strength, he far surpasses himself in using an iron staff to cut stone.

"snort!"

Duan Yanqing has always considered himself the rightful crown prince of Dali. If he shrinks back in the face of a challenge from a younger generation, how will he ever have the face to return to Dali and contend for the throne? Even if he dies in battle today, he must lose honorably in a fight, and not give the world any reason to criticize him.

He let out a heavy snort, slammed his iron staff on the ground, and once again bent down to write on the bluestone slab: If you want war, then let's fight!

After he finished writing, Yang Guo slowly stepped forward, lifted his foot, and rubbed the sole of his boot back and forth on the stone slab several times. In an instant, the two lines of writing, of varying depths, on the stone slab were completely ground away. Stone dust flew everywhere, and the words that had just been carved were gone without a trace.

Seeing that he had displayed such skill in neutralizing internal force through his feet, Duan Yanqing spoke in a ventriloquism, his tone carrying a hint of seriousness: "You, very good, very good!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he held the iron staff horizontally in front of him and slightly raised his hand, signaling Yang Guo to make the first move. Even though he knew that the other party's internal strength was still superior to his own, he was, after all, an elder of the Duan family, and his status made him unwilling to make the first move.

"Pan'er, lend me your sword."

Yang Guo took two steps back, took the longsword from Zhao Shuhuai's hand, made a sword gesture with his left hand, and slowly handed out the longsword with his right hand.

Duan Zhengchun, Zhao Shuhuai, and the others all let out a soft "Eh." The Dali ruler and his ministers thought he would use the Six Meridians Divine Sword again, while Zhao Shuhuai thought he would use the Ancient Tomb Jade Maiden Sword Technique. No one expected that he would start with the Duan family sword technique.

The opening move, named "Its Sharpness Can Cut Gold," embodies the idea of ​​brothers united in spirit, and is the opening move of the Duan Family Swordplay. Duan Yanqing, intimately familiar with the Duan Family Swordplay, immediately thrust out his iron staff, using it as a substitute for a sword, and delivered a solid counterattack. The two instantly clashed, displaying only the ancestral martial arts of the Dali Duan family.

Yang Guo understood perfectly. This battle, while driven by personal grudges, was also about the struggle for the throne of Dali. If he were to defeat Duan Yanqing with the Six Meridian Divine Sword or any other martial art, Duan Yanqing would surely be dissatisfied and spread the word that he had won by a stroke of luck.

Since that's the case, we'll use the Duan family's own sword techniques to defeat him squarely and honestly, so that he'll be convinced and won't utter another word of excuse.

Seeing Yang Guo use the Duan family sword technique, Duan Yanqing felt slightly relieved. He had no chance to learn the Six Meridian Divine Sword, but he had immersed himself in and practiced this Duan family sword technique for far longer than the young man before him. He sneered inwardly, "You think you can defeat me with your family sword technique? You've only got yourself into trouble."

He used an iron staff instead of a sword to practice the Duan family sword technique, his movements expansive and powerful, yet dignified and composed. Even his light and graceful moves possessed the air of a prince.

Duan Zhengchun, at the age of thirteen or fourteen, had already mastered the Duan family sword technique; Ba Tianshi, Fan Hua, and other officials of Dali had been familiar with this sword technique for decades. They understood the advantages and disadvantages of every move and every technique thoroughly.

Today, seeing Yang Guo use his sword, the moves were still the same old, simple techniques, but the way he wielded the sword was completely different from what everyone was used to. The moves flowed smoothly and seamlessly, and unless one was thoroughly familiar with the Duan family swordsmanship, it would be almost impossible to distinguish the boundaries between each move.

In his youth, Yang Guo learned the Jade Maiden Sword Technique from Xiaolongnu, and the Quanzhen Sword Technique from the Quanzhen Sect. Later, he was taught the Jade Flute Sword Technique by Huang Yaoshi. After losing his arm, he accompanied the Divine Condor and comprehended the true essence of the heavy sword at the Sword Tomb. After parting ways with Xiaolongnu, his swordsmanship had reached the level described by Dugu Qiubai: "Not bound by objects, grass, trees, bamboo, and stones can all be swords, and having no sword is better than having a sword."

Ordinary and unremarkable moves, once in his hands and refined through his mental state and experience, can generate boundless power.

His swordplay was elusive and agile, with the angle and direction of his attacks subtly shifting each time, seemingly just minor alterations. Though the sword was still aimed at Yang Guo's center, the change subtly echoed and coordinated with Duan Yanqing's staff techniques. Duan Yanqing's fierce and deadly moves, though seemingly extremely dangerous, never landed on Yang Guo.

Duan Zhengchun muttered to himself, "So the Duan family swordsmanship can be performed like this? The moves haven't changed, so how come it's become so powerful in Yu'er's hands?"

Seeing that the same move, with only a slight change in the sword technique, could produce such power, he was mesmerized and filled with longing.

Duan Yanqing, who was in the midst of the battle, felt the pain even more deeply.

Yang Guo possessed profound internal strength, exquisite swordsmanship, and lightning-fast attacks, which he could barely withstand. However, after exchanging several blows, he would suddenly realize that the previous offensive and defensive maneuvers were actually Yang Guo's deliberate luring him into this position, just to wait for this one sword strike.

Suddenly, Yang Guo let out a clear whistle, raised his long sword and pointed it diagonally backward. His figure was like an eagle pouncing on a rabbit, and he leaped into the air with agility.

brush!

Where the sword light fell.

Duan Yanqing stood motionless. The two iron staffs he relied on for protection flew out of his hands, circled in the air several times, and crashed heavily onto the large blue stone with a loud clang. They bounced a few times on the stone slab before finally falling still.