All Heavens: A Role-Playing System Starting from Tianlong

The Shennong Gang was originally a group of herb gatherers. The gang had no profound martial arts skills, and these ordinary disciples only knew some rudimentary moves. Naturally, they were defeated by Duan Yu, who was controlled by Yue Laosan.

As for Sikong Xuan and the elders who possessed internal strength, Yue Laosan directly shot clods of earth at them.

Just as they were about to make a move, they heard a whooshing sound, felt pain in their hands, and almost dropped their weapons.

Sikong Xuan knew that the powerful figure behind Duan Yu had appeared, and immediately said loudly, "May I ask which expert has graced us with their presence? Would you be so kind as to show yourself for a chat?"

Yue Laosan ignored him and continued to help Duan Yu deal with the ordinary gang members who were attacking.

"With such high martial arts skills, why hide your true colors and send a junior to test us?" Sikong Xuan raised his hand to stop the gang members who wanted to rush forward.

Upon seeing this, Duan Yu knew that someone was secretly helping him.

He thought to himself that he wouldn't be of any help if he stayed here. He had tried to persuade Shennong to help him, but the other party hadn't given up. If he stayed any longer, he might become a burden and hinder the expert who was secretly making a move.

So he cupped his hands towards Sikong Xuanyi and said, "Since the leader has no intention of giving up, this junior will take his leave!" After saying that, he turned and ran away.

However, the mountain path was steep, and he tripped over a stone after running only a few steps. He rolled several times and crashed headfirst into a tree trunk, losing consciousness.

Yue Laosan: "..."

Sikong Xuan and his gang members: "..."

Now, not only Yue Laosan in the shadows, but even the Shennong Gang in the open were stunned, unsure of how to deal with this young master who had the protection of a powerful figure.

Sikong Xuan stared at Duan Yu lying on the ground, then looked around. After waiting for a long time without any movement, he finally couldn't help but speak:

"Sir, this young master has fainted. Aren't you going to show yourself?"

No one answered from the woods.

Sikong Xuan narrowed his eyes. He had just witnessed the hidden person throwing concealed weapons with perfect accuracy, single-handedly holding his own against more than twenty of his own men, and had already become suspicious.

With such skill, why hide your true colors?

This person dared not show himself openly, either because his martial arts skills were only good at long-range attacks and not good at close combat, or because he had a hidden illness and could only rely on hidden weapons to maneuver.

Therefore, Sikong Xuan had been using provocative words to provoke the other party from the very beginning, precisely to force him to reveal his true colors.

"Since you are unwilling to show yourself, could it be that..." he deliberately drawled, "that you are ashamed to be seen?"

"His rambling on and on is so annoying!"

Yue Laosan finally leaped out from the shadows and landed in the middle of the field.

"I was thinking about something, why do you keep calling me out?!"

As soon as Sikong Xuan saw Yue Laosan appear, he raised his hand and threw a large cloud of poison powder at his face!

This "Soul-Severing Powder" is Sikong Xuan's trump card. It is made by grinding seven kinds of poisonous herbs. It penetrates the skin immediately upon contact, and those who are affected will feel weak in the muscles and bones and their internal energy will dissipate within a short time.

He calculated the distance precisely; this cloud of poison powder covered a vast area, making it difficult even for a master of light-footed martial arts to completely avoid.

Once the other party inhales even a little bit, or it gets on their skin, they will be completely at their mercy.

Unexpectedly, when Yue Laosan saw the poison powder rushing towards him, he neither dodged nor avoided it. Instead, he let out a "heh" and suddenly flicked his sleeve with all his internal energy.

The wide sleeves billowed in the wind, opening like a cloth bag to catch all the poisonous powder flying everywhere, without leaking a single drop.

Then he flicked it downwards, and the poison powder, enveloped by his powerful internal force, crashed to the ground with a "thud," stirring up a cloud of dust, but not a single grain of poison powder scattered.

The whole process happened in the blink of an eye.

Sikong Xuan's expression changed drastically. Just as he was about to change his move, Yue Laosan had already closed in on him!

A large hand gripped his shirt like an iron clamp, while the other hand pressed against the top of his head.

The hand was thick and rough, with protruding knuckles, and the force emanating from it made Sikong Xuan's scalp tingle.

"Damn it!" Yue Laosan's wide mouth peeked out from under his cloak, almost touching Sikong Xuan's face, spitting all over him.

"You dare to scheme against me?! I'll snap your neck!"

He exerted force, and Sikong Xuan felt a sharp pain on the top of his head, as if his skull was about to be crushed. He made a "gurgling" sound in his throat, but could not utter a single word.

Just then, Yue Laosan suddenly remembered Zhang Cheng's earlier instruction: "Try not to kill anyone."

He paused, thinking to himself: If I can't even control these few small fry, I'll have to kill someone... Wouldn't that ruin my reputation as the Crocodile God of the South China Sea?

Besides, it's not easy to explain to the boss...

Thinking of this, Yue Laosan snorted coldly and released his hand from Sikong Xuantian's crown, but still held the other's front.

"Old man, you're lucky today, I won't kill you for now."

However, I have a question for you, and you and your men better think it over carefully and answer it properly. Otherwise, watch your necks.

When he said the last sentence, he deliberately channeled his inner strength, his voice shaking the surrounding area and making everyone turn pale with fright.

Seeing their leader held captive and unable to move, and witnessing the opponent's formidable internal strength, the members of the Shennong Gang dared not make a move. They all lowered their heads and stood at attention, not daring to even breathe.

Finally, Sikong Xuan, who was suspended in mid-air, managed to speak: "You...you may ask."

Yue Laosan snorted and put him back on the ground: "I want to take that kid over there as my disciple and teach him martial arts."

He stretched out his long, slender finger and pointed to Duan Yu, who was unconscious not far away.

"But I promised someone I couldn't let this kid find out. So do you have any good ideas?"

His request was extremely strange, but Sikong Xuan was currently under someone else's control and could only rack his brains to come up with ideas for Yue Laosan.

"I have a way, I have a way! We can cooperate with your act."

"Acting? Tell me more about it."

"We can cooperate with you in this charade, and..."

"That's my apprentice!" Yue Laosan glared. "How dare you, an old man, call him 'boy'?!"

After saying that, he slapped Sikong Xuan on the head.

Sikong Xuan was beaten until his vision was blurry, but he dared not retaliate and could only repeatedly change his words:

"Yes, yes, yes... We will lock up this young master."

Then I can prepare pen and ink for you, so you can copy down your skills and place them beside him.

Then...we can feign coercion, forcing him to learn martial arts in order to protect himself...

The more he spoke, the clearer his thoughts became: "Once he has made some progress in martial arts, he will naturally find a way to escape."

Then you can subtly guide him, making him believe he's self-taught and exceptionally gifted... In this way, he won't know it was you who taught him.

Yue Laosan's eyes lit up: "Hey, that's a good idea! But I need to make some modifications."

Sikong Xuan and the others dared not object and readily agreed.

Yue Laosan's story was interrupted by Zhang Cheng: "And then you had someone chain him up?"

"Of course!" Yue Laosan said confidently. "Once you've mastered the martial arts of my South China Sea School, a mere iron chain is nothing!"

This will serve as a test for him. He'll be considered a master when he can break these chains on his own!

Zhang Cheng was too lazy to argue with Yue Laosan about questions like "how long it takes to learn from scratch to the point of being able to break an iron chain".

He then asked, "Didn't we agree to guide him secretly? So why did you show up in front of him later?"

"I have no idea where we slipped up!" Yue Laosan scratched his big head, looking completely bewildered.

"Anyway, as soon as this kid woke up, he looked around and then shouted something like, 'Since you've already come to my rescue, why don't you show yourself? I am Duan Yu, and I thank you for your help.'"

He tried to imitate Duan Yu's refined, literary tone, but his attempt was so poor that it made Zhong Ling, who was standing nearby, chuckle.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Cheng turned his gaze to Duan Yu.

Duan Yu finally found an opportunity to speak, and said with a wry smile, "After I woke up, I saw a martial arts manual next to me. The ink was still fresh, so it was obviously written not long ago."

Finding himself imprisoned, shackled, and with no one guarding him inside or outside the tent… recalling that someone had secretly helped him earlier, he guessed that the master might still be nearby, and thus he called out to inquire.”

He paused, a hint of helplessness on his face:

"I didn't expect this senior to actually show up and insist on taking me as his disciple... I really have no intention of learning martial arts, which is why we've been at an impasse until now."

After hearing this, Zhang Cheng raised his hand and slapped Yue Laosan on the head: "Alright, I know. Second brother, hurry up and let him go."