All Heavens: A Role-Playing System Starting from Tianlong

"Brother Zhang!" As soon as the pressure points were released, Zhong Ling hugged Zhang Cheng's neck and buried her face in his chest, crying and trembling all over.

She has always been a carefree person, pampered by her parents since childhood. When has she ever been frightened like this?

When she was subdued, she struggled desperately. When her acupoints were sealed, she really thought she was going to die today.

"Okay, okay." Zhang Cheng let her hug him, not pulling away. "Don't cry."

He pulled Zhong Ling away from his embrace slightly and looked down at her. Her usually smiling face was now streaked with tears, her eyes were as red as a rabbit's, and snot was almost running down her nose.

Zhang Cheng, unusually, showed no disdain. "Watch me avenge you."

He handed Zhong Ling to Mu Wanqing on horseback, then drew the long sword from Mu Wanqing's waist.

Yun Zhonghe had already taken up his weapon and leaped out of the hole in the house. He was wielding a pair of steel claws, with handles three feet long and claws shaped like five fingers.

He held the steel claws, sized Zhang Cheng up and down, and then his gaze fell on Mu Wanqing on the horse.

"Hey, what kind of luck am I having today? I bumped into a pretty girl on the street just now, and before I even had a chance to get to know her properly, another one has come knocking on my door."

Zhang Cheng drew his sword to meet him, "Luck? I think you've already found your way to death."

His swordsmanship was not particularly skillful.

The "Weapon Proficiency" stat only provides a "minimum guarantee." In terms of true swordplay skill, he is far inferior to Zuo Zimu, who has spent his entire life wielding a sword.

Sometimes, however, the moves don't need to be particularly sophisticated, just like when he fought against Zuo Zimu and Xin Shuangqing.

Yun Zhonghe's martial arts skills ranked last among the Four Evils. Apart from his lightness skill, which was somewhat commendable, his other abilities were all quite ordinary.

Even before Zhang Cheng cultivated his internal energy, he was already able to fight Yue Laosan to a standstill.

Now that he has not only mastered the Northern Darkness Divine Skill, but also made progress in the [Hero] profession, dealing with Yun Zhonghe, who is inferior to Yue Laosan in every aspect except for his lightness skill, is naturally not a difficult task.

To prevent the opponent from escaping, Zhang Cheng did not immediately unleash [Military Might], relying solely on his swordsmanship to fight.

Even so, Yun Zhonghe was already sweating profusely from defending himself.

The depth of one's progress in internal strength depends entirely on innate talent.

Even someone as gifted as Xiao Feng, who only practiced basic Shaolin internal skills from the age of seven, became the leader of the Four Great Masters of Tianlong at the age of thirty, with his profound internal strength leaving all the Shaolin monks behind.

Zhang Cheng, on the other hand, not only possesses the system's blessing and his vital energy is several times stronger than Xiao Feng's, but he also practices the Northern Darkness Divine Skill, the supreme martial art of the Xiaoyao Sect, whose internal energy conversion efficiency is far superior to that of the basic internal skills of Shaolin.

Therefore, although he had only been practicing internal energy for a short time, his total internal strength was already quite considerable.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to absorb the internal energy of five Wuliang Sword and Shennong Gang disciples in succession using the Beiming Divine Skill, which "cannot absorb large amounts from small ones," back in Wuliang Mountain.

At this moment, this internal energy circulated through his meridians as he circulated it, significantly increasing his speed. Moreover, there was also the speed boost from the [Emerging Talent] skill, which enhanced his sword-type attack speed.

Zhang Cheng's sword techniques were very simple, and Yun Zhonghe could easily see through them.

But every single sword strike was ridiculously fast.

It was so fast that even though he clearly saw through it, his body couldn't keep up; it was so fast that even though he had clearly raised his steel claws, the sword had already struck him first.

"laugh--"

He was stabbed in the left arm, his clothes were torn, and blood splattered everywhere.

"laugh--"

He was struck in the right shoulder by a sword, and the steel claws nearly slipped from his grasp.

"laugh--"

He was stabbed in the ribs, his skin and flesh torn open, and his clothes stained with blood.

……

In a short time, the two had exchanged twenty or thirty blows.

After a rapid attack, Yun Zhonghe had seven or eight wounds on his body and his breathing became rapid, while Zhang Cheng's breathing remained as steady as ever.

Comparing the two situations, Yun Zhonghe had already begun to consider retiring.

He suddenly changed tactics, risking serious injury to forcefully create distance and use his lightness skill to escape.

Zhang Cheng had been waiting for this moment—[Military Might] was suddenly activated!

The invisible aura that was originally born of hostility instantly transformed into a tangible pressure, causing Yun Zhonghe's internal energy to stagnate.

Normally, Yun Zhonghe would quickly adapt to this kind of pressure. But in a battle between masters, this momentary stagnation is enough to determine life or death.

A flash of sword light, piercing through Yun Zhonghe's waist and exiting his body.

His kidney ruptured, and his retroperitoneum swelled rapidly. Yun Zhonghe's lower body muscles began to spasm uncontrollably, and the excruciating pain caused him to break out in a cold sweat instantly.

Zhang Cheng maintained the momentum of his thrusting sword, reached out with his left hand, grabbed his neck, and then activated the Northern Darkness Divine Art, absorbing it with all his might.

Yun Zhonghe's internal energy surged into Zhang Cheng's body like water being released from a dam.

"This... Dissipation of internal energy... Great..." Yun Zhonghe struggled to speak, but the pain and the loss of internal energy caused him to lose his voice.

Zhang Cheng hadn't killed him with a single sword strike because he was eyeing his internal energy. As his internal energy dissipated, the speed of absorbing his energy increased, and in no time, he had completely drained his opponent's internal energy.

He casually tossed Yun Zhonghe aside beside the horse and looked at Zhong Ling: "He's practically dead. Do you want to give him a few more blows to vent your anger?"

Upon hearing this, Zhong Ling got down from Mu Wanqing's arms and kicked Yun Zhonghe's lower body several times, causing Zhang Cheng to experience some phantom limb pain.

Zhang Cheng took off his coat and handed it to Zhong Ling, letting the young girl cover her exposed chest, then said:

"This place is not safe to stay. Let's leave first."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a sharp whistle suddenly rang out from afar.

Zhang Cheng knew that the Four Villains communicated using an iron whistle. The whistle sounding now clearly indicated that more villains had arrived.

"Another enemy is coming," Zhang Cheng said quickly. "You two take Black Rose and find a place to hide in the manor."

The black rose resonates with my heart; if anything changes on my end, I can use it to inform you.

He didn't let the two escape first. Without Zhang Cheng's support, Black Rose was just an ordinary thoroughbred; if she blindly went off on her own and ran into other villains, she would have no chance of escape.

Mu Wanqing frowned slightly: "And you?"

"I'll go and meet the people who came."

"Is the enemy very strong?" Mu Wanqing stared into his eyes.

Zhang Cheng shook his head: "Don't worry. If I wasn't confident, I would have turned around and run away with you all long ago."

"Then be careful."

"You too. If you encounter danger, you make a commotion. If I'm still nearby, I'll definitely hear you."

Zhang Cheng casually delivered another sword strike to Yun Zhonghe on the ground, then picked up his corpse and sped off in the direction of the whistle.

The whistle sounded outside the main gate of the manor, spanning half of the manor from where Zhang Cheng was.

However, although the manor was large, it was nothing for Zhang Cheng's speed, and he quickly arrived near the main gate with Yun Zhonghe.

From a distance, he saw a figure standing outside the gate.

She was a woman in her forties, dressed in a light blue dress, with a fairly regular face.

However, there were three bright red bloodstains on each side of his cheeks, running from the bottom of his eyes down to his lower cheeks, as if he had just been scratched by someone, making him look ferocious and terrifying.

If it's not Ye Erniang, who is ranked second among the Four Evils, then who is she?

Zhang Cheng continued forward without stopping.

Hearing footsteps, Ye Erniang asked without turning her head, "Fourth brother, where's the child I asked you to find?"

He turned around halfway through his sentence and saw Yun Zhonghe being carried in the hands of a burly man in black, looking like a lump of mud.

Ye Erniang's pupils constricted sharply, and she demanded, "Who are you?"

Zhang Cheng didn't answer, but instead threw his arm – Yun Zhonghe's corpse flew straight towards Ye Erniang with a whooshing sound.

Ye Erniang's expression changed, and she quickly dodged to the side.

But just as she turned to the side, she suddenly realized that Zhang Cheng's figure had vanished from the spot.

Using the corpse as cover, he strode across dozens of feet and rushed to Ye Erniang's side.

"Naturally, it's the person who wants you dead."