The Return of the Condor Heroes: Starting with a Suicide Note and Conquering All Realms

The first direct clash between the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms and the Toad Style left no time for anyone to react.

The shattered rubble of the altar, mixed with the scorching aftershocks of true energy, resembled a miniature natural disaster, a meat grinder. Lin Yuan pressed Yang Guo's head firmly, and the two huddled behind the collapsed stone pillar ruins.

The scalding heat swept past his scalp, instantly scorching several holes in the tattered clothes on his back.

Ahead, the two figures had already exchanged three blows.

Guo Jing's palm techniques were powerful and forceful; with each strike, a deep dragon's roar exploded in the air. It wasn't a real dragon, but a terrifying sonic boom created by the extreme vibration of the Dragon Subduing True Qi, compressed into space.

Ouyang Feng's fighting style was completely different. He crouched on the ground, his back arched high, his arms bracing against the broken bricks, his posture ugly and grotesque. But each time he launched himself out, he carried a destructive force capable of destroying cities and fortresses.

Within a radius of ten feet in the core area where the two fought, all the blue bricks cracked and turned to dust, revealing the scorched frozen soil underneath.

"Guo'er, stay close to me and walk along the wall."

Lin Yuan's voice was mostly torn apart by the explosion of true energy, but Yang Guo still heard it clearly. The young man's face turned deathly pale, and he nodded through gritted teeth.

Lin Yuan crouched down, one hand gripping Yang Guo's wrist like iron, the other hand supporting himself against the crumbling wall, moving along the edge of the dilapidated temple toward the back hall.

Within his dantian, the wisp of Toad Style internal energy that had just been unblocked through the Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian was now violently vibrating uncontrollably.

It wasn't that he was channeling his inner energy. Rather, the ripples of true energy generated by the clash between Guo Jing and Ouyang Feng were far too terrifying. The two completely different streams of true energy repeatedly tore and annihilated each other in space, creating shockwaves like a tsunami, crashing against his fragile meridian barriers wave after wave.

The pain was excruciating. But this pain was different from the tearing sensation he felt when Ouyang Feng received the empowerment.

The aftershocks of the Dragon Subduing Technique belong to Yang, righteous and grand; the aftershocks of the Toad Technique belong to Yin, poisonous and domineering. These two forces waxed and waned within him, creating a strange balance. It was as if two ancient beasts were fighting within him, the destructive aftershocks actually widening his blocked meridians!

Lin Yuan's pupils contracted sharply, and his whole body trembled.

opportunity!

Without any hesitation, he sat down cross-legged on the spot.

"Brother Lin! Are you crazy!" Yang Guo was so anxious that his eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

"Don't worry about me, hide behind the pillar!" Lin Yuan suddenly closed his eyes and focused all his mind on his body.

The Lung Meridian of Hand-Taiyin is now open. Next is the Large Intestine Meridian of Hand-Yangming. This is precisely the first core meridian marked in the "Essentials of One-Finger Divination".

He bit his tongue, not only refusing to suppress the chaotic aftershocks, but also actively opening the entrance to the Hand Yangming Large Intestine Meridian, using his meager sense of Qi to guide it.

Please come in.

Two violent surges of true energy rushed in through the gap, like a flood bursting its banks and pouring into a narrow alley. The walls of the meridians spasmed violently, and excruciating pain burned from the fingertips all the way to the shoulders and neck.

"boom!"

Ahead, Guo Jing's "Flying Dragon in the Sky" smashed Ouyang Feng down from mid-air, and the remaining beams and pillars of the dilapidated temple collapsed completely under this blow!

The final, most violent wave of air swept over Lin Yuan's body.

"Click."

The blocked point of the Hand Yangming Large Intestine Meridian was instantly shattered.

The moment the two streams of sweat truly connected, Lin Yuan felt every pore on his body seeping out a layer of thick, black sweat. The stench was unbearable; it was the accumulated toxins from years of hunger and cold that had seeped into his body.

The I Ching Cleanses the Marrow!

Although it was only the most basic marrow cleansing, he could clearly feel that his five senses were at least 30% sharper than before.

"What a ruthless approach."

A clear, melodious female voice drifted out from outside the ruins of the dilapidated temple without warning.

Lin Yuan suddenly opened his eyes.

Huang Rong was already standing at the gap in the collapsed wall, unnoticed. Moonlight poured down from behind her, enveloping her face in a cold, silvery halo. She held the emerald green bamboo stick in her hand, tip pointing downwards, her posture casual.

But her gaze was anything but casual.

Those eyes, as clear as autumn water, were fixed on the five horizontal lines carved into the outer wall of the City God Temple.

"The Beggars' Sect's three-bag mark is so clear, even the directions are marked so clearly." Huang Rong's voice was very soft, as if she were talking about the moonlight tonight. "Lin Yuan, when did you, a little beggar, learn to use the Beggars' Sect's road signs?"

Lin Yuan's heart skipped a beat.

He looked up and met Huang Rong's eyes. There was no anger, no harsh interrogation. But what shone through those eyes was more terrifying than any sword—she was dissecting him. Like a seasoned hunter patiently peeling away the disguise of her prey.

"There was a bronze plaque in the package the heroine gave me." Lin Yuan didn't dodge the question; his speech was steady, even his breathing was rhythmic. "I don't recognize where it came from, but it has three horizontal lines engraved on it. I was afraid the heroine wouldn't be able to find us, so I had it engraved on the wall in the same way, thinking that if you came along the way, you might see it."

Huang Rong did not respond.

She lowered her eyes and glanced at the layer of black, sticky sweat on Lin Yuan's body, her nostrils twitching very slightly.

The lingering scent of Toad Style Kung Fu.

Her gaze changed. It was a deep, scrutinizing coldness.

Just then, a mournful howl erupted from the ruins outside the temple.

Ouyang Feng rose from the rubble, covered in blood, his eyes bloodshot like a demon's. He grabbed Yang Guo, shoving the child tightly into his arms, and his Toad Stance internal energy surged into a black protective shield around his body.

"Son! Dad's taking you away! No one can take you away from me!"

"Ouyang Feng, put the child down!" Guo Jing roared, taking a step forward, his right palm gleaming with golden light.

"Father! Stop hitting him!" Yang Guo, his feet dangling in the air from the constriction, desperately pounded on Ouyang Feng's iron arm. "Brother Lin is still inside! Don't go!"

Ouyang Feng wouldn't listen to a word. Holding Yang Guo, he used the ruins to bounce three times in a row, each time landing and creating a three-foot-deep crater in the frozen ground, like a maddened beast disappearing into the night.

Just as Guo Jing was about to gather his strength and give chase, Huang Rong grabbed him.

"Brother Jing, don't chase him. He's gone mad right now. The closer you chase him, the faster he'll run. That child is being held by him and won't be able to withstand the backlash from the Toad Style's internal energy."

Huang Rong paused, glanced sideways at the direction Ouyang Feng had disappeared in, and said with certainty, "He can't have gone far. With this level of qi deviation, he'll be exhausted after at most three miles. He'll come back for food on his own then."

She turned her head, her gaze once again fixed on Lin Yuan like a nail.

"But this little beggar," Huang Rong said in a very low voice, so low that only she and Guo Jing could hear, "Brother Jing, he has the internal energy of the Toad Stance."

Guo Jing's expression changed drastically.

"Before we arrived, Ouyang Feng had already passed on his skills to him." Huang Rong tapped the ground lightly with her bamboo stick twice, her voice chillingly calm. "A sickly little beggar who had fallen on hard times on the streets, tonight, first happened to meet us on the roadside, then happened to be adopted by Ouyang Feng as his godson, then happened to learn the Toad Style Kung Fu, and finally happened to use the Beggars' Clan's secret marks to lure us here."

She paused for a moment, then looked up at her husband.

"Brother Jing, don't you think these 'just right' moments... are too many?"

Guo Jing remained silent for a moment, his brows furrowing into a tight knot, and said in a muffled voice, "Rong'er, he's just a child."

"Yang Kang was just a child back then."

Upon hearing this, Guo Jing's face instantly drained of color, his lips moved slightly, but he could no longer utter a single word.

Huang Rong didn't say anything more. She walked towards Lin Yuan, squatted down two steps away from him, and stretched out a hand.

"Come with us. Ouyang Feng can't go far. When he comes back, you'll get dragged into it again. Jiaxing isn't safe. I'll take you somewhere no one can find you."

Peach Blossom Island.

Lin Yuan knew, of course, where she was taking them. He looked at Huang Rong's outstretched hand; her fingers were slender and white, her nails neatly trimmed. These were hands capable of creating the finest cuisine in the world, and also hands capable of killing without a trace.

Just as he was about to reach out and grasp it.

Deep within my mind, that cold, shattering sound exploded once more.

"Click."

Crimson words surged forth like molten lava, instantly burning through his retina.

[Third suicide note - reconstruction complete.]

I went to Peach Blossom Island with Guo Jing. It was safe there, with plenty of food and drink, and Yang Guo could also study and practice martial arts.

I thought I could finally catch my breath.

But Huang Rong had been investigating me from day one. She went through all my belongings and found the empty bottles of the One-Finger Divine Skill Manual and the Nine-Flower Jade Dew Pill. She didn't make a fuss, just smiled and said she would keep them for me.

Then, using a unique method from Peach Blossom Island, she added a muscle-softening powder to the medicinal soup I drank every day.

Three months later, all my meridians had atrophied, and my internal energy had completely dissipated. I had become a cripple who couldn't even hold a bowl properly.

Guo Jing didn't know. Yang Guo didn't know.

I endured seven long years on the back mountain of Peach Blossom Island, finally dying in despair. When I died, only a wild cat was by my side.

Don't go to Peach Blossom Island! That woman is more terrifying than Li Mochou! She kills without a knife!

The words "blood" vanished horribly from my mind.

Lin Yuan's hand stopped in mid-air, only three inches away from Huang Rong's fingertips.

He slowly raised his head and met Huang Rong's clear eyes, which held a gentle smile.

That smile was very genuine.

His sincerity was like a painted mask, chilling him from his tailbone all the way to the top of his head.