All Heavens: A Role-Playing System Starting from Tianlong

No one expected that Chu Wanli, the leader of the four guards, would be defeated so quickly. The other three guards were stunned for a moment before they reacted and jumped into the arena together.

From the north, a man with a full beard, wielding two axes, leaped into the arena: "I am Gu Ducheng—"

From the east, a burly man dressed as a farmer, wielding a bronze staff, followed closely behind: "I am Fu Sigui—"

From the west, a middle-aged man resembling a scholar, holding a pair of iron judge's pens, drifted in: "I am Zhu Danchen—"

The three said in unison, "We've come to learn from you."

After announcing their names, the three of them said no more and attacked simultaneously.

Gu Ducheng charged forward with his double axes, the wind howling as he aimed straight for Zhang Cheng's face. Fu Sigui followed closely behind, his bronze cudgel sweeping across Zhang Cheng's lower body. Zhu Danchen, meanwhile, gracefully shifted to the side, his judge's pen aimed at Zhang Cheng's ribs.

The three worked together seamlessly, clearly having fought side by side for many years.

Unfortunately, Zhang Cheng glanced at them and immediately recognized who the truly troublesome one was among the three.

Gu Ducheng and Fu Sigui were both fierce generals from the battlefield. Their styles were bold and unrestrained, with plenty of strength but lacking flexibility.

Of the three, only Zhu Danchen, who looked like a scholar, was a proper江湖人 (jianghu person, a person of the martial arts world).

Zhang Cheng moved swiftly, closing in on Zhu Danchen's side.

Zhu Danchen was shocked and hurriedly pointed with his judge's pen, aiming straight for Zhang Cheng's Jianjing acupoint.

Zhang Cheng stepped aside to avoid the pen tip, and at the same time reached out and grabbed Zhu Danchen's outstretched right wrist, pressing it down forcefully.

With a soft "crack," Zhu Danchen's wrist joint dislocated. In pain, he spread his fingers, and the judge's pen slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.

Zhang Cheng caught the falling iron pen in mid-air, twisted his wrist, and used the pen as a sword to stab Zhu Danchen in the chest.

This strike, enhanced by the speed boost from the "Initial Brilliance" sword technique, was so fast that Zhu Danchen had no time to react.

With a gentle tap of the iron pen on the acupoint, Zhu Danchen was sent flying backward, crashing outside the battle circle.

From the moment Zhang Cheng made his move to Zhu Danchen's defeat, only two breaths passed. At that moment, Gu Ducheng and Fu Sigui had just arrived.

Gu Ducheng swept his double axes horizontally, aiming straight for the middle. Zhang Cheng touched the ground with his toes, flipped over and leaped up, the double axes grazing past the soles of his shoes, missing their mark.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Fu Sigui attacked from behind Gu Ducheng, using his bronze staff to strike Zhang Cheng in the chest while Zhang Cheng was in mid-air with nowhere to grab leverage.

This blow is powerful and heavy; if it lands squarely, even a body made of iron will be dented.

But Zhang Cheng remained calm. He reached out with his left hand and grabbed the end of the stick that was thrust at him. At the same time, his right palm struck the ground in mid-air.

"Boom!" The force of the palm strike rebounded, and Zhang Cheng's body spun once in mid-air. He used the hand holding the end of the staff to exert force, causing the entire bronze staff to draw an arc in the air, forcing Fu Sigui to let go.

The force of rotation traveled along the stick, and Fu Sigui felt his arms being twisted by a tremendous force. His joints creaked under the strain, and it seemed that if he continued to hold on, his arms would be ruined.

But the man still gripped the stick tightly, refusing to let go, wanting to hold out against Zhang Cheng a little longer and buy time for his companion.

Zhang Cheng nodded secretly: He's a real man.

He knew he could provide incredible healing to his allies; even losing both hands would be a minor injury. But those watching from the sidelines had no idea.

In the blink of an eye, a thin, dark figure darted into the arena.

The newcomer possessed superb lightness skills. He grabbed Fu Sigui's body and spun him around, dissipating the twisting force from the stick and barely managing to save his arm.

At the same time, Gu Ducheng brought his double axes down again, aiming straight at Zhang Cheng's hand that was gripping the stick!

Zhang Cheng remained calm. He glanced at the thin, dark-skinned man who had saved Fu Sigui. "Impressive lightness skill. You must be Ba Tianshi, Ba Sikong?"

Before he finished speaking, he gripped the end of the bronze rod with one hand and pulled it up with force—

Fu Sigui and Ba Tianshi, who were connected at the other end of the stick, were actually swung up by him along with the stick!

The staff swept horizontally, colliding violently with the double axes that Gu Ducheng was cleaving down.

"Clang—!" Under the immense force, Gu Ducheng staggered back several steps.

Zhang Cheng took the opportunity to discard his stick, lunged forward, and kicked Gu Ducheng's left wrist.

The axe flew from his hand. Zhang Cheng caught it mid-air and launched a counterattack.

The axe was included in military weapons, so Zhang Cheng wielded it with impressive skill.

In addition, the two sides were not on the same level in terms of physical strength or internal energy cultivation. After a few moves, Zhang Cheng found an opening and slashed at Gu Ducheng's waist and abdomen with his axe!

Just as the axe blade was about to strike him, he twisted his wrist, changing the axe blade into the axe body.

"Bang!" Gu Ducheng was sent flying and crashed heavily to the ground.

Zhang Cheng casually tossed the axe aside and turned to look at Ba Tianshi and Fu Sigui.

Fu Sigui was about to go up again when Ba Tianshi stopped him.

"Brother Fu, your arms are injured, you should step back for now. Leave the rest to us."

Ba Tianshi turned around and cupped his hands in greeting to Zhang Cheng: "I am Ba Tianshi, the Minister of Works of Dali. Thank you for your mercy."

He stepped aside, revealing three people behind him: "Who are these three—"

A short, stout man carrying a steel shovel strode forward, his voice booming: "Hua Hegen, Minister of Dali."

A man dressed as a civil official followed closely behind, his tone much calmer: "Fan Hua, the Grand Commandant of Dali. Please enlighten me, Your Excellency."

The last man, with a long, three-strand beard, jade-like skin, and handsome features, slowly stepped forward, holding an iron flute horizontally in his hand.

"Marquis of Shanshan, Gao Shengtai. I am honored to learn from your superior skills!"

The four stood side by side and said in unison, "Please!"

Zhang Cheng's gaze swept across the four people's faces. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly heard an old voice come from behind the crowd: "Amitabha—"

A tall, elderly monk slowly walked into the formation.

His eyebrows were yellowed and drooping, his face was old and wrinkled, and he clasped his hands together, bowing slightly to Zhang Cheng.

"This humble monk is Huang Mei of Nianhua Temple. Your martial arts are superb; even if these four benefactors joined forces, they would likely be no match for you."

He paused, then looked up at Zhang Cheng, his gaze calm:

"Therefore, this old monk has dared to intervene. I hope you will not take offense."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Cheng gestured, "Master, there's no need to be so polite. Come on over together."

The yellow-browed monk nodded slightly.

"In that case, be careful, benefactor." Before the words were finished, the yellow-browed monk pointed a finger at him.

This old monk had practiced the Vajra Finger technique for decades; his finger strength was enough to pierce through metal and stone. Even though Zhang Cheng was physically robust, he had no interest in taking the blow head-on.

He dodged the finger with a sidestep, and at the same time turned his body and pounced on Ba Tianshi, who had the best lightness skill among the four people who were forming an array on the outside.

Seeing his fierce approach, Ba Tianshi instinctively used his lightness skill to retreat.

But after taking a few steps back, he realized something was wrong—his pride in his lightness skill was no match for this person!

The two chased and retreated, quickly leaving the other four far behind.

Ba Tianshi realized something was wrong and wanted to turn around to find his companions, but Zhang Cheng intercepted him halfway.

Unable to escape, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and fight back.

"Your lightness skill is indeed remarkable," Zhang Cheng said, still having the energy to speak while attacking, "but unfortunately, you're a little bit inferior to mine."

Ba Tianshi had no time to respond and could only focus on dealing with the situation.

After a few moves, Zhang Cheng kicked him in the chest, sending him flying out of the fighting circle.

After dealing with Ba Tianshi, Zhang Cheng turned around and saw that Gao Shengtai had caught up with him.