The Villain's Counterattack

Chapter 370 Duan Yu: A son should not criticize his father's mistakes

"You are from the Duan family of Dali, and you claim that your master's martial arts skills are even better than Brother Murong's. I wonder which senior master he is?" Zhong Ling had a natural affinity for Duan Yu. She pulled him away from where her old father Zhong Wanchou was and quietly squeezed into the crowd.

Duan Yu vaguely guessed that the two women were his sisters, so he took the woman in black with him. Zhong Ling's cheerful voice filled his ears as she continued, "Brother Murong has visited Dali Kingdom more than once and fought many battles with masters of the Dali Duan family. He once said that the Dali royal family has many first-class masters, but few supreme masters. There are four old monks in Tianlong Temple whose martial arts are even better than the Dali emperor, but they are not supreme. Only Zen Master Kurong has reached the pinnacle of internal strength. If Kurong's Zen skills are fully developed, he will surely reach the supreme level, but at this moment, he is only halfway to the peak."

"Mr. Duan said that his master's martial arts skills are even better than Brother Murong's. Could it be that he is the direct disciple of the old Zen Master Kurong?" Zhong Ling looked at Duan Yu curiously. After hearing what she said, the latter knew that Murong Fu was actually confident that his martial arts skills were even better than those of the monks in Tianlong Temple.

He was not a fool, and he knew that his father and uncle, Emperor Baoding, had been defeated by Murong Fu. However, he did not know that the four senior monks of the same generation in Tianlong Temple had also been defeated by Murong Fu. Only the old Zen Master Kurong was unable to take action for some reasons, so he was able to save face.

The monks of Tianlong Temple knew even better that Murong Fu did not use his full strength when he defeated them. He only used the Murong family's Sanhe Finger and Fingertip Magical Powers. Not to mention that Dou Zhuan Xing Yi was useless, he did not even use the Six Meridians Divine Sword. They would never think that Murong Fu could not learn the Six Meridians Divine Sword with all his martial arts. Even if he could not learn it all, he could at least learn one or two or even more.

"My master is a hermit and sage. His surname is Dugu, but he has discarded his original name and calls himself Seeking Defeat. Over thirty years ago, he was a renowned and supreme master. Later, he grew tired of the bloodshed in the martial arts world and began to wander the world in hiding, seeking the ultimate realm of martial arts." Duan Yu's eyes lit up with a hint of admiration as he spoke. "A few years ago, I was just a child who knew nothing and even hated learning martial arts. I was fortunate to meet my master and studied martial arts with him for half a month, which led to my current achievements."

Zhong Ling and Mu Wanqing were not fools. Just now, the three of them pushed through the crowd and ran around in the crowd. The skills displayed by Duan Yu were by no means ordinary. But when they looked carefully, they found nothing. So there was only one explanation, that Duan Yu's martial arts skills were much higher than theirs, and he was extremely good at disguise.

"Dugu Qiubai, what a domineering title." Suddenly, a hearty voice sounded behind the three of them. The voice was not loud, but it sounded like thunder in the ears of the three of them. Turning around, they saw a burly man with thick eyebrows, big eyes, a high nose and a wide mouth. This man was wearing an old gray cloth robe that was slightly tattered. He had a square face with a weathered look, but he was extremely majestic when he looked around.

The three of them were shocked when they saw him, probably because they all knew this person. He was one of the protagonists of this arena competition, the leader of the Beggar Gang, Qiao Feng.

Before they knew it, the three of them were surrounded by beggars. Qiao Feng laughed heartily and said, "Ling'er, don't let your imagination run wild. I wasn't sent by your brother Murong to protect you. It's just that you were running around and accidentally infiltrated the Beggars' Sect's formation."

Duan Yu and the other two were embarrassed when they heard this. Although this martial arts competition was said to have no threshold for entry, all the forces still had some face. It was not difficult to understand why the Beggars' Sect occupied a place around the arena. If they mixed in with ordinary martial artists, it would seem that they had ulterior motives.

Zhong Ling was close to Murong Fu, and had also met Qiao Feng through Murong Fu. As his only son, Qiao Feng was quite fond of this charming and lovely little sister. However, this was Duan Yu's first meeting. The two of them exchanged greetings and introduced their names and origins. When Qiao Feng heard that Duan Yu was a representative of the Dali royal family attending the wedding, and that he was the prince of Zhennan, a slightly strange expression appeared on his face.

Duan Yu couldn't help revealing a bitter look on his face when he saw this: "A son should not speak of his father's mistakes, but I have to say that there are some things that my father really did do, whether it is Miss Wang or..." Having said that, Duan Yu glanced at Zhong Ling and Mu Wanqing.

Qiao Feng, a man of great stature, was taken aback when he heard this. He glanced at Zhong Ling and the tightly wrapped woman in black, then at Duan Yu, whose gaze held a hint of inquiry. Duan Yu reluctantly nodded and whispered, "If my suspicions are correct, they should have some connection to my father. However, since Sister Zhong Ling's parents are still alive, and the legendary doctor Ma Wangshen is renowned in Dali, I'm afraid it might be difficult. This Miss Mu..."

He was not familiar with this Miss Mu, but he knew one thing about her: she seemed to have been raised astray by her master, and she looked unusually cold and lifeless.

The exchange of glances between the two grown men caused Zhong Ling and Mu Wanqing to be puzzled. Seeing this, Qiao Feng changed the subject, "Young Master Duan just now said that his master calls himself invincible and that his martial arts skills are not inferior to Young Master Murong's. I wonder if this is true?"

Duan Yu nodded gently and said, "I was still very young when I met my master. How could I have judged the level of martial arts? I only studied martial arts with him for half a month. However, my uncle also kept the martial arts that my master passed on to me. Later, he invited the old master Ku Rong of Tianlong Temple to evaluate it. The old master sighed that my master's martial arts skills were not inferior to his own."

Qiao Feng understood immediately after hearing this. "His martial arts training is not inferior to that of Zen Master Kurong. He was already able to roam the martial arts world thirty years ago. Thirty years later, his internal strength is even greater. Brother Murong is only twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, so his internal strength is far inferior. So, it makes sense that your master's martial arts skills are superior to mine and Master Murong's. But..."

Qiao Feng still felt a bit puzzled. Even if such a master existed thirty years ago, he couldn't have been truly unknown. He would have left some traces behind. How could he, the leader of the Beggars' Sect, be completely unaware of him? Furthermore, martial arts proficiency wasn't solely determined by internal strength and age; the skill itself was equally crucial. Iron-Faced Judge Shan Zheng was quite old and possessed considerable internal strength, but if he faced him, the outcome would be decided within thirty moves.

Qiao Feng was very confident in what he had learned. No matter whether it was Shaolin Kung Fu or the Beggar Gang's unique skills, most of his Kung Fu were well-known, such as the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, the Dog Beating Stick Technique, the Dragon Claw Hand, the Dragon Capturing Kung Fu, and the Demon Subduing Palm. Any one of them could make a first-class master, and he was even more gifted. He could learn any Kung Fu once and master it easily.

"Boss Qiao, are you trying to say that my master's martial arts can't compare to the 72 Shaolin secret techniques or the Murong family's orthodox traditions?" Duan Yu said with a smile, "I'm fortunate to have had Enshi, but unfortunately I've only been able to learn martial arts from him for half a month. Although I've only learned a little bit, I've been able to get a glimpse of the whole thing. If Boss Qiao is interested, you could teach me some of the subtle tricks I learned from my master."

"To be honest, before I met Enshi, I was not interested in fighting and killing martial arts, and I even felt quite disgusted. Fortunately, Enshi enlightened me and I learned some basic kung fu. It would be a great honor for me if I could get guidance from Boss Qiao." Duan Yu had no objection to what he said, but the arena belonged to Murong Fu at the moment, so they quietly left under the cover of the Beggar Gang disciples.

The two of them started to compete in lightness skills.

Qiao Feng has profound internal strength and has been traveling all year round. Even if he is not as good as Murong Fu in terms of traveling skills, he is not much behind. Duan Yu looks weak, but his internal strength is quite good. After all, he is a lucky man who has received internal skills from the four senior monks of the same generation in Tianlong Temple from time to time. In addition, his Lingbo Weibu is quite magical, so he is not too far behind Qiao Feng.

The two of them ran for twenty or thirty miles in one breath and stopped at a forest. However, Qiao Feng's walking and stopping were quite natural, while Duan Yu took three to five feet to steady himself. The difference in their control over their martial arts skills was immediately apparent.

Duan Yu was aware of his own shortcomings, but he didn't take them seriously. He said to Qiao Feng, "My master didn't teach me many martial arts. Aside from a set of extremely strong and yang internal energy techniques, a flexible and versatile light footwork technique, and a rhythmic sword technique, there are only two sword techniques I can demonstrate. I know nothing about fists, feet, fingers, or palms. I haven't even practiced the One Yang Finger, a technique from the Dali Duan Clan."

At this point, Duan Yu unsheathed his longsword from his waist and said, "The only weapons I have left are the defensive 'Yangwu Sword Technique' and the 'Shenmen Thirteen Swords', which were passed down from my master. I beg you, Boss Qiao, to show some mercy and not let me lose too badly, or I will lose the confidence to challenge Master Murong later."

Upon hearing this, Qiao Feng was quite pleased with his straightforwardness, but he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows when he heard that he wanted to challenge Murong Fu. Could this be what the Murong brothers said, that every brother (younger brother) has a flower thief in his heart who covets his sister (sister's) beauty?

Just based on my own intelligence and what I learned from Brother Murong, the Dali Zhennan King seems to have some problems with his character. He probably has quite a few illegitimate daughters living outside, and they are all the nameless and statusless type. I wonder how many times Brother Duan will step forward and in what capacity.

However, Qiao Feng was pleased to see Duan Yu challenge Murong Fu. He considered himself the master of both Shaolin and the Beggars' Sect, and his martial arts were quite advanced, but he had never been able to surpass Murong Fu. He was very curious about this Murong brother, who was on par with him in the north and south. However, the more he interacted with him, the more he found this Murong brother to be unfathomable. In the past two years, Qiao Feng had clearly felt that Murong Fu had become more calm in his face.

He was afraid that he might not be his opponent alone. Qiao Feng was not a timid person. He also wanted to find out the depth of Murong Fu's martial arts. That was why he agreed to attend this nine-day competition. It was a pity that even if the age limit was relaxed to forty years old, there was still no one who could put too much pressure on them and make them give their all.

He didn't know whether the brother Duan Yu in front of him could bring him some surprises. If his strength allowed, he wouldn't mind helping him to strengthen himself in a targeted manner and let him explore the background of Brother Murong in advance.