He Kao used both hands and feet; as he kicked the small table, his right hand grasped a leg of the table. The tabletop flew out, slamming towards Ren Zhongqing's face, while the table leg was ripped off and, using the sharp broken end, he thrust it straight towards his opponent's abdomen from a hidden angle below.

The principle of martial arts: if it's merely sparring to avoid injury, widen your stance; but if it's a real life-and-death combat, the first order of business is to grab your weapon!

He Kao doesn't remember who said this... Hmm, it should be mentioned in Old Man Jiang's Divine Thought Heart Seal.

Ren Zhongqing also suddenly burst forth, but he lost the initiative. The table was already smashing onto him. He slashed out with his palm, cutting the tabletop like tofu into two halves flying off to the sides. His palm edge then followed through, slapping down in the middle of the incoming table leg.

If it were an ordinary person, they wouldn't have seen He Kao's thrust. However, both have Divine Sense, so they sensed each other's movements very clearly.

A strong impact force came, nearly knocking the table leg out of He Kao's hand. He didn't resist forcibly; using the momentum, he turned, sunk his shoulder, bent his waist, and still thrust the table leg out in a straight line from the side.

Ren Zhongqing turned even faster, flipping his left palm to avoid the broken end and deflect the table leg. His right palm slashed diagonally towards He Kao's chest, a gust of wind accompanied the palm strike, enveloping He Kao's figure.

Though the distant entangling force was weak, if He Kao's actions stalled slightly, he might be struck.

He Kao seemed slightly affected but quickly realized it. He retracted the table leg and leaped back to evade the opponent's palm strike.

Despite the room being quite spacious and the living room large, it was after all a normal home, not a Martial Arts Hall. In this retreat, He Kao's back almost hit the wall.

Ren Zhongqing wouldn't miss such a good opportunity; he stepped forward smoothly, one palm up to his chest, the other sweeping horizontally from below. There was also a gust of wind at ground level, entangling his pants leg.

If it were replaced by ordinary people, they might stumble, but Ren Zhongqing's footwork remained stable.

Seizing the chance, He Kao kicked off the wall, powered forward in a countercharge, shoulder, elbow, wrist, and table leg forming a straight line, thrusting directly at Ren Zhongqing, gaining the advantage of speed and attack distance.

The so-called "small frame" in martial arts has various interpretations today; some say it's practical dismantling and rehearsal of combos, others say it's a method of training to contain movement amplitude, with power remaining unreleased.

He Kao isn't a martial arts professional like Wu Yanjun; he didn't practice martial arts from youth, and later learned Eight Pieces of Brocade, not meant for fighting.

The only combat-effective skill he learned is the Five Elements Staff.

According to He Kao's understanding, the Five Elements Staff is the small frame, as fist and foot skills, unless necessary, are not directly used for combat. They're mainly used for daily practice, developing muscle memory and power techniques.

The Five Elements Staff is a fist technique, this fist is a spear frame, which is the spear technique for Dragon Tendon Training's small frame; in daily practice, one doesn't always wield a four-meter-long spear, nor are there many places to wield it.

In action, even a chopstick can be used as a spear, let alone a table leg.

Ren Zhongqing was indeed surprised; He Kao delivered such a straight thrust back and forth, and it suddenly took on the stance of a flying dragon.

Even if he used the Vein-Cutting Hand to hit He Kao, He Kao is no ordinary person, unlikely to be fatally injured. But if He Kao's table leg pierced him, it could be a deadly puncture!

Ren Zhongqing couldn't fight head-on, timely sidestepping, the sharp broken end of the table leg nearly brushed past his chest. He quickly changed his move, swinging his palm; the two's forearms collided.

Under the power impact, it seemed as if their bones and muscles rang together, then appeared as if a swarm of butterflies flew wildly, as both of their sleeves turned into fragments, and their Divine Sense went into chaos.

He Kao's table leg finally slipped from his hand, scattering into debris.

With a wave of his hand, Ren Zhongqing could split the table like cutting tofu, twice during the encounter, he had struck the side of the table leg. If not for He Kao using the Holding and Controlling Method, the table leg would've shattered early on.

The so-called Holding and Controlling Method isn't throwing things out and controlling them with Divine Sense from a distance, but holding them in hand, infusing Divine Sense for protection, as if united with form and spirit, but still using it as a normal tool.

Now the table leg shattered into debris after slipping, as it was merely an ordinary table leg, not Treasures of Heaven and Earth, nor a Magical Artifact.

Their pace of fighting was extremely fast, like lightning and sparks, like a rabbit rising and a falcon dropping; in the blink of an eye, three rounds had passed, He Kao finally shouted: "Old Qian—"

This shout didn't summon Qian Guran but instead sent Ren Zhongqing running—only seeing Ren Zhongqing's figure soar out to the balcony, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

In these three rounds of combat, Ren Zhongqing had determined that it was impossible to defeat He Kao unscathed; he absolutely didn't want to risk mutual destruction, as being injured means harder to avoid pursuit.

He attempted to suppress He Kao first, at least preventing him from disclosing his location. Unexpectedly, he failed, and since He Kao started calling for reinforcements, he had to flee.

The Heart Plate Sect's Tier Three Traveler excels at escape.

He Kao pursued to the balcony window, to prevent being caught in a counterattack, he didn't immediately lean forward to look down... This was the sixth floor, but Ren Zhongqing jumped straight off?

In his Divine Sense's probing, Ren Zhongqing didn't directly jump to the first floor, but rather used the walls and balcony edges to alternately gain momentum, smoothly reaching the ground.

The fluidity of this movement was almost like walking on flat ground. Was it the Earth Formation Skill?

He Kao could also do it, but he had never tried jumping off a building. Who in their right mind would jump off a building for fun... Thinking this, He Kao also leaped down from the window ledge.

Ren Zhongqing ran fast, but it wasn't in a straight line. His figure almost blended into the environment as he moved at high speed with various curves, making it difficult to detect.

It was just past ten o'clock at night, and there were still quite a few residents strolling and walking their dogs in Guanliu District. Ren Zhongqing didn't stick to the paths, instead, he cut across lawns, through bushes, and between buildings.

Even if there were people nearby, it would only feel like a gust of wind passing by, making their eyes blur, not knowing what just went past. Then another gust, 'whoosh', again not knowing what just went past.

The thing following was, of course, He Kao.

He Kao chased relentlessly, watching someone else employ the Earth Formation Skill for the first time. It did resemble the Stealth Skill, but faster, and it disrupted Divine Sense locking.

The district walls certainly couldn't stop the two of them. Over the walls and across the alleys, they reached the riverside Guanyin Mountain Forest Park. Though named a forest park, it wasn't large, just a well-vegetated mound, and it was closed at this hour.

If Ren Zhongqing wanted to stop and fight, this was a good place, but for escaping, it wasn't a great choice because, with nobody around, being the only target made him very conspicuous.

He Kao was ready to continue the chase. As he leaped over the park's iron fence, he picked up a stick conveniently lying by the wall, but didn't run far before tossing it aside.

Holding the stick would only slow him down, and Ren Zhongqing had no intention of stopping, so slowing down even a bit might let him escape. Therefore, He Kao pursued at full speed.

If someone were watching from the mountain top, under the moonlight, the two seemed to have the same technique, the same speed... Actually, seeing them clearly was difficult. The Earth Formation Skill, if you were careless, would slip out of perception.

Ren Zhongqing didn't head up the mountain but instead crossed the mid-slope to keep fleeing. He Kao sensed something amiss, because in their current direction, down the mountain, out of the park, was the bustling riverside, full of recreational activities and still lots of people at this hour.

If Ren Zhongqing dived into that crowd, it would be hard to find him in the chaos, and even if found, fighting would risk harming innocent people.

He Kao couldn't help but think of the Earth Spirit Banner. If he had it, he would surely catch up to Ren Zhongqing, maybe even make him trip.

Unfortunately, he had no time to fetch the item, and even if he had the chance, he couldn't use the Earth Spirit Banner.

He didn't know which expert sent Ren Zhongqing to find him, digging such a big trap. Moreover, who might be hiding in the shadows observing? Anything that could expose his identity was out of the question, he didn't even attempt to use the Invisibility Ability.

He had already exposed that he had cultivation, so he decided to continue exposing the Earth Formation Skill.

In desperation, He Kao fished out an object and fiercely hurled it. A barely perceptible flash of icy light arced through the night, pursuing Ren Zhongqing's figure, and struck his right calf!

This hit caused zero damage but was extremely effective. If you watched He Kao's lips, you would see he was muttering words: "Ice Skin Jade Bone, skin surpassing snow, moist as the moon over a spring lake..."

At such a time, reciting poetry? Misunderstanding, misunderstanding, it's just some Heart Method Mantra.

Ren Zhongqing wasn't hurt, he just felt icy coldness in his calf, pleasantly so, with a throbbing numbness spreading into his muscles and bones...

An ordinary person might not notice, but with his level of cultivation, his self-examination senses were sharp. By all accounts, this was good—someone used a rare treasure in casting, trying to nourish his skin and improve his blood circulation.

Too bad it was the wrong time, not supposed to be during such intense running.

Just a slight shift in Divine Qi flow, and Ren Zhongqing could dismiss the effect, but as he was using the Earth Formation Skill to speed along, the numbness in his leg made his ankle unresponsive for a moment, and his right foot didn't keep up with the left.

It was like taking a misstep on a downhill path, tumbling forward. Luckily, his agility and quick reflexes saved him, using both hands to push off the ground into a forward flip, he regained his footing.

This slight delay allowed He Kao to close in very near behind him. Suddenly, he swung to the side, flinging a handful of dirt and gravel. Who couldn't use hidden weapons? When he used both hands to support himself from the ground, he had grabbed a handful of stuff.

Sadly, that handful of hidden weapons missed completely, as He Kao dodged behind a big tree.

But Ren Zhongqing achieved his purpose, which was to hinder the pursuit. He turned to continue fleeing, but saw a flash of cold light ahead.

It was that cold light again, fluttering almost beautifully, but he seemed to head straight into it with his forehead, collapsing to the ground without a sound.

His forehead didn't even have a bump, a really hard skull, but he was already unconscious. He Kao emerged from behind the tree, moved forward, gestured, and a piece of Xue Guanghan slowly flew back into his hand.

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