Chapter 1314: The Beliefs Clash

"Shit..."

"Fuck..."

Zhang Shan and Qiao Ji Jin were instantly overcome by immense pain, their minds going completely blank. Although they could still feel their legs, all they sensed was excruciating agony.

Sparks of electricity continued to crackle nearby, and the two of them could only grit their teeth and crawl in opposite directions.

As Qiao Ji Jin crawled toward the edge of the room, he said seriously, "Big guy, you take your time to recover... I'm a bit tired. I'll rest over here first."

"Tattoo kid, don't run off... Fuck..." Zhang Shan was sweating profusely, and his Tianxing Jian ability took several seconds to start kicking in. "This place isn't that big—where are you even going to rest?"

Both of them felt their legs gradually recovering from total numbness, but the process brought intense pain.

"Shit... I kinda miss that 'no pain' feeling..." Qiao Ji Jin said.

Zhang Shan noticed that his Tianxing Jian was recovering more slowly than usual, likely because the damage to his legs was far worse than he'd imagined.

At that moment, both legs had turned into charred remains, with flesh and bones alike making recovery much harder than normal.

But what exactly had just happened?

Why had Qing Long suddenly dropped his Duo Xin Po ability out of nowhere? Was it because his powers had limitations, preventing him from using two types of Hui Xiang at the same time?

The two crawled to the wall and turned back to see Qing Long standing in place, his body blackened and emitting grayish smoke.

If they hadn't dodged to the sides at the last second, they would be the ones charred black now.

"Big guy..." Qiao Ji Jin leaned against the wall, his forehead drenched in sweat as he gritted his teeth and spoke, "Hurry, hurry—go kick him. Little Green looks like he'd shatter with one hit."

"Fuck..." Zhang Shan pushed himself up from the ground, frowning. "Why don't you kick him?"

"I need to rest a bit."

The smoke around Qing Long grew thicker, and his body began to tremble slightly, suggesting he was recovering quickly.

Qiao Ji Jin glanced at his legs, noticing that Zhang Shan was also channeling his Xin Nian to recover. His feet were gradually regenerating.

If things continued like this...

"Shit..." Qiao Ji Jin paused. "Big guy... this doesn't feel right."

"What's not right?" Zhang Shan said. "It's already recovering... Don't rush, kid... Probably won't take long..."

"No, no..." Qiao Ji Jin struggled to move his body and said with difficulty, "Big guy... We can't recover like this... If we do, we'll both end up dead..."

"Then what do we do?"

"Forget the other leg..." Qiao Ji Jin stared at his own legs and said, "Just focus on recovering one leg. That way, we'll be faster than him."

Zhang Shan was stunned. "Just one leg? What are you planning?"

"I'm going to kick him."

"Huh?" Zhang Shan hesitated. "Wait... What do you mean by kick him?"

Qiao Ji Jin looked at Zhang Shan seriously, paused for a few seconds, then gestured with his hand as he explained, "What I mean by 'kicking him' is that I'll lift my leg, use my thigh for power, drive my knee to swing my lower leg, and then use my foot to hit Little Green's butt and deal some damage."

"You kid always this annoying?" Zhang Shan frowned.

"Yeah, I get beat up a lot."

Although Zhang Shan found Qiao Ji Jin's idea ridiculous, he knew they didn't have time to waste. He quickly redirected his Xin Nian, focusing entirely on his right leg, hoping Qiao Ji Jin really had some one-legged technique up his sleeve.

Sure enough, their left legs slowed down their recovery almost immediately, while their right legs visibly regenerated. Flesh regrew rapidly, and veins began weaving beneath the skin like wriggling worms, accompanied by a surge of intense pain in the right leg.

Qiao Ji Jin endured the sensation in his leg and took the opportunity to observe Qing Long.

In this room, there didn't seem to be any "brains" around. Taking down a monster even stronger than a Zhong Jie Zhe with just "fists" felt like a stretch.

"Wait..." Qiao Ji Jin's mind raced, and he spotted the issue.

Why was Qing Long so casually letting himself get struck by lightning all over?

Did he not have "eyes" on his back?

During the fight with Xuanwu, it had been the same—Qing Long fought like a rabid dog, ignoring all his weak points and not caring where he got hurt.

Qiao Ji Jin hadn't seen the end of that battle, so he didn't know how it turned out for Xuanwu and Qing Long, but based on this, Qing Long probably came out unscathed.

"This is getting tricky..."

Qiao Ji Jin realized his foot and lower leg had fully recovered, so he quickly flexed his upper body.

They had thrown everything they had at Qing Long earlier, but he always deflected their attacks with cunning moves. Every one of his strikes seemed aimed at killing, not like standard boxing or martial arts training.

As he said himself, his fighting skills were honed through real battles. Now, combined with his Hui Xiang abilities, he was launching multiple assaults. If they didn't smash him now, the fight ahead would be even tougher.

The two watched Qing Long, whose recovery approach differed from theirs. He wasn't focusing on just his arms or legs; instead, he was regenerating everything comprehensively. Chunks of intact skin were appearing on his limbs, torso, and head, making his body look like black paper dotted with white ink.

"Shit, he looks like a dalmatian..."

One of Qing Long's eyes regenerated at that moment, scanning left and right at them, though his body still couldn't move, and his mouth wasn't fully back yet. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before he killed them without mercy.

He wasn't going for "parts"—he wanted a fully functional "whole."

"Shit... Hurry, hurry..." Qiao Ji Jin gritted his teeth against the pain, using the wall to stand unsteadily. "Big guy... Don't zone out... Focus! Is my thigh really that hard to fix?"

"Fuck... You're asking too much, kid... This is my first time dealing with injuries like this..." Zhang Shan closed his eyes and spread his Xin Nian fully.

He had to win. All the failures he'd faced, all the bodies he'd seen in those two cities—they were all for this moment of victory.

Qiao Ji Jin's thigh regenerated completely in no time, and the familiar sense of strength returned.

He half-squatted to test his right leg, a plan forming in his mind.

He might not know other strategies, but when it came to fighting, this was going to be quite the trick.