12: Chapter 12 First Use of the Wedding Dress Divine Skill

Through the brief clash just now, Meng Li and the others could see that the Towering man possessed Internal Energy.

The opponent also saw through the backgrounds of Wang Wu and the other two, knowing that while they had martial skills, they had not cultivated Internal Energy and were not on the same level as him.

As for the remaining Meng Li, even if his steady performance just now was surprising, he was ultimately just a half-grown youth.

According to common sense, even if he had martial skills, he wouldn't have much experience or mastery.

Most importantly, the Towering man had sent people to investigate and knew about Meng Li being "extorted" by Hu Zuo at the Inn. For any other person in the Jianghu with even a bit of ability, they wouldn't be willing to hand over money so obediently.

Moreover, looking at his age, Meng Li was at a stage of youthful arrogance.

Yet he had paid the money.

Although his posture was acceptable, it also indicated that he likely had no real ability.

Combining the above, the Towering man subconsciously felt that Meng Li was not a threat.

Jiang Yuyan and her mother inside the carriage were even less worth mentioning.

Therefore, the Towering man completely lost his reservations and moved again, feeling that he alone was enough.

If his subordinates swarmed up and compressed the space, it would be harder for him to maneuver, and it might cause unnecessary casualties. After all, although Wang Wu and the other two hadn't cultivated Internal Energy, they had martial skills and could still effectively kill the ruffians under him.

Thus, the Towering man raised his hand and spoke, "To deal with them, I alone am enough."

"You lot keep an eye out; don't let that kid and the women in the carriage escape."

"As you command."

"Understood."

"Chief, display your Divine Might as you please; they won't get away!"

The group of subordinates quickly took their orders.

Seeing this, the Towering man stopped wasting time. With a stomp of his foot to generate power, he lunged forward, raising his blade to slash at Zhang Shan, who was standing at the front.

Zhang Shan knew he was no match for the opponent and subconsciously wanted to dodge, but found it was too late. In desperation, he could only follow the trajectory of the great blade and temporarily raise his sword with both hands to parry.

As a result, the parry was successful, yet not entirely successful.

Because while he blocked the great blade, he didn't block the force attached to it. He was directly struck and sent flying backward, only stopping when he hit a tree.

Immediately after, he felt a sharp pain in his back and his hands were trembling. Looking down, he saw blood seeping from the webbing between his thumb and forefinger.

From this, the gap between having Internal Energy and not having it was clear to see.

The Towering man achieved success with one strike but did not immediately pursue.

Although he had cultivated Internal Energy, his Cultivation Technique was mediocre and his realm was not profound. After a forceful strike, the circulation of his Internal Energy inevitably became sluggish. This was an internal mechanism; those who hadn't cultivated Internal Energy would find it hard to see the problem, and the duration of the sluggishness was very short—even if someone with insufficient reaction speed saw it, they could do nothing about it.

So, the Towering man didn't care much.

Right at that moment, Meng Li made his move.

A Flying Locust Stone, infused with Internal Energy, was shot out using the Tang Clan's hidden weapon technique, aimed directly at the Towering man's face.

The latter had just recovered from the lull in his Internal Energy and couldn't block in time, so he could only twist his head to dodge.

Little did he know, this was exactly the effect Meng Li wanted.

Because two more Flying Locust Stones were shot out, one after the other, accurately hitting the Towering man's blade-wielding wrist and his Mute Acupoint respectively.

The Towering man's wrist stung with pain, and he subconsciously let go of the great blade. At the same time, his heart was filled with horror, screaming internally that he had misjudged him!

This youth was Playing the Pig to Eat the Tiger!

Not only had he cultivated Internal Energy, but his cultivation was even higher than his own.

However, in an instant, the Towering man felt confused again.

Why did the opponent seal his Mute Acupoint?

Soon, he knew the answer to that question.

Because Meng Li had already leaped in front of him, reaching out to grip a vital acupoint on his other wrist.

The next second, the Wedding Dress Divine Skill was activated!

Instantly, the Towering man discovered a terrifying suction force coming from the gripped vital acupoint. The Internal Energy in his Meridians was drawn, surging toward that vital acupoint like seawater flowing backward, then leaking out, never to return.

In just a breath, the Internal Energy he had painstakingly cultivated for several years was mostly sucked away.

The Absorbing Qi Technique?

The Towering man wanted to cry out in alarm, but because his Mute Acupoint was sealed, he couldn't speak. He intended to resist, but could not gather any strength. Meanwhile, accompanied by the frantic leakage of Internal Energy, he felt himself rapidly becoming weak, as if his entire person was being completely hollowed out in a short time.

The actual situation was more or less the same.

Because through the Wedding Dress Divine Skill, Meng Li not only sucked away his Internal Energy but also acquired all the Martial Arts he had practiced.

Furthermore, after a martial artist Cultivates Internal Energy and True Qi, they become connected to one's heart and Meridians. Besides enhancing combat power, they can also strengthen the body and delay aging. When one's cultivation reaches a certain level, it can even produce the effect of "Retaining a Youthful Appearance."

Yao Yue, Lian Xing, and Jiang Biehe from the original story were the best examples for comparison.

The former two had peerless cultivation, and after nearly twenty years, their appearances had basically not changed.

The latter's cultivation was weaker, and he had clearly aged quite a bit.

However, everything has two sides. After Internal Energy and True Qi are connected to the heart and Meridians, they can bring benefits when strong, but once they are damaged, they will also affect the heart and Meridians, causing irreparable harm to the person.

The Five Yang and Two Yin in the original story died after their cultivation was sucked dry for this very reason.

Another reason was that Liu Xi struck ruthlessly, and at the same time, the Absorbing Qi Technique was somewhat sinister; it not only sucked a person's Martial Arts but also their life force.

After Liu Xi was injured by Tie Ruyun, in order to heal, he directly sucked his subordinate dry until the person was gone.

This situation, however, did not happen to Yao Yue and Jiang Yuyan.

Because the Wedding Dress Divine Skill focuses on being domineering and powerful, only sucking a person's Martial Arts.

Even so, the Towering man suffered a significant backlash.

After Meng Li withdrew his skill and stopped, the man fell directly to the ground, his face pale and his whole being listless, like a dog with a broken spine.

Meng Li, on the other hand, felt as if he had taken a dose of tonic; his energy was vigorous, his whole body was comfortable, and he clearly felt that he had become much stronger.

This clash between the two takes a long time to describe, but it actually happened in a very short time.

Hidden weapons and close combat need no further explanation; the main focus was on surprise and speed. The reason for close-range Qi absorption was that Meng Li had been cultivating for a short time, and his cultivation was not yet powerful enough to suck someone from a distance like Yao Yue in the original story.

The same applied to not using Transferring Flowers and Grafting Trees.

His cultivation wasn't strong enough to manifest a Protective Aura, and Meng Li was afraid of someone taking advantage of a gap in his defense.

In the original story, the reason Jiang Yuyan dared to move against Yao Yue and Lian Xing right after mastering Transferring Flowers and Grafting Trees was because there was no one else present, and the two of them couldn't resist.

Currently, there was more than just the Towering man at the scene.

Even with close-range Qi absorption, the inexperienced Meng Li was worried about accidents.

Fortunately, the Wedding Dress Divine Skill was domineering and powerful; this instance of Qi absorption from start to finish took but a moment.

Of course, this was also related to the Towering man's Martial Arts not being high. But this so-called "not high" was relative.

Among the people present, he could already be considered an expert.

Therefore, Meng Li defeated him in an instant and left him looking like a dead dog, which caused a tremendous shock to everyone present.

The remaining bandits were directly stunned, not daring to move for a moment.

Seeing this, Meng Li stepped on the Towering man and said with a cold face, "Your Chief has already been captured by me. Why haven't you quickly dropped your weapons and surrendered? I will count to three. Anyone who hasn't surrendered after that, dies!"

"Don't listen to him..."

Whoosh!

A Willow Leaf Dart flew out, accurately piercing the throat of the shouting man, causing him to fall while clutching his throat, his words coming to an abrupt halt.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Several masked bandits who wanted to run fell down.

...