The young man brandished the two short blades in his hands and thrust them at Duan Ming.
He would make the brat who had toyed with him spill his blood on the spot!
But no matter how he attacked, he couldn't land a hit on Duan Ming.
Duan Ming deftly dodged every one of his attacks.
"Not only is his blade work fast, but he's fast too."
After several exchanges, not only had the young man failed to hit Duan Ming, but several slashes had appeared in his own clothes.
He couldn't believe someone with only one Divine Mark could be so fast.
Even if it were possible, they would at least have had to start training at three or four years old.
What sort of opponent had he run into?
Looking at the cuts in his clothes, the young man felt a profound sense of humiliation rise within him.
"Damn it! Being toyed with like this by a brat with only one Divine Mark."
A short distance away, Duan Ming didn't dare take his eyes off the young man for a moment.
The man was stronger than him, and Duan Ming had no chance of winning through brute force.
But the man's weakness was equally obvious: he was far too slow.
Given another two exchanges, Duan Ming was certain he could leave a bloody gash on the man.
The fighting techniques he had spent the past few days learning weren't actually much use to Duan Ming.
Long ago in his dreams, he had already learned countless combat techniques.
Using them now was simply a matter of recalling the movements from his dreams.
The young man took a deep breath, and a cunning gleam flashed in his eyes.
Once again, he charged at Duan Ming, brandishing the two short blades in his hands.
Duan Ming watched the young man's movements.
Good! I found an opening!
But just as he was about to strike, he noticed the young man's hand move backward instinctively.
He gave up the chance to strike and hurriedly dodged to the side.
A cloud of white powder scattered from the young man's hand and missed him entirely.
The young man looked at Duan Ming in surprise.
How had this brat known what he was about to do?
"Despicable." Duan Ming glanced at the white powder drifting through the air and slowly settling. "You deliberately exposed that opening?"
Seeing that his scheme had failed, the young man wasted no words and quickly thrust at Duan Ming.
Pfft!
A pain shot through his lower abdomen.
He stared in shock at Duan Ming, who had flashed past him, then slowly lowered his head to look at the blood seeping from his abdomen.
A piercing pain instantly swept through his entire body.
"Your strength is indeed impressive, but you're too slow. I'd say you've been a Divine Power Master for no more than a year."
The young man suddenly felt his strength leave him.
He gritted his teeth, raised the short blades in his hands, and let out a shout to ease the pain before thrusting at Duan Ming once more.
Because of his injury, the young man's movements had grown even slower.
Duan Ming watched his movements and stepped aside.
The young man's thrust missed, and another cut appeared on his arm.
With no Qi protecting his arm, the wound was deep, as though the stark white bone beneath were visible.
He grimaced in pain, growing even angrier.
He felt as though he were being played in circles.
It was like a clumsy gorilla being toyed with by a nimble little monkey.
The little monkey clearly couldn't withstand a single punch from the gorilla.
But the gorilla just couldn't hit it.
As one advanced, the other retreated, and they fought back and forth through several exchanges.
Yet the young man still couldn't touch Duan Ming.
Every one of his attacks seemed useless against Duan Ming.
Blood flowed steadily from his wound, and the intense pain made him slower and slower.
He didn't understand.
At the speed the young man moved, he had clearly had many chances to kill him.
Yet not only had he refrained, but he had also held back repeatedly.
Wait!
Could this guy be using me as a training partner?
Whoosh!
Suddenly, Du Qinggang and his companion, who had disappeared earlier, returned.
Du Qinggang took a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. In his other hand, he carried a man whose face had been battered beyond recognition.
When the young man saw the man Du Qinggang was carrying, his pupils abruptly contracted.
Duan Ming looked at Du Qinggang.
Apart from a little bruising on his face, the man was completely unhurt.
"Keep fighting. Don't mind me. Just pretend I'm not here."
As he spoke, Du Qinggang plopped down on the ground and blew a smoke ring.
With his master apparently defeated and Du Qinggang watching from the side, the young man felt a crushing pressure.
He grew slower and slower, until he was at the end of his rope.
"Eighty thousand alive, fifty thousand dead."
Du Qinggang took a drag on his cigarette, seemingly reminding Duan Ming.
Eighty thousand?
Did I look like such a shallow person?
Yes! Take him alive!
With his next strike, Duan Ming knocked one of the short blades from the young man's hand.
Then, moving at extreme speed, he knocked the other short blade from his hand.
When Duan Ming swung his blade again, the now unarmed young man tried to grab it.
The result was plain to see: his entire palm was almost severed.
As a scream rang out across the sky, Du Qinggang walked over and knocked the young man unconscious with a slap.
"Mm, not bad." Du Qinggang seemed very satisfied with the result.
"You seem to have known his background all along. You even knew this man was worth eighty thousand."
Duan Ming picked up the scabbard from the ground and put his blade away.
"If I didn't know this young man's background, would I have dared let you fight him one-on-one? Judging by the Qi in your bodies alone, you're no match for him, but your blade work and speed are far superior to his. As long as you aren't stupid and don't rely on brute force to fight him head-on, he definitely isn't your match."
Du Qinggang took one last hard drag on his cigarette, seemingly reluctant to part with it, then threw it to the ground and stamped it out. He picked up one man in each hand and headed back with Duan Ming.
On the way back, Du Qinggang introduced the two men to Duan Ming as he drove.
"The one with all the scars on his face is called Ghost Face. He's a Divine Power Master with five Divine Marks. Back then, he was captain of the First Position Vanguard in the Demon Elimination Western Theater. He was caught colluding with outsiders to resell supplies the soldiers needed, so he brutally murdered eleven soldiers and fled."
"Mahua, Xiaozhuang, Tianming..."
Du Qinggang recited more than a dozen names in one breath.
"They all had names. They were living, breathing people too. They protected the human race, but in the end, they died at human hands!"
Du Qinggang's hands gripped the steering wheel tightly.
It was clear he was very worked up.
"If you're fortunate enough to join the Demon Suppression Army someday, you'll see what the greater cause of the human race means!"
"There, even if you do nothing at all, as long as you remain in the army, you'll feel a sense of honor that comes from your very bones!"
"There, as long as you're a member of the human race, countless soldiers will stand before you and shield you from every demon!"
"They ask for nothing else, only that you're a member of the human race!"
For some reason, Duan Ming, who was usually calm and composed, felt something begin to stir within him at Du Qinggang's words.
He had never considered the greater cause of the human race before.
All he had thought about was growing stronger and protecting the people around him.
He suddenly felt a little afraid that Du Qinggang would learn what he had been thinking.
If the man found out, Duan Ming would surely be so ashamed he wouldn't know where to hide.
If everyone was gone, how could there be a family?