Sword Among Us

Before Evil Emperor arrived, Happy did not intend to fight against anyone from Class One Hall or get into any conflict with them.

This was naturally not because Happy was afraid of Class One Hall suddenly becoming stronger, but because he really did not have much time left. To prevent any unforeseen circumstances from happening, Happy slipped away to shake off the Class One Hall members tailing him. He took a turn in the market, changed into a general set of equipment commonly seen among other players, switched to a new human skin mask, and shook off those boring spies.

After all, he did not have a clear sect emblem on his body. In fact, he had never revealed his real identity since the beginning.

Happy walked past the people who were originally tailing him. They were looking all over the place as Happy walked into the crowd in a relaxed manner. Then, he left the city quickly.

*****

Dafo Temple was an abandoned temple that was left behind since ancient times.

From the outside, it was a very dilapidated place, and it had already been turned into ruins. But if anyone went inside, they would see thousands of Buddha statues of varying sizes.

They either laid down by the side, sat down, or put on other postures. They looked alive and incredibly solmen, and they were scattered everywhere in Dafo Temple.

It was strange.

This place was clearly left in ruins, but once anyone approached these Buddha statues and saw the postures and hand gestures from these lively Buddha statues, they would feel as if they could hear some mantras faintly.

The further they went inside, the more they would feel as if they were surrounded by a large number of mantras. They would feel as if they had entered Nirvana Hall in the west and were receiving a baptism from Buddha’s teachings.

It caused people to feel pious and solemn from the depths of his heart. “This is Dafo Temple.”

This was the first time Happy came here. Before he could enter the depths, he could already feel a profound feeling he had never felt before, and he sucked in a deep breath with a shocked expression.

As he moved through the Buddha statues, Happy did not dare remain idle. His expression became stern, and his footsteps became light, as if he was worried that he would bother the countless Buddha statues around him in their quiet training.

Shi Zhixuan had split personalities. Sometimes, he was righteous, and sometimes, he was evil. Most of the time, he would choose to receive teachings among the thousand Buddha statues in Dafo Temple, hoping that he could use external forces to suppress the evil in his heart. Hence, if anyone went to the center of the Buddha statues, they would be able to find Shi Zhixuan.

Happ quietly went to the center of the Buddha statues.

Some broken statues were now seen among the Buddha statues. Some either had their heads broken or had a powerful force from a palm break half of their bodies, but the Buddha statue remained looking as merciful as ever. Their hearts were still filled with kindness, and they looked determined to die for the sake of their cause and would not be affected by the things in the world.

Happy said nothing about that. He continued venturing deeper into the place.

Now, statues that were completely broken began showing up on both sides.

Some of them only had their lower halves remaining, and some of them were completely destroyed. There were ruins everywhere, and the bits were scattered in a mess everywhere.

‘Looks like I’m here.’ At the same time Happy became on guard, his gaze shot through the Buddha statues who were of different sizes so that he could look further into the temple.

He did not see Shi Zhixuan.

Happy walked one round at the center of the Buddha statues with light footsteps. Finally, when a thought appeared in his mind, he came back and stopped at a rather wide space.

He sucked in a deep breath, stopped moving, and no longer searched everywhere.

Soon after he stopped, a faint sigh appeared from behind a Buddha statue nearby.

“My young friend, did you come to Dafo Temple in search for me?” A voice that was unfathomably mighty and enchanting entered Happy’s ears, and he could not help but gasp in his heart.

‘As expected of Shi Zhixuan. I have already mastered Tendon Changing Classic, and my spiritual senses have already increased to this point, but I still can’t discover him when he gets close to me so quietly.’

Shi Zhixuan’s voice faded away, and when Happy was prepared to speak, a gentle but cold wind suddenly came blowing from another direction of the Buddha statues.

Empress Yin’s uniquely charming voice rang airily from above the Buddha statues. “Hmph! I already told you, Shi Zhixuan! Even if you don’t want to kill and hide away in Dafo Temple in search for peace and relief, these people in the ‘righteous’ path will not allow you to escape from the crimes you committed in the past for all the people you killed. No matter where you go, they will find you.”

Happy was slightly surprised.

He was just hoping to look for Shi Zhixuan. He did not expect that the elusive Empress Yin who never stayed at one place would actually coincidentally appear at Dafo Temple.

He seemed to have, unfortunately, entered a plot-related quest.

Happy frowned, and he quickly realized that the situation was not right, because he had definitely not triggered this quest.

He might have just happened to be here and crashed into someone else’s quest.

Perhaps Empress Yin had coincidentally come out of her mountain in search for Shi Zhixuan, and Happy had unfortunately wanted to use Shi Zhixuan to help him understand Marrow Cleansing Classic during that time.

“Why are you here?”

Shi Zhixuan walked out from behind the Buddha statues. His tone was calm, and his actions gentle. He was like any other elegant middle-aged man.

The current Shi Zhixuan did not resemble the strongest person who controlled the eight sects in the evil cult at all.

Happy was a little surprised, and at the same time, he sensed just how amazing Dafo Temple was.

The Buddhist mantras that filled every corner of the place seemed to have suppressed Evil King’s violent and evil side.

But right after he thought of this, Happy suddenly frowned.

“We’ll talk about our matters later. I’ll kill this Shaolin Temple disciple first.”

Empress Yin’s voice quickly drew closer to him.

He activated Wave-like Subtle Steps, and Happy quietly moved five feet away from her.

Shick!

A fierce claw-generated wind grazed past the place where he previously was. Three terrifying trenches were left on the floor.

“Hmm?”

Empress Yin’s faint gasp could be heard in the air. “Wave-like Subtle Steps…? Are you from Leisurely Sect? No. I see, you’re that one. The Shaolin Temple secular disciple I ran into at Mantuo Villa.”

Dust stirred at the spot thirty-two feet away from Happy, and Empress Yin appeared. There was faint shock on her face as she stared at the young man who avoided her attack.

“You destroyed my plan while I was at Mantuo Villa, but I didn’t think about settling scores with you. So, why are you here at Dafo Temple?”

Happy did not show a single hint of panic or unease when he faced the two most brutal and powerful masters of the evil cult. Instead, he calmly flicked off the dust on his clothes, wrapped his fist in his palm, and saluted her. “Faction Master Zhu, I have been rude to you.”

“Hmph. I didn’t expect that after just a few months, you would have reached the stage where your qi could appear as if you have never practiced any martial arts. It’s no wonder why I didn’t immediately recognize your breathing. You didn’t reveal even the slightest qi. It’s rare indeed that such a young elite like you would have appeared among the current generation of Shaolin Temple disciples.”

“Faction Master Zhu, you praise me too much.” Happy smiled faintly. “If you had not spared me at Mantuo Villa and allowed me to learn Wave-like Subtle Steps through sheer luck, I wouldn’t dare to be preposterous in front of two leaders of the evil cult either. Speaking of which, I have to thank you.”

“Hmph!” Empress Yin chuckled coldly. “You’re young, but you have a sharp tongue. If I hadn’t been deceived by you last time, that wench wouldn’t have been able to destroy the portrait with the secret address to Langhuan Blessed Ground!”

As Empress Yin praised him while cold, murderous intent shone in her eyes, Evil King Shi Zhixuan walked out from behind the Buddha statue and observed Happy in surprise, as if he was reevaluating this youngster who had entered the depths of the Buddha statues alone.

After all, there were only a handful of people who could make Empress Yin suffer a setback.

“Faction Master Zhu, that’s where you’re wrong. Madam Wang’s act of burning the portrait leading to Langhuan Blessed Ground is for a righteous cause. This is something that even I sincerely admire her for and am grateful to her for.”

“Hmph. You used the name of those Murong Clan elites to escape from your disaster that day. This time, I’d like to see just how you can escape from me!”

“Faction Master Zhu, this is a quiet ground for Buddhists, and you shouldn’t create karma for yourself by killing here. If you really must attack him, please don’t do it here—”

“Shi Zhixuan, you’re someone from the sacred ground, but you want to protect these things from those stupid, bald fools? Don’t you think it’s hilarious? Don’t forget, our seniors from the evil cult were the ones who worked together to destroy Dafo Temple.”

Shi Zhixuan said nothing, but he frowned slightly.

Once she finished speaking, Empress Yin did not bother with waiting for Shi Zhixuan to reply to her. She just leisurely vanished from her spot.

Almost at the same time Empress Yin attacked, Happy had already formed multiple strange and varied afterimages. He avoided Empress Yin when she swiftly approached him, and he replied humbly, “I am a Shaolin Temple disciple, and I don’t want to attack you in a quiet place for Buddhists either. If you truly wish to teach me a lesson and give me some pointers, I’ll be willing to fight against you outside the temple.”

When he said this, his voice was already dozens of feet away.

“Hmph!”

Empress Yin’s body was like an airy fog. She chased after Happy tightly while he used Wave-like Subtle Steps as he moved around like an ever-changing wave. Her voice was cold when she spoke.

“That is not up for you to decide!”

In just the span of a breath, some parts of two statues were destroyed by Empress Yin’s palm-generated wind. The broken parts rolled onto the ground.

“That might not be necessarily true!” Happy laughed long and hard before he suddenly turned around to deliver one slash.

Whoosh!

The black Recondite Steel Heavy Sword cut through the air and was just in time to come up against Empress Yin’s unfathomable figure.

Bang!

Martial artists at the peak of Myth Realm would never back down in the face of a player’s attack. Their pride would not allow them to retreat from or avoid attacks, especially the first moves.

Empress Yin’s palm-generated wind abruptly started howling like ghosts and wolves. Then, like a huge black ghost’s face, it crashed violently against Happy’s Recondite Steel Heavy Sword.

Boom!

A loud bang rose, and a violent gust of wind formed a hoop-shaped impact that swept out from the spots where the two exchanged blows.

Dirt flew, and the Buddha statues trembled.

Both were sent flying by a powerful force.

When Happy was at Mantu Villa, Happy was already able to withstand Empress Yin’s attacks for a while, and right now, he had already mastered Tendon Changing Classic. Not only had his defense increased greatly, he also had 10% damage reduction. Hence, naturally, he had an even easier time fighting against her.

Thud!

Happy used a Buddha statue’s shoulder to assist him in his jump, and he flew dozens of feet away like an arrow. His actions were relaxed and natural.

Empress Yin was so angry that she felt like puking blood.

She had been certain that her attack just now could kill Happy in Dafo Temple, and she did not expect that Happy’s strength had already improved to the point that it was actually slightly terrifying now.

The power contained in Recondite Steel Heavy Sword was incredibly great.

When that powerful force crashed into her body, even Empress Yin could not instantly dissolve it, and she was unable to avoid stopping in her movements for a while.

Then, she noticed that Happy had already left her attack range. Empress Yin gritted her teeth. She no longer bothered about the fact that Shi Zhixuan was beside her and just chased after Happy out of Dafo Temple with a dark gaze.