Sword Among Us

In the end, Purple Sun Sect could not hand over the jade slit ring.

Sinless in Light and Dark faltered for a while, but he did not give the order to attack the headquarters of Purple Sun Sect, because while Purple Sun Sect might not be their opponent if they fought at full strength outside the city, the situation would be different if Life Ending Hall attacked them on their home ground.

They were also in Xuzhou City, Purple Sun Sect’s nest. Unless Life Ending Hall mobilized all their forces, the situation would be very difficult for them. Also, the sect master of Purple Sun Sect acted in a very self-assured manner. Surely, he had a backup plan.

Sinless in Light and Dark did not want to launch a head on attack and take the risk of sacrificing his sect members!

“Dismissed!” He walked out of the headquarters of Purple Sun Sect. “Immediately locate Happy’s current location. Once you find it, send a messenger pigeon to me, pronto.”

He gave an order to his subordinates and brought them out of Xuzhou City with the momentum of a retreating tidal wave. They left for the ancient tomb outside the city.

He, too, wanted to know just how powerful was the player who could kill multiple Blessed Realm players from Purple Sun Sect. He had actually managed to make Purple Sun Sect to mobilize their forces to stand against Life Ending Hall regardless of the costs to refute a rumor.

*****

At that moment, Happy did not know that the vice hall master of Life Ending Hall had set his sights on him. He continued to fight against the Stone Giant in the main hall of the ancient tomb located between Xuzhou and Yangzhou.

However, Happy and Thunderous Battle had now moved on from working together to fighting a Stone Giant alone by themselves in different corners.

Thunderous Battle’s understanding toward Stone Giants was naturally not as great as Happy’s, his experience was also not as high, but he had an advantage over Happy: his body fortification technique and Infinite Sword Technique was at a higher level. He used Happy’s method, and even though he was sometimes too late in reacting to the Stone Giant’s attacks, he was not injured badly when hit. Compared to before, when he could only take two-three hits in one minute, it was already a very good improvement.

And as he grew more familiar with the method to fight against the Stone Giants, the speed at which the level of his martial arts increased became astonishing.

Thunderous Battle poured his whole heart and soul into training, growing addicted to it.

Half a day passed, and his Infinite Sword Technique, which was originally in the middle stage of the ninth realm, became infinitesimally close to the tenth realm. With each skill he executed, the sword halo would be so bright that he could not look straight into it. In fact, it was dangerously dazzling.

Happy’s Flowering Knights’ Song also moved from the beginning of the seventh realm to its second half.

There was nothing else he could do about it. Right then, once he got rid of a Stone Giant, the EXP he gained would only be enough to increase one-third of his level, and the further he progressed in his training, the slower his leveling speed became.

‘Hmm?’

Happy’s eyes flashed, and he instinctively jumped backwards. He frowned and quickly swept his gaze over the candle lights attached to the walls of the main hall. They had burned quietly before, but now, they flickered slightly, as if they were dying flames swaying in the wind, about to go out at any moment.

A thought appeared in his mind.

A heroic-looking man dressed in a fitting body armor with black robes underneath stood at the entrance of the main hall with arms over his chest. He stared at Happy with sparkling eyes, and he seemed to have been there for some time. Underneath his calm appearance was a certain presence that signalled danger.

Happy only cast a faint glance at the heroic man before he lowered his gaze to the two swords at his waist. Then, he looked at the tunnel that led to the exit behind him.

In truth, the entire process only lasted less than three seconds.

Happy looked away and regained his usual calm. He went up against the Stone Giant who roared in anger. He suddenly changed the gentle momentum he previously used in his attacks with Hundred-battle Saber and struck Stone Giant’s joints with the force of a storm.

The sounds of air being sliced suddenly rang out in the air. The saber whistles became much more frequent, and Thunderous Battle heard it while in a corner not too far away.

He cast Happy a surprised glance. Then, he saw the man at the entrance of the main hall in his peripheral vision. Immediately after, he heard concentrated footsteps, along with a faint but tense atmosphere that signalled an incoming storm. It seemed that quite a number of people had entered the ancient tomb and were rushing to the main hall.

Thunderous Battle could not help but furrow his eyebrows, and he also increased the speed at which he dealt with his Stone Giant.

Sinless in Light and Dark did not say anything. When he saw that he had alerted Happy, he frowned slightly.

Based on the information Purple Sun Sect had provided to him, only the person with the jade slit ring would be in the ancient tomb and that he probably knew about its usage. He had only spontaneously come up with the idea to take the jade slit ring.

Sinless in Light and Dark did not expect that once he entered the ancient tomb, he would see two high-grade players who could go up against Stone Giants alone. Their lightness skills had already reached perfection. The young one should be the one who had the jade slit ring, and was the person the sect master of Purple Sun Sect had mentioned. He moved with agility, his blade techniques were sharp and incisive, and his skills were unfathomable.

However, when he turned to the other corner and watched the man who only staggered slightly after he received multiple blows from the Stone Giant, Sinless in Light and Dark instantly felt pressure. He could also see the very bright sword halo enveloping the man’s sword, and it looked like it would not fade away anytime soon. It was very difficult for him to see the skills he executed, and the realm of the man’s sword technique might even be above his!

Two powerful players!

Sinless in Light and Dark sucked in a faint breath and hesitated.

He originally thought that there would only be one high-grade player who would be like him, and he wanted to forcefully retrieve the jade slit ring, but by the looks of it now, their target had a companion who was slightly stronger than he was in the main hall. Based on their reaction and actions, his hopes of them not knowing each other were only a dream. His absolute confidence in winning the fight wavered.

“Vice hall master!”

“Vice hall master…”

Whooshing sounds rose. A large group of people appeared behind Sinless in Light and Dark, and with gazes filled with respect and admiration, they stared at him, who had entered the main hall alone.

Even though they had destroyed quite a number of Stone Giants and Dirt Puppets, who were very difficult to deal with, it would have been very difficult for them to pass if they had not relied on the advantage of numbers. They would not have been able to get through as easily as Sinless in Light and Dark, who even did so in a relaxed manner.

When he saw Thunderous Battle and Happy finish their fights, Sinless in Light and Dark felt a slight pang of disappointment, but he still asked without turning his head around, “Was anyone injured?”

“No,” someone answered.

“Vice hall master, that person is our target this time. Hmph! He has guts! He actually stayed here and did not leave.”

There were quite a number of people from Life Ending Hall who had heard the descriptions of the sect master of Purple Sun Sect about the person with the jade slit ring, and they cast thoughtful gazes at the young man who was collecting his loot in the corner.

“These two people are not to be trifled with.”

Sinless in Light and Dark sucked in a deep breath. When he spoke, caution and surprise entered the faces of the people around him. It was the first time they heard their vice hall master use such a solemn tone to describe a player.

Immediately, their gazes aimed at Happy and Thunderous Battle were no longer as relaxed as before.

Happy did not seem to have noticed it.

He cast a faint glance at the group which blocked the entrance to the main hall and was so numerous he could not tell just how many people were there. A light crease appeared between his eyebrows, and he walked toward Thunderous Battle.

“Big brother Thunder, why don’t you log off to rest a bit?”

Thunderous Battle had his doubts about the situation at first, but once he heard Happy’s words, he immediately became certain of his guess. His gaze focused.

“What now? Do you think that I’m someone who’s afraid of trouble, or that I’m going to hold you back?”

While he spoke, he sat down cross-legged and circulated his qi cultivation technique from Wudang Sect. Wisps of white fog rose from his Dantian region to surround his body, and he swiftly restored the qi he had lost when he fought against the Stone Giant.

When Happy saw that Thunderous Battle had made up his mind, he felt slightly touched. He then cast a cold glance at the entrance before returning to his corner and sitting down cross-legged to activate Complete Reality Qi Cultivation Technique.

He breathed in and out, and white fog swirled up, surrounding his body. It made him look like an immortal. After practicing hard for the past few days, his Complete Reality Qi Cultivation Technique had long since entered Grandmaster Realm.

The people in the distance sucked in a sharp breath and stared at each other aghast.

They had long since learned online that those who had pushed their qi cultivation techniques to Grandmaster Realm were all insanely powerful players. And apparently, two of them had hidden in the ancient tomb!