Sword Among Us

When dozens of people covered the iron chains, the added weight caused the amplitude of the oscillation of the iron chains to become much smaller. Everyone then cast their gazes on the blue-robed young man on the cliff.

The atmosphere stagnated. The players, one after another, stood up cautiously on the iron chains.

They knew that that particular stage was incredibly important if they wanted to snatch the brocade box!

Only around ten minutes were left before the storyline quest ended.

Whoever was able to take hold of the brocade box at the last moment would obtain the treasures inside it. Then, that person would have hope of soaring high in the game and showing their splendour!

The people all held their breaths.

Whoosh Whoosh!

The aura that symbolized someone being in Blessed Realm rose around them under the vicious mountain gusts. All sorts of body fortification techniques made them even more sensitive to every single flow of qi in the area.

As for Happy, who stood at the cliff, the mountain wind made his robes flutter. His expression did not change. He merely stared at the people before him from above while giving off the feeling that he could hold all of them back by himself!

On the surface, the people on the iron chains were clearly at an absolute disadvantage. The slightest mistake could cause them to plunge down to the abyss and die. However, the world of martial artists was unlike the world of magic. The players did not have any area attacks. Happy felt some degree of pressure when he faced dozens of players with eyes burning with lust as they drew near the cliff.

“Together!”

“Charge!”

“ARGH!”

Someone gave an order on the Iron Chain Bridge, and the players at the front row moved at the same time. They jumped high into the air from different directions and landed on the cliff like arrows shot from a bow.

Twenty or so players jumped forward in an endless stream with a shocking momentum. They instantly drew close to Happy, who stood on the cliff. All of them understood one thing: If so many people attacked at the same time, it would be very easy for Happy to get distracted. It would just depend on who would be unlucky enough to get targeted by him.

*****

Like a phantom, Netherworld appeared again on the cliff before the Iron Chain Bridge. He cast his eyes into the distance, and he was just in time to see dozens of people pounce on the cliff across from him in an endless stream. He could not help the cold sneer that appeared on his lips.

“Let’s see how you’ll handle this.”

The players were lured over after Netherworld released the news that there was a brocade box on Punishment Mount.

After seeing just how strong Happy was, Netherworld immediately thought of using other people to whittle down Happy’s strength and to create a chance for himself to fly across the Iron Chain Bridge. Then, when the reinforcements from Class One Hall arrived, he would not need to be worried that there would be someone who would block them from the brocade box at the end of the bridge.

Just when Netherworld wanted to jump down on the Iron Chain Bridge…

Boom!

He sensed a wave of qi surge into the air!

A sharp, fierce, aggressive, and dark blue saber glare suddenly appeared on the cliff across from him, and it shone in a proud manner on the mountain!

From the angle at which Netherworld saw it, its might could shake the skies and earth. The twenty or so figures that were airborne froze in the air before being blown away like leaves by a violent gust of wind!

The twenty or so figures were thrown off the cliff…

Their screams were incredibly shrill, even as they became weaker with each passing second. They stunned Netherworld so much that he retracted his foot.

In surprise and bewilderment, he stared at the cliff across from him, and not only did astonishment appear in his eyes, but terror and shock too.

He had spent a lot of effort to create the chance for himself, so he had not expected that the person on the cliff would dissolve it so easily and in such a relaxed manner.

If twenty or so people were sent into the abyss at once, then the others would not end up any better.

Just as Netherworld expected, the players who had been slightly behind and did not jump chose to leave immediately. They used their hands and feet to crawl back, and their speed was much faster than when they were rushing to Punishment Mount. Soon, not a single person was left.

Netherworld said nothing. There was conflict in his eyes. With a tap on the ground, he landed a few feet away, and with a few more jumps, he disappeared.

*****

With one Flowering Knights Slash, Happy had sent all the people off the cliff before landing slowly in his original spot in a relaxed manner. He sat down with his usual expression as if he had done nothing.

Flap, flap, flap!

A snow white messenger pigeon showed up in front of him.

Slightly taken aback, Happy stretched out his arm and allowed the messenger pigeon to land on it. Then, he gently took the letter from the messenger pigeon’s leg and opened it.

[Three Lonely Wolves said you agreed to join Beautiful Robes Faction.]

The person who wrote the letter was Phoenix Dances in Beautiful Robes.

She was asking Happy why he did not immediately accept her request to join Beautiful Robes Faction.

Happy took out his pen and paper without hesitation and answered. [I have something to handle today and am a little busy. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow.]

Once his messenger pigeon flew out, it quickly returned.

[Alright! Also, do you have any extra high-tier martial art manuals? If you do, perform a trade with our internal members. We’ll do the trade according to market price.] Phoenix Dances’ words were simple and straightforward.

And from what she wrote in the later half of her letter, Happy could tell that she had already come to understand that the true strength of a sect came from having many sect members who had mastered high-tier martial arts!

If she could say this, then it showed that she already had the awareness of being a faction master. She had chosen to accept that responsibility.

‘As expected of Phoenix Dances with Beautiful Robes.’ Happy smiled and began to ponder over the matter.

Speaking of high-tier martial arts, he did have a few manuals at hand. Aside from Demon Subduing Staff, Seven Stars Sword, and Swimming Dragon, he had also recently received Golden Bell Cocoon from Master Xuan Kong, which was the upgraded version of Iron Shirt. It was another body fortification technique.

However, the requirements to practice Seven Stars Sword were rather high, and it was a technique that included a qi cultivation technique and a sword technique. The two complemented each other, so he wanted to keep it to practice it himself.

Swimming Dragon was considered a high-tier lightness skill, and he was required to be in Mystical Realm to learn it. Golden Bell Cocoon would always be an expensive item, even in the later stages of the game, and even when people offered to a high price, there would be no stock. As of then, there might not be a lot of people who could learn the technique, and Happy himself intended to practice it.

As he thought about it, he realized that he only had Demon Subduing Staff that was suited to be sold.

And… Happy cast a glance at his Universe Bag, pondered for a while, then sent out another message. [I have one high-tier martial art manual, Demon Subduing Staff. Help me make some connections. As for the price… set it at ten thousand taels of silver crumbs. Also, I can give them a Silver-spiked Staff. It’s a low-grade masterpiece that is worth twenty thousand taels of silver crumbs.”

In truth, Happy remembered that Phoenix Dances would soon fall in love with using longspears, eyebrow-height staff, and other heavy weapons, up to the point she was nearly obsessed with them.

She might be able to digest Demon Subduing Staff.

Just as he expected, Phoenix Dances used a total of four minutes to reply to him this time.

[Silver-spiked staff? Do you have its stats description and its picture?]

Happy was stunned for a moment before a bark of laughter escaped his lips.

Later on, Silver-spiked Staff would become a very famous weapon that would be seen everywhere. Its stats and information would also be known to everyone. However, in his current life, the Silver-spiked Staff had yet to appear. The two he had snatched from the monks who had broken their Buddhist vows should be the first and the second that were seen by the players.

It was no wonder then that Phoenix Dances would ask him that question!

Based on her tone though, she seemed somewhat interested in it.

Happy immediately brought out a Silver-spiked Staff, shot a picture of it, attached it to his letter, and sent it to her via messenger pigeon.

[Silver-spiked Staff: Level 8 Masterpiece (low grade). The weapon is magnificent and domineering! Attack increases by 180 points. Weapon defense increases by 240 points. Blocking rate increases by 60%. Requires AST: 48 and BMM: 40. Durability: 1,000 points!]

Once Phoenix Dances received the picture and the stats for Silver-spiked Staff, she quickly replied that she would buy it and requested for a trade using RMB. Based on the latest conversion rate, that would mean that she would spend around 12,000 RMB. She explained that she had just reached Blessed Realm, and as of then , she still had not received a single high-tier martial art manual.

As a faction master, it was hardly acceptable if she did not have a high-tier martial art.

Once Happy agreed to it, he sank into thought again.

He suddenly remembered that as of then, high-tier martial art manuals were still very rare.

He also seemed to remember that saber and sword techniques were the most popular in the early stages of the game. Even when the price was jacked up to two hundred taels of silver, there would be no stock on the market. Even though ultimate techniques were kept a secret by various large organizations and he could learn none of them, he still knew the origins of various high-tier martial arts.

Why should he then not use the advantage of his return to the past to earn a profit through selling high-tier martial arts before his enemy appeared? He could also use that chance to increase the overall strength of Beautiful Robes Faction!