Sword Among Us

“Hey, did you hear about Fox Cave?”

This question had practically become a greeting among players of World of Martial Arts.

There was no other reason for it but that the legend of the Fox had already turned into a myth from the tales told by the village chief and villagers of Immortal Fox Cave. A wicked wedded couple had trained up a large skulk of fox monsters to cause trouble in the area. Every single night, they could see the terrifying beast skull that gave off the white ghostly flame, and every single day, strong men and young women from nearby towns and cities would enter the cave and would disappear.

The players in the cities in the area originally thought that it was just a normal training spot.

But gradually, more information reached them!

There was a wedded couple with powerful martial arts in Fox Cave. The foxes inside were all personally trained by them and were later transformed into monsters after the couple set up a peerless illusion matrix.

In truth, the fox monsters were all foxes, but under the effect of the illusion matrix, they gained the shape of humans.

To kill the wicked couple and the countless fox monsters in Fox Cave that endangered many people’s lives, an increasing number of martial artists were attracted to the area. When Fox Cave opened, they would surge in.

However, they underestimated the dangers of Fox Cave.

Even the Red Fox—the lowest leveled monster in Fox Cave—possessed combat abilities of the later stage of Blessed Realm. With the protection of the peerless illusion matrix, their bodies would move in an entirely different manner from their actions. It was impossible to fend against their attacks. Many players were torn apart the moment they entered Fox Cave. Only those with high body fortification techniques were able to survive through laborious effort.

Even those with great abilities would find that their pitiful body fortification techniques could not quite protect them when they ran into White Foxes in Mystical Realm. There was a difference of an entire qi realm between them, and that difference was enough to spell their deaths!

On top of that, there were plenty of fox monsters in Fox Cave. They were not in the dozens or hundreds, but in the thousands.

Countless corpses could be found strewn all over the hall inside the entrance every single night.

Since Fox Cave was so dangerous and wreaked such devastation on the players, it should have been able to intimidate them into staying away, but unfortunately, there was a legend circulating within Immortal Fox Village. It attracted more and more people to the area like honey would attract bees. With every single day that went by, more people would come, and they would enter Fox Cave in a group larger than the day before.

The legend mentioned two divine weapons: Sunlight Sword and Moonlight Saber!

They were the weapons used by the wicked couple in Fox Cave. The two people had an infamous reputation in the world of martial artists, and as long as someone managed to kill them, they could obtain those two divine weapons.

The entire martial artist community burst into commotion after learning of it. Those with some power and ambition all flocked to Immortal Fox Village!

*****

When Happy logged off, he heard about it from the Three Lonely Wolves, and his reaction was to quirk his eyebrows a little before he calmly lowered his head to continue shoving food into his mouth.

“Hey.” Chen Fan, Bai Lang, and Qi Ci exchanged a surprised look. “We’re talking about the Fox Cave here, why aren’t you giving us any reaction?”

To any player in World of Martial Arts, an unexplored place that was full of dangers, surprises, and excitement would excite their heart and make them look forward to visiting the place. This was the reason why Fox Cave could attract so many players every day. Besides, there were guaranteed divine weapons inside, and they were items that could drive every single player mad!

However, when Happy heard about Fox Cave, his expression made it seem as if he had just heard about a pigsty, while the divine weapons were just kitchen knives that could be seen everywhere on the market.

But who would truly know that Happy’s vision and thoughts were placed on a wider and further spectrum?

Others might not understand Fox Cave, but there was no way he would not understand it.

A normal Blessed Realm Red Fox with the help of Great Phantasm Matrix had power similar to a martial artist who had just entered Mystical Realm, and their martial arts were all speed-based.

Happy was confident that he could handle one to two of them without a problem, but when he thought about the red and white fox monsters that covered the walls and ceiling of the tunnel, he felt a huge headache.

No matter how strong a person was, if they were surrounded by a group of fox monsters which had incredibly great speed, they would not be able to escape unscathed. Without sufficient strength, the only outcome for them would be death.

The battle replays that were continuously uploaded on the internet could speak for themselves.

Once someone entered the cave, no matter how big of a group they had, compared to the fox monsters, who had home advantage in terms of geography, they would be sorely lacking in strength! Besides, the monsters were also very tough. Because of that, there were always more human deaths rather than the fox ones.

Also, very few people knew that the main reason behind why an increasing number of players went charging to their deaths one after another was because of the few major guilds behind the scenes. They were the strongest guilds in the cities and towns nearby.

They knew the dangers of Fox Cave the best, but they were reluctant to give up on the high drop rate of the high-tier martial arts, which was why they continuously spread news of obtaining benefits in the cave to attract more mooks that would die in their place. They wanted to use their bodies to pave their path through Fox Cave.

When the situation became incredibly chaotic, they would enter to obtain benefits. Otherwise, it would be impossible for any organization to gain a firm footing in Fox Cave.

“I’m not attracted by that Fox Cave,” Happy said in a calm voice. “Right now, what I lack is a high-tier body fortification technique and high-tier lightness skill.”

That was his answer and explanation to the Three Lonely Wolves.

He did not dare to tell his real plan to his three brothers: his jade slit ring was to be used to open the third layer of Fox Cave, and he had long since placed that area as his next stop.

His Stormy Shadowless Kick had already reached the tenth realm, and soon, it would catch up to Flowering Knights’ Song. It would then become Happy’s first high-tier martial art to reach Grandmaster Realm.

With Stormy Shadowless Kick at Grandmaster Realm, Happy and the help of Wind Spirit Spin, Happy was confident that he could deal with the fast and vicious foxes. He was sure that at that time, he would be able to fight a skulk of them without losing.

However, it was not the time for it just then.

The numerous White Foxes and Red Foxes could never be found wandering alone. Fox Cave was not very wide to begin with, and they were always in a group. Hence, aside from his own strength, Happy also needed help from powerful companions to clear Fox Cave.

He already had two candidates in his heart.

But it was still far from enough.

Fox Cave was not a place that could be turned upside down by one or two people.

It was also not a place that could be cleared by having multiple people die beforehand. None of the party members could be a burden. Any person who ended up being a burden in Fox Cave might die at any moment.

There was also an even more important problem!

There were quite a number of organizations who had ambitions toward Fox Cave. Most of them were quite powerful. Even some people from Class One Hall were in there. In the lawless world of martial artists, only with brute strength would anyone have the right to have their voice heard.

If anyone wanted to gain any benefits from Fox Cave and seize a portion of the pie from the various powerful and domineering sects and organizations aiming for it, perhaps even using these as chess pieces, that person would need even more meticulous planning, better preparation, and great strength.

None of the three could be missing.

It should be possible to stir up the powerful players’ interest with the jade slit ring.

Happy smiled, lowered his head, and continued to shove food into his mouth.