Sword Among Us

“Whew, thank goodness. I’m so damn lucky.” Once he escaped death’s door, Little North’s face filled with relief. “Boss, Big Brother Thunder, thank goodness you came early. This damn sissy said he wanted to sew my mouth shut,” he said to the people beside him.

“How on earth did you provoke him, kid?”

There was an unconcerned smile on Thunderous Battle’s face. He sliced the threads binding Little North’s limbs with swift and clean actions. It made the mysterious man across him frown.

“Don’t phrase your words like that, Big Brother Thunder. I swear on my honor that I just came over to take a look, and this sissy said he wanted to kill me to keep the secret. Heh, so I cursed him a little, and he went all gungho about wanting to give me capital punishment! Who does he think he is?!”

Little North raised his voice to talk about how greatly he was wronged while looking innocent and aggrieved.

Happy put away his saber and stood straight, but his gaze was trained on the mysterious man across from him. He did not dare to be careless. While he listened to Little North’s words, he frowned a little and swept a glance at Nian’s carcass not too far away. He also cast a glance at the stranger’s corpse. Then, his gaze instantly became much sharper.

“You want to kill us to keep your secret? Hmph! We have three people here now. What do you intend to do, sir?”

The mysterious man said nothing. From the moment they appeared, he could tell that the two level-headed and calm people would be difficult to deal with. The threads connected to the flying needles contained qi that was unique to him, and normal weapons were not able to cut them. It was only possible if a person had a high-tier martial art at Grandmaster Realm along with a masterpiece, and also had some degree of strength.

Right then, there were still not many people who had high-tier martial arts in Grandmaster Realm in the game, and he did not think that he would run into three in a remote and deserted forest.

Little North was rash, but even he seemed to have encountered an extraordinarily fortuitous event that allowed him to obtain zombie puppets with incredibly great defense. Judging by how he behaved, the two who arrived after him were stronger than him and definitely not weaker. Even if they faced him while he stood in the air, their expressions did not change, and they did not show any signs of pressure.

They were three powerful players.

However, being good was nothing before ultimate techniques!

Besides, there was still a heavily injured person by their side, so they would need to divide their attention to take care of him, which would make it impossible for them to attack together.

The mysterious man did not say anything, though his gaze darkened. He snorted lightly and swiftly extended his long and fair fingers from the sleeves of his brocade robes, which were the color of flowers. He turned his wrist, and three embroidery needles that shone with a frightening, chilling glare appeared between his fingers. He brought them to his lips, which gave him a unique charm. Then, he pressed his middle finger and ring finger against his thumb before he flicked his wrist and sent the needles out.

“I’ll handle it!”

Thunderous Battle moved, shifting in front of Happy at the speed of a phantom.

Thunderous Battle chose to be the one to fight. It was the first time he met such a unique player, and he was thrilled to have a good fight. He was prepared to have a contest of strength with the other person.

The shadow of his sword moved. The clear sounds of metal clashing against metal rose, and the three flying needles were knocked away at the same time.

Thud, thud, thud!

They were nailed into the peach blossom tree nearby, and pink peach blossoms fell from the branch while trembling.

Right after Thunderous Battle attacked, the mysterious man’s expression became even more solemn. He did not dare believe that there was actually someone who could accurately predict the trajectory of his flying needles and get a firm grasp of where they would attack!

What he used was equivalent to a high-tier hidden weapons technique. Even if powerful Mystical Realm players could understand the trajectory of the flying needles, they would not be able to react as quickly and with as much skill as Thunderous Battle to block them, especially if they fought against him for the very first time.

The only people who had reacted like that were NPCs! He had never run into human players who could do it!

For some time, the mysterious man and Thunderous Battle just stood in a world filled with pink peach blossoms. They stood across from each other, and their aura continued becoming stronger while their wariness of each other grew. Both of them refused to give in to the other.

Little North sat down cross-legged beside Happy outside the battlefield. He circulated his qi and treated his wounds.

Happy stood with his saber while he watched Thunderous Battle’s back. There was a hint of surprise along with glee on his face!

In the last couple days, Thunderous Battle had trained his Fox Monster’s Phantasmal Shadow in the peach blossom forest and moved around the Masked Female Bandits who were the outer sect disciples of Shifting Flower Palace. This was because the lightness skill placed an emphasis on moving and dodging in a small area. Thunderous Battle had even decided to fuse the lightness skill together with his high-tier body fortification technique, which had not reached the eighth realm just yet, and trained them together.

Every single day, he would have a group of Masked Female Bandits in Mystical Realm armed with all sorts of throwing knives and hidden weapons following him, and wherever he went, the sounds of air being sliced would echo nonstop. Branches were snapped, and flowers were destroyed.

There was a period of time when even Happy had been shocked by his actions. If he had not known that Thunderous Battle was working hard to use all the strange body movements that made him move like a fox and was using the terrain and the peach blossoms to avoid the hidden weapons, he might have joined the fight to help alleviate the pressure.

However, after watching for a while, Happy quietly left Thunderous Battle’s route. He lured away two Masked Female Bandits and ran to a corner to do some crazy things as well. (Those with their minds in the gutter, get out.)

Happy could tell that Thunderous Battle had decided to use the most extreme method to quickly increase the realm of his lightness skill and body fortification technique. Even though it was very dangerous, he had to admit that training under high pressure would not just help a person level up their martial arts, but would also help them gain great and unexpected combat experience.

It was precisely because of Thunderous Battle’s training method that could be described as madness that his body fortification had shot up to the tenth realm. After moving around day and night, his lightness skill had also reached the seventh realm. Even though he could not compare to All-powerful Medicinal Stone’s speed, he could already move around with ease while surrounded by a group of Mystical Realm bandits armed with hidden weapons. Feeling free, he could even draw his sword and block their attacks.

While the mysterious man’s flying needles were quick, Thunderous Battle, who was already used to listening to the wind to determine the location of attacks, no longer had any difficulty in knocking them away.

The mysterious man’s greatest advantage did not quite work in front of Thunderous Battle.

For the first time ever, the mysterious man sensed danger from a player. He extended his fair palms at the same time, and around a dozen flying needles shot out at the same time.

There was the sound of needles hissing through the air.

When Thunderous Battle saw it, he laughed loudly. He moved, and the flying needles shot through the afterimage he left behind. He moved like the fox monsters in Fox Cave and jumped a few times, just like the ghost of a fox, and shortened the distance between himself and the enemy to less than thirty-two feet from the initial distance of ninety-eight feet.

The mysterious man’s expression changed drastically!

He broke off the threads to his flying needles, and as if he was a conjurer, a few more flying needles appeared in his hands.

It was too late, however!

Every time he moved, Thunderous Battle would disappear from his sight.

But Happy had his qi circulating in his eyes since the start, so he could capture Thunderous Battle’s agile movements while he shifted about as strangely as a fox. He was like an afterimage that could twist its form and change shape.

But while he was fast, it was not impossible to find him. Every time he shifted, he would appear around thirty-two feet away from his original spot. He could also adjust his movement trajectory at his own will. The flexibility of his lightness skill was very great, and its evasion rate was astonishing. It was very suited to deal with hidden weapons.

However, it was still not practical to rely on a lightness skill to subdue Dongfang Bubai’s successor who had inherited Sunflower Manual.

Thunderous Battle appeared behind the mysterious man and swung his sword down without hesitation!

Right when the mysterious man was about to be beheaded, he suddenly flew more than thirty-two feet to the left in a very strange manner. There was no sign of him bending his knees to prepare for the jump. His movement was extraordinarily quick and abrupt, as if he was a demon or an immortal.

Thunderous Battle was shocked, but he immediately turned around and chased after him.

However, the mysterious man just became faster!

He had Thunderous Battle running around in circles, which started what looked like a wild goose chase!

The mysterious man had seized control once more.

Just when Thunderous Battle’s breathing became harsher, a demonic sound that was similar to a woman humming suddenly appeared. The atmosphere in the peach blossom forest became grave all of a sudden.

Happy’s expression became solemn.

“Big Brother Thunder, come back and take care of Little North. I’ll go up and play with him.”

He took a step forward, and the weapon in his hand swiftly changed to Green Jade Shrouded in Heavenly Silks. He looked at the flowery figure that continuously moved about in the air with a solemn look.

“Hmph! Thinking of leaving?”

A sound that resembled a grudge-filled, angry, and light snort from a woman rose into the air! The demonic sound that sounded like sticky silk swiftly became piercing to the ears. The air became thick, and there seemed to be a huge suction force that tugged at Thunderous Battle’s body. Even if he activated Fox Monster’s Phantasmal Body, his speed and the area in which he could move were reduced drastically.

By the looks of it, the mysterious man had set his mind on killing Thunderous Battle!