Sword Among Us

There was a table with an ancient lamp within a certain room. The table was made of black wood, and light flickered on its dark surface. The ancient lamp illuminated the back of a tall man who stood facing a wall. The mercilessness of time could be sensed from him in an intangible manner, along with loneliness.

There was a very thick medicinal scent in the room. It gave off a faint feeling that the man was a hero who had been driven into a corner.

When he heard the sound of footsteps that came one after another from the entrance, the tall man sighed and turned around to reveal an indifferent face belonging to someone who had experienced a lot in life.

“I knew this day would come…”

A desolate, somber, and hoarse voice broke the silence in the house. The man’s gaze landed on Lin Xiao, who appeared to be the person leading the group. He swept his gaze over the group of martial artists and put on a faint smile that showed longing and nostalgia.

He mumbled under his breath, “I suffered a qi deviation in the past, and I knew that my enemies would definitely come to me one day. And her temper has become more and more violent… It’s becoming harder for her to calm her emotions. Since you are here, I must get to know you, or else, if she sees that you are here, the evil in her heart will become greater, and she will completely fall into the path of evil.”

The killing intent in the man’s tone was very faint. Instead, there was some hints of tenderness in his voice. It gave off a very strange feeling.

“He’s Yao Hua?”

Right when someone asked the question from within the crowd, they saw the mumbling man bring out a simple and strange weapon from the Universe Bag at his waist.

“Look at what he’s holding!”

As someone cried out in surprise, all the people instantly fixed their gazes on Yao Hua’s hands. They could see a dark blue hilt inlaid with gold threads. It seemed incredibly aristocratic as well as graceful and luxurious, as if it was something belonging to someone who stood above others. An invisible presence instantly swept through the room.

At that moment, Yao Hua’s gaze focused, and he looked like a hunter who had fixed its eyes on a prey. His tender gaze gradually disappeared, replaced by a great chill and an invisible aura.

Since Lin Xiao stood across from Yao Hua, he became the first one to be affected.

Boom!

He could not help but activate his body fortification technique and qi realm to withstand the terrifying pressure from Yao Hua.

‘Life and Death Realm? No… if he’s just in Life and Death Realm, it’d be impossible for him to give me such terrifying pressure. Could it be as Red Dust predicted? Yao Hua is one of the higher ranking bosses at Moksha Realm?’

Lin Xiao did not dare to be inattentive. His focus shifted to Yao Hua’s feet from the divine weapon in his hands. Drops of red blood were slowly dropping to the ground while Yao Hua continued to increase the power of his qi. However, he showed no signs of moving.

At that moment, grave cries of surprise rose from behind him. Wind Void, Dream Clouds, and the people from Towering Palace had also entered Yao Hua’s chamber. While they faced Yao Hua as his qi continued to increase in power, their expressions became very unpleasant.

“Chivalry Sect, you’ve fought against Yao Hua once and have gotten to know him. What’s the situation?”

Dream Clouds seemed to have noticed that they were in a hurry as well, because she could sense a powerful presence that was as great as that of her master, West Region Demon, from Yao Hua.

If that were the case, then even if they sacrificed all of their people in the small chamber, they might still be unable to harm Yao Hua!

“We lost one of our comrades. Then, we left.”

Lin Xiao’s answer made the people from the three great sects reveal solemn and puzzled expressions at the same time.

When he faced even more questioning gazes, Lin Xiao explained.

“I know what you’re suspecting. Yao Hua is indeed too strong. We had one sect member who had a high-tier body fortification technique at the ninth realm and Seven Star Battle Armor that added three defense enter, but even he couldn’t withstand even one blow from Yao Hua. Hence, I gave the order for all our people to retreat. But later on, I realized that Yao Hua cannot move. He should not have recovered from his injuries. It’s either this, or there is some other reason behind why he doesn’t move.”

“If he can’t move, does it mean that we can use long-range attacks?” someone from Class One Hall asked.

Lin Xiao shook his head without even turning around. “Just what sort of damage do we need to injure a Moksha Realm Boss with long-range attacks? Besides, do you actually think that Yao Hua’s equipment is worse than ours?”

Once he said those words, the group noticed that Yao Hua seemed to be wrapped up in a beautiful and tight-fitting fox coat that was a mixture of red, white, and black. It looked exquise, and he looked noble and graceful while wearing it. Everyone could tell at first glance that it was no ordinary item.

“It should be made using the sturdiest pelts from the Red Foxes, White Foxes, and the She-wolf.” Dream Clouds’ words made everyone’s hearts tense. “The value of the fox coat should not be below that divine vessel.”

“He has two divine vessels?!”

The gazes of everyone in the chamber instantly became heated with greed.

At that moment, one person requested for permission and used a high-tier bow technique to try and shoot at Yao Hua.

They did not see Yao Hua raise his hand. They did not even see him using a body fortification technique, but the arrow missed its target and hit the wall like an afterimage.

“A high-tier bow technique at Grandmaster Realm? Sister Dream, you do indeed have a lot of great power stored in Class One Hall.”

Even though the attack was ineffective, Wind Void cast a glance at the person with the high-tier bow technique. She made some calculations. If someone wanted to master a high-tier bow technique, they would need more than one hundred thousand arrows, and all of them would have to hit their target. Money was secondary. The energy needed and the things the archer had to consider were not something a normal player could bear.

“Yao Hua looks like he’s really difficult to deal with. Sister Wind Void, why don’t we go and test things out first?”

Dream Clouds turned to Wind Void with a smile.

Wind Void rejected the offer firmly. “We are the ones who provided the key to the third level of Fox Cave. This important duty is something that we as the hosts cannot take off our shoulders.”

Even though Yao Hua’s presence was incredibly strong, it was the second time they came to him. There was no way Chivalry Sect would run back in conceitedness to snatch the divine vessels without making any preparations.

The other two sects had gotten to know of Yao Hua’s fatal weakness: He could not move!

Since Yao Hua could not move, no matter how strong he was, as long as he could not kill them all with one slash, they could slowly whittle down his HP. Also, they had heard that Yao Hua had been injured badly and could not leave Fox Cave. This was also one of the things they could rely upon.

“If that’s the case…” Dream Clouds’ face became slightly dark.

When she saw that the atmosphere had become grave again, Musical Note, who had not said a thing since the second level of the cave, spoke again. “Sisters, you’re being hasty again. Yao Hua hasn’t died yet. Besides, since he has two divine vessels on him, it’s not impossible to distribute those items. This can satisfy everyone, but I, Musical Note, have an unreasonable demand.”

Dream Clouds and Wind Void did not say anything.

In the face of the temptation from the divine vessels, Dream Clouds and Wind Void did not agree to whatever Musical Note suggested straight away.

For one, no one was certain whether Yao Hua would drop two divine vessels. On top of that, Class One Hall had not come to Fox Cave so that they could arrive at a satisfactory conclusion with Chivalry Sect.

A messenger pigeon suddenly broke the silence in the chamber. It stopped on Vice Sect Master Barren Murderer’s shoulder.

Barren Murderer of Class One Hall frowned slightly. He took out the letter and cast it a glance. The words were very clear, but he still crushed the paper before many of the players’ gazes without batting an eyelid. He then whispered in Dream Clouds’ ear.

Once Dream Clouds heard Barren Murderer’s words, she was first stunned, then, against everyone’s expectations, she agreed to Musical Note’s suggestion. “We can also be fair. But what did you want to say, Sister Musical?”

“I was wondering whether you can give a portion of the loot from Yao Hua that is not divine vessels to Towering Palace. Of course, we will also provide manpower in the fight for it.”

“I have no opinions regarding this. This will just depend on whether Sister Wind Void will allow it.”

Dream Clouds’ answer took Chivalry Sect by surprise. When Wind Void saw Dream Clouds throw such a difficult question with a smile to her, her heart instantly sank.

No matter how foolish Chivalry Sect could be, it was obvious that it would not be a good idea to offend Class One Hall and Towering Palace at the same time…

A few seconds later, Wind Void exchanged a glance with Lin Xiao and Red Dust. Then, she nodded slowly. The three sects then cast their gazes on Yao Hua, whose blood was pooling around his feet and whose face had become even paler than before.