Sword Among Us

Eleventh Crane thought hard about the offer. The fortune contained within this mysterious jade slit ring could be a martial art manual, hidden quest, or a divine weapon, but he had not received any clue about it for a long time, and even when Happy told him about it, he still found himself unable to do anything about it. He did not understand the true value of it, but he did know about the value of a fourth-echelon equipment very well.

Once Happy made the offer, Eleventh Crane agreed to it practically without thinking. He said that it would be best if he could get a weapon or armor.

Lately, the grade one equipment that players created on their own had been coming out one after another. Even though they did not have any innate attributes, their defenses were usually very high, so much so that they surpassed normal grade one masterpieces, which was why they were still very popular among many players.

Happy did not answer immediately. He sent a messenger pigeon to Thunderous Battle and had him form an inventory list so that Eleventh Crane could choose on his own.

As for him, he took the jade slit ring and walked into Murong Clan calmly. He left behind Whirlwind Young Li and the others surrounding Eleventh Crane while filled with harmless envy toward him.

In the current World of Martial Arts, fourth-echelon equipment was the sign of a great player jumping to the ranks of top-class players!

“Old Crane! You have to treat us to a meal now!”

“Hahahaha… I definitely have to…”

Eleventh Crane smiled so wildly that his teeth could be seen. He wrapped his fist in his palm and saluted his friends.

Once Happy entered Mu Clan, he was led to the main hall of Murong Mansion under Uncle Rong’s lead.

Happy quickly noticed that there was something abnormal about Uncle Rong’s expression. Murong Clan seemed to be swathed in a rather solemn atmosphere. What surprised him even more was that last time, the main hall of Murong Mansion was a region where only the inner members of Murong Clan (who were also NPCs) could come and go freely, so it was basically an important ground for the clan.

This time, however, it was open to many Murong Clan disciples, and quite a number of elegant men and women walked in and out of the hall. When they saw Uncle Rong personally lead someone over, they could not help but cast him a few more looks.

Happy could not suppress his curiosity and asked, “Uncle Rong, did something major happen in our clan?”

Uncle Rong answered in a solemn voice. “The master has long since ordered that once you returned, I was to immediately bring you to him. You will naturally understand everything else when you see the master. The lady is also there.”

Happy did not say anything, but he understood what had happened.

He had only completed half of Shifting Star’s quest, so it should not be enough for him to meet Murong Clan Master personally, so he was probably going to meet them for the matter with the salt ship and him killing General Yang.

With various questions in his head, Happy followed Uncle Rong and entered a side hall attached to the main hall.

There was an ink wash painting of mountains and rivers hanging on the wall of the side hall, and it was refreshing to see. It was very similar to the painting Old Swordsman admired in the royal mausoleum.

The Murong Clan Lady, who was dressed in white, stood beside the ink wash painting in a dainty manner.

Beside her was a middle-aged man with extraordinary bearing. He stood with his back facing Happy in a relaxed manner while he admired the ink wash painting of mountains and rivers. With just one glance, he could attract a person’s full attention. He gave off the feeling that he was a great man worthy of admiration.

“Master, Happy has arrived,” Uncle Rong said to the person.

Murong Clan Master turned his head around. He had an old face, and there was a hideous scar on his forehead. It caused Happy to feel that there was a huge disparity between the person’s back and his face.

“You’re here.” His voice was sonorous, steady, elegan, and clear.

It was the first time Happy met Murong Clan Master He sucked in a sharp breath before he snapped out of his amazement and went up to greet him.

“I, Happy, greet the master.”

“I heard from my Yu’er that you are a model hero of Murong Clan’s current generation. I will not beat around the bush for your reward. I was not around last time, and Yu’er said you did well during your mission to protect the salt ship. General Yang’s death might have brought us some trouble, but now, we no longer face any obstacles on our sea route to sell salt.”

Muron Clan’s master’s voice was calm, and he regarded Happy with an admiring look. “But I did not expect that you would be able to improve so quickly within just a short few months. Not only did you perform outstandingly at Light Summit, you also obtained unanimous praise from the six great sects.

“There are a few sect leaders who sing praises about you, especially Emei Sect’s Sect Leader Zhou. She said that you are the benefactor of Emei. You have brought great glory to me.”

He paused for a moment before he changed his tone. “Since you have performed outstandingly at Light Summit, Yu’er has been urging me to summon you back to reward you, and I have been thinking all this while how I should do it. You do not seem to need any weapons or equipment.”

Murong Clan Master observed Happy’s face, and Happy felt as if he had been seen through. “When the martial arts tournament is officially launched, follow Yu’er to Hero’s Mountain Villa to join the martial arts tournament. During the tournament, you must remember to bring glory to the Murong Clan again.

“Do not let the Nangong Clan or any other clan suppress us. As long as you manage to get into the top three, when you return, I will give you Shifting Stars before the end of your quest. What do you think?”

“I understand.” Happy was happy.

He originally thought that since he still had more than forty martial arts that had not reached the requirements, he would have to push back practicing Shifting Star until half a year later, or perhaps even later.

He did not expect that Murong Clan Master would bring it up ahead at that moment.

“Don’t be too happy just yet!” Murong Clan Master’s tone suddenly became incredibly stern and solemn. “While I was in Beijing, quite a number of martial artists sent me word, and they mentioned your deeds in Beijing. You have a lot of courage for daring to invade Ruyang Mansion. If it were not because Prince Ruyang is currently having trouble protecting even himself, perhaps even I would have no choice but to expel you.”

He paused for a moment before he said, “But I did not expect that you would have practiced Beggar’s Sect’s ultimate technique, Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palm. Not only did you manage to protect Zhou Zhiruo and send her out of Beijing, Xuanming Elders and Ruyang Mansion’s two elites were not able to kill you.”

“It is all thanks to the lady and Uncle Rong’s teachings,” Happy answered humbly.

When the Murong Clan Lady heard it, she quirked her elegant eyebrows.

Murong Clan Master master also smiled.

“Naturally, I know about Yu’er and Uncle Rong’s contributions, but you do not need to heap praises on them. Murong Clan has its own rules. All the inner clan disciples must go out to practice one hundred martial arts. They must be able to protect themselves and become outstanding figures in the world of martial artists. Your achievements are all your own work.”

“I understand.”

“I’ve decided to give you Shifting Stars after the end of the martial arts tournament because I wish that you won’t pay too much attention to the martial arts from other sects. We ask you to go out to practice other martial arts and study extensively the one hundred martial arts because we want you to broaden your horizons and to have an accepting heart, but we don’t want you to pay too much attention to other sects’ martial arts.”

Happy was stunned. It was only then that he noticed that there was something strange about the Murong Clan Master and Murong Clan Lady’s expressions.

The Murong Clan Master then said “Murong Clan’s ultimate technique, Shifting Stars, might have incredibly harsh learning requirements, but everyone knows that once you successfully learn it, you will seem to have entered a place with no one around you even when you are surrounded by armies. You will stand triumphant among all martial artists at the same qi realm as you are, and you will gain great benefits when you are in a group fight! Compared to martial arts that require qi to be powerful for a short period of time, the profound secret of Shifting Secrets is much greater than.”

When Happy heard that, he instantly came to a realization as to what was going on.

The Murong Clan Master and Murong Clan Lady should be slightly displeased with his progress, but under the influence of various people involved in his quests, they decided to give him the ultimate technique to encourage and motivate him in his pursuit for Shifting Stars.

They must have given a lot of thought to it.

But the Murong Clan Master did not understand that Happy had spent a few months to get Nine Yang Divine Skill mainly because he wanted to quicken his speed in completing Shifting Stars’ quest. If he mastered Nine Yang Divine Skill, his speed when practicing martial arts would be astonishing, and he could learn all martial arts at half the speed he would require normally.