Sword Among Us

The canyon in Ghost’s Domain intersected with multiple other canyons, and there were multiple twists and turns to them. Every 328 feet of the canyon will have a small entrance resembling a small valley.

If the entrance to the valley had a plate in front of it and had the sounds of wind signalling fierce fighting coming out from it, it meant that there was already someone training inside, and many people will not enter the place to prevent causing unnecessary conflict. That was because visibility inside was poor. They will have to prevent the people inside from attacking them, and they also had to be on guard against the traps that might be in there.

Usually, players came here to train, and they were not there to cause trouble. As long as the party was not incredibly powerful and domineering, no one will stir up strife by choosing places that were already occupied.

It was the same for Happy and the others.

While they moved forward, when they saw a place with a plate, they will unhesitantly walk further into the canyon.

However, Hunter Clan’s gazes on Happy turned stranger and were filled with more shock as time passed.

Grieving Needle was something that they had never felt piercing into their skins before, but based on the description and the information on the forums, they can somewhat guess that the item was incredibly sinister. It will devour the victim’s qi nonstop and also deliver excruciating pain that was unbearable. There were also a lot of other limitations imposed on the victim.

But as Happy moved forward, not only did he not use any restorative medicine, when he ran into Ghost Scorpions and Eight-eyed Parasitic Spiders, Happy still acted as if there was nothing wrong about him. He showed no sign of being struck by this sinister demon vessel.

Naturally, they did not know that Happy had the supreme classic from Shaolin Temple, Tendon Changing Classic. This martial art could quickly restore its user’s vitality and even strengthen it. It will continuously widen its user’s meridian system and further toughen it. The qi and blood he lost can be recovered within a short period of time.

While Grieving Needle was diabolical, even as it drained Happy’s qi, when Tendon Changing Classic restored what he lost, it stimulated the qi cultivation technique to circulate continuously.

Happy’s chest might be red, but in truth, the pain had long since been suppressed.

In the past, when Mad Monk faced countless powerful enemies in the world of martial artists, he was still able to slaughter thousands, and he did not just rely on his sturdy body to do so. He also relied on Tendon Changing Classic’s ability to recover his strength and suppress all sorts of pain while he was hurt.

On the first day he practiced Tendon Changing Classic, Happy noticed through sheer coincidence that Tendon Changing Classic had this characteristic, and he used this characteristic to push Tendon Changing Classic to the peak of the third realm. The damage from Grieving Needle was clearly below Wild Silk Net, and once Happy became familiar with it, the speed in which his Tendon Changing Classic leveled up was not any slower than when his other self endured the attacks from the group of Inaction Realm over at the other world. After all, his body fortification cannot protect him from this damage.

Under Tendon Changing Classic’s modification, Happy noticed that he soon got used to this pain, and he could somewhat suppress it.

Even if sharp pain occasionally traveled through his body and created deeper damage on him, he was still able to recover quickly from it.

And since he could endure it, Happy will naturally not mind the needle helping him improve his Tendon Changing Classic. After all, as his level increased, his restorative abilities also grew stronger. This was also why he did not take the initiative to tell Mu Qi and the others.

However, it was still better that he let Hunter Clan know that there was a needle stuck to his chest and that it was making him bleed nonstop to prevent them from thinking he was practicing some sort of demonic art that he was not supposed to have anyone know.

Fortunately, Hunter Clan were people who did not care too much about details.

After all, because of the power and influence Happy had previously set up, no one had any doubts about Happy training with the needle in his chest. They only cast an admiring gaze at him while they traveled, though it was an admiring gaze usually directed at monsters.

Also, Happy noticed that as his wound was agitated and became worse, the increase in level for his Tendon Changing Classic will also become much faster than other times.

As time passed, Happy was even worried that Grieving Needle will disappear after some time.

This sort of feeling where he worried about losing something after gaining something appeared in Happy’s body in a bizarre manner.

*****

They moved around for more than half an hour before Mu Qi moved near Happy and suggested to him, “Happy, you’re currently injured. It’s better if we look for a spot with fewer enemy NPCs.”

Happy shook his head unthinkingly. “Didn’t you say that the fewer enemy NPCs there are, the greater the competition? You don’t have to make things so troublesome. It’s not as if we didn’t kill those Ghost Scorpions and Eight-eyed Parasitic Spiders just now. We’ll look for a spot with eight enemy NPCs.”

He paused for a moment before he added, “Try luring as many as you can to your side, and leave the rest to me. I’ll be training my body fortification and lightness skill at the same time right now, so I won’t have a problem even if I fight a few of them in one go.”

The group was instantly rendered speechless.

If this were any other time, they will truly not mind what he said. Happy’s ability in luring enemy NPCs in Mountain Villa of Ten Thousand Beasts was already enough to prove that normal attacks will have a hard time in trying to harm Happy.

But now, the situation was different.

Happy was injured, and if something happened, the situation will be very troublesome.

“Boss Happy, aren’t you worried that Class One Hall’s members will arrive?”

“If they come, let them. What’s there to worry about? After all, I’ve already prepared an Illusion Life and Death Pill for myself. Besides, I’ve already died once. I’ve nothing to lose. At that time, just trigger the traps, and you just need to log off and leave the place.”

Hunter Clan became worked up, and they spoke their minds.

“Boss Happy, don’t say that. If we were at any other place, we’d be truly afraid of Class One Hall, but this is Ghost’s Domain, and no matter how many people come, we won’t be afraid.”

“That’s right.”

“I know you’re being kind, but I want to rely on my strength to settle this matter. Besides, you’re all only having fun in the game in your spare time, right? I don’t want to involve my friends in such a troublesome matter, unless there comes a day where I’m strong enough to build my own faction of power. At that time, I will invite all of you to join me. You can think about it later on. What do you think about that?”

Some of them fell silent out of shock.

“Build a sect…?”

“Boss Happy, are you saying that you want to build a sect?!” The boys in Hunter Clan had their eyes shine, as if they saw a naked beauty. Even the Gu poison lady looked at him like he was a naked beauty.

Happy answered, “I can’t really say for now, so I can’t give you a definite answer. If I have the chance, I think I will do that. In truth, without some forces by my side, it’ll be difficult for me to fight against either Blood Alliance or Class One Hall.”

Mu Qi turned to his friends. “Did you hear that? I told you that there’s no way Happy will not be thinking about fighting against Blood Alliance and Class One Hall. We’ll try to spend more time in grinding and increasing our strength, or else, forget about being unable to help now, we might not even be able to help you in the future.”

“Don’t worry.”

“From now on, we’ll start grinding. After all, we’ve gotten quite a lot of money from Mountain Villa of Ten Thousand Beasts over the past few days. It should be enough to last us for a long time.”

The group was in high spirits.

Happy’s shocking words finally diverted their attention. The group began moving even faster to search for a spot that they can occupy.

“I know a spot with eight enemy NPCs that people will usually not go to.”

*****

In a small city to the northeast of Ghost’s Domain were the people to whom Happy killed. They had been sent back to the Guanlin Temple over there, and they gathered together with dark expressions.

“That guy didn’t die…”

The trap master found himself unable to believe the situation. “That shouldn’t have happened. I clearly saw Grieving Needle piercing into his body. Only a small portion of it is left outside. How could this happen? You know just how powerful Grieving Needle is. Even though it isn’t like Little Li Flying Dagger, it still basically guarantees that whoever is struck with it will die, or else, Grieving Needle will be stuck in him forever!”

“But it has been over one hour by now, and he has indeed not died.” He Yi’s tone was dark. He held a letter in his hand, and his expression was very sour.

Even though it was very unpleasant to learn that all of them died in Happy’s hands, lost a few pieces of equipment, and even had Dream Clouds personally “ask” after them, due to the trap master’s words, the group still felt a little confident that they can live, which was why He Yi had promised Dream Clouds that Happy will definitely not be able to live past one hour.

But now, time passed.

Based on the observation from their spies at Ghost’s Domain, Happy remained active and very much alive. He did not show any signs of dying.

The most crucial part was that Dream Clouds had sent them a letter again with a cold tone telling them to immediately log off to check the information on the forum.

The group looked at each other at a loss.

There was no need to even mention what had happened. Today was definitely a disaster for Class One Hall.

They were famous elites from Class One Hall, and while they were at the entrance to Ghost’s Domain, which had a lot of people moving in and out of it, they were all killed by Happy. This information would definitely explode on the forum, and there must be a lot of powerful people who were laughing at Dream Clouds now by saying that Class One Hall cannot even win against Happy, who had just entered Moksha Realm.

They could already guess that Happy’s fame will become even greater right now.

This was reality, and they cannot change it.

Their only hope had not arrived even after a long time passed. At this time, the group wanted to hide in a restaurant and not go out to meet anyone. There was no way they will actually log off like Dream Clouds told them to watch the battle replay of themselves being slaughtered.

“Say, don’t you think Happy’s lightness skill is a little uncanny? I saw myself hitting him, but… I just don’t get it.”

The group sat in the restaurant dejectedly while they drank. Occasionally, they grumbled, and their topics all circulated Happy.

It would have been better if they did not mention him, because once they did, someone could not understand what happened. “You’re not the only one. I don’t understand it myself. Yesterday, I even deliberately watched his tournament battle replays one and a half years ago at the Sword Among Us Tournament. He might be strong, but it’s not the point where he can fight against both of us at the same time. Why is he so strong when he reentered the game? It’s like all the training I did over the past year is useless.”

“Is there some sort of reward when you reenter the game?”

“Reward, my foot. The official developers have already clearly stated that it’s impossible for them to give any sort of reward. The only good thing they get is that the person will return to the peak of their condition when they last played.”

While the group talked to each other, someone suddenly said something, “Say… do you think that this is related to him running into Master Xuan Kong at Mount Song? I heard that the guy cleared Master Xuan Kong’s quest on the first day he reentered the game and won the exquisite Go game that no one has managed to win after five years. Could he have gotten some sort of technique and doesn’t need to practice it to become good at it?”

The group fell silent, but they came to a sudden realization!

They got closer to each other excitedly.

“Right. If you didn’t mention it, I would have forgotten about it.”

“When he grabbed us, it was insanely accurate. That move might seem like Dragon Claw, but when I think about it now, it’s definitely not Dragon Claw!”

“There’s also the move he used to dodge our attacks! Could it be the same technique?”

“There’s a high possibility for it!”

The group chatted, and they managed to somewhat guess Happy’s situation. In the end, someone rushed outside to get a reading of Happy’s specific situation.

But when they investigated him, they noticed something that they did not expect.