Sword Among Us c1-1268

by Black Swordsman Online

  His face turned red, and he gripped his long saber tightly!

  Happy instantly sensed an incredibly dangerous presence come from him.

  Happy's eyes flashed. He sensed a faint stream of air gather at Luo Xiaotian's feet, and alarm bells went ringing in his head.

  He suddenly remembered something. It was a memory from his previous life, one he had not recalled for a long time, and it was a spark…

  "Take this! Blood Cycle Slash!"

  The secret technique that required qi from Blood Saber Sect—Blood Cycle Slash!

  Chapter 19 - Expert and Greenhorns

  The feeling of danger rose in Happy, and he noticed that Luo Xiaotian's speed had become even faster. What he used was a killing move that drained all the qi in its user's body. Even though it was executed by a player who had not even entered Gate Realm, this skill, when used on a new player, would feel like a huge weight bearing down on them, and it could not be avoided!

  Even Happy, after a long time of being under high pressure and pouring all of his attention on understanding Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Sword, did not immediately connect what he saw to Blood Cycle Slash.

  When he discovered that there was something abnormal about the situation, the brilliant blood-red light had already arrived right in front of him with loud, thunderous booms. He could not avoid it entirely with the current martial art he used…

  It was the moment of life and death!

  Happy basically did not think. He subconsciously employed Python Flip from Shaolin's Long Fist. At the same time, his Noble Sword slipped out from his hand to execute a skill he had understood in his previous life!

  He moved like the actors in action movies. He quickly flipped backwards, and the Noble Sword shot out from his hand like lightning. It crashed right into the aggressive attack that came from Luo Xiaotian's Blood Cycle Slash, which aimed to kill him.

  But no matter what, Luo Xiaotian had yet to enter Gate Realm. He could not yet control the secret technique with familiarity and ease. After all, it was a skill that required powerful qi to serve as its foundation. When Luo Xiaotian saw the sword flying toward him, he became alarmed and instantly lost his composure.

  Clang!

  The clear sound of metal clashing against metal could be heard. The Noble Sword was sent into the ground ten feet away from them, its saber buried approximately two feet into the ground.

  Luo Xiaotian's secret technique had missed its target. He was surprised and enraged by this. He bellowed in anger, "Your life is mine!"

  With the remaining momentum from the secret technique, he charged at the spot in front of Happy, and blood shadows appeared again! He would like to see how Happy could possibly defend against his Blood Wheel Sword when unarmed!

  Yet once Happy resolved the life-threatening danger with his flying sword, he quickly immersed himself in the fight once more. He began to move like a spinning top. His footsteps became even steadier, and his movements were even more agile than before. His momentum also became much more powerful than before.

  Boom!

  When faint blood shadows appeared in front of him, wind stirred up by a fist bypassed them and arrived at Luo Xiaotian's side. Hidden within that wind was a shock that could cause tremors within people. The fierce blow rammed straight into Luo Xiaotian's face, who had already drained himself of his qi and could not defend.

  At the tenth realm, the lethality of Shaolin's Long Fist did not lose out to normal ninth realm sword techniques executed with the Noble Sword. Before Luo Xiaotian could react to the momentum that Happy suddenly gained, a powerful force sent him flying.

  Luo Xiaotian's eyes went wide in shock while he was flying.

  Even though it had not yet reached Wind Spirit Realm, which all grandmasters would obtain, the essence of the fist had been born, and it was a clear sign that Happy had reached the tenth realm with Shaolin's Long Fist.

  "Impossible!"

  When Luo Xiaotian was flung into the distance, he had to force down a powerful dizziness. He quickly got to his feet once he landed on the ground and looked at the blue-robed boy. He was just in time to see Wu Hou unable to last even two blows in the boy's hands. Just like him, Wu Hou was sent flying with a crash to his shoulder once Happy found his weakness.

  But Wu Hou clearly ended up in a worse situation.

  Once he suffered the vicious shoulder attack, he was pulled back by a Golden Dragon Stretches Claw. He could not use his sword techniques at all, since he had lost his balance, and he had to endure consecutive heavy blows on his person. Soon, he coughed up a mouthful of blood and fell sideways on the ground.

  "Thank you for your guidance."

  The blue-robed boy did not continue attacking them. He cast an indifferent glance at the two people on the ground before he pulled out his Noble Sword and put it back in its sheath. Then, he returned to the government-made road and gradually went into the distance.

  He left behind two men who suffered from many internal injuries. They looked at each other at a loss, and they felt great bitterness within them.

  "He's so good. He actually managed to reach the tenth realm with Shaolin's Long Fist. At least we didn't lose for no reason."

  Wu Hou also recognized Happy's fist technique. He laughed bitterly. He no longer had the mood to seek guidance from the experts in Gusu City.

  "Indeed, we didn't lose for no reason."

  Luo Xiaotian cast his companion a glance. He also felt the same way.

  He originally had thought that Happy was just a newbie who only knew how to dress himself up and boast about his wealth. He did not expect that Happy had not just learned Wudang Sect's Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Sword, but had also understood every style of Blood Wheel Sword and Complete Reality Sword Technique.

  He even had a fist technique he understood extensively. In fact, he could actually easily avoid Blood Cycle Slash. No wonder then that he had the courage to arrogantly practice a sword technique he just learned even though he was up against two enemies. He had thought nothing of them…

  "We looked down on a hero of the world."

  "This person will be someone famous in the future!"

  The two picked up their weapons and quietly put to memory the boy from Gusu City. They then walked to the courier station.

  After the fight, they had realized that with their abilities, they did not have the power to do what they wanted in World of Martial Arts and had to train more. In the future, perhaps there would be a place for them in the game.

  ...

  All the people who were challenged in fights that occurred outside cities in World of Martial Arts had an advantage over their attackers in terms of the justice system in the game. They could fight back freely, and they could even kill their enemies.

  It was especially so for the fight just then. Happy had fought against two alone, and won. He had also won as the weaker party. The appearance of the secret technique—Blood Cycle Slash—could receive the system's automatic assessment. As long as he killed the other person, he might even obtain some additional rewards, and the level of his skills might even increase a little.

  But Happy knew one thing very clearly after he had played the game for three years: It was easy to make enemies, but not easy to resolve grudges between them.

  The young people who just joined the World of Martial Arts were always prideful and did things according to their sense of justice or the code of brotherhood. He had done the same in the past and offended a lot of people. He had also killed a lot of people, which was why he was set up during the Sword Among Us tournament and ambushed at the foot of Shaoshi Mountain.

  Now that he could start from the beginning again, Happy did not intend to form grudges with other people because of minor things. After all, he did not suffer any losses when he had fought against the duo. Instead, they served as his sparring partners, and there was just no need for him to kill them or heavily damage their qi cultivation base.

  He should be lenient whenever possible.


  Once he left, Happy ran into an old acquaintance while he was on his way to a tavern—Li Shan.

  His drunk figure that served as a walking ATM machine with silver on his person was very conspicuous. It was difficult for Happy to not recognize him…

  He might have been drunk, but Li Shan was still alert. He looked at the blue-robed boy who walked toward him and immediately took note of him. Once Happy drew closer, fire instantly ignited in Li Shan's eyes.

  "It's you, you brat! Get your b.u.t.t over here!"

  He hung his wineskin at his waist, drew his Refined Steel Sword, and chased after Happy. The posture he assumed made it seem as if he had just run into an absolutely irreconcilable enemy.

  'Haha!'

  Happy laughed in his heart. Without another word, he turned tail and ran to lure Li Shan into a remote forest.

  After an hour, some people on the government-made road saw a blue-robed boy walk out of a forest while gasping for air. He looked as if he had just gone through a fierce battle. Before they could wrap their heads around this matter, they saw a sword-wielding man covered in blood and with a dozen throwing knives sticking out of him run out of the forest while cursing through gritted teeth.

  The spirit of gossip instantly burned like wildfire in the players who saw it. They discussed what they saw among themselves.

  "Isn't that Li Shan?"

  "Looks like him…"

  "Did that boy beat him up until he's like this?"

  "Who is he?"

  "You don't even know him? He often goes in and out of the Murong Clan. I heard that he has already become part of the Murong Clan…" said a "veteran" player of World of Martial Arts who seemed to be well-informed. He had a face full of envy when he spoke.

  Enlightenment immediately showed up on everyone's faces.

  "He's someone from Gusu City's Murong Clan!"

  As more players noticed the blue-robed boy with the Noble Sword beat up the rascals outside the city, the title "Blue-robed Noble Sword User", which was the title attached to the eldest senior brother of Gusu City's Murong Clan, spread like wildfire.

  Happy, who was the person involved, did not know about this. He just ran about like the diligent boy he was to push his Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Sword and Lancet Knife Throwing Technique to the ninth realm.

  Chapter 20 - Young Yu Yan

  Over the next few days, every time Happy logged out of the game, he did something else other than eat—switching on his computer to browse through South China Martial Arts Ranking Board to look at the changes and learn of the guides and news his university mates uploaded.

  Even though he had already experienced all of this before, being able to recollect what had happened in the past and read into the events that had transpired before in such a direct manner still brought great enjoyment to Happy. It also brought great nostalgia…

  At that point in time, the number of people who had registered in South China Martial Arts Ranking Board had jumped from the initial three hundred or so people to around one thousand seven hundred people. There were hundreds of students who would join the website every day, and its popularity rose continuously.

  Happy noticed that his ranking had dropped. He was originally placed around the two hundreds, but now, he had dropped to around one thousand and six hundred. There were more than one hundred and fifty people whose highest ranked martial art had already reached the ninth realm, which showed just how terrifying were university students' drive and zeal.

  The other three boys in Happy's dorm fared quite well. They were ranked in the top five hundreds, especially Qi Ci's Young Lonely Seven. He actually had a martial art that had already reached the tenth realm, and he was ranked very high, at the seventh place.

  This discovery caused Happy to be incredibly embarrassed.

  He had thought that his tenth realm Shaolin's Long Fist, which he had hidden all this while, could allow him to stay a little longer at the top ranks of the ranking board once he keyed in the information, but apparently even if he did key in his information, he would have eight other people who surpassed his rank in just one night.

  Brother Tea Words, who was at the top of the ranking board, had registered four ninth realm martial arts and one tenth realm martial art. When Happy saw this, he could not help gasping in admiration.

  This person was indeed so strong that he was not a human.

  The game had only just started, and he already had four ninth realm martial arts as well as one tenth realm martial art. Once he reached a breakthrough for all of them and entered Grandmaster Realm, his qi would increase by twenty points at the very least.

  'Looks like World of Martial Arts will soon be the world for players who have entered Gate Realm.'

  Happy s.u.c.k.e.d in a deep breath. His mind was shocked awake when he remembered something!

  Soon after some players' qi reached the first qi realm, World of Martial Arts had launched a story quest of an unprecedented scale, and the rewards involved were very comprehensive and varied. To Happy, who had played the game before, this was incredibly attractive.

  More importantly, it was because of that story quest that the players from the sects in World of Martial Arts, regardless of whether they were big or small sects, and whether they had laid dormant in the game or not, would begin engaging each other in bloody fights. They would all walk down the crazed and passionate path of martial artists.

  *****

  In truth, Chen Fan was very good at making websites. With just a few days of management, he had managed to categorize many of the posts in South China Martial Arts Ranking Board, showing that he had a lot of ways to handle the website. He managed it so well that the users of the website could understand how to navigate it at first glance.

  Some of the practical posts had also had their functions verified, and an "excellent" tag was added to the post so that they became even more eye-catching.

  Chen Fan had expanded the website and made a Members' Elegance Zone. All registered members could upload outstanding screenshots and videos that they took in World of Martial Arts to that area.

  Right after this function was launched, it immediately attracted a number of members to walk down the road of uploading screenshots and videos. They continuously saved the scenes and experiences that they believed were the best of what they encountered in World of Martial Arts.

  "Happy." Bai Lang returned to the dorm right then. He saw the boy sitting in front of his computer, and he was instantly amused. "Why are you grinning so stupidly? Looking at pretty girls?"

  "Go away. Am I that kind of person?" The person Bai Lang spoke to rolled his eyes.

  "And you say you're not looking at a pretty girl? Heh heh, you brat, you must have received news as well. Why are you looking at me like that? Don't go thinking you can deny this now. Young Yu Yan is the name the girl of your dreams, Xu Xin, chose in World of Martial Arts."

  While Bai Lang spoke, he began sighing with a myriad of emotions welling in him all on their own. "Tsk, tsk, I have to say, with Xu Xin's personality and temper, she is indeed like Wang Yuyan from Demi-gods and Semi-devils. She is delicate, which stirs up pity and feelings of tenderness in others. She's so feminine as well. I wonder which lucky bastard will end up dating her in the future."

  Happy was stunned.

  Young Yu Yan was indeed Xu Xin's in-game name in World of Martial Arts. In his previous life, because of the awkward accident with the umbrella, he had never had the courage to meet her again. Thus, they seldom came into contact with each other.

  Later on, he heard that there seemed to be a lot of people who tried to woo her in World of Martial Arts. In fact, she was secretly dubbed as Beauty Yu [1] in the Hundred Flowers Chart in World of Martial Arts.

  Happy scowled. He did not remember any news of Xu Xin getting herself a boyfriend in his past. When he saw the name of Young Yu Yan again, he recalled the events from his previous life carefully and remembered that there was also a vibrant heart of a martial artist under all the delicat
e mannerisms of Xu Xin.

  Wang Yuyan. Young Yu Yan…

  So Xu Xin had actually turned herself into the weakest and most delicate woman in Demi-gods and Semi-devils who needed to depend on others the most.

  But was the person she was going to rely on going to be Murong Fu [2] of Gusu City, or Duan Yu [3], the crown prince of Dali Kingdom [4]? Or would she rely on herself?

  There was no way for him to know this!

  Happy smiled faintly. He suddenly remembered something. He was just a normal secular disciple of Shaolin in his previous life, and he did not have much contact with Xu Xin. But in this life, he was a member of the Murong Clan. He might have a chance to come into contact with Young Yu Yan.

  "Oh please, my darling Happy, could you not smile so stupidly? I feel like the pressure on me has become greater!"

  Bai Lang shuddered in a very exaggerated manner and shook his head. He no longer bothered about a certain someone who just continued smiling foolishly. He kicked off his shoes and climbed onto his bunk.

  Happy was speechless. He rolled his eyes and did not bother to respond.

  While Bai Lang lay down on his bed, he asked without any malicious intentions. "Oh, by the way, Happy, how many martial arts have you learned?"

  Happy was stunned for a moment, then answered, "Hmm… two."

  Lancet Knife Throwing Technique was considered a skill using hidden weapons, and such skills were incredibly difficult to level up. Thus, they should not be considered as martial arts, or that was what Happy thought.

  "That's too few. But it's good that you're specializing in something as well. The higher the realm of your martial art, the more qi you will gain. What's the highest realm of your martial arts? I've reached ninth realm, by the way."

  Bai Lang's tone was one of calmness, as if he was absolutely not surprised by this fact. To him, it would already be great that a nerd like Happy could learn the basics of a certain martial art. His expectations for him were not high.

  "Tenth realm for Shaolin's Long Fist," Happy answered without even turning his head around. There was no reason why he should hide this fact.