The in-game ID of New World's director was Earth's Hollow Whistle. The pleasant smile on his lips finally became a little stiff. He did not expect that even after he offered such great terms, the boy who looked like a student would reject his offer without any hesitation.
New World's director's passion instantly disappeared without a trace. He felt that the masked boy did not know how to appreciate kindness, and faint anger rose in his heart.
However, the boy's skills were indeed very good. He had watched the trending battle replays on South China Martial Arts Ranking Board. In every single one of Happy's battles, he showed the style and ability only powerful players would have. When he killed his enemies, he did so crisply and cleanly. He was also incredibly shocked by how Happy handled Orochimaru, who was in Blessed Realm. He did not quite have the confidence to win against this young man, which was why he intended to tempt him to his side using benefits.
"Enough with the nonsense."
Happy could guess that the person before him had gathered all the information related to him and that the middle-aged man wanted to win the battle in another way—by taking advantage of Happy's age, using his naivety against him. Hence, Happy immediately cut him off coldly.
"If you want to hire me, then bring out your abilities. If you win against me, I'll join you."
"Alright!"
Happy had successfully goaded his enemy into action, but even though Earth's Hollow Whistle had been forced into doing something he could not do, he could not show any fear, which was why he had naturally accepted Happy's challenge.
Boom!
His robes fluttered, and a powerful aura appeared around his body. The unique presence and pressure belonging to those in Blessed Realm was shown, and it swiftly went to envelop Happy.
When the aura came charging toward him, Happy only turned his body slightly. His sleeves danced madly, but he was unaffected.
"Take this!"
Earth's Hollow Whistle pointed his longsword at Happy, and he moved like a dragon to appear to Happy's left.
Right when Earth's Hollow Whistle attacked, Happy saw through his background. It was Wudang Sect's high-tier martial art—Strength Star Sword Technique. It was a pity that his realm was not high. He had only reached the fifth realm, and it was only slightly better than a low-tier martial art at Grandmaster Realm.
A plan formed in his mind, and a weight settled in his hand. The Hundred-Battle Blade landed on Happy's palm, and Happy did not hesitate. He seized the chance. With one gentle move, he shifted into the countless sword shadows that Earth's Hollow Whistle brought out. He executed Flowering Knights Blade Technique, and with the sound of wind blowing through a forest, he swung his blade at his opponent.
Flowering Knights Blade Technique was extraordinary when it came to skill, defence, and other aspects. It was generally stronger than other low-tier martial arts. Happy managed to defend against Strength Star Sword Technique right in time. Sparks flew, and a hoarse clang rang out, accompanied by the beautiful sound of wind being cut. The two competitors' entangled figures could practically not be seen on the stage.
"Good blade work!"
Right when Happy executed Flowering Knights Blade Technique, Earth's Hollow Whistle's eyes lit up. He could not help but praise Happy loudly, and the grave look on his face became even greater.
When an expert took action, all would know he was good because of his skills!
'How can this be?'
Earth's Hollow Whistle could not endure this thought.
Even though he knew that he was not Happy's opponent, he still s.u.c.k.e.d in a sharp breath when he found himself being forced into a disadvantage so soon. He activated his qi madly, and a small sliver of qi force was instantly forced out of the tip of his sword. The sword shadows became sharper, fiercer, and more eerie. The layers of flashing sword glares surged across him.
Sword force!
Happy's pupils shrank swiftly.
Once the sword force was released, the lethality of the attacks increased by leaps and bounds. They would deal a lot of damage to other weapons. In this sort of situations, it was not beneficial for Happy to fight against his enemy with brute force. He flipped his blade around and tapped against the ground a few times. He performed this series of actions with incredible composure, looking like an Immortal who retreated a few feet in the air horizontally. He left Earth's Hollow Whistle's attack radius.
Earth's Hollow Whistle was instantly caught in an embarrassing situation…
The use of sword force drained an incredible amount of qi, and it also affected his moving speed. Once Happy retreated, Earth's Hollow Whistle immediately found himself in a difficult situation. He could neither advance nor retreat. With a sigh, he admitted defeat in a sulk.
Chapter 74 - Birth of a Champion
While the offline martial arts tournament grew in popularity, a few workers in the control center located in Beijing moved about rows upon rows of computers.
On a huge screen formed by countless other screens were a few matches playing in the game!
One man and two women stood in front of the screen, engrossed in the matches. They did not even notice when an old man dressed in a Tang suit with a dragon-head cane came to stand behind them.
The old man in the Tang suit looked very sturdy. He pointed with his cane and asked with a great degree of interest, "How is the organization of the offline martial arts test this time?"
The three people turned around at the same time. Feeling both surprised and delighted, they quickly greeted the old man respectfully.
"Elder Lin."
"Elder Lin!"
They sounded very respectful and sincere.
"Tell me about the situation in the tournament."
If he had not been around, the release date for World of Martial Arts might have been pushed back for at least three years.
"If no surprises appear, the champion of this tournament should be this youngster."
One person quickly went forward to control the screen. He brought up one of the fights and pointed at the blue-robed young man whose figure was incredibly clear on the screen.
"Oh?" Elder Lin was just in time to see Happy easily and cleanly push his opponent off the stage with two palm strikes. His eyes lit up swiftly, and a surprised expression appeared on his face.
With his experience, it was not difficult for him to recognize that Happy used Shaolin's Long Fist. His control over his strength, his timing in cutting into his opponent's defense line, and the angle… made the old man narrow his eyes.
"He's a talented one."
Elder Lin nodded slowly after giving an incredibly high appraisal to the person on the screen.
"He's indeed good. Up to now, three Blessed Realm players have lost to him. The remaining players in Gate Realm have no way of fighting back against him." One of the male employees in charge of observing the match stopped operating the screen. He then added with an incredibly serious expression, "He is from South China Martial Arts Ranking Board, and he's still a student."
"Hmm."
"It's good that he's a student. That means he's young, hot-blooded, and driven. It also means that he can learn and digest martial arts even easier. If he can understand the true meaning behind the word 'art' in China's ancient culture, then his life in World of Martial Arts will be much more interesting than what you can imagine."
"That's right."
The employees' faces were also filled with confidence.
"Oh, by the way, it has already been three months. Isn't it about time that you launch the first event you developed?" Elder Lin suddenly asked, but his gaze still remained on the masked blue-robed young man on the screen.
"We will launch it tomorrow."
The trio looked at each other and smiled.
"It fits with our plans. The three months induction period has already allowed the players to understand the basic situation in the world of martial artists, but our game cannot turn into a grinding game. If they are forced
to only practice their martial arts, the game will lose its fun. From tomorrow onwards, all the disciples in the sects and clans will receive a quest, and they will all be dragged into the disputes in the world of martial artists!"
"The world of martial artists is merciless and bloody, but at the same time, it is filled with chivalry and gentleness!" The female employee nudged her glasses up to her nose, and she showed off an intellectual air that was unique to her. "Only those who have truly entered the world of martial artists will have the chance to experience the charm of that world. The people who only practice their martial arts and level up will never be able to become truly powerful."
"I long for that day to come."
*****
Happy's actions were different from his initial plans. To obtain the reward offered by the official developers, Happy changed his original plan. Not only did he use mighty strength to get rid of the other two players in Blessed Realm, he also seized the title of champion without any problem. He also helped South China Martial Arts Ranking Board become the top collaborator with the official developers.
South China Martial Arts Ranking Board instantly became the center of attention of countless players, and they discussed it frequently. The mysterious player in Gate Realm who appeared to the world with his face covered was also revered like a god.
There was no other reason behind it, it was because he had won all three rounds against the Blessed Realm players, which made his abilities as clear as day.
At the moment he became champion, the University of South China instantly went into an uproar! The students, be they boys or girls, happily rushed off to tell each class and spread the good news that Happy had become the champion in the martial arts tournament.
The ones who were the most excited were the Three Lonely Wolves and Xu Xin.
Happy's extraordinary performance had exceeded their expectations. If they had not discussed what they would do in the future earlier, they might have organized another feast to celebrate Happy's victory.
Happy's act of becoming champion had made even more people descend into frenzy, and among them was Phoenix Dances. Many students tried to get to the bottom of things in search of Happy's true identity. They resorted to every trick up their sleeves, and quite a number of them even tried to secretly get some information from the Three Lonely Wolves.
But unfortunately for them, none of their actions proved useful.
The people from the universities around the area all registered and joined South China Martial Arts Ranking Board.
However, the person involved, Happy, became a shadow director in this entire matter. He just returned to the game to receive his rewards.
When he arrived next to the government office in Gusu City, he saw Nangong Ying from Dragon Tiger Sect again. She had a veil over her face and sat beside the threshold with an absent-minded look on her face. She seemed to be waiting for someone.
When she heard the sound of footsteps, her eyes lit up, and she stood up swiftly.
"I knew that you would emerge as the winner in the end. Congratulations for becoming the champion in the offline martial arts tournament."
"Hmm," Happy replied faintly. He simply could not become excited by his former enemy's congratulatory words.
Nangong Ying was unbothered. She moved gracefully and beautifully to arrive beside him, and a pleasant scent wafted into his nose.
A light crease appeared between Happy's eyebrows, but he did not let his impatience show. He felt that the woman changed too quickly, and he found it a little hard to adapt to it.
He received a deck of silver certificates from the governor, along with a martial art manual with silver edges. There were a few gold words written on the book—Demon Subduing Staff!
Happy was a little disappointed.
Staff techniques were not something he preferred. In the future, he would search for a chance to change this to a saber or a sword manual.
However, there was another reward for a martial arts tournament champion. He could request for one high-tier martial art. Happy did not hesitate and asked for the greater version of Flowering Knights Saber Technique—Flowering Knight's Song.
Once he received the manual, Happy threw it into his Universe Bag without even looking at it. He did not give Nangong Ying a chance to sneak a peek at it. Then, without even looking back, he left the government office.
Nangong Ying stood behind him in dumbfounded shock. After some time, when Happy disappeared into the distance, she registered what had happened and huffed in anger.
This was the first time she was treated this way by a man in all her twenty-three years of life!
"What's so great about you?! You're just a little better in martial arts, a little more handsome, and have your own thoughts! You're way too arrogant! Hmph! Next time, I'll teach you a lesson!" Nangong Ying was so angry that she grumbled before she left the government office in a huff.
Chapter 75 - Business Opportunity in Market
The scale of the offline martial arts tournament was rather small, and not many people joined it. The rewards were also not exactly great. But most importantly, the official website never did any sort of promotion. Hence, many of the players in the game did not know about this. Happy was very happy about this, since it allowed him to live his life freely. He had been very worried about a big number of people forming groups to search for him in Gusu City, wanting his signature.
He arrived in the busiest street in Gusu City and found small stalls the players had set up themselves all over the place. They only needed one simple flag to name their stall, and they would put on display all sorts of fur, weapons, manuals, herbs, and other items while they waited for others to come along and examine the items on sale.
The more time passed since the start of the game, the more players reached Gate Realm, and now, Black Wind Mountain was no longer a place solely for Happy. In fact, quite a number of people found even better training spots, and because of it, the market gradually grew. Now, Happy felt as if he could find everything in it.
However, if the players only sold some normal items, they would not catch his eyes.
Happy's trip to the market was to buy the Green Jade Shrouded in Heavenly Silks from the weapon shop. He had just received fifty thousand taels of silver crumbs as his reward, and before, he had acc.u.mulated ten thousand taels or so silver crumbs, so he had more than one hundred thousand taels of silver crumbs in total. It was enough for him to buy that high grade masterpiece.
He slowed down while he walked down the street. Naturally, it was because he wanted to test his luck and see if he could see anything unexpected.
As of right then, the players had not explored the game enough. They were still not clear on the prices of many items. They might sell some jade slit rings with martial arts recorded on them, items that triggered missions, and even items with amazing effects, for cheap. During the later stages of the game, those were treasures that were so rare that they could not be bought with money. If he could find one or two of them, Happy might get his hands on them for only around one hundred taels of silver crumbs.
He looked around, but found nothing.
When he approached the weapon shop, Happy noticed that there was a group of people surrounding the area not too far away from him. Occasionally, someone dressed in a short, tight-fitting, gray fur coat would squeeze out of the crowd. There would be complicated looks of pity and satisfaction mixed on people's faces when it happened. Happy raised an eyebrow, and great curiosity rose in him. With his sword in hand, he went to that group.
"Eldest senior brother, you're here too?"
Happy's arrival caught a few people's attention. They called out to him, and when he turned around to look, he found that it was Whirlwind Young Li and his friends. They were among the crowd as well, and they were waving at him rapidly for him to come over to their side.
With curiosity, Happy arrived in front of a stall through the path the people had cleared for him. It was a stall managed
by three people. The three men stood across him with great arrogance while haggling with a few players.
The trio's stall was not exactly small. The short gray fur coats they sold were made with exquisite craftsmanship. They were fitting to the body and showed their figures. Their defensive properties were quite great, and they were extremely eye-catching.
Aside from clothes, they also sold gauntlets, leather boots, and short pants. Since the game had just been launched not too long ago, their shop front could be considered to contain a large variety, making them a very extraordinary store. It was no wonder then that they managed to attract so many players to buy their items.
However, it was a pity that Happy lost his interest right after he saw the items on sale.
They were just normal beginner level defensive gear.
A Great Wolf Fur Coat increased defense by fifty points.
It should have been crafted by some tailor's shop, and the entire set could only give some additional defence. It was useful for players to save up on some Jinchuang Ointment and get injured less when in battles, which made it great for normal players.
However, very soon, the players would not be satisfied with just this. Their demands for armor would get higher. At that time, the prices for these items would go down. In fact, no one would buy them anymore.
Quite a number of people asked the stall owner the price of the equipment.
"All items are sold at a fixed price! A Great Wolf Fur Coat is sold for five thousand taels of silver crumbs, gauntlets and leather boots for two thousand taels of silver crumbs, and the pants for three thousand taels of silver crumbs."
The trio's statements were the same, and they were firm with the price offered!
Five thousand taels of silver crumbs was a great expenditure for a normal player. They would need to live a frugal life and save up a week's worth of money to get that amount. Quite a number of people's expressions changed; they felt that the price was simply too much.
Sword Among Us c1-1268 Page 42
