Sword Among Us c1-1268

by Black Swordsman Online

  "I, Quicksword Xiao Shan, have learned how you are today! Tomorrow, at this time, I will come again to experience this murderous intent among you!" he said in an incredibly indifferent tone.

  Once he finished speaking, he jumped a few times and disappeared from the stronghold, which was now filled with corpses.

  While everyone was confused as to why he had suddenly left, Heartless Man's eyes sparkled, and with an extremely dark expression, he said, "If a person in Blessed Realm executes high-tier footwork, their automatic qi recovery won't be able to restore the amount of qi they use up."

  Soon, the name of Quicksword Xiao Shan of the south shook the entire world of martial artists because of his feat of defeating Mountain Range Sect!

  Chapter 99 - Soul Severing Guest

  Beijing was the most prosperous city in China, and its people the most well-informed. It was also the city with the most powerful players and most fortuitous encounters. The resources there were something all players could only dream of.

  Not only was the city surrounded by the eight great sects and countless other small sects, the power of the court was also the greatest there.

  The headquarters of Six Doors was there. The Eastern Depot and Western Depot, which were the most influential factions that branched out of the court, were also there.

  Even though it was aggravating for the workers to work under a group of eunuchs who loved pretending to be mysterious and embarrassing to admit to that fact, the old eunuch Liu Jin[1] was the one who watched over Western Depot and Eastern Depot. He was a powerful fighter who got to practice Lin Zhibao's Sunflower Manual[2].

  The martial arts practiced by Eastern Depot and Western Depot were also the ultimate martial arts from all great sects. They were so powerful that their strength was beyond all doubt. They could even suppress the top fighters from other sects with ease, which was why they attracted a certain number of players to them.

  As for the Embroidered Uniform Guards[3], it was normal for the players to get the Flying Fish Suit and the embroidered saber the moment they joined the imperial secret police. Even though their skills were not very outstanding, they could gain a quiet training spot using the various convicts on death row shut in prison. They could be considered to be a force possessed by the court that had quite the special privilege.

  There were all sorts of child beggars dressed in rags and holding a bamboo pole that begged on the streets of Beijing. There were boys and girls in great numbers, but no one ever cast them disdainful or contemptuous gaze!

  After all, in all of World Martial Arts, the Beggar's Sect had the greatest number of disciples, and the uniting force between them was also the greatest!

  They all practiced Mad Demon Staff Technique in a frenzy!

  Everyone looked forward to the child beggars' unruly and bold lifestyle of eating meat and drinking wine, as it was depicted in Demi-gods and Semi-devils. Even though they weren't rich, they were happy, because they had no goals, hence they gained rewards every day in life, which was something the people in the real world could not experience and understand.

  Besides the Beggar's Sect, there was another great sect which stood tall in Beijing—Ming Cult.

  At that moment, a group of three stood above Nine-dragon Mountain, which was outside Beijing. One person stood in front of the other two while looking into the distance. With a solemn gaze, he admired the tall, lofty, and sturdy wall surrounding Beijing. Behind it was the ancient city that contained thousands of years of history and culture of China!

  "As expected of the country that contains a quarter of the population of the world. Each generation surpasses the last… and there will always be a taller mountain."

  The middle-aged man in the lead was looking at the city wall with an incredibly sentimental gaze. When he slowly spoke, his words came from the bottom of his heart. Clearly, he had not come to admire the view.

  The two people cast each other a glance, but they remained silent. The atmosphere between them was freezing cold.

  "Hahahaha!"

  The man in the lead let out a long string of laughter before he opened the folding fan in his hand.

  "What a joke!" he mocked himself. He then turned around, swung the fan, and lamented, "The master of Wind and Rain Tower has more than one hundred Blessed Realm members and more than five thousand members under them! But so what? We've plotted and schemed against them for three months, but we did not even manage to take down Beijing.

  "We even laughed when Mountain Range Sect was defeated by a single swordsman... Hmph, right now, we were also easily defeated by a nameless swordsman from the desert." He closed his folding fan, and his tone was firm when he spoke next. "Instead of continuing as this incompetent master, why don't I just disband the entire tower!"

  The two people's expressions changed drastically.

  "Master!"

  "Big brother!"

  "Big brother, you weren't like this before!" The person to the left was a typical man from the north. He had thick eyebrows and big eyes, and his voice was loud.

  "Isn't he just a swordsman from the desert? Is there a need for you to be so disappointed and undervalue yourself do much? Think about it! Over the course of history, which sect has never become stronger through trials and setbacks?"

  "Young Lou is right!"

  The man to the right was elegant and had a handsome face. When he walked forward, his wise eyes were fixed on the middle-aged man.

  "Yesterday, our headquarters were destroyed. Wind and Rain and the others were injured badly, and our brothers are indeed very angry, but, tower master… no one has given up!"

  "Ah…"

  The middle-aged man let out a long sigh toward the sky. It looked as if he had not heard it.

  But that was not surprising.

  In Beijing, if anyone were to point out the strongest sect, they would definitely point toward Wind and Rain Tower, which had its headquarters in a mansion in the district of the rich.

  The tower master of Wind and Rain Tower was named Tower Rain, and with extraordinary methods fueled by his ambition, he gathered together the famous players in Beijing and turned Wind and Rain Tower into the greatest sect set up by players in terms of economics and power step by step.

  This sort of accomplishment made many people believe that Wind and Rain Tower was surely to become the first sect to turn into a super sect that would have its name spread out of Beijing and which would shock all of China.

  However, in the quest earlier, Wind and Rain Tower had ran into a great danger, even though they had performed extraordinarily.

  The swordsman from the imperial court of the desert had brought with him thirteen well-built men from beyond the Great Wall[4]. They protected their tribute of the imperial court of the Turkic people[5] all the way until they were thirty-one miles away from Beijing.

  The swordsman from the desert was known as North Placating Duke, but his name as a wanderer was Soul Severing Guest.

  The journey from the imperial court of the desert to Beijing was long, and more than one thousand players had died in the hands of North Placating Duke and his party!

  The closer they drew to Beijing, the more people they ran into, and they were practically constantly fighting.

  However, North Placating Duke had no fear. With his broken saber that was less than two feet long, he killed dozens of Blessed Realm players, and among them were even a few chiefs from Wind and Rain Tower.

  Then, a few leaders brought with them more than ten chiefs as well as thirty or so Blessed Realm players and blocked off North Placating Duke's path again.

  The lineup of thirty or so Blessed Realm players was a rather splendid one.

  Even if North Placating Duke and his party had all reached Blessed Realm, it was impossible for each of them to fight against three people alone.

  In the end, even though North Placating Duke and his party gained the upper hand in all their battles prior to this, in that battle, eight of the thirteen hors.e.m.e.n who follow
ed North Placating Duke died.

  For this, Wind and Rain Tower only gave up three lives…

  Soon all four of the Blessed Realm players protecting North Placating Duke died!

  Once he noticed that all his companions had died, North Placating Duke went absolutely berserk! He rushed into the crowd, and his broken saber let out an astonishing combat ability. With a fighting style that guaranteed both sides would suffer dearly, he defeated all the remaining Wind and Rain Tower players with his injured body.

  Aside from that, North Placating Duke resolutely gave up on protecting the carriage with the tribute. He charged into Beijing and searched for Wind and Rain Tower's headquarters, cut off the flag placed outside the mansion, and challenged the sect by himself.

  Even though Wind and Rain Tower was personally watched over by Tower Rain and he had around ten powerful players and more than one hundred sect members by his side, they could not block North Placating Duke, who had his broken saber tied to himself with a gold chain.

  With only himself and his blade, not only did North Placating Duke turn Wind and Rain Tower into a hell on earth, even Tower Rain and the headquarters could not survive the attack. All of them perished.

  It became the major news that stunned all the gamers after what had happened to Mountain Range Sect.

  "Soul Severing Guest" North Placating Duke also became a presence who was as dazzling as Quicksword Xiao Shan!

  While it was true that Wind and Rain Tower could be rebuilt, Tower Rain realized the difference between a true powerful player and a normal powerful player from this matter.

  He raised his hand and interrupted the duo from trying to dissuade him from his decision, and with a gaze that allowed no disagreement, Tower Rain looked at the duo.

  "Don't think about persuading me anymore. From now on, I will let the two of you manage Wind and Rain Tower."

  "What about you?"

  "The world of martial artists is a world where only the truly powerful can shine! A truly powerful martial artist cannot be missing from a sect!" Once he finished saying this, Tower Rain left on light footsteps.

  Chapter 100 - Increase Progress

  For the next five days, Happy and Thunderous Battle never left the ancient tomb. They were completely immersed in the pleasant feeling of their various martial arts swiftly leveling up! But they did not know that the world outside had become incredibly dangerous and chaotic.

  During that period of time, they also gained a deeper understanding of each other.

  Thunderous Battle was the type of person who was level-headed and indifferent to the matters of the world. Even though his friends had been dragged into the quest for the emperor's birthday one after another, since his Infinite Sword Technique had yet to reach Grandmaster Realm, he did not intend to join the quest. His thoughts were very simple: He wanted to place his full concentration on increasing the level of his sword technique before he wandered about the land!

  Once Happy briefly told Thunderous Battle what he knew, he focused on training, pouring all of his heart and soul into entering Blessed Realm.

  However, they still learned about several powerful players who brought about outstanding achievements in the game, especially Quicksword Xiao Shan from the south, who went to slaughter Mountain Range Sect, and North Placating Duke, whose alias in the game knew him as Soul Severing Guest and who had destroyed Wind and Rain Tower.

  They most often spoke about those two.

  The fierce looking Stone Giants and the dark and disgusting Dirt Puppets were the only things that stayed beside the two players. The duo never left the ancient tomb, and even when they logged out to eat, they worked their schedules to fit each other's. They set a time to log in at the same time, and the levels for their martial arts naturally increased at lightning speed.

  Thunderous Battle was in a good condition. During the days he fought against the Stone Giants, he focused only on luring the monsters and withstanding their attacks. Hence, his Turtle Shell rose from the eighth realm to the tenth realm, and when he activated his body fortification technique, strange patterns appeared on his skin. A sturdy shell would cover it, and even Stone Giants had a hard time pushing him back.

  As Thunderous Battle's body fortification technique became more powerful, the time he could last fighting against the Stone Giants increased from the original four minutes to more than seven minutes. His Infinite Sword Technique also reached the ninth realm from the sixth realm. The sword began to glow when he attacked, The light looked alive as it traveled all over the sword, dazzling anyone who looked at it. It became very difficult to figure out where the blade would truly strike.

  However, if Thunderous Battle's reward from training were those two martial arts of his gaining a great increase, then Happy's rewards were even greater!

  Not only did he manage to push his Five Continuous Axe Strikes to Grandmaster Realm, his Black Cloud Sword Technique, Black Wind Saber Technique, Black Snake Staff Technique, and Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Sword all reached Grandmaster Realm from the tenth realm. With Flashing Sword Breaker, which had also reached Grandmaster Realm the day before, his qi reached eighty points, which was the great mark to reach Blessed Realm, and he officially entered the second qi realm!

  This meant that Happy had already joined the ranks of those in Blessed Realm the day before!

  This was because over the past few days, Thunderous Battle had not only sensed that Happy had a great understanding of the game, but that there was a very strange and unique characteristic about him that made others feel at ease.

  After spending a long amount of time with Happy, not only did the practicing of his martial arts become incredibly relaxing to the point that it was no different to the time when he had a big party and they took turns withstanding the monsters' attacks, Thunderous Battle could even learn a new skill every single day.

  Happy had also sensed Thunderous Battle's sincerity.

  Right then, high-tier martial art manuals were very rare in the game, so they were not something all Blessed Realm players could obtain.

  Each martial art manual was linked to a highly difficult quest.

  Only some really powerful players could obtain a manual through a stable foundation in their martial arts or if they were lucky enough to encounter a fortuitous event.

  If they wanted to buy a high-tier martial art from the market, the quoted price for one manual was two hundred thousand taels of silver crumbs!

  If anyone wanted to exchange RMB for silver coins through the offline trading platform, they would need 10,000 RMB. From this alone, it could be seen just how rare and valuable high-tier martial art manuals were.

  Over the days they trained, the two had obtained a large amount of goods from the ancient tomb. They received all sorts of metal and jade items, and if they sold them, they could get nearly one hundred thousand silver coins.

  But Happy did not take Thunderous Battle's offer.

  It was not as if he did not have high-tier martial art manuals. In fact, he had more than one!

  Flowering Knights' Song and Demon Subduing Staff were in his possession.

  When Happy suddenly swung his saber, he drew an arc that produced a sound that was as deep and imposing as the one heavy metal would produce when it fell on the ground. His saber shone, and he struck a light crack on the Stone Giant. Thunderous Battle's jaw went slack in shock, and he was stunned speechless.

  Happy could be said to have everything going his way.

  With Thunderous Battle attracting the Stone Giant's attention in front of the monster, he did not have to worry about many things. All he needed to do was deliver his attacks at full force and increase the level of his martial arts. That was all.

  In two days, his Flowering Knights' Song swiftly went from Level 1.00 to Level 49.37. The Stone Giants and Dirt Puppets began to have a very hard time surviving more than fifteen minutes under the duo's attacks!

  If they were careful, they could get rid of one Stone Giant or Dirt Puppet in on
e round, without taking any breaks.

  On that day…

  "Brother, I'm so sorry, I don't think I can make it today. My mother-in-law has come, and my wife gave me orders that I absolutely must go to the airport before she lands to pick her up, or else she'll be really cross with me! Why don't we return to the city after we finish all the monsters here and log in tomorrow at six in the evening?" Thunderous Battle explained his situation to Happy with an apologetic look.

  "It's alright." Happy's expression did not change. He smiled and said, "Your family is important. Go on. Once we finish this round, I'll log off as well, but I won't be returning to the city. I'll wait for you at six in the evening."

  When he heard this, Thunderous Battle could not help but size Happy up again. Then, he nodded.

  "Alright, but you must be careful. Don't take on a Stone Giant alone. If you really can't handle it, go to the entrance to lure the monsters, or else it'll be too dangerous."

  Happy chuckled. He had indeed thought about fighting against the Stone Giants alone so that he could increase the progress of leveling his martial arts, but he did not expect that Thunderous Battle would be able to see through him.

  Thunderous Battle did not say much more. He cautioned Happy to be careful again before he logged off and left.

  Once Thunderous Battle was gone, Happy swept his gaze over the ancient tomb. There were seven Stone Giants and Dirt Puppets still wandering about as usual. They did not encroach in each other's territory.

  Happy exhaled. He had rested enough.

  He brought out a normal low-tier martial art manual from his Universe Bag, and once he looked at it, he pressed both his palms on the book.

  Whoosh!

  The martial art manual swiftly turned into a black ray of light that sank into Happy's body.