Sword Among Us c1-1268
Page 70
It was an ultimate technique!
In his previous life, Happy had spent a total of three years but still never managed to get any ultimate martial arts. He did not expect that by sheer coincidence and a fortuitous chance, he would get one unintentionally, and it was an ultimate technique that was at the same level as the one obtained by Carefree Sect's Wu Yazi and Shaolin Temple's Sweeping Monk.
"Amitabha!"
There was a tiny smile on Master Xuan Kong's kind face. He knew that Happy had come to understand the Ten True Dragon Styles he had fused into the exquisite Go game during their game.
He cried out the name of Buddha with incredible satisfaction before he said, "Patron, you have a calm heart, and your comprehension is astonishing. You are also a person fated with Buddha. It is only natural that you would come to understand my martial art. But a pity…"
He paused for a moment before smiling in resignation and saying, "It is a pity that I have been exiled from Shaolin Temple many years ago and have sworn an oath to not take in any disciples, or else I might do something that would make me feel guilty toward the Murong Clan—I would fight against the master of the Murong Clan for such a talented jewel as you."
"Master, you praise me too much." Happy could not suppress his emotions after he got an ultimate technique. However, he still retained the humility he always had on his face.
"Not bad." Master Xuan Kong looked at Happy with a praising look while nodding repeatedly. "I drew from the essence of all the martial arts I had learned in my life to create Ten True Dragon Styles. Even though my original intention was to teach this to a Shaolin Disciple and do what little I can to add to the archive of Shaolin martial arts in the world, I have no regrets with a young man like you. The decades I have spent staying in Mount Song have not been in vain."
As he spoke, Xuan Kong slowly got up.
"I have fulfilled my greatest wish. Naturally, I no longer have any need to stay here."
While speaking, he swept a glance at the narrow space that was filled with martial art manuals around him with a look that said he was reluctant to part with them. "But the requirement for qi for Ten True Dragon Styles are incredibly high. As of now, it is probably very difficult for you to use them. Happy, you can choose a martial art manual from this room."
"Understood!"
There were plenty of high-tier martial art manuals that plenty of martial artists dreamed of obtaining. There were also martial art manuals that had spread out from Shaolin Temple into the world of martial artists and formed the basis of the martial arts of various clans and sects, along with quite a number of martial art manuals that were created personally by grandmasters. If Master Xuan Kong had not acknowledged the fact that he had been exiled by Shaolin Temple, Happy would have really began to wonder whether Master Xuan Kong was a book merchant who resold martial art manuals in the game.
Happy looked at each book, and his heart trembled violently, even though he had returned to the past with three years of experience in the game!
The book collection was just too vast!
Aside from ultimate martial arts like Six Pulses Divine Sword, Wave-like Subtle Steps, Northern Obscure Divine Sword, Nine Yin Divine Manual, and Nine Yang Divine Manual, there were also some unique martial art manuals. There were also high-tier martial art manuals from various sects that were placed in sequence. In fact, Shaolin Temple's Seventy-two Ultimate Techniques were also included among them. The manuals were all treasures that could not be bought with gold even in his previous life.
"So? Did you find anything you like?"
Master Xuan Kong seemed to be incredibly confident in his book collection. When he saw Happy look around repeatedly, having a hard time making a decision, he could not help but laugh.
Happy looked embarrassed.
In truth, he had an urge to use his quickest speed to put all of the manuals into his Universe Bag, but when he thought about Master Xuan Kong's monstrous qi cultivation and qi realm, he got rid of that evil thought with great difficulty. He s.u.c.k.e.d in a deep breath, and his gaze once more swept over the really famous martial art manuals in his past life. In the end, his eyes landed on a manual with a dark yellow cover.
He walked over and brought the book in front of Xuan Kong.
"Master, I've made my choice." Happy handed over the manual in his hand.
Xuan Kong said nothing. He took the book in his hands and cast a glance at the familiar manual. He could not help the smile that stretched across his face and cast Happy a few glances. "Young patron, you are indeed fated with Buddha.
"Shaolin places an emphasis on Zen martial arts when we practice martial arts. We train with strengthening our physical bodies and cultivating moral conduct as our priority. If it was not because you had mixed forms of qi cultivation and such an elegant bearing, I would have truly thought that you were a disciple of Shaolin Temple."
"I'm actually really a disciple of Shaolin Temple." Those were words Happy would naturally not say.
When he heard Master Xuan Kong's words, he answered with a small smile. "I have always admired Shaolin Temple and been very fond of the Zen martial arts it advocates."
"Good, very good." Xuan Kong smiled in gratification. "I hope that one day, I can see you use the martial arts you understood from me to wander about the land."
He returned the manual with the dark yellow cover to Happy's hand.
The system immediately gave him a notification.
"Master Xuan Kong has granted you a high-tier body fortification technique manual—Golden Bell Cocoon."
"Thank you for your gift, master."
Happy put away the manual and promised solemnly, "I swear by my life that I will not let down the martial arts I received from you and Shaolin Temple."
Xuan Kong nodded in gratification. Then, he sighed sentimentally.
"The exquisite Go game has been solved. There is no longer any need for me to continue staying in this place. Patron, please leave."
"Understood!"
Happy wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed.
However, right when he said those words, he was filled with regret.
He suddenly remembered that he was still in the temple. If he ended the quest, Master Xuan Kong and Monk Zhi Heng would leave. Once they were gone, wouldn't it mean that there was no longer anyone to help him block the players outside the temple?!
'No!'
"Wait! WAIT!!"
But it was too late.
The air trembled slightly, and Master Xuan Kong vanished from Happy's sight. When Happy returned to his senses, the bookshelves around him rotted away and crumbled.
Boom!
Dust filled the air.
"Damn it!"
Happy cursed quietly and quickly moved out of the inner room, which now had dust flying all over.
When he came out, he found that the oil lamps in the temple had already been extinguished, and the hall was dark. The door was shut tight.
'Ha, thank goodness.'
Happy s.u.c.k.e.d in a deep breath and tried his best to calm his nerves.
The only thing that he could be thankful for was that Master Xuan Kong had not leveled the temple to the ground. And the players, who were hidden nearby, did not seem to have noticed any changes.
When Happy remembered that he had lost Monk Zhi Heng's protection, upon which relied his original plan, he became incredibly depressed.
As expected, everything was preordained. When one obtains something, they lose something else, and it was all determined by the heavens.
Right then, he had unexpectedly obtained the Ten True Dragon Styles, but immediately after, he lost the protection he had for his brocade box. Happy shook his head repeatedly with a bitter smile. When he remembered the fact that he was about to face the endless stream players who coveted the tribute, he s.u.c.k.e.d in a deep breath, calmed his heart, and brought out his Hundred-battle Saber.
Chapter 130 - Break Down the Door and Enter
It was as silent as d
eath outside the temple. Not a single person could be found in a circular area of three hundred and thirty feet away from the temple.
There were some Jinchuang Ointments, animal pelts and silver notes that some unlucky players among the nearly one thousand dead had dropped on the ground. They were scattered all over the place around the temple, making it look like a real mess.
Ever since Monk Zhi Heng was angered by the people from the dozen sects, the area had remained deserted. Occasionally, someone would brace themselves and come over to pick up the loot, but they would have their organs crushed with a single silent punch and sent flying into the dark forest. No one knew whether they survived or not.
However, once dozens of players died, the temple returned to a state of quiet.
Even though there were still hundreds of players in the area, all of them only waited for the owner of the brocade box, who had caused them all this trouble, to come out from the temple. They also hoped that Monk Zhi Heng would lose his murderous intent at some point.
After all, there were silver notes everywhere on the ground around the small temple. If they were all added up, they would amount to quite a huge sum.
No one would be able to leave so easily when there was money within reach.
Hence, even though some people left, there were even more who lingered around with greed in their eyes. They paid great attention to the items on the ground, intending to snatch the money the moment Monk Zhi Heng's murderous intent faded away.
No one knew whether it was because the group's determination and sincerity had touched the heavens, but after waiting for more than two hours, the murderous Monk Zhi Heng placed his palms together, looked up at the sky, and called out the name of Buddha before he leapt into the forest like a bird. With a few jumps, he vanished into thin air right in front of countless players' gazes.
They were only stunned for a short few seconds.
The first person reacted to the situation. He shot to the spot on the empty ground before them with the most silver notes like a bolt of lightning.
He was followed immediately after by the second and third person!
"Get them!"
The players who had hidden in the forest because of their wariness went completely mad. They charged forward like a swarm of bees and used their hands and feet to snatch the silver notes and other resources on the ground while pushing and shoving other people.
"Get lost! I saw this one first!"
The hearts of men were evil, and they would always fight for their own ambitions. Where there were benefits, there would be disputes!
Soon, a dozen players fought against each other because they set their eyes on a few gold notes at the same time. Two people did not even say a single word and just drew their weapons.
"Cut your crap!" Some of the Gate Realm players did not cower as well. They shouted at the top of their voices. "Do you think you're good just because your qi realm is high? Bros, come over here!"
Loud clambering sounds could be heard, and a group of people rushed over from everywhere. They stunned the two Blessed Realm players who had felt that they were better than the others earlier.
"You're thinking about comparing numbers with us?!"
"Yeah, we are, and we have more people than you, so what?!" The Gate Realm players were very smug. While they laughed coldly, one bent his back to pick up the gold notes on the ground.
However, before he could even touch the gold notes, a fierce wind formed by blades sliced through his neck.
Splat!
Blood spilled out on the ground. The Gate Realm player who had been very smug earlier was beheaded. His head rolled on the ground and stopped with its eyes facing the gold notes that had been stained with blood and now looked incredibly eye-catching.
The moment he died, the crowd instantly erupted with rage. They said nothing and went to battle against the Blessed Realm player who had murdered their companion.
But they did not notice that before they could cause any conflict, five players had already quietly snuck up behind them from different directions.
Right after the Blessed Realm player killed the Gate Realm player, the five people raised their weapons and brought them down!
"Careful!"
"There's someone behind— AH!"
Blood flew in the air, and screams rose from everywhere.
The silence outside the small temple was instantly broken.
The same matter happened in a few other spots around the small temple.
For a period of time, the situation was incredibly chaotic.
Quite a number of players laughed madly. They used the opportunity created by the chaotic battle between a few different factions to quietly loot the silver notes and various equipment on the ground, but their fortune did not last long. Soon, they were noticed by some people, who grew envious.
"How dare you snatch my stuff?!"
"Die!"
The players who had wanted to loot the items during the chaos were killed or injured by people who turned around with the intention to slaughter them. Those who were injured were then dragged into the battlefield.
Because of it, everyone was in danger. When they saw people killing others without even differentiating whether their targets were friend or foe, they started attacking as well when they saw someone appear beside them. The situation immediately became even more chaotic.
The members of Vast Ocean Sword Sect were gathered together. The group, in which everyone was dressed in plain white, had already bypassed the three hundred and thirty feet of empty ground before the temple and arrived outside the door to the temple.
Their goal was the brocade box!
However, when they arrived outside the temple, they stopped warily.
They were still intimidated by the terrifying strength and murderous methods Monk Zhi Heng had used previously. Hence, even though Monk Zhi Heng had left right before their eyes, they were still wary of the mysterious temple. They did not dare to immediately knock on the door.
The next moment, two more groups arrived at the steps of the temple.
They also did not dare to act recklessly. They stared at the temple door as if it was some kind of fearsome beast!
"Together?" someone suggested again.
This time, no one showed much enthusiasm for the idea.
This was because when they last worked together, over a dozen sects were annihilated, and they were among the people who were killed once by the mysterious monk when he used an orthodox Buddhist Lion's Roar.
When they turned around to cast a glance at the chaotic and noisy situation behind them, someone finally nodded and agreed to the temporary alliance by the three sects.
Each of them sent a person to open the door at the same time.
Creeeekkkkk…
A dull and piercing sound rang. It sounded like the bell in a temple, and it miraculously affected all the players in the area.
It included the people who were still fighting. They stopped whatever they were doing and retreated to the side. Their gazes were fixed on the temple door that had been opened.
Then, they remembered there was something else even more important!
The brocade box!
The spoils of war that were littered all over the ground were instantly forgotten by many people. The players quickly abandoned the items on the ground and headed to the stairs.
However, once they were sure that there was no one inside, the first to enter the temple were naturally the three groups that had formed a temporary alliance. They brought out their maps and rushed inside to the spot where the red mark was.
"The brocade box is in the room to the left!"
The crowd surged into the hall that could not be considered large. The lighting inside was not good, but they could see everything clearly in an instant. The few people in the lead were very careful and smart. They did not immediately rush into the small room to the left.
They waited until they had enough people surrounding the room th
at not a single fly could escape, then the person at the forefront activated his qi realm, equipped himself in full gear, took two steps forward, and suddenly raised his leg to kick down the small door with a ferocious momentum.
Crack!
Pieces of shattered wood shot into the room like hidden weapons.
But there was not a single movement inside.
At that moment, a blue-robed player walked out from the room to the right and mixed into the group of players without a single sound. He did not attract any attention.
Chapter 131 - Fight for the Brocade Box
Boom!
A loud sound suddenly rose from the east!
Immediately after, quite a number of players saw a huge hole on the east wall of the temple. Three black figures shot out from the dust that rose up to the sky! One of them was in front of the two others, and he was incredibly fast. He cast the players who did not know what had happened outside far behind him.
"Those in front, hold him back!"
"Don't let him take the brocade box!"
People roared and shot through the broken hole to chase after the three figures.
It was only at that moment that the players outside understood what had happened!
Their minds worked quickly, and they locked their sights on the person in front who hugged a very expensive and grand-looking brocade box in his arms. The gazes of players outside the temple instantly burned with envy, and they could not help but chase after it.
"Hand over the stuff!"
"Attack!"
"Damn it!"
There were obstructions in front of the black-robed man, and there were pursuers behind him. He could not help but smile bitterly. However, he still freed up one hand to bring out his weapon. An astonishing power erupted from his bronze-red longspear, and he knocked away a few of the players' weapons with brute force. He also used the momentum created to fly forward. With a few jumps, he escaped from the encirclement and left his pursuers to his two companions behind him.