The zombies were like delicate flowers in a storm. They had to withstand the most violent devastation and baptism. They swayed about madly under the dense rain of fists and kicks. If it were not because their physical grooms were sturdy enough, they would have long ago been reduced to a pulp.
Little North could say nothing.
While he watched his two babies take turns to fight and withstand relentless and savage attacks for half a day, he felt his heart tense. 'Why did I just have to run into such an overbearing boss?'
Happy had used the reason that a wandering martial artist could not rely too much on a support skill and forcefully took away the freedom of his two babies. He very naturally treated them as a sandbag and practiced his martial arts in the mass grave.
In the meantime, he had cast Little North to the side and told him to look for Mystical Realm zombies in the mass grave to spar with them while surviving on his own. After training like that for a short period of time, his body fortification technique shot up by several levels, though he had to retreat with a body full of wounds. He felt as if his heart was filled with sadness.
He had met shameless people before, but he had never seen someone who was so shameless.
Little North only had the courage to brood, but not say anything.
He had to admit, however, that Happy's speed of practicing martial arts was astonishing.
His positioning, attack angles, and chain attacks were all achieved without effort. Every single time he circulated his qi and meditated to recover his health, Little North felt that he benefited greatly from watching him. Then, the next time he trained, he would also pay attention to certain aspects and would last slightly longer than the previous time.
As time passed and Happy's Shadowless Kick started to glow in a faint white light, Little North could also fight tit-for-tat against Mystical Realm zombies without the help of his babies for a few minutes. He had improved very obviously regardless of his combat experience or skills.
It was only at that moment that Little North truly understood what Happy hadd meant before, and he was filled with gratitude.
"Hang on, let me take some medicine and put it on my babies…"
When he saw Happy leave the battlefield and head toward him, Little North thought that his zombies had finally broken down. He stood up decisively and brought out a medicinal bottle.
"Don't need to." Happy looked at Little North with a smile and said, "By the looks of it, you've also understood some things. Not bad. Next time, try to pay more attention to the improvement of your own abilities and skills. Have your own skills complement your zombies' skills, and the puppets will become even greatest assets. Work hard."
"Okay!" Little North nodded vigorously before a look of surprise appeared on his face. "Hang on, what do you mean by 'don't need to'?"
"My Shadowless Kick has already reached Grandmaster Realm. Next, I'll be practicing Stormy Shadowless Kick. The damage of this martial art is much higher, and the speed is also much faster. The zombies at Blessed Realm won't be able to handle the attacks. So I will have to search for the Mystical Realm zombies in the mass grave to practice my martial arts."
"Oh." Little North looked enlightened for a moment, but soon, his expression morphed into one of disbelief. "What?! You reached Grandmaster Realm so soon?!"
Happy said nothing. He tightened his grip on Green Jade Shrouded in Heavenly Silks and explained with a nonchalant tone, "This is still considered slow. If I had equipment that could increase by Body Movement and speed, I'd be able to reach Grandmaster Realm in twelve hours."
Little North was stunned speechless.
"Don't look so surprised. This logic applies to all martial arts. The faster the martial art is, the faster can one push it to the max level. Shadowless Kick is the fastest martial art among all low-tier martial arts. It's only natural then that I can push it to max level quickly. Besides, I have a qi cultivation technique at Grandmaster Realm with me. I don't need to care about wasting my qi, so I can save up on time to meditate."
He stopped talking for a moment and heard Little North furiously swallowing on nothing. He ignored him and added, "The situation for Stormy Shadowless Kick is slightly more complicated. I might need a few days to push it to the max level."
"A few days?!"
"Duh! That's a high-tier martial art!"
"What I'm saying it that you can make it reach Grandmaster Realm in just a few days?!" Little North's eyes were wide open. He absolutely could not understand and accept what Happy said.
This was because he had practiced Ten Thousand Poisonous Palms for more than half a month, and right then, he had only made it reach the eighth realm. Even though he had his babies attack most of the time, the more Happy displayed his astonishing efficiency, the more Little North felt that he had wasted his time.
"I am going to ignore you."
Happy waved his hand and turned around decisively to leave Little North's sight.
Little North gritted his teeth and caught up to him. "Wait!"
It was only natural that he would not miss such a good opportunity to learn.
Soon, Happy casually chose a short-tempered zombie, lured it to a slightly wider and more remote area and began to fight against it one-on-one.
The attacks of Stormy Shadowless Kick at the first level were already at the level of Shadowless Kick at max level. Their speed was also equal to Shadowless Kick at max level!
However, this was what Happy wanted!
He attacked with his fists and kicks while dodging the zombie's counterattacks. While he moved around, he continuously dealt effective attacks and absorbed EXP, which slowly increased Stormy Shadowless Kick's level.
With the help of the increase in attack speed for fist techniques provided by Green Jade Shrouded in Heavenly Silks, Happy was soon fully immersed in fighting.
However, this scene which was commonly seen in his previous life became the most magnificent and dazzling performance for Little North, who watched it by the side. The incredibly fearsome zombie became an innocent sandbag before Happy's palms and kicks. It could only watch a blue figure dance around like a butterfly. The shadows of Happy's fists and kicks rained down continuously on the zombie.
Little North found himself speechless. He was soon completely absorbed by how freely Happy could execute Stormy Shadowless Kick and how good was his judgment whether to attack or retreat while he fought against the zombie.
He stood there for more than two hours!
"... Gosh, I'm tired."
Little North rubbed his slightly stiff neck laboriously and jumped in the spot for a little while.
Not far from him was Happy. He continued to fight against the zombie tirelessly. The puppet had only managed to strike him less than ten times since the start.
"Big Brother Happy, why don't you rest for a while?" Little North shouted. His voice spread through the desolate mass grave, but he did not receive any response.
"... Alright."
Little North shut his mouth gloomily.
Another two hours passed, and Little North found himself unable to say anything.
He looked at the time and opened his mouth with the intention to give a reminder to the person who was practicing his martial arts, but in the end, he gave up and logged off to eat while feeling gloomy.
It was at that moment that he finally understood how insanely powerful martial artists were born!
Chapter 174 - Three Great Sects
When the Emperor's Birthday Quest came to an end, World of Martial Arts gradually returned to peace after the commotion.
Three days after World of Martial Arts Secret News Log revealed all sorts of secrets in the game, the hunt of the various "millionaires" on the Rich Rank finally came to an end too.
However, the true world of martial artists was also gradually brought to light after the Emperor's Birthday Quest
First, each sect and clan launched the Bounty System.
All the players who died in another pe
rson's hands would have their deaths recorded by the system of a clan or sect in which they learned their martial arts. The information of the murderer would be revealed on the Bounty List, and the people in the clan or sect could take up the quest at any time they wanted. They could go search for the killer and take revenge.
Those who succeeded in taking revenge would not only receive additional monetary rewards, but would also receive reputation points in their sect. Most people would invite senior brothers or sisters they were familiar with to take revenge together, since once a person's reputation points reached a certain amount, they could trigger higher-level secret missions in their sect.
Hence, the appearance of the Bounty System and Revenge Quests gradually formed a cycle of revenge in which sects became enemies of each other in the game!
Then, with the Reputation System, an increasing number of people revealed that once a person obtained a certain amount of reputation points, they would be able to trigger quests for high-tier martial arts. With such resources, it was only a matter of time before they would become as successful as the people on the Dragon and Phoenix Ranks!
The news made the game even more chaotic, and the people even more motivated.
*****
However, there was a handful of people who did not run around the game for the Revenge Quests.
They were the powerful people who already had at least one high-tier martial art. At the very least, they could all be considered as top-tier fighters in the World of Martial Arts.
They were the ones who benefitted the most from the Emperor's Birthday Quest!
Some of them were professional gamers, some guild members, and some loners who had achieved some degree of success during the early stages of the game. They would naturally not act like normal players and waste their valuable time and advantage on resources that they already had.
While they still had a clear advantage over others, they wandered to the regions in World of Martial Arts which others had not yet explored, and they developed those areas. Unearthing and building up even more advantages was their most urgent task. It was also what they longed for the most.
Among them, the ones that moved with the greatest momentum were Class One Hall, Towering Palace, and Chivalry Sect.
Class One Hall's hall master, Dream Clouds was said to have obtained a low-grade divine weapon from the Emperor's Birthday Quest, and she named it Cloud of Dreams. It took a high spot in the Divine Weapon Rank—third place!
She also had an ingenious crafted armor that surpassed the grade of masterpiece—Rainbow Phoenix Robe. It took seventeenth place on the Divine Weapon Rank.
Also, it was said that Dream Clouds' two vice hall masters had a divine weapon each. Those weapons were also ranked high on the Divine Weapon Rank. They could be said to be the three great monsters of Class One Hall.
Towering Palace might not be as famous as Class One Hall, but they were a sect built by a group of veteran professional players. Their numbers and abilities were so great that most of the cities in Jiangnan were under their influence. They gradually showed their strength, and even Class One Hall did not dare underestimate them.
The last was Chivalry Sect. They had risen to power by relying on a group of extremely good players. They considered themselves as a chivalrous and just sect. The had great charisma and strong unity. They had already come into conflict with multiple famous sects in the game and had fought bloody battles against them. Their bold and powerful fighting style as well their fearless, bloodthirsty nature that made them fight regardless of the cost allowed them to subjugate multiple sects along the coast.
Ever since the Emperor's Birthday Quest ended, the three great sects gathered up the resources that served as their advantages and began expanding furiously. They also kept searching for the information on the cities in the perimeter that would lead to hidden quests, such as the Fox Cave, Ancient Palace, Emperor's Tomb, Five Venoms Valley, Bliss Cave, Unlimited Sword Lake, and Heavenward Summit. Those places were all very famous quest locations, and they were all slowly revealed one by one through the net to all players.
However, the reason it happened was because even the three great sects could not conquer them.
*****
At the entrance to Fox Cave in Immortal Fox Village.
The moon was hung high in the sky. The stars were dim around it.
Right in the middle of the large group of people was a huge stone. It stood at an empty spot with no leaves above it. White moonlight shone on it from above, and a strange as well as mysterious white color washed down the stone.
As time passed, the huge stone seemed to absorb all the essence in the world. Faint changes began to appear on it, and the strange lines on it slowly turned dark red from the originally dull black.
Was it a trap or an illusion? No one knew.
However, the moment the great change happened, glee appeared on the faces of the players surrounding the large stone, and they stood up simultaneously.
"The moon is round."
"Get ready to take action!"
The players who had three drops of blood sewn over their c.h.e.s.ts watched the incredibly excited players in front of them with barely noticeable mockery.
Even though some people had already verified that there were high-tier martial art manuals in Fox Cave and that it produced many materials for middle-grade equipment, Fox Cave was not as easy to clear as they thought.
Even the people from Class One Hall had needed to pay a devastating price to enter the second layer, and hey had returned in failure from it. The flies who came after hearing the news would never know of the brutality of Fox Cave.
When the people with three drops of blood sewn on their c.h.e.s.ts saw many Gate Realm players dressed in home woven clothes, the disdain and mockery in their eyes became even greater. 'What do they think this place is?'
They said nothing, however.
There were also another group of people who showed no surprise or delight on their faces when they stared at the huge white stone. They had calm expressions, though there was gravity and seriousness in their eyes.
"Everyone, be careful," someone in the group warned. "Before you enter the cave, activate your body fortification technique and qi cultivation technique. After you enter the hall, stay in position and do not move."
The rest of the group said nothing. They just nodded silently.
Right after the man finished speaking, delighted shouts came from ahead of them.
"It's open!"
"Hurry up and get in!"
The speakers swiftly attracted all the players' attention and gazes.
The huge white stone in the middle had changed completely. It turned into a scary and savage looking statue that had been emptied from the inside. It was the skull of a fierce beast, which was covered in blood-red lines. Two balls of strange white light shone at the position of the eyes. It looked as if it had come alive. It opened its huge mouth and invited the players to attend.
The players in the area lamented about how terrifying the entrance to Fox Cave was while they rushed into the mouth of the fierce beast. It was around seven feet tall, and they went in without any hesitation, urged by the players behind them.
When they entered the huge mouth of the ferocious beast, they were immediately relocated and disappeared without a trace.
Groups of people vanished from the mouth of the beast!
Soon, more than half of the people at the entrance to Fox Cave were gone.
There were only a few small groups that did not take any action. They simply allowed the crowd of players to enter Fox Cave while watching quietly. When the area around them became empty, they looked at each other.
Then, they decided to enter!
More than one hundred auras of Blessed Realm rose from the small groups. They were followed by heavy breathing that came from people doing breathing exercises. It was a characteristic of strengthening one's body.
Everyone activated their body fortificatio
n techniques.
Chapter 175 - Fox Cave
"Hey, did you hear about Fox Cave?"
This question had practically become a greeting among players of World of Martial Arts.
There was no other reason for it but that the legend of the Fox had already turned into a myth from the tales told by the village chief and villagers of Immortal Fox Cave. A wicked wedded couple had trained up a large skulk of fox monsters to cause trouble in the area. Every single night, they could see the terrifying beast skull that gave off the white ghostly flame, and every single day, strong men and young women from nearby towns and cities would enter the cave and would disappear.
The players in the cities in the area originally thought that it was just a normal training spot.
But gradually, more information reached them!
There was a wedded couple with powerful martial arts in Fox Cave. The foxes inside were all personally trained by them and were later transformed into monsters after the couple set up a peerless illusion matrix.
In truth, the fox monsters were all foxes, but under the effect of the illusion matrix, they gained the shape of humans.
To kill the wicked couple and the countless fox monsters in Fox Cave that endangered many people's lives, an increasing number of martial artists were attracted to the area. When Fox Cave opened, they would surge in.
However, they underestimated the dangers of Fox Cave.
Even the Red Fox—the lowest leveled monster in Fox Cave—possessed combat abilities of the later stage of Blessed Realm. With the protection of the peerless illusion matrix, their bodies would move in an entirely different manner from their actions. It was impossible to fend against their attacks. Many players were torn apart the moment they entered Fox Cave. Only those with high body fortification techniques were able to survive through laborious effort.
Even those with great abilities would find that their pitiful body fortification techniques could not quite protect them when they ran into White Foxes in Mystical Realm. There was a difference of an entire qi realm between them, and that difference was enough to spell their deaths!
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