Hence, Lu Mingyue decided to fight a war of attrition. He wanted to use the powerful effect of Sunflower Aura to continuously deplete Happy's qi while he fired flying needles from a distance and bothered Happy with his Soft Palm Strikes. The dual attacks would definitely make Happy find himself with too many problems to handle at once, especially since he would also have to restore his body fortification's strength.
When Lu Mingyue whittled away Happy's strength while he himself became more powerful as time passed, he would win.
However, Happy did not even swing his Noble Sword then. He ignored the fatal embroidery needles that came at him from every direction and took a step forward to move two feet away like a phantom. His action was just in time to avoid the two invisible palm strikes.
At the same time, an ancient golden bell appeared around Happy as if it had physical form. The countless embroidery needles stabbed into the granite without any powerful ripples. Instead, they were snapped in half and fell to the side.
The people's expressions changed. 'What a powerful body fortification technique!'
Lu Mingyue's embroidery needles were not easy to receive. They had damage equivalent to Mystical Realm hidden weapons. Besides, Happy did not have any armor on, so it was quite unbelievable that he had managed to block the embroidery needles with just his body fortification alone.
Lu Mingyue was the one who saw what had happened the clearest.
Even though he knew since the start that Happy's high-tier body fortification was incredibly powerful, he was still shocked.
Six flying needles had struck the golden bell, but its light had not become even the slightest bit dimmer!
On top of that, the force that was rebounded to him from the tip of the needles told him that some of the power of his embroidery needles had been negated. Even if he attacked again, his flying needles would not necessarily have any effect on the golden bell.
His heart trembled, and right then, while his guard was down, Happy suddenly attacked in an explosive manner!
The scene from the peach blossom forest repeated itself once more!
While he was busy breathing and circulating his qi, Lu Mingyue lost his balance. He was caught off guard, and his airborne body flew toward Happy.
"Damn it!"
Lu Mingyue was very surprised. He struck with his Soft Palm Strikes while he instinctively cut off his connection with the useless embroidery needles and threw Shadowless Needles.
The long period of practice had made Lu Mingyue's skills jump from those of a normal player to the ranks of the true great players. His quick reflexes made it clear that he worked hard on his skills!
Happy praised him in his heart.
While he was under the threat of Shadowless Needles, he swung his sword. Light flashed, and he retreated with a jump. He stopped chasing after Lu Mingyue, and the Shadowless Needles stabbed into the ground before they vanished without a trace.
It was dangerous, but it was not so dangerous that it was worth mentioning to others.
The group of people at the entrance of the royal mausoleum were all great players. Some of them could tell many of the things that happened. Their eyes sparkled, and they gasped in their hearts while they enjoyed watching the fight to their hearts' content.
"As expected of the top player on the Famous People Rank."
"He actually managed to counterattack even under such a great disadvantage. Lu Mingyue was nearly hit as well."
"That bastard Lu Mingyue also reacted very quickly. He didn't panic even when danger was at his doorstep. Those black embroidery needles should be the Shadowless Needles that are rumored to be able to break defenses."
Both fighters took a step backward.
But as a whole, Lu Mingyue was still the one who suffered a loss, though it was not clear to the eyes of the public.
Even with the home advantage of Sunflower Aura, not only had he been forced to execute Soft Palm Strikes thrice and use his precious Shadowless Needles once—which caused him to use up a lot of qi—he had not been able to force Happy to use Petit Dragon. His body fortification was still at the peak of its condition as well, and that was while he had not equipped himself in his best gear.
Lu Mingyue could already sense great pressure on his shoulders!
Even though he had improved his Sunflower Aura, Happy's Golden Bell Cocoon also seemed to have reached a higher level.
'This won't be an easy fight.'
However, he could not retreat while there were so many people watching him. He could only grit his teeth and continue. But Lu Mingyue no longer dared to attack at will. If Happy seized another chance and counterattacked him, he might need to use up his precious Shadowless Needles and his qi to get himself out of trouble. If that continued, not only would he lose all his advantage, he might even end up losing very quickly.
"The royal mausoleum has opened!" someone suddenly shouted.
Lu Mingyue felt great joy in his heart.
It was clear that Happy had come for the treasures in the royal mausoleum. If he missed the time to enter, it would mean that he would be held up by a day.
Lu Mingyue did not show his glee on his face, but he raised his hands, and eight embroidery needles appeared between his fingers. He stared at Happy calmly. 'I'd like to see how long you can last.'
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…
Four flying needles shot out at the same time, but they were not led by any threads.
Happy moved slightly, but Lu Mingyue's second wave of needles immediately came at him, forcing him to change his position again.
"There's nothing else to see."
The people in the area were not idiots. They could tell what Lu Mingyue's motives were at first glance, and their interest in the fight instantly faded away.
Even though he could not quite accept such an ending, he had indeed come for the royal mausoleum. When he saw Lu Mingyue attack in a manner that was very similar to that of a brute, he was speechless.
'Oh well.'
He turned around without hesitation and removed himself from the battlefield!
"Thinking of leaving?"
When he saw Happy turning around with the intention of entering the royal mausoleum, Lu Mingyue became even more smug. He laughed long and hard in the air, and his Sunflower Aura spread out swiftly. He chased after him with light movements while he threw his embroidery needles nonstop.
But unfortunately, without threads controlling them, the embroidery needles, which seemed like hidden weapons on the surface, simply could not touch Happy. He did not even have to activate his body fortification. He only moved around in a simple fashion, and the embroidery needles all landed on the ground behind him.
When he arrived in front of the entrance, everyone had yet to enter.
Lu Mingyue seemed to be intent on forcing Happy to be the first one to enter the royal mausoleum. His attacks became faster and sharper!
Happy could no longer be bothered to fight against Lu Mingyue. He vanished into the entrance of the royal mausoleum without hesitation under Lu Mingyue's gleeful gaze.
"Hahahahaha… I'd like to see how long you can last in front of Ghost Face Wall in the royal mausoleum!"
Lu Mingyue stood airborne above the entrance of the royal mausoleum with a cold gaze in his eyes. He laughed nonstop.
The people at the entrance had stern expressions on their faces, and they frowned at what they saw. However, they did not want to get into misfortune by stepping on Lu Mingyue's tail. Besides, when they thought about it, if Happy died before Ghost Face Wall, it would mean that they had lost their greatest competitor, and it would be a good thing.
With various thoughts in their heads, no one entered the royal mausoleum.
Chapter 361 - Beat Them At Their Own Game
The death rate at the first level of the royal mausoleum was always the highest.
All those who entered the royal mausoleum were immediately attacked by Knife-throwing Ninjas. The ones who entered first would find tha
t all firepower was concentrated on them, and they were usually the ones to die!
In the ten or so days since the royal mausoleum had been opened to the public, many people intentionally avoided being the first to enter the royal mausoleum and allowed some rash hotheads or people who believed themselves to be good to enter ahead of them.
Those who entered first would basically all die. Almost no one survived it.
Even though Knife-throwing Ninjas were just in Blessed Realm, the damage of the splitting throwing knives was extraordinary, and the rapid and frequent attacks were something that even One Circle, who had high level defensive martial arts, found hard to withstand. And if he had a hard time, then it was even more so for normal players.
There was no hiding in the first hall of the royal mausoleum. After just a few rounds of attacks, almost everyone's body fortifications would be torn through, or their qi would depleted, and they would die.
Lu Mingyue had forced Happy to be the first to enter the royal mausoleum and then guarded the entrance. He wanted to ensure that Happy stayed inside for a long time and suffered a lot of the Knife-throwing Ninjas' attacks.
Even though Happy had an astonishing defense based on the fight just then, Lu Mingyue felt that it was not as strong as it seemed. He believed that Happy still had his limits, which was why even if Ghost Face Wall could not kill him, he would still need to use up a lot of his medicinal pills.
Lu Mingyue wanted to use this chance to deal a huge blow to Happy.
It had to be said, Lu Mingyue's scheme was incredibly sinister!
But he would consider the possibility that Happy had already thought about this when he entered the royal mausoleum because many similar cases had happened in his previous life.
When challenging the royal mausoleum, many sects worked together to lock down the entrance so that the first group of people who entered would die. Then, once the goal of dwindling their enemy number was accomplished, they would also enter in an orderly fashion.
When Lu Mingyue attacked even more aggressively than before, Happy could already tell what he was thinking.
But he did not reveal his plan. He just decided to beat Lu Mingyue at his own game!
He entered the royal mausoleum, and the light around him dimmed. Happy soon heard the sounds of throwing knives tearing through the air! There were many of them, and they came nonstop from ahead of him!
Boom!
He activated his Golden Bell Cocoon with a bang. An ancient and simple golden bell blocked the knives. Clanging sounds rang out nonstop. All sorts of throwing knives were instantly intercepted and fell to the ground, shattered, or changed shape.
He switched to his Silver Aquatic Dragon Set straight away. He grabbed his Noble Sword, ignored the countless dazzlingly white throwing knives charging at his face, and rushed at Ghost Face Wall at full speed.
Boom!
With one unhindered swing, he left behind a terrifying crack on Ghost Face Wall. He could vaguely see a group of Knife-throwing Ninja's indifferent expressions behind it.
He instantly delivered a few more slashes without slowing down. A hole that could allow people to enter swiftly appeared on Ghost Face Wall.
Once Seven Stars Sword Styles reached Grandmaster Realm, its damage reached 2,500 points, and Noble Sword's own attack was at five hundred. When Happy activated Mystical Realm, his attack increased by 30%, and his damage reached around 3,900 points.
Yet after making the hole, he did not go through it.
He swung his sword, and a sword glare charged into the gap where it struck the ninjas behind Ghost Face Wall. Two Knife-throwing Ninjas fell on their faces the moment they turned around. Happy used that chaos he created to go in.
The hall instantly fell silent.
Meanwhile, in the tunnel, more than half of the Knife-throwing Ninjas died. Once Happy activated Wind Spirit Spin with his Seven Stars Sword Styles, not a single Knife-throwing Ninja could withstand a second hit from him.
His Golden Bell Cocoon remained unharmed, and he quickly picked up his loot before vanishing from the tunnel like a phantom.
Time was money!
*****
On his way, aside from killing two rather large groups of ninjas, Happy never stopped moving. He moved forward at his fastest speed to the trap—Life and Death Circuit.
The side halls and small halls were left behind in perfect condition.
Doing this allowed him to save time, and he also hoped that the players who chased after him would stop for a while there and give him more time to venture into the depths of the royal mausoleum.
He activated his Phantasm Body Movement Skill and charged forward at full speed. He moved like a plume of smoke, and soon, he appeared at Life and Death Circuit.
At that moment, Happy no longer felt any sort of pressure when dealing with Life and Death Circuit.
With Silver Aquatic Dragon Set, his Golden Bell Cocoon did not need to fear being attacked by a group of ninjas.
He just murdered and slaughtered his way through until the place was empty!
He crushed two brocade boxes, took the things inside, and left.
His luck was pretty average and he did not receive any red ginseng. The two boxes contained a high-grade saber and a normal Blessed Realm high-tier martial art manual.
However, the group of ninjas in Life and Death Circuit contributed greatly to his spoils. They gave him four middle-grade armor and two high-grade weapons.
Happy did not even look at the attributes of those items. He just tossed them into his Universe Bag and vanished from the square hall that was Life and Death Circuit to go deeper into the tunnel.
*****
The people outside waited for a full five minutes at the entrance of the royal mausoleum!
Lu Mingyue did not stop them from entering anymore, because if he continued holding them back, he would make them miss the time to enter the royal mausoleum. If that happened, they would get hostile toward him.
He moved aside, and the people went in by groups of three and five.
Lu Mingyue stood at the entrance and hesitated for a very long time. But in the end, he could not quell the excitement in his heart and entered the royal mausoleum as well.
Boom!
The moment he entered the royal mausoleum, he was just in time to witness Ghost Face Wall being crushed.
Lu Mingyue did not care about that. Instead, he cautiously rose into the air with his flying needles. At the same time, he looked around for Happy's body without noticing the gazes from the players around him.
'Hmm? He's not around?'
Once Lu Mingyue searched through the area, he did not find Happy nor his corpse. After realizing that, his expression grew strange.
A few seconds later, he noticed that the gazes of many of the people around him when they looked at him were somewhat peculiar.
They were incredibly odd and mocking!
A hint of unease rose in his heart.
He flew at the top of the tunnel and saw that the Knife-throwing Ninjas there had been killed a long time ago.
When he linked this to the fact that Ghost Face Wall had just been destroyed, Lu Mingyue found himself unable to think. The unease in his heart grew greater.
Where did Happy go?
'Could it be?'
Lu Mingyue's eyes sparkled for a while. He looked at the people swiftly leaving further away into the tunnel before he gritted his teeth and chased after them at full speed.
But he could not use Needle Tide in such tunnel, and he could not close the distance between them in a short moment. In fact, the distance between them just kept widening...
Lu Mingyue's face instantly turned red with rage.
But it was fortunate for him that he did not catch up to them; otherwise, he would have heard the remarks from the front regarding his act of blocking the group from entering the royal mausoleum just then, and he would definitely have been so angry that he would have coughed up blood!
Chapter 362 - Cha
rge Through the First Level
This is what happened.
When the players, which had been delayed for some five minutes, entered the royal mausoleum, they activated their body fortifications and qi realms with incredible wariness, but they did not receive the splitting throwing knives that they thought would come at them.
The hall of the royal mausoleum was deadly still and quiet, and there was no sign of life in it!
When they looked up, they saw that the sturdy Ghost Fact Wall had an irregular hole broken through its middle in an incredibly strange fashion. They looked through it, and they saw that there were Knife-throwing Ninjas' corpses everywhere in the cave.
The group was completely dumbfounded!
It had to be known that they had cooperated with Lu Mingyue and not entered the royal mausoleum because someone needed to attract the fire power of the Knife-throwing Ninjas and because Ghost Face Wall was very sturdy. Completely destroying it required nearly one hundred powerful attacks from Mystical Realm martial arts, which was why they had let Happy enter alone.
By the looks of it though, their schemes had fallen short.
Happy had not completely destroyed Ghost Face Wall, but had instead only opened a hole.
Based on it, Happy had to have withstood great firepower while attacking the same spot until he opened the entrance, which was simply unbelievable. Just how great was his defense to do such a thing?
Even though Happy had helped them solve a problem, he also created an even greater one!
Right then, only one person could get through Ghost Face Wall at a time. So once more people arrived inside, all the people behind became angry. If they had to wait for their turn to enter the hole, then the resources in the first level would be completely taken away by Happy and the others.
The players executed their strongest attacks at the same time and attacked Ghost Face Wall madly. Like that, they broke through the obstacle that forced them to stop in their tracks.
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