[Did Heartless Iron say anything about the appearance of Phantasmal Crystal?] Happy suddenly asked.
Thunderous Battle was stunned. [How did you know? When Heartless Iron saw that a Phantasmal Crystal had been added to the important resources category of our clan storage, he immediately came to me saying that I must absolutely persuade you to let him try it out.
[Whew, even when I think about it now, I find it hilarious. Think about it. He's a middle-aged man who is usually incredibly callous, and he's about the same age as I am, but he suddenly became incredibly needy. I can't quite handle it.]
[What's your decision?]
[Hehe, I told him at that time that challenging the fourth echelon isn't that easy. No matter what, we have to get a few sets of materials before we take any action. Right now, many people have come to me with a price. The highest offer was 150,000,000 taels of silver.
[If one of them was shattered, I'd want to jump off a building and kill myself. It's just a 20% success rate… That means there's a possibility that four or five of them will shatter. Would I dare to take that risk?
[Besides, it's not as if there isn't anyone who has suffered losses because of this. I heard that Kind Tycoon wanted to reap benefits again, but despite trying it multiple times, he failed and lost a few billion taels of silver in ingredients. Right now, he's so angry that he wants to cough up blood. When I think about how the few third-echelon Nation Protecting Divine Swords in the bank will shatter, my heart pounds.]
[Being level-headed is good, but the attributes of the third echelon are 150%, while the fourth echelon brings them to an insane level. They're at 300%, so it's understandable why Kind Tycoon wanted to take the risk. As long as we are successful in our attempt, it'll be basically the same as us having our attack increase by one whole qi realm as of now. If we sell it, it would definitely be at a phenomenal price.]
[Why are you acting like this? Are you thinking about supporting him?]
Thunderous Battle's words were full of shock in his letter.
Happy smiled and wrote in a flourish. [It'll be good if he tries. After all, there is no one with enough contribution points to exchange for those third-echelon Nation Protecting Divine Swords. But tell him that if he fails this time, he'll have to wait until there are at least four sets of materials before he can attempt to make fourth-echelon equipment again!]
After receiving that letter, Thunderous Battle was silent for a long time.
[Deal,] he answered a moment later in a very irresponsible way. [After all, those are all your items. I'll just watch by the side and let you two feel anxious…]
Happy smiled and tore the letter apart before summoning Hoof Shadow and heading toward Vast Martial City.
Mu Clan's Forging Room One in Baokang was publicly known as a famous person's forging room once Heartless Iron acc.u.mulated lots of successes. After all, there were twenty-three third-echelon grade one masterpieces on the Divine Weapon Rank that came from that room.
Each piece was worth more than a billion!
True to his name, Heartless Iron had become the best Forgemaster in Mu Clan. At the same time, he also became the best Forgemaster in the game…
In fact, even Chivalry Sect, Jade Fox Palace, and some of the more famous sects in the game had come forward in hopes that Heartless Iron could refine their equipment.
However, his temper for which he was known in Happy's previous life had already appeared by then. His tone when he spoke was incredibly firm and crude.
"I don't lack grade one masterpieces and third-echelon masterpieces!
"I will only accept requests asking me to create fourth-echelon equipment, and you will bring your own materials. And let me make this clear, if I fail, I will give you one million taels of silver as reimburs.e.m.e.nt."
As of right then, he had only made an exception for Lin Xiao and Red Dust from Chivalry Sect, and Thunderous Battle had to personally bring them over before Heartless Iron took action. He was so prideful that people gasped in astonishment at it.
There were also many people who tried to hire him in secret.
On that day, Heartless Iron had rejected Kind Tycoon and Class One Hall's Dream Clouds' invitations.
The former had tempted him with benefits. He said that he had more than a dozen sets of fourth-echelon materials in his hands. As long as Heartless Iron agreed to switch sects, he would immediately give him a chance to use countless resources and the opportunity to display his abilities. His salary would also be above eight figures.
Heartless Iron might have been tempted, but in the end, he still chose to reject the offer.
After all, Thunderous Battle and Happy had been kind to him, and he had relied on Mu Clan to become outstanding. He had a deep sense of attachment and trust for them. He was not lacking in money either. The success of creating one single third-echelon grade one equipment could allow him to get contribution points worth two million taels of silver. That sum was not any lower than what Kind Tycoon offered.
Class One Hall had tried to threaten him with force, so he scolded and blacklisted them.
Just when Heartless Iron was prepared to heat up his furnace to work on the grade one masterpieces Mu Clan had bought, Thunderous Battle sent him news that made his heart surge.
After repeated contemplation, Happy had decided to let him take the risk once to attempt making fourth-echelon equipment!
Also, Thunderous Battle solemnly promised that the clan was going to use a lot of money to buy Phantasmal Crystals and other refinement materials from Jade Fox Palace, Chivalry Sect, Righteous Sect, and Blood River Sect so that they could help him create fourth-echelon equipment!
Chapter 392 - Hero Invitation!
Heartless Iron did not reveal the news of him attempting to create fourth-echelon equipment to anyone!
Only Lin Xiao, who was in charge of managing the Phantasmal Crystals in Chivalry Sect; Absolute Nonsense, the palace master of Jade Fox Palace; Wu Qing, the sect master of Righteous Sect; and Blood Rivers in Nine Heavens, the sect master of Blood Rivers Sect noticed it because Mu Clan began to buy ingredients for it.
The three local sects naturally said nothing and just sold their resources without hesitation since they did not have enough power to cultivate their own forgemasters. Most of their resources had been exchanged for silver and equipment to strengthen their members. Since the other could lower their risk when making fourth-echelon weapons, they were very welcome to the idea of giving Thunderous Battle such a favor.
As for Lin Xiao, even though Phantasmal Crystals were also very important to Chivalry Sect, Happy had never asked them for help in regards to Beautiful Robes Faction's destruction, and Lin Xiao as well as the others felt guilty about it. Because of that, they gave two Phantasmal Crystals to Mu Clan to support Heartless Iron in creating fourth-echelon equipment.
Thunderous Battle gathered a total of seven sets of materials, three third-echelon Nation Protecting Divine Swords, and one third-echelon Golden Armor Set.
Heartless Iron had never felt so excited and worked up before. In fact, he even logged off to earnestly burn incense and take a bath.
The moment Heartless Iron shut himself in the forging room, Thunderous Battle began to drink in the restaurant outside the forging room. He drank on his own. After all, it had to be known that it was not about some small sum of money, but nearly two billion taels of silver.
"Big Brother Thunder, when did you become so moody? Why didn't you call me over when you're drinking?"
Half an hour later, Little North appeared with a wild smile on his face. He sat down across from Thunderous Battle while his two zombies covered in black gauze and looking like door gods remained behind him. "Did you have your heart broken?"
"Me? Heartbroken?" Thunderous Battle was rendered speechless and rolled his eyes at Little North. "My kid is already as old as you are."
"Hey, could you not mock me that way?" Little North poured himself a cup of wine in a gloomy fashion.
Thundero
us Battle swept a glance at the two zombies who were like door gods, and a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes. "Your two precious babies seem to be slightly different. I haven't seen for a while, so did you go to train them?"
"Hehe, you managed to tell?" Little North grinned slyly. "I went back to my master and got myself some ingredients for Thousand-year Corpse King. Don't look down on them now… Big Brother Thunder, you've been pretty lazy lately, so you might not even be able to win against my zombies now."
"Nonsense!" Thunderous Battle rolled his eyes.
Little North continued smiling while saying confidently, "These two babies of mine are no longer the same as half a month ago. They had parts in them changed, so their combat strength is now not that much weaker than that of a Thousand-year Corpse King."
"Thousand-year Corpse King? Life and Death Realm?!"
Thunderous Battle's expression changed. He could not help but cast another glance at the two puppets. Now that he looked at them, the zombies' figures under the black gauze seemed to be slightly thinner.
Little North smiled smugly.
"We received quite a good reward, so I had many things changed in my babies. Their movement speed and attack speed are modeled after Life and Death Realm fighters, and with the damage from their poison claws, even players on the Dragon Rank will have think before they attack."
"Not bad, Little North." Thunderous Battle was incredibly excited. "You haven't neglected your training during this period of time. Now, I'll look forward to the moment you can replace me as Mu Clan's strongest!"
Little North's expression became stern. He suddenly sighed heavily. "How can I not work hard? Beautiful Robes Faction's destruction told me that it is not practical for us to rely on our boss alone. I can't always be under your protection either. So now it's my turn to help carry some of Mu Clan and our boss' burden."
"Nicely said!" Thunderous Battle smiled and lifted his wine cup. "Cheers!"
When they held up their wine cups and were prepared to drink everything, they suddenly heard a commotion from the players seated in the restaurant.
"Hero invitation?"
"Read it, quick!"
"That waiter placed it on the table, and my name is on it. Haha! My name is on it!"
Thunderous Battle and Little North looked over in surprise and saw a man in Yellow Dragon Archer Gear sitting not too far away from them. He picked up a big red invitation with golden borders and waved it at a group of people at another table with a smug expression.
"Why are you making such a ruckus? Everyone has it."
To the man's surprise, one employee in waiter attire walked toward Thunderous Battle and Little North's table as well. He put down two large red invitations with golden borders on the table before he turned around and left.
It had two solemn, large words: Hero Invitation.
The two's expressions changed.
They pushed away the surprise they felt in their hearts, picked up the invitation in front of them, and opened it.
"Ding!"
The system gave them a notification.
"Obtained Emei Sect's hero invitation, written by Mistress Annihilation!
"Over the past few years, Ming Cult has committed many crimes. Golden Haired Lion King Xie Xun stole Kongtong Sect's Seven Harms Fist and killed Shaolin Temple's Divine Monk Kong Jian.
"A woman from Heavenly Eagle Cult, a branch sect of Ming Cult, caused Zhang Cuishan, one of the five swordsmen of Wudang Sect, to die and have his name destroyed. Bright Left Messenger, Yang Xiao, caused Emei Sect's Gu Hongzi to die of anger.
"Ming Cult also assassinated Grandmaster Bai Heng of Mount Hua Sect. Xie Xun wanted to take revenge, but ended up offending all the heroes in the world, causing public rage in the world of martial artists.
"Emei Sect's Mistress Annihilation cannot stand the humiliation and chose to work together with the five great sects, which would gather at Mount Huangshan. At the same time, she extends an invitation to all martial artists in the path of righteousness to surround and attack Light Summit and destroy Ming Cult!
"The final battle against Light Summit will be seven days later!"
Once Thunderous Battle and Little North heard the system's notification, the restaurant returned to calmness. Everyone's eyes sparkled while they had contemplative expressions on their faces. Clearly, they had also received the quest.
Everyone could sense a fortuitous event that could make their hearts surge from the details of the quest, which were to surround and attack Light Summit with the six great system-allocated sects!
Indeed, it was a fortuitous event!
Everyone had read the Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber before.
Regardless of whether it was Golden Haired Lion King Xie Xun, who stole the legitimate Seven Harms Fist and Lion's Roar, the Heavenly Eagle Claw from Heavenly Eagle Cult's Yin Tianzheng, Black-winged Black King Wei Yixiao's Fly on Grass and Freezing Soft Palm, or Ming Cult's Heaven and Earth Great Shift, all of them were ultimate techniques.
Also, Dragon Slaying Saber and Heaven Reliant Sword both appeared during the fight against Light Summit.
For a period of time, the thoughts of martial artists in the restaurant ran wild. The players left at a brisk pace and with calm expressions. In an instant, no one remained behind.
Thunderous Battle and Little North looked at each other at a loss, then sighed with unpleasant expressions.
"They just had to issue this sort of quest at this time…"
"It's really bad timing." Little North frowned.
At that moment, Mu Clan was in a period of swift development. They were quickly expanding, so their foundation was not solid yet, and it would be difficult for them to fight against Class One Hall. Once the elites in the clan left, they might face Class One Hall's invasion.
"I'll ask boss."
Little North brought out his pen and paper.
*****
"Fight against Light Summit?"
By the time Happy received the letter from Little North, he had also gotten a hero invitation from Beggar's Sect. He scowled at the sight of it. The first grand and unprecedented storyline quest in World of Martial Arts had finally begun.
However, what caught him by surprise was that the first grand-scale quest was actually not to challenge Raging Aquatic Dragon Island. Instead, it was the final battle against Light Summit, which should only appear a year after the game was launched.
He remembered that a lot of people had joined the quest, and there were plenty of obstacles. Not only did they have to face tens of thousands of Ming Cult disciples and elites, they had to get through Ming Cult's Five Banner Division. There were dangers and fortuitous events as well as countless subquests.
There were also quite a number of good players who stood out during the battle.
'Seven days later, huh?"
Happy pondered over it for a moment before he had an idea form in his head.
Chapter 393 - Change in Progress
Happy, who had experience in playing World of Martial Arts in his previous life, felt that many subtle changes had happened. They seemed to be insignificant, but they were changing the direction of the game in an intangible manner.
Happy had intentionally invited Pomelo into Mu Clan when the clan was initially built and supported him so that he became the best Grand Herbalist in Mu Clan. The clan's never-ending supply of wealth allowed them to create the first herbalist who did not lack money. In one month, Pomelo was at least two levels above all herbalists in the game, a grade two herbalist.
Heartless Iron was the best Forgemaster in Mu Clan. While he was not the best in terms of his level in the game and could not be considered among the top ranks, in the refinement trend that Kind Tycoon stirred up, Heartless Iron revealed his outstanding abilities, and his fame rose half a year earlier than what Happy expected.
Medicinal pills were used much earlier, and the trend of refinement also erupted much earlier than it did in Happy's previous life.
Yao Hua
of Fox Cave died earlier, and the resources of the royal mausoleum were limited by a certain someone. The game right then was heading toward an unknown direction because of some unknown force.
Life and Death Realm had appeared ahead of schedule, and the hero invitation for the final battle against Light Summit were all official signs that the game was progressing off the course from what Happy knew!
It was something no one sensed except Happy.
He did not know whether this divergence was good or bad though.
The other martial artists in World of Martial Arts, however, only knew that the hero invitation was sent to all heroes in the game to fight against Light Summit, and it would help them create an incredibly great fortuitous event.
Various martial artists began to make preparations for the final battle against Light Summit. They could not be lacking in terms of their equipment, weapons, medicinal pills, or martial arts.
That was something that all normal martial artists prepared, however. Those who were slightly smarter would prepare some unique items such as traps, poison, antidotes, even stronger recovery pills, along with some items that could be used in unexpected situations!
At that moment, a handful of people who had a lot of resources also entered private schools and used up a lot of money to increase their Comprehension or went to the commission shop to buy medicinal pills that could increase their Affinity. Since the game was launched, many people could prove that players who had high Affinity and Comprehension would catch the eyes of great masters in the game and some were fortunate enough to inherit their skills.
Happy was no exception. He put a request to buy sacred medicine that could increase his attribute as well as Small Reversion Pills in the commission shop. Then, he trained and continued to increase his qi just like usual to reach Life and Death Realm.
Black Willow Mountain Manor, which was outside Vast Martial City, was a forbidden ground for many players, because it had three people whose abilities had reached Moksha Realm: Manor Master, Second Manor Master, and Third Manor Master. They were incredibly powerful, and they liked to do things such as rob houses and plunder villages. The players who wandered into the area often never returned.
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