"Senior, you have great judgment. What I am currently practicing is indeed Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palm."
Mad Monk then said, "Your other ultimate technique is slightly peculiar. It is full of profound secrets, but it is rather familiar as well. Boy, if you do not mind, execute a few moves from it so that I can take a look."
A monk who broke his vows suddenly cried out not too far away in the distance.
Happy turned around and saw that the monk who broke his vows was being dragged by an invisible suction force to an area near the region of clouds. He fell in front of Happy with a loud bang.
"If that's the case, I will show my respect to you by obeying!"
Even if the monk who broke his vows was already close to him, Happy continued to remain calm. He retained a relaxed demeanor.
The monk who broke his vows might have felt fearful and curious, but when he saw that Happy was standing in front of him, a fierce glare instantly shone in his eyes.
Before he got to his feet, he swung his Silver-spiked Staff madly, and fire burst forth. Layers of staff shadows appeared when he moved and went to hit Happy in the head.
"Second style, Petite Dragon…"
Happy's expression was calm. He hummed softly and swayed like a willow along with the wind that was the monk's crazed attacks. He moved to the left and right, evading all the monk's attacks in a very peculiar but ingenious manner. From the start to the end, he never took a single step with his feet. He only twisted and turned his body to make all sorts of unbelievable evasive maneuvers.
The Silver-spiked Staff in the monk's hands formed a lot of staff shadows, but they did not manage to touch Happy's sleeves even once.
When a few seconds passed and Happy sensed that his qi had started to deplete, he no longer hesitated.
"First style, Dragon Capture."
Right after he said that, he extended his hands toward the staff shadows in a seemingly unconcerned fashion. The staff shadows that filled the sky instantly vanished without a trace.
The pitiful monk who broke his vows had his hands empty. His Silver-spiked Staff had landed in Happy's hand, while his neck was seized tightly by the other. Happy lifted him off the ground like a chick and threw to the side.
The monk who broke his vows was so terrified that he felt as if his soul was about to leave his body. He turned around in fear and fled.
Happy did not chase after him. He retained his composed expression and turned around calmly to bow to the region of clouds and fog. "I have only started practicing this technique recently. I've made a fool of myself in front of you, senior."
"It's pretty interesting…" The old voice traveled into Happy's ears and asked, "Have you only learned two styles from it?"
"I've learned three."
"Indeed, with your comprehension and qi, you should have one more move. Is it the Dragon Swings its Tail?"
Happy suppressed the shock in his heart and answered according to the truth. "It is. It's a counterattack, but with the monk's strength, he couldn't force me to use it."
Happy remembered that his technique should be something that his master had never shown to anyone, but Mad Monk was still able to guess the third move of Ten True Dragon Styles immediately.
"It's very simple. More than thirty years ago, I fought against another person who knew Ten True Dragon Styles. He was a Shaolin Temple disciple, and he seemed to have modified ten moves from another technique, and while the power of those moves wasn't enough to threaten others, its ability to protect its user was astonishing. Even I had a hard time trying to kill him."
Mad Monk's words left Happy in a state of shock.
He was practically certain that the person Mad Monk mentioned was his master, Xuan Kong. After all, the ten styles were created by Master Xuan Kong, and there was no one else who knew about them.
"This martial art can also be considered an ultimate technique. Your master is an amazing man. Might I know what this martial art is called?"
"Ten True Dragon Styles."
"Ten True Dragon Styles… It is an appropriate name." Mad Monk seemed to be implying something in his words. Then, his tone changed. "But judging by you, your master doesn't seem to have noticed that there is a small secret to those ten styles."
"A small secret?"
"Indeed. Over the past three decades, I have been continuously thinking about the years I lived in the world of martial artists. And hence, I have come to understand the various ultimate techniques from other sects.
"I remember most vividly two people who fought against me with moves that were amazing in the sense that they could produce the same goal using different means, but neither of them noticed it. Instead, I have gained some understanding about it over the years."
"Senior, what do you mean?" Happy s.u.c.k.e.d in a deep breath. There was nervousness and excitement on his face.
But he did not expect that during this critical moment, Mad Monk would change the topic of conversation. "But now, I understand it. Both styles are considered to have come from the same origin. However, when they are executed, they come into conflict with each other. It is fine that you do not understand it, but your appearance has answered a question that has lingered in my mind for a long time."
When Happy heard that, no matter how slow-witted he was, he understood what Mad Monk meant.
The two people Mad Monk mentioned were most probably Master Xuan Kong and the sect master of Beggar's Sect!
The two ultimate techniques he mentioned were Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palm and Ten True Dragon Styles.
Both ultimate techniques contained the word "dragon", but that similarity should not be a superficial one. There was a paragraph in the summary of Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palm that mentioned that the earliest Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palm actually carried the name of Twenty-eight Dragon Subduing Palm.
However, as the technique was passed down through the ages, ten moves failed to be passed down. The people from Beggar's Sect did not bother to locate those ten moves or mend the technique. They just modified the remaining moves into Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palm.
When Happy linked that to what Mad Monk said, he quickly connected all the facts that he knew together.
However, it was just as Mad Monk said, Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palm and Ten True Dragon Styles were completely different in terms of character and style!
One of them was a fierce, matchless, and strong offensive technique! It charged forward with an indomitable spirit! And when the attacks it faced were strong, the technique would become even stronger!
The three moves of Ten True Dragon Styles displayed a gentle way of fighting through evasion, technique, and counterattack. It was completely different from the profound secret Happy had understood from Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palm. In fact, they were slightly conflicting with each other, which led to them weakening each other.
Could it be that Happy had unknowingly gathered together the ancient Twenty-eight Dragon Subduing Palm?
Chapter 504 - Grand Lineup
Even though Happy had come to understand Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palm and Ten True Dragon Styles at the same time as well as obtained a verification from Mad Monk that there was something very similar about them, neither Happy nor Mad Monk were able to fuse them together to form the real Twenty-eight Dragon Subduing Palm.
To Mad Monk, Twenty-eight Dragon Subduing Palm was strong, but perhaps it was precisely because the two parts produced different effects and were in conflict with each other that the sect master of Beggar's Sect resolutely discarded ten moves and chose the other part—Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palm—which could stand on its own and was very straightforward.
However, Master Xiang Kong had somehow discovered that the other ten moves of Twenty-eight Dragon Subduing Palm could form their own style. Once he modified it, he formed the unique Ten True Dragon Styles.
Even though both sets came from the same source, they could not be fused and used together.
"I believe that Twenty-eight
Dragon Subduing Palm should not be two ultimate techniques that are separated. The person who initially created this ultimate technique must have had a way to fuse them together and use as one, but boy, you will need to explore and understand this on your own. Let's see whether you can produce Twenty-eight Dragon Subduing Palm's might."
When Happy descended the mountain, he was still thinking about Mad Monk's last advice.
He pondered about the two different styles of Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palm and Ten True Dragon Styles.
While going down, he was so preoccupied with his thought that he did not even notice that the players along the way had increased exponentially, and countless gazes swept over him from the forests on the sides of the road. They contained faint killing intent and cold thoughts, but they also had endless wariness and caution. Those gazes intersected with each other in the air, and the dangerous but grave atmosphere became stronger with each passing moment.
The Shaolin Temple disciples along the way also noticed the strange atmosphere on the mountain, and they quickly avoided the path.
However, what disappointed them was that even though the number of people on the road just kept on increasing until it reached the point that they looked like they had lined up by the side to send Happy off, he just continued walking down the mountain with calm footsteps. Nothing around him managed to attract his attention.
Everything was peaceful along the way.
It was only when Happy arrived at the foot of Mount Song and reached a pavilion that he was familiar with that his attention was finally attracted by two figures who stood up.
His pupils shrank slightly.
"Hall Master Dream, Vice Hall Master Blood."
The two people were Hall Master Dream Clouds and his old enemy, Blood Robes, who had chased him here from Beijing. Happy quickly looked around him, and it was only then that he noticed that while he was shocked by the truth about Twenty-eight Dragon Subduing Palm, he had, at some point, become heavily surrounded by Class One Hall.
However, it was not the first time that Happy saw this sort of lineup. Even though he was surprised, he did not show any change in his expression. He redirected his gaze at the two familiar figures outside the pavilion.
'Zhou Yu?'
'Looks like his fight with One Emperor affected him pretty badly.'
There was also Tang Feng standing beside Zhou Yu. He was someone Happy had met twice, and who was the hall master of Assassin Hall.
He was the eldest senior brother of West Shu's Tang Sect. He never built a sect in Happy's previous life, but he was a powerful player who people believed had the strength equal to an entire sect. At that moment, he looked at Happy with a complicated expression.
"Happy."
"This is how I imagined Class One Hall's presence to be like."
Happy ignored Tang Feng's fierce gaze and the vicious eyes trained on him. He stopped walking forward and turned to the side to approach the pavilion with a calm expression.
The crowd was stunned speechless.
Dream Clouds, who sat quietly in the pavilion, finally had a surprised expression that others could not notice behind the veil.
She had thought that Happy was brave because of his skills when he calmly walked down the mountain until he was outside the pavilion without batting an eyelid.
Yet Happy just went straight to the pavilion where four powerful players were.
Blood Robes and Dream Clouds' gazes instantly turned solemn and fiery. They stared at Happy walking over with complicated expressions on their faces while hoping to find at least a shred of nervousness or panic on him.
But even when he walked past Tang Feng—a person regarded with wariness—Happy just continued on with steady footsteps. Instead, Tang Feng was the one who moved back slightly and made way. His hands seized something, and his gaze was wary.
At that moment, the hearts of the people from Class One Hall were practically in their throats.
The drunk Zhou Yu even subconsciously put down his pot of wine, and his bleary eyes shone with a faint hint of clarity and caution.
"As expected of the top ranked player on Famous People Rank. Your courage is something that I admire."
Dream Clouds sat in front of the stone table. After she spoke, she lifted her wine cup toward Happy and drained it in one go!
Happy did not stop moving. He walked past Dream Clouds and stood behind her, making her act of adopting a superior position to fall flat.
More than one thousand Class One Hall elites outside the pavilion watched this scene incredulously.
It was the first time someone would be so arrogant as to have his back turned to Dream Clouds, Blood Robes, Zhou Yu, and Tang Feng. In the crowd's eyes, it was basically the same as Happy signing his own death warrant.
But Happy did it anyway.
Not only did Blood Robes and Dream Clouds go still, even Zhou Yu and Tang Feng felt an invisible pressure from Happy's back and the sharp and intimidating metallic gloves on the hands he had behind his back.
An entire fourth-echelon Golden Armor Set.
Fourth-echelon Golden Gloves.
Perfected Golden Bell Cocoon.
Two ultimate techniques.
If they could not instantly kill Happy, the four would have to face Happy's thunderous counterattack. They would have to deal with an elite whose power reached Inaction Realm and who killed resolutely.
At that moment, Happy spoke. A calm and indifferent voice slowly traveled from behind Dream Clouds.
"After we parted at Light Summit, I had some things I wanted to settle with you, Hall Master Dream, but unfortunately, I had a quest with me, and I didn't have the chance to talk about it with you in detail. I have to apologize to you about that."
"I also came here today for that goal. I want to ask you, is there any possibility for us to compromise with each other?"
"Compromise?" Happy's voice turned cold. "Hall Master Dream, you didn't come here for a compromise with this lineup, did you? If I don't agree to your terms, won't you have your people surge forward and kill me at Mount Song, then, kill me repeatedly outside Guanlin Temple despite the risk of having Embroidered Uniform Guards place a bounty on you?"
The area fell silent again.
Blood Robes stood in front of the stone table quietly. When he heard Happy's words, his body shuddered slightly, and he subconsciously looked toward Dream Clouds.
She had a silver veil covering her face, and the changes on her expression could not be seen. However, her gaze showed that she was still slightly shaken.
There were no Class One Hall members at the nearest Guanlin Temple, but Assassin Hall was lurking there, and their goal was to prevent any news from leaking.
It was unexpected then that Happy would expose them straight away.
Blood Robes and Dream Clouds circulated their qi in secret. Tang Feng turned his body slightly, and together with Zhou Yu, who sat drunk outside the pavilion, they formed a huge net that could pounce on Happy at any moment.
In a moment, the atmosphere inside the pavilion turned incredibly somber!
Chapter 505 - You’re Far More Inferior Compared to One Emperor!
"Happy."
When Zhou Yu saw that the atmosphere inside the pavilion had become incredibly grave, that hostility was rising, and that they looked as if they were about to fight at any moment, he suddenly stood up outside the pavilion while swaying.
"I heard from One Emperor that you have a promise with him about half a year later."
Zhou Yu's swaying motions managed to quell the tense atmosphere inside the pavilion slightly.
One Emperor!
This name shocked both sides slightly, and the expressions of a few people changed at the same time.
Happy quickly recovered, and his voice returned to being calm. "It's a promise we made at Spirit Snake Island. At that time, he said that you couldn't withstand three slashes from him. Why did you mention him? Did One Emperor agree to join Class One Hall?"
Right after he finished speaking, Zhou Yu laughed loudly in a self-deprecating manner.
"If One Emperor really had the intention to join Class One Hall, would you have been able to leave Beijing alive?" Once he finished speaking, his tone suddenly changed. "One Emperor is the strongest in World of Martial Arts. His sword technique is peerless. On that day, he defeated me with just three slashes. His first slash destroyed my body fortification, his second slash cut my t.h.i.g.h, and his third slash was pointed at this part."
Even though Zhou Yu spoke very briefly, they seemed to be able to sense the sword glare that swept through everything like they were twigs and was so sharp that no one could block it!
Happy, too, did not expect that Zhou Yu had lost like that. It seemed like it was even more straightforward than he thought.
His gaze focused.
When Zhou Yu saw the slight change in Happy's expression, he could not help but show a barely noticeable anguished look.
"Before, I was conceited and arrogant enough to think about being the top on Dragon Rank, but in the end, I noticed that having peerless qi was a mere illusion. And what is truly important is not how many people you have by your side." When Dream Clouds heard that, her expression changed slightly, but Zhou Yu continued speaking without stopping. "And it doesn't matter how high your qi is or how many ultimate techniques you know. The key to being the strongest lies in whether you know how to use your attacks, and whether you are resolute and fierce enough with them!"
Happy quirked his eyebrows.
'Seems like Zhou Yu has gained a lot from that fight.'
"You should know by now that strictly speaking, I did not even manage to withstand even one slash from One Emperor, and three slashes is the number at which I die. I know that if One Emperor hadn't decided to observe my true strength because I was also at Life and Death Realm at that time, I wouldn't even have the time to stall and make him attack more times. I would have died with at most two attacks."
Sword Among Us c1-1268 Page 255
