Sword Among Us c1-1268

by Black Swordsman Online

  "Hou Xibai, take Master Qing Yuan with you and break out! I'll protect you!"

  "Thinking of leaving?"

  Yang Xuyan and the Twins Demons had already surrounded Hou Xibai and Qing Yuan. They blocked their path forward and backward.

  "Neither of you will be able to leave."

  Hou Xibai might have stopped the bleeding on his shoulder, but he was rather heavily injured, and his combat abilities were compromised slightly. Yet he had to fight against three people alone while trying to break free with another person in tow. He might have the intention to do so, but he lacked the power to carry it out.

  Qing Yuan clearly noticed this, and he laughed bleakly. "Buddha once said that if I do not sacrifice myself, I cannot save anyone. Mister Hou, my lady, do not worry about me, but I do not wish to hand over the key to Eunuch Yang's Warehouse to the people of the evil cult."

  As he spoke, he brought out a box from his bosom.

  "Hand it over, and I'll allow you to die with your entire body intact."

  Yang Xuyan's tone was cold. He stared at the box in Qing Yuan's hands with a heated gaze.

  "Never."

  "You're just asking for death!"

  His expression changed, and the thin sword in Yang Xuyan's hands suddenly turned into a black snake that silently but quickly shot toward Qing Yuan. He had to attack quickly to prevent any unforeseen circ.u.mstances from happening.

  But at that moment, a sigh reached their ears. No one had any idea where it came from.

  Ting!

  Yang Xuyan's ruthless and quick sword glare was knocked aside by a finger-generated wind that came out of nowhere.

  When the momentum of the sword changed, the second finger-generated wind had already arrived.

  "Urk!"

  Thud, thud, thud!

  The invisible finger-generated wind struck Yang Xuyan's body. With everyone watching, he trembled and took a few steps back.

  The Twin Demons were shocked.

  "Who is it?!" the purple-haired man shouted in anger and ruthlessly struck Qing Yuan, who no longer had any strength to fight back.

  However, while he might be fast, the person hidden in the dark seemed to have noticed his movements beforehand. Another finger-generated wind viciously sealed his path forward.

  Before the purple-haired man could swing his raised arm downward, the fierce finger-generated wind crashed into his dark palm with a power he could not fight back against.

  "Ah!"

  The purple-haired man cried out in pain as if he had been struck by lightning. He was sent reeling, and his body moved in an exaggerated fashion. After he took considerable effort to gain a solid footing, he held his trembling palm tightly, and for the first time, surprise and bewilderment showed up in his eyes.

  When the red-haired woman saw that the purple-haired man had suffered a setback, an unprecedentedly solemn expression showed up on her face. She endured the urge to attack Qing Yuan because she did not want the same thing to happen again.

  "Great master, where did you come from? How about you show your face?"

  Yang Xuyan's expression was unpleasant. He could sense that the circulation of his qi and blood were all in that person's hands. It seemed like he could not hide any of his actions from the mysterious elite. He surveyed the restaurants around him with a grave expression in an attempt to find for the attacker within them.

  "You lurk around and refuse to show up. Is it because you cannot reveal your face?" While the red-haired woman spoke, she quietly pulled out a poison needle as thin as a hair from her sleeves.

  Right when she was about to attack, the finger-generated wind appeared again.

  "Ah!"

  A bloody hole appeared on the red-haired woman's arm, and she instantly lost her strength. The poison needle fell out from her sleeves onto the ground, and her delicate as well as coquettish face instantly twisted. She turned pale with fright.

  When the purple-haired man saw that the red-haired woman's situation was even worse than his, his thoughts raced, and he quickly said, "Don't attack anymore. Whoever it is, they might be in Myth Realm. If we anger that person any further, the next attack might kill us."

  He could already tell that while the person hidden in the dark did not show their face, each of their attacks was stronger than the last. The first was a warning to Yang Xuyan, the second forced him back, but then the attacks had gone straight to severely wounding the red-haired woman and destroying her arm.

  If they attacked again, there was no guarantee that a bloody hole would not appear on their bodies.

  Their respect and fear toward the mysterious, unknown, and powerful martial artist caused them to finally abandon all thoughts of attacking Qing Yuan.

  Hou Xibai reacted quickly. When he saw that all three enemies were intimidated by the mysterious elite, he grabbed Qing Yuan without hesitation, tapped against the ground, and rushed into the distance.

  Yang Xuyan just twitched his finger, and he suddenly heard a buzzing sound by his ears. He quickly stopped moving!

  Thud! Thud!

  The wall of the restaurant behind him was pierced through, and there were now two small holes on it.

  Yang Xuyan's expression soured even further. If he had moved just then, the two holes would have also appeared on his body.

  When even Yang Xuyan was suppressed so much that he did not dare move recklessly, there was nothing to say about the Twin Demons. They could only watch helplessly as Hou Xibai took the heavily injured Qing Yuan into the distance, and even after a long time had passed, they did not have the courage to move. They stared at one of the restaurants with a wary look, and hesitation as well as wariness shone in their eyes.

  "Little Sister Wan Wan, thank you for your hospitality today. I'm afraid you'll have to stay here now."

  When Shi Feixuan saw that Qing Yuan had managed to leave with the help of the mysterious elite, she became much more relaxed. She swung her sword and easily forced Wan Wan away. Then, she jumped over a few houses like a white cloud and vanished without a trace.

  Wan Wan did not chase after her. She turned around, tapped against the roof with her b.a.r.e feet, and gently jumped into the first floor of a restaurant to appear in front of a man with a Bamboo Hat who was pouring himself a cup of wine.

  The first floor instantly fell silent. The martial artists who were originally leaning against the window to watch the fun were terrified into retreating into the distance when they saw the fiend come over.

  The man in the Bamboo Hat was not surprised at all. He remained sitting with his back straight, and he even extended an invitation in a relaxed manner.

  "It's an honor for a beauty such as you to visit me. Care for a drink?"

  Chapter 688 - Great Sky Demon Art

  "You also came for Eunuch Yang's Warehouse."

  The relaxed and cunning expression that belonged to elves could no longer be detected on Wan Wan's face. It was as if the person in front of her was an even more terrifying enemy than Shi Feixuan. The lackadaisical look on her face was gone, replaced by endless graveness and wariness.

  "I heard that there is a treasure that destroyed an entire dynasty in Eunuch Yang's Warehouse. Those from the righteous path, evil path, and the imperial court are all interested in it. It's not that surprising that I've become interested in it because of the trend, yes?"

  "I suppose this is human nature… But you should not have destroyed the holy order's plan." Wan Wan sighed airily. "Those who go against the holy order never end well."

  As the two spoke, Yang Xuyan and the Twin Demons had already walked upstairs. Three pairs of eyes were fixed on the mysterious man in the Bamboo Hat sitting at the table.

  If their gazes could kill, the injured red-haired woman would have slaughtered that person multiple times!

  But the trio did not dare act recklessly. Even though they could not sense any fluctuations of qi or threat from the person, they acted like a waiter skipping work with a guilty conscience, and it was enough to tell ju
st how terrifying the person was.

  "Who is he?!"

  There were quite a number of martial artists on the first floor, but they maintained a great distance from the group while they stared at them. Everyone recalled the information of the characters from Twin of Brothers, but no one could link any of the characters in the story to the person at the table.

  Everyone's puzzlement grew stronger as time passed.

  The atmosphere in the room slowly became more solemn, and a fight was about to break out at any moment.

  "Miss Wan Wan, you speak too seriously. The evil cult has always been the enemy of the sects in the world of martial artists and the nemesis of the righteous sects. But still, the many sects are enjoying a good life, aren't they?"

  The mysterious man in the Bamboo Hat calmly poured himself wine, and he did not show a single hint of fear even when the quartet surrounded him with hostility in their gazes.

  This further added to the puzzlement and unease in the Twin Demons' hearts.

  "I didn't expect that Empress Yin would be here as well. Looks like we'll be parting ways for now. Farewell!"

  Before the Twin Demons could react, the mysterious man in the Bamboo Hat picked up the pot of wine on the table and drifted out of the restaurant without any flashy movements. His movements were just like a willow.

  Even Yang Xuyan did not manage to react to the situation. The only person who chased him out of the restaurant was Wan Wan.

  When the Twin Demons ran to the window, the duo had already disappeared.

  "So fast!"

  "I wonder who it is."

  The duo turned around to look at Yang Xuyan in hopes that they could get some information from him, but all they saw was his eyes sparkling with complicated emotions. Then, he left without a word.

  Silence fell in the restaurant.

  "What should we do now?"

  "What can we do? We failed the quest, and Empress Yin will definitely punish us by sending us to that damn place for isolated training again. I wonder where that person came from. Even Wan Wan and Yang Xuyan could not kill him."

  "If we managed to complete this quest, we could have entered Eunuch Yang's Warehouse. This map is definitely even better than Sky Demon Secret Cave. I didn't expect that someone unknown would ruin our plans."

  The red-haired woman clenched her teeth and cupped her wound. She was exasperated and incredibly infuriated that she lost such an opportunity.

  The purple-haired man sighed. "Oh well, it's a matter of time before Eunuch Yang's Warehouse is open to the public. We'll still have a chance."

  He stopped talking for a while, but he did not forget to comfort the red-haired woman. "Ying Shang, that person mentioned just now that Empress Yin appeared. There's a chance that the key will return to the holy order…"

  His words allowed the red-haired woman to relax, and she sat down to treat her wounds.

  *****

  Outside Yangzhou City was the mysterious man in the Bamboo Hat. His robes fluttered while he charged ahead. Wan Wan followed closely behind, but there was always a set amount of distance between them. No matter what Wan Wan did, she simply could not close the distance to get in range.

  The mysterious man in the Bamboo Hat had an incredibly solemn expression while he continued running.

  Suddenly, the area ahead of him distorted, and an astonishingly mighty pressure descended from the sky. Sound waves tumbled about and came at him from all directions.

  "Boy from the Murong Clan, you let Qing Yuan and Shi Feixuan escape, and you do not intend to die to be accountable for your actions? Hmph!"

  Zhu Yuyan's voice was filled with incredible anger and might. It caused the mysterious man in the Bamboo Hat to freeze a little.

  Great Sky Demon Art!

  The mysterious man reacted very quickly. A strange aura quickly rose from him, and starlight seemed to have lit up in the air. The power of Great Sky Demon Art which had closed on him suddenly missed its target.

  However, Wan Wan, who chased after him, suddenly felt a shocking power envelope her. She instantly felt as if her body sank into mud. Her expression changed drastically, and her speed lowered by a large margin. She could not help but land on the ground.

  Whoosh!

  The mysterious man suddenly increased his speed and broke free from her chase. He charged hundreds of feet forward, and the distance between him and Wan Wan instantly widened.

  "Hmm?"

  Zhu Yuyan, who appeared behind Wan Wan, frowned and released a soft gasp in surprise. "Shifting Stars… What a technique. I didn't expect that the Murong Clan would value the boy so much. They gave him both Joined Finger and Shifting Stars."

  Wan Wan scowled even more and moved beside Empress Yin.

  "Mistress!"

  Just then, Happy had shifted the effect of Great Sky Demon Art on her, which caught her off guard, and she sank into the swamp that was Great Sky Demon Art.

  "Forget it."

  Zhu Yuyan could see the indignation in her beloved disciple's eyes, but she did not continue the chase.

  "That boy is incredibly slick. He has Joined Finger and Shifting Stars, so even if we caught up to him, we could do nothing to him. Besides, he has already practiced Nine Yang Divine Skill, and he has an endless supply of qi.

  "He won't be afraid of fighting a battle of attrition with me. We will only be led further and further away from this place. At that time, it'll just cause a delay in our operations in Yangzhou."

  When Wan Wan heard her mistress' words, she let go of the matter even if she felt incredibly indignant.

  The event had the bonus of making her less arrogant. She no longer believed that there was no one else but Shi Feixuan among the younger generation who could compare with her.

  Happy was incredibly young, but soon after he became famous, he gained the power to fight against her head-on, and he even made her suffer losses a few times.

  "Let's go back."

  He had already removed the Bamboo Hat, and there was a faint hint of resignation and laziness on his face as he mumbled to himself. "Eunuch Yang's Warehouse is so rich with treasures that it can fight against the country and overturn the imperial court. The Murong Clan's appetite is indeed very great this time."

  Over the past half a month, Happy had trained hard, as usual. Not only did he manage to complete the quest to learn one hundred martial arts from the Murong Clan and successfully learned his fifth ultimate technique, Shifting Stars, his Arhat Body finally moved from Bronze Arhat to Silver Light Arhat.

  The defense of his body fortification was nearly four thousand, and when he activated Silver Light Arhat, for three seconds, he could negate and avoid 90% damage from his enemies. It made him nigh invincible.

  But even if Happy was given a hundred doses of courage, he would not dare to move around carelessly in front of the great Empress Yin Zhu Yuyan.

  What happened just then was his first use of Shifting Stars. Even though he used up quite a lot of his qi, he managed to shift everything except for the damage from a Myth Realm martial artist, and it was something he was very pleased with.

  He believed that there was now a chance for him to survive the suicidal Overturn Quest.

  Chapter 689 - Psychic!

  Overturn Quest was a top-class clan quest that was considered a top secret, and Happy had received it from the Murong Clan.

  Oh no, instead of saying that it was a clan quest, it would be better to say that the current clan master and a few grand elders had given Happy a secret quest.

  It was not recorded in the clan quest system!

  Besides, this quest was one he received after he started practicing Shifting Stars, and he received it when night arrived in a desert somewhere that even Happy did not know.

  Three old men with a noble and stern air who held the Murong Clan Master's letter and authenticating tokens; and whose strength might not lose to that of the two Dharma protectors of the mighty northern clan had appeared in front of Happy.

  At that
time, he had been very shocked. If it were not for the fact that he could not sense any killing intent from the trio, he might have fled unthinkingly the moment he noticed the three monsters approach him.

  Time proved that it would have been wiser to flee at that time. Heck, he might have even made the right decision in doing so.

  The Overturn Quest requested Happy to activate the legendary Eunuch Yang's Warehouse and bring back a large portion of its resources, which was the most important thing inside.

  The quest was not only in conflict with the goal of the protagonist of Twin of Brothers, but also made enemies of Li Shimin, Du Fuwei, Kind Boathouse, the entire evil cult, and even the imperial court, which was everywhere in the game.

  If Happy was frank, the quest made him the enemy of the entire world.

  Hence, once he arrived in Yangzhou, the first thing he did was not to carry out the quest, but to do something that was completely unrelated to the quest, such as drinking wine.

  But what he did not expect was that the damn quest would actually come knocking at his door.

  Once he entered the restaurant, Qing Yuan appeared, and Hou Xibai also showed up. In the end, even the Twin Demons turned up. Later on, familiar faces showed up one after another. There was Wan Wan, Shi Feixuan, Yang Xuyan, and even Empress Yin.

  There were also a few insanely powerful elites who did not show up!

  'Why is my life so difficult?'

  But Happy felt that the areas where he could move around with ease had been reduced.

  He could no longer get experience from most regions, which was the disadvantage of breaking into Moksha Realm before everyone else.

  It was very difficult for Happy to get experience from NPCs below Moksha Realm, and he could not even get decent loot from them.

  Once the level of his martial arts increased, he could not get experience even from Moksha Realm NPCs, but there were not many Inaction Realm NPCs in the world. At the very least, there were currently no Inaction Realm NPCs who appeared in groups.

  Quests…

  At the end of the day, Happy had to return to quests. If he did not carry out quests, it was impossible for him to find a place to train for a few days with peace in his mind, just like before. Some of the NPCs began running away while screaming once they saw him attack, so there was no meaning in training with them at all.