Barren Murderer could sense that Happy was getting closer nonstop. At least seven to eight people had fallen beside him, and the sound of wind being stirred up because of bodies pushing through air while causing the smoke to stir was incredibly clear. Happy moved very quickly, and his rhythm was never disrupted, making it seem like he had never been severely injured. Instead, he moved with the explosive ease of someone after he had been suppressed for a long time. He arrived at a spot not far from Barren Murderer with the force of a cannonball.
He listened to wind to judge his location. Barren Murderer had long since trained up this ability after five years of playing the game.
But this was the first time he had to fight in such a complicated environment while countless Fatal Flying Maces flew above his head, and his opponent was a powerful enemy. He even had to do it while he was surrounded by his own people.
Barren Murderer's face was pale. For the first time, Barren Murderer felt that he did not quite control everything in the situation, and that feeling made him feel fear and unease. As he listened to the sound of air being cut and pained screams continuously rising around him, he stomped against the ground a few times to swiftly retreat from the smoke.
At that moment, Barren Murderer did not even dare command the people around him to take action.
By speaking just now, he had already allowed Happy to locate him. He was worried that if he spoke again, it would cause Happy to instantly locate him.
However, Barren Murderer's choice was clearly not logical.
The sudden chaos not only caused Assassin Hall members to completely lose their ability to control the battlefield, even Class One Hall and Blood Alliance members were at a loss of what they should do.
Without any visibility, everyone tried to play safe and could not attack at will. The unknown situation and their companions continuously screaming quickly magnified their fear toward Happy.
'Retreat! Stay far away from the screams!'
This thought became the only thought within the people's hearts.
And the group who was in charge of controlling the situation outside were incredibly frustrated and resigned!
The silver-robed people were pretty skilled, but even they did not dare act recklessly when they faced the people who were within the areas protected by the NPCs in Dragon's Gate.
They could only watch as the smoke bombs were thrown swiftly into the battlefield before they let loose balls of smoke. Aside from glaring at them, they could do nothing about it.
Assassin Hall felt the gloomiest among all those allied to Class One Hall.
As Barren Murderer and his group of first-class elites fled helter-skelter, they immediately became the most obvious enemies within the smoke.
Those first-class elites might still last a few hits in front of Happy, but these assassins who moved in the darkness could not even last through one attack from Recondite Steel Heavy Sword. They were instantly suppressed so much that they either coughed up blood and were sent flying or died from the shock straightaway.
In the chaos, the pained screams became more frequent.
"Retreat! All Assassin Hall members, retreat!"
The leader of Assassin Hall shouted angrily in the smoke. Even though this was not what he promised he would do with Barren Murderer, in less than half a minute, he heard at least twenty of his members' familiar voices, and all of them were screaming in pain, but that accursed Class One Hall did not even have a plan to handle the situation. There was no way he could continue calmly watching his members being sacrificed.
Right when he finished speaking, the air moved.
A powerful gust of wind came at him with smoke curling around it.
The leader of Assassin Hall reacted rather quickly. He swiftly realized that Happy might have set his eyes on him, and fear struck him. He hastily activated his body fortification and took a step to the left to avoid the sword glare that grazed his cheek. The part that came in contact with the sword glare burned.
His movements were already considered pretty good among first-class elites.
Unfortunately for him, the enemy he ran into was not just at that level.
"Come back."
He might have missed, but Happy could still quickly lock down on his enemy's movement trajectory based on the flow of the smoke and the sound of air being pushed around him. He moved using Wave-like Subtle Waves and executed Dragon Capture with one hand. Then, the leader was immediately s.u.c.k.e.d into Happy's palm by a force he could not resist.
"Urgh!"
The pitiful Assassin Hall leder only felt a powerful force controlling his movements before his body became stiff. Then, a fierce force crashed violently into his organs, and the metallic taste of blood surged up his throat.
*****
Even though the leader of Assassin Hall died because he gave that command, Assassin Hall still managed to avoid the disaster of having their entire army destroyed. Out of two hundred people, more than one hundred and sixty people managed to escape from the smoke-covered lawless street with their lives.
But Barren Murderer and his group were not that lucky.
More than half of around forty famous players who were somewhere between top-class elites and first-class elites died. Blood Alliance lost seven people, Class One Hall lost thirteen people, Heaven's Music lost three people, and of those who were not allied to any sect, five died.
As Barren Murderer and his group fled from the smoke-covered area, the number of smoke bombs that came out of the crowd gradually lessened.
Happy did not come out from within.
Whoosh!
A violent gust of wind blew past them.
Most of the smoke was blown away.
At that moment, everyone held their breaths.
Only when the violent gust of wind blew away all the smoke in the lawless street was the situation on Survival Platform clearly revealed to them, and the people released the surprised screams they had been suppressing for a long time in them.
There were corpses all over Survival Platform.
In fact, there were more than seventy of them!
Even though the number was not magnificent, the people who saw this still felt complicated emotions in them.
The people who launched the ambush to kill Happy were not normal players and were definitely not the normal members from Class One Hall's branches.
Regardless of whether the people were sent by Heaven's Music Sect, Assassin Hall, Blood Alliance, or Class One Hall, all of them were rather famous in the game.
This was especially the case for the dozen elites who attacked with Barren Murderer to surround Happy. All of them were great players who could easily make the Chinese plains shake with a stomp of their feet.
But now, those dozens of players whose names were a part of the other players' memories had their corpses turn cold on the ground.
The Fatal Flying Matrix that attacked with an astonishing momentum just now had already vanished, and there were still a few Fatal Flying Maces that laid all over the ground.
"Where is he?!"
The Class One Hall members who surrounded the area widened their eyes and scanned the area, but they did not find Happy. So, they started discussing with each other about where he could possibly be.
"Did he run?"
"He used a scheme to kill so many of us, but he left without even saying a word?!"
Class One Hall originally had their momentum seized from their hands, but at that moment, they seemed to have regained some of their imposing mannerisms, and quite a number of them began running their mouths.
"Where did he run off to?!"
"How could you not have stopped him when there were so many of you?!"
As loud discussions and public denouncements rose, only Barren Murderer and the people from Blood Alliance's Elder Hall had their expressions remain dark. They stared at the empty lawless street, and during that time, they did not say a word.
They knew very clearly why Happy left.
Doz
ens of top-class elites had been killed in the chaos just now, and more than thirty Assassin Hall members had also been killed.
The remaining Assassin Hall members and the dozen elites left were not enough to pose as a threat to Happy. In fact, they did not have the courage to continue standing up against Happy to fight him.
Happy must have definitely guessed Class One Hall's decision, which was he decided to leave Dragon's Gate unhesitantly during the chaos.
"Immediately send a messenger pigeon to the hall master and tell her that we failed in our mission here." Barren Murderer stopped talking for a moment before he cast a deep glance at the depths of the crowd. His expression was sour. "Someone is helping Happy, but they should not be from Wind Assault Tower. Happy must be thinking of continuing to head north to Beijing. Tell her to get prepared soon."
"...Understood." The Class One Hall member who answered was rather dejected and indignant.
*****
No matter what, Dragon's Gate was the place where information gathered and spread out the fastest in the Chinese server.
The news of Happy fighting head-on against Class One Hall and breaking out of the tight net cast by Class One Hall, Blood Alliance, and Assassin Hall before forcefully killing dozens of famous elites as well as leaving unscathed soon spread through the entire Chinese plains.
World of Martial Arts burst into an uproar.
Rumors even began circulating in the game saying that Happy's final goal this time was Class One Hall's headquarters in Beijing.
Happy intended to use the negative impact caused by Class One Hall working together with Wild Wolves to crush Class One Hall, the second strongest sect in the game which had been around for five years and had the game at its beck and call for just as long!
Chapter 1010 - One Emperor Appears
"Mister Chen, you're recovering really quickly! I've been a doctor for many years, and this is the first time I see someone being able to move about at ease after recovering from a comatose state. Based on my observations, as long as you go through physiotherapy for another week, your body will completely recover to how it was before. Then, you won't need to continue training in the physiotherapy room."
On this day, Happy's attending physician reached his room and saw Happy strolling on the running mill while he seized every second he had to eat. Admiration and gratification rose on his face.
"Of course, this cannot be separated from the fact that you have been proactively cooperating with us in training. You have to continue working hard!"
"Thank you, doctor."
"Haha! You're welcome."
Once the attending physician left, Young Yi, who had been waiting for a while outside the door, came inside.
"Congratulations, master! Looks like you can be discharged soon."
"If I calculate the time, almost two months have passed. It's about time that I get better." Happy got down the running mill. His mood was pretty good.
"But I don't think you're that diligent at all, aside from how you actually shifted your physiotherapy sessions to your mealtime and after your meal," Young Yi grumbled by the side.
Happy could only laugh wanly in his heart and pretend he did not hear that.
He had to take care of both sides.
If he lazed about in his tasks, one day would pass by. If he really had time, he naturally had to make careful plans, and he could not afford to waste even a single second.
"By the way, master, right now, everyone outside is talking about how you'll seize the chance to completely destroy Class One Hall, and Beijing is now in a state of alarm. Class One Hall has already summoned many of their elites back in order to fight against you. Are you really going to attack Class One Hall's headquarters?"
Young Yi asked the question she had been dying to ask, and she did so in the air of someone who really loved gossip.
Xu Yao paused in whatever she was doing and looked over.
Ever since she learned of the things Happy did in the game, Xu Yao began to pay attention to the information in the game, and she never missed a single piece of news about Happy. Naturally, she knew about this as well.
"Destroying Class One Hall isn't that easy." Happy shook his head and chuckled softly.
"But this rumor is already spreading on the forums like wildfire, and you're currently heading straight to Beijing while destroying a few of Class One Hall's branches along the way. Even the elites Barren Murderer brought with him can do nothing about you."
Young Yi's eyes sparkled. The spirit of gossip burned endlessly in them, and she looked as if she would not stop questioning Happy until she got to the bottom of it.
"It's not as exaggerated as the world makes it seem." Happy thought about this for a while before he sighed.
"The branches I destroyed didn't have any elites guarding them, and even if there was, they wouldn't dare appear so readily. It's only natural that no one could stop me."
"Yeah." Young Yi nodded before she shook her head vigorously, showing just how conflicted she felt. "But you managed to kill so many of the top-class elites that Barren Murderer gathered with him…"
When Happy heard this, he chuckled softly. "It's their fault for choosing to attack me at Dragon's Gate. Even though I predicted that they would only be able to launch an ambush against me at Dragon's Gate, since they have so many people, I didn't expect that Barren Murderer would not be so impatient. He couldn't wait until I got out of the town, but just had to attack me at Survival Platform."
"If you got out of the town, you would have left Class One Hall's encirclement, right?"
Young Yi looked lost.
Class One Hall was the one who set up an ambush against Happy, but based on Happy's words, it seemed like the situation was not as simple as she thought it was.
Happy smiled and sat on his bed in a rather relaxed manner. "Right from the start, I never thought about attacking Class One Hall's headquarters, and I'm not that stupid as to go marching to my own death at Class One Hall's headquarters."
"Hmm?"
"Forget about the fact Class One Hall's foundation is at least ten times sturdier than normal branches, we have to remember that there are at least eighty thousand people gathered at Class One Hall's headquarters! There are plenty of elites there! Do you think that I can go there and just launch a full frontal assault like I'm dealing with a normal sect?
"Eighty thousand people! That number is enough for them to lock down a circular area of one-third of a mile around Class One Hall. Anyone who goes there will definitely die. Barren Murderer only brought only a dozen people this time and set up a small Fatal Flying Matrix on Survival Platform at Dragon's Gate, and I was nearly unable to escape. How would I be stupid enough to march to my own death at Class One Hall's headquarters and let Class One Hall become famous from it?"
Young Yi said nothing, because she found herself getting more confused the more she listened.
"But Class One Hall should know the reason why I'm heading north in such a flashy manner, that's why they had to send Barren Murderer to stop me. The attempt to kill me at Dragon's Gate caught me by slight surprise, if I have to be honest. I didn't expect their Fatal Flying Matrix either.
"If Barren Murderer had been slightly more level-headed and waited until I got out of Dragon's Gate before I attacked, he might actually have been able to kill me. Unfortunately for him, he chose Dragon's Gate, and that place doesn't have a wide area available for anyone to move around. He just wanted to use his various factions of power to whittle down my momentum, but he did not expect that he gave me the chance to turn the tables around instead."
Happy stopped talking for a moment and looked at Young Yi, who looked confused. "Oh well, even if I continue rambling on, you wouldn't understand. Let's put it in simpler terms. I don't have the strength to fight against Class One Hall's headquarters alone. I won't be going to Class One Hall's headquarters, but I don't mind creating a tense atmosphere for Class One Hall."
Young Yi said nothing. She just pa
tted her own head in dejectedness.
But Xu Yao seemed to have understood the meaning behind Happy's words. "You want the enemy to become nervous on their own and make them open for attack."
"That's right." A sharp look gradually formed in Happy's eyes. "Right now, the entire world knows that Class One Hall and Dream Clouds is definitely the organization working with Wild Wolves. But Class One Hall is an incredibly tough bone to chew. They're so strong that no one would dare to attack Class One Hall, and even Wind Assault Tower would not dare to readily wage war against this powerful enemy. Right now, we need Class One Hall to expose their own weaknesses."
"Is Barren Murderer failing in their ambush against you considered a weakness?"
Xu Yao's words, which seemed to have an underlying meaning, caused Happy to quirk his eyebrows. He sized her up in surprise. "Yao, it seems like you didn't toss away many of the things you learned over the three years in World of Martial Arts."
"...It's not that easy to forget everything." Xu Yao's expression turned gloomy.
When he saw this, Happy knew that he had mentioned something that he should not have, so he immediately switched the topic and his tone. "That's right, Barren Murderer made a mistake in leaving Beijing with elites from Heaven's Music Sect, Five Venoms, Assassin Hall, and Blood Alliance. Even if he was almost fully confident that he can defeat me, once he leaves Beijing, meaning that he left the spot where Class One Hall's power and influence is the most stable, it's practically impossible for him to return to Beijing unscathed."
The great confidence in his voice caused Xu Yao and Young Yi to be shocked.
"Why?"
"You should know about Wind Assault Tower's Phantasmal Shadow, Wandering Know-it-all, and One Emperor allying with each other."
"Naturally." Young Yi nodded.
Before Evil Emperor defeated One Emperor, Wandering Know-it-all had already contacted One Emperor and Phantasmal Shadow to create the most powerful alliance in fighting against Wild Wolves.
Among the three of them, one of them was the Chinese server's best diviner, who could read all the events in the world even if he did not go out of his house; one of them was the strongest player in the Chinese server and a person fully deserving of the title sword god; and the last of them was the leader of the strongest sect in the Chinese server, and who had the strongest charisma.
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