Sword Among Us c1-1268

by Black Swordsman Online

  Clang!

  Sparks flew when the hidden weapon crashed into a huge sword that was as big as a hill. Happy landed on the ground firmly, but he did not dare to linger around. He slithered his way into the tall sword tomb with his back bent, just like a mud fish.

  Third was not concerned about missing his target once.

  The terrain of the sword tombs was complicated, and it was easy for someone to hide in it. Besides, since the boy was a disciple from the Murong Clan, he had already cultivated some qi. This naturally made him different from the panicky villagers. It was quite expected that he would have some ability to dodge his throwing knives.

  But…

  When all the subsequent lancet knives missed too, Third finally discovered that his enemy might not be as easy to deal with as he thought. He gritted his teeth and roared, "Once we get out of this tomb, I'd like to see where you can hide!" He no longer attacked and just chased Happy.

  At that moment, Happy laughed. "You want me to go out? Well, I'm not going to."

  He changed his direction and went into a side road in the sword tomb before going to the east side.

  The situation had already changed. If all three tomb robbers were around, Happy would naturally leave the sword tomb at the fastest speed possible, since if he were surrounded, he would definitely die.

  But it was different now. If he left the sword tomb, Third would no longer be obstructed by the terrain and would be able to bring out the full might of his lancet knives. At that time, no matter how agile Happy was, it would be impossible for him to continuously avoid the barrage of throwing knives.

  Hence, at that moment, running back into the sword tomb and letting time pass with Third there was the wisest choice for him.

  "You brat!"

  Third saw through the Murong Clan boy's thoughts. He roared and kicked off the ground into the air. When he looked down, Happy's tracks were instantly exposed, and he threw a lancet knife resolutely.

  However, the moment the man leapt up, Happy laughed.

  'You want to hit me? You'd do better if you used Tang Sect's Scattered Palm.'

  Whoosh!

  With his clothes flapping. Happy executed a Python Flip right on time, and his body miraculously rolled over and leapt into the air. The motion made it seem like he stopped in the air for a moment before landing on the ground.

  Right after avoiding the lancet knives, he tapped the ground and executed a Shooting Stars Chase the Moon to quickly pass by the third tomb to his left before Third could throw his second knife. This submerged him in the darkness.

  "And where do you think you can hide?!"

  Third gritted his teeth, s.u.c.k.e.d in a deep breath, and chased after him.

  Happy was a person from the Murong Clan, and he had even seen their faces. If Third could not kill him, the consequences would be dire. Therefore, no matter what, he had to kill him in the shortest time possible.

  His gaze darkened, and a faint white aura surged out from his Dantian region. It quickly flowed through his entire body. Then, the distance he could close with one step instantly became much wider. In an instant, he found Happy's tracks.

  Happy said nothing.

  He could hear the sound of wind brought by the great force behind him, and he could also sense the pressure from it. A light crease appeared between his eyebrows.

  Thud! Thud!

  Another two lancet knives were thrown, and Happy felt a chill on his skin. His clothes were torn in two places. The knives, however, were plunged deep into the tomb behind which Happy had dodged. He instantly broke into a cold sweat. Both his enemy's strength and speed had very obviously increased.

  Whoosh!

  Before he could react, Third Tomb Robber jumped a few times to land right in front of Happy. Great killing intent could be seen in his eyes.

  "Brat… let's see where you can hide now!"

  However, something that shocked Third Tomb Robber happened next.

  Even though a powerful enemy blocked his path, Happy did not change his direction. Instead of decreasing, his momentum actually increased. He used the powerful inertia brought by his charge and slammed his palms together when he was about to crash into Third without thinking of turning back. His eyes were filled with resolution and decisiveness, along with shocking fighting spirit!

  Since he could not escape, he would fight!

  This was Happy, who had the full intention to fight, going up against Third, who did not expect him to fight. Because of it, Happy seized the initiative. His palms moved past each other, and his Shaolin's Long Fist, which had reached the ninth realm, crashed full force against Third's arms when he raised them in a hurry.

  The attack had a great impact. Even martial artists who had entered Gate Realm would be able to sense the strength and the fierce and strong essence of Shaolin's Long Fist. Third's entire body shuddered, and he could not help but stagger a few steps back.

  "Again!"

  Happy knew that if he let his guard down even in the slightest against a powerful enemy, he would definitely die. His gaze darkened, and he changed his fist into a claw, seizing Third's right arm with one hand while his qi circulated in his Dantian region.

  Golden Dragon Stretches Claw!

  He grabbed the robber and used the force he had gathered to rise him from the ground. With a Soaring Bird, he flew over Third's head with his limbs outspread and landed right behind him. He then bent his back, and with a front sweep kick, he swept Third off his feet from behind him, which went abnormally well. Then, he used an Overturn Universe paired with a Warrior Monk's Hand Flip to deliver a brutal palm strike. Before the man could react to it, Happy used a Birds Enter Forest and quickly fled.

  He used the skill set of Shaolin's Long First in succession at that moment of crisis, and it allowed the martial art to improve a little more, but Happy did not have time to care about that.

  Even though he had managed to seize the chance to use Third to train his skills, the man's muscles were extremely sturdy, and even when he was attacked ruthlessly, he never gave up on protecting his vital parts. This meant that Happy's attacks did not deal too much damage to him. If Happy continued fighting him, it would be useless, and it would even be very easy for him to get dragged into trouble.

  Once he attacked Third for a bit, he ran, since he had resolved some of the danger. All he needed to do was to drag out the time until reinforcements from the Murong Clan arrived.

  Happy's judgment was not affected by the temporary upper hand he had gained.

  "Bastard!"

  Third used a Carp Jump and regained his footing. He brought out a huge saber from somewhere, and it shone with a chilling glare. Under the moonlight, Third swept his gaze around the area with rage burning in him so violently that his face was red. He gritted his teeth. Clearly, he was absolutely livid after being humiliated by a normal and mediocre disciple from the Murong Clan toying with him when he let his guard down for a moment.

  "If you have the guts, come out! Is hiding around the way you Murong Clan people do things now?!"

  "Bah, I thought hiding around is the tomb robbers' style!"

  Happy's retort came from a distance, and there was a hint of smugness and mockery in his voice.

  Third was not angered, but ecstatic. He said nothing but tapped the ground. He stepped on a few tombs and went in the direction from which the voice had come while he looked down from the air.

  'The sly bastard.'

  Happy swiftly understood that Third had lost his precise location and had intentionally goaded him into revealing his position. Happy could not help but curse in his heart.

  But he was also a little happy that Third had changed his weapon.

  Once Third pounced in his direction in a very flashy manner, a black shadow accompanied by a faint earthy smell went straight to the man in the air. More precisely, it went straight to his face.

  A powerful wind swept towards him!

  A fierce and strong force then crashed into Third's lower
abdomen. The man cried out in pain and was sent flying away as if a cannonball had hit him.

  But what Happy did not expect was that Third would be sent flying to a huge, protruding sword in the cemetery by his waist side kick, which he only executed after he had thoroughly planned out his attack.

  "AHHHH!!"

  Third let out a short but shrill scream. He was impaled by the huge sword and got stuck at the sword handle. His weapon fell to the ground with a clatter, and he breathed his last just like that.

  Once Happy landed on the ground, he looked up. When he saw what had happened, he could not help but be flabbergasted.

  He… had just killed someone.

  And that someone was a tomb robber who had reached Gate Realm.

  Translator's Note:

  [1] One incense stick: Fifteen minutes.

  Chapter 16 - Battle Assessment

  Happy was dazed for a long while, and even after he recovered, he still found it incredibly hard to believe what he just saw.

  He lowered his head to look at his dirt-stained hands. He could not believe that an expert martial artist in Gate Realm had just died because of him.

  The tomb robber had been in Gate Realm…

  His qi was more than 40, and once he activated his realm, the lethality of his martial art techniques, his defense, speed, and everything else got a 10% percent boost.

  And Happy was just a new player who had learned Shaolin's Long Fist a few days ago.

  "Killed Third Tomb Robber. Received 10 Martial Artist Chivalry Points!"

  "Killed a martial artist in Gate Realm. Received 50 World of Martial Arts Reputation Points!"

  "Battle Danger Assessment: Class A. You have gained a deeper understanding toward the flexible use of Shaolin's Long Fist. The realm of this skill has been increased from the ninth realm to the tenth realm!"

  The stream of notifications from the system finally snapped Happy from his stupor.

  However, what caught his attention and made him excited was not the Martial Artist Chivalry Points or the World of Martial Arts Reputation Points. The former could be obtained if he killed people who did immortal things and harmed the society. The latter was a little harder, but for the time being, it was of little use to him.

  But the Battle Danger Assessment he received after the battle ended meant that the system had acknowledged the battle, and it made Happy extraordinarily happy.

  This was a major feature in World of Martial Arts. When the enemy was very obviously stronger than the player, the system would perform an assessment on the level of danger based on the difference between their strengths. The lowest was Class E, which meant that their abilities were about the same. The second was Class D, which meant that the player was at a slight disadvantage. The third was Class C, which meant that the battle was very risky for the player, and even if they paid a price, they would not be able to gain any benefits. The fourth was Class A, which was basically impossible for the player to win. The last was Class S, in which the system decided that the player was determined to die.

  Battle assessments did not appear every single time.

  If the person in a disadvantage won and killed their enemy, it meant that the person had reached a personal breakthrough. The system acknowledged it, and the person would receive some unexpected rewards.

  The higher the danger assessment was, the greater the rewards would be!

  Class A!

  The system had judged that Happy would not be able to win against the tomb robber, and it was very normal for it to judge it so. One of them was a martial artist in Gate Realm who killed without batting an eye, and the other was a newbie who did not even know any lightness skills. The disparity between their abilities was very great! And it was true that Happy had racked his brains to deliver the unexpected kick, which allowed him to gain the system's acknowledgement and recognition.

  His Shaolin's Long Fist had entered the critical level—Level 90.

  All that was left was to reach Level 99.99 to reach great completion for this skill. Then, it would enter Grandmaster Realm.

  Happy executed a few random moves in excitement. His actions were clear-cut, and the loud, whooshing sounds of him breaking the speed of sound could be heard. The earth 6.5 feet ahead of him even trembled slightly.

  'Feels so good!'

  He was one realm away from Grandmaster Realm, which was the pinnacle of perfection!

  His qi had also increased from its original 2.27 to 4.57 because of the increase of Shaolin's Long Fist's realm. This was how it worked in the game. Once any low-tier martial art reached the ninth realm (Level 80), the player's qi would automatically increase by one each time they gained another realm. Qi cultivation techniques could slowly increase their qi as well, but it would not go past 0.15 points a day.

  It was thus something of a surprise and a delight.

  But even though Happy was extremely high in spirits, he did not forget about the other benefit gained from killing a martial artist in Gate Realm.

  The system sent him another notification at that moment. "You can search through Third Tomb Robber's corpse and obtain his belongings."

  Happy quickly went to Third Tomb Robber's side. While the virtual reality in World of Martial Arts was very similar to the real world, there were still some limitations to it. For example, there were no extremely bloody sights and scenes that people could not stomach.

  The face and wounds of the corpse were very blurry.

  Happy groped about Third's body until he found a black cloth bag. His eyes brightened upon seeing it.

  It was a Universe Bag. [1]

  It was a storage item produced only by Heaven's Secret Valley. It could expand and contract freely, and it could store many items. Weapons, medicinal pills, and other items could be stored inside it, which was very convenient. New players would usually have to reach a certain level or complete a certain mission or quest before their clan or sect would give them a Universe Bag.

  Happy looked inside.

  His rewards were good!

  Besides twelve gold ingots and a few jade pendants, there was also a manual named Lancet Knife Throwing Manual and thirty-six lancet knives. There were also some Jinchuang Ointments in there.

  Twelve gold ingots were equal to one hundred and twenty taels of gold crumbs, which was equal to one thousand two hundred taels of silver crumbs. He could also sell the jade pendants to the shops, and they would be worth a lot of money as well. Happy was so happy that he grinned widely. He was rich now.

  The Lancet Knife Throwing Manual might come from a small sect, but to Happy, who needed a new martial art right then, it came at the right time. The Hundred-Battle Saber beside the corpse was also very good. Heh heh.

  Happy put away all the items and secured the Universe Bag at his waist. He then searched around a little more, but gained nothing. At that moment, the Murong Clan's butler and a large group of men with extraordinarily imposing presences arrived.

  The butler looked around and saw the corpses who lay strewn all over the sword tomb. He frowned at them. When his gaze moved to Happy, his expression relaxed a little. He asked, "Where are the tomb robbers?"

  "Well…" Happy cast a glance at the group of people whose qi cultivation and presence were extraordinary behind the butler. He did not dare to be negligent in his duties, so he told the butler everything that had happened with all honesty.

  As the butler listened to him, the surprise in his eyes grew greater.

  The sword tomb was visited by two groups of tomb robbers in one night. The first group were greedy villagers, and all of them had died. One of the second group of martial artists had died as well, and he even did so in the hands of a disciple from his clan.

  One of them moved forward to observe Third Tomb Robber's palm and skeletal structure. He then nodded at the butler.

  "He should be pretty strong."

  "Hmph, how dare he try to rob the Murong Clan? He got what he deserved!" While the butler raged, a hint of amus.e.m.e.nt appe
ared in his eyes. He said to Happy, "You did well. When we return to the mansion, I will tell the lady everything that transpired here so that she can personally reward you!"

  "It is only what I should have done." Happy might have acted humble, but he was very happy in his heart.

  He should have completed the quest beyond what was expected of him, so the rewards should be pretty good.

  He was only too happy!

  The butler gave a few more words of instruction, took notes of the two other two tomb robbers' faces, and left the sword tomb with the people and the corpses. Happy believed that by the next morning, the Six Doors would have the portraits of the two robbers who had fled stuck all over the four city gates.

  When he returned to the mansion, Happy met the Murong Clan Lady in the backyard.

  The Murong Clan Lady held Whitey in her arms while she walked to him in an extremely cordial manner.

  "As expected, my eyes did not deceive me in regards to you.

  "The butler has already told me what happened. This time, not only did you perform a meritorious deed by protecting the sword tomb, you even managed to kill a tomb robber. You have increased the Murong Clan's reputation, which proves that my judgment was correct. The master of the clan is very pleased."

  "It is all thanks to your guidance and your aid in educating me, my lady."

  "Alright, this is the Wudang Clan's sword skill the butler originally wanted to give you. Take this manual for Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Sword."

  The Murong Clan Lady gave Happy a new manual, then with a flip of her hand, a very simple and elegant longsword with a purple sword tassel appeared in her hand.

  "If you have a sword manual, then you must also have a sword! The disciples of Murong Clan have to have a good sword when they practice swords! And that sword has to fit the Murong Clan's status and temperament!"

  Her gaze moved to the longsword in her hand. She then said in a profound manner, "This is the Noble Sword. My younger brother was in possession of it when he was young. Now, I will give it to you. I hope that you will not ruin the grace of the Noble Sword."