Sword Among Us c1-1268

by Black Swordsman Online

  To Thunderous Battle, not only would activating his qi cultivation technique multiple times not slow down his training speed, he could also get the vessel in the Stone Giant's body, which was a rather good source of income.

  Happy might find it a slight pity, but he did not go up and withstand the blows from the Stone Giant himself. Instead, he ran about with the Stone Giant in tow. After all, with the level of Thunderous Battle's qi cultivation technique, it would only take a few minutes before he recovered.

  Soon, the roaring sounds of wind from the Stone Giant's fist and the heavy swings of the axe rose in the main hall of the ancient tomb again…

  Chapter 97 - Collecting a Debt from Mountain Range Sect

  For three days, the world of martial artists was filled with battles, and blood drenched the land…

  There was an atmosphere that filled the government-made roads, forests, mountains, and rivers, and it could be described as murderous. Usually, when one or a few players moved down an unknown alley, they would attract a dense rain of arrows or all sorts of weapons or players descending from the sky. Corpses would be strewn all over the ground, and they dyed the quiet, peaceful, and remote alleys in crimson, just like hell.

  As time passed, not only did the trend to snatch the tributes in the game did not die down, as the emperor's birthday drew nearer, more players began to search for and chase tributes even more madly than before!

  And the people with tributes on them became incredibly eye-catching because of the bounties placed on them by the government officials. Their location would be announced once in a while, making it so that the players felt like they had timebombs strapped on them. They would attract "guests" who came to reap benefits at irregular intervals.

  The tributes constantly moved from player to player!

  Even the powerful players in Blessed Realm did not have great confidence to have a stable foothold in such a troublesome situation. They might be able to move about at ease when they faced one or a couple Gate Realm players, but once they faced a huge group of players, they would not be able to last, since they would quickly use up their qi. No matter how great they were, they would still end up dying dejectedly.

  The sect master of the greatest sect in Xuzhou, which was ninety-three miles away from Yangzhou, made a shocking act at that moment!

  He ordered the leaders and chiefs, who were in Blessed Realm, of his sect—they numbered to nearly thirty—to take with them hundreds of Gate Realm sect members from Mountain Range Sect to escort a large number of tributes. While facing incredible numbers of players who came to steal their tributes, they had to enter a stronghold that once belonging to a group of mountain bandits, and they did so in a very grand fashion.

  "Damn it."

  "So many?!"

  The players saw that Mountain Range Sect had at least ten carriages with them, but they also saw the armed formation they adopted, and the players watching by the side could only be filled with envy and jealousy.

  With so many tributes, once the emperor's birthday passed, Mountain Range Sect would have treasures and amazing martial art manuals that were worth cities!

  "Tsk tsk…"

  There were quite a lot of people in the crowd who were tempted.

  However, it was difficult to predict human behavior in the world of wanderers.

  All of the players in the area came because of the benefits offered by the tributes, but who would dare to lead the charge? Who would dare to rush before the Blessed Realm fighters who numbered to nearly thirty and the hundreds of Gate Realm fighters from Mountain Range Sect?

  They could only watch the people from Mountain Range Sect station themselves in the mountain stronghold and shut the gates. Most of the players lingered around the area for a while before they left dispiritedly one after another.

  If they wanted to attack a stronghold defended by multiple powerful players, they would need to gather an incredibly large force or have astonishing abilities!

  All the players in the area clearly did not possess either of the two.

  "Big brother!"

  "Sect master! Brothers, were we imposing enough today? Weren't all of the heroes who came from everywhere in the game intimidated by the spectacle we put up? They did not dare to act rashly when they saw our carriages… Hahahaha… It feels good!"

  Two people strode into the stronghold's hall, which was named Justice Gathering Hall. One of them was speaking at the top of his lungs in a heroic manner. His voice traveled among the other Blessed Realm players who had gathered in the hall. Their faces were flushed red, and they were incredibly excited.

  "Sect master, you're wise! If it weren't for your spontaneous decision to merge with Yellow Emperor Faction and Cold Wind Valley, and use the thirty Blessed Realm fighters from the three sects to gather this many tributes, there would have been no way for these tributes to land in our hands so easily."

  "That's right! That's right!"

  "Come! Let's all give the sect master a toast!"

  All the people lifted their cups toward the inner part of the hall.

  There was a middle-aged man sitting at the seat of honor there. When he saw what the others were doing, he smiled and stood up. He had a scholar's robe, and it made him look very graceful and elegant.

  "The reason why Mountain Range Sect has its current glory and power is entirely because of your support and how you bolstered up the sect. I don't have any talents, so I used your talents to make this sect strong. I am willing to toast to all of you…"

  "Cheers!"

  Right when numerous sect members celebrated the rewards they reaped and the successes they gained, noise suddenly traveled from outside.

  "Who is it?!"

  "You're just asking for death! How dare you invade Mountain Range Sect's territory?!"

  "Stand back! That place is— Ah!"

  The cries of the Mountain Range Sect's members were accompanied by short grunts as well as the sound of people falling to the ground. It swiftly attracted the leaders and chiefs' attention in Justice Gathering Hall, and all of them stopped drinking. They frowned, turned around, and craned their necks to look outside.

  "What happened?"

  The gaze of sect master of Mountain Range Sect, Heartless Man, turned cold and focused.

  "Hall Chief Wind, go and take a look."

  "Yes!"

  The man who entered the last was the Hall Chief of Mountain Range Sect's Fighting Spirit Hall, Candle Wind. Once he voiced his consent to carry out the order, he put down his winecup, turned around, and left the hall to run toward the gate of the stronghold.

  The sect members who had gathered outside Justice Gathering Hall to defend it followed closely behind him.

  "Let's continue."

  Heartless Man looked away and raised his winecup. But before he could continue speaking, he was cut off by a cold shout from outside.

  "Deer Swordsman, come out and meet your doom!"

  The people in the hall cast their gazes at a man who had frozen in the act of lifting his winecup.

  He had a puzzled and baffled expression on his face. He scowled, and in the end, he put down his winecup.

  At that moment, the Heartless Man realized that the intruder had come with ill will. He flung his sleeves, making them puff up, and his expression darkened.

  "Come! Let's see what happened."

  "Who exactly has the guts to come to our sect and raise a clamor by demanding a person?!"

  When they walked out the door, the sight before them made their pupils shrink!

  Outside the hall was a large, empty space. On its other side was a man dressed in a short-sleeved gray shirt and holding a shortsword. He was fighting against dozens of Gate Realm players. The man had cold eyes, and he moved forward slowly. His gaze swept past the Gate Realm players and landed on the people who had swarmed out of the hall like bees. He looked over them without any hurry.

  What the group from Mountain Range Sect found difficult to believe was that their dozens of sec
t members were clearly at a disadvantage. Every time the man took a step forward, they would take one step backward. It looked like they did not dare to block his path.

  If that was all he saw, the sect master of Mountain Range Sect would have firmly chased all these disciples out of the sect without allowing any objection. However, what shocked him was that there were dozens of corpses sprawled all over the long corridor behind the man leading straight up to the gate of the stronghold. The distance was almost one hundred and sixty four feet, which was a terrifying sight to behold.

  Even Hall Chief Candle Wind, who had left moments ago, laid lifeless on the stairs in the long corridor. He had once killed groups of people alone and forcefully seized three tributes, which had made him famous, but at that moment, his eyes were lifeless as he stared at the blue sky and white clouds above him. The fear and disbelief on his face were forever frozen there.

  When they saw this, everyone instantly s.u.c.k.e.d in a sharp breath.

  "Back down!" Heartless Man stopped at the top of the stairs and shouted an order for his sect members to retreat. Then, he asked with a deep growl, "Who are you?!"

  As if he sensed Heartless Man's status and reputation in Mountain Range Sect, the young man with the cold expression finally stopped attacking. "I'm here to collect a debt," he answered.

  But his gaze did not remain on Heartless Man's face for long. "Where is Deer Swordsman? Tell him to come out," he said coldly.

  "Who are you?! I don't seem to have met you before."

  Deer Swordsman had watched him for a while, and the more he looked, the more certain he became that he did not know this person. Hence, he took the initiative to step out.

  The cold man narrowed his eyes.

  "So, you lived until now." The cold chill in his voice became even more prominent!

  When he saw the person move again, Heartless Man's face darkened.

  "Wait!"

  Chapter 98 - Quicksword Xiao Shan

  Under the gazes of the sect members of Mountain Range Sect, Heartless Man took two steps forward with a dark expression. He stared at the cold man who stood arrogantly thirty-two feet away.

  "Sir, you invaded Mountain Range Sect's temporary encampment, killed dozens of my sect members and one hall chief, so don't you want us to remember your name?"

  "Xiao Shan!"

  The cold man's expression did not change. Even if he faced around twenty Blessed Realm players from Mountain Range Sect, he still did not show a hint of fear. He was so calm and indifferent that he did not look like a human.

  "Xiao Shan, what a man you are."

  Heartless Man acted incredibly calm. After all, he was not a useless person. He WAS the man who had become the sect master of Mountain Range Sect, suppressed and controlled two other sects, and even gathered them all by his side.

  His sagacious nature and abilities were famous in Xuzhou.

  Sect Master Heartless Man had not only shown outstanding planning when he merged the three sects into one, his methods were also able to suppress and control the two current vice sect masters! His act of setting up their encampment and all the subsequent plans for their operations was through great consideration and ample preparation. The area around the fortress was filled with obvious and hidden sentries from Mountain Range Sect. There were layers of defenses placed in the stronghold, and while he did not dare claim that they had iron defense, it was definitely tight.

  Also, there were more than one hundred archers stationed around the fortress. Forget a powerful Blessed Realm player attacking them, even if they faced a strong attack from an entire sect, they might not be able to break down the gate without alerting the higher ups of Mountain Range Sect and slaughtering their way until they reached where Xiao Shan currently was.

  Xiao Shan's abilities could only be described as astonishing!

  He waved his hand and dismissed the archers who had appeared silently around the area. Heartless Man slowed down his talking speed and said with abnormal calm, "Deer Swordsman is a sect elder in our sect. If he has done something wrong and offended you, then this humble person will apologize on his behalf. But before you attack, could you tell us your reason so that we know what is going on?"

  "Sect master!"

  Deer Swordsman seemed to have remembered something. Right when he wanted to speak, Heartless Man raised his hand and stopped him. He still had that indifferent look on his face while staring at Xiao Shan.

  The other people also had their gazes trained on him at that moment!

  Xiao Shan turned his head away and cast a glance at the Mountain Range Sect members in the archer towers. He let out a barely audible snort. "Three people were killed by Sect Elder Deer Swordsman on the Horse on Road Bridge in Lightning Will Mountain. They were all my junior brothers and sisters…"

  Heartless Man said nothing and just frowned.

  Deer Swordsman took the opportune moment to explain himself. "I did indeed take on the task over there and attacked the carriage carrying the tribute, but he wasn't inside."

  "Your people acted very quickly. I was scouting the road in front. When I returned, the tribute was gone, and my party had died. I chased after your tracks until I reached Xuzhou where I learned of the news of your sect moving into the mountains so…" When he said this, Xiao Shan slowly drew out the iron sword that seemed as if it did not even have a hilt, and he pointed it at Deer Swordsman, who stood in the crowd. "I am here to collect a debt."

  "Hmph! That'll depend on whether you have the ability to collect it!"

  "Stop!" Heartless Man's expression changed drastically. He quickly cried out for him to stop and demanded from Xiao Shan, "I have nothing to say, since we killed them. How do you intend to collect the debt?"

  "Simple." Xiao Shan ignored the Blessed Realm player glaring at him. His voice was as indifferent, cold, and light as ever. "Have the murderers stand out, and all of them must die under my sword thrice."

  When he finished speaking, the expressions of the people in Mountain Range Sect changed!

  The hall chief who was the closest to Xiao Shan looked like he had heard the most ludicrous joke in history. He laughed long and hard before he said, "What a load of bull! Kill them thrice? Fine! I joined the operation at that time as well. If you have the ability to do so— Arg!"

  Before he even finished speaking, Xiao Shan had already drawn his sword back. There was a trace of blood on his hiltless iron sword. One drop, two drops…

  Thud!

  Heartless Man only noticed that the hall leader had his throat slit and died with his eyes open when the man fell to the ground. Even though the distance between them was around seven feet, no one had seen how Xiao Shan had approached or attacked him just then.

  But Xiao Shan looked as if he had done something very insignificant.

  He cast an indifferent glance at the corpse on the ground.

  "You still have two times."

  With that attack, not only were the Mountain Range Sect members agitated, even Heartless Man, who had the intention to mend the rift, knew that there was no way they could have this end on a peaceful note. He scowled, and his gaze swiftly turned cold. He swung his hand resolutely.

  "Fire!"

  Whoosh!

  The archers, who had only been waiting for the command, lifted their bows without hesitation!

  Countless arrows shot out like a locust swarm. Their target was Xiao Shan, who stood alone in the middle of the emptied ground...

  "That's all there is to you."

  He raised his leg, and two of the corpses under his feet suddenly rose from the ground to block his sides. They were instantly turned into porcupines shot full of arrows.

  Once the volley of arrows passed, the two corpses were shoved with force at the archers, and Xiao Shan vanished from between the two porcupines!

  "Above!"

  The glares from swords and shadows from sabers went straight at the black shadow with crazed attacks, and they easily tore it into shreds… but it was just a normal piece
of clothing.

  When they realized that they had fallen into a trap, the archers to the left let out cries of surprise and pained screams.

  Xiao Shan, who had previously vanished from their sight, was there. He moved among the crowd as if he was taking a stroll in a park. Every time he took a small step forward, he would bizarrely appear three feet ahead. While avoiding the attacks from around him, he would appear beside his next target. No one could see how he attacked, but there would always be people who fell dead behind him. After a period of time since they fell, blood would pour out from their throats, the center of their brows, or their hearts.

  In an instant, more than twenty Mountain Range Sect members were killed.

  When he saw this, Heartless Man s.u.c.k.e.d in a sharp breath while standing on the stairs.

  'What ruthless sword technique! What terrifying footwork!'

  Not only was the man's footwork agile and mysterious, it also gave others the misconception that they had lost their target. With his extremely skilled quick sword, all those who were below Blessed Realm could not hope to fight against him.

  "Enough with the rampant acts!"

  Some people could no longer hold it in as they watched their brothers be killed one after another.

  "Perfect timing!"

  Xiao Shan did not panic. After he killed the last archer in the tower to the left, he moved and avoided a fatal slash. His body then appeared beside his attacker, and he thrust his iron sword forward with an unimaginable angle to drive it into the left side of the c.h.e.s.t of the leader behind his attacker.

  The latter only felt a sharp pain in his body before he shuddered. The iron sword had already been withdrawn from his body, and as his life quickly flowed out from his body, he lowered his head to see red liquid pouring out of the bloody hole in his c.h.e.s.t.

  "How murderous you are, Mountain Range Sect!"

  In a single breath, Xiao Shan killed two Blessed Realm players and shocked the powerful Mountain Range Sect's players behind him. His eyes move between them, and a cold look that made others tremble appeared on his slightly pale face.