The high-tier martial art the bandit leader used was fierce and violent.
Like that, as time passed, while the bandit leader's attacks remained as fierce as ever, it was clear that he no longer had the powerful momentum from before. The skills he used were also the same over and over again. Besides, the bandit leader had become impatient because he could not get rid of the enemy before him.
Happy gradually left the state in which he was oppressed from all sides when the bandit leader's momentum reduced. He swept his gaze around him. The few uninjured bandits were rushing over from the distance. His gaze focused then, and Happy changed from his defensive stance to his sword glare brightening exponentially. He moved closer to the bandit leader and clenched his left hand to land a heavy blow at the bandit leader's chin.
The lethality of Black Tiger Fist might not be as great as that of a high-tier martial art, but if it struck a weak spot on a person's body, it would still deal great damage.
"Die!"
The bandit leader hissed in pain and flew into a rage. He roared and brandished his ax, forcing Happy several feet backwards. In his rage, his momentum became terrifying again.
However, even though his momentum had become strong under his anger, his weaknesses also became even more apparent.
Happy had been waiting for this chance for a long time.
He avoided the ax, and the moment the bandit leader delivered his second attack closely to the first, Happy's saber shone brightly. At an even faster speed, he swung it from below to meet the bandit leader's ax, which had a weaker momentum. The powerful force brought with it a powerful inertia, and the bandit leader instantly lost his balance.
His face turned pale. He seemed to realize that something bad was about to happen by the sound of air being sliced apart. He looked up in alarm, and a blue saber glare that looked as if it descended from heaven made his memories forever be fixed on that moment!
*****
"Hmm?"
Under the scorching sun, a black figure drifting high in the forest half a mile from the pavilion let out a soft sound before he stopped flying.
The tree top swayed slightly, and the person landed at the top of a very tall tree.
He looked down to the east of the government-made road. The person in the tree was the unkempt middle-aged man who had left the pavilion a long time ago. He had a brocade box in his arms, and a shocked and bewildered look entered his eyes when he looked into the distance.
The unkempt man had an exquisite map in his other hand. One minute ago, the location and moving speed of the other brocade box was shown very clearly. It had chased after him, but just then, the red dot had suddenly stopped.
He stopped for a few minutes as well, waiting.
The red dot remained unmoving on the map, as if it had been held up by something.
"Strange." A hint of puzzlement appeared on the unkempt man's face. His gaze sparkled, and he mumbled softly, "Logically speaking, Aside from Black Heron himself, the group he led to ambush the thirteen staff-using monks should not be able to stop the Mystical Realm NPC from stealing the brocade box, and it's impossible for them to continue sacrificing lives for the boxes. Has a new situation arisen, which made the bandits stop for so long?"
'Could it be him? No way!'
The unkempt man could not help but frown. He lingered around the top of the tree for a moment before his curiosity won over his logical reasoning telling him to leave the battlefield. With a loud whoosh, he shot toward the government-made road like a goose flying at the speed of an arrow.
The unkempt middle-aged man's lightness skill had already reached an astonishing degree. He was so fast that his speed was astounding. Neither Happy nor the Mystical Realm bandit leader could compare to his speed.
With a jump, he could cross from twenty-two feet to twenty-six feet. He drifted to the government-made road in the distance as light as a feather.
During that period of time, the unkempt man would still occasionally look at the map in his hand.
The red dot that represented the brocade box still did not move.
The curiosity on the unkempt man's face became even greater. He put away the map and rushed to the spot where the pavilion was!
He moved as quickly as lightning.
In less than half a minute, the middle-aged man, whose clothes were a mess and who did not care about his appearance, appeared not too far away from the pavilion while holding his brocade box in a ridiculous manner. When he saw the masterless horses and the corpses that had yet to disappear scattered everywhere on the ground, the shock on his face became even greater. His eyes moved, and his gaze landed on the man in black who was the only person moving in the area.
The unkempt man said nothing. His eyes were sharp, and he quickly discovered the corpse of the Mystical Realm bandit leader among the dead bandits. It was the same person who had claimed dozens of people's lives with his hands!
Yet there were only bandit corpses in the area!
And the only person moving around was the masked man in black, who walked in a relaxed and calm manner.
When he saw it, the unkempt middle-aged man understood what had transpired, no matter how slow he was to realize things. He had killed bandits, which made the unkempt man's face pale.
There were people who could kill Mystical Realm NPCs in the game, but this was the first time he saw someone kill a Mystical Realm NPC alone…
Just how terrifying was this person?
The unkempt middle-aged man cast the masked man in black a glance in a very sleazy and wary manner. He tightened his hold over his brocade box and moved backwards carefully. He looked like he believed himself to be in a very dangerous situation.
Happy was quite speechless.
When the unkempt middle-aged man had arrived, Happy was shocked and nervous. He then saw the other's sleazy actions, and he could not help but feel like he had nothing to say about the situation.
He quickly increased his speed of looting his spoils of war and the Horse Plates from the bandits. He cast the unkempt man a profound glance before walking away in the direction of Shaoshi Mountain[1] at a moderate pace.
Chapter 120 - All-powerful Medicinal Stone
To Happy, visiting the Shaolin Temple in Mount Song was undoubtedly going back to a place where he had once stayed!
He had spent most of the three years in his past life in this place. It also the monster spawn point he frequented the most. He had many martial arts from Shaolin Temple that reached Grandmaster Realm, and he was so familiar with the trees, mountain creeks, passes, and even some of the monsters' spawn points that he knew them like the back of his hand.
It was precisely because he was used to his surroundings that Happy chose a small pass that few people knew about and would approach. He entered the quiet forest and passed through it like a curl of black smoke. Soon, he arrived at Mount Song.
He avoided the spots with many players and jumped up through the trees with agility, as if he were flying. The temperature around him dropped swiftly, and it made Happy feel a little cold, because he was dressed lightly.
He would occasionally cast a glance at the map in his hands...
A light crease appeared between his eyebrows. A small red dot constantly trailed behind him. It was not fast, but neither was it slow. Happy could not shake it off. If he had not known that the person was a famous loner and regarded the idea of getting into complicated relationsh.i.p.s with others in scorn, Happy would have killed him and tossed him aside a long time ago.
Happy left the direction leading to Mount Song and headed to the mountain ranges around it.
Waterfalls roared, and water splashed on rocks, flying into the air.
The various beautiful sights were like drifting clouds that passed Happy.
Soon, he arrived at the tallest mountain range. His field of vision broadened, and the beautiful and lofty sight of mountains during sunset brought with it a solemn and old feeling.
Happy's footsteps slowe
d down. He was at the border of Mount Song. The area was filled with fierce animals such as white tigers and rhinoceroses. Normal players would find them very difficult to deal with, and they would usually not approach the place.
The brocade boxes would only be shown on the map if the person with it was three-tenths of a mile away from its holder. By then, there was only one and a half days until the emperor's birthday. There was naturally no need to talk about the safety provided by this place if he stayed in it.
Even if he was unfortunately discovered by someone, Happy would still be able to free himself from trouble.
Of course, the most important matter right then was to deal with the problem behind him.
"It's almost nightfall now, aren't you going to come out and talk?"
He had his qi circulate in his Dantian region, and with its help, his voice traveled into the dark forest behind him.
Soon, boisterous laughter reached his ears.
"Hahahaha… Mount Song is indeed one of the great mountains of China[1], the scenery is indeed extraordinary. But I'll have to thank you for leading the way, or else a wandering physician like me wouldn't have been able to find such a beautiful sight!"
As he spoke, the unkempt middle-aged man walked out of the forest with a giggle, but he did not dare to get too close to Happy. He stopped when he was thirty-two feet away from him. He placed his fist in his palm while looking like he was there just to admire the scenery of Mount Song.
Naturally, Happy knew that he was still wary of him. He chuckled in his heart, but he did not expose him.
"You're a doctor?"
Happy stared at the unkempt man from where he stood, scrutinizing the man's face.
"That's right." The latter did not stop smiling. He made a seizing motion with his right hand, and as if he just performed a magic trick, a white flag that wandering physicians usually held while they traveled about appeared in his hand. There were indeed six words written on it.
SAVE THE WORLD, LOVE THE PEOPLE!
As he stared at the extremely eye-catching words, Happy felt his lips twitch.
When he saw Happy's contemptuous reaction, the unkempt man was slightly surprised. He coughed to cover up his awkwardness, and at the same time, he put away his sign. He smiled and said, "Honestly, we're quite similar. I made my sign spontaneously. But, bro, your getup is pretty good too. You look very mysterious and… should I say, leave a very deep impression on others?"
Happy was rendered speechless. He lowered his head to look at his attire, and only then did he realize that he was still dressed as the masked man in black. His getup and his act of getting rid of the Mystical Realm bandit leader earlier might have left a deep impression in the eyes of the unkempt man, which was why he was so wary of him.
Happy casually pulled off the veil that covered his face, which made the unkempt man cry out in surprise.
"It's you!"
The handsome and young face made the unkempt man's expression freeze. His jaw fell slack in shock, and he stayed like that for quite some time.
Even though he had suspected it, when he saw that the blue-robed young man in the pavilion was indeed the mysterious masked man in black who killed a Mystical Realm NPC, he could not help but be shocked.
Happy's expression was very calm. "Let me introduce myself, I'm Murong Clan's disciple, and my name is Happy."
"Urk." When the unkempt man heard Happy introduce himself, he quickly realized some things from his actions. A pleased look appeared on his face.
"How straightforward! Brother, since you decided to be honest with me, then if I continue to conceal myself, I'll look really petty! This humble man is a successor of Marvelous-handed Sect, and my name is All-powerful Medicinal Stone! Of course, I don't practice medicine to heal the world for a living."
The unkempt man chuckled. "The sign I showed just now is a cover, and I don't think I managed to fool you. I can cure some injuries from falls with my medicinal skills, but it'd be difficult for me if you asked me to reconnect bones or cure broken limbs. But my thievery skills are pretty good."
While he spoke, he shook the brocade box in his hands.
"All-powerful Medicinal Stone…" Happy repeated the name a few times, as if this was the first time he heard it.
"If you look at it another way, you can say that I'm a master key who can solve all problems[2]," the unkempt man explained slyly.
Happy nodded when he came to a realization.
"Interesting."
"You're even more remarkable. You're the champion of the offline martial arts tournament. After meeting you today, you truly live up to your name."
The unkempt man actually managed to link Happy's name to the champion of the offline martial arts tournament that only a few people knew. Happy was momentarily taken aback before he put on a resigned expression.
"I was lucky."
"Really?" All-powerful Medicinal Stone chuckled. "Were you lucky as well when you killed that Mystical Realm NPC?"
"Yes."
"Urk… I say, you're way too boring. By the way, you said that you're a disciple from the Murong Clan, but you seem to be very familiar with Mount Song. You didn't run into a single person on your way here…"
All-powerful Medicinal Stone looked around curiously before he said, "Even if you've come to Shaolin Temple before in reality, there's no way you can understand the distribution of the monsters in this place so clearly, right?"
"Figure it out yourself."
Happy did not have the energy to explain it. He did not believe that All-powerful Medicinal Stone would be able to guess that he had three years of experience in the game after he went back to the past.
His gaze instead moved to the brocade box in the man's bosom, and he smiled and said, "If we have two brocade boxes near each other, the enemies we attract will multiply by several fold. Brother Medicine, look, this place is big. You can go on and find a place to wait by yourself. Forest Union will come only once every six hours. You should be able to handle them." The underlying intention of Happy trying to chase him away was very clear.
"Heh heh." All-powerful Medicinal Stone cast a glance at the brocade box in his hand and said with a smile, "It doesn't matter to me whether or not I can get the items inside. Right now, I'm even more curious about how you managed to kill the Mystical Realm NPC. How about we make a deal? I'll give you this brocade box in exchange for your information. How does that sound?"
It was not a good thing to have the unkempt man's eyes fixed on him while shining with an extreme d.e.s.i.r.e to know the truth. Happy's skin crawled from the way the unkempt man stared at him. He felt as if he had ran into a strange and perverted middle-aged man, and, just like a rascal, that person even used a very big lollipop to try and tempt him.
"That sounds horrible," Happy said decisively.
All-powerful Medicinal Stone did not show a single hint of surprise for Happy's answer. Instead, his determination to figure out the secret became even stronger. The spark of curiosity and d.e.s.i.r.e to learn the truth grew brighter in his small, sleazy eyes!
Chapter 121 - Inspecting the Spoils of War
All-powerful Medicinal Stone was very eccentric. Once he set his mind on something, he would definitely get to the bottom of it. When Happy refused to exchange information with the tribute for the emperor, which was worth cities, he became even more mysterious, and All-powerful Medicinal Stone became even more curious about him! He gave the reason that six hours had yet to be up as a reason to stay near Happy. He talked about nothing and everything and asked questions in a roundabout manner.
Happy would still answer him in the beginning, but later on, he completely ignored him and let him talk on his own. After all, people like All-powerful Medicinal Stone would not take offense to others ignoring them.
Happy now had four Horse Plates in his Universe Bag. He also had 3,000 taels of silver crumbs and 2,000 taels of gold crumbs. The drop rate for money differed based on the target's qi realm. The 2,000 taels of gold cr
umbs had dropped from the Mystical Realm bandit leader. Aside from the money, the Mystical Realm bandit leader had also given him a high-tier martial art manual—Five Tiger Rotating Hammer Technique. He also gained a middle-grade masterpiece—Arhat Ax.
The requirements to practice Five Tiger Rotating Hammer Technique were as such: Grandmaster Realm Rotating Hammer Technique. AST: 50, AFF: 50, CPH: 47, BMM: 48, Qi Realm: Mystical Realm.
The description for Arhat Ax was as such: Middle-grade masterpiece. Increases 440 attack, lowers 2 BMM, increases 50% blocking rate, increase 200 weapon defense.
It was obvious that he could not learn the former. First of all, even if ignoring the fact that he had not learned the low-tier martial art Rotating Hammer Technique, he could not even meet the requirements for the four attributes. His Qi Realm was not high enough as well. This technique was the same as Seven Stars Sword and Swimming Dragon, which were all beyond his reach, even though he had them within sight. For the time being, he could only set them aside.
Player: Happy
AST: 40, AFF: 37, CPH: 40, BMM: 41
The Mystical Realm bandit leader had dropped quite some items. Aside from the two that Happy could not use for the time being, he also gained a high-grade Horse Plate, which was the purplish red horse under him right then.
Without any hesitation, Happy took away his original Horse Plate and put the purplish red Horse Plate by his waist. Then, he instinctively put on a wary expression while casting a glance at the unkempt man.
The latter also had his sights set on Happy's Horse Plate. When he saw how extraordinary it was, his eyes sparkled, and he could not help but rub his fingers together. He looked extremely interested in it. However, when he met Happy's gaze, he immediately wiped his mouth, sat up straight, and looked at the sky.
He seemed to have noticed that his actions just then made him look a little guilty. His face flushed red, and he snorted gently. "It's just a high-grade Horse Plate. Hmph, that sort of thing hasn't reached the level at which it could enter my sights."
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