"Let's go."
Even though the people of Heaven Descendants Sect had indignation written all over their faces, it was a pity for them that Class One Hall was a huge organization that they could not fight. With rage that they could not vent, they turned around and made to move down the mountain.
"Oh, by the way."
Burying Affection suddenly stopped when he had walked around thirty feet away. He turned and stared at Netherworld, who had intended to watch them leave with a derisive expression.
"Even though it's quite late now, I'd still advise you to wait until your reinforcements from Class One Hall arrive. This Iron Chain Bridge is dangerous and difficult to cross, and there's also a person guarding it on the other side. It'll be difficult for you to cross it. Don't go throwing your life away now."
Netherworld did not say anything. He scowled a little and looked away coldly. "You don't need to worry about me."
"Then I'll be taking my leave!"
Scholar of Burying Affection no longer wasted his breath. He wrapped his fist in his palm and saluted before he swiftly went down the mountain.
*****
When they were around six hundred and fifty feet away from the summit, Li Heng turned his head around and cast a glance at the summit. Once he was certain that he could no longer see that hateful Netherworld, he turned to Burying Affection.
"Sect master, why did you deliberately give him that piece of advice just now?"
"That's right!" A few people by his side quickly chimed in.
"There's no need for you to give any advice to that sort of person."
"Advice? I suppose you can put it that way, but…" He paused for a moment, then a cunning and strange smile appeared on his face. "My intention was never to warn him of the person on the other side of the mountain."
His sect members were puzzled, and their expressions turned contemplative.
Li Heng was the only one who looked enlightened after hearing Burying Affection's words. He smiled. "Boss, you're real shrewd! If the people from Class One Hall want to snatch the brocade box from the person on the other side of the mountain, they'll have to be quick! In just around an hour, the storyline with the emperor's birthday will be over.
"If Netherworld waits for the reinforcements from Class One Hall, he will have to delay for at least half an hour. At that time, if the person on the other end of the bridge manages to drag the time a little, he will be able to claim the brocade box as his own, and Class One Hall's plan will also end in failure."
After he spoke, everyone's eyes brightened up.
"That's right! With how arrogant that person was, he would never allow such a thing to happen. It's highly likely that he will be so upset by the thought that he will try to cross Iron Chain Bridge by himself."
Other people might not know about the strength of the person who was on the other mountain, but Heaven Descendants Sect knew. Li Heng had already made a very clear analysis regarding him.
Even if the internal members of Class One Hall had outstanding high-tier martial arts, it might still be just a dream for them to kill a Mystical Realm NPC one-on-one.
Li Heng quickly came to a realization.
His sect master might have seemed to have given a piece of advice on the surface, but in truth, it was a suggestion that spurred Netherworld to take action.
Also, with how arrogant he was, he would definitely not allow time to just pass when there was not much of it left. He would definitely do something.
Once he attempted something, Netherworld might end up running into a disaster!
"Alright, enough with the talk. It's up to him to determine what he wants to do. Whatever he chooses has nothing to do with us." Scholar of Burying Affection schooled his expression and ended the topic in a timely manner.
His sect members understood what he meant. They stopped discussing the matter and treated the event as if it had never happened. They then quickly descended the mountain.
*****
When the people from Heaven Descendants Sect left, the eyes of Netherworld, who stood at the cliff, shone with a cold glare, and he narrowed them slightly. He stared at the crude iron chains that were about three hundred and thirty feet long. There was a grave look on his face.
The brocade box outside Shaolin Temple might have already landed in Class One Hall's hands, but to ensure that it would remain safely in their hands, the sect had sent most of their powerful fighters to escort it. Another handful of people went out of Mount Song for another brocade box, and as of then, he was the only person left on Mount Song. If he had to wait for reinforcements from his sect, it would take at least half an hour.
Netherworld was a player with very great ambitions.
Once he entered the game, his nature of a professional gamer was also brought out to its fullest. Every single time he ran into a quest, he would clear it with excellent results, and his journey up to that point had been smooth. He had never fallen behind anyone before.
The only thing that displeased him was that luck was a very important factor in World of Martial Arts!
To him, players like Xiao Shan and North Placating Duke were not only not professional gamers, but people who did not have much experience in playing games. They could only make their mark in the game because they were lucky enough to learn one or two unique high-tier martial arts, and the thought of it was truly aggravating to Netherworld.
Since a long time ago, he wanted to know how a professional player like him from Class One Hall would end up like if he ran into one of those people with incredible luck!
When he thought of this, Netherworld raised his head with great arrogance. His gaze landed on the lone mountain that was enveloped by white fog three hundred and thirty feet away.
Whoosh!
He uncrossed his arms, and the metallic claws let out a faint clatter.
He rose lightly, just like a wild goose, but he landed on the iron chain with the force of a thunderbolt. He was less than three feet away from the cliff, but the swaying iron chain immediately sank under his weight, and the range of its oscillation was slightly affected.
Netherworld soon adapted to it, and his expression showed that he had expected for that to happen.
He moved slowly.
Right when he crossed one-tenth of the bridge, the mountain wind suddenly became stronger. Netherworld swayed in the air. In the end, he gritted his teeth, flipped around, and seized a chain with his claws. His legs were suspended in the air for a moment before he clamped down on the chain. He looked like a meat skewered on a metal spike when he attached himself tightly to one of the iron chains. He then swayed along with the wind.
He held the iron chain with both his legs and exerted force with both his hands. Then, just like a gecko, he began to move forward along the chain above the deep chasm that separated the two mountains.
Chapter 142 - Its Might is Brought into Full Display
Clang! Clang! Clang, clang!
Amid the rapid and frequent metallic clashes, sparks flew everywhere. A gray figure and blue figure moved about continuously. A black fist s.u.c.k.e.d away the air around it and made it move along itself. It let out a dull but powerful roar that sounded as if it were a vortex which surrounded the blue figure in the middle. The gray figure looked like a perpetual motion machine that would never stop, and his surging fighting spirit was never ending.
Happy, who was the person in blue robes, gradually lost his advantage from his initial relaxed state.
Fighting against a Mystical Realm fighter in a battle to the death had always been a dangerous process, but right then, Flowering Knights' Song was his only high-tier martial art, and its speed simply could not catch up to the monk's fists, who could execute them at will! And it was a Shaolin Monk who could use his hands as weapons as easily normal people drank wine and ate.
Soon, Happy was at a disadvantage.
But fortunately, he did not really care whether he had an advantage or not. As of then, his goal was to make his F
lowering Knights' Song reach the tenth realm. Without being bothered by the fact that he was at a disadvantage, he took up a defensive stance and handled the situation calmly while polishing his technique.
Because of it, Happy made the monk who had broken his Buddhist vows use quite a lot of profound skills from Shaolin's Arhat Fist. The longer they fought, the fiercer the monk's skills became. During the later stages of the fight, he practically descended into madness. Every single one of his attacks was strong enough to be fatal, and his strength also increased.
Happy had acc.u.mulated quite a lot of abrasions because of a few mistakes. His battle log was repeatedly renewed with new notifications, and the frequency at which they came was maddening. His Black Sand Invulnerable Body absorbed a certain degree of damage and experience, and it slowly grew stronger too.
After around ten minutes had passed, Flowering Knights' Song had only increased by less than 0.2 of the level, but Black Sand Invulnerable Body was actually pushed from the initial stage to the middle stage of the fifth realm.
Happy never let his guard down while using the monk as target practice.
After all, when he came over, he had noticed that there was someone following him from the distance. And even if that wasn't the case, the people from the three sects would not give up on the brocade box just like that. They would definitely think of all sorts of ways and even fork out large amounts of money for a fortune telling to figure out his location through a diviner on the streets.
So, there was another key factor that led to Happy being at a disadvantage against the monk—multitasking.
But reality soon proved that it had been necessary.
A strange sound rose from the other end of the chain!
It was immediately followed by a black figure which had attached itself to one of the five chains leaving the white fog. It moved at a moderate pace toward the mountain.
When he saw that the player was busy fighting at a disadvantage and did not have time to free himself, Netherworld was instantly delighted.
'I have a perfect chance!'
He activated his body fortification technique and couldn't resist increasing the speed of his climb.
Netherworld wanted to use the chance when the other player did not have time to divide his attention to handle him to reach the cliff!
However, right when he increased his speed, the situation of the battle suddenly changed, and it made his spirits, which had risen, to plummet.
Dragon Capture!
When Happy saw that someone wanted to use the chance to fly through the iron chains and enter Punishment Mount, his gaze focused. He no longer had the courage to hold himself back. He looked at the monk's swift fists, formed his left hand into the shape of a claw, struck the monk's fist with the other hand, and moved forward as swiftly as lightning.
A powerful whirlpool-like forced appeared around his left hand.
The monk's expression changed.
The instant Happy avoided his attack, his left hand struck the monk's fist.
If Happy were a player who was at the same qi realm as the monk,, that one strike might have put him in danger, but Happy was just in Blessed Realm, and his qi was not powerful. Hence, his move just made it seem like he was being reckless.
However, the moment Happy struck the monk's fist, the qi that surged outward did not wish to cause any injuries to the monk.
The qi surged into a whirlpool that did not stir up any splashes, and Happy suddenly changed from striking the monk to seizing his arm. His fingers were placed on the Lesser Surge acupressure point[1] and Lesser Yang Meridian[2]. The monk's qi was instantly blocked, and he could no longer exert force. He could only watch as Happy stretched his hand and pulled him in. Immediately, the monk's balance was broken, and he was tugged horizontally of Happy.
Boom!
As expected of one of the ultimate techniques Master Xuan Kong had created himself. Dragon Capture could cut into the enemy's space in an ingenious manner, and the skill was so brilliant that Happy had never seen anything like it before. Once he was successful in his execution, his enemies were simply powerless to fight back.
He forced down the crazed happiness in him.
Happy jumped up with the monk who had broken his Buddhist vows.
With a stern expression, he turned around with a short and swift step, and his Hundred-battle Saber let out a terrifying whistle. Once Happy had the monk controlled, he crashed into his body, which had lost its balance and risen from the ground because of the tug.
"AAAAHHHH!!!!!!"
A shrill and terrified scream came from the monk's mouth.
Of course, it was not because Flowering Knights' Song delivered a great deal of damage. The monk's body fortification technique made his body as hard as steel, and his defense was astonishing. It was hard to injure him heavily.
But the Dragon Capture Happy executed before it had unexpectedly broken the monk's balance, and the slash from the saber had pushed the monk off the cliff while he was airborne!
No matter how strong the monk's body fortification technique was, he could not survive the fall.
When he suddenly realized that he had flown out of the cliff and had to face the abyss thousands of feet below him, the evil monk, whose state of enlightenment was not high, lost his calm composure.
He pedalled fiercely in the air.
The monk's reaction was incredibly quick. His panicked actions actually managed to stop his fall, and he landed on the iron chains of the bridge.
Clang!
One of the iron chains shuddered.
The monk regained his balance, and like a wild goose, he rose high into the air and landed on the cliff.
The monk's pupils swiftly shrank in fear! But he still braced himself and rushed over.
Before he could even get near the place.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two cold glares shot out and went straight for the middle of his c.h.e.s.t and his crotch.
"Despicable!" the monk roared, but he could not ignore the two throwing knives. He used his hands to send them flying, and a chill seeped into his bones from the cliff before him.
A fierce, dark blue saber glare came at him like a strike from the deities in heaven. It slashed at the monk's terrified and pale face. This time, the monk was struck head on, and he flew off the cliff with his face toward the sky. There was no need for him to turn around and look. He already knew that he was definitely beyond the reach of the five iron chains.
Happy killed the monk just like that.
He could no longer be bothered to look at the figure he had pushed off the cliff. He patted his sleeves in a relaxed manner, and through the corner of his eyes, he cast a glance at the player who had stopped moving on the iron chain—Netherworld.
Happy looked away and nonchalantly walked more than thirty feet away before he bent down and calmly picked up the brocade box he had cast on the ground upon reaching the cliff.
Netherworld remained frozen on the iron chain. He stared at the brocade box in Happy's arms, but did not dare to move an inch forward. He would need to be insane to do it. He had just witnessed a Mystical Realm fighter easily thrown off the cliff by that player. If he went over there himself, it would mean that he was asking for his death!
But Netherworld did not want to go against his own personality and ruin his own dignity.
"Sir, Class One Hall will buy the item in your hands at a high price! You may name the price as you please," he said loudly.
Happy stood at the cliff while fl.i.c.k.i.n.g off the dust from the brocade box. He looked like a monk who had transcended worldliness, but when he heard Netherworld name the sect he was affiliated to, a cold light shone in his eyes.
Clang!
His Hundred-battle Saber was decisively stabbed into the cliff, and it let out a proud whistle!
Its might was brought into full display!
Chapter 143 - Hypocrite
Netherworld's heart trembled when he looked at the young man with
fluttering robes and who was as elegant as an immortal who had transcended worldliness. He also had the Hundred-battle Saber which looked very aggressive.
Netherworld did not know whether it was because that person stood on a higher ground or because of his ability to send the monk flying with two slashes, but he could not bring out the relaxed and arrogant manner he had when he faced Heaven Descendants Sect. In fact, he was slightly affected by the other's presence, and a faint sense of inferiority rose within his heart.
When he sensed the faint and subtle change in his heart, Netherworld's expression darkened, and he s.u.c.k.e.d in a deep breath before he asked loudly, "Sir, are you willing to sell us the brocade box? Please give Class One Hall a clear answer."
What he did not know was that at that moment, Happy's emotions were incredibly complicated.
Class One Hall was a super organization that had a great impact on the game since it was launched. They created and gathered many top-class players within a short time in the VR world of martial artists. They also set up more than thirty sects to create a huge structure for their organization!
One of Happy's friends whom he even called his brother in his past life was also a member of the higher-ranking management within it.
'Brother…'
Happy smiled in a self-deprecating way with a slightly pale face.
That brother of his was not just famous for being kind, but also for being quite strong. He had managed to rank as one of the most powerful fighters in the Sword Among Us Tournament as well!
It was also that good brother whose abilities and character were both great that had driven Happy to drunkeness and bungling his matters on the eve of the Sword Among Us Tournament.
Happy s.u.c.k.e.d in a deep breath and closed his eyes. He remembered that the person who should have been by his side to comfort him with gentle words while he was at his most dejected and dispirited state had left him without any hesitation to appear beside his "brother". It made him so sad that his heart seemed to be breaking apart, piece by piece. It felt like the whole world had betrayed him.
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