'Class One Hall, you live up to your name.'
Happy's situation became worse, but he did not show any signs of panic. He continued to sit by the cliff, as if the world around him was calm, while watching the people from Class One Hall cautiously advance.
It had to be said that the methods Class One Hall used were indeed perfect. They gave off a pressure that they could force a person into a corner and make it so that the person could see no way out of the situation!
But the more they acted like that, the more Happy remembered the actions of "that person".
When his enemies were ninety-eight feet away from the cliff, Happy suddenly spoke a baffling sentence before he stood up. "Is this a declaration that you won't give me a chance to fight back and break free of this situation?"
At the same time, he looked at the duo who walked at the forefront with a cold and attentive gaze.
"Archers!"
Netherworld stood in the middle of the group. When he saw the blue-robed figure, he gave a command, and four people at the back of the group brought out their bows and nocked their arrows. They aimed at the cliff in front of them.
If this was any other time, they would have been able to finish their actions in no time.
However, they were on Iron Chain Bridge, and there was an abyss that stretched thousands of feet below them. Their psychological burden was very great, and they could not gain a solid footing. With the mountain wind affecting them as well, their agility and reaction speed dropped by a lot.
When they finished, Happy had already flung his knives! Under the group's astonished gazes, they cut toward the iron chains!
The group was so shocked by the sight that their hearts instantly froze, and they found themselves unable to speak.
Can Iron Chain Bridge be cut off?!
The iron chains of Iron Chain Bridge were as thick as a grown man's arm. It was because of it that Class One Hall did not take into account the possibility of someone being able to cut them.
Hence, even though they were very confident of the sturdiness of the iron chains, when they saw Happy act in such an aggressive and bold manner, they were so terrified that they felt as if their souls had left their bodies.
Violent sounds rose from the end of the bridge!
CLANG!
A piercing sound tore through the air!
The iron chains did not break, but the people from Class One Hall did not show much delight at that, because the moment the sound rose, the iron chains beneath them trembled violently. The four archers could not stand on stable feet. When the iron chains trembled beneath them, they threw away their bows in a flurry of motion and grabbed onto the chains. They almost fell three thousand two hundred and eighty feet.
The two people in the lead also lost their sturdy shields in their panic.
But that was not all.
CLANG!
CLANG!
Piercing echoes rose violently between the two mountains. They were so loud that it made the people who heard them feel as if they were about to suffer a mental breakdown.
The continuous, violent echoes not only made their eardrums sting, they also became distressed and upset! In the twinkling of an eye, it felt like even the mountain wind had gotten much stronger!
"AAAHHH!"
The great amplitude of the oscillations from the iron chains made a few Class One Hall's members crash into each other in the chaos, and they all fell off Iron Chain Bridge in pairs.
The shrill and despairing screams that entered their ears upset the other sect members on Iron Chain Bridge. Their faces turned stark pale. They gritted their teeth and seized the iron chains while wishing to immediately get out of the hellish place.
"Retreat!"
"RETREAT!"
Thud! Thud!
Two throwing knives sank into two people in the forefront of the group.
"NO!"
Netherworld's face went ashen when he saw the few black figures falling into the depths of the abyss.
"Retreat! GO BACK!"
His shouts sounded powerless among the loud screams and howling gusts between the two mountains.
Iron Chain Bridge rose and fell at irregular intervals. Everyone held onto the iron chains tightly and refused to let go. They had lost their balance and could not move at all, which turned them into unmoving targets that simply swayed left and right. The person on the cliff then easily sent them to the depths of the abyss.
One… and another!
The people who had followed the hall master of Class One Hall to Punishment Mount were all internal members who were elites and the core of Class One Hall. It could be said that their success and abilities were all around Netherworld's level. Netherworld had promised that he would definitely seize the tribute before the president, but they ended up thrashed. He did not want to even imagine what he would have to face when he went back…
He was well aware that ever since Class One Hall had joined World of Martial Arts, there was not a single time where they had lost so many elites in one go, and they had never been driven to such a hopeless situation either.
If he could not save the remaining people and caused even more deaths, then even if the president was willing to forgive him, his brothers would definitely not acknowledge him, and he would also be unable to forgive himself.
More importantly, he had brought all the people into the battle. Even though they had been pressed for time, it was a very irresponsible action.
Chapter 148 - Show No Mercy
Thirty or so core members of Class One Hall were forced into a hopeless situation because of one unexpected mistake.
Happy did not show any intention to hold back. He stood at the edge of the cliff, and his lancet knives continued flying forward, killing the people from Class One Hall on the Iron Chain Bridge.
As he watched their panicked expressions while they fell into the abyss which was thousands of feet deep, his expression did not change. He recalled the ambush at the foot of Shaoshi Mountain. At that time, no one had come to save him.
It was rumored that Five Venoms was a branch of Class One Hall as well. However, they were in charge of carrying out assassinations and had always wandered about in the dark. They had never openly revealed their identities.
Happy believed that no matter what, the giant that was Class One Hall was related to "that person" who had set him up. There was even a possibility that this organization was the real mastermind hidden behind the scenes!
With this knowledge in mind, there was no way Happy would show any mercy to the people from Class One Hall.
All those who had entered his attack range could not escape. They fell off the Iron Chain Bridge one after another and plunged into the abyss that was thousands of feet deep. Netherworld was among them.
In the end, aside from a few people who were slightly further away and hidden in the fog, everyone else was either knocked off of the Iron Chain Bridge or struck down by Happy. All of them had died.
When peace returned to the Iron Chain Bridge, the people from the bridge returned to the cliff in a mess of limbs and looking incredibly pathetic. Happy could sense the anger and murderous intent from the distance. Class One Hall had lost around twenty men in one breath. Those prodigies, who were incredibly prideful, were probably itching to tear Happy apart right there and then.
Happy said nothing about it. He just calmly sat down cross-legged on the spot.
He executed Complete Reality Qi Cultivation Technique to restore the qi he had lost while thinking about what had happened.
After the lesson Class One Hall learned, Happy's name would definitely be remembered by them, and based on the ambitions and methods of the huge guilds, they would either offer him an olive branch or try to kill him before he would have a chance to grow.
Next, he would either have to face an encirclement of Class One Hall, whose people would try their best to kill him, or…
A cold look appeared on Happy's face.
To show their magna
nimity as a guild, Class One Hall would push the matter down, bury all news related to it, and treat it as an experience of a failed mission. They would pretend that nothing had happened and would wait until the news about the matter vanished into the wind, or they would offer him an olive branch and invite him to join their guild.
Of course, the show of their magnanimity would just be a publicity act and an illusion aimed at the world.
If it wasn't the case, Class One Hall would not have built Five Venoms in the dark, had "that person" enter Happy's life, and then used various methods in reality to gain a higher rank in the Sword Among Us Tournament.
Perhaps after what happened right then, that dastardly male and female pair who were in the same city… would enter his life early.
Despite making a mockery of the matter in his heart, Happy could not help but look forward to their meeting in his new life.
*****
On the streets and empty areas around Guanlin Temple in Dengfeng City, which was located in Zhengzhou, were plenty of men and women who were just resurrected. They were feeble and weakened because of the chaos that had erupted in Shaolin Temple.
Various meditation forms and qi cultivation techniques from all sorts of sects were gathered there. True qi rose from many people, and its wisps made their robes puff out. The scene was very grand.
However, when a new group of pale-looking men stumbled out of Guanlin Temple one after another, some people who sat cross-legged in the crowd broke the peace and quiet in the area.
"They're people from Class One Hall…"
"How could this be?"
"There's a lot of them. Tsk tsk, who would have the guts to actually provoke Class One Hall?"
"Hush!"
When discussions rose outside Guanlin Temple, it sounded like someone was holding a market there. The noise culminated in a buzzing sound, which made the area very lively. Upon noticing it, the twenty-seven Class One Hall Members glared in warning at the people around them, ordering them to shut up.
It had to be said that even though their imposing aura was greatly reduced, they had pale faces, and were incredibly feeble and weakened, the emblem of Class One Hall was still very intimidating.
Class One Hall alone had six of the dozens of tribute boxes left in the quest of the emperor's birthday that made banditry run wild in the game. With the addition of the one they seized from Shaolin Temple, they were in possession of seven boxes, which meant they had acquired quite a huge share of them.
Dream Clouds, who was the hall master of Class One Hall, was also rumored to have obtained three high-tier martial arts at the same time. Aside from being in possession of a high-tier lightness skill and qi cultivation technique, she also had a sword technique in Grandmaster Realm. She had killed a Mystical Realm bandit who wanted to snatch their tribute boxes by herself, which made her the strongest swordswoman in World of Martial Arts.
Once the quest ended, Dream Clouds would obtain one or two treasures that would greatly increase her abilities, and once that happened, she would no longer be far away from commanding the game!
Some sect leaders who were quite powerful in World of Martial Arts had even ordered their subordinates to not try to steal tributes from the hands of Class One Hall.
Yet at such a time, someone had actually still decided to make Class One Hall suffer such bad luck. It was no wonder then that the many players outside Guanlin Temple looked as if they had just discovered a piece of shocking news. All of them quickly recorded the scene before them.
There was a person in black among the Class One Hall Members who looked exceptionally gloomy. He completely ignored the bustling discussions in the area. With his head lowered he simply focused on writing a letter at a faltering pace.
That person was Netherworld.
They had nearly been annihilated to the last person, and he did not know how to report it to his president, who was also his hall master. But the more he dragged it out, the more disadvantageous it would be for him.
Netherworld's heart was dead. He braced himself and wrote a letter that felt heavy in his hands. He put it into the bamboo tube tied to the messenger pigeon, and under his companions' gazes, he released it.
Everyone who had died had lost fifty percent of their money. Some of the more unfortunate ones even dropped their equipment.
However, that was not important.
What was important was that the conflict in World of Martial Arts had become even more intense as time passed, and the competition between players also became more and more awful. Each time someone died, they would lose twenty percent of their combat ability for a month, which meant that they lost the advantage of activating their qi realm.
For a month, their strength would be affected. They would be as weak as players who were at the same rank as them, and that was the greatest loss Class One Hall had ever had to suffer.
Netherworld explained the entire process of how they failed, not hiding any of the details. He did not try to push away his responsibility.
A few minutes passed, and the judgment letter from the hall master of Class One Hall appeared outside Guanlin Temple. It landed on Netherworld's slightly tense shoulder, next to his pale face.
"Cuckoo!"
He s.u.c.k.e.d in a deep breath before he did so with great nervousness.
[Read.]
The reply was very simple.
However, the usually pretty words were written with flourish. They revealed great force, showing the president's might.
Netherworld was instantly dumbfounded.
He had thought that the president would scold him and punish him. He did not expect that her reply would be so simple.
It added to the regret and uneasiness he felt in his heart.
His gaze sparkled, and he wrote another letter to ask about how they should handle the tribute box and the person on Punishment Mount.
[Ignore it. The matter is done. Hurry back to your sects to continue training.]
The hall master's reply did not mention the third sect in Jiangnan.
Netherworld was certain that the hall master did not intend to deal with him, but he also understood something else. He had made the hall master very disappointed.
He gripped the letter in his hand tightly. His face went red with anger, and his features twisted slightly.
"I will definitely take revenge!"
Chapter 149 - Hidden Tribute, Divine Breaker
Once Class One Hall's members plunged into the abyss under Netherworld's lead and shattered to pieces, Punishment Mount and the Iron Chain Bridge regained their peace.
Class One Hall's survivors had left dejectedly.
The members of other organizations who had been watching by the side looked at each other at a loss. Even though Class One Hall had left behind the snake tendons, no one dared to step on the bridge that had caused countless powerful players to perish.
Class One Hall had come prepared, and they even brought with them a powerful fighting force, but even they were easily destroyed. In a short time available to them, they could not think of a better plan to cross Iron Chain Bridge!
As time passed, the quest time grew shorter, and the people who stayed on the mountain across Punishment Mount left one after another.
However, there were still a handful of people who stayed in the area.
After all, it was almost the emperor's birthday, and it would not harm them if they stayed around. Hence, they decided to wait for the person from Punishment Mount to return.
They, too, wanted to see just how the mysterious player who caused countless players to fall into the chasm and made even Class One Hall return in failure and dejectedness looked like. They wanted to know just who he was!
However, unfortunately for them, they never managed to see Happy.
When the emperor's birthday was over, the system notified them that all bounties were rendered null. All brocade boxes in the hands of players belonged to them from that moment onwards, but Happy still did cross
the bridge.
One hour, two hours, and half a day passed, but he did not take any action!
The players who were waiting on the mountain found themselves unable to stand around for much longer. They started to wonder whether there were other paths to descend from Punishment Mount or whether the person was overly cautious and was unwilling to take the risk the cross over when he saw that there were still people on the other side.
Even though the brocade box now belonged to him and was akin to his personal belonging, so the possibility of it dropping was very low, there was still a chance that it would drop. With that being the case, it was only normal that a person would choose to act carefully.
"If we are not fated to meet, then so be it."
The few players remaining in the area were slightly disappointed, but soon, most of them left.
*****
There were two different types of brocade boxes delivered to Beijing. One of them was the overt tribute, and the other the hidden tribute.
The value of overt and hidden tributes was the same, but the meaning behind them was different.
The overt tributes were great items sent from various sects and clans to the imperial court, and even normal players could check the brocade boxes and learn what was inside them.
However, the hidden tributes were gifts delivered to the eighth prince from different sects and distinguished clans!
In the quest, the overt tributes were not just snatched by the players and bandits. Sects that were against each other had fought against their enemies to snatch the tributes, but practically none of them ended up with what they wanted.
Most of the brocade boxes in the hands of the handful of players were hidden tributes!
Some of them had gold notes in them, and some of them had jewels that were worth one million taels of silver crumbs. The players would have to depend on their luck for whether they could get high-tier martial art manuals, miraculous medicine, equipment and weapons from famous craftsmen, or other practical treasures. The percentage of the brocade boxes containing such items was higher than fifty percent, so it was not that bad.
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