"But he…" Glutinous Rice still wanted to say something.
Phoenix Dances seemed to know what she wanted to say, so she smiled at her. "He seems to have taken a holiday because of Xu Xin. Right now, he's very close to her, so it's impossible for him to let go of this chance and play a game instead. Anyway, it's impossible for that nerd to be the Happy in the game! Regardless of his appearance, temperament, or anything else, they don't match at all!"
"Oh." Glutinous Rice nodded quietly, but she did not quite agree with Phoenix Dances' argument. She remembered that Happy's appearance had overlapped slightly with that nerd's during the few times she saw him in the cafeteria.
However, when Phoenix Dances said those things, it truly did not seem quite possible for Chen Kaixin to be Happy.
A nerd who only knew how to study every single day and did not touch games at all… was indeed very nerdy. It should be impossible for such a person to become so successful in the game in such a short period of time. Happy was practically the most powerful player of their generation!
"By the way, Glutinous Rice, when you go back, try to make the best use of your time and reach the seventh realm with your Flowing Cloud Swords. You and Tea Words are the only ones with high-tier martial arts in Phoenix Dances Faction right now. You have to try hard and push your realm up as quickly as possible."
She paused for a moment and looked a bit dazed.
"When Happy joins Beautiful Robes Faction, we will definitely need to fight against some of the powerful forces that are Happy's enemies. It's impossible for us to only rely on him!"
"Okay!" The mischievous look on Glutinous Rice's face faded away, and she nodded vigorously.
*****
There was also a small group of people aside from the people in the University of South China who paid attention to Happy's situation and were worried about him.
It was Red Coral, who was saved by Happy in the ancient tomb outside Yangzhou City some time ago, and Black Rose Clan, who provided her support.
That small clan had yet to form a sect. They did not have a headquarters to call their own, and they only referred to themselves as the Black Rose Clan.
After the incident in the ancient tomb, they had continuously gathered information and data about Happy.
Ever since they learned that he had shifted his battlegrounds to Mount Song and performed several feats that shook the entire world of martial artists, Black Rose, the leader of Black Rose Clan, trusted Red Coral's judgment more than ever, and she also grew to admire her even more.
Even though Class One Hall's defeat was not very famous, Black Rose knew the power and cautiousness of those people, since they were a professional gaming guild. They were definitely not as what the others said. The defeat they suffered at Happy's hands was not only because he relied on the natural defense provided by the Iron Chain Bridge.
Without relative power, no one could easily defeat Class One Hall's combat squad. Its people were all powerful players who had high-tier martial arts.
Happy's feats made Black Rose even more supportive of Red Coral's suggestion.
Black Rose and Red Coral took the time to meet each other in a restaurant within a city to discuss how they should contact Happy.
"Coral, Happy will be targeted by a few factions at the same time, and he will be in danger! Why don't we send him a messenger pigeon and work with him in the dark?"
There was a light crease between Red Coral's beautiful eyebrows. She was drawing something on a piece of paper on the table, though she stopped occasionally. When she heard her friend's words, she shook her head.
"No need to hurry. If we try to curry his favor out of the blue, we'll make it seem as if we have ulterior motives."
"It's still not the time for us to seek him?"
With a puzzled gaze, Black Rose cast a glance at the map in Red Coral's hands. Red Coral had placed a few red marks on it, which meant Happy's location every time she had investigated his whereabouts.
"Two hours ago, his escape route started to become chaotic. He moves erratically from the east to the west. If this continues… he might be surrounded by those forces of power working together."
"Impossible!" A faint smile appeared on Red Coral's face. "Every single time he stops, the time he stays in one place is very regular, and the new direction he chooses is very difficult to grasp. Just now, I thought about this from another angle.
"If I used the information provided by the fortune tellers to chase after him and he managed to slip away every single time, what would I think? Also, I have always been curious as to why he doesn't run far away in one go, but now, I finally understand. He has another goal, and he has succeeded in achieving it!"
"What?"
"No one might have noticed it, but the most distinctive thing is that every single time he deliberately lingers around a place and is dragged into a battle, the divination fees for him clearly increase!"
Black Rose s.u.c.k.e.d in a sharp breath. "Are you saying that the divination fees had doubled and then grown some because of him?"
Red Coral nodded without any hesitation. She was confident in her guess.
Black Rose focused her gaze on Red Coral and frowned for a few seconds. She stared at her friend, whose eyes were sparkling, and she suddenly felt uneasy.
'If that is truly the case, then such an abnormal and wicked person… will be hard to control.'
Chapter 156 - Ghost Slayer Art
The people in the world of martial artists all walked their own paths, and they had their own personal set of principles and moral limits. They were their Daos…
The most inconspicuous thing in the game was the market deals. The rarer an item was, the more expensive it was and the higher returns the seller could obtain. It was the same for the other professions too. The more dangerous a job was, the more likely a person was to run into an item that was usually hidden. Relative dangers would provide better benefits!
It was a manifestation of Dao.
Even the diviners on the streets who performed divinations for others had to uphold their moral values and Daos! They had to be careful and cautious in all their acts!
For example, when they analyzed the eight characters of birth and a person's fate toward riches, the price they charged was low, but when they searched for a person's location, it would take time and effort, and the price for that was rather high.
When the divination was linked to certain secrets and treasures, the price would increase by leaps and bounds. They might gain a huge profit from it, the type that would stuff their wallets with loads of money the moment someone bought their services!
Of course, diviners had to face dangers too.
If they only searched for a normal person, the diviners could charge their customers some divination fees without worry. But if they knew that the target was strong and had killed many people, they would be wary, just like any other normal person. They would struggle between the money they could receive and their personal safety.
If they were offered a normal price, the diviners would definitely not be willing to perform the divination. Why should they risk their safety in exchange for some money that was not essential for them? How could they not increase the price for their services if they had to take risks?
Hence, the fees to search for dangerous people would increase by leaps and bounds.
Happy had chosen to avoid everyone by engaging in a few battles to spill more than one hundred people's blood. His name became linked to infamy from that, and when diviners discovered this during their divination, they would get frightened by his bad reputation. They would be worried about their future and their fate.
Of course, this was just a small technique to handle diviners.
It was what many powerful players in the early stages of the game in Happy's previous life had used to handle people coming after their life!
If they killed ten, they would get a bad reputation; if they killed fifty people, they would become notorious; if they
killed more than a hundred people, they would become known as a demon; if they killed two hundred people, they would become known as people whom no one could stop, and diviners would avoid them.
Those who killed fifty people were brutal people, and the fees to search for them would increase by leaps and bounds.
Those who were known as demons had divination fees that normal people would not be able to handle. Each divination would require thousands or even tens of thousands of taels of silver crumbs.
However, it was because everyone's qi realms were low and fame small during the early stages of the game that the starting price for each divination was not high and everyone could afford it. Once they reached Mystical Realm or Life and Death Realm during the later stages of the game, the diviners would say that every single time they performed divination their lives were in danger, so the fees would always be high and never low.
Every single time they performed their services, everyone would feel a great pain in their hearts for the money they lost!
As for the last type of people, the one which diviners would avoid since they had killed two hundred people, these sort of people were classified as people whom no one could stop, and the diviners would not be willing to offend them. No matter how much money was offered to them, they would not foolishly bring karma onto themselves and invite the disaster with their own heads!
As time passed, the divination fees for Happy changed because of his actions, and an increasing number of people noticed this. The forces of power chasing after him also sped up in their search for him.
*****
Next to the government-made road that led to Luoyang was a greenish river with two rows of willows with lush green leaves on its sides. The leaves swayed gently in the breeze and gave off a cooling air.
Many of the players in Luoyang loved that scenery!
But on that day, Luoyang was not at peace.
A man could be seen on the empty ground not far from the government-made road. He had a coronet on his head, and in his hands he held a pair of skull-shaped metallic nunchucks.
He jumped down from a large black horse. His footsteps were slow, and he appeared relaxed. If it were not for the hooked nose and small eyes that shone with the light of a schemer, he might actually appear to be somewhat elegant and graceful.
Unfortunately for him, his facial expression took away some of his elegant air.
It was especially so when he was set in contrast to the young man in blue robes in front of him. He looked like an example of how a person was NOT supposed to dress and behave as a martial artist.
"I finally caught up to you."
The man with the coronet's voice was rather shrill, and his smug tone was very clear. He did not put away his horse, however. While holding his skull-shaped nunchucks, which shone with a silvery-white metallic shine under the sun, he walked toward Happy.
Happy simply scowled with a solemn look on his face.
He did not even look at the man with the coronet, however. He simply stood his ground with a relaxed visage while looking into another direction and calculating the time quietly.
The man with the coronet was stunned speechless. When he noticed that his opening speech had not received the reaction he anticipated, and had in fact not even caught Happy's attention, his face turned red. A hint of anger flashed in his eyes as he watched Happy stand quietly with an absent-minded look on his face.
No matter what, he was the famous God of Nunchucks in Zhengzhou. With his Ghost Biter Nunchucks and Seventy-three Ghost Slayer Skills, he had defeated plenty of powerful fighters in Zhengzhou. Yet the person before him not only did not show any respect, he did not even look him in the eye!
Even though his leader had repeatedly reminded him to be careful and not engage in a fight with their target when he saw how carried away and arrogant this person was, a fire lit up in his c.h.e.s.t.
"Some Blue-robed Noble Sword User you are! Take this!" he roared.
The man with the coronet moved like a snake and kicked up a lot of dust into the air before he shot out!
At the same time, his nunchucks let out a silvery-white halo. With a loud clang, a shrill sound of a ghost wailing rang out in the air.
"AAAHHH!"
Under the protection of numerous afterimages, he executed his techniques repeatedly in a manner that showed that he really possessed skill before attacking Happy, who was a few feet away from him.
"Ghost Slayer Art!"
Happy was obviously stunned. He tapped on the ground hastily, and his gaze focused on the man with the coronet, who had arrived before him with his weapon. The dozens of silvery white skull-shaped halos combined together made Happy feel as if he was looking at a savage and ferocious ghost, since they were packed densely together.
They came at him in a continuous stream! With the effect of the soundwaves that also served as an attack, which was a unique feature of Ghost Biter Nunchucks, the howls of ghosts charged forward with an astonishing momentum! Their speed was even above Happy's.
Happy said nothing. He focused his attention and instantly formed his left hand into the shape of a dragon's claw.
When he was about to attack with Dragon Capture, a tremor that was accompanied by a thunderous boom came from the distance. Happy's heart trembled. His hand relaxed, and he turned to slap his waist.
Whoosh!
His Hundred-battle Saber came out of its sheath with a hoarse w.h.i.n.e.
Happy's actions were incredibly quick. He turned around in one beautiful motion, and his fingers moved like lightning when he seized the hilt of the Hundred-battle Saber in the air.
Boom!
His actions were relaxed and elegant. However, his momentum was both explosive and fierce! His qi surged into his saber, and the dark blue saber glow increased to two feet. Happy then slashed violently at the nunchucks that came charging at his face.
"AAAHHH!"
The savage and ferocious ghost faces that came charging at Happy were instantly torn by the blue saber glare as if they were paper.
Clang!
When the dull sound of metal clashing against metal rose, the man with the coronet was knocked thirty-two feet away. He violently crashed into the ground and could not help but cough up blood. His face was pale, and there was disbelief on it.
"How can this be?"
He was completely defeated!!
Chapter 157 - Heaven Origin Sword
When he lost in a single move, the man with the coronet realized that some of the matters in the rumors were not as they had expected. Happy had definitely not used some tricks to seize the brocade box and toy with the normal players.
Ghost Slayer Art in the eighth realm would definitely not lose to a high-tier martial art of the ninth realm with the same requirements in qi realm in terms of lethality and bizarreness.
Usually, even if people had a high-tier martial art in Grandmaster Realm, they would find it hard to figure out the unique characteristics within the double attack from the real nunchucks and the soundwaves of Ghost Slayer Art in a short period of time. It was because of this that he had the courage to volunteer to chase after Happy by himself, but right then, based on what he saw, he had been blinded by his confidence, so much so that he had made a fool of himself.
He had overestimated himself and underestimated his opponent too much!
He was faced with a person who had defeated the core combat squad of Class One Hall, so there was no way that he would be someone easy to deal with.
The man with the coronet closed his eyes and waited for death, but even after he waited for a long time, he did not feel the saber on him nor the pain that would accompany it.
Instead, he heard the cacophony of cries of pain, wails, screams of surprise, and enraged roars. They were all gathered into one huge mess and reached his ears from another direction.
He opened his eyes and looked there.
A group of more than one hundred riders had been yanked off their horses and were scattered all ov
er the ground! The terrifying dark-blue saber glare shone without fear in the middle of them. Happy swung his blade in a breathtaking manner, turning the situation incredibly chaotic!
When he saw it, the man with the coronet s.u.c.k.e.d in multiple sharp breaths. The people before him should be another force of power chasing after Happy after they obtained news about his location. Even though there were not many Blessed Realm players among them, it was not an easy feat to easily strike and throw so many people into chaos for one person.
Not only would Happy need courage and strength for it, he would also need an incredible attention to detail and technique!
Happy no longer left into the distance after he slaughtered some people, just like he did before. Instead, he killed everyone he reached. Every single time he attacked, a number of people would be cut and sent into the air by the saber glares that sliced through the wind. It was hard for them to survive.
The man with the coronet instantly held his breath and paid attention to the battlefield. He gradually forgot his injuries and that he had just lost. He stared without blinking at the blue figure moving with agility within the crowd.
As he watched, his expression became more solemn!
He understood it then.
Happy's saber technique should have already reached the tenth realm. With the weapon that was practically a masterpiece in his hands, his offense was so great that there were practically no one who could stand up to him.
Happy had thrown the entire battlefield into chaos and killed resolutely. Under his offense that tore through his enemies as if they were paper, he might seem to be fighting alone against more than one hundred people, but in truth, there was not a single enemy behind him!
The only people who could truly threaten him were the four in front of him.
But they were all intimidated by Happy's crushing advantage and dominated regardless of their momentum or strength.
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