Even if a normal player could discover the three flying needles and the killing intent hidden in the sleeves, they would definitely panic, and since it was extremely difficult to handle such an attack, they would reveal their weakness.
He ignored the gust that came sneaking up on him, and instead of retreating, he took the initiative to charge toward the mysterious man.
"You're just asking for death!"
The mysterious man hissed angrily in a feminine and gentle manner, and it made Little North and Thunderous Battle skin crawl while they watched the fight. They shuddered to calm themselves while shocked by the sound.
"Is it now?"
Happy did not care about the mysterious man's words. He hummed softly, and at the moment the gust was about to touch him, he activated his Golden Bell Cocoon, which had leveled up and reached the ninth realm!
Boom!
Golden light shot out of his body! A grand and mighty presence that had no match for it came out when Happy's true qi covered his body. The weak gust was broken down before the light could even truly take shape.
The three flying needles all landed on Golden Bell Cocoon as well. After three clear sounds rang out, the flying needles were knocked away, and they also changed shape. Golden Bell Cocoon only became slightly dimmer, which shocked the mysterious man so much that his face turned pale. His judgment of Happy's strength rose again!
All of that had happened in the blink of an eye.
The exchange of blows had only lasted for an instant. While under Golden Bell Cocoon's protection, Happy rushed forward until he was seven feet away from the mysterious man. Without hesitation, he showed great confidence, and for the first time ever, he forced the mysterious man to retreat and temporarily stop his attack.
But Happy did not intend to continue fighting against him!
A lot of qi was required to use ultimate techniques. After fighting multiple battles in succession, he believed that there was not much qi left in the man's body. Instead of continuing to fight against him, it would be better if Happy ended the battle quickly to avoid the man thinking that they won because he had been forced to fight continuously.
At the moment the mysterious man used Needle Tide and moved—
Happy used Dragon Capture!
"What?!"
A powerful suction force suddenly came from Happy's hand, and it instantly dissolved the mysterious man's resistance. His qi froze, and so did his body. Then, he was quickly dragged in the opposite direction of where he wanted to go. He was pulled toward Happy, and as if he was cooperating in a performance, he delivered himself into Happy's palm.
Happy seized him and clamped down on him!
The freezing qi from his Green Jade Shrouded in Heavenly Silks swiftly entered the mysterious man's body.
Bang, bang—
'While he's incapicitated, I'll take his life.'
He executed his Stormy Shadowless Kick with the force of water rushing out from a dam once the floodgates were opened. He delivered all the attacks on the mysterious man without mercy, and in an instant, the shadows of his kicks landed on the mysterious man's joints, because Happy was aiming for making the man unable to recover and counterattack within a short period of time.
Bang! Bang!
Once he delivered a few kicks, he seized the man with another Dragon Capture, and while the mysterious man's eyes were filled with shock and despair, he struck him continuously on the c.h.e.s.t with his green palms that had a freezing aura surrounding them.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
"Urk!"
The mysterious man's c.h.e.s.t was struck repeatedly, and he coughed up blood violently. In the end, he was thrown into a peach blossom in the distance like a kite whose string had snapped!
Boom!
Another peach blossom tree was destroyed. The huge force of the crash caused the beautiful trunk of the tree to snap, and it fell, leaving behind a ground covered in torn flowers and leaves.
Little North and Thunderous Battle could see everything clearly. From the moment Happy counterattacked, closing in on the mysterious man to deliver punches on the c.h.e.s.t, kicks to the joints, and a few violent kicks at random parts of the body, they only saw the mysterious man retreating while being struck repeatedly. That scene lasted until he was forced around thirty feet back before being freed from the disaster.
"Boss, you're awesome!"
Little North's face was filled with delight. He was so excited that he got up without caring about his injuries. No one knew whether he was happy because Happy had helped him take revenge, or whether it was because his leader had won against the successor of Sunflower Manual.
Thunderous Battle was also excited, and he quietly ran over the battle in his head and pondered over the profundity behind Happy's chain attacks.
'When he doesn't take action, he is calm as a mountain, but when he moves, he does so with the agility of a freed rabbit. He can make his enemy completely unable to fight back.
This was something that Thunderous Battle had figured out during the battle just then.
When he looked up, the mysterious man, who was now covered in wounds and rendered into an incredibly pathetic figure, swiftly took a medicinal pill. He stood up with shock and bewilderment on his face.
'As expected of a crazy player the system has chosen. His vitality is as great as a c.o.c.kroach's. He actually managed to stand up after receiving the thunderous offense!'
But there was no longer any question about who was the victor of the fight.
Thunderous Battle knew who won, Little North and Happy knew this as well, and the mysterious man also knew it.
"What martial art did you use just now?!" The mysterious man stared into Happy's eyes. He did not care about the blood that had yet to dry at the corners of his lips. He just asked while heaving, "Or did you also become the successor of someone's ultimate technique?!"
Happy smiled. He did not refute his words, but he did not admit to it either.
Instead, when he heard the sound of swift footsteps as well as robes fluttering, a light crease appeared between his eyebrows, and he looked past the mysterious man at the area beyond the peach blossom forest.
"I knew it, he hasn't run yet!"
"Hurry! Surround this place!"
A large group of players surged into the forest.
"Damn it! Nian is dead! Buck up, do not let a single person in here escape!"
It was Orange, who had already died once. He rushed into the forest with a pale face. Then, in a fit of impatience, he charged out of the crowd to stare at the mysterious man with a face full of resentment.
He only noticed the chaotic and disorderly remains of the terrifying battle along with the pathetic sight of the mysterious man covered in blood a few seconds later. Then, his expression changed.
At the same time, most of the large group of players who had rushed into the forest recognized a certain young man dressed in archer gear. They stopped, but before they could gain steady footing, their pupils shrank, and they turned tail and ran!
It was only at that moment that Orange noticed the youth standing across from the mysterious man. He had an elegant and calm air about him, but there was also an indestructible powerful air about him. His get up was very similar to a certain person in a battle replay he had seen a few days ago. When he saw the two players who also had extraordinary presence not too far away, his pupils dilated, and he instinctively lowered his head, which was originally raised in an incredibly prideful manner!
"I'm sorry, I got the wrong person."
Orange fled, and his thoughts about seizing Nian disappeared into the wind.
The four people were rendered speechless at the same time.
However, the farce managed to dispel some of the originally incredibly somber atmosphere in the peach blossom forest.
Chapter 220 - Rotten Luck! Awakening a Person Who Is Still Dreaming
"Hmph! As expected of the best player under Mystical Realm and the top of the Famous People Ra
nk, you live up to your name. This time, I, Lu Mingyue, admit defeat. Nian is yours."
Once the large group of actors left, the mysterious man recovered from the shock of Happy being a successor of an ultimate technique as well. He pushed against his c.h.e.s.t and swept his gaze over Nian's carcass. He felt no reluctance to part with it whatsoever. His gaze lingered for a while on Happy, Little North, and Thunderous Battle's faces.
When he spoke next, his voice sounded even more like that of a woman. It was gentle and charming. "But we will meet again, and next time… Hmph!"
Once he finished speaking, he rushed away. In an instant, he traveled dozens of feet. In the blink of an eye, he left the peach blossom forest and vanished from the trio's sight.
"Who will want to meet you again?!" Once Lu Mingyue vanished from the peach blossom forest, Little North remembered the man's final sentence, and he rolled his eyes. "Stupid pervert! You learn a martial art, and you want to inherit Dongfang Bubai's personality as well? I can't stand him!"
"That should not be his intention."
"Hmm?"
When they heard what Happy said, Little North and Thunderous Battle looked at him in surprise.
When he saw the puzzled looks on their eyes, Happy smiled and explained. "There are restrictions when learning ultimate techniques. Take mine for example. It only has skills and uses up a lot of qi. It also doesn't have any damage. Also, I can only use it in close quarters. On top of that, the stronger an ultimate technique is, the more exaggerated are its restrictions.
"I believe that even if the practitioner of Sunflower Manual doesn't need to perform self-castration, they need to imitate Dongfang Bubai's gentle and feminine personality as closely as possible, or else, they will not be able to bring out the might of Sunflower Manual, which would then lose Dongfang Bubai's charm. It would become the same as any other normal martial art."
In truth, this was something one of the successors of Dongfang Bubai who appeared later on revealed, because he could no longer withstand the pressure and questions from the world around him. That player also had a girlfriend in real life.
Little North and Thunderous Battle were silent, but they appeared to have understood something, because they nodded silently. 'So that's how it is!'
"By the way, Nian."
Little North perked up. He jogged to Nian's pitiful and ignored carcass.
In general, it was a lucky beast that had countless treasures, so countless people would fight over it. However, it had died a long time ago, but no one remembered to take the mysterious treasures hidden in its body. It was very inappropriate for everyone to act like that.
Once Little North reminded Happy of the fact, Happy remembered that Nian was a creature that had a chance to drop good items. He bent his knees slightly and moved next to Little North.
As it happened, Little North had only managed to dig out around ten sparkling gold ingots after searching through Nian's carcass for half a day. He was stunned.
"Is my luck really that bad?"
He had heard that some Nians would only drop gold ingots and not treasures, but he did not expect that such a thing would happen to him. The face muscles twitched slightly, and he looked like an innocent who had just been dealt a very traumatic blow.
Thunderous Battle just kept sighing and shaking his head by the side.
"Kid… you'd best check your fate with fortune today when we go back. How can you actually run into a successor of an ultimate technique who wants to kill you to shut your mouth when you practice martial arts, and then, when you discover Nian, only get gold ingots? Ah… your luck is so bad that I can't even find it in myself to rebuke you. It's best that you don't open any bags or treasure c.h.e.s.ts today…"
Once he had his list of unfortunate events enumerated by Thunderous Battle, Little North felt like crying, but he did not have any tears. The only thing he wanted to do right then was to look for a corner, crouch down, and start drawing circles in dejection.
"Fate with fortune?"
Happy's eyes lit up as if he had just remembered something.
Under Thunderous Battle and Little North's curious gazes, he wrote a letter, tied it to a messenger pigeon's legs, and swiftly let it fly.
"What is it?" Thunderous Battle asked curiously. This was the first time he saw such an excited expression on Happy's face.
Happy smiled without saying anything. He had a profound look on his face while he said, "You'll know later."
In truth, the memories of the later stages of the game were more prominent in his mind, and many of the events of the early stages were forgotten a long time ago. They had not been important after the fact, especially if they had made him waste a lot of time searching for them and had rather little value.
Nian was one of such things.
World of Martial Arts would insert the lucky beasts with treasures on them in different regions every year and every season. It would stimulate the players' passion, and they would also let the players gain a step further in understanding the benefits of their fate with fortune.
In truth, if it were not for Nian's appearance, Little North's seriously bad luck, and Thunderous Battle's act of listing every single bad encounter Little North had that day, Happy would not have thought of their fate with fortune.
During the later stages of the game, many talented players had come to the conclusion of the general benefits a person would receive with high fates with fortune.
Aside from getting slightly higher rewards that day, their chances of getting good equipment would also increase. They could also trigger hidden quests and have the chance to run into hidden Bosses.
Hidden quests were quests that had higher difficulty, and if the players ran into hidden Bosses, it meant that their safety was in peril.
However, there was a benefit that promised absolutely no danger for those with high fates with fortune!
Nian!
Besides Nian, there were also a few lucky beasts that had similarly astonishing resources in World of Martial Arts and posed no threat to the players.
And while those lucky beasts would appear randomly and were inserted into the game at random points in time, they would usually avoid those with low fates with fortune. They would head to the players with high fates with fortune that day.
The lucky beasts were not limited to certain regions. They could move around at will. They might also linger around a region and refuse to leave if there was no fitting player in a certain circular area around them. However, most of the lucky beasts would be affected by the strength of the players' fates with fortune.
Hence, some of the players during the later stages of the game formed the habit of finding out how high was and other people's fate with fortune right after they logged in for the day. Then, they would intentionally form a party with a player with a high fate with fortune!
After all, they would always be one or two times when they were favored by the heavens and be lucky enough to find a lucky beast.
Flap! Flap! Flap!
A white messenger pigeon flew back into Happy's hands in a timely manner. Once it tucked its wings, it meekly allowed Happy to take the letter out of the bamboo tube tied to its feet. There were a few numbers listed on the paper.
[Happy: Fate with fortune, 67
[Thunderous Battle: Fate with fortune, 41
[Little North: Fate with fortune, 19.]
Little North had just so happened to move around to take a peek at the letter. When he saw the last number, he was instantly dealt such a great blow to his pride that he fell to his knees as if a huge mountain had fallen on his shoulders. He did not even have the strength to m.o.a.n about how unlucky he was and defend himself.
No wonder his luck was so bad. His fate with fortune was basically nonexistent.
However, he could not be blamed. It was his fault for constantly being together with the dead. When he had nothing to do, he would take medicinal liquid and rub it on his zombies' body. No matter how great his fate with fortune
might have been, it had to have been terrified by his actions to run away.
However, Happy did not expect that his fate with fortune would be the highest. He frowned and pondered over it. Then, he cast a glance at the final piece of information on the letter.
The mass grave that was the closest to them was not too far away. It was only one hour's journey from them. If there was a Mystical Realm training spot nearby where they could work on their high-tier martial arts and low-tier martial arts, there was no need for them to continue staying in the forest.
'Alright, let's go there!'
Once he made his decision, Happy looked at Thunderous Battle and Little North with a determined expression. "Have you heard of Hoof Shadow before?"
"Of course, it's a high-grade mount. It can run for hundreds of miles per day, and its speed is equivalent to those with high-tier lightness skills at Grandmaster Realm. It's very difficult for players to catch them, but they're sold at a very high price at the market, and many people want them.
"There are already quite a number of sect masters who stated that they would buy them for eight hundred thousand taels of silver crumbs or one million taels of silver crumbs. The price is still increasing by leaps and bounds. Heh, I even went to set up a trading deal yesterday to buy the Horse Plate for Hoof Shadow," Little North answered with his eyes sparkling.
Chapter 221 - Hoof Shadow Shows Its Tracks
Even mounts were divided by grade in World of Martial Arts.
Usually, the more handsome a horse was, the higher its speed, stamina, defense, its teamwork with its master, and other aspects would be.
When a normal horse was placed beside a high-grade mount, it would appear inferior and look like a dwarf. When players saw high-grade mounts, they tried to avoid having their low-tier mounts stand beside them so that they would not be affected by their presence and feel inferior.
However, high-grade mounts were also classified into different classes.
Sword Among Us c1-1268 Page 115