B.u.t.t Shaker was so angry that he stomped his feet in the headquarters.
"Bum, you need to remain calm when the situation is dangerous. Class One Hall brought out all its forces from the nearby three branches. If more than one thousand people exit the city, Beautiful Robes Faction will definitely be doomed. At that time, we won't even be able to protect our headquarters!" Phoenix Dances reminded the people with a grave expression. "This time, no one is to exit the city at will. We will only care about defending the headquarters."
Tea Words, Glutinous Rice, the Three Lonely Wolves, and the others said nothing. They just stood with grave expressions on their faces.
Class One Hall had come with an aggressive presence. Before they even got close, Beautiful Robes Faction could already sense their foundation swaying, which was a horrible feeling. In truth, they were not confident that they could stop Class One Hall this time.
Right then, their only method was to cordon off the entire city and think of every conceivable way to drag down and weaken Class One Hall's strength.
Quite a number of people cast their gazes on the man with the incomplete silver mask in the crowd.
It was the great player who had just joined Beautiful Robes Faction—Silver Wolf.
Everyone knew that he was Happy's friend and in charge of protecting them.
"Silver Wolf, what do you think of our defense this time?" Phoenix Dances asked.
Silver Wolf had a dark expression, and there was even a hint of solemnity that could be seen occasionally on his face. "You're in great danger! If they have too many people, I won't be able to bring out my full strength. That's why you must withstand the first wave for me to see the battlefield clearly. I'll try to find a way to slowly save the situation."
One Circle gritted his teeth and responded, "Got it! No matter what, we'll last through the first wave."
Tea Words nodded his head as well. "When we were attacked by Class One Hall the first time, we already predicted that we will definitely fight against them again. At that time, we trained up a group of people who specialize in high-tier bow techniques and hidden weapons."
With Mu Clan's large amount of resources supporting them in secret, Beautiful Robes Faction had managed to buy many martial art manuals, and among them were Shadowless Knife manuals provided by Happy. Right then, they could make use of them a little.
"By the way, Wolves, what's the situation with Happy right now?"
Phoenix Dances turned to look at Qi Ci, Chen Fan, and Bai Lang. "I sent him a messenger pigeon, but he didn't answer me. When I called him, he ignored me as well."
Without batting an eyelid, Xu Yao had an attentive face in the crowd.
The three men cast each other a glance, sighed, then said, "We don't know the details either, but it shouldn't be as bad as you think, because when we checked on him just now, we talked and laughed together, so it can't be that he's too affected."
"Talked and laughed?" Phoenix Dances exchanged a glance with the others. "He can laugh when something so major happened?"
The group felt that the matter was even graver than they initially thought.
With his abilities reduced, Happy's intimidation factor vanished, and Beautiful Robes Faction immediately felt Class One Hall's threat. The enemy soldiers were outside the city, and any other person in charge of a sect would not be able to calm down, yet the wolves said that Happy chatted with them happily instead of panicking? Who would believe them?
Phoenix Dances suddenly increased the volume of her voice. "Everyone, even though Happy is the strongest in Beautiful Robes Faction and our spiritual leader, we cannot live under his shadow forever! We must become strong on our own!
"Right now, Happy is in trouble, and it'll be difficult for him to recover within a short period of time. He'll definitely not be able to help us, but the weapons in our hands, armor on our bodies, and many of the things in Beautiful Robes Faction have Happy's mark on them. It contains his contribution to the faction and his blood, sweat, and tears. My brothers and sisters, let us use our actions to tell Happy and Class One Hall that if they want to trample on Beautiful Robes Faction, they must pay a terrible price!"
"That's right!"
"We'll fight to the death!"
"We'll let Happy rest! We'll fight against Class One Hall ourselves!"
"We'll make those bastards from Class One Hall die in this place!"
All sorts of hysterical shouts gathered in the air above Beautiful Robes Faction's headquarter and charged into the sky.
Chapter 375 - Class One Hall’s Determination
Many people in the game felt that it was a pity that Happy died in the royal mausoleum. They found it to be a regretful matter.
Dying once was not anything for a normal player since, at most, they would be slightly slower while developing in the next month. Once they got through it though, it would be all over.
However, to the top elites who were famous on various ranking boards, dying once meant that they would lose 20% of their strength. That was something they could not accept, and it was the same as them being unable to activate their qi realms. No matter what they did, they would be inferior to others.
It was especially so for those who were famous. Once news spread, their enemies who usually would not dare to attack them would definitely come after their lives. It was as easy as breathing to attack a person when they were weakened.
If they could kill them one more time, that one month's stagnation would be enough to make them unable to progress in the game again.
If a Mystical Realm player was unable to activate their qi realm, it meant that they lost many of their advantages. If they lost another 20% of their strength, speed, defense, and attack as well, it would mean that they could only handle Blessed Realm NPCs and only carry out quests that they had previously looked upon in disdain from their clan.
Increasing their qi realm would also be so difficult that they could only proceed at a snail's pace.
When Mu Clan's Thunderous Battle and Little North learned of the news, they instantly flew into a panic. Without saying another word, they mobilized their forces and wanted to head to the royal mausoleum to retrieve Happy back to Shennongjia.
However, they were told not to.
On that day, Happy suddenly went on a killing spree near the royal mausoleum. With his weakened body, he killed at least three hundred martial artists who coveted his Golden Armor Set as well as his Clear Abyss. He turned into the Killing Star to avoid the eyes of the diviners and vanished from the world of martial artists. No one could find him anymore.
Even when Thunderous Battle and Little North sent messenger pigeons, they could not find Happy's whereabouts. Instead, they received an order to defend Mu Clan's whereabouts and maintain Shennongjia's stability.
Happy's disappearance made the duo relax a little since it meant that Happy managed to hide from the eyes and ears of Class One Hall and would not be easily captured. It was no secret that the ones who hoped that Happy would be reduced to nothingness the most were the people from Class One Hall.
Lin Xiao and Red Dust resolutely mobilized more than one thousand Mystical Sect members without obtaining their sect master's permission. Lin Xiao was the one who personally led the group and stationed them in Baokang so that they could strengthen the defenses of their branch there!
When Wind Void asked about this, Lin Xiao answered in a very righteous manner, "Happy is injured and Class One Hall will definitely not let go of such a rare opportunity. They will definitely attack Beautiful Robes Faction and Mu Clan. And Happy is not only Chivalry Sect's friend, Red Dust's savior, but our ally because of the alliance of the five sects now. Based on rationality and our personal relationship with him, we cannot just sit by and watch."
Wind Void actually knew very clearly that not only did the alliance of the five sects in Baokang provide a very good place for development for Chivalry Sect, the neverending stream of resources also allowed Chivalry Sect's management to swiftly enter an
orderly and acceptable operation. They also did not lose the charm of a top-class sect during the trend of weapon and armor refinement.
Happy had a huge part in that…
Wind Void's tone was grave. "I understand. Be careful. We are too far away to help Beautiful Robes Faction, but you must protect Mu Clan. As long as Mu Clan is around, Happy will still have the chance to come back. We cannot allow Class One Hall's ambitions run wild!"
"I understand, sect master!"
Lin Xiao was originally worried that the young female sect master would be against their hasty actions, but now that he gained her support and approval, the gloominess in his heart was gone.
"Don't worry, as long as I, Lin Xiao, am still around, Class One Hall will not be able to stretch their claws into Shennongjia!"
*****
At that moment, many people cast their gazes on Class One Hall, Chivalry Sect, Beautiful Robes Faction, Mu Clan, Baokang, Shennongjia, and Happy. They quietly watched the development of the matter by the side.
Happy suffering an impairment in his combat abilities gave Class One Hall a good enough reason to attack. The last time, their branch had been destroyed, so this time, they gathered the forces from three branches before coming to Wengcheng, and they gave off the overbearing air of wanting to destroy Beautiful Robes Faction in one go!
In the meantime, Lin Xiao had mobilized his forces to defend his branch in Baokang. This was also a statement that Chivalry Sect was firm in their decision to protect Mu Clan and stand by Happy's side.
Many people guessed that this time, Beautiful Robes Faction might be completely wiped off the face of World of Martial Arts.
However, since Mu Clan was protected by Chivalry Sect and the three great local sects, they should be able to prevent Class One Hall from extending into Baokang, so the owners of the resources in Shennongjia would not be changed.
But what concerned Happy, he might have killed more than three hundred people despite his combat abilities being impaired before he vanished, many people in the game still secretly tried to hunt him down.
That was to be expected though.
Happy's equipment tempted many people, regardless of whether it was his full Golden Armor Set or his third-echelon Clear Abyss. Their value was simply astonishing.
At that moment, if anyone was lucky enough to find Happy, kill him, and obtain one of his equipment, it would be the same as them killing a hidden boss.
For a period of time, the large sects near the royal mausoleum, the powerful players on the Dragon and Phoenix Ranks, and the people from Class One Hall searched for Happy madly. Whenever they saw young men who fit the height requirements and were young looking, they would walk over without hesitation and make an offer for a trade.
Barren Murderer returned with a group of people from Class One Hall as well. He split them up into ten squads of three, and they spread out in search for Happy in the direction he had vanished.
For a period of time, the cities around the royal mausoleum were in a state of alarm.
Once some people with high aspirations spread word, practically all players made a move!
"Where did that brat go? We've locked down the forests and government-made roads in the area, and we still haven't been able to find him? He's pretty good."
"Don't worry, he won't be able to run."
"That brat is currently a very eye-catching sight, so he wouldn't dare to summon his Hoof Shadow, but he also wouldn't dare to walk on the government-made road. He won't be able to escape from our hands."
Barren Murderer and three Class One Hall members stopped in an area of the forest after searching for Happy for an entire day.
"Alright!"
There were around thirty small dots spread out in parts of the forest where it was easy for people to conceal themselves. The players formed a large circle around the spot where Happy had vanished.
All of them had rushed over at the fastest speed possible. As long as Happy was still within the region, they would be able to locate him within a short amount of time.
Besides, the concealment effect of Killing Star was about to end.
At that time, even if Happy did not appear on his own, they would be able to use the diviners' divination skills to locate him as quickly as possible.
"Hmph."
When Barren Murderer thought of the words Happy had said at the entrance of the royal mausoleum which had intimidated them and made them not dare to enter, he felt anger burn in his heart.
"And to think that you would face such a fate. This time, when you're in my hands, you won't be able to escape."
Flap, flap, flap!
Soon after the quartet stopped moving, a white messenger pigeon suddenly landed on Barren Murderer's shoulder.
"Big Brother Barren, is there news?" the other three asked urgently.
Barren Murderer smiled faintly. "It's the hall master's orders. Once we locate Happy, our people surrounding Beautiful Robes Faction will attack with us."
When he finished speaking, the other three looked at him with astonishment
Destroying Beautiful Robes Faction and killing Happy? They were determined to not let Happy have a chance to make a comeback!
Chapter 376 - A Cornered Beast Will Put Up a Stubborn Fight
Class One Hall had gathered more than one thousand people. The sound of their horse hooves shook the heavens and earth when they passed by Wengcheng, and a few people standing at the top of the city were just in time to witness the dust they stirred up.
The horses rushed to Xuancheng without slowing down, for that was where Beautiful Robes Faction's headquarters were!
"They passed Wengcheng. Hurry up and notify the faction master."
Once the people at the top of the city finished speaking with stern expressions, they released messenger pigeons and quickly got down from the city wall. They headed out, got onto their horses, and rushed out after the people who headed to Wengcheng.
*****
Xuancheng was less than twelve miles away from Wengcheng. Anyone could reach it in less than half an hour.
When Phoenix Dances received news of the large group of people from Class One Hall, she scowled and said without hesitation, "Our comrades who died in the previous battle, you don't need to fight this time. Leave the headquarters immediately. Rascal, you're in charge of mobilizing them. Guard the four city gates and Guanlin Temple. Have scouts on each street, pharmacy, and restaurant, I don't want any unexpected ambushes."
"Understood!"
NotaRascal knew that his condition right then did not allow him to head to the frontlines to handle the situation, so he gritted his teeth and agreed to the task. Then, he shouted a command and brought the people into the important streets of the city in a mighty wave.
The people with him had all died ten days ago, and their condition was horrible, so it was not suitable for them to join the battle. But even though they could not join the fight to defend Beautiful Robes Faction's headquarters, they were not totally useless.
Aside from the situation regarding Class One Hall's dispatchment of troops, their requirement for medicine, and the total of their deaths as well as the estimation of the remaining forces were also very important data.
Also, they had to be careful and defend against other sects who might try to take advantage of the situation!
Once NotaRascal left, Phoenix Dances cast her gaze on Xu Yao. "You're the best archer in our faction. Where do you think we should allocate our first line of defense?"
Xu Yao was stunned speechless. She shuddered subconsciously, and regret flashed briefly in her eyes, but clarity soon returned to them. She pondered the question for a moment before she said, "If you want to deliver the greatest amount of damage with high-tire bow techniques, then the best area of attack is 229 feet, but to prevent others from using this as well, I think it's best if you position the first line of defense in the headquarters.
"Open the gates so that it'll be easy for us to make judgments and give comm
ands. The attack speed of throwing knives is very fast, so you can place knife throwers in front of the archers to form a double line of defense. You can protect the archers and threaten the first wave of enemies to approach the gate."
"This arrangement is too standard. Class One Hall will only need to sacrifice a small number of people before they can rush into the headquarters. At that time, we won't be able to use our advantage of numbers."
Once Silver Wolf heard Xu Yao's arrangement, he frowned and said, "If Class One Hall has enough archers with high-tier bow techniques. they won't even need to sacrifice a lot of their people. They would just need to exchange fire with us and use their advantage in equipment to suppress us. They might even rain down bloody slaughter on us!"
Xu Yao's expression turned pale, and she did not say anything more.
However, the others did not notice that. Their expressions just turned even more solemn.
"There are definitely a lot of high-tier archers in Class One Hall. We have to prevent this situation from happening. Silver Wolf, what do you think we should do?" Phoenix Dances asked.
At that moment, Silver Wolf no longer tried to hide his thoughts. He pondered the situation for a moment before he said, "Since we have to defend this place to the death, then we shall do so."
He paused for a moment, before a cold glare shone in his eyes. "One Circle and Bum's defenses are pretty good, also, didn't Thunderous Battle give you a batch of second-echelon equipment? Bring out the best of the best and place them in front to protect our archers! Also, have a group of archers on the roof and on the headquarters. They have to be prepared to handle the enemies who will breach the gates at any moment."
"Tea Words and Glutinous Rice, both of you help to give out the equipment! Do so according to our ranking board, but give priority to our comrades and archers on the frontline in terms of medicine."
With a wave of her hand, Phoenix Dances sent out her orders in a very heroic manner.
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