Sword Among Us c1-1268

by Black Swordsman Online

  Mu Clan seized a large portion of Western Border and all of Hubei from Class One Hall in one go. With the many branches they had in the south and how large their territory was, they were no longer inferior to Class One Hall, Chivalry Sect or Towering Palace.

  Instead, Class One Hall, who originally had the most members and was the most domineering, had been forced back to only a few counties in the north from their previous situation of having their forces spread inside and outside of Shanhai Pass, Jiangnan, and beyond the Great Wall. Their resources shrunk by a large margin.

  What caused Class One Hall even more frustration was that on the day they faced a pressing issue of resources, one pay-to-view battle replay exposed the reason behind why their reputation fell to the slumps.

  Happy's act of killing Zhou Yu in two moves and the words he said to Dream Clouds later were both released in the battle replay, and countless people gasped in amazement.

  Once Class One Hall gave up on Western Border and Hubei, the number of players who left them in a few days quickly climbed up to ten thousand!

  Barren Murderer also left Class One Hall and headed to a place no one knew.

  Even diviners and Wandering Know-it-all only knew that he was no longer in China or Western Border. He seemed to have gone to an area that was outside China.

  After this major change, Class One Hall showed a state of fatigue that they had never shown to anyone before.

  They shrank their sphere of influence and did not take even half a step across their borders.

  The ones who benefitted the most from this major change was naturally Mu Clan and Happy!

  Mu Clan gained a status and resources befitting of one of the four great sects; they now had a large territory and lots of resources. Even though Western Border was not rich, Hubei was enough to make Mu Clan busy for a while.

  They sent people to be stationed in those places, and once they opened up more than ten branches, they received new instructions from Happy. They opened up a few resources in Western Border, the highlands, and the desert. Then, a huge resource mining machine came to maturity.

  Ever since Happy rose to the second place on Dragon Rank, his fame grew even more.

  Not only was his progress in developing Western Border and Hubei going incredibly smoothly, many local sects took the initiative to look for Thunderous Battle or the higher ups of Mu Clan to ask for cooperation.

  That included a millionaire who always kept a low profile, who happened to be known as Kind Tycoon, and who was the second on Rich Rank. He finally showed up and personally went to Shennongjia to meet up with Thunderous Battle to talk about working together.

  Baokang and Mu Clan's headquarters were constantly bustling with activity, and the areas around it were filled with people.

  Momo, Ancient Wind, and Thunderous Battle could only sigh with a myriad of emotions, since they had to stay for a long period of time in the headquarters to be constantly prepared for dangers.

  They had completely taken over a dozen resource points to the north, but they did not expect that their burden would become even heavier from that. Various matters just kept coming one after another as Mu Clan became the most powerful sect and the one with the best reputation among the four great sects.

  [Don't worry about me. I'm staying at the clan prison every day, and I haven't fallen back in terms of my training. When they come to meet me, they do so in a group meeting, and we settle it in one go.

  [I've given away some of the tasks here and there and things that don't require me to personally handle them to Flying Dragon and Xu Yao. I have to say, when you students take care of things, you're much more meticulous compared to an old man like me.]

  In truth, training in the clan prison was very quick and convenient, and the best thing about it was that it cut down on the time needed to return to the city. Thunderous Battle had long since perfected a Life and Death Realm martial art and pushed it to Grandmaster Realm.

  His Life and Death Realm body fortification had also reached tenth realm. His lightness skill had reached the sixth realm, and he was showing signs that he was about to have a position on Dragon Rank again.

  [You're the one I'm worried about. You're running about day and night all over the place. What's your situation now?]

  Mu Clan's development was great, and Thunderous Battle was both nervous and delighted. His tone was incredibly relaxed though. He had not expected that Happy and Wandering Know-it-all's rescue mission would bring about such a good effect.

  Happy's progress was also very smooth.

  After receiving a reminder from Mad Monk and having his thoughts stirred by Zhou Yu, he began to study the ingenious ways of using Ten True Dragon Styles even more carefully. His last battle had allowed him to understand Dragon Capture even more. He then fused his Petite Dragon into Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palm, and his strength increased by a whole level.

  Even though he could not win against One Emperor, Happy was still quite confident that he could last for a period of time.

  However, when he saw Xu Yao's name on a letter, he felt his heart clench for some strange reason. Then, his lips curled up into a faint arc.

  [Big Brother Thunder, I have something I need to talk to you about.]

  Chapter 508 - Establish the System!

  Happy never found a suitable chance to get rid of Xu Yao, who was a troublesome woman Class One Hall had placed in Mu Clan as a spy, because no one knew about her relationship with Blood Robes, and they did not know that Xu Yao played a despicable role among them.

  Even though Happy had the urge to kick her out of Mu Clan so that she would be out of his sight and mind, he never found a suitable reason to do so. He could not tell others that he came from three years later, right?

  Hence, when Thunderous Battle told Happy that he wanted to cultivate Flying Dragon and Xu Yao, Happy immediately formed a plan for Xu Yao to expose herself.

  Even though he never told anyone about his return to the past, he could tell Thunderous Battle about his thoughts toward Xu Yao.

  Thunderous Battle was different from his friends from the University of South China. He did not have any preconceived impressions of Xu Yao, which was why he naturally became on guard once he received word from Happy.

  He also promised Happy that he would give Xu Yao a distribution of ten million contribution points. If she betrayed them for money, they could just pick some faults in her and expel her.

  No matter what, Mu Clan was a top class sect that earned nearly ten billion taels of silver every day from resource points alone. Along with the profit brought by pill creation, refinement, and the merchants, the amount they earned was even more impressive.

  Such a small loss was insignificant.

  [Don't worry, I'll keep an eye over her for you.]

  [Then I'll have to trouble you. Also, since Mu Clan has developed to this state, it's about time that we make a draft for a perfect system. I hope that there will be more capable people who will join Mu Clan, since I want us to have fresh blood. Big Brother Thunder, I have some suggestions in regards to that.]

  No matter what, Happy came from three years later, so he had learned some things about how some of the successful sects operated. Even though they were just some suggestions, Thunderous Battle soon noticed that the competitive system Happy mentioned would be very effective to cultivate powerful players in Mu Clan.

  [We'll have a Power Rank for each branch, and we'll take a portion of resources from each branch and acc.u.mulate five hundred thousand taels of silver worth of contribution points from them to allocate to the top one hundred players on Power Rank.

  [I think the guys from the branches will go mad for it. With the current exchange rate, as long as they can get into the top one hundred, they can basically get 8,000 RMB per month. Besides, if we add in the profit they gain from the game, the sum will be insane!

  [This number will be nothing to those who are strong, but the people who are ranked in the top one hundred in Mu Clan's branches wil
l be our clan's elites. Getting a place in the top one hundred in Branch Power Rank is the same as being one of the elites of Mu Clan! Their pay will double then! This is a path to fame, but it will also bring them profit.]

  [Hmm… As expected, you're someone who thinks far ahead. Even though we'll need to bring out thirty billion taels of silver worth of contribution points each month, that sum isn't even up to half a day's worth of income for Mu Clan. But this move will definitely stimulate our members to train hard!

  [We can even increase our members' support and loyalty toward Mu Clan with this. And we can also change the situation of the disparity of strength between branches, which is a problem we have right now.

  [You sure have a lot of ideas! I believe that once this system comes out, we will have more than eight thousand extraordinary fighters from the eighty or so branches that we have. It won't be long before we catch up to Class One Hall!]

  He also seemed to see the future in which top-class elites were part of every branch in Mu Clan, which might even lead to them being able to catch up to Class One Hall and its foundation.

  Naturally though, Thunderous Battle did not know that in Happy's previous life, Class One Hall had used this system. However, Class One Hall had only promoted it after the game had been operating for a year, and they had been more or less forced to bring it out.

  At that time, Class One Hall had become insanely strong. Rumors had it that they had no fewer than one hundred Illusion Life and Death Pills alone.

  It was what had led to Happy, who was alone at that point, to choose to delete his account when Blood Robes turned on him and the woman he loved betrayed, turning all his hard work over three years into dust.

  But when talking to Thunderous Battle, Happy knew that the time for him to take revenge had come.

  Chivalry Sect was as strong as ever, Towering Palace had a steady foothold in the game, and Mu Clan's rise to power made Class One Hall's territory shrink by two-thirds compared to how it was in Happy's previous life. Class One Hall had already lost its chance to become strong.

  Happy knew that since Class One Hall was willing to leave Western Border and Hubei after they admitted to their loss in the gamble, it was impossible for them to have any plans or intention to provoke Mu Clan and Chivalry Sect for at least half a year. Everyone could develop steadily in that time.

  Mu Clan had to seize the chance!

  Happy also believed that with the stimulation provided by the new clan system, Mu Clan might end up being the sect that will develop the fastest among the four top sects!

  Once Mu Clan launched the system, the headquarters in Baokang were the first to implement it.

  They held a tournament that lasted for half a day, and the headquarters in Baokang tabulated their top one hundred fighters who fought in the tournament in the style of what they were about to implement in the branches. They set up the headquarters' Power Rank, and the top ten in this group of people could get five hundred thousand taels of silver worth of contribution points per month. The eleventh to one hundredth person could get three hundred thousand taels of silver worth of contribution points per month.

  Then, Thunderous Battle made an announcement.

  In the future, each branch will have regular tournaments in this fashion. They would set up a fixed date each month to find out the top one hundred in each branch, and they would provide them with the same rewards.

  Once the news was out, all the members of Mu Clan who had been envious of the top one hundred players in Baokang instantly became worked up.

  Each branch set up a date to organize the tournament!

  But there were quite a number of people who were worried that if Mu Clan sent out billions of contribution points each time, the money in the clan storage would be drained dry.

  Then, just as everyone grew worried, Thunderous Battle brought out ten billion from the clan warehouse and threw it into the clan storage.

  His act made nearly forty hundred thousand Mu Clan disciples sense that the rewards this time were not an impulse-driven act or a spontaneous idea.

  Mu Clan instantly flew into a ruckus. The people in all branches began to train in a frenzy to fight for the top one hundred spots in the branches. Even though the rewards were not that much, the fame that came with it was great.

  Mu Clan's activity lasted for a month. Each branch came out with their top one hundred fighters, and it was then that rumors spread through the world of martial artists that Mu Clan had done something incredible.

  Outsiders had already heard some of what had happened, but many sects just scoffed at it and said that it was not a reliable plan.

  After all, Mu Clan had more than eighty branches, and if this lasted, the amount of contribution points they had to give out in a year would be insane. That sort of sum was not something a university student could take out and have the courage to use!

  Unfortunately for them though, they clearly did not understand just how many players focusing on occupations were there in Mu Clan, and neither did they know about the daily income Mu Clan had ever since they monopolized the high-class resource points.

  When all the elites from the branches gained benefits without any one missing, the world was shocked.

  Mu Clan sent out billions every month to cultivate their strong.

  Five hundred thousand… Two hundred thousand!

  The amount was not high, but to solo players who were rather good but had currently reached the point where it was becoming increasingly harder for them to move forward, it was still very attractive.

  One month later, Mu Clan's members increased from four hundred thousand to more than seven hundred thousand!

  Aside from a handful of branches that were set in unique spots, most of the branches Mu Clan had contained a very even number of members between them, and their strength was all increasing at a fast rate. The second tournament of branches was even more exciting than the last!

  There were even some of the rather famous players in the game who now appeared in the Branch Power Rank.

  Class One Hall and Towering Palace were gradually unable to sit still. When they saw that the discussions among their members were increasing and the people's hearts were wavering, they were forced to carry out countermeasures of various scales and open up their storage to their members. Even Chivalry Sect's Lin Xiao was forced to learn something from Mu Clan.

  Chapter 509 - Zhang Sanfeng

  When Mu Clan launched its Power Rank system, the four top-class sects finally paid notice to the competition among the scattered great players in the game. They also noticed the benefit in linking the profit of the sect with the sect members. Many systems were launched, and some of the sects which had low profit were suppressed so much that they disbanded, and a mad craze for training rose in the game once again after the people reached Life and Death Realm!

  Some of the large-sized sects could not bring out the resources of top-tier sects, and they could watch as a portion of their great fighters went to the four great sects. They said that they would rather chase after the best of the players in those sects rather than wait for their deaths in small sects.

  Over the two months, Thunderous Battle happily watched Mu Clan become stronger, and he was filled with even more admiration for Happy, who was much younger than him. His vision was unique and far ahead of its time, and his strength was also terrifying.

  Thunderous Battle had worked hard for Mu Clan, but everyone knew that the one who contributed to the growth of the clan the most was Happy!

  The only thing that caused Thunderous Battle to feel gloomy was that he had allocated Xu Yao with fifty million taels worth of silver, and she managed the headquarters so well that no one could pick any faults within her work.

  "As expected, she's good."

  Thunderous Battle now knew why Happy found it hard to handle the woman.

  If it were not because Xu Yao's performance in Mu Clan was too inconspicuous, she was quiet, would occasionally become absent-minded, and l
ook troubled, Thunderous Battle would truly wonder whether Happy was mistaken.

  Hence, Thunderous Battle became certain that there was something wrong with Xu Yao.

  However, she did not show any faults in her work, and they might end up botching up this matter because they did something stupid instead of something smart, so he refrained from taking action.

  Since Happy had said that Wandering Know-it-all had found that Blood Robes had met up with Xu Yao secretly in the past, with Class One Hall Dream Clouds' temper, she would definitely use this trump card during the most critical moment.

  Thunderous Battle could only wait for a chance.

  *****

  Two months passed by.

  Mu Clan developed smoothly, but Happy faced his greatest challenge yet.

  The last page for Nine Yang Divine Skill was Wudang Sect's Nine Yang Skill. Happy had performed two months' worth of quests from the Seven Heroes of Wudang Sect and Song Yuanqiao, and he experienced how it was like to train as a Wudang Sect member.

  He passed by Dragon Tiger Plum Blossom Shed, and he pushed his Cloud-ascending Ladder to Grandmaster Realm.

  He practiced his breathing at the mountain peak, and he pushed his Golden Quintessence Nine Yang Skill to the eighth realm.

  If he included the quests from the accursed Song Qingshu, he had already completed no fewer than four quests, but Happy still did not receive any news about Wudang Sect's Nine Yang Skill. Wudang Sect did not seem to have any intention to hand it to him!

  Over the two months, aside from his martial arts growing stronger, Happy obtained nothing!

  He was on the verge of giving up.

  On one day, when Happy completed a quest to kill an intelligent beast called Brutal Golden Ape at Moksha Realm, he went to the summit with a very heavy heart. When he faced the rising sun, he let out a long sigh.

  He decided to sit down!

  He crossed his legs and sank to the ground. He simply allowed the red and gentle sunlight shine on his body. With a single thought, he allowed Golden Quintessence Nine Yang Skill to circulate on its own. Under the morning sunlight, countless rays of red light swiftly rose from his body. There was an incredibly dazzling spark within the light, and his strong qi surged madly.