Sword Among Us c1-1268

by Black Swordsman Online

  [Stop dragging all those things and just give me some references, will you?]

  [The Forbidden City! What do you think?]

  [...Do you want a large group of elites from the palace causing trouble to my wedding?]

  [Ahem. If that doesn't work, we can change to another spot. I just thought it would be very grand if you host a wedding over there…] Silver Wolf quickly corrected himself. [Why don't you just host it at Murong Clan? That place is where your master is, after all!]

  [We can forget about the Murong Clan.]

  Happy instantly thought about the three old Murong Clan elders. Right now, he was worried about running into those three old men, because they would randomly throw him a series of chain quests if they felt like it, and he could not walk away from it either, because they would get rid of his martial arts if he did. That would seriously be very depressing.

  Silver Wolf was troubled. [Those two places are both very significant. If you don't like them, then it'll be very hard to make a choice. If it really doesn't work, what about our headquarters? But Baokang is a little too small. At that time, all the players in the Chinese server are going to come and congratulate you. I reckon that Baokang County Town won't be able to fit all of them inside.]

  Happy found himself speechless. [Please pay attention to some possible spots for me over this period of time and give me an answer after a few days. Also, please have the clan members help me organize the wedding…]

  [Of course! There have been very few major events in the Chinese server. If I tell them about this, they will definitely be delighted! They'll be fighting over each other to help!]

  Silver Wolf did not write anything for a while before he sent a letter over to Happy that made him really, really speechless.

  [But Happy, are you sure that the bride will not run on that day?]

  Chapter 1022 - The Five Qis Return to Their Origin

  Even though only half a level was required before he could reach max level, Happy still used a full day before he finally pushed Tendon Changing Classic to Grandmaster Realm.

  It was pretty decent, and Happy experienced the profound state of the three flowers gathering above his head once more.

  This time, Happy quickly woke up from his daze. He could sense each change within him truly, and when the first lotus to the third lotus bloomed, they gave off a sacred presence.

  It was just as he expected.

  Once his Tendon Changing Classic reached Grandmaster Realm, his body swiftly grew stronger and improved by leaps and bounds. The quality of his body once again surpassed the other side.

  'I wonder if the Prophet saw this… Let's hope that this ability won't be noticed so soon by outsiders.' While Happy thought about this, he tried to use his true origin aura.

  The situation was very delightful!

  Even though his qi in this world was not high and could not compare to the other world at all—it was only at nine hundred—with Nine Yang Divine Skill and Tendon Changing Classic, he had no problem in using this skill, since Tendon Changing Classic had widened his meridian system and cleared his eight extra meridians, while the former could restore his qi at a rapid pace.

  Even if he removed all his equipment and activated the normal Golden Bell Cocoon, Happy could still easily remain still while he was attacked by martial artists at the peak of Inaction Realm.

  'I knew it. It's completely different with Nine Yang Divine Skill.'

  Since he was lacking Myth Realm criminals and his current training environment was sorely lacking, Happy managed to easily defeat those ten martial artists at the peak of Inaction Realm without using any weapons, and then, he lost interest in continuing to fight against them. He left the prison and the branch resolutely before he quickly headed to Shaolin Temple.

  *****

  He used a human skin mask to hide his identity, and within just half a day, Happy entered Shaolin Temple and arrived at Punishment Mount once more.

  In this world, Punishment Mount was still as deserted as ever.

  Happy activated his true origin aura and walked over the iron chains as if he was walking on common ground.

  The mountain breeze that blew at him from all directions did not affect Happy in the least. He just used his true origin aura to quickly reduce the damage.

  But Happy noticed something from this.

  The continuous invasion from the mountain breeze into the aura was continuously weakening and reducing his true origin aura.

  He increased his speed in circulating his qi using Tendon Changing Classic and Nine Yang Divine Skill.

  'I see, so the mountain breeze is actually an attack, and it seems to be a very special attack.' Happy was surprised.

  Very soon, Happy thought about how he saw multiple Shaolin Temple disciples using this place to train their Affinity. He could not help but have a thought bloom in his head, and he immediately sent this piece of news to Silver Wolf, asking him to mention this to some of the Mu Clan members at the appropriate time. Increasing Affinity rapidly after entering stabilizing their qi at Moksha Realm could allow them to develop swiftly, especially to those who knew how to use their attributes to their advantage.

  Thud!

  His feet landed lightly and steadily at the cliff on Punishment Mount. Happy then turned his head around to cast a glance at the path he took to come here. He could not help but remember the pathetic state he was in when he first came here.

  At that time, when he faced the bottomless abyss and the iron chains that swayed irregularly in the mountain breeze, he felt as if he was facing a violent beast with its mouth wide open. Even when he held the chain tightly, he still felt his heart pounding in fear when he walked on the chains.

  However, later on, his courage grew as his strength grew, and he gradually understood how to maintain his image. He relied on his ability to fly through the chains by landing on the chains with each step he took.

  Right now, he could easily walk through the chains.

  Happy said nothing. He could not help but sigh and become sentimental over this. He turned around slowly and headed to the foggy area where Mad Monk was.

  When he arrived before the foggy area, Mad Monk's voice traveled into his ears at the perfect moment. "You're here."

  Happy said nothing for a moment. He stopped moving before he said, "I have come to meet you, senior!"

  "Not bad. You have already mastered your Tendon Changing Classic." Mad Monk did not hold back on his praise when he sent a private message to Happy. "Once you have three flowers gather above your head, the next step you must do is to train all five qis so that all can return to the origin. Then, you can reach my current state."

  Happy thought of something, and he could not help but ask, "Senior, are you talking about the state of five qis returning to the origin?"

  "That's right."

  Mad Monk's voice traveled clearly into his ears from the fog. He continued speaking, "But martial artists can only understand the world once all five of their qis return to the origin. They will be able to do everything easily, and you can do everything. You can learn every martial art in the world even without a master teaching you, and you can even reach the stage where you can win against someone using a skill even when you are not using any skill. However, having the five qis return to the origin is not easy."

  "Senior, I was thinking about asking you for advice in this regard," Happy said excitedly.

  Mad Monk did not have any intention to hide his knowledge, but the information he revealed caused Happy to feel a little stricken.

  "I cannot give you more advice regarding how to have your five qis return to the origin. At that time, I was lucky enough to reach this stage because of Marrow Cleansing Classic. It completely changed by body constitution, and I was able to reach a breakthrough during the battle thirty years ago and enter One with the World, which is the stage where you have five qis return to their origin."

  "Senior, are you saying that you only had your five qis return to the origin and r
eached One with the World Realm during the battle thirty years ago?"

  "That's right." Mad Monk said nothing for a while before he answered with a slightly sentimental tone, "I know that you came for Marrow Cleansing Classic. But I already told you that even if you have mastered Tendon Changing Classic, you will still need three years before you can practice Marrow Cleansing Classic, because this classic isn't like other classics."

  "I am willing to listen."

  "Marrow Cleansing Classic is as its name entails. It will cleanse the marrows in the body and further strengthen the body and the mind. Hence, it is unlike normal martial arts. You will need to rely on your own willpower. You can't practice it as you did with Tendon Changing Classic either. You cannot improve it through training your physical body. You can only understand everything about Marrow Cleansing Classic when you are in the throes of death, and the higher your qi realm is, the more of its profound nature will you understand."

  "In the throes of life and death?" Happy was in a daze.

  Mad Monk explained patiently, "I had you wait for three years because you cannot understand the essence of being caught between life and death with your current qi realm. It will be difficult for you to notice the potential changes in the body when you are caught between life and death."

  Happy said nothing. He still could not understand it, and he could not help but take a few steps into the fog. "Potential… Related to qi realms…"

  "Allow me to put it in simpler terms. I mean that the higher your qi realm is, the higher the possibility of you experiencing the profound nature in Marrow Changing Classic during life and death. Then, you will naturally understand even more." Mad Monk's explanation this time finally allowed Happy to obtain something important.

  He thought of something, and he asked, "Qi realm is related to Marrow Cleansing Classic, so are you saying that only when a person has reached One with the World would I be able to push Marrow Cleansing Classic to a higher realm?"

  "Yes, that's about right. You will only be able to gain some enlightenment when you are caught in the throes of death at Moksha Realm. In fact, you will only gain a superficial knowledge of it. When you reach Inaction Realm, you will have the right to understand the second level. You can form your own analogies based on this.

  "Also, the higher your qi realm is, the possibility of you obtaining an understanding of everything after you escape from death will be higher." Mad Monk's explanation finally allowed Happy to have a rather deep understanding toward Marrow Cleansing Classic.

  Mad Monk should be implying that he should only come here when his qi realm was higher, because by then, the possibility of him understanding Marrow Cleansing Classic during life and death would be higher.

  Just as he expected, Mad Monk's voice came to him once more, "I had you come three years later because I wanted you to have acc.u.mulated enough strength. Three years later, when you have reached Inaction Realm or even higher, you will have an easier time trying to understand Marrow Cleansing Classic."

  "I understand now…" Happy knew that he had already obtained his answer.

  Being caught between life and death could allow Marrow Cleansing Classic to improve, but being attacked by three martial artists at the beginning stage of Myth Realm in a sect prison was far from enough to fulfill that requirement. Just as expected, the difficulty in training Marrow Cleansing Classic was very high.

  Besides, it seemed like the understanding he could gain, even if he could, was very limited because of his qi realm.

  This caused Happy to be slightly disappointed.

  Happy bade farewell to Mad Monk and used half a day to hastily return to Beijing. He threw himself back into the sect prison, and Happy returned to the world three years later.

  When he returned to this side, the first thing Happy did was to give up on continuing with isolated training in Wind Assault Tower's headquarters. He asked for Shi Zhixuan's whereabouts from Wandering Know-it-all, since he was a powerful martial artist at the peak of Myth Realm. There were already not many people in the entire Chinese server who could threaten him. Now, aside from martial artists at the peak of Myth Realm, those normal Myth Realm martial artists already had a hard time making him experience the feeling of being caught between life and death.

  However, before he left Wind Assault Tower's headquarters, Happy still spent some time understanding the world outside.

  The situation was very bad.

  Ever since One Emperor massacred the dozens of top-class elites scattered outside Beijing and Class One Hall had six of its branches destroyed under Wind Assault Tower's offense, Class One Hall worked together with Blood Alliance, Assassin Hall, Heaven's Music Sect, and Heavenly Heroes Sect, which had publicly announced that they would join Class One Hall's alliance recently, to destroy more than twenty of Wind Assault Tower's branches. Wind Assault Tower lost nearly fifty thousand people, and they suffered devastating losses.

  If it were not because both sides had different thoughts in their minds, the Chinese server would have been bathed in blood since a long time ago. There was no way that only this number of casualties would appear after four days had passed since the battle.

  However, while both major sects were rather cautious with the big operations from their branches, the fights and conflicts held in secret waged madly. Over the past few days, the people from the two sects did not dare spend too much time training in one place, much less in Ghost's Domain, which was a high-grade training spot.

  As long as they left the city, everyone would be in a state of great alarm, because they might be ambushed at any moment!

  'Shi Zhixuan is at the ruins of Dafo Temple. That place can be considered to be a rather popular training ground. I might not be able to last through this trip peacefully.' After Happy left Wind Assault Tower's headquarters, he immediately noticed that someone had begun tailing him, and he could not help but quirk an eyebrow.

  Chapter 1023 - Dafo Temple, Thousand Buddhas

  Before Evil Emperor arrived, Happy did not intend to fight against anyone from Class One Hall or get into any conflict with them.

  This was naturally not because Happy was afraid of Class One Hall suddenly becoming stronger, but because he really did not have much time left. To prevent any unforeseen circ.u.mstances from happening, Happy slipped away to shake off the Class One Hall members tailing him. He took a turn in the market, changed into a general set of equipment commonly seen among other players, switched to a new human skin mask, and shook off those boring spies.

  After all, he did not have a clear sect emblem on his body. In fact, he had never revealed his real identity since the beginning.

  Happy walked past the people who were originally tailing him. They were looking all over the place as Happy walked into the crowd in a relaxed manner. Then, he left the city quickly.

  *****

  Dafo Temple was an abandoned temple that was left behind since ancient times.

  From the outside, it was a very dilapidated place, and it had already been turned into ruins. But if anyone went inside, they would see thousands of Buddha statues of varying sizes.

  They either laid down by the side, sat down, or put on other postures. They looked alive and incredibly solmen, and they were scattered everywhere in Dafo Temple.

  It was strange.

  This place was clearly left in ruins, but once anyone approached these Buddha statues and saw the postures and hand gestures from these lively Buddha statues, they would feel as if they could hear some mantras faintly.

  The further they went inside, the more they would feel as if they were surrounded by a large number of mantras. They would feel as if they had entered Nirvana Hall in the west and were receiving a baptism from Buddha's teachings.

  It caused people to feel pious and solemn from the depths of his heart. "This is Dafo Temple."

  This was the first time Happy came here. Before he could enter the depths, he could already feel a profound feeling he had never felt before, and he s.u.c.k.e.d in a
deep breath with a shocked expression.

  As he moved through the Buddha statues, Happy did not dare remain idle. His expression became stern, and his footsteps became light, as if he was worried that he would bother the countless Buddha statues around him in their quiet training.

  Shi Zhixuan had split personalities. Sometimes, he was righteous, and sometimes, he was evil. Most of the time, he would choose to receive teachings among the thousand Buddha statues in Dafo Temple, hoping that he could use external forces to suppress the evil in his heart. Hence, if anyone went to the center of the Buddha statues, they would be able to find Shi Zhixuan.

  Happ quietly went to the center of the Buddha statues.

  Happy said nothing about that. He continued venturing deeper into the place.

  Now, statues that were completely broken began showing up on both sides.

  Some of them only had their lower halves remaining, and some of them were completely destroyed. There were ruins everywhere, and the bits were scattered in a mess everywhere.

  'Looks like I'm here.' At the same time Happy became on guard, his gaze shot through the Buddha statues who were of different sizes so that he could look further into the temple.

  He did not see Shi Zhixuan.

  Happy walked one round at the center of the Buddha statues with light footsteps. Finally, when a thought appeared in his mind, he came back and stopped at a rather wide space.

  He s.u.c.k.e.d in a deep breath, stopped moving, and no longer searched everywhere.

  Soon after he stopped, a faint sigh appeared from behind a Buddha statue nearby.