Sword Among Us

“As expected, he can’t do a reading on it, huh?”

When he received the reply from Wandering Know-it-all, Happy did not find it strange. After all, this was an item that could be directly beneficial to a player, and it was impossible for a diviner to poke his or her nose in it. He immediately tore the letter in his hand and sighed a little before he lowered his head while he was deep in thought. He wrote another letter and sent it to Wandering Know-it-all.

[It’s fine even if you can’t locate Heaven Crystal Sword. Help me locate these three NPCs, please.] At the end of the letter was the name of one sect master along with the names of the clan leaders of two aristocratic clans.

Soon, Happy received Wandering Know-it-all’s reply.

In the world three years ago, the three grandmasters who were the first to have any form of contact with Heaven Crystal Sword were the clan master of the Nangong Clan, the clan master of the mighty northern clan, and the sect master of Sword Sect. The clan master of Nangong Clan was in isolated training at his backyard, the clan master of the mighty northern clan was teaching his disciples at Heaven Shaking Fortress, and only the sect master of Sword Sect was not at his sect. Instead, he was at Heaven Mountain, which was thousands of miles away from his sect.

‘You’re the one.’

Happy narrowed his eyes and quickly tore apart the letter in his hands. He was certain that the sect master of Sword Master was the real owner of Heaven Crystal Sword. This was something that was the same as the world three years ago. At that time, the sect master of Sword Sect had attacked a layer of powder on Heaven Crystal Sword that allowed him to chase after the sword. If he had not had a plot-related quest with him at that time and just happened to be there to disrupt the sect master’s planning, the person who owned Heaven Crystal Sword right now would undoubtedly be the sect master of Sword Sect.

However, the person who triggered this quest in this world was clearly not as attentive. He had actually caused Heaven Crystal Sword to fall into the hands of Sword Sect’s master, or else, he would definitely not be at Heaven Mountain right now.

‘It has been a long time, but he still hasn’t left Heaven Mountain. Looks like the master of Purple Bamboo Forest has given the sect master a rather difficult problem.’ Happy gradually deduced many things in his heart. At the same time his heart became slightly at ease, he had a thought appear in his head.

‘I wonder what will happen if I challenge the sect master head on and kill him… No, even Sword of Heavenly Lake Faction’s master will not allow me to kill a sect master in her territory. Besides, I’ve never had any connection with the master of Purple Bamboo Forest in this world. I don’t have much time. It’s not proper for me to cause even more trouble at this time. I’ll need to think about a plan for Heaven Crystal Sword over a long period of time.’

Happy thought about many things in an instant, but in the end, he did not decide to immediately search for the sect master. The time for him to travel back and forth was two days according to in-game time, and even then, he might not be able to defeat the sect master. Besides, even if he retrieved Heaven Crystal Sword, he needed to go through Sword of Heavenly Lake Faction’s master and trigger the quest. He would only be able to truly gain a chance to use Heaven Crystal Sword once in a while after a period of time.

And the last reason was because Happy really did not want to stake his hopes on winning against Evil Emperor on Heaven Crystal Sword, which he could only use once in a while.

“Neigh!”

His horse let out a long neigh, and it increased its speed as it galloped to the headquarters of Lovely Land, which had appeared vaguely in the distance.

*****

When he arrived outside the headquarters of Lovely Land, he could already see vague figures moving around the area, and laughter filled the government-made road.

When he saw this, Happy suddenly thought of his headquarters at Baokang County in the other world. Whenever he returned to that place, he would feel as if he returned home.

But even though this place seemed prosperous, Happy knew that these people had just temporarily gathered together to fight against Class One Hall. Even though their goal was the same, the feeling they gave off was far from the feeling he had when they first set up Mu Clan.

When they built Mu Clan, even though Happy was never in the headquarters itself, he still had a very real feeling of being tightly connected with everyone.

It was precisely because of this real connection and this sense of closeness between them that countless brothers and sisters had helped him plan the grandest wedding of the century in World of Martial Arts. He had not even given a lot of suggestions during that time, but Silver Wolf and the others had all exceeded his expectations, causing him to be satisfied and proud of them.

When he thought of this, a faint warmth filled his heart.

The horse beneath him seemed to have sensed its master’s hesitation. It slowly slowed down, and the man and horse stopped at a high slope as they watched the series of buildings in the distance.

The headquarters for Lovely Land was built on a piece of flat land not far away from Ghost’s Domain.

He remembered that when he first built the headquarters, it was just the size of a normal mansion that did not take up a large space. But as more than seventy branches rose around Beijing, this mansion slowly expanded into the size of a small town. The land it occupied also grew to ten times its original size. The walls were also high, making it look incredibly mighty and grand. This was a unique treatment given to headquarters which were built outside cities.

The headquarters which were built outside cities were not only even studier than the headquarters in cities, making them even harder to destroy, their sect foundation was also much more tenacious.

But what satisfied Happy the most was that since they built their headquarters near Ghost’s Domain, which no one else dared to build, it made it incredibly easy for them to launch guerilla attacks against Class One Hall.

They used Ghost’s Domain as their barrier, and more people could hide in Ghost’s Domain to train. If Class One Hall launched any major operations, they could react in time.

This training ground was also a pretty decent protection site.

As long as their headquarters was not destroyed yet, they could counterattack at any moment they wanted.

This was Lovely Land’s greatest support.

“Tomorrow is the critical moment where victory will be decided. I wonder what the outcome will be.”

He then noticed that his steed was affected by his emotions and was snorting in unease. It even began to pace up and down restlessly. Happy subconsciously smiled in a self-deprecating manner.

“Heh… when have I ever been so melancholic?

“Relationships here are formed through fights. Once we go through life and death together, we’ll be comrades.” Happy’s tone changed, and he stared at the headquarters in the distance before he suddenly mumbled in an incredibly heroic manner, “Even though I might not be able to make you as prosperous as Mu Clan, I will definitely not make you regret once joining Lovely Land.”

Once he finished speaking, he slapped his horse’s butt.

“Giddy-up!”

His horse moved its legs and charged down the slope like an arrow fired from a bow. It ran to the headquarters in the distance.

*****

As time passed, quite a number of things happened within a short two days in the Chinese server.

The advancement and expansion of Lovely Land’s territory stretched out from the area around Beijing to Changjiang River Basin. The number of branches they had also increased from around seventy to one hundred and thirty-seven branches after the revenge fund was launched.

The members in Lovely Land also increased from its four hundred thousand to six hundred and seventy thousand people. And most of them were all gathered densely in the areas to the north of Changjiang near Beijing.

The forces of power affiliated to Class One Hall did not have a good time over this period of time. In fact, they could be considered to have been completely useless in the situation.

A total of fifty billion was put into the revenge fund, and on the first day, more than twenty billion was given away. On the second day, even though the revenge fund had been reduced to only thirteen billion, many of the solo players in the game had their courage and righteousness stirred up. Class One Hall and its affiliated forces lost more than three hundred thousand people because of it.

As Lovely Land’s territory continued expanding, the revenge fund then expanded to one hundred billion. The rich fund was like a tiger head chopper [1] hanging over Class One Hall’s head. Not only were all the forces affiliated to Class One Hall in the area north of Changjiang forced to hide in their cities to avoid the aggression, frequent attacks against the people of Class One Hall had also appeared in the areas to the south of Changjiang. That included the people from Wild Wolves. There was a continuous stream of people being assaulted, and deaths frequently occured.

The situation in the north was good.

As for the south, Phantasmal Shadow was allowed to catch a breath because of it. She had to admit that the revenge fund had stimulated a lot of people and had lit up the fire to fight against Wild Wolves and Class One Hall even more effectively. The pressure Wind Assault Tower had to face had become much smaller.

*****

At noon of the seventh day Evil Emperor was sent into prison, the atmosphere in Beijing finally changed a little.

When they walked in the streets of Beijing, quite a number of players noticed that the Class One Hall members who had been hiding for a week in Beijing and the forces affiliated to Class One Hall had begun to frequently gather together and appear in the streets. They would either move about in a hurry or gather together to talk to each other. Most of them had an excited and fierce look on their faces, saying that they had been holding back for a long time.

This change was great compared to the time they had to hide in the restaurants and drink away their sorrows while they avoided public opinion or wander about the markets in boredom. It was precisely because of this change that a hidden storm started brewing in the markets and streets in Beijing.

The people who noticed this change all knew that Evil Emperor was about to get out of prison.

Class One Hall and its many affiliated forces had been oppressed for a full week. Now, they were prepared to counterattack and wipe away the humiliation they faced.

*****

To others, once Evil Emperor got out of prison, it would determine the future power setup in the Chinese server. It would also determine whether Wild Wolves would continue encroaching upon the Chinese plains, even though their invasion had stopped for a while because Evil Emperor was sent into prison.

But to a certain group of people, all of this was no longer too important.

To Ji Feng, he had just been freed from the most pathetic moment of time where his sect faced destruction. He was also currently enjoying the greatest glory in the game.

Even though he was no longer a sect master, the creation of Lovely Land caused him to see the rise of power of an organization that developed vigorously and also contained endless potential.

It had risen to power while he managed it!

He had worked much harder and spent more effort over this period of time for Lovely Land. He spent all twenty-four hours of his day online to choose a location for the headquarters, gather up the list of major cities where Class One Hall had stationed itself and their strength, try his best to examine and choose decent people to join Lovely Land when they applied to join their sect, and even commanded his members to move around constantly like spinning tops for Lovely Land. He had practically not stopped working for it.

The swift rise of power for Lovely Land had caused the twenty thousand people who were originally at the end of their road to feel so blessed and safe that it was as if they were in possession of all the blessings and safety in the world.

They had always relied on Wind Assault Tower’s strength to fight against Class One Hall, but ever since the revenge fund was set up, Lovely Land, which they had helped set up, had now obtained the strength and right to fight against the giant known as Class One Hall. At the same time, they now possessed the greatest charisma in the Chinese server.

This was something that they gained after much hardship, which caused them to value it even more, and they would use everything they had to protect it.

“Vice Sect Master Ji, Beijing sent news. The people from Class One Hall, Blood Alliance, the twelve Beijing sects, and Wild Wolves have continuously come out of Beijing.”

“I know.” Ji Feng nodded in a very emotional manner. Even though Lovely Land had never touched the forces of power Class One Hall had in Beijing, that was only because it was the capital where many Myth Realm martial artists from multiple organizations were gathered there. Happy might have never gone back after he left, but that did not mean that Lovely Land did not have spies in Beijing.

On the contrary, there were more than fifty thousand Lovely Land members spread out in the streets and alleys in Beijing. If any movement occured in Beijing, they would send news to the headquarters.

“How are we going to fight against them?”

The person who brought the news over was full of zeal. He swung his fist. “I haven’t been able to find anyone from Class One Hall to vent my anger over the day. Now, I can finally fight to my heart’s content!”

But his reply was Ji Feng’s incredibly calm words. “I’m not in charge of fighting.”

“Huh?” The person was stunned.

“Sect Master Happy has sent orders yesterday telling me that it won’t be suitable for me to plan any sort of offense, and I just need to stay here and defend the place. He will be in charge of attacking,” Ji Feng said in a relaxed manner.

“What about our branches?” The person still had not quite given up.

“The branches are not important. We can build one with just one million taels of silver. Besides, our storages have nothing. Special structures like sect prisons are also not built, that’s why there’s no need for us to protect them. The branch masters in the other places have already received such orders. If Class One Hall attacks, let them come. We’ll see how they can attack us.”

The person was stunned silent.