Sword Among Us

Panda Novel

Even though World of Martial Arts had just been recently released, everyone knew that female players’ innate status were generally not as good as that of male players besides their Comprehension and Body Movement!

Emei Sect’s martial arts were deliberately created for girls. They aimed to cover up the weaknesses of a female body and placed an emphasis on cancelling and guiding the enemy’s attacks. Hence, Emei Sect gained a solid footing as one of the seven great sects; it had unique qi cultivation techniques and methods against martial arts that relied on Arm Strength and Affinity to win. The sect was only second to Shaolin Temple and Wudang Sect.

Chaotic Cloaked Sword might be Emei Sect’s basic novice martial art, but any martial art that reached Grandmaster Realm would go through a metamorphosis and be entirely different from its previous self. Besides, Glutinous Rice’s demeanor and her actions while she attacked and retreated made Happy sense that her fighting spirit and mind had completely fused with the will of her sword. It had ascended to another level.

Happy was not the only one. The others also sensed Glutinous Rice’s change.

The one who had the greatest experience of this was Orochimaru. He had a hard time as he stood across Glutinous Rice. One Circle, his opponent in the previous round, had been the most difficult and troublesome opponent in the entire martial arts tournament, and he had to give it his all every time he attacked before he could deliver the slightest bit of damage, but it was different for Glutinous Rice.

Even if he had an endless amount of strength, he could not use it against her. His attacks would either be sent into the air by the sword shadows, or be gradually dissolved by the layers of sword waves.

He could not shake off the sword shadows, and it felt as if his weapon was bound by a gentle cloak. He did not know where he could direct his strength, and his subsequent attacks were affected by the will of the girl’s sword! This feeling was even worse than fighting against One Circle!

“You stupid wench!”

When several of his attacks were dissolved by Glutinous Rice who had neutralized his attacks and launched her own, Orochimaru finally discovered where the problem was! He gritted his teeth, cursed her, and jumped, thereby freeing himself from the overlapping sword shadows that surrounded Glutinous Rice.

Happy found himself unable to say anything. When he saw this, he knew that things would go bad for Glutinous Rice.

With Orochimaru’s wisdom, it was impossible for him to not be able to notice that Chaotic Cloaked Sword was a sword technique that placed an emphasis on defense, not attack. Once he understood the trick behind the technique and attacked with a goal in mind, Glutinous Rice would be caught in a bad situation.

‘A pity.’

The next second, Orochimaru used reality to prove that Glutinous Rice had just gained an upper hand for a short period of time. He held his swords in an icepick grip—and now that Happy looked at it carefully, one was longer than the other—the momentum of his attacks changed, and he crashed against the sword shadows around Glutinous Rice, as if the swords were his fangs.

When he saw Orochimaru rush at her again, Glutinous Rice did not panic. She continued to stick to her plan and defended herself using the Chaotic Cloaked Sword. As long as Orochimaru attacked her, his movements would definitely be led to the path she wanted. As she attacked and retreated, she would use her footwork and the will of her sword to dissolve the attack.

‘This is all there is to Orochimaru…’ Glutinous Rice’s fighting spirit burned even stronger.

But unfortunately, when Orochimaru truly rushed into the sword shadows, he suddenly stopped moving. He had his swords surround him. The wakizashi was used to defend himself, and the katana was positioned behind him.

He, too, defended himself.

Glutinous Rice’s expression changed. From the simple change to a defensive stance, she could sense that the effect of her will of the sword on her enemy had grown lesser. The katana accumulated power for an attack like a venomous snake hidden in the dark. It would launch its fiercest attack at any time it wanted.

Glutinous Rice found herself rendered speechless. Orochimaru’s decision to remain still to counter her attack had successfully broken her defense. Happy felt that it was a pity, but a strong fighting spirit rose in him at that moment.

A powerful opponent who caught his interest and could actually force him to use his full power to fight against him had finally appeared in South China Martial Arts Ranking Board’s martial arts tournament. He had not entered the tournament in vain.

While he thought of this, the stronger of the duo on the stage was instantly revealed.

After being caught off guard, Glutinous Ricewas forced to retreat. Even as she chained her attacks, there were multiple weaknesses to them. Finally, she was badly injured by Orochimaru, who had accumulated his power for a long time. His katana brought with it a terrifying flash of red when it slashed at Glutinous Rice’s shoulder, and it looked like it had pounced on her like a leopard!

This was the prelude to Orochimaru torturing his opponents to death after he seized the chance once they lost their ability to counterattack.

However, when Orochimaru revealed his savage fangs and prepared to kill Glutinous Rice to satisfy the evil desire at the bottom of his heart, a presence that only martial artists could sense charged at him from a distance very close to him. That strange sense of danger made him come to a swift halt, and he stopped by the side.

Anxious and puzzled, he looked toward the source of that danger and frowned. He saw the masked blue-robed swordsman he had paid attention to a moment ago standing at the foot of the stage. The youth’s gaze was as cold as ice! The murderous intent in his eyes seemed to stretch endlessly while he stared at Orochimaru, and there was a small and exquisite throwing knife between his fingers. But the next instant, it vanished from his hands.

When they noticed Orochimaru’s crazed killing intent vanish, the four people on the stage also noticed this scene. Surprise and ease appeared on their faces.

Fortunately, Orochimaru had stopped. If he caused another bloodbath and slaughtered Glutinous Rice, they might actually truly scourge through the land in search of this crazy senior of theirs who had left the university!

The system made an announcement in time.

“Winner of Group B: Orochimaru!

“Winner of Group A: Happy!

“The other players will fight for a rank among the top ten players from South China Martial Arts Ranking Board. Happy and Orochimaru will enter the final battle and fight for the title of the strongest in South China Martial Arts Ranking Board along with the right to proceed to the national martial arts assembly!”

The system’s solemn and loud voice made the announcement, but it did not seem to be able to stir up Orochimaru’s emotions. His gaze—which was as poisonous as a snake’s—stared at the Masked Swordsman whose gaze had returned to being relaxed and calm. Orochimaru stuck out his tongue, and right under the crowd’s gaze, he licked his katana, which was stained in blood, in a disgusting manner. He then put on an evil smile that made others shudder.

Perhaps the others would not sense anything, but Happy, who knew Orochimaru’s character and abilities, noticed that he now intended to kill him through that provocative act that made it clear he looked down on him.

‘My life in the game might not be too peaceful and smooth from now on.’

Happy knew that the killing intent and aura he released just then had alerted Orochimaru. The man would remember him now, and Happy might have already been listed as his greatest enemy.

If he allowed a person like this to become stronger, some day in the future, he might be inexplicably harmed, and the ambush that happened at the foot of Shaoshi Mountain in his previous life might happen again!

When he thought of this, Happy looked up at the stage, and without hiding his killing intent, stared into Orochimaru’s eyes.

One of them was evil, brutal, and wild.

The other burned with fighting spirit and had a profound look in his gaze.

The two of them stared into each other’s eyes for a few seconds. One of them looked down on the other, while the other looked up because of the height of the stage. There was no one else in their eyes, and when they gazes clashed, it felt as if the temperature in the air had risen a lot more!

*****

When Glutinous Rice returned to the audience, her heart still trembled in fear from Orochimaru’s tricky sword technique, which had swept past her attacks as if they were twigs. She remembered the terrifying scene where her life was on the line along with Orochimaru’s savage face when he showed just how powerful he was.

She knew that if Happy had not stepped in, Orochimaru’s shadow would haunt her for life.

That person had saved her with his unintentional act, and he was the person who had made her feel the humiliation of losing for the first time. He was also her sworn enemy who allowed her to gain a higher level of understanding of her will of the sword in Chaotic Cloaked Sword once she overcame her humiliation and gained courage.

For a period of time, her heart was filled with complicated emotions. She could not tell just what she was feeling, and she did not know what sort of attitude she should have when she faced him in the future.

Should she be grateful or angry?

But there was one thing she was certain of—the title of champion for the University of South China could not be taken by Orochimaru!

The next moment, Happy and Orochimaru’s figures disappeared from the stage, and they appeared on a larger stage thirty-two feet away from them.