Sword Among Us

Chapter 681: Eighth Slash

At the Guanlin Temple in a small city in Shandong located at the foot of Mount Tai were a few players with low qi realms. They had pale and sickly faces while sitting with gloomy expressions.

“This is bad.”

“Our abilities will be reduced by 20% for the next month. Our speed when we train will also be decreased. By the looks of it, we can only go and kill mountain bandits at low-end forts.”

“Boss, didn’t you say that you wanted to become the strongest player in the world?”

One of the players looked at the man gritting his teeth with a derisive expression. “I heard that the two strongest players in the current game are fighting at Mount Tai, and they have never died like us.”

“Shut up!”

The man glared at him fiercely, and his expression was filled with a contemptuous expression. “Hmph! What would you know? Do you know that there is an ancient saying that goes if you want to become successful, you must undergo mental trials and physical hardships. Our chance has come. For the next month, let’s fight hard to earn money. Let’s switch to grade two masterpieces. At that time, we’ll become second rate players in the game!”

“Grade two masterpieces cost a lot of money, you know? Besides, everyone carries refined masterpieces with them nowadays. And you claim that we can become second-rate players?

“If I have anything to say about it, then I’ll say that no matter how hard we try, we can never become great players. Young Cave, remember that even though you won against us last time in rock paper scissors, we will only serve as your lackeys for a month. If we can’t become famous after one month, it’ll be my turn to become the leader.”

The man who spoke smiled in a calm and composed manner.

“Go die! I’m still around! In one month, I promise that I can make all of you rusty pieces of metal shine as bright as silver. At that time, you’ll definitely be able to drink and eat the best food. Perhaps we can even bring Happy and One Emperor down from their thrones.”

“Haha, with the likes of you?”

The group of youngsters who were in a slump laughed and joked together.

At that moment, the door to the Guanlin Temple opened with a creak and attracted their attention.

“Haha, who’s so unlucky to accompany us during this moment?” The boy named Young Cave was in a rather good mood. He died once in the game but still managed to find joy in his misery.

The people who walked out of Guanlin Temple were Happy and One Emperor. They had sat inside the temple for a time and circulated their qi circulate to recover.

No one could find any traces of the weakness and paleness that other players had after they died. Instead, they looked very energetic as they walked down the stairs in a majestic gait.

Young Cave and the others instantly opened their eyes wide, and their jaws fell slack as they pointed at the duo. They found themselves unable to say anything even after a long time had passed.

“I owe you two favors now. How am I going to repay you?”

One of the two people who walked out was dressed in a neat and noble looking brocade robe with black borders. There was a cold expression on his handsome face, but there was also an incredibly relaxed smile on his lips. When both elements were mixed together, it was incredibly harmonious, and there was an invisible, mighty pressure naturally formed about him.

“One… One Emperor…”

Young Cave and the others subconsciously hid in a corner and tried to widen the distance between them and One Emperor as they watched the top on Dragon Rank. Young Cave had declared that he wanted to drag this legendary player down his throne just now, and he sucked in multiple breaths.

The others were terrified. They stared at the man who stood beside One Emperor. He was dressed in Golden Armor, and there were countless sword gashes criss-crossing on it. There was also a distinct sword hole at the spot where his heart was.

His face was familiar to the group from numerous battle replays.

He was praised as the strongest player, and he had occupied the top spot on Famous People Rank for a long period of time. He was Happy, the second clan master of the strongest clan in the game, Mu Clan.

How did these two people walk out together from Guanlin Temple?

The group’s thoughts were a little frozen.

They watched the duo walk down the stairs slowly and could not understand what was going on. The two of them should be engaged in a life and death battle at the summit of Mount Tai, so how could they be acting as cordially as old friends and chat with each other?

“I’ll have to thank you for your gift as well. That is the best weapon on Divine Weapon Rank. Seventh Sword… Heh heh, the seventh sword from Fatal Thirteen Swords is so powerful that it will make even ghosts and gods avoid it. If we have a chance in the future, I’ll have to see the eighth slash that you just understood, along with the other sword slashes.”

Happy laughed heartily.

The duo was chatting and laughing together in the temple. Not only had they used Fire Qilin Blood to cure their internal injuries, their qi had also increased by twenty points.

One of the two favors One Emperor mentioned was Fire Qilin Blood, and the other was that with Happy’s help, he managed to regain clarity of mind at the final moment and see the vague shadow of the eighth slash after the seventh slash.

Happy also felt incredibly proud and excited.

Killing One Emperor and being killed by him in a fight was already an incredibly great result.

In his previous life, no one could fight against One Emperor.

In this life, he only used one year to reach One Emperor’s height.

Even though One Emperor had improved because of him, and his speed also increased, Happy was still very happy and satisfied.

No one could understand his emotions.

At that moment, Happy had already forgotten about Heaven Crystal, which he had left at the summit of Mount Tai, along with everything else.

It was the same for One Emperor.

“It’s just a vague technique. Right now, I can’t even control the seventh slash properly. I’ll need a few months before I can master the eighth slash.” He stopped for a while before he added, “But with the increase of these twenty qi points, I should have an easier time mastering it…”

“That’s good. Let’s spar again some time in the future.”

One Emperor instantly laughed. “Forget it. You’re already in Moksha Realm, and your strength has increased by leaps and bounds! I’m only at 530 qi points right now, so with my current speed, even if I give up on understanding Fatal Thirteen Swords to enter Moksha Realm, I’ll still need half a year to do so. At the very least, within one year, I won’t be able to easily win against you, but don’t you go thinking that you can win against me either.”

Happy laughed. He knew that One Emperor was just joking.

Even though he had successfully reached Moksha Realm, practicing Moksha Realm martial arts was much harder than Life and Death Realm martial arts. If he truly wanted to use them, he would need a few months before he could do so.

And both of them also knew that their martial arts did not rely on their qi realms to improve. Instead, they relied on the killing moves they understood from various encounters.

If they sparred again, they would just end up with the same result.

At their current stage, unless one of them had an unforeseen circumstance happen to them and their strength could not improve for a long period of time, it would be very hard for either of them to win uninjured.

*****

While Young Cave and the others held their breaths to watch, the duo slowly left Guanlin Temple and walked out of the city.

*****

“There’s something that I still can’t help but ask.”

“You want me to join Mu Clan?”

“Alright, I believe I already know the answer.”

Happy smiled wanly. Just as Silver Wolf mentioned, someone like One Emperor would not be bound to any organization, even if it was just an organization in a virtual world.

One Emperor smiled. Then, he suddenly put on a serious expression. “Actually, there’s a piece of news that you might already know, but soon, there may be a huge change in the game.”

“What change?”

“All sorts of…” One Emperor looked at the horizon and released a long sigh. “There have been some people attracted to the game because of people like us.”

“Huh?” Happy looked at him in puzzlement

One Emperor did not explain in detail and just said faintly, “You’ll know in the future. The great benefits hidden in the game will make the game even more complicated and brutal. You have to be prepared for it.”

“Brutal, huh?”

When Happy heard One Emperor’s reminder, he suddenly fell into a daze.