Sword Among Us

Panda Novel

In the valley where Zither Sect was located, zither sounds hummed in the air.

Dozens of people with Lovely Land’s emblem sewn on their chests stood at the entrance of the valley to guard it. Their faces were stern. They held their weapons and moved around.

Occasionally, someone would look up to look around the area outside the valley.

Sometimes, the sound of a horse galloping could be heard from afar. The group would then get up to look at the person who rode on the government-made road beyond the forest.

“Why isn’t the boss here yet?”

“It’s been half a day.”

Some of the people whispered to each other while they waited.

“Calm down, take it slow.”

“How can we be calm? Our other members are already ahead of us. What are we supposed to do if our members are attacked ahead of time by those Wild Wolves?”

Before his voice faded away, someone immediately rolled his eyes and said, “Why are you worried? The boss said that this time, the fight beyond the borders is very important. There are plenty of members taking part in the fight. We won’t be going over the borders just yet. We’ll be gathering together in Flame Town to wait for a day!”

“Who knows whether the Wild Wolves will give us the chance to mobilize our forces.”

“Don’t worry. Evil Emperor isn’t an idiot. Even though he has perfected Great Dao Heart Demonic Seed Art, he needs to get used to it. He won’t attack so easily.”

“That’s right!”

A familiar face walked out of from the crowd, and he explained with a calm voice, “Vice Sect Master Wandering Know-it-all said that Evil Emperor immediately returned to West Region after he succeeded. The people working for him are concentrated in Persia’s Shiva Town to suppress One Emperor and the others.”

When this person spoke, quite a number of the voices of dissent in the crowd instantly faded away.

The person who spoke was Howling Moon. He was the first to show his power during Lovely Land’s tournament and was the first to get the plate. His decent wit and strategies made him very famous in Lovely Land.

It was precisely because of Howling Moon’s great wit that Happy had temporarily assigned him to the valley of Zither Sect to retrieve and protect Wind Chimes as well as Xu Yao.

As he looked at the members in front of him, Howling Moon continued explaining. “Evil Emperor needs time to get used to his new power, and he also needs to keep One Emperor in check, but his main reason in staying in Persia’s Shiva Town is because we’ve sent the news to the Wild Wolves and invited them to a pitched battle.”

“A pitched battle?”

A number of people in the crowd looked shocked. “When did this happen?”

“The sect master released this news personally. He congratulated Evil Emperor for perfecting Great Dao Heart Demonic Seed Art and invited him to a battle. So, Evil Emperor is forced to stay in Persia to fight!” Howling Moon answered.

The group put on enlightened looks when they heard this.

Since Happy congratulated Evil Emperor and used it as an excuse to invite him to a battle, Evil Emperor was forced to agree to it.

Now, Evil Emperor had perfected Great Dao Heart Demonic Seed Art, and he was unprecedentedly stronger. If he rejected the invitation before every player in the world, he would just be making himself less imposing.

But if he really entered a life and death match against Happy, Evil Emperor must face this seriously, because he had lost twice to Happy, and he even lost horribly to him! He had to fairly get over his humiliation with a proper fight.

When Howling Moon said this, the people understood.

“But…” At this moment, his companion, who had been grumbling nonstop, frowned. He used his chin to gesture at the valley. “I know that the battle in West Region is very important, but what about the people inside? The sect master delayed our departure and asked us to stay here to escort both of them. That’s not very responsible of him, is it? No matter what, we’re supreme-class elites.”

“How could you say that?!” Howling Moon glared at him. “That’s the disciple of Six-fingered Demonic Zither. You won’t be able to win against her, and even if all of us go against her, we might not be able to win against her.”

“That’s right. She also has Nine Yin Blocked Pulses. During the fight against Dream Clouds, she was the main trump card. But she shouldn’t show up during our fight away from the Chinese plains.”

“He’s right.”

“I agree. What if something happens to Wind Chimes outside West Region? Who’s going to take responsibility at that time? Instead of having so many of us protect her, it would be better if she doesn’t go at all.”

A lot of people put on scornful expressions in the crowd.

Even though Wind Chimes’ strength was publicly acknowledged, there were just too many limitations a person with Nine Yin Blocked Pulses faced. Many people felt that it was not a good idea to have Wind Chimes head to West Region, and she was too fragile.

“The sect master should have his own considerations.” Howling Moon might also be puzzled by the idea of sending Wind Chimes to West Region, when he recalled how Happy had succeeded in every plan, he chose to trust Happy, and he chose to do it with great seriousness.

However, this explanation could not convince the others.

Besides, this time, among the people they had to escort, there was one who was not famous and was said to be Sect Master Happy’s girlfriend a long time ago. This caused the group to have a lot of words to say about this.

They felt that Happy was going overboard by asking them to protect these two women, causing them to be unable to be involved in the fight in West Region normally.

As he faced the group’s discussion, Howling Moon spoke in Happy’s defense a few more times, but his words did not hold weight.

Their voices traveled faintly into the valley and entered Wind Chimes and Xu Yao’s ears.

But against expectations, the two girls did not react. They continued playing their pieces.

Those who practiced the qi cultivation techniques and martial arts of the art of the zither must have good temperaments. Only those who did not seek wealth or fame and were not bothered by anything in the world would be able to succeed in this path.

This was the lessons Wind Chimes learned, and she taught them to Xu Yao.

Also, Xu Yao knew her situation very well. She knew that these people were prideful and displeased, and what they did was understandable. So, she turned the pressure into motivation to continue training. It was not for herself, but for Happy and Wind Chimes. She could not spend her time seething in anger.

When she saw how calm Xu Yao managed to be, Wind Chimes had admiration shine in her eyes.

As she plucked the strings, she continuously showed the gestures for circling, plucking, flicking, shaking, swinging, pushing, and lifting.

Her fingers danced, making them look like butterflies moving around each other on the zither strings.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Occasionally, dozens of sound waves that were difficult to locate would turn into invisible arrows. With one shake, they left the zither strings and quietly shot to the area across them.

Every time they reached an area 165 feet away from Xu Yao, they would look like droplets crashing into a gentle wave. In an instant, they were dissolved completely, and not a single ripple could be stirred up.

The zither sounds from Six-fingered Demonic Zither were formed based on the dao of slaughter, and it placed a major emphasis on momentum. Its damage was incredible, and the sound waves that came from Wind Chimes could usually subjugate their enemies through sheer numbers and pressure.

But after learning some things from the sect master of Zither Sect, Wind Chimes learned a pretty decent technique.

An endless wave of affection could lead to an endless wave of zither sounds.

If she expressed love through zither sounds, she could lower her enemies’ guard, and she could discreetly set up her enemies. Besides, the power in her attacks was great, so it would catch them off guard.

The zither sounds just now were a product of her lessons.

But Xu Yao practiced zither forces, which was a zither technique that could provide protection in all aspects, and it could break Wind Chimes’ lingering notes.

Even though she spent qi this way, Zither Sect’s martial arts allowed the players to be able to restore their qi quickly when they played. It could also restore their minds in the process.

Although she withstood an attack that dealt quite a lot of damage, Xu Yao was still able to recover part of her strength in just a short time. She continued executing the zither forces and dealt with the attacks at ease.

“Good!”

Wind Chimes was originally not very confident with the thought of Xu Yao protecting her, but when she saw how Xu Yao had calmly parried her strongest killing move, she could not help but look at her in a new light. She became a little interested and reminded Xu Yao by saying, “From now on, I will gradually increase the strength of my offense!”

Xu Yao did not answer. She just played while she nodded to express that she understood.

Clang!

Wind Chimes’ aura changed.

Her zither sounds suddenly turned from gentle notes to excited notes! Her gaze turned fierce, and a murderous, domineering presence spread in the air in the valley. For a period of time, the valley seemed to have turned into a battlefield where intense fights were going on.

The sect master was currently applying fertilizer and watering his plants in his garden. When he heard this, he stopped moving and looked in their direction.

Even though the moves he taught Wind Chimes could increase her strength, when it came to continuous explosive attacks, Six-fingered Demonic Zither’s style was still more outstanding. After all, that was a zither sound that was born to kill.

When an endless wave of murderous sounds gathered together, even those in the dao of heaven had to face them seriously.

The sect master of Zither Sect was not the only one who noticed this. The supreme-class elites who waited at the entrance of the valley quickly noticed the chance in the valley as well.

When they noticed that Wind Chimes had started throwing murderous sounds at Xu Yao without hiding her murderous aura in the slightest. Their expressions changed!

“What’s going on?”

“I thought that Sect Master Happy’s girlfriend has only just recently returned to the game.”

“Judging by Wind Chimes stance, she looks like… she’s sparring with her with everything she has!”

“Hiss…”

When he heard the cries of surprise from his companions beside him, Howling Moon frowned, and in disbelief, he looked at Wind Chimes and Xu Yao.

But he did not speak. Instead, he kept a close eye on Wind Chimes and Xu Yao’s expressions while he watched them quietly.

A mighty river of sound blades quickly left Wind Chimes’ zither sounds. The sound blade river quickly swelled up to reach a diameter of 32 feet. With a domineering presence that charged forward to devour the mountains and rivers, it rose to the air in the valley and charged down at Xu Yao.

Xue Yao’s expression became stern.

But her hands never stopped moving.

Her fingers moved even slower than before.

Every time she plucked the strings, it would be accompanied by a thick tremolo.

When the sound blade river reached an area 16 feet away from Xu Yao, a silver white, crystalline circle that was about 2 feet long appeared in front of her.

The zither force rose!

In an instant, countless fierce sound blades rang and charged at the zither force in a nonstop wave.

Shatter! Shatter!

The sound blades seemed to have become real weapons with physical shape. They crashed against the zither force clearly and let out sharp sounds.

Ten! Twenty! Thirty!

In the blink of an eye, one-third of the river of sound blades crashed against the zither force.

As time passed, more sound blades shattered. Wind Chimes’ expression turned even more complicated and strange. She looked happy as well as dejected.

She did not hold back in the attack just now!

Even though she did not use the Nine Golden Needle Transformative Acupressure Technique, when she attacked at full strength, all her attacks would not lose to someone at the peak of Inaction Realm. Even the normal supreme-class elite would find himself coughing up blood from internal injuries if he had ten blows land on him.

But the successor of Zither Sect’s master had only trained for a few days, and within such a short time, she had managed to turn from a nobody to someone who could withstand half of the damage from the sound blade river.

Xu Yao slowly stopped and put her hands on the zither strings. The silver white zither force in front of her was already in tatters. Wind Chimes knew that Xu Yao would not be able to last much longer.

Just when she was about to cancel the remaining half of her attack, she saw Xu Yao suddenly make a motion that she found very familiar!

Bang!

Xu Yao quickly pulled a zither string taut.

Wind Chimes was shocked.

Boom!

A loud sound rose, and the heavily damaged silver white zither force exploded!

The zither force looked like something with physical form. It exploded outward and turned into countless sharp sounds. An astonishing power came out of it, and it effortlessly shattered the remaining of the sound blade river.