Sword Among Us

Panda Novel

Shaolin Temple, which was a respected sect in the world of martial artists, had turned into a dangerous ground that every wanderer knew about in a single night!

On that day, more than five large and small sects, clans, groups, and guilds waged the most devastating and chaotic battle since the game had been launched.

Tens of thousands of Shaolin Disciples were dragged into the fight.

Corpses filled the ground from the foot of the mountain to Mahavira Hall. If anyone counted them, they would find that ten thousand people had died. Their weapons were broken, and blood ran down in streams. Even so, there were still players gathered around the mountain like a flock of birds. They coveted the brocade box and wanted to turn into Duan Yu, Xiao Feng [1], and the likes to slaughter their way through the crowd and get the treasure in a counterattack.

But unfortunately for them, there were no powerful players who were at Duan Yu or Xiao Feng’s level among them. The only people there were Blessed Realm players who were about the same level. They competed against each other with resolution, ferocity, stamina, and manpower.

However, the slaughter outside Shaolin Temple quickly had its brilliance covered by another shocking tragedy that happened around a few miles away from them. Nearly one thousand players had went after another brocade box that was in a temple near the summit. They fought against an NPC monk and were killed when he used Lion’s Roar, the ultimate and strongest technique of Buddhists.

The NPC monk had entered killing mode after he killed more than one thousand players. Anyone who drew near three hundred and thirty feet of the temple was killed without any hesitation.

On one side, there were players killing one another, and on the other side was an NPC fighting against players. Naturally, the latter would quickly gain more attention and gazes trained on them.

This was especially so when everyone learned that the NPC monk could actually use the sound waves from Lion’s Roar to kill a large group of people. A number of players quickly went to the forums to leave their thoughts. They tried to figure out Monk Zhi Heng’s qi realm, and they believed that he far surpassed Life and Death Realm, which was the current highest qi realm known to players. Also, his abilities might not be inferior to those of Lion King Xie Xun, who was written about in the Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.

When Happy finished his lunch, he returned to his dorm and read about the tragedy that happened outside the small temple from start to finish with his breath held. Then, he let go of his mouse, filled with surprise and happiness.

What surprised him was that someone had actually found him despite the temple behind so hidden away. They had also surrounded so that he could not escape.

But Monk Zhi Heng had not let Happy down. He held back against one thousand men by himself. With his strength, he killed all the players who came close and made sure that no one could enter the temple through brute strength and bother Happy and Master Xuan Kong while they played the exquisite Go game.

“Happy!”

Bai Lang strode into the dorm looking travel weary. When he saw Happy in front of the computer, his eyes lit up.

“You’re here. Perfect timing. I want to discuss something with you.”

“What is it?”

Happy had a general idea of what Bai Lang wanted to say.

Over the last few days, the Three Lonely Wolves had traveled up and down the university to talk about the establishment of Beautiful Robes Faction without holding themselves back. They also vigorously tried to draw in the various powerful players in the university. It was almost certain that they wanted to talk about this matter.

“Beautiful Robes Faction has been established. The faction master is Phoenix Dances in Beautiful Robes. Tea Words and Butt Shaker will be the vice faction masters. They wanted me to contact you to invite you to be the guest faction elder. You will have authority that is second only to the faction master.”

“Oh.”

Once Happy made that sound, he said nothing else, causing Bai Lang, who had originally been very excited, to gradually become gloomy. “Damn it, could you at least say something? Do you know about your popularity in the university? Everyone is just waiting for you to join the faction. Quite a number of people have said that as long as you join the faction, they will immediately hand in their registration forms.”

“You don’t have to be in a hurry to build the faction. You should first set up a system,” Happy said calmly. “I’m okay with it though, so I can join whenever.”

“That’s good. I’ll call Phoenix Dances later. She’ll send you a guild invitation.” When Bai Lang heard this, he instantly released a breath of relief. His gaze landed on the computer, and he frowned. “Shaolin monk? Lion’s Roar? When did this happen?”

As he spoke, he sat down next to Happy. It seemed that he had just discovered this piece of news.

“Just now.”

“Who is it? He sure is amazing to have an NPC guard him.” Bai Lang understood the contents of the thread in just one glance, but as he continued reading, shock appeared on his face. “He gained victory by getting rid of one thousand or so people without even attacking, and all he needed to do was hide and watch by the side.”

Happy looked at him and said nothing.

He actually wanted to explain the importance of his quest, but if he told him about it, he might stir up even more of Bai Lang’s curiosity. He would then ask even more questions, so in the end, Happy swallowed his words.

“Bai Lang.”

“Hmm?” When he turned around, Bai Lang saw Happy with a slightly serious expression. He could not help but be stunned. “What’s wrong?”

“Tell Phoenix Dances to restrict the people in the sect so they do not join the fight in Shaolin Temple.”

Happy remembered that there were quite a lot of familiar faces in his previous life who worked in Shaolin Temple. Right then, if something like this happened, there was no reason for them to not join in the mess, which worried him.

“Why?”

“There is only one brocade box, and it’s destined that only one person will get it. That person will either have extraordinary abilities or an astonishing background. Phoenix Dances just formed the structure of the faction and doesn’t have enough power. We shan’t have the faction ruined because of this.”

“Got it.” Bai Lang nodded. “I’ll remind her of this when I call her later.” He paused for a moment, then asked, “By the way, how goes your training? What’s the realm of the high-tier martial art you got from the martial arts tournament?”

“It’s at the ninth realm.”

Bai Lang’s eyes brightened. “Not bad!”

As he spoke, he punched Happy’s shoulder. “I heard about it. Up till now, there isn’t anyone whose high-tier martial arts reached Grandmaster Realm. The most powerful people are just in the ninth realm or tenth realm… Keep it up! Fight to reach Grandmaster Realm. Then, it’ll be impossible for the University of South China to not be famous!”

Once he finished speaking, Bai Lang shoved Happy to the top bunk with his hands and legs, telling him to quickly return to the game to continue training. He looked as if he was worried that if Happy was held up, other people would surpass him.

Happy returned to the small temple and the room which belonged to Master Xuan Kong. When he opened his eyes, he saw Master Xuan Kong with his head lowered and a kind and gentle expression on his face. He also saw the chess board in front of him.

The game of the black dragon killing the white tiger had reached the ninth move.

In the next step, the white tiger would die in the black dragon’s belly.

This was what troubled Happy the most.

He wanted to drag out the time until the emperor’s birthday arrived, so he could not make any moves…

Immersed in the constellation chart of the black dragon devouring the tiger, Happy did nothing. He only rubbed his fingers against a white piece quietly as he watched the white tiger struggling against death while breathing its last. His gaze was indifferent, and his heart was as calm as an ancient well, and he simply allowed time to pass bit by bit.

Waiting for time to pass was the hardest part of the quest.

Happy did not have a way to sit quietly for an entire day. Hence, he thought of a way himself—he would observe the moves made by the black pieces.

Even though he might still end up losing, if he could figure out the profundity of the exquisite Go game, he might be able to ask the Three Lonely Wolves to come over and test their luck as well.

With this thought in mind, Happy began to review the moves made to form the constellation chart in his heart.

Once…

Twice…

Thrice…

He made simulations of the game, and his speed gradually increased as he became more familiar with the moves.

He did not know how much time had passed when he shuddered while sitting across Master Xuan Kong. His hand, which held the white piece, shook as well. He opened his eyes with a face full of disbelief.

The exquisite Go game…

“So that’s how it is!”