Sword Among Us

Thunderous Battle naturally did not know that the masters of the four sects had linked the matter of Mu Clan asking them for Phantasmal Crystal Ores four days ago to the matter of Heartless Iron proactively entering isolation to attempt making a fourth-echelon equipment.

They were filled with hope toward the best Forgemaster in Mu Clan, and they hoped that Mu Clan could rise to being a great sect that could stand on equal ground with Class One Hall, Chivalry Sect, and Towering Palace with the help of the first fourth-echelon masterpiece.

But against their expectations, in the next few days, Mu Clan was peaceful. Even when Heartless Iron egressed, there was no change on the Divine Weapons Rank, and no fourth-echelon masterpiece appeared.

It was very clear that the attempt to make the fourth-echelon weapon had failed.

That was not surprising. Right then, there might be Forgemasters around, but the failure rate was so high that it was shocking.

The four sects in Baokang were regretful, but they did not mention the saddening matter to Thunderous Battle. Instead, they used the feast of Blood Rivers in Nine Heavens and had Look at the Swans Above, who was the branch master of Chivalry Sect, to suggest what he did.

When Thunderous Battle noticed his old friends’ deeply concerned gazes, he was stunned for a few seconds before he finally came to a realization.

“Oh, so you’re talking about that…” Thunderous Battle chuckled unnaturally. “There’s nothing to say. Besides, we haven’t lost all the money we earned last time.”

Everyone looked over with disbelief.

Even though Mu Clan had gathered up a lot of money, they used up quite a lot of it to gather at least seven sets of fourth-echelon materials, seven sets of third-echelon grade one masterpieces, so if all of them failed, Thunderous Battle would have lost at least two billion taels of silver.

Many of the large sects in the game could not casually gather around two billion taels of silver, much less lose all of it.

Everyone was also worried that Mu Clan would be traumatized by the failure they suffered. Chivalry Sect’s Lin Xiao was the most concerned about that. He went straight to extend his good will and said that he was willing to help Mu Clan get through the dangerous times.

The other three sects also mentioned that Mu Clan could pay in instalments for the trade of their resources. After all, they were not as rich as Chivalry Sect.

“Hehe, I have received your good will. If one day I truly need help, I will definitely mention it to everyone. Right now, you’re too worried about the situation. We still have around one billion cash in the flow in Mu Clan, and there are thousands of refined masterpieces in the clan storage. There are no less than two billion taels of silver worth of resources with us. You know how many of those resources enter our storage every day. We really do not lack money right now.”

Thunderous Battle’s explanation relieved the four. Mu Clan’s ability to get through the disaster made them breathe a sigh of relief. With the input from the resources of Shennongjia, they could cover the loss in less than half a month.

“By the way, Old Thunder, what is Happy doing now? I heard yesterday that he was still in the royal mausoleum. Does he also intend to give up on the quest in Light Summit?”

When the topic shifted from Mu Clan’s resources to Happy, everyone’s expressions betrayed their interest.

After all, a few days ago, Happy had entered Life and Death Realm and was now in the middle of the Dragon Rank.

As a famous martial artist, he had been the cause of multiple great news in the game, such as killing a Moksha Realm NPC alone, and many people believed that he would definitely not let go of the chance to take up the storyline quest at the final battle at Light Summit.

But there were also people who believed that Happy would not really dare to appear at Light Summit.

The three monsters of Class One Hall were all successors of ultimate techniques. Their call for manpower was very great.

Over the past few days, the three monsters of Class One Hall had geared themselves up with third-echelon grade one masterpieces, and someone said that Blood Robes’ Star Sucking Great Skill could absorb his enemy’s qi and turn it to his own. He could easily challenge any martial artist in the game, including the current first and second ranked players on the Dragon Rank—One Emperor and Zhou Yu.

Vice Hall Master Barren Murderer might have died once, so his abilities were compromised, but his King of Abyss Art was incredibly extraordinary. A few days ago, he had killed a Moksha Realm NPC in a very flashy manner, so his fame had not diminished, but had risen instead. Someone said that once he returned to the peak of his condition, Barren Murderer’s strength would not be beneath that of Blood Robes.

As for Dream Clouds, once she was pushed down by Phantasmal Shadow on the Phoenix Rank, she took back her crown lately. It was said that her Divine Flames Art had improved, but her fame seemed to have been overshadowed by her two vice hall masters.

From all that, it was clear that Class One Hall had recovered from their branch being destroyed and Barren Murderer’s death. A group of people who loved stirring up trouble everywhere even started spreading rumors that Class One Hall might use that to attack Mu Clan. At the same time, they also said that Happy might give up on Light Summit and attack Class One Hall’s headquarters.

Because of that, Mu Clan and Class One Hall seemed to have been pushed to the tip of the storm.

When Thunderous Battle faced the questions from Absolute Nonsense and the others, he could only spread his arms helplessly.

“I don’t know the full situation right now. We can’t ignore the threat from Class One Hall, and if Class One Hall really wants to attack us, Happy will definitely provide reinforcements over here.”

“You have a few elites in Mu Clan like Little North, Silver Wolf, and All-powerful Medicinal Stone, who just joined you. All of them have the ability to challenge Light Summit.”

“They won’t go,” Thunderous Battle answered firmly. “With them serving as garrison over here, Class One Hall will feel a little wary. After all, they cannot ignore Silver Wolf and Little North’s abilities, unless Class One Hall completely gives up on Light Summit and attacks us.

“If they left though, Class One Hall would not hesitate to attack Mu Clan. After all, nearly half of the people in Mu Clan aren’t powerful enough to go to war. We don’t have many people who are great, and if our powerhouses leave, we will not be united.”

The other four looked at each other and nodded. “Don’t worry, from now on, our people will set up scouts sixty-two miles around Baokang. We will take turns to keep a lookout on the government-made roads and pay attention to whether there are any people from Class One Hall or a large number of unfamiliar faces getting close to Shennongjia until the end of the quest at Light Summit.”

“Thank you so much.” Thunderous Battle was incredibly happy.

Their suggestion was very good. If they extended the scouting line until it was sixty-two miles wide, not only would it provide Mu Clan ample time to react to the situation and mobilize their forces, they could also use the terrain to set up ambushes. They could take the initiative to attack and occupy various advantageous spots, which was very important.

Absolutely Nonsense smiled and said, “Stabilizing the alliance of the five sects is a shared dream between us. If we don’t help you, who should we help? The game has just been launched for more than half a year, and Class One Hall already considers themselves as the leader of the game. No one is pleased with it.

“We really wish that they will come to Baokang to play. Chivalry Sect has set up a few branches in the cities nearby. They have more than four thousand people stationed there, and if we include the people from our sects, it won’t be a problem for us to cripple Class One Hall.”

The expression of Chivalry Sect’s branch master Swans turned cold, and he snorted. “Class One Hall won’t take that risk. Vice Sect Master Lin Xiao and Red Dust have already let the anger they felt for what happened to Beautiful Robes Faction burn in them for a long time. The branches nearby are filled with the elites from our sect.

“Unless Class One Hall mobilizes all their forces, they won’t have a chance against us. But if that’s the case, Class One Hall will also suffer a huge blow. They have to fend against Chivalry Sect and Towering Palace. If they bring ten thousand people here, it’ll be easy for them to enter Baokang, but if they want to leave and go back? Hmph… It’ll be very difficult for them.”

When the four men heard Swans’ accidental revelation, their expressions changed.