Sword Among Us

“Time’s up!

“Effectively hit Ceng A’niu twice. Obtained the affection of the teachers from the six great sects! Increased reputation by 5,000 points. Lose 1,000 chivalry points. Obtained 1,000 points.”

The stream of notifications caused Happy to release a breath of relief. ‘Two times? Looks like Dragon Capture is considered an effective attack. I’ve earned big this time.’

He had obtained more than 1,300 points on the way, so at that moment, he had 2,300 points. There might not be anyone in the six great system-allocated sects who could compare to him right then.

“Wuji! You’re my boy Wuji!”

White-browed Eagle King’s excited voice rang through the valley.

Wudang Sect’s Song Yuanqiao, the sixth hero, and the seventh hero rushed out of the six great system-allocated sects’ camp and surrounded Zhang Wuji. There might have been a small change to the plot, but it quickly returned to the original track.

When the players saw that, they understood that the quest at Light Summit had almost ended. With Zhang Wuji’s identity exposed, Wudang Sect would definitely be unable to continue attacking. They would retreat, and the teachers of the six great system-allocated sects who lost to Zhang Wuji would find themselves too embarrassed to continue staying at Light Summit, and they will leave with their people as well.

As expected, Mistress Annihilation turned around and cast Zhou Zhiruo a glance. “I see, so you knew a long time ago that he’s Zhang Wuji… Hmph!”

Zhou Zhiruo was very afraid of Mistress Annihilation, and she lowered her head without a word.

When Happy returned to the Emei Sect disciples, he saw that Zhou Zhiruo was incredibly upset, and he sighed in his heart. ‘I knew it was going to happen, and I didn’t manage to avoid it. Zhou Zhiruo’s attack caused her to fall even deeper into the throes of love, and she is filled with self-blame and worry. Those feelings will fill her heart, and she won’t be able to extract herself from it.’

“Amitabha.” The abbot of Shaolin Temple called out the name of Buddha. “Since our six sects have lost in the hands of this young patron, we are willing to admit defeat. Everyone, it is not convenient for Shaolin Temple to stay for long in this place. We will take our leave now!”

“This is…” Kunlun Sect’s He Taichong might not have been very willing to admit defeat, but when he saw that Shaolin Temple and Wudang Sect had stopped attacking, he found that he no longer had a pillar of support, which was why he snorted, flung his sleeves, and left.

Immediately after, Mount Hua Sect and Emei Sect led their people down the mountain as well!

The sea of fire in the ravine behind the valley had been extinguished by then.

The members of Ming Cult and the six great system-allocated sects outside the ravine also received a notification from the system and had their real identities restored. They were released from the quest at Light Summit.

“That’s all?”

“Damn it!”

“I only managed to make it to Mount Huangshan after rushing to this place for a few days and nights, but you’re telling me that the quest at Light Summit has ended before I even saw the teachers and Zhang Wuji’s shadow?”

“What the heck?!”

“This is a scam!”

Countless players gave up and cursed the heavens.

Even though the players who managed to survive the quest had some points, they could not get any benefits from the six great system-allocated sects or Ming Cult. It could be said that they had served as background characters for the quest, and it was easy to imagine just how great was their anger and grievance.

The people who were blocked by the sea of fire felt the most aggrieved!

They could tell that the six great system-allocated sects were about to engage in a furious battle in the valley, but they had been blocked outside. That was clearly something the system had intentionally cooked up to stop them and limit the number of players who could insert themselves into the plot.

“Bastards!”

“If I knew this, I wouldn’t have come.”

Many people complained to the high heavens, and after cursing up a storm, they went down the mountain. Some of them even came to a decision that they would never participate in this sort of quest if they ran into another one in the future.

It was a scam! It was so obviously a scam!

Most players only came to understand later that if they were too far away from a storyline quest, they did not need to participate in them at all, because they would waste a lot of time just to come over. Besides, such quests did not require a large number of people participating in them. If there were too many people around, the system would just increase the limits on who could remain till the end.

For example, the second half of the quest at Light Summit was only for half a day, so mobilizing one million men for it was a little too much.

However, it was the first time many people saw a quest adapted from an original Wuxia novel since the game had been launched. It was only natural then that they would be very passionate about it, and their enthusiasm swelled. Everyone wanted to participate, but coming over from far away was a bit of a waste of time.

This time, quite a lot of players who did not have high qi realms had managed to earn the chance to be among the top players in the game. The few days they took to travel back and forth had allowed them to have their qi increase to higher heights.

*****

When the mass of people descended from the hill, Happy and his party were mixed among the players in the valley. They were not immediately released from the quest at Light Summit.

Besides, Happy temporarily got rid of his plan to leave because of one sentence from Emei Sect’s Mistress Annihilation: “Young Swordsman Happy, what do you think of my disciple?”

Happy, Momo, and Ancient Wind looked at Zhou Zhiruo, whom Mistress Annihilation had mentioned. Ancient Wind instantly nudged Happy’s shoulder with a mischievous grin filled with ambiguous meanings on his face.

“Miss Zhou is very charming and enchanting. She has an ethereal presence, and she managed to injure Zhang Wuji with one slash. It’s enough to tell that she has extraordinary attainments in sword skills and prove that your judgment is outstanding for taking her in as your disciple,” Happy answered seriously.

His words caused Mistress Annihilation elderly face to turn red. She hid her blush with a smile, but Zhou Zhiruo glared at him in secret.

‘Extraordinary attainments in sword skills?’

When Momo and Ancient Wind heard Happy’s evaluation, they pursed their lips and looked elsewhere with stern expressions. They could not laugh in front of Mistress Annihilation.

“Young swordsman, you’ve praised my disciple wrongly,” Mistress Annihilation said with a stern expression. “This lass cannot compare to you. You are young, but you managed to win against Zhang Wuji. I did not make a wrong judgment. Murong Clan’s disciples are indeed extraordinary.”

“Mistress, you praise me too much!” Happy was very humble.

“That Zhang Wuji is the boy from all those years ago. He is the son of the fifth hero of Wudang Sect. I didn’t expect him to be so powerful now. Not even our mistress is his opponent.”

Ding Minjun seemed to be unable to accept the fact that Zhou Zhiruo had just received favor from their mistress. She suddenly butted in, and Happy quirked his eyebrows. He immediately noticed that Mistress Annihilation’s expression turned incredibly unpleasant, and in his mind, he thought, ‘This woman might usually like to set up schemes, but she’s still a simple-minded person. She doesn’t know how to speak at all.’

But her reaction was incredibly quick!

“Junior sister, you seem to be very close to Zhang Wuji.”

That one sentence pushed Zhou Zhiruo into the sight of Mistress Annihilation, who was fuming.

“Hmph! You traitorous disciple!”

Mistress Annihilation was someone who was straightforward and wore her heart on her sleeve. When she heard Ding Minjun mention the matter between Zhou Zhiruo and Zhang Wuji, her expression changed, and she snorted before she said, “I don’t care how close you were to Zhang Wuji when you were children. Right now, Zhang Wuji is a member of the evil cult, and they are enemies of Emei Sect. Next time, when you see him, you don’t need to say anything. Just draw your sword and kill him!”

Zhou Zhiruo said nothing.

“Did you hear me?!”

Zhou Zhiruo shuddered and quickly nodded in agreement.

When Happy saw this, he felt a pang in his chest. She was but a pitiful woman under Jin Yong’s pen. It was already very difficult for her to remain so obedient when she was rebuked by such a mistress. It was no wonder then why she turned into an evil woman who targeted the entire world of martial artists later on.

“Mistress,” Happy said. “Since the matter in Light Summit has been resolved, I should return to my clan and report this matter. That’s why I will take my leave now.”

He did not forget the fact that the mastermind behind the matter of the six great system-allocated sects surrounding and attacking Light Summit was Cheng Kun, but the people who carried out the plan was the imperial court—Princess Zhao Min of Ruyang Mansion.

If continued going with the people from Emei Sect, they would soon be attacked by the people from the imperial court!

Happy did not think that he could withstand the damage from Ten Fragrant Tendon Weakening Powder, which was an amazing poison in the world of martial artists.

“Wait.” When Mistress Annihilation heard that Happy wanted to leave, she smiled and called out for him to stay. “You can’t leave just yet. You’ve injured Zhang Wuji right in front of all martial artists during the battle at Light Summit. Emei Sect has also gained glory because of it! Besides, you’ve taken care of my disciples on the way.

“Emei Sect is considered a famous and huge sect, so it’s still within my limits to provide instructions for a member of the younger generation such as you. Consider it as a way for me to return some of your favor.”

‘Instructions?’

Happy came to a stop.