Sword Among Us

There were hundreds of men in armor at the back gate. They attacked a group of Sword Crafting Hall disciples with the ferocity of demons in an attempt to charge into Heaven Shaker Fortress.

There might only be a few men in Heaven Shaker Fortress, but they had geographical advantage. While they worked together with the archers up high, they managed to defend the back gate and did not allow the group of people to invade the fortress.

But since it was a bloody battle, deaths and casualties were inevitable!

 Both sides soon had nearly one hundred dead, and the men outside the fortress were gradually reduced. Most of them were now gathered near the entrance, but it was the same for the people inside the fortress. They were also in a perilous situation.

 At that moment, a group of people suddenly rushed out of a house in the fortress. There were more than twenty of them, and each of them was dressed as a Sword Sect disciple. They were incredibly eye-catching.

 “Break out!”

 Even though the Sword Crafting Hall disciples inside Heaven Shaker Fortress were very shocked and taken aback by the new group of Sword Sect disciples, they did not dare recklessly attack them.

 They could only watch them flip over the wall. The twenty or so people rushed out with an astonishing speed. Their sword qi traveled freely, and they left behind a bloody path with their slaughter. The group of Moksha Realm disciples stayed to fight against the men in armor, while the three Inaction Realm martial artists fled with injuries on their bodies.

 “Save me!”

 “Bastards! Break out!”

 The twenty or so Moksha Realm Sword Sect disciples obviously did not have the ability to break out of the encirclement created by the men in armor. Their attempt to break out through the front failed, and they were so agitated that they began to curse up a storm.

 A few people were instantly cut down.

 All the people from Heaven Shaker Fortress regarded this indifferently.

 At that moment, another person shot out from the fortress!

 Under the surprised gazes from the Sword Crafting Hall disciples, the young man dressed up like a Sword Crafting Hall disciple rushed out. He wore Golden Gloves on his hands, and with two palm strikes, he forced back the man in armor who was at the forefront of the charge before he rushed into the crowd.

 But this person did not come to save the Sword Sect disciples. He barged in and attacked swiftly, like a large golden dragon that was moving quickly as it attacked. He pushed down a group of men in armor with a force that could mow down all resistances, and within a short amount of time, he managed to break out of the encirclement.

 He did not hesitate, and neither did he turn his head around. He just chased after the Sword Sect disciples who had already left into the distance.

 *****

 Happy’s act of breaking out of the encirclement might have shocked the people from Heaven Shaker Fortress, but it also reduced quite a lot of the pressure. While the attention of the men in armor was diverted and quite a number of them got injured, the people from Heaven Shaker Fortress attacked at full force and instantly killed dozens of people, reducing the pressure faced by the people at the back gate.

 *****

 The battle at Heaven Shaker Fortress continued.

 But Happy managed to break out of the encirclement. Then, he tore down Mu Li’s human skin mask, switched to a white set of snow-travelling gear, fused together with the snow around him, and went after the three Sword Sect disciples as quickly as a phantom.

 He chased after the three Sword Sect disciples for more than three miles before he circumnavigated a huge cedar forest. The area in front of him suddenly became wide and clear, and a semi-encircled col showed up before his eyes.

 “Old Qi, it’s me.”

 “Why are you here so early? Is there anyone else? Why are there only the three of you?”

 A strange voice reached Happy’s ears. Then, a snow wall shuddered and revealed a black cave. A group of people came out of it one after another. They stared at the incredibly pathetic looking trio with extreme surprise.

 “Let’s not talk about it. We ran into people from the Four Cloud Range Immortals. I think they’re the paragon’s underlings.”

 “The paragon…”

 The pupils of the people who came out of the cave shrank as if they had just heard a name that brought great wariness and fear.

 The young Sword Sect disciple who was also the leader spoke without any regret. “Heaven Shaker Fortress is encircled. We saw that the people from the mighty northern clan and the Nangong Clan have their attention diverted. That’s why we left first. The others did not make it out of the encirclement when we attempted the breakthrough.”

 “Is that so?” the first speaker asked in a dull voice.

 Happy noticed that those people did not have the intention of continuing to hide their tracks once they heard that Heaven Shaker Fortress was attacked. They built a bonfire in the col to get rid of the cold.

 The group surrounded the bonfire. They did not say anything, and neither did they show any intention to leave.

 Questions popped up in his head again.

 ‘What’s going on?’

 If it were not because the people in the area were all in Inaction Realm, Happy might have immediately turned around and headed back to Heaven Shaker Fortress.

 Since they chose to stay around, it meant that they had something to do with Heaven Crystal, which was still in Heaven Shaker Fortress.

 The Sword Sect Master had told them to stay, so they had to be waiting for another team.

 But would Heaven Crystal fall into Sword Sect’s hands just because they had been planning for it for a long time?

 Happy was not certain of it.

 However, compared to the mighty northern clan and the Nangong Clan, it was clear that the Sword Sect Master had been planning for years, so he had a higher chance of getting Heaven Crystal! The only surprising factor was Four Cloud Range Immortals. Their arrival caused a few more variables to appear in the quest.

 If Heaven Crystal ended up in the Four Cloud Range Immortals’ hands, Happy could be said to have absolutely no chance in getting it back. It would be better for him to keep an eye out on the people from Sword Sect and see whether he could get a few more clues.

 The clock continued ticking.

 Cold wind blew beyond the col.

 Happy withstood the chill and buried himself in a snow pile under the cedars. He made sure that he did not move while he paid attention to the movements around him without daring to relax even in the slightest.

 *****

 “That’s all there is to you, Four Cloud Range Immortals.”

 “Hmph, what can the two of you do to me?!”

 “You can’t retrieve Heaven Crystal. When the elites of the Nangong Clan arrive and work together with the mighty northern clansmen and those from Sword Sect, do you actually think that we won’t be able to vanquish all four of you?”

 “Hahahaha!”

 Malicious Spirit moved with ease while under attack from the two people who seemed to be united, even though they were actually foes. When he heard their words, he laughed madly and endlessly.

 “If we don’t manage to win against you even after a long time has passed, do you think that the paragon will not send reinforcements over?”

 The expressions of the Sword Sect Master and the old monster from the Nangong Clan instantly turned incredibly sour. Even Bei Xiao and the others outside Sword Crafting Hall grew solemn.

 “Four Cloud Range Immortals, if anything happens to Heaven Shaker Fortress, I will definitely behead you no matter where you run!” Bei Xiao swore in extreme anger.

 The response to his declaration was even more furious attacks from the Four Cloud Range Immortals.

 “Sect Master Luo, looks like if we do not work together, that Heaven Crystal will end up as someone else’s prize,” the old man from the Nangong Clan suddenly said in a deep voice.

 “And what do you propose we do? Do you want me to attack Malicious Spirit with all I have while you take Heaven Crystal?”

 “Tsk!” The expression of the old monster of the Nangong Clan turned cold. “We’re already at this point. Even if I have Heaven Crystal, do you think I will be able to take it with me alive? You saw how harmful Heaven Crystal is! Whoever has it will just die!”

 “Good. You will hold back Malicious Spirit with all your power while I retrieve Heaven Crystal! Perhaps we’ll be able to get rid of Malicious Spirit with Heaven Crystal in hand.”

 “You—” The old monster from the Nangong Clan did not expect that Sword Sect would be so obstinate. He gritted his teeth. “Fine! We’ll talk about the ownership of Heaven Crystal in the future. We’ll work together to kill Malicious Spirit before anything else!”

 There was nothing else the old man from the Nangong Clan could do about the situation, and he agreed to the Sword Sect Master’s suggestion.

 The atmosphere in Sword Crafting Hall suddenly changed.

 A spark that was barely noticeable burned in the Sword Sect Master’s eyes. While Malicious Spirit was forced to a corner, he shot to Heaven Crystal at the speed of lightning and grabbed it without fear! A layer of silver powder was pushed against the handle.

 Then, he sucked in a deep breath and looked at the sky above Sword Crafting Hall with a solemn gaze.