Sword Among Us

The Sword Crafting Hall was maintained at a relatively high temperature. Heat waves rolled about in the air, and they were accompanied by deafening sound waves that were everywhere in Sword Crafting Hall. The depletion of a person’s mind and soul was incredibly great!

 Happy noticed that the young men who bullied him previously had to go outside and sit down to restore their qi after only going about a few rounds. At that time, they were already drenched in sweat.

 Even some of the powerful looking Sword Crafting Hall disciples found it difficult to continue staying in the hall after some time. Once they did a few rounds, they left and had new Sword Crafting Hall disciples enter.

 Happy became more and more impressed.

 It was no wonder why the mighty northern clan could remain at the top of the business world when they had to stay in such a hot and horrible environment. No normal faction of power would be able to do it.

 It was also no wonder why Sword Sect and the Nangong Clan would allow the mighty northern clan to set the location of Heaven Crystal’s repairs. If even the mighty northern clan could not succeed, it was unlikely that anyone else in the world could repair the sword.

 However, while doing the quest, Happy realized to his shock and surprise that as he continued moving the heavy charcoal, his Arm Strength increased by a tiny bit. Since he had to circulate his Nine Yang Divine Skill continuously, his qi also climbed up slightly. His training speed in the hall did not lose to when he practiced with martial arts.

 “It’s indeed a good place to train.”

 Happy finally understood why the mighty northern clan could cultivate such a large number of forgemasters and Moksha Realm as well as Inaction Realm martial artists.

 There was still a long time before Heaven Crystal was fully repaired. At that time, Ten Thousand Swords will give a reminder, so Happy decided to put all his attention into training. He seized the moment to slowly increase his qi and Arm Strength.

 There were only a few days left until his fight against One Emperor, so if he could increase even the tiniest bit of his strength, Happy would not complain about it.

 But he did not know that some people had already started to pay attention to him during the half an hour since he had entered Sword Crafting Hall.

 “That young man is a new disciple, right?”

 “That’s right. I think his name is Mu Li.”

 “Do you have a deep impression of him?”

 “Yes, he’s from the same cohort of Clan Elder Lu’s grand martial nephew. The grand martial nephew often bullies him with his mates. I’ve run into him a few times before. He’s usually working alone way past his limits.

 “But what I find strange is that his arm strength in the past was horrible. I haven’t seen him in a while, and he has become much stronger. His arm strength has increased by leaps and bounds, and his endurance as well as tenacity surpassed those of a normal Sword Crafting Hall disciple. It’s truly unbelievable.”

 “Oh, that’s interesting. Are you saying that he’s very suited for the environment in Sword Crafting Hall?”

 “Clan elder, it seems that you have thoughts of promoting him to an official Sword Crafting Hall disciple.”

 A few people stood at the high spot of a flight of stairs above Sword Crafting Hall. That area was covered in red waves intersecting with each other, and the men calmly monitored everything that happened in Sword Crafting Hall.

 However, when they spoke, Happy still noticed their voices.

 He frowned and turned his body in the direction from which the gazes were fixed on him. His Nine Yang Divine Skill spread out even more vigorously under the high heat, and he finally noticed the figures standing dozens of feet above ground. Fear seized his heart.

 The people on top of the stairs were clearly high up in Inaction Realm. One of them might not even be weaker than the grand cult elder of the evil cult.

 Happy quickly calmed down the surging emotions in his heart and examined himself. He then became certain that there were no flaws in his human skin mask. If Ten Thousand Swords was not familiar with everything in Sword Crafting Hall and created a human skin mask that couldn’t endure high heat with the unique conditions in mind, it would have started showing problems after it was baked in the high heat for a long time. Also, due to the effect of restraining essence from Nine Yang Divine Skill, Happy’s physical constitution looked like that of a normal teenager, which was how he managed to deceive everyone’s eyes.

 “He’s a good seed, and he’s definitely entering Sword Crafting Hall, but we can’t promote him in haste. We have to pay more attention to him and see just how far he can go…”

 The speaker was a man with red hair who seemed to be in his forties. The veins at his temple were popped up, his eyes sparkled, and his sturdy body was filled with powerful muscles that seemed to contain explosive strength. He gave off an astonishing pressure.

 The others beside him were also outstanding people, but compared to this elder, they were slightly inferior. The only similarity about them was that all of them were very young!

 “Sword Sect and the Nangong Clan brought Heaven Crystal to our clan, and it has caught the attention of quite a lot of warriors in China. Aside from some of the old coots in the Nangong Clan, there are also elites from Xicheng Clan and Dongfang Clan who are paying attention to this, even though they’re all people who are about to die.

 “Hmph! When they heard news about Heaven Crystal, all of them decided to cast aside their dignity and come over to observe. What do they think Heaven Shaker Fortress is?!”

 He stopped talking for a moment before he gave a few instructions to the people beside him.

 “But those old coots are no simple characters. They’ll definitely be thinking about getting involved in the mess! Fortunately, the day Heaven Crystal will be repaired has been brought forward. Chin up, do not let anyone seize the opportunity to enter.”

 “Yes, clan elder!”

 “Clan elder, are we really handing over Heaven Crystal to Sword Sect and the Nangong Clan?”

 The clan elder sighed long and hard before he answered unthinkingly. “Hmph, of course we are! In the past, the Nangong Clan raised to the top by relying on Heaven Crystal. They managed to reach the peak of the world of martial artists within a short amount of time, but what happened to them in the end?

 “If it weren’t because of the legendary evil cult disciples fighting them to the point that their family was ruined, the Nangong Clan would not have fallen to their current state. Even though Heaven Crystal is an ancient divine weapon that stands above all other weapons, it’s also a disaster. It brings endless catastrophes to all around it, and having it is not a blessing!”

 Happy heard this clearly while he was below, and he was stunned.

 ‘What he said is true! That clan elder is quite knowledgeable!’

 The clan elder stopped talking for a moment before he continued. “Heaven Shaker Fortress has seen all kinds of divine weapons over the centuries since it was built. There is no one whose understanding toward divine weapons surpasses that of the mighty northern clan! True divine weapons can only be obtained by matchless warriors who are kind, just, and magnanimous.

 “As of now, we do not have such a person in our clan. That’s why it’s not worth it to destroy the rules we’ve upheld for generations, ruin our legacy, and bring about the disaster of having our fortress destroyed for Heaven Crystal!”

 The clan elder’s last sentence was filled with the regret of a missed opportunity.

 When Happy heard him, he frowned.

 ‘If that’s the case, is the northern clan not actually thinking about fighting for Heaven Crystal?

 ‘What’s going on?!

 ‘What the heck?

 ‘Did the four abandoned disciples lie to me, or did a change occur in the quest?’

 Happy had a lot of experience from his previous life, and he swiftly noticed the variables. He also quickly seized the existence of two possible ones.

 The four abandoned disciples did not have the trust of their sect, and it was not impossible for them to lie, but while he traveled with them on the road, Happy came to understand that the four had a deep-seated hate for Sword Sect, so they should not have lied to him. Besides, Torn Army sacrificed himself to protect him.

 If he got rid of this possibility, there was only one other variable.

 A change happened in the quest!

 Happy quickly remembered some of the words the people had spoken in their conversation, and a faint hint of unease instantly rose in his heart.

 It seemed like he had spent too much time in Sword Crafting Hall!