Sword Among Us
Sword Among Us - Chapter 320: Astonishingly High Price

Blood River Sect was a local player sect that was among the top three sects in Baokang. The reason they had managed to get one of the crystal mines from the various powerful sects was because they had given up on the herbal resources in Shennongjia and surrendered the rights to the rare and valuable metal mines. That was how they managed to get the rights to the second level of a crystal mine that was situated in a remote corner of the area.

It was supposed to be a period of time that will be beneficial for Blood River Sect’s development, and it was also supposed to be a great, fortuitous chance that would allow it to rise to the ranks of the large sects in World of Martial Arts.

However, since berthierite was very rare and valuable during the early stages of the game, Blood River Sect did not dare to spend all their resources like that. They only wanted to occupy that valuable resource point and slowly become stronger.

Unfortunately for them, reality was different from what they expected.

A few days after they secured the location and could finally earn back what they spent, they heard that their people in the second level of the crystal mine had been killed. Blood Rivers in Nine Heavens, the sect master of Blood River Sect, said nothing but gathered a large group of people who were training nearby to rush to the crystal mine. However, a tragedy happened there!

Even though the hundreds of people who rushed to the crystal mine showed the strength of Blood River Sect, and they even blocked the crystal mine until no one could get through, they could only stare and sigh at the entrance of the chamber with the mechanism.

If they wanted to enter the second level, they needed eight berthierite!

Also, there was a strict limit as to how many people could enter in one go, because the space in the chamber with the mechanism was very small and could at most accommodate thirteen to fourteen people. This was also why Blood River Sect could not place a lot of guards to protect the second level of the crystal mine…

“Damn it!”

Blood Rivers in Nine Heavens stood outside the chamber and stared at the five grooves that were empty. He was unable to contain his anger.

“We’ve only managed to get seven bertheirites after two days! Go and buy more!”

“Boss, I don’t have money.”

“I don’t know who jacked up the price for berthierites by several fold today. Right now, one berthierite costs five hundred thousand taels of silver, so for the price of five, we could buy a few decent high-grade masterpieces…”

“Are you an idiot?! Masterpieces?! Are masterpieces more important than the second level of the crystal mine?!”

Blood Rivers in Nine Heaves became angrier the more he listened. Why did berthierite become more expensive? Because the importance of the second level had been discovered by more people. If they did not snatch it back quickly, Blood River Sect would be driven into an even more defensive position…

“Hurry up and gather money! Buy berthierite from the first level. Set the price as five hundred thousand taels of silver per piece, and immediately buy it using cash!”

At least Blood Rivers in Nine Heavens did not go through the old-fashioned way of asking his people to slowly gather the materials.

But it seemed like the news had leaked…

Blood River Sect’s urgent need for berthierite excited the miners in the caves within the first level, and they increased their price. A handful of them had a few berthierites with them, but they set down their own price firmly and refused to sell the berthierites if Blood River Sect did not offer them sixty thousand taels of silver!

Blood River Sect could not convince them regardless of whether they used gentle persuasion or force, and they could only compromise.

But even if they compromised, they did not manage to get the berthierites easily.

The miners were all veterans in the mining cave. They repeatedly stated that trading in the mining cave was not safe and that they had to return to the city to perform the trade, making the people from Blood River Sect so angry that they nearly suffered a stroke. However, they had no way of refuting it, since if anyone killed the weak miners, they would get half of their money, which was something that most people would rather not risk.

Once Blood River Sect finally gathered the berthierites after spending three million taels of silver, fourteen of the strongest players in Blood River Sect charged into the second level of the crystal mine with Blood Rivers in Nine Heavens as the leader.

In less than five minutes, the people from Blood River Sect returned as agitated as people whose ancestors’ graves were dug up. Their faces were flushed red as they rushed out of the second level and roared at the chamber once the mechanism had been activated again.

The miners in the mining hall next to theirs knew full well that it meant that Blood Rivers in Nine Heavens had not killed all the people inside, but had instead lost his own people. It was the reason why the people from Blood River Sect were so angry and worked up.

But the miners did not dare discuss or mock them, and they just continued to lower their heads and mine the cave!

The group blocking the entrance of the chamber in the first level left after their shouts and bellows resulted in nothing after more than an hour. They only left behind a small group to stand guard at the nearest tunnel.

*****

Baokang County Town’s third largest sect, Blood River Sect, was provoked by famous players. Around a dozen Mystical Realm players and a dozen miners had died by Thunderous Battle and Little North’s hands. The news of it swiftly spread through Baokang County Town and Shennongjia!

The players who loved chaos naturally rushed ahead of each other to tell everyone they met about it. There were even people who narrated the event as if they had seen it personally. They said that there were only two people who fought in the fight since the start to the end of the battle.

While that was happening, the people who had followed Thunderous Battle into the second level of the crystal mine just concentrated on digging. When Blood River Sect split up to attack them, they could handle the situation, which revealed that the miners had outstanding skills too.

Soon, all sorts of rumors and players’ assumptions filled the streets.

“Thunderous Battle came here prepared.”

“He has around ten Mystical Realm players with him. Snatching resources cannot be done in just one or two days. By the looks of it, Blood River Sect has lost this time. Their resource point has been taken away, and Thunderous Battle as well as his people will definitely not leave soon.”

“…I wonder if Happy is inside.”

“Hmm… those three have always been inseparable.”

“I bet Blood River Sect wouldn’t dare to attack Happy even if they have a gun pointed at their heads…”

Many of the sects in Baokang County Town felt danger looming over their heads.

Ever since they verified that the people who occupied the second level of the crystal mine were indeed Thunderous Battle and Little North from Blood River Sect’s master and that the other people with them also had extraordinary qi realms, they sensed a powerful undercurrent swirling around the news!

“Since they acted in such a flashy manner, they might be thinking about gaining a footing in Baokang…”

“If it’s those two, they won’t be easy to deal with. After all, they’re Happy’s friends. Last time, he destroyed Five Venoms for All-powerful Medicinal Stone, and they’re not even that close. Who will even have the courage to attack Thunderous Battle and Little North?”

“Ech…”

The masters of the local sects felt incredibly troubled.

“You can consider Blood Rivers in Nine Heavens to be unlucky. He became the stepping for them to establish their might.”

Even though the local sects had formed an alliance with each other to work together to fight against all the powerful people who wanted to enter Baokang County Town and gain a footing there, such as Class One Hall, Towering Palace, and Chivalry Sect, they felt helpless and completely resigned against Happy, who had the ability and the courage to fight against a sect alone, destroy it, and still live completely without worry.

“Bastards!” Blood Rivers in Nine Heavens threw a tantrum in his headquarters after he received no help even when he had requested for reinforcements.

“Those bastards… They sure spewed some pretty words and said we’d fight together in the beginning, but when something happened to me, all of them became cowardly dogs and are just content with me making a fool of myself… Hmph! I’d like to see how long you can be free and at ease. Do you actually think that one crystal mine can satisfy their appetite?”

Blood Rivers in Nine Heavens had actually gathered quite a lot of information.

There were quite a lot of Beautiful Robes Faction members who joined Thunderous Battle to enter Baokang. After coming, they often went to the herbal grounds and other mines. What shocked him even more was that they were all elites with high-tier martial arts. They were either in Mystical Realm or Blessed Realm, and all of them had masterpieces with them. Beautiful Robes Faction could be considered to be a huge sect which had sent all of its elites out.

The people in Baokang County Town had yet to become agitated because the people from Beautiful Robes Faction as well as Thunderous Battle and Little North had yet to encroach upon their benefits, but once they took action, their force would be so great that even Jade Fox Palace, the strongest sect in the area, would not be able to stop them!