Sword Among Us
Sword Among Us - Chapter 524: Arena of Hero’s Mountain Villa

Even though Happy did not regard a Beggar’s Sect elder with eight bags with much importance, he was still wary of someone like that!

If a Beggar’s Sect elder appeared in the Street of Arenas, it was definitely related to Huang Rong.

Guo Jing did not show up. Happy did not know whether he was at Dragon Tiger Arena or making arrangements in the arena. If Beggar’s Sect intended to force him to use Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palm at Hero’s Mountain Villa, they would definitely send heavy hitters to the stage!

That was… a little troublesome.

At first, Happy wanted to change to another place to register his name, but when he thought about how smart Huang Rong was, even if he wanted to avoid it, it would be very difficult for him to do so. Hence, he got rid of the idea and thought of how he could handle the situation.

When he registered his name, the man with the goatee cast Happy a glance.

“Name, sect, title in the world of martial artists.”

“Happy, from the Murong Clan. I don’t have a title just yet.” Once he finished answering, Happy saw that the man had a slightly strange expression.

The man nodded, and after he made a record, he said, “There aren’t many who don’t have a title, but you will definitely have one after the tournament. Wait there.”

Happy nodded and left to return to the group.

He was just in time to hear Distinguished Dragon grumble to Heaven, “The martial arts tournament does live up to its name. Looks like we’ll be ranked right at the bottom…”

Even though their abilities were pretty good, they could not help but feel gloomy and somber. After all, even Purpose had a hard time trying to gain an advantage even though he had fought for a long time in the arena… He was suppressed by Yin Zhiping’s circle of sword shadows,

“Oh well, we can just treat them as practice targets. The people here all have exquisite techniques. We can treat it as coming here to improve!”

Heaven’s dual-wielding relied on technique and skill, and he soon accepted the situation. “Hey, looks like Purpose is about to lose. He has already used a few major moves in succession, which used up quite a lot of his qi. His qi realm has already dropped to Mystical Realm.”

When Happy heard this, he also noticed that Purpose’s momentum was no longer as great as before. He had a very hard time parrying the attacks. and his footsteps were slightly stiff. A few bloody gashes were swiftly left behind on his body by Yin Zhiping, who seized the chance to attack him.

The master of Unrequited Love Valley had a very unpleasant expression on his face while below the stage. Clearly, he was displeased with his disciple’s performance. He snorted coldly, and before Purpose lost, he turned around and left the group to go deep into the streets.

Purpose clearly did not expect that he would also be the first in their group to be disqualified from the arena after he had been the first to go up in excitement. The disappointment he felt in his heart could only be imagined.

As he walked down with a pale face, he saw the master of Unrequited Love Valley leave in disappointment, which made him feel even more terrible. He did not even greet the others but left the group coldly to head to another street.

“Next… Young Zi!”

The man with the goatee looked up and shouted loudly. Madam Wang of Mantuo Villa cast a profound glance at Young Zi before she sighed.

“It’s fine even if you don’t fight. You can make your own decision.”

With such words, she could be said to have given up on Young Zi. Madam Wang left the group and jumped on a roof nearby lightly. With a few more jumps, she vanished without a trace.

Happy cast Young Zi a pitying glance.

Young Zi’s Emperor’s Hammer Technique was a martial art that made its user use up quite a lot of qi, and it prioritized defense and counterattack. If she ran into people with sword techniques that were sharper and had more exquisite techniques, there was no doubt that she would be the one who would be suppressed.

Unfortunately for her, Yin Zhiping was the top of the crop among swordsmen, and if he could even suppress Unrequited Love Valley’s Unrequited Love Saber Technique, Young Zi’s martial art would be unable to stand up against it. She would have no chance of winning, which was why Madam Wang left before the match even started.

As expected, once Young Zi got on the stage, two parts of her body were injured before she was even hit ten times.

Yin Zhiping chose to move and circled around Young Zi without ever stopping, forcing Young Zi to continuously be in a nervous and defensive state. She used her qi incredibly quickly as she was forced to switch from defense to offense repeatedly.

Emperor’s Hammer Technique needed a long time to settle down after an attack, so if Young Zi did not succeed in one hit, Yin Zhiping could close in on her with just a few slashes, which allowed him to suppress her.

“Thank you for letting me win!”

Yin Zhiping had won three consecutive rounds, but even so, he did not bat an eyelid at his wins.

“Next, Lu Jing!”

When the voice faded away, an elegant figure landed on the stage.

“I am Lu Jing of Peach Blossom Island. Please grant me your guidance.”

“My dear Brother Lu, I have to apologize. I have already won three consecutive rounds, and based on the rules, I no longer need to continue fighting in the big arena,” Yin Zhiping apologized.

Then, he returned his sword into its sheath and received a plate from the man with the goatee. After that, he jumped down the stage, and under Lu Jing’s stunned gaze, he quickly vanished.

Happy and the others under the stage quickly relaxed.

It seemed like the NPCs were like the players. As long as they won three consecutive rounds, they could enter the next stage! But if that were the case, did that mean that there were also great martial artists in the arenas ahead of them?

Happy’s expression changed.

The man with the goatee under the stage clearly had the role of a host and judge. His expression did not change, and he shouted loudly, “The person defending the arena is Lu Jing, and the next challenger is… Happy!”

When Lu Jing heard the words of the man with the goatee, his expression changed in the arena. Anguish came onto his face while he looked at Happy, who was also stunned for a moment before he quickly headed up into the arena.

“It’s good that I met you here instead of being defeated and disqualified by you while I fight during the five stages. That’d be too great of a loss!”

When Lu Jing heard that his opponent was Happy, he knew that he would definitely lose.

“Hehe.” Happy chuckled softly.

But the moment he prepared to move, he heard Huang Rong suddenly speak up under the stage. Her tone was extremely cold. “You haven’t even started fighting, and you have already given up. You only have this much resolve, and you dream about being the successor of Eastern Heretic?”

Her words were like cold water that seeped into bones, and Lu Jing shuddering. It was only then that he noticed that he had just embarrassed himself in front of his master’s daughter, and he quickly tried to salvage the situation.

“Sect Master Huang, you are right. I understand my mistake now.”

“My father relied on his Seventy-two Flute Technique to defeat many famous martial artists in the world of wanderers, but you are afraid of even one normal disciple from the Murong Clan? Let’s hope that you can make amends for your mistake just now, or else, when we go back, my father will surely be very disappointed in you.”

Huang Rong sounded very stern by the end, and her words made Lu Jing’s face turn pale.

If Huang Yaoshi’s impression of him turned sour, he could forget about inheriting more profound martial arts!

At that moment, Lu Jing obtained Huang Rong’s quest.

It asked him to force Happy to use Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palm or defeat him…

If he succeeded in his quest, his reputation would rise by a lot, and he would gain Huang Rong’s affection, but if he failed in his quest, his punishment would be very severe, and all his previous hard work, reputation, and image in Peach Blossom Island would be reset. He would have to start from the beginning again.

Once Lu Jing received the notification from the system, he burst forth with an astonishing fighting spirit.

“Happy!”

Happy quickly sensed Lu Jing’s change, and it was especially so when he heard the youth’s firm declaration that he would not stop until he died fighting. Happy’s gaze became grave then.

He looked at Huang Rong through the corner of his eyes and lamented, ‘Huang Rong… looks like she has begun to reveal her claws! But…’

His gaze darkened, and he brought out his fourth-echelon Nation Protecting Divine Sword, which he had not used for a long time.

‘Aren’t you underestimating me too much if you want to rely on Lu Jing to force me to use Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palm?!’