Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Clang!
The four elders of Heavenly Lake drew their swords at the same time.
The sounds they made seemed to be one, and it was very pleasant and refreshing. Sword moans seemed to have filled the air in Heavenly Lake.
At that moment, even Happy felt a strange hint of fear in him when the four elders simultaneously drew their swords and caused the sounds of their swords scratching against their sheaths to come out as one. He frowned, and he could not help but size up these four people.
The four elders of Heavenly Lake had their swords pointed diagonally, each pointing to a corner of the arena. From Happy’s view, their actions, their expressions, and gazes were incredibly similar. It was as if they were carved out of the same model. Their bodies exuded an outstanding sword will and presence. Also, even the frequency and magnitude in which their longswords trembled were astonishingly in sync.
As they breathed, four sword whines echoed in the air above Heavenly Lake.
Four sword wills surged into the sky.
‘I knew it, they aren’t easy to deal with.’
Happy watched the four elders of Heavenly Lake quietly.
The frequency and magnitude of the longswords’ tremors did not change, but the sword whines echoed madly in the air, and they fused together in abnormal harmony.
The sword whines entered his ears, and it was as if they were coming from within him. It caused his heart to be agitated.
A complete and powerful aura was quickly formed above Heavenly Lake as the four powerful sword wills fused together. Naturally, Happy was the only target for the aura, and he had the full force of the attack ram into him.
Whoosh!
His sleeves fluttered madly.
As the powerful sword wills and imposing momentum charged at him with a huge pressure, Happy noticed a strange change appearing among the four people’s qi.
Their qi was increasing!
As the wind howled fiercely, the qi within the four elders of Heavenly Lake quickly rose from the middle stage of Myth Realm to the later stage of Myth Realm.
“…”
When he noticed the change in the four elders’ qi, Happy’s expression quickly turned solemn.
He noticed that the sword formation the four elders of Heavenly Lake set up were completely different from the sword formation the forty-nine Sword of Heavenly Lake Faction disciples set up at the mountain path.
When the forty-nine Sword of Heavenly Lake Faction disciples set up their formation, they gathered everyone into one united whole, and they used the formation to gather their united strength into one body, which allowed them to gain the presence and strength of those at the peak of Myth Realm, but the weaknesses in their bodies did not disappear because of it.
The four elders of Heavenly Lake used the profundity in the formation and actually increased their personal strength by another level. They managed to push themselves from the middle stage of Myth Realm to the later stage of Myth Realm.
This formation had surpassed what Happy knew!
Even though their qi realms had just changed and increased by one level, there was a clear difference in strength between those at the later stage and the middle stage of Myth Realm. Their weaknesses would also disappear completely. This meant that Happy was no longer facing four normal Myth Realm elites, but four elites at the later stage of Myth Realm whose strength was comparable to Sword Sect’s master.
What was even more terrifying was that the strength of the formation was clearly not limited to this!
Thud! Thud!
The four elders of Heavenly Lake had already attacked.
They tapped against the ground. The four men turned into four astonishing sword lights, and they charged at Happy from four directions of Heavenly Lake.
A system notification arrived.
“Ding!
“You are caught in Four Matchless Sword Formation!
“Your movement speed has been reduced!
“Your accuracy has decreased!”
“What the heck?!”
When the system notifications rose, the four elders from Heavenly Lake had already arrived in front of him. Four powerful sword wills pierced through the world, and with four astonishing sword qis that tore through the air, Happy felt as if the air around him had been sucked away. For a moment, he was suppressed from four directions, and he did not have any room to avoid their attacks.
Even if he activated Petite Dragon now, it would be useless.
What caused Happy to feel that this situation was bad was that the closer the four people were, the more in sync their qis were. The four sword wills had started merging together in the air, and their power quickly fused together and became stronger!
“I knew it, there’s something strange!”
Happy immediately got rid of the thought of using the Dragon Swings Its Tail to destroy the formation. Their qis were shockingly in sync, and as they fused together, Happy could not even imagine just who he was supposed to counterattack at the moment he activated the Dragon Swings Its Tail.
His instincts told him that the Dragon Swings Its Tail had just lost its effectiveness.
Boom!
A thought rose in his mind. A powerful flow of qi instantly surged out of Happy’s body. His eyes sparkled. He had activated his qi realm.
Happy attacked.
At the moment the four people’s momentum were about to reach their peak, Happy swiftly disappeared in the distance.
However, as if the four elders on Heavenly Lake knew where Happy would go, the sword momentum in the air turned. Then, like a large, snow-white dragon tumbling about, the sword momentum bore its fangs and headed to the left.
“I knew it. It’s led by qi activity. My qi will be targeted by the sword wills in the sword formation, and I can’t break free from it.”
“Hmph! If you knew about this, you would have acted differently, I suppose. But it’s too late for you to think about running now!” A cold bark of laughter that sounded like thunder rose in the air. The sword momentum instantly released thousands of sword qis, and they went to pierce Happy, who had just appeared.
In an instant, Happy’s body was completely covered by the dazzling sword qis.
The four elders of Heavenly Lake sneered coldly at the same time and retreated. They moved like phantoms back to their original positions, as if they never moved.
When the Four Matchless Sword Formation was activated, the four people would practically possess the strength of two martial artists at the peak of Myth Realm. Even if someone who was One with the World would have a hard time if they entered Sword of Heavenly Lake Faction. One mere Shaolin Temple secular disciple would definitely die the moment they faced this.
But right when they were about to stop attacking, a lively voice gasped in admiration, and that sound came forth from the snow and fog that exploded and filled the air.
“…Amazing… This is simply amazing. Did Sword of Heavenly Lake Faction isolate itself just to research these sword formations?”
The four elders’ expressions instantly changed.
Then, the four people saw something unbelievable!
A figure slowly walked out of the dancing snow.
Even though his shirt was slightly torn, he was still as imposing as ever. His gaze was intense as he returned to the center of Heavenly Lake.
“How could this be?!”
“You’re actually alright?!”
“…”
The four people saw the disbelieving shock in each other’s eyes.
Just now, they had attacked at full strength without holding back in the slightest. Their full-powered strikes had landed on him. Forget about an Inaction Realm Shaolin Temple disciple, even an elite at the later stage of Myth Realm would be instantly severely injured by the attack. But this…
They simply could not believe their eyes.
*****
When Happy walked out of the dancing snow, he looked up once more, and a strange look appeared in his eyes.
In truth, just now, for the first time ever, Happy had sensed an unprecedented danger from the four elders of Heavenly Lake.
At the moment the four people’s attacks landed on him, he even felt the strength of someone who was almost One with the World landing on him.
If the four people’s attacks had not come from all directions and the power in the force-bearing points were completely the same, Happy would definitely not be as relaxed as he was right now. At the very least, he should have been sent flying off Heavenly Lake.
But the forces from the four directions were negated by his true origin aura, and because of it, he managed to remain unmoved, as if a miracle had happened.
To Happy, the attacks from the four people just now were the same as the attacks from two elites at the peak of Myth Realm.
If a sect possessed two elites at the peak of Myth Realm, it would definitely not be a nameless sect in the world of martial artists…
Even though Sword of Heavenly Lake Faction only obtained this effect by using the sword formation, Happy believed that the sword formation could help Sword of Heavenly Lake Faction stand above other sects and allow them to be ranked among the top with the major sects in the world of martial artists.
‘Sword formation.’
A sparkle shone in Happy’s eyes.
There were plenty of formations in the world of martial artists, but most of them had strict requirements. Take Shaolin Temple’s eighteen staff monks. Since they were players, if they wanted to bring out the effects of the staff formation, their strength must be about the same, and their teamwork must be great. This also meant that they had to spend a lot of time together, or else, it would be hard for them to truly turn the formation into their own strength.
In the past, the eighteen staff monks caused the staff formation to collapse because it became increasingly difficult for them to maintain the balance of power among them at the later stages of the game. The party dissolved into individual players.
There were plenty of people who practised formations in the game.
But the time, patience, state of mind, and teamwork needed could cause a normal player into despair.
Professional players would not care about forming parties and using this sort of method to get easy wins. In fact, they regarded this sort of thing in disdain. All of them were more inclined to increase their own strength. Hence, three years ago, formations started to gradually fall into oblivion. Very few people used it.
But now, the formation Sword of Heavenly Lake Faction displayed was incredibly profound. It was clear that they were much more high-class than the cheap stuff sold in markets in the game.
Happy had personally experienced the full-powered strike from the Four Matchless Sword Formation just now. Now, he had a general idea of how he should break the formation. Yet he had another thought. If he could obtain the training method for the Four Matchless Sword Formation, perhaps he could help create batches of powerful players from Lovely Land.
Of course, the Four Matchless Sword Formation could not be used for everyone. However, he had a few really good candidates in mind.
He did not even need to mention the teamwork Silver Wolf, Knife, Bar, and Thunder shared and the skills they possessed. The trust they had built over time meant that they could absolutely master the formation.
When he thought about this in-depth, Happy could not help but have the thought of killing the four elders of Heavenly Lake rise in his head.
However, this thought was soon dispelled by Happy himself.
Even if he wanted to get the martial arts manual for the Four Matchless Sword Formation, he had to do so after he obtained Heaven Crystal. As of current, his priority must be Heaven Crystal.
When he thought of this, the four elders of Heavenly Lake attacked again.
“It’s no wonder why you can clear our Heavenly Force Sword Formation. You are indeed pretty skilled. But we are the ones who will be personally using the Four Matchless Sword Formation. I’d like to see how many rounds you can last.”
“Kill him!”
They shouted with deep voices, and the four elders of Heavenly Lake shot out from around Heavenly Lake. They turned into sword momentums that instantly gathered around Happy.
Boom!
Thousands of sword qis spilled down from the air again. Heavenly Lake was once again submerged by a thick wave of snow and fog.
But this time, when the four elders of Heavenly Lake were prepared to retreat, a barely audible sword whine that tore through the air shot out while it was hidden by the snow and fog.
“Careful!”
Even though the elder reacted very quickly and swung his sword, his strength could not compare to the fierce finger-generated wind. He grunted. The person Happy targeted instantly staggered because of the force of the attack, and a flaw appeared in the sword formation.
And while there was a flaw, destroy it!
Even though Happy’s qi and blood were running amok in his body right now, with his true origin aura protecting him, he managed to retain some of his strength. He moved, turned around, and went to the person who was his target.
“This is bad!”
The second elder had clearly sensed Happy’s strength when he saw the scene of his companion being injured. His pupils shrank, and without another word, he drew his sword and attacked.
He did not know that the attack was exactly what Happy wanted.
The Dragon Swings Its Tail!
A black shadow moved in front of him, and the second elder was kicked away in a manner he did not understand. At the same time, he had his body fortification broken with just one finger strike. He coughed up blood and fell out of the tall Heavenly Lake.
“Tell your faction master to come out. You are not my opponent.”
When he noticed the anger from the other two Heavenly Lake elders, Happy swung his hand behind him without hesitation.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The third elder was instantly filled with a great sense of fear. He instantly stopped moving!
He lowered his head to look, and five dark holes the size of fingers appeared in a row on Heavenly Lake, which was built with Ten Thousand Year Azure Ice and could not be easily destroyed even with divine weapons.
