Sword Among Us

When Phoenix Dances and her group logged in, there were more than two thousand people around the headquarters. All of them were geared up and ready to draw their weapons. They were surrounded by a pre-war atmosphere. It was tense, as if a storm was about to arrive!

“What’s the situation now?”

Phoenix Dances’ expression was stern and grave. She quickly walked out of the door with Tea Words and Glutinous Rice behind her. She could not see the people from Class One Hall. Every single spot was occupied by Beautiful Robes Faction members. Upon seeing it, she released a breath of relief and turned her head around to understand the situation and Class One Hall’s actions from someone in the know.

A few people who had fought against Class One Hall squeezed to the front.

“We were originally training, and everything was peaceful between both parties, but those bastards from Class One Hall started chatting and said that Beautiful Robes Faction are a bunch of… They just said something really unpleasant, and at that time, we couldn’t stop ourselves from wanting to argue with them.”

“Argue? With your personality? You might have actually attacked them, right?”

A few people who understood them laughed.

The speaker’s fearless attitude instantly appeared upon hearing that. “Yeah. I killed a few of them. It’s their fault for talking crap about our faction master. They said that we… Argh! I’m just angry, alright?!”

Just when the group was about to say something, Phoenix Dances raised her hand and interrupted their argument.

“Enough with it! It’s clear that Class One Hall has been plotting this for a long time, so we can’t blame anyone. Right now, what we need to do is to defend our headquarters well! We have to use our lives to protect our dignity!”

“Yeah!”

The group nodded.

Tea Words took over the conversation with a stern expression. “Everyone, we know just how great Class One Hall is. Jade Fox Palace’s people are not that much inferior compared to us, and their strength is not inferior to ours either. Besides, the most important thing is that we are currently in a more dangerous situation compared to Jade Fox Palace. One Circle and our other friends will not be able to return to provide reinforcements for us within twenty-four hours!”

His loud voice echoed through the headquarters, causing the students from the University of South China to understand just how grim their situation was.

“No matter how strong the enemy is, we cannot lose our headquarters!” Phoenix Dances said while grabbing her Silver-spiked Staff in a heroic manner. She stood at the entrance of the headquarters like a female door god, and her words were firm and resolute.

“That’s right!”

“We’ll fight to the death!”

“We have thousands of us from the University of South China, and our hearts are as one! I refuse to believe that we can’t destroy them when they only have hundreds of people!”

“Faction master, give the order! What should we do?!”

All sorts of cries for war rose and fell. Phoenix Dances and Tea Words’ words had not only not made the people feel despair, but had stirred up everyone’s unyielding fighting spirit, and they were determined to fight to the death!

“Where are the people from Class One Hall now?”

“They should be around nine miles away. A few friends of ours in the same city as them sent us word. Right now, they’re following Class One Hall’s squad. I heard that they have around four hundred people with them.”

“Around four hundred people?”

When Phoenix Dances heard this, her expression changed. Her eyes lit up, and she quickly exchanged a glance with Qi Ci.

The latter was stunned for a moment before he quickly registered the situation. A hint of happiness appeared on his face.

Since Happy had been targeting Class One Hall in various forms, the Three Lonely Wolves usually paid attention to Class One Hall’s actions. They also had a great understanding of Class One Hall’s various formations.

This was something that only a few higher ups in Beautiful Robes Faction were privy to.

Among the information they gathered, they had also learned about the branches Class One Hall had built.

Ever since Five Venoms was destroyed and Fallen Feathers Sect had been forced to retreat from the scramble for power after being heavily damaged, the development of some of their subordinate sects were not so good. A month ago, Class One Hall had began to gradually spread out their branches. They set up the framework for fourteen branches within a short period of time all around the game.

Those branches not only served as a place to rest their bodies and provided them with various benefits, they also served the main function of helping Class One Hall occupy resources.

The branches of Class One Hall were basically all built in areas with rich resources.

Also, building a branch could strengthen a sect’s foundation.

With every branch built, the sturdiness of sect’s foundation increased by several folds. Even if the sect faced an attack of powerful enemies, the sect members did not need to meet up with them in a hurry. Their foundations would not be like paper before true elites.

The branch that was built in Wengcheng was the same as the other Class One Hall branches. There were around four hundred people in there, and that was not including the miners and other occupations. Due to Class One Hall’s policy of only recruiting the elites, each member had to be a great player who had entered Mystical Realm during the early or middle stages when being in Mystical Realm was the norm. At the very least, their perception and experience had to be above average.

There might not be many people in the branch, but in truth, they did not lose in strength to a large sect when they decided to mobilize all of their forces.

Besides, the people who led Class One Hall’s group were all core members, and there was no need to doubt their skills. They had priority over the guild’s resources, and equipment would be given to them first. Even if their strength was not enough for them to be on the Dragon Rank, they were not far behind. Their small group alone was enough to close the distance between them and a large sect.

*****

If four hundred or so people moved out to attack, even though they came in an aggressive manner, it allowed Phoenix Dances a sliver of hope. The branch in Wengcheng had to be empty, so it would be very easy for them to take it down.

‘But…’

The light in Phoenix Dances’ eyes quickly faded away.

Destroying the branch might be a way for them to vent their hatred, but their situation made it clear that it was not suitable for them to split up their forces to attack. Besides, the importance of the branch and the main headquarters was completely different.

If they lost the branch, they could rebuild it, but if the main headquarters was gone, everything was gone. They would need a very long time before they could recover and resume operations.

Phoenix Dances had to consider the fact that it was a deliberate trap set up by Class One Hall.

“Attack!”

She thought about it for some time before coming to a firm decision. Instead of staying in the town and defending their headquarters while they waited for the people from Class One Hall to come and kill them, it would be better if they lengthened the battle line and brought out Beautiful Robes Faction’s might and advantage in numbers.

After all, the strength of each person in Class One Hall was indeed greater than theirs. If they fought in such a small place, the battle array of four hundred people would indeed make it very easy for them to break Beautiful Robes Faction’s defense line and control the situation.

“We’re going out to attack?!” The eyes of Young Lonely Seven and Young Lonely Black had lit up. “I support your decision!”

Glutinous Rice, Rampaging Dragon, Bloody Flying Dragon, and the others quickly checked their supply of medicinal pills. “Bring Dew Pills, they can protect you during critical moments!”

Beautiful Robes Faction’s wills were united, and they were ready for war.

Once Phoenix Dances gave a command and had one group stay back to protect their headquarters, the others moved through the streets in a mighty wave.

*****

A few people outside the town saw Beautiful Robes Faction’s people surge out, and mysterious smiles instantly appeared on their faces.

“Chief Clouds, your tactic to lure them out of the town is indeed extraordinary. They’ve really come out.”

“They want to fight against us outside? Even if we hold them back, we can still kill all of them!”

A few men in a forest flattered a man with a folding fan who was dressed in a white scholar robe.

He had an indifferent look on his face while looking in the direction in which Beautiful Robes Faction moved. After a long while, he said slowly, “I wouldn’t dare take credit. Everything was ordered by the hall master.”

Not a single hint of emotion could be seen on Promise Clouds’ face. “Based on my original intentions, we were supposed to surround their headquarters without a single sound and destroy the faction’s foundation. After all, Beautiful Robes Faction doesn’t have many elites. One Circle and his group aren’t around. It’s the perfect chance.

“But the hall master’s plan is even better. The people from Beautiful Robes Faction all come from one university so their unity is very strong. Even if we destroy their foundation, the effects won’t be as great as with the other sects. If we fight against them outside and beat them up until all of them are downgraded by a qi realm before we destroy their foundation, the effects will be even better!”

As he spoke, a chilling cold glare rose in Promise Clouds’ eyes.