Heartless Iron did not reveal the news of him attempting to create fourth-echelon equipment to anyone!
Only Lin Xiao, who was in charge of managing the Phantasmal Crystals in Chivalry Sect; Absolute Nonsense, the palace master of Jade Fox Palace; Wu Qing, the sect master of Righteous Sect; and Blood Rivers in Nine Heavens, the sect master of Blood Rivers Sect noticed it because Mu Clan began to buy ingredients for it.
The three local sects naturally said nothing and just sold their resources without hesitation since they did not have enough power to cultivate their own forgemasters. Most of their resources had been exchanged for silver and equipment to strengthen their members. Since the other could lower their risk when making fourth-echelon weapons, they were very welcome to the idea of giving Thunderous Battle such a favor.
As for Lin Xiao, even though Phantasmal Crystals were also very important to Chivalry Sect, Happy had never asked them for help in regards to Beautiful Robes Faction's destruction, and Lin Xiao as well as the others felt guilty about it. Because of that, they gave two Phantasmal Crystals to Mu Clan to support Heartless Iron in creating fourth-echelon equipment.
Thunderous Battle gathered a total of seven sets of materials, three third-echelon Nation Protecting Divine Swords, and one third-echelon Golden Armor Set.
Heartless Iron had never felt so excited and worked up before. In fact, he even logged off to earnestly burn incense and take a bath.
The moment Heartless Iron shut himself in the forging room, Thunderous Battle began to drink in the restaurant outside the forging room. He drank on his own. After all, it had to be known that it was not about some small sum of money, but nearly two billion taels of silver.
"Big Brother Thunder, when did you become so moody? Why didn't you call me over when you're drinking?"
Half an hour later, Little North appeared with a wild smile on his face. He sat down across from Thunderous Battle while his two zombies covered in black gauze and looking like door gods remained behind him. "Did you have your heart broken?"
"Me? Heartbroken?" Thunderous Battle was rendered speechless and rolled his eyes at Little North. "My kid is already as old as you are."
"Hey, could you not mock me that way?" Little North poured himself a cup of wine in a gloomy fashion.
Thunderous Battle swept a glance at the two zombies who were like door gods, and a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes. "Your two precious babies seem to be slightly different. I haven't seen for a while, so did you go to train them?"
"Hehe, you managed to tell?" Little North grinned slyly. "I went back to my master and got myself some ingredients for Thousand-year Corpse King. Don't look down on them now… Big Brother Thunder, you've been pretty lazy lately, so you might not even be able to win against my zombies now."
"Nonsense!" Thunderous Battle rolled his eyes.
Little North continued smiling while saying confidently, "These two babies of mine are no longer the same as half a month ago. They had parts in them changed, so their combat strength is now not that much weaker than that of a Thousand-year Corpse King."
"Thousand-year Corpse King? Life and Death Realm?!"
Thunderous Battle's expression changed. He could not help but cast another glance at the two puppets. Now that he looked at them, the zombies' figures under the black gauze seemed to be slightly thinner.
Little North smiled smugly.
"We received quite a good reward, so I had many things changed in my babies. Their movement speed and attack speed are modeled after Life and Death Realm fighters, and with the damage from their poison claws, even players on the Dragon Rank will have think before they attack."
"Not bad, Little North." Thunderous Battle was incredibly excited. "You haven't neglected your training during this period of time. Now, I'll look forward to the moment you can replace me as Mu Clan's strongest!"
Little North's expression became stern. He suddenly sighed heavily. "How can I not work hard? Beautiful Robes Faction's destruction told me that it is not practical for us to rely on our boss alone. I can't always be under your protection either. So now it's my turn to help carry some of Mu Clan and our boss' burden."
"Nicely said!" Thunderous Battle smiled and lifted his wine cup. "Cheers!"
When they held up their wine cups and were prepared to drink everything, they suddenly heard a commotion from the players seated in the restaurant.
"Hero invitation?"
"Read it, quick!"
"That waiter placed it on the table, and my name is on it. Haha! My name is on it!"
Thunderous Battle and Little North looked over in surprise and saw a man in Yellow Dragon Archer Gear sitting not too far away from them. He picked up a big red invitation with golden borders and waved it at a group of people at another table with a smug expression.
"Why are you making such a ruckus? Everyone has it."
To the man's surprise, one employee in waiter attire walked toward Thunderous Battle and Little North's table as well. He put down two large red invitations with golden borders on the table before he turned around and left.
It had two solemn, large words: Hero Invitation.
The two's expressions changed.
They pushed away the surprise they felt in their hearts, picked up the invitation in front of them, and opened it.
"Ding!"
The system gave them a notification.
"Obtained Emei Sect's hero invitation, written by Mistress Annihilation!
"Over the past few years, Ming Cult has committed many crimes. Golden Haired Lion King Xie Xun stole Kongtong Sect's Seven Harms Fist and killed Shaolin Temple's Divine Monk Kong Jian.
"A woman from Heavenly Eagle Cult, a branch sect of Ming Cult, caused Zhang Cuishan, one of the five swordsmen of Wudang Sect, to die and have his name destroyed. Bright Left Messenger, Yang Xiao, caused Emei Sect's Gu Hongzi to die of anger.
"Ming Cult also assassinated Grandmaster Bai Heng of Mount Hua Sect. Xie Xun wanted to take revenge, but ended up offending all the heroes in the world, causing public rage in the world of martial artists.
"Emei Sect's Mistress Annihilation cannot stand the humiliation and chose to work together with the five great sects, which would gather at Mount Huangshan. At the same time, she extends an invitation to all martial artists in the path of righteousness to surround and attack Light Summit and destroy Ming Cult!
"The final battle against Light Summit will be seven days later!"
Once Thunderous Battle and Little North heard the system's notification, the restaurant returned to calmness. Everyone's eyes sparkled while they had contemplative expressions on their faces. Clearly, they had also received the quest.
Everyone could sense a fortuitous event that could make their hearts surge from the details of the quest, which were to surround and attack Light Summit with the six great system-allocated sects!
Indeed, it was a fortuitous event!
Everyone had read the Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber before.
Regardless of whether it was Golden Haired Lion King Xie Xun, who stole the legitimate Seven Harms Fist and Lion's Roar, the Heavenly Eagle Claw from Heavenly Eagle Cult's Yin Tianzheng, Black-winged Black King Wei Yixiao's Fly on Grass and Freezing Soft Palm, or Ming Cult's Heaven and Earth Great Shift, all of them were ultimate techniques.
Besides, it was an encirclement by six great system-allocated sects. There would be plenty of teachers who went there, so if anyone was lucky enough to gain favor with one of them, it was not impossible for them to get a peerless martial art from that sect.
Also, Dragon Slaying Saber and Heaven Reliant Sword both appeared during the fight against Light Summit.
For a period of time, the thoughts of martial artists in the restaurant ran wild. The players left at a brisk pace and with calm expressions. In an instant, no one remained behind.
Thunderous Battle and Little North looked at each other at a loss, then sighed with unpleasant expressions.
"They just had to issue this sort of quest at this time…"
"It's really bad timing." Little North frowned.
At that moment, Mu Clan was in a period of swift development. They were quickly expanding, so their foundation was not solid yet, and it would be difficult for them to fight against Class One Hall. Once the elites in the clan left, they might face Class One Hall's invasion.
"I'll ask boss."
Little North brought out his pen and paper.
*****
"Fight against Light Summit?"
By the time Happy received the letter from Little North, he had also gotten a hero invitation from Beggar's Sect. He scowled at the sight of it. The first grand and unprecedented storyline quest in World of Martial Arts had finally begun.
However, what caught him by surprise was that the first grand-scale quest was actually not to challenge Raging Aquatic Dragon Island. Instead, it was the final battle against Light Summit, which should only appear a year after the game was launched.
He remembered that a lot of people had joined the quest, and there were plenty of obstacles. Not only did they have to face tens of thousands of Ming Cult disciples and elites, they had to get through Ming Cult's Five Banner Division. There were dangers and fortuitous events as well as countless subquests.
There were also quite a number of good players who stood out during the battle.
'Seven days later, huh?"
Happy pondered over it for a moment before he had an idea form in his head.