Chapter 953: A Joyful Change

“What did you say? Say that again!”
In front of Master Zhou Yi’s stall, the faces of the Top Rank Hall’s experts twitched repeatedly as they could hardly believe their ears. A few who were standing further back couldn’t help but ask Master Zhou Yi again about what he had just said.
Although Master Zhou Yi charged a high fee for conducting a detailed divination for a martial artist, he wasn’t stingy about repeating his words. He stroked his old goat beard and replied, “The martial artist in the Liberation Realm you’re asking about indeed acquired a rare martial skill in recent days. As for other unusual aspects, he fell from the peak of Punishment Peak and now suffers from a chronic illness…”
A chronic illness!
This was Master Zhou Yi’s professional term for a player’s punishment after death, indicating that the player’s status had been weakened. To find out exactly how much it had been weakened required more money.
Yet…
Just this one sentence dealt a heavy blow to the dozen or so experts of the Top Rank Hall!
Dying at Happy’s hands was one thing. After all, the opponent had given it their all and was almost killed by their Heart-Shredding Needle. But Master Zhou Yi clearly told them that Happy had died after falling from the peak a few days ago, with his status weakened by 10%. How could they bear this—it was like learning after suffering a heavy loss that the opponent hadn’t given it their all and was just playing around.
The group was in a terrible mood!
Dying once might not matter much to some players…
But as innate attributes grew stronger and combat abilities improved, the more powerful the expert, the more significant the weakening effect. A death penalty of 10% reduction in attack, defense, speed, recovery speed, and even attack timing.
Since they hadn’t even been able to defeat Happy even when he was injured, they were still worrying whether he had been killed by the Heart-Shredding Needle…
It seemed now that if Happy were at his peak, their defeat would be even faster!
At that moment, the proud faces of these experts turned grim. They no longer had the mood to care about such things. They silently returned to the hotel, got some liquor, and drank it.
He Yi wanted to send this news to Meng Yun, but thinking that the hall master must have already investigated Happy thoroughly given the seriousness of the situation, he felt chilled and stammered, “Guys, things are bad…”
“How bad can it get? It’s a total disgrace!”
The group didn’t even bother to lift their brows.

“It’s simply too embarrassing. If people outside find out that we couldn’t even handle a single injured Happy, and ended up completely defeated…”
The group jumped up like cats with their tails stepped on! Their faces were filled with terror!
“You mean…”
“Has the sect leader already heard?”
“I’m afraid he learned about it from the internet, which is why he ordered us to log off immediately to check…” He Yi smiled bitterly!
Everyone’s face turned pale:
“…”
If this news spread, Yipin Tang would likely suffer even greater shame.
…
He Yi and the others’ worries and guesses were correct. Meng Yun had indeed seen online the entire process of He Yi and the others being utterly defeated by Happy. She hadn’t paid much attention at the time, only because this battle’s REP duration was long, allowing for the extraction of a lot of information about Happy. But what she didn’t expect was that the REP included all of Happy’s details…
Someone had purchased all of Happy’s information from Master Zhou Yi!
Among the details, a line of text in bright red font stung Meng Yun’s eyes:
“Suffers from a serious illness!”
This discovery shocked Meng Yun, who had been impressed by Happy’s strength, and she quickly scrolled down to read the comments… Her expression grew increasingly grim.
“What amazing skills, what formidable tactics!!”
Meng Yun said these words through gritted teeth…
“Ring…”
Her phone rang! Glancing at the caller ID, Meng Yun answered without hesitation: “Did you see it too?”
“…”
There was silence on the other end for a while before a faint sigh was heard: “I never thought that after a year and a half, he would still be this strong.”
The voice was clearly that of Xue Yi.
The two were still in contact, and it seemed their relationship remained unchanged.
“You’re wrong.”
Meng Yun stared gloomily at the snow-capped peaks outside, her tone icy: “I never gave any attention to the old Happy.”
“…”
Silence fell again on the other end.
Meng Yun was right. Before becoming a vegetative state, she already held immense power; few in the Central Plains could stop her from doing whatever she wanted.
Although Happy had decent strength and some combat talent, compared to Yipin Tang, he was like a mantis in front of a cart—easily crushed. Back then, just sending a small group from Wudu Sect had reduced the once-legendary Happy to his weakest state; but Xue Yi’s strategy was different from Meng Yun’s.

Meng Yun likes to see an individual’s achievements, so she pays more attention to fighting skills and strength that bring joy. That’s why she targeted Kai Xin during the Global Huashan Swordsmanship Competition. By exploiting Xu Yao’s misunderstanding regarding a non-existent text message and a card that temporarily lost its communication function, along with some manipulative words, she nearly destroyed Kai Xin completely from within and out.

“Do you mean he already makes you feel threatened now?” After a dozen seconds of silence, Xue Yi spoke again, “Or does he make you angry?”

“……”

Meng Yun’s expression had returned to calm as she pondered, “I can’t be sure yet. It’s just an intuition… The feeling Kai Xin gives me isn’t that of a comatose patient who’s been in bed for a year and a half.”

“I’ve confirmed his condition with his attending doctor, and it’s been Xu Yao who’s taken care of him all this time.”

Thinking Meng Yun was doubting the fact that Kai Xin was in a comatose state, Xue Yi replied immediately.

Taking a deep breath and standing up, Meng Yun said, “I’m not doubting that. I’m just wondering if he was conscious during this year.”

“Conscious?”

Xue Yi’s tone became serious.

“That’s right.”

Meng Yun nodded. “It’s absurd to think that after waking up after a year and a half, he would immediately dive into games and keep up with the current game pace. Especially considering his drastic personality changes… It doesn’t resemble a comatose person driven mad by you at all. It’s completely illogical.”

Xue Yi fell silent once again.

He had actually thought about what Meng Yun said too. It was indeed bizarre. But based on his investigations and the information he had, he had never doubted such things before.

“You mean it’s possible he’s been conscious all this time…”

“That’s what I’m not sure about. But the feeling Kai Xin gives me right now is indeed strange.”

Meng Yun replied, “I’ve basically understood the situation in Songshan. He solved the Zhenlong puzzle very quickly and with exceptional decisiveness, even when facing experts at the Liberation Realm with skills at the Life and Death Realm level…”

“Another point: After playing for a few days, his internal energy increased rapidly, faster than it did a year and a half ago.”

“Thirdly, he used the fools from your Blood Alliance to gain fame, quickly attracting attention and stirring up players’ memories from the past, then smoothly placing orders for 120 million silver coins worth of items in the market.”

“Fourth… when dealing with my First-Class Hall people, he knew that staying low-key wouldn’t lead to a good outcome, so he simply used Fu Tianqiong to push himself repeatedly into the spotlight, ensuring his reputation.”

“Fifth, the speed at which he raises money is astonishing… The Dark Iron Heavy Sword and a unique swordsmanship manual cost 120 million. Do you think he would have had such sharp wits before? Would he have taken the effort to accumulate wealth?”
“The last point, and also the most terrifying aspect, is that he keeps pretending to be injured…” At this, Meng Yun took a deep breath and said, “Today’s battle was actually a gamble that Kai Xin had been waiting for.”
“Oh?”
Xue Yi let out an astonished sound.
“If he wins, he’ll become as famous as he is now. Neither the Blood Alliance nor the First Rank Hall can deny Kai Xin’s strength, nor his status as one of the top experts in the martial world!”
“If he loses, it doesn’t matter either. He can tell everyone that he’s actually been injured all along, and even if killed by so many prominent experts from the First Rank Hall, it won’t harm his current reputation.”
“Kai Xin has won! He’s proven his strength enough to pose a threat to us, and he’s also attracting offers from many major gangs. It’s said that the Shadows of the Wind Strike Tower have long been trying to recruit him… Even if we go all out against him, it’s likely we’ll end up forcing Kai Xin to join the Wind Strike Tower, where he can fight against us under their protection.”
Meng Yun’s explanation left Xue Yi uneasy!
“Could it all be coincidence? Kai Xin isn’t that smart, doesn’t have such sharp minds… If we really let him join the Wind Strike Tower, he’ll grow even faster. By then, it will really be troublesome!”
“That’s why I say this man is very different now… The situation is completely under his control. He can attack or defend as needed. It’s us who lose face and can’t openly ban him or act recklessly.”
“Should we keep having the people from the Five Poisons Sect take action?”
“Now?” Meng Yun sneered. “The Five Poisons Sect succeeded back then because we made thorough preparations in advance, and Kai Xin was unprepared. Even then, he killed over a hundred of our people. Do you think they still have a chance now?”
After a pause, he added, “Besides, the Life and Death Dream Pills aren’t as rare anymore. There are many medical techniques and medicines in the martial world that can cure injuries, and their prices have dropped. If we give Kai Xin another chance, we’ll only suffer losses…”
“Should we do nothing and let him grow stronger to deal with us?” Xue Yi was annoyed.
“I’m not planning to do nothing.”

Meng Yun suddenly changed tone: “Back then, because of that incident, weren’t many people targeting our Yipin Hall? It wasn’t until you left Yipin Hall that they gradually stopped? Since he’s happily hiding in a safe shell, all we need to do is force him to show himself.”