"What's the matter?" Dodoria asked, his face twisted into a ferocious sneer, repeating the question. "Do I need to waste my breath on scum like you!" He roared, raising his hand and firing a ki blast.

*BOOM—*

A deafening explosion erupted, followed by a cloud of dust.

At such close range, a surprise attack like that was nearly impossible to dodge. Forget about a middle-aged guy with a power level of five; even Frieza, with his power level of over 530,000 (in his first form), might not have been able to react.

Dodoria was already preparing to leave before the dust from the ki blast settled because he was absolutely certain… that old man had been blasted into nothing.

However…

"I say…" Two seconds later, the old man's voice echoed from the dust once more, "What are you doing?"

"Wh…what!" Dodoria exclaimed, startled.

"You suddenly flew down from the sky and blocked my path." The old man continued, "And then you impolitely called me scum…" As he spoke, the dust gradually dissipated, "And then you suddenly attacked me…" He paused. "If you don't explain yourself clearly, I'm going to have to teach you a lesson."

"This guy…" Dodoria didn't answer the question. After calming down slightly, he backed away a short distance and tapped the scouter on his face a few times. The number displayed on the scouter hadn't changed; it still read "5".

"You've got to be kidding me…" Dodoria muttered viciously. "A man with a power level of only five… how could he survive that attack…" He thought for a few seconds and came to a self-deceiving conclusion: "Could it be… that I was careless for a moment… and missed?" With his limited intelligence, the more he thought about it, the more he believed it was true. So, "Heh… that's right… that must be it…"

"Um…" The old man looked at Dodoria, who was talking to himself, and wore an impatient expression. "It's not too late to apologize, you know."

"Damn it!" Dodoria roared. "You expect the great Dodoria to apologize to a weakling like you?" As he spoke, he used Bukujutsu (levitation technique) to rise into the air and began to gather his ki. "This time I won't miss… I'm going to blast you to smithereens!"

"I see…" The old man looked up at Dodoria and said calmly, "Although I don't know what your purpose is, since you've gone this far… then I won't hold back…"

As soon as he finished speaking, the old man's figure… vanished from Dodoria's sight.

"Huh? Wh…what's going on?" Dodoria was once again bewildered. "Where did he go?"

Because he hadn't mastered the ability to sense the "ki" of others, Dodoria relied primarily on his vision to track his opponents' movements during combat. Now that the old man had suddenly disappeared from his sight, his first reaction was naturally to consult his scouter.

And in that instant… he saw an unbelievable number on the scouter.

*BOOM—*

The number only flashed for a second before the scouter exploded due to data overload.

In the same second, the old man's figure appeared directly in front of Dodoria.

A straight punch… a very simple straight punch.

This was the first and last move the old man used in this confrontation…

The old man couldn't fly; he simply jumped up, soared in front of his opponent, and delivered an almost entirely unskilled attack to the face.

But in the next second, Dodoria's head exploded like a smashed watermelon… with a "splatter," brain matter and fluids gushing out, marking the end of his life.

A warrior with a power level of 22,000 had been taken out.

The old man who killed him was named Ling Gui… and he was 88 years old, a humanoid demon realm resident.

From outward appearances… Ling Gui was just a normal middle-aged office worker (from the demon realm).

In his daily life, Uncle Ling Gui was humble, calm, gentle, and courteous. At home, he was a good husband and a good father; at work, he was a good senior colleague and a good role model…

However, when necessary… Uncle Ling Gui could unleash a level of fighting power that could be described as "invincible."

…

Meanwhile, let's turn our attention back to Zabon and Dong Zhuo.

The two of them were speeding toward Gu Zhi Castle, and soon arrived at the drawbridge guarded by Date Masamune.

Dong Zhuo had no intention of negotiating with Date Masamune. He hid in the distance and instructed Zabon to eliminate Date, who was blocking their path.

Zabon didn't mind at all. Killing a few people was nothing. As a trusted subordinate of Frieza, he had participated in countless "planet-destroying operations." Whether it was a hundred people at the bridgehead, or hundreds of thousands, millions, or even billions… to him, they were just numbers.

So… Zabon unhesitatingly flew into the air and launched a ki blast of astonishing power at the bridgehead.

A blast like this could probably destroy half a city on Earth in the Dragon Ball universe; but in this alternate dimension, the power of this attack could only affect an area with a radius of a hundred meters at most.

And because Date's location was right on the edge of the barrier, the power of Zabon's ki blast was partially negated. So… after a dazzling explosion, the demonic soldiers at the bridgehead were all wiped out, but Date only suffered minor injuries.

After the sudden attack, Date didn't say a word; he tucked his tail between his legs and ran toward Gu Zhi Castle… He knew that he was no match for his current opponent, and that he had to retreat when necessary. He wasn't about to foolishly throw his life away.

"Hahahaha… Date, that kid, sure runs fast." After the bridgehead was cleared, Dong Zhuo brazenly caught up and laughed triumphantly, "He must have been scared by Mr. Zabon's strength."

"Hmph…" Zabon sneered, looking down. "So the 'Unmatched Demon General' who defected to Orochi is nothing more than this…" He flipped his hair dramatically and muttered, "Looks like… aside from Orochi, all those other guys aren't worth mentioning at all…"

"Haha… that's right." Dong Zhuo laughed. "I also think… with those guys' fighting power, there's no need for King Frieza to take action. Mr. Zabon can take care of them all by himself."

"Heh… you flatter me, General Dong." Zabon spread his hands, closed his eyes, and shrugged. "Those small fries with power levels ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand… there are quite a lot of them… it would still take some effort to eliminate them all."

The two of them chatted smugly for a few moments, then continued onward, heading towards the martial arts stage a few kilometers away…

…

At the same time, on the martial arts stage.

"The martial arts demonstration is over. The victor is Wang Tanzhi. The loser is Nene."

A duel had just come to an end.

The entire duel was uneventful… After a few short, restrained exchanges, Nene chose to concede.

As a ninja, it was inherently disadvantageous to engage in open combat on a stage. Nene wasn't the kind of person who would fight to the death out of sheer stubbornness. She knew that her strength was unlikely to rank in the top ten present. Therefore, she only exchanged a few symbolic moves with Xiao Tan, and after confirming that his speed was not inferior to hers, she promptly surrendered.

"Well, young man, you'll have to do your best for my sake as well. I'm rooting for you." After the announcement of the results, Nene gave Xiao Tan a friendly smile and said this.

"Heh… hehe…" Xiao Tan scratched the back of his head and chuckled awkwardly. "I'll do my best."

On the other side…

Compared to the harmonious scene on the stage, there were undercurrents swirling beneath the surface.

At that moment, many of the Unmatched Heroes who had sensed the invasion of Frieza and his group had gathered around Cang and were discussing countermeasures with him.

There were also many people who had come to help after hearing about the situation, including Feng Bujue.

Of course, Brother Jue was so enthusiastic about "helping" because he had his own personal motives… As a player, his starting point when devising strategies was inevitably different from that of these NPCs.

However, at first glance… his strategy seemed quite reliable.

"Hmm… Brother Feng's 'drive out the tiger to devour the wolf' plan is indeed the best course of action."

"That's right, if this plan succeeds, Orochi and Frieza are sure to suffer one death and one injury."

"No matter which side loses in the end, the strength of Orochi's demon army will inevitably be diminished. This is a golden opportunity for us to capture Gu Zhi Castle…"

"As long as the Demon King is killed and the spell seal in the castle is destroyed, our space can be fully restored."

After Feng Bujue's flurry of deception, many experts, including Cang, expressed their approval of his strategy.

"Then, for the time being, let's proceed as Brother Feng said… while preserving our own strength, let Frieza and Orochi engage in a tiger-wolf battle… and then we'll seize the opportunity to act." As Cang spoke, he looked in the opposite direction from the stage. "But… there's an immediate problem that needs to be resolved…" He paused, then turned to Feng Bujue and asked solemnly, "How should we deal with the approaching powerful enemy?"

"Oh~ that one." Feng Bujue replied casually. "Leave the negotiation work to me."

Just as they were talking, the figures of Zabon and Dong Zhuo had appeared within sight…

"Next match…" The bronze lion statue beside the stage, responsible for announcing the matches, didn't care about any of this. As long as the martial arts tournament was still going on, it would announce whatever it was supposed to announce, even if the sky was falling. "From…"

Unfortunately… this time it was unable to fulfill its mission.

*WHOOSH—*

The sound of energy whistling through the air tore through the sky.

Zabon, flying through the air, raised his hand and unleashed a crimson-orange ki blast that struck the stage-announcing statue, causing a violent explosion.

This attack shattered the statue and shattered the order of the martial arts tournament.

The prelude to a chaotic battle… had begun!