Chapter 1161 ...Against...

"Next match... Loukagar Bernstein, against... Honda Tadakatsu."

The battles on the arena unfolded one after another. Whether the previous match was epic or dull, the copper lion statue responsible for announcing the bouts remained indifferent.

But enough about the arena itself, let's talk about what was happening below.

After Ruoyu's fight, Feng Bujue left the edge of the arena and walked towards the stone tablet inscribed with the rules.

Qisha and Xiaotan were standing near the stone tablet. Seeing Jue-ge approaching, Xiaotan even waved to him.

"Oh... private fights are prohibited below the arena, huh..." Feng Bujue walked up to the stone tablet. The first rule he saw was this, and he immediately turned to Qisha and Xiaotan and said, "Sigh... my plan to kill you two offstage is ruined..."

"Hey! You're saying that right in front of us!" Xiaotan exclaimed.

"What's wrong with saying it? It's a killing game, after all." Feng Bujue shrugged.

"Heh... Brother Feng, you haven't changed." Qisha's reaction was calm. "Even though your words are harsh, your personality isn't something one can hate."

Qisha was a few years older than them, and his life experience was naturally richer. He understood that people who said such things to your face weren't scary... On the contrary, those who were overly polite and good at flattery were the ones you needed to be wary of.

"Too bad..." Feng Bujue laughed self-deprecatingly, "Most people start hating me before they even understand my 'personality.'"

"Are you sure it's hate and not fear..." Xiaotan quipped at the opportune moment.

"'Fear' and 'disgust' are often linked emotions." Jue-ge replied in a serious tone, "I can easily give you a dozen examples, like... cockroaches, snakes, slugs, ghosts, secondhand smoke, violent mental patients, rich kids street racing in the middle of the night, diagnostic tests, pop quizzes, midterms, finals, junior high entrance exams, college entrance exams, graduation theses..."

"Are you sure those things you listed are related..." Xiaotan squinted.

"And... starting from 'diagnostic tests'... the nature of the things after that seems pretty similar..." Qisha also twitched at the corner of his mouth as he recited.

"If you let him continue, he'll probably say 'deadline' or something." At this moment, a woman's voice joined their conversation.

Everyone turned their heads and saw Huajian walking towards them from a few meters away.

"I haven't missed a deadline in ages." Feng Bujue looked at the newcomer with a disgruntled expression. "You're still bringing that up... isn't that inappropriate?"

"Only someone like you, who sees 'missing deadlines' as the norm..." Huajian looked at Jue-ge with a contemptuous look, "would consider 'submitting on time' as something worth showing off."

"Tch..." Feng Bujue raised his head forty-five degrees and recited in a disdainful tone, "If you're not happy... you can hire someone else, that's just how I am."

"You're not ashamed, but proud, are you..." Facing Jue-ge's attitude, Huajian was indeed quite helpless.

"Oh! That's right, I almost forgot." Hearing this, Qisha suddenly widened his eyes and looked at Jue-ge. "Brother Feng, you're a writer, aren't you? I think I saw you on TV."

"Ah... a writer or something... I wouldn't dare to call myself that." Feng Bujue replied lazily, "I'm just an author at most... you know, we artistic types are all very low-key, so please don't idolize me, I'll be very embarrassed."

"Uh... from the content of what you said to the tone you said it in... is there any feeling of 'embarrassment' at all..." Qisha replied with a dry laugh.

"There is... look how shy my expression is." Feng Bujue stared with dead fish eyes, shamelessly replying.

"Alright, big brother..." Huajian cast a sympathetic glance at the embarrassed Qisha. "Arguing with him... will only deplete your sanity value."

"Then what are you doing walking over here?" Feng Bujue said to Huajian, "Thinking your sanity value is too high?"

"I'm here to look at the rules, is that okay?" Huajian replied.

"What's there to look at, you're not planning to go up and fight." Feng Bujue's seemingly casual sentence actually contained the double intention of "testing" and "provoking" his opponent.

"Heh..." Unexpectedly, Huajian wasn't at all surprised that her strategy had been seen through. At the same time, she also keenly noticed Jue-ge's intentions. "Trying to use reverse psychology on me? I'm not falling for it... I'm just not fighting." As she spoke, she took two steps forward and walked to the stone tablet. "Is there a rule that says... people who aren't fighting can't look at the rules?"

"Hmm?" Qisha seemed a little confused by what Huajian said. He wondered, "This beautiful lady... if you don't go up on stage to fight, how can you complete the main quest?"

"The content of the main quest is already ambiguous." Huajian replied without turning her head, "Besides, the quest log doesn't say... that you'll be teleported out of the script after surrendering, does it?"

"Hmm... that makes sense..." Qisha stroked his chin and nodded thoughtfully. "Although the content of the main quest is [Win the Martial Arts Tournament], what exactly is the concept of 'victory'... is it to become one of the final 'ten challengers,' or is it to successfully kill Orochi?"

"I think... either way, the difficulty is very, very high." Feng Bujue interjected. "In comparison, 'killing all players other than oneself before the end of the Martial Arts Tournament' might be easier. And... according to the basic principles of killing games, as long as you become the last surviving player, that counts as winning, it doesn't matter if the main quest isn't completed."

"Easier said than done..." Xiaotan replied. "Looking at the current situation... it's almost impossible for players to kill each other before the end of the Martial Arts Tournament or some kind of change occurs. To make a move offstage, you have to be confident that you can 'kill all your opponents before the Demon Generals arrive.' If you can't do that... for example, if you only kill one or two people and the Demon Generals come, then it's all for naught... it's like working for someone else." Nowadays, he analyzed problems with great clarity. "As for killing in the arena... that's also very difficult. Even if the announcing statue happens to call out the names of two players, one of them can escape by surrendering, so there's no need to fight at all."

"Well said, the real difficulty of this script lies here..." Feng Bujue put his hands in his pockets and paced as he continued. "That 'main quest' is just a lure. It leads us to a relatively safe environment where private fights are prohibited. Here, every time a player's name is called, they will face a very dangerous duel. 'Surrendering immediately' is indeed an absolutely safe and easy way to get through it, but... based on my gaming experience, this kind of solution that obviously conflicts with the main quest and requires no skill... will inevitably come at a price. It's just that we don't know what that price is yet..." As he said this, he gave Huajian a special look, and then continued, "Right now, the problem facing us is... how to successfully kill all the other players in this kind of environment. And before we achieve that goal, we all have to pray... that our names aren't called out too many times..."

"Hmm..." After the words fell, the four people gathered together all lowered their heads, their faces showing a look of contemplation.

To be honest, their conversation and this atmosphere... were quite strange. They were a group of people who were fighting on their own, hostile to each other, but they got together to enthusiastically discuss how to kill each other. This also reflected that... each of them had considerable confidence in their strength and wit, and had a very good gaming mentality.

At the same time, on the other side of the arena...

Ruoyu, who didn't participate in that discussion, was communicating with Feng Zhihen.

They were both the type to be concise and sparing with words. Even if ordinary people stood next to them, they might not understand what they were saying.

Anyway, the general situation was... Uncle Feng was instructing Ruoyu - on the correct way to use dual swords.