Chapter 43 Matters Separated, Two Sides Discussed

At the same moment, north of Wushuang, in a certain canyon.

"Whew..." A blond man wearing a white-bottomed, green-striped hat and a set of green kimono was busy in front of a device, muttering to himself, "This *Fang Ci Bei Gui* is really useful. Your universe's magical treasures are truly impressive."

"Mr. Urahara is too kind..." Beside him, a scholar in ornate purple robes lightly waved a purple dragon fan, replying with a smile, "Compared to your *Hougyoku*, how many magical treasures can be called 'impressive'..."

The two people in this conversation were Kisuke Urahara (a character from *Bleach*, former captain of the 12th Division, former director and founder of the Research and Development Department) and Su Lou Longsu (the first dragon head of the Confucian school, one of the three peaks of the Three Teachings).

"Ahahaha... Dragon Head is too kind." Urahara smiled inscrutably. "That kind of uncontrollable 'dangerous item' can't be called a magical treasure. Sealing it is the most appropriate..."

"Get out of my way!" Suddenly, a shout from a distance interrupted their conversation.

At this moment, on the other side of the canyon, the powerhouses who had "arrived as light" were listening to Zhuge Liang explain the teleportation.

But one person wanted to leave after only hearing the beginning.

And that person... was none other than Lü Bu.

"You can't leave." A monk in white robes stood in front of Lü Bu, blocking his path.

This monk... had a *rouji* on his head, long hair hanging down his temples, a white *baihao* between his brows, and a solemn appearance. If not for his hairstyle, no one would think he was a monk; most would think he was a swordsman.

"Hmph... Fo Jian Fenshuo..." Lü Bu recognized this person, as they had fought before. "Can you stop me?"

Fo Jian did not answer this question. Most of the time, he preferred to use actions to replace words.

So, at this moment... his hand slowly reached for the sword behind him.

"Hold on!" Zhuge Liang, standing on high ground, quickly tried to smooth things over. "Both of you... you have no reason to fight. It would be a waste of energy to start a war here..."

Having said that, Brother Kongming looked at Fo Jian Fenshuo and said, "Master, since General Lü is determined to leave, let him go..." He paused for half a second and said in his usual calm tone, "Even without him to lead the way, I have ways to attack Gu Zhi Castle..."

The Zhuge military advisor was a reliable person. Since he said so, Fo Jian naturally felt relieved.

Therefore, Fo Jian stepped aside, allowing Lü Bu to leave.

Kongming also returned to a rock on high ground and continued his previous words, speaking loudly to the crowd: "In short... the reason everyone came here is... when you entered the Fire River Barrier, you were already marked by the 'engravings' we had secretly planted. With the help of the device created by Mr. Urahara, the magic of Mr. Jellal Fernandes, and the *Fang Ci Bei Gui* left by Saint Weng (Ci Hangdu, a character from the *Pili* world, who had already passed away in the original work and had been killed by Orochi early in this script), we were able to invite you all here."

"Can I ask a question..." At this moment, Feng Bujue in the crowd spoke up. Without waiting for the other party to answer whether he "could" or "couldn't," he asked directly, "Is there a screening basis for those who were teleported here and those who remained there?"

"Hmm?" Kongming heard this and looked deeply at Jue Ge before replying, "Of course there is..."

Before he could explain, Sima Yi, who was just standing to the side, stepped forward and interjected, "Hmph... isn't it obvious... since we can tamper with the Fire River Barrier, we can naturally do the same with the Martial Arts Arena barrier."

"Oh~" Jue Ge immediately nodded and muttered thoughtfully, "So... those who were teleported here, regardless of winning or losing, had all been on the stage... right?"

Clearly, Jue Ge had already deduced a screening pattern in his mind. He was only asking this question to confirm his own conjecture.

"Indeed." Kongming replied, "Except for Jimo Hou and Mr. Jellal Fernandes, those who were teleported here all had dual engravings from both the Fire River Barrier and the Martial Arts Arena barrier. And those who remained by the Martial Arts Arena and were not teleported... only had a single engraving from the Fire River Barrier."

Here, let me add something that Kongming didn't explain: Cang, Windtrace, Gen Musashi, and Kuroko were all aware of the layout beforehand. They had planned from the start to stay at the Martial Arts Arena and use the Xuangang Sword Odd Formation to trap Orochi. Therefore, they had already discussed... not showing up for the first two days of the martial arts tournament and entering the Fire River Barrier separately on the third day. This would somewhat reduce the probability of being called by name. Of course, even if they were called by name, they would immediately forfeit.

"Heh... I see..." After hearing Kongming's answer, Feng Bujue thought to himself, "For us players, the difference is... 'players who fought on the stage' will be teleported here; while 'players who didn't fight on the stage' and 'players who chose to forfeit as soon as their name was called' will remain at the Martial Arts Arena." He glanced at the game menu, looking at the IDs [Seven Kills] and [Stone Flower Space] and thought, "Although it's somewhat different from my previous conjecture, the general meaning is the same... those who remain at the Martial Arts Arena will undoubtedly be more dangerous..." His eyes quickly moved, looking at Ruo Yu and Little Tan who were mixed in the crowd (the first thing Jue Ge did after being teleported was to locate these two), "And the three of us players who fought on the stage have come to an environment where there is still a relative amount of 'order,' and we are still in a state where it is 'not very convenient to attack our own people.'"

"Ahem... so... now..." After a moment, Jimo Hou also jumped onto the high rock, coughing as he spoke to the crowd, "Please, everyone, be patient... ahem... ahem..." It was really hard to listen to him speak. "As Mr. Kongming said, everyone who has come here, whether they won or lost, has been on the stage... ahem... since you've been on the stage, you've probably suffered some injuries... so..." He raised his hand and pointed to a light and shadow behind the crowd, "We've invited Pure Emerald Buddha to heal your injuries."

The "Pure Emerald Buddha" he spoke of also came from the *Pili* world and was a senior Buddhist expert.

The Buddha wore a light yellow robe, surrounded by Buddhist light, with a dignified appearance and transcendental temperament. He possessed great wisdom and compassion, followed Buddhist principles, and righteously helped the masses. He was as approachable as a spring breeze, causing people to admire him involuntarily.

And the healing ability of the Pure Emerald Buddha was not comparable to "mortal means." Purely physical damage (surgery) was nothing to him. Basically, as long as there was a breath left... he/she (the Buddha had no clear gender) could save them. The Buddha also had some methods for more special injuries, such as strange poisons, abnormal spirits, and damaged foundations...

At this moment, the Pure Emerald Buddha continued Jimo Hou's words and explained to the crowd, "A magic circle has already been set up here. When you set foot here, I had already begun to heal you. It will be completed in the time it takes to burn a stick of incense..."

"Hmm... no wonder my survival, stamina, and spiritual energy are all recovering at a high speed..." Feng Bujue immediately thought, "It seems... the advantage of being teleported here is not ordinary..."

"After everyone's injuries are restored..." After a few seconds, Zhuge military advisor continued, "'The Three Teachings' *Xiantian* will lead everyone to launch a general attack on Gu Zhi Castle..."

"Currently, Orochi has been trapped by Cang at the Martial Arts Arena..." Sima Yi added from the side, "Opportunity knocks but once... we must take advantage of this gap to capture Gu Zhi Castle and destroy the seals in the city... In this way, the order of time and space can be restored, and all the worlds will return to their places."

"Um..." At this moment, that annoying guy Feng Bujue interrupted again, "There are three things... I don't quite understand..."

"Hehe..." Zhuge Liang chuckled. He had already seen that the kid in front of him didn't "not understand." On the contrary, he understood better than anyone else, hence the question.

Feng Bujue's behavior could be described with a very apt term: "prying the edge," which in northern dialect is called "stooge." The question was false; in reality, it was to help Zhuge Liang and the others explain the situation in a more organized manner.

"Alright, I know what you want to ask." Kongming waved his feather fan lightly and replied with a smile, "First... with Orochi alive, the demon army can be infinitely resurrected in Gu Zhi Castle. This is indeed a very troublesome problem... Therefore, we deliberately set aside time to heal everyone. I believe that with the combat power of everyone present, as long as you recover from your injuries... you will definitely be able to take down Gu Zhi Castle without Orochi like a hot knife through butter."

"Oh oh..." Feng Bujue listened and nodded pretentiously.

"The second thing you want to ask..." Then, Sima Yi also looked at Jue Ge, shaking his black feather fan, "... is about whether the seals in the city can be successfully broken, right?" He liked to steal Brother Kongming's lines, as if to prove that he was smarter than the latter. "You don't have to worry about that... we planned such a large-scale operation, how could we be negligent in the most crucial link?"

"Oh... sounds very confident..." Hearing this, Jue Ge could already determine—inside Gu Zhi Castle... there were moles working for these guys.

Whether it was Kongming's earlier statement, "Even without him to lead the way, I have ways to attack Gu Zhi Castle," or Sima Yi's remarks, they all revealed this information.

"As for the third thing..." After Sima Yi spoke, Jimo Hou continued, "To be frank... I don't know how long Cang can trap Orochi, but... the String Chief has already made up his mind that even if he dies and his soul is destroyed, forever falling into the void, he will complete his mission and do his best to hold Orochi back for us..."

"Then what are we waiting for?" In the crowd, a man wearing a white sleeveless karate uniform and a headband shouted loudly, "My injuries are not serious at all. It's enough to deal with Orochi's demon army! Let's hurry up and attack. Maybe if we act faster... the String Chief can still be saved!"

"That's right, this old man doesn't want to owe anyone a favor."

"Hmph... healing injuries or something is completely unnecessary..."

"I don't think we need any Three *Xiantian* to lead the way. This granddaddy can also attack Gu Zhi Castle alone."

The hundreds of people present were obviously not easy to deal with... For a time, the crowd was noisy and restless.

Justice, dignity, confidence, aloofness... everyone had their own beliefs and personalities, but at this moment, their voices were united... After hearing about Cang's willingness to sacrifice for the sake of the overall situation, they all felt that they had shouldered something. Only by capturing Gu Zhi Castle as soon as possible could they calm down.

"Hahahahaha..." Just then, suddenly, a charming laughter came from the sky.

Accompanying it was a rolling demonic tide that pressed down from the sky.

"What!"

"Impossible!"

"Crap..."

Zhuge Liang, Sima Yi, and Jimo Hou all revealed solemn expressions at the same second.

"A group of ridiculous ants, what are you plotting here sneakily?" As Daji asked this question, the monstrous demonic energy had already descended above the canyon, transforming into tens of thousands of demon soldiers, and her foxy enchanting figure also appeared before everyone's eyes, "Why don't you... tell me about it."