Chapter 8 The Gathering

After Wang Tanzhi retrieved the [Titanium Alloy Jinhua Ham], he, Sword Tyrant, and Zhao Yun followed Heike no Kiyomori across the bridge.

Although Date Masamune seemed displeased, he didn't try to stop them. After all, that strange monk was his superior, and... he had already witnessed Little Tan's strength.

Thus, four of the six players in this script had successfully entered the barrier beneath Guizhi Castle, effectively crossing the threshold of the Martial Arts Tournament. One person, [Sad Spirit Smiling Bones], was already dead.

The only one still floating around outside… was Feng Bujue.

…………

Fifteen minutes later, still in front of the iron-chain bridge at the main gate of Guizhi Castle, another cluster of figures arrived in a mighty throng.

"Hmm?" Date Masamune gazed into the distance and murmured, "Another batch?"

This "batch" he spoke of numbered more than a dozen, consisting of powerful individuals from various timelines.

Five were from the King of Fighters universe…

The four were: Goenitz "Herald of the Storm," Chris "Flame of Destiny," Shermie "Lightning of Rage," and Yashiro "Riot of the Blood." All four of them were powerful individuals capable of manipulating natural phenomena through their own will, and were known as the "Four Heavenly Kings of Orochi," the strongest four of the "Eight Hakkesshu of Orochi."

And one, was Rugal Bernstein. He was the Boss who had appeared the most times in the KOF series. His professional setting was a black market arms dealer, and he was also a genius martial artist. He possessed a genius's martial arts awareness and wisdom, able to absorb his opponent's martial arts secrets, instantly comprehend them, and turn them to his own use. As the series' veteran Boss... he was undoubtedly the players' original nightmare in the arcade era.

Then, there were four warriors from the Dynasty Warriors universe...

They were: "Ancient Evil" Dian Wei, "Wu's Fighting General" Gan Ning, "The One-Man Army" Zhang Fei, and "Devil Honda" Honda Tadakatsu. They were super-powerful generals from the four major forces of Dynasty Warriors. Basically, none of them were idol types. In terms of martial strength... the uglier they were, the more ruthless they were. A handsome guy like Zhao Zilong would definitely not have much chance of winning against them in a head-on confrontation.

Next, there were two people from the Pili universe…

One was the invincible Japanese myth known as "One Against a Thousand," the "God of War" Gen Musashi. Beside Gen Musashi was Mo Zhaonu, known as "Japan's Most Beautiful Young Man," whose beauty surpassed even women. Mo Zhaonu's appearance could be said to have raised the "average beauty" of their team, and to some extent, it further highlighted the ferocity of the four Dynasty Warriors generals next to him.

Finally, mixed in among this group… was a strange fellow. He was wearing a long purple suit, his face covered by a [Smiling Mask], his hands in his pockets, walking through the middle of the group without saying a word.

"Tch... make way, make way." After the group approached, Date Masamune glanced at them and ordered the soldiers behind him to let them pass.

The dozen or so people didn't speak to Date Masamune, but silently crossed the bridge.

Date Masamune watched as the people in front of him passed by one after another. He didn't react much, but suddenly... he saw Feng Bujue in the crowd.

"Chotto matte!" Date Masamune immediately shouted in Japanese, pointing at Jue-ge and saying, "You, stop right there!"

Hearing this, Feng Bujue's figure faltered, and he turned his head and replied, "Are you talking to me?"

"Nonsense! Of course I'm talking to you." Date Masamune walked straight towards Jue-ge and stopped a meter in front of him. "Who are you?"

"Huh?" Feng Bujue replied, "You don't even recognize me?" His ability to lie through his teeth was truly outstanding. "I'm Wei Yan!"

"Hmm? So you're Wei Yan?" Zhang Fei in the crowd heard this and even turned around to look at him.

"I say... uncle..." Chris in the front shook his head, covering his face and muttering to Zhang Fei, "Can you please not make things more difficult..."

"Do you take this young master for an idiot?" Date Masamune was not easily fooled. He immediately shouted at Jue-ge, "It's not like I haven't seen Wei Yan before. Apart from the fact that you're wearing a mask, what resemblance do you have to Wei Yan? And the mask you're wearing is completely different from his!"

"Ah... actually, it's like this." Feng Bujue replied calmly, "Some time ago... my lord complained that my hairstyle was like a black rapper, my clothes were like an orc showing off his butt, my body shape was like a *Cosplay* of *Rise of the Planet of the Apes*, my moves were like *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles*, and my speech was like an autistic patient... I thought to myself, I'm still a general, with a name and a title. Even if I can't write poetry or prose, I know a lot of words, so I can be considered half a cultured person... It's really not good to always appear in that image. So, I got a haircut, changed my clothes, fixed my bowlegs, learned rap from the strategist for half a month, and lost some weight." He paused and pointed to his face. "The old mask didn't match the new look, so I bought a new one."

"Who are you trying to fool!" Date Masamune was stunned. It was the first time he had seen someone so calmly and lengthily telling a lie. "Who exactly are you?"

"Sigh... Crazy Bro, I think we should just give up." Mo Zhaonu, walking at the back of the group, interjected. "I told you a long time ago, it wouldn't work..."

"Crazy Bro?" Date Masamune heard this and looked at Jue-ge suspiciously.

"What Crazy Bro?" Feng Bujue continued to play dumb. "Please call me General Wei, or Wen Chang."

"You little..." Date Masamune's forehead veins bulged, and he clenched his fists. "Are you deliberately trying to mess with me..." He had already accumulated a lot of anger in the previous battle with Little Tan, and now Feng Bujue had poured a bucket of hot oil on him, naturally igniting it again. "Speak! Who exactly are you? Otherwise, this young master will chop you down right now!"

"Okay, okay..." Seeing that the "sneak through" plan had failed, Feng Bujue activated "Plan B."

This plan... briefly speaking, was "Plan B"; to put it completely, it was the "Pretend to be Awesome Plan."

"Since you asked so sincerely!" Jue-ge said, taking a big step back, straightening his back, striking a pose, and chanting, "I will mercifully answer you!"

"Can we go first..." Goenitz, walking in the very front, didn't even turn his head. He already knew what Jue-ge was going to do, so he just closed his eyes and asked in a deep voice.

"Sigh..." Gen Musashi sighed. "Oh well... we've already heard it once, it doesn't hurt to hear it again..." The subtext of his words was – we've already suffered one mental pollution, another one won't lower our sanity points.

"I just asked you to give your name... what exactly are you trying to say..." Date Masamune also felt that something was wrong. Looking at Jue-ge's posture, it was as if he was about to give a storytelling performance...

"Listen up... I am!" Feng Bujue took off his mask, his words flowing like a river, a torrent rushing down. "A green pine on top of Mount Tai, standing tall and proud in the sky. Eight thousand miles of storms cannot blow it down, nine thousand thunderbolts cannot shake it..."

He had only just begun, and he had already stunned all the demon soldiers and generals present. Clearly, the guys under Orochi had never seen *Shajiabang*.

"As the saying goes... Smiling at the vast ocean, shattering a thousand armies, strategizing and determining the cause and effect of the universe. Without awareness, without fear, taking life and death lightly, neither ghost nor god, resembling a mad demon..." Jue-ge's narration was far from over. "Within the Three Realms, within the Six Paths, renowned, known to every household..."

"You are... Feng Bujue?"

Unexpectedly, Jue-ge had only just started his *koukoutou*, and Date Masamune interrupted him, asking this question with a painful expression and a tentative tone.

"Eh?" Jue-ge was also stunned for a moment. "So you recognize me?"

"Hoo..." Date Masamune let out a long breath. "It really is you..." He rolled his eyes to the sky. "I've never seen you before, but... I've heard your name, *shihao*, and some of your deeds... from Orochi's mouth..."

"What?" Feng Bujue asked strangely. "I'm that famous?"

"This is the so-called 'good news never leaves the gate, but bad news spreads far and wide'..."

"Sure enough, his bad name is widely known, known to every household..."

"By the way... why did we agree to help this guy sneak into the Martial Arts Tournament?"

"I don't know... but I always feel like becoming an enemy with this kind of person would be terrible... uh... just thinking about it gives me goosebumps..."

Date Masamune hadn't answered Jue-ge's question yet, but his "companions" around him had already had such an exchange... As a result, even the demon soldiers who were just passing by at the bridgehead cast disdainful and disgusted glances at Jue-ge.

"In short..." Date Masamune's expression became very strange. He took half a step back before saying, "Since you're Feng Bujue, then... go in..." He was still a pretty honest person, not forgetting to add, "I don't want to fight you..."

As someone who could be infinitely resurrected by the Demon King, someone who wasn't even afraid of death, he was unwilling to have too much to do with Jue-ge. It could be seen that... Feng Bujue's reputation in the multiverse... was indeed very problematic.

"Oh, okay." But Jue-ge himself didn't care about the reactions of everyone around him. He just shrugged and replied, "If I had known I was so famous here, I wouldn't have bothered pretending to be someone else. It's a waste that I even planned such a realistic disguise."

"Realistic my ass! Who would fall for it!" Date Masamune really wanted to shout this sentence, but he held back. Compared to getting involved with Jue-ge... he felt that it was more rational to suppress the urge to complain.

…………

At the same moment, beneath Guizhi Castle, at the Martial Arts Tournament arena.

A fierce battle was unfolding on a wide arena.

In fact... the "Musou Martial Arts Tournament" held by Orochi had already begun a few days ago.

There was only one arena, with no so-called "preliminary, semi-final, or final" rounds. The format of the competition was simple. In each match, the "Announcer Statue" would randomly announce two names, and then the people called would step onto the stage to fight. There was no time limit for the battle. It would end when one side died, surrendered, or lost the ability to fight. After a victor was decided, the winner could step down from the stage to rest, waiting to be called again next time; as for the loser, they would not be called again, but they could still stay here to watch the battles.

And so on... until the last ten people were left, Orochi would personally arrive, and then there would be a 1v10 final battle.

As for the principles, rules, and so on for the Announcer Statue announcing names... no one knew. The function of that lion-headed bronze statue was to announce the results after each battle, and then announce the next match and declare the start.

In this tournament, everyone who passed through the bridge and came to the arena would be called at least once. If they felt their strength was insufficient and they would be eliminated sooner or later, they could directly surrender when they were called.

Of course, most of the people who came to this venue wouldn't do that. As the top powerhouses in their respective timelines, who didn't have some arrogance? Although everyone's ultimate goal was to defeat Orochi, how could they know who was stronger or weaker without trying?

In this timeline, it was very difficult to talk about the strength of a character. Logically speaking, how could a generic demon general like [Jiao] be a match for Jian Jun Shi Er Hen? Any third-rate extra from the Pili world could kill Jiao in seconds. However... here, some inconspicuous extras might be on par with those popular characters.

Therefore... most of the participating powerhouses came with the mentality of "sparring and discussing martial arts." They didn't know if they could last until the end... The outcome of each battle was unknown.

However, not everyone participated with the above-mentioned mentality. Among the crowd, there were also many arrogant and self-centered figures... In their own universes, they played roles similar to Orochi. These guys didn't care about the timeline chaos or the suffering of living beings... Among them, some couldn't stand Orochi's arrogance and were preparing to teach the Demon King a lesson; others were simply bloodthirsty and warlike, born for war and coming for war; and still others were martial arts fanatics who only cared about pursuing their own cultivation realm, not caring about how the world changed, only wanting to find experts to test their own strength...

In short, this Martial Arts Tournament... as the Demon King had expected, was very interesting.

"That must be the Martial Arts Tournament arena, right?" When they came within a few hundred meters of the arena, Little Tan pointed at the distant high platform and asked.

"That's right." Heike no Kiyomori, walking in front of Little Tan, Sword Tyrant, and Zhao Yun, replied, "This is the... Peerless Martial Arts Stage personally built by me."

The plane where this "Musou Martial Arts Stage" was located was slightly higher than the ground of Musou Plain. The overall shape was a perfect circle, with a radius of two hundred meters. The material of the arena itself was no different from the stones on the wasteland, but after each battle, the arena would automatically recover in a very short period of time, and the traces caused by the fighting would be filled in. In addition, the entire arena was surrounded by a spherical barrier. The lower half of the barrier was like a bowl buried in the ground, and the upper half was like a dome covering the arena. This barrier was even stronger than the River of Fire Barrier around Guizhi Castle, and neither physical nor mental interference (below a certain intensity) could penetrate it. It both ensured that the people under the arena could not secretly interfere with the outcome of the battle above, and also effectively prevented the people below from being accidentally injured by the fighters on the stage.

"Alright, the three of you, I'll escort you here." After a few seconds, Heike no Kiyomori said again, "Any further, there will be more people. If others see you walking with me, I'm afraid it will cause misunderstandings."

"A clear conscience fears no ghosts." Sword Tyrant replied in a deep voice, "It's just walking with you. The three of us have a clear conscience and are not afraid of being mistaken as Orochi's henchmen."

"Hehe..." Heike no Kiyomori chuckled in a low voice like muffled thunder. "Okay, then I'll just take it that I'm overthinking things. Farewell!" After saying that, his whole body turned into a huge demon energy, rushing straight into the sky, heading towards Guizhi Castle in the vortex.

"Then..." After Heike no Kiyomori left, Little Tan looked in the direction of the arena and murmured, "...Shall we go take a look at the arena?"

"Yes." Zhao Yun nodded in agreement. "I've already seen several familiar adults and would like to pay them a visit."

"I also saw some seniors and want to say hello." Sword Tyrant said.

"Oh... then I'll... just find a place to watch by myself?" Little Tan replied.

The three exchanged a few more pleasantries and then went in different directions.

Within a few hundred meters of the Martial Arts Stage, there were "spectators," or rather... participants. Most of these people had excellent eyesight. They didn't need to squeeze around the stage like we do at open-air concerts. These people were basically standing loosely in groups of three or five on the wasteland, watching the battles on the stage from a distance. Only a small number of people stood by the stage, vaguely forming a circle of not-so-dense human walls.

"Hmm... Sister Yu really came in..." Soon, Little Tan discovered Li Ruoyu's figure in the crowd.

Almost at the same second, Li Ruoyu seemed to sense someone's gaze and suddenly turned her head, casting a cold look at Little Tan.

"Uh..." Little Tan shivered, startled by the glare. "How did she find me... intuition... so scary..."

He didn't know that the scary things had only just begun...

"Hey, Wang Tanzhi." Suddenly, someone called Little Tan from behind and patted him on the shoulder.

"Ah!" Little Tan had not yet recovered from Ruoyu's assassin-like gaze when he was patted without warning, scaring him so much that his hair stood on end. "What? What's wrong? Who?" While asking questions incoherently, he had already shaken off the other person's hand and retreated violently.

"Hehe... don't be nervous, it's me." Seeing Little Tan's reaction, Qisha found it funny. "What's wrong with you? You're acting like a frightened bird?"

"Oh... it's you..." Little Tan breathed a sigh of relief, but half a second later, he raised that breath again. "That's not right! I should be nervous that it's you! What do you want? Are you planning to attack me before going on stage?"

Qisha shook his head and smiled. "What are you talking about? If I wanted to kill you offstage, I would have taken advantage of your distraction just now and launched a sneak attack, why would I say hello to you?"

"Hmm..." Since what the other party said made sense, Little Tan was speechless.

"Don't worry." Qisha said in a very straightforward tone, "The Martial Arts Tournament has a rule—fighting is not allowed offstage, violators will be disqualified and kicked out." He pointed to the sky. "This is Guizhi Castle, after all. Tens of thousands of demon soldiers and generals are right above our heads, ready to descend from the sky at any time. Even those god-like guys around here don't dare to fight privately, how dare I attack offstage?"

"Oh..." This time, Little Tan really breathed a sigh of relief. "Eh? By the way, how do you know about the rule that private fighting is not allowed?"

"The rules are on the stone tablet over there." Qisha said, pointing to a huge rock about fifty meters outside the edge of the arena. "Let's go, I'll accompany you over there to take a look, and... I also want to chat with you."