Chapter 179 Divergence

Let's leave that aside for the moment...

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

"Whew..." A blond man wearing a white hat with green stripes and a green kimono was busily working in front of a device, muttering to himself, "This [Magnetic North Guidance] is really useful. The magical treasures of your universe are truly impressive."

"Mr. Urahara, you jest..." Beside him, a scholarly man in ornate purple robes gently waved a purple dragon fan, replying with a smile, "Compared to your [Hogyoku], how many magical treasures can truly be called 'impressive'..."

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

"Ahahaha... Dragon Head, you flatter me." Urahara smiled inscrutably. "That kind of uncontrollable 'dangerous item' can't be called a magical treasure. Sealing it away is the most appropriate course of action..."

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

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

But one person, having only heard the beginning, already wanted to leave.

And that person... was none other than Lu Fengxian.

"You cannot leave." A monk in white robes stood in front of Lu Bu, preventing him from passing.

This monk... had a fleshy protuberance on his head, long hair at his temples, a white dot on his forehead, and a solemn countenance. He wore a snow-white cloak, carried a single sword on his back, and exuded righteousness. If not for his hairstyle, most people would mistake him for a swordsman rather than a monk.

"Hmph... Fo Jian Fen Shuo..." Lu Bu recognized this person, as they had crossed paths before. "Can you stop me?"

Fo Jian did not answer this question. More often than not, he preferred to use actions instead of words.

Therefore, at this moment... his hand was slowly reaching for the sword on his back.

"Hold on!" Zhuge Liang, standing at a high point, quickly stepped in to mediate. "You two... you have no reason to fight. Engaging in conflict here is a waste of energy..."

Having said that, Kong Ming looked at Fo Jian Fen Shuo and said, "Master, since General Lu insists on leaving, let him go..." He paused for half a second, then continued in his usual calm tone, "Even without him leading the way, I have a way to attack Gu Zhi City..."

The military advisor Zhuge was still a reliable person. Since he had spoken, Fo Jian naturally felt reassured.

Thus, Fo Jian stepped aside, allowing Lu Bu to leave.

And Kong Ming returned to a rock at the higher elevation, continuing his previous words and speaking loudly to the crowd, "In short... the reason you have all come here is... when you entered the Fire River Barrier, your bodies were already marked by an 'imprint' that we had placed beforehand. Through the device created by Mr. Urahara, the magic of Mr. Jellal Fernandes, and the Magnetic North Guidance left behind by Saint Weng (Ci Hang Du, a character from the Pili universe, who had already passed away in the original work and was 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 spoke from the crowd. Without waiting for the other party to answer "yes" or "no," he directly asked, "Is there any basis for selecting who gets teleported here and who stays there?"

"Hmm?" Kong Ming heard this, looked at Brother Jue deeply, and then replied, "Of course there is..."

Before he could explain, Sima Yi, who was standing behind him, 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 barrier of the Martial Arts Arena."

"Oh~" Brother Jue immediately nodded, thoughtfully saying, "So... those who were teleported here, regardless of victory or defeat, all fought on the stage... right?"

Clearly, Brother Jue had already deduced the selection rule in his mind. He asked this question only to corroborate his own theory.

"Indeed." Kong Ming replied, "Apart from Lonely Marquis and Mr. Jellal Fernandes, those who were teleported here all bear both the Fire River Barrier's and the Martial Arts Arena's imprints. Those who remained at the Martial Arts Arena were only imprinted with the Fire River Barrier’s mark."

Here, let's add something Kong Ming didn't explain: Cang, Feng Zhi Hen, Yuan Wuzang, and Heizi were all aware of the layout beforehand. They had planned from the beginning to stay at the Martial Arts Arena and use the Xuan Gang Sword Formation to trap Orochi. Therefore, they had already discussed... not attending the martial arts tournament for the first two days, and then entering the Fire River Barrier separately on the third day, thus minimizing the probability of being called out. Of course, even if their names were called, they would immediately forfeit.

"Heh... I see..." Hearing Kong Ming's answer, Feng Bujue secretly thought, "For us players, the difference is... 'players who fought on stage' get teleported here; while 'those who didn't fight on stage' and 'those who forfeited as soon as their names were called' stay at the Martial Arts Arena." He glanced at the game menu, looking at the IDs [Seven Kill] and [Stone Flower Between], thinking, "Although it differs somewhat from my previous guess, the general idea is the same... those who remain at the Martial Arts Arena are undoubtedly in greater danger..." His eyes darted around, looking at Ruo Yu and Xiao Tan who were mixed in the crowd (the first thing Brother Jue did after landing was to locate those two), "And the three of us players who fought on stage have come to an environment where 'order' still exists, and we are still in a state where it is 'not very convenient to attack our own people'."

"Ahem... well then... now..." After a moment, Lonely Marquis also jumped onto the high rock, coughing as he spoke to the crowd, "Please be patient... cough... cough..." It was quite tiring to listen to him speak, "As Mr. Kong Ming said, all of you who have come here, regardless of whether you won or lost, have fought on the stage... cough... since you have fought on the stage, you have suffered some injuries... so..." He raised his hand and pointed to a light and shadow behind the crowd, "We have invited Pure Emerald Bodhisattva to heal your injuries."

The "Pure Emerald Bodhisattva" he spoke of also came from the Pili universe and was a preeminent Buddhist expert.

The Bodhisattva wore light yellow robes, enveloped in Buddhist light, with a dignified countenance and an otherworldly demeanor. Possessing great wisdom and great compassion, following Buddhist principles and righteously saving sentient beings, they were as gentle and approachable as a spring breeze, inspiring reverence.

And the healing abilities of Pure Emerald Bodhisattva were beyond comparison to "mortal means." Purely physical injuries (surgery) were nothing to them; basically, as long as there was breath left... he/she (the Bodhisattva had no definite gender) could save them. For those more peculiar injuries, such as strange poisons, primordial spirit abnormalities, or damage to one's foundation... the Bodhisattva also had ways to deal with them.

At this time, Pure Emerald Bodhisattva continued Lonely Marquis's words, explaining to the crowd, "A magical array has already been set up here. When you set foot here, I had already begun to heal you. Wait another quarter of an hour, and it will be completed..."

"Hmm... no wonder my survival, stamina, and spiritual energy are all rapidly recovering..." Feng Bujue immediately thought, "It seems... the advantage of being teleported here is extraordinary..."

"After your injuries are restored..." After a few seconds, the military advisor Zhuge continued, "The 'Three Teachings' Forefathers' will lead everyone to launch a general offensive against Gu Zhi City..."

"Currently, Orochi has been trapped by Cang at the Martial Arts Arena..." Sima Yi added from the side, "Opportunities like this are not to be missed... we must take advantage of this gap to capture Gu Zhi City and destroy the seals within the city... in this way, the order of time and space can be restored, and all the worlds will return to their proper places."

"Um..." At this moment, that annoying fellow Feng Bujue interjected and asked again, "There are three things... that I don't quite understand..."

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

Feng Bujue's behavior could be described with a very apt term: "prying at the edges," or in Northern dialect, "a shill." The question was just a pretense; the actual purpose was to help Zhuge Liang and the others explain the situation in a more organized manner.

"Alright, I know what you want to ask." Kong Ming lightly waved his feather fan, smiling as he replied, "First... with Orochi alive, the demon army can be endlessly resurrected in Gu Zhi City. This is indeed a very troublesome problem... therefore, we deliberately set aside time to heal everyone's injuries. I believe that with the combat strength of everyone present, as long as you recover your injuries... you will surely be able to take down Gu Zhi City without Orochi with irresistible force."

"Oh, oh..." Feng Bujue listened, nodding in a pretentious manner.

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

"Oh... sounds very confident..." Hearing this, Brother Jue could already conclude that... there were spies of this group in Gu Zhi City.

Whether it was Kong Ming's previous sentence, "Even without him leading the way, I have a way to attack Gu Zhi City," or Sima Yi's current remarks, they all revealed this information.

"As for the third thing..." After Sima Yi finished speaking, Lonely Marquis continued, "Forgive my bluntness... I don't know how long Cang can trap Orochi, but... String Leader has already accepted the inevitability. Even if he dies and his soul vanishes into the void, he will fulfill his mission and do everything he can to hold back Orochi 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... String Leader can still be saved!"

"That's right, I don't want to owe anyone a favor."

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

"I don't think we need the Three Forefathers to lead the way. This Great One can also storm into Gu Zhi City alone."

The several hundred people present were clearly not to be trifled with... for a time, the crowd was buzzing and restless.

Justice, dignity, confidence, aloofness... everyone had their own beliefs and personalities, but at this moment, their voices were unanimous... After hearing that Cang was willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of the greater good, they all felt that they had been burdened with something. Only by capturing Gu Zhi City as quickly as possible could they calm down.

"Hahahaha..." Just at this moment, suddenly, a bewitching laughter came from the sky.

What followed was a monstrous demonic tide that pressed down from the sky.

"What!"

"Impossible!"

"Crap..."

Zhuge Liang, Sima Yi, and Lonely Marquis all showed solemn expressions at almost the same moment.

"A bunch of laughable ants, gathered here plotting something sneaky?" As Daji asked this question, the monstrous demonic aura had already descended upon the canyon, transforming into tens of thousands of demon soldiers, and her enchanting fox-like figure also appeared before everyone's eyes. "Why don't you... tell me about it."