Sacrifice for Righteousness

Martial Arts Convention?

At the mention of those words, Dug's eyes immediately lit up, even washing away some of the dejection brought on by his miserable start.

No man could refuse a world of martial arts.

Of course, with only half a year left until the Martial Arts Convention, there was little hope of learning martial arts without some fortuitous encounter. But this was a game's Simulation Arena, so it probably would not be that harsh on players.

There was no way to experience a game this immersive on Earth. Besides, he had a cheat.

Since he was already here,

he had to see what a martial arts world was really like.

Dug had been watching Feng Jiu the entire time.

In just a short while, Feng Jiu had gnawed half the straw mat into his stomach. The puffiness around his swollen eyes had visibly faded, and the effect was immediate.

Since Taotie could help heal injuries, his two Keywords had to be useful too.

Feng Jiu had said he would help treat his injuries once he recovered, but Dug had no intention of placing his fate in someone else's hands. Besides, Feng Jiu's words were full of threats and exploitation. He had to stay on guard.

Backstab did not have the conditions to activate yet, so Dug set his sights on "maintenance."

Maintenance: protect through preservation; use words and actions to defend, preserve, and shelter...

After carefully considering the definition of maintenance, Dug laboriously shifted his body aside, exposing the reed mat beneath him. He said with concern, "Ninth Brother, do you have enough mat to eat over there? If not, I still have some here. You can have all of it."

Cough! Feng Jiu had already been choking on the dry straw mat. Hearing that suddenly, he inhaled a mouthful of straw and got it lodged in his throat, neither up nor down.

He desperately pounded his chest with the hand he had used to tear apart the mat. Only after a great deal of effort did he finally cough the straw back out.

When he recovered, Feng Jiu panted heavily, glaring furiously at Dug. "Did you do that on purpose? It's just a damn straw mat. Do I need you to offer it to me?"

A warm current seemed to rise from his internal organs, and Dug felt the pain throughout his body lessen considerably. His eyes brightened slightly. It actually worked!

This realistic feeling...

Was this the power of a Keyword?

I love it! Who needs Taotie when maintenance is this useful?

You have to gnaw on straw mats, while I only need to say a few words...

Looking at the furious experience pack across from him, Dug struck while the iron was hot and comforted him. "Ninth Brother, don't be angry. You know how terrible our situation is right now. Only if one of us gets better first do we have any hope of carrying on! Your Taotie is easier to develop, so you have a better chance than I do. I can't move, and there's nothing else in this room to eat except this straw mat. Even if I have to sleep on a cold kang bed, I need to get you better first!"

Feng Jiu looked at Dug thoughtfully.

Another warm current rose, and Dug's injuries improved significantly again.

He was secretly delighted. So, yielding a lousy straw mat counted as maintaining their shared interests. So this was how Keywords were used. I really am a genius!

This game was interesting! With the pain diminished, Dug struggled into a sitting position. Looking at the astonished Feng Jiu across from him, he considered for a moment before deciding to hit him hard. "Ninth Brother, recovering by eating straw mats is too slow. Why not drink some of my blood? Blood is more nutritious than straw, so you'll definitely recover faster..."

"Fuck..." Feng Jiu's eyes bulged wide.

Before his words had even faded,

Dug recovered a little more strength. He laboriously climbed down from the bed, grabbed the porcelain bowl by the bedside, and smashed it hard against the table. The bowl shattered into porcelain shards.

Seeing Dug holding a shard, Feng Jiu's expression changed drastically. He hurriedly scooted toward the corner, asking anxiously, "What are you doing? Brother, I'll call you big brother. Don't act rashly. We can discuss anything..."

A man had to be ruthless to stand firm! Besides, it was not his own body.

Dug looked at Feng Jiu, gritted his teeth, and sliced open his palm with the shard. Blood dripped down from his hand.

Enduring the pain, Dug limped toward Feng Jiu step by step. Under the latter's stunned gaze, he brought his palm to Feng Jiu's mouth. "Come on, Ninth Brother, open up. I'm support, and you're the main force. As long as you can recover, this little sacrifice of mine is nothing..."

Feng Jiu clearly had not expected Dug to actually cut open his own palm. His eyes widened in shock. "You..."

But Dug's maintenance was sincere and domineering. In addition, his strength had recovered faster than Feng Jiu's from eating straw mats. He easily pinned down Feng Jiu's hand and brought his bleeding palm to his mouth.

The blood entered his stomach.

Feng Jiu's pale face visibly regained color. Dug had been right: blood was far more nutritious than straw.

However, Feng Jiu had only been forced to drink a mouthful of blood, while Dug had truly cut open his own palm. He had not merely spoken a few words about maintenance; he was practically using his life to protect another.

Compared to him, Dug's use of his Keyword was more profound, and he recovered even faster than Feng Jiu.

The instant the blood fell into Feng Jiu's mouth, the injuries to Dug's internal organs improved by more than half. Even the wound he had just cut on his palm began to close on its own.

And that was not all.

The personal panel that had been hovering before Dug's eyes flickered, and an advanced skill appeared: Sacrifice for Righteousness: Targets maintained by you lower their guard against you by thirty percent.

He had gambled right.

Looking at the newly appeared derivative skill on his personal panel, Dug pursed his lips. As long as one's words and actions matched the definition of a Keyword, injuries would recover. The more closely they matched, the faster the recovery.

Keywords were character settings. So-called Simulation Arenas were really contests of acting skill. This damned Simulation Arena was essentially an actor training camp!

Following that reasoning, he should be able to deduce others' Keywords from their words and actions, then formulate targeted plans against them.

Of course, he also needed to watch out for advanced skills...

As Dug summarized the Simulation Arena's rules, he also glanced at his other values.

Nothing else had changed much, but his ranking had lost more than three hundred people in such a short time, becoming 187/936.

Dug pondered it. The 187 in front should be his ranking, while the 936 behind it should be the total number of people remaining in the Simulation Arena.

In ten minutes, the three-thousand-person Simulation Arena had been reduced to just over nine hundred people.

It had to be said that this so-called Simulation Arena trial was truly brutal.

However, now that he understood the rules of growth, Dug was extremely confident he could survive in this Simulation Arena.

Perhaps Sacrifice for Righteousness had lowered his guard. Seeing that Dug made no further move, Feng Jiu secretly sighed in relief. He quietly stuck out his tongue and licked the blood dripping at the corner of his mouth into it, then said with complete sincerity, "I misjudged you, Feng Qi. You're better than I imagined. You adapted to your Keyword so quickly. If I were in your position, I definitely couldn't use my own blood to save someone else."

"Ninth Brother, this has nothing to do with whether I'm outstanding. It's all for our team's benefit." Dug wore a humble expression, as though he had merely done something insignificant. "You know my Keyword is maintenance, a support-type Keyword. Without finding someone to work with, I won't get far in the Simulation Arena. Either emotionally or logically, I should save you. I hope that when we fight side by side in the future, you can safely entrust your back to me. After all, I can grow while maintaining you too."

Feng Jiu froze, then smiled. "Well said. That's the right way to cooperate. What I fear are those who hide things and scheme behind others' backs. Seventh Brother, I acknowledge you as a friend. My family has some influence. If we have the chance to enter the top ten, I'll definitely find a way to transfer you into the Elite School."

Commoner School, Elite School...

Dug had gathered more information about the other world. Smiling, he nodded. "Thanks, Ninth Brother."

Dug looked at his personal panel and reached out to press the close button. The panel was transparent, but it constantly hovered before his eyes and affected his vision somewhat.

"Do you have any more blood? Give me some more." Feng Jiu looked up at Dug hopefully. "Seriously, one mouthful of your blood works better than gnawing half a straw mat."

He really is pushing his luck!

Dug looked down at Feng Jiu and smiled. "No more blood. Want something else? One drop of gold, ten drops of blood. I think that stuff works even better than blood..."

Feng Jiu's smile froze. Remembering Dug's madness in cutting his palm, he looked at the eager Dug, afraid that he might impulsively do something outrageous. He said stiffly, "Old Seventh, I was joking... Ugh..."

"Relax, I was joking too!" A smile curved across Dug's lips as he watched Feng Jiu dry-heave. "If you were a woman, I might consider it. But you're a big, burly man. You might not find it disgusting, but it grosses me out! Ninth Brother, what's so good about drinking blood? That was only an emergency measure. Now that I can move, I'm definitely going outside to find you two bundles of fresh fodder—no, proper food. If you rely on blood, even draining me dry probably won't be enough to nourish you back to health..."

Feng Jiu's eye twitched several times. He spat repeatedly, getting the straw scraps out of his mouth, then urged, "I was overthinking it. Then I'll have to trouble you, Seventh Brother. Go and come back quickly. Honestly, that straw mat is making me sick. It's fucking not fit for human consumption."

"Alright." Dug nodded. "But before I go out, you need to tell me about the Feng Family's layout and personnel. Otherwise, I'll be completely in the dark. Forget finding food; whether I can return alive will be a problem."

"My oversight." Feng Jiu laboriously sat up, picked up a tile shard, and drew the layout of Feng Manor on the wall as he explained. "Our current location is called the Martial Arts Cultivation Courtyard. The people living here are sparring partners like us. The courtyard across from us is the Martial Arts Adoration Courtyard. The Feng Manor's disciples and guards live there. Further inside is the Training Ground, and the kitchen is in the Martial Arts Adoration Courtyard..."

Feng Jiu spent a full three minutes describing Feng Manor's layout and the characteristics of its major figures.

Dug listened patiently and memorized everything carefully. He repeatedly asked about several uncertain details until he was sure nothing had been missed. Only then did he nod and head for the door. "Wait for me."

The instant he stepped outside, his body hunched over. Clutching his chest, he limped forward. He had been grievously injured just moments ago, so suddenly becoming lively and energetic would not fit reality. When it was time to pretend, he had to pretend. Caution was the parent of safety.

Watching Dug suddenly become weak again, Feng Jiu's expression turned especially grim. He stared blankly at the doorway for a while, then tore another piece of straw mat from beneath himself, stuffed it into his mouth, and began chewing rapidly.