Sacrifice oneself for righteousness

Martial Arts Tournament?

Hearing that term, Du Ge's eyes immediately lit up, even diluting the frustration from his miserable start.

No man could refuse a martial arts world.

Of course, with only half a year until the tournament and no lucky encounters, training in martial arts was probably hopeless—but this was a game simulation field, so it shouldn't be that harsh on players.

Back on Earth, you couldn't experience such an immersive game. Besides, he had a cheat.

Since he was already here.

He had to see what a martial arts world was like.

Du Ge had been observing Feng Jiu.

In just a short while, half a straw mat had been devoured by Feng Jiu, and his swollen eye sockets had visibly shrunk quite a bit—the effect was immediate.

Since Taotie helped heal injuries, his two keywords must also work.

Feng Jiu said that once he recovered, he would help Du Ge heal, but Du Ge didn't plan to entrust his fate to someone else—especially since Feng Jiu's words were laced with threats and exploitation. He had to be on guard.

Backstab couldn't be triggered yet, so Du Ge turned his attention to "Maintain."

Maintain: to protect, preserve, and safeguard through words and actions...

After carefully pondering the definition of maintain, Du Ge struggled to move his body, revealing the reed mat beneath him, and said with concern, "Ninth Brother, if your mat isn't enough to eat, I still have some here. You can have it all."

Cough!

Feng Jiu was already choking on the dry straw mat, and this sudden statement made him choke even more—a mouthful of straw got stuck in his throat, unable to go up or down.

He frantically pounded his chest with the hand tearing the mat, finally managing to spit out the straw in his throat.

Coming back to his senses, Feng Jiu gasped for air, glaring angrily at Du Ge, and roared, "Are you doing this on purpose? It's just a crappy straw mat—do I need you to offer it?"

A warm current seemed to rise from his organs, and Du Ge felt the pain all over his body lessen considerably. His eyes lit up slightly—it actually worked!

This real feeling...

Was this the power of keywords?

Loved it, loved it!

What Taotie? How could it compare to Maintain?

You had to chew on a straw mat; I just needed to say a few words...

Looking at the angry experience pack across from him, Du Ge struck while the iron was hot and comforted, "Ninth Brother, don't be mad. You know our situation is too terrible right now. Only if one of us gets better first can there be hope to continue! Your Taotie is easier to grow, more promising than me. I can't move, and there's nothing else edible in this room except this straw mat. Even if I have to sleep on a cold bed, I'll make sure Ninth Brother gets better first!"

Feng Jiu looked at Du Ge, thoughtful.

Another warm current rose, and Du Ge's injuries improved further.

He secretly rejoiced—so offering a torn straw mat counted as maintaining their mutual interests. So this was how to use keywords. He was indeed a genius!

This game was interesting!

With the pain easing, Du Ge struggled to sit up, looked at the astonished Feng Jiu across from him, considered for a moment, and decided to hit him hard: "Ninth Brother, eating straw mat to recover is too slow. How about drinking some of my blood? Blood is more nutritious than straw—you'll recover faster..."

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

Before he could finish.

Du Ge's stamina recovered a bit more. He painfully got off the bed, grabbed the porcelain bowl by the headboard, and smashed it hard on the table, shattering it into shards.

Seeing Du Ge holding a shard of porcelain, Feng Jiu's face changed drastically. He nervously moved toward the corner of the wall and asked urgently, "What are you doing? Brother, I'll call you big brother—don't be impulsive! We can talk about anything..."

If you're not ruthless, you can't stand firm!

Besides, it wasn't his own body.

Du Ge looked at Feng Jiu, gritted his teeth, and slashed a cut across his palm. Blood dripped down from his hand.

Enduring the pain, Du Ge moved step by step to Feng Jiu's side. Under his stunned gaze, he brought his palm to Feng Jiu's mouth: "Come on, Ninth Brother, open up. I'm the support, you're the main force. As long as you recover, this little sacrifice means nothing to me..."

Feng Jiu seemed not to expect Du Ge to actually cut his own palm. He stared in shock, eyes wide: "You..."

But Du Ge's maintain was sincere and forceful, and since his stamina recovered faster than Feng Jiu's from eating straw, he easily pressed down Feng Jiu's hand and brought his bleeding hand to his mouth.

Blood entered the stomach.

Feng Jiu's pale face visibly reddened. Du Ge was right—blood was far more nutritious than straw.

However, Feng Jiu was only forced to drink a mouthful of blood, while Du Ge had actually cut his palm. He hadn't just spoken words of maintain—he was literally guarding someone with his life.

Comparing the two, Du Ge's use of the keyword was even stronger, and he recovered faster than Feng Jiu.

The moment blood fell into Feng Jiu's mouth, Du Ge's internal injuries healed by more than half instantly, and even the fresh cut on his palm healed on its own.

Not only that.

The personal panel that had been flickering before Du Ge's eyes flashed again, adding an advanced skill:

Sacrifice Oneself for Righteousness: The target you maintain reduces their guard against you by thirty percent.

He bet right.

Looking at the new derivative skill that had appeared on his personal panel, Du Ge pressed his lips together. So as long as his words and actions aligned with the definition of his keyword, his injuries would heal—the more closely they matched, the faster the recovery.

The keyword was the persona. So-called Simulation Fields were really all about acting skills. This damn Simulation Field was basically an actor training camp, wasn't it!

Following this logic, he should be able to deduce others' keywords from their words and actions, then formulate targeted strategies against them.

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

Du Ge summarized the rules of the Simulation Field while glancing at the other values.

Nothing else had changed, but in the ranking section, in the span of a moment, over three hundred more people had dropped out, and the number now read 187/936.

Du Ge thought it over. The 187 ahead was probably his rank, and the 936 behind was the total number of people still in the Simulation Field.

In ten minutes, a Simulation Field of three thousand people had been reduced to just over nine hundred.

He had to admit, this so-called Simulation Field trial was truly brutal.

Still, now that he understood the growth rules, Du Ge had great confidence in surviving this Simulation Field.

Perhaps it was the effect of Sacrifice Oneself for Righteousness lowering his guard, but seeing Du Ge make no further move, Feng Jiu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He quietly extended the tip of his tongue, licking the blood that had dripped to the corner of his mouth into it, and said with utmost sincerity, "I misjudged you, Feng Qi. You're better than I thought, adapting to the keyword so quickly. If I were in your place, I definitely wouldn't have used my own blood to save someone else."

"Ninth Brother, it has nothing to do with whether I'm good or not. It's all for the team's benefit." Du Ge's expression was humble, as if he had only done something trivial. "You know, my keyword is 'Maintain'—it's a support-type keyword. If I don't find people to cooperate with, I won't get far in the Simulation Field. Logically and emotionally, I had to save you. I hope that when we fight side by side in the future, you can trust me with your back. After all, maintaining you helps me grow too, doesn't it?"

Feng Jiu was taken aback, then laughed. "Well said. That's the right way to cooperate. What I hate are those who hide things and scheme behind the scenes. Seventh Brother, I recognize you as a friend. My family has some influence. If we have a chance to make it into the top ten, I'll find a way to transfer you to the Elite School."

Civilian School, Elite School...

Du Ge had gathered another piece of information about the other's world. He smiled and nodded. "Thanks, Ninth Brother."

Du Ge observed his personal panel, then reached out and pressed the close button. The panel was transparent, but having it constantly in front of his eyes somewhat obstructed his vision.

"Got any more blood? Give me some more." Feng Jiu looked up at Du Ge, hope in his eyes. "I have to say, drinking a mouthful of your blood is more effective than chewing half a straw mat."

Talk about pushing your luck!

Du Ge looked down at Feng Jiu and smiled. "No more blood. Want something else? A drop of essence is worth ten drops of blood. I think that stuff works better than blood..."

Feng Jiu's smile froze on his face. Remembering how Du Ge had crazily slashed his own palm earlier, and seeing Du Ge's eager expression, he feared the man might do something rash in a moment of impulse. He said dryly, "Seventh Brother, I was joking... ugh..."

"Relax, I was joking too!" Watching Feng Jiu dry-heave, a hint of a smile curled at the corner of Du Ge's mouth. "If you were a woman, I might consider it. But a big, burly man like you? You might not find it disgusting, but I sure do! Ninth Brother, what's so good about drinking blood? That was just a temporary measure. Now that I can move, I'm definitely going out to find you two bundles of fresh grass—no, proper food. Drinking blood? Even if you drained me dry, I doubt it would bring you back..."

Feng Jiu's eyelids twitched a few times. He spat several times to clear the grass scraps from his mouth and urged, "I was overthinking it. I'll leave it to you, Seventh Brother. Go quickly and come back quickly. To be honest, I'm sick of eating that straw mat. It's really not something a human should eat."

"Alright." Du Ge nodded. "But before I go out, you need to tell me the layout of the Feng Manor and the personnel structure. Otherwise, I'll be going in blind. Forget finding food—I might not even make it back alive."

"That was my oversight." Feng Jiu struggled to sit up, picked up a piece of tile, and began drawing the layout of the Feng Manor on the wall, explaining as he drew. "Our current location is called the Shangwu Courtyard. This courtyard houses sparring partners like us. The courtyard across from us is called the Chongwu Courtyard, where the Feng family disciples and guards live. Further in is the Training Ground, and the kitchen is in the Chongwu Courtyard..."

The layout of the Feng Manor, including the characteristics of the main figures, took Feng Jiu a full three minutes to explain.

Du Ge listened patiently and memorized carefully. He went back and asked about a few uncertain points several times until he was sure there were no gaps, then nodded and walked toward the door. "Wait for me."

The moment he stepped out, his figure hunched over. He clutched his chest and limped forward, dragging his steps. Having just been severely injured, suddenly bouncing around energetically wouldn't match reality. He had to put on an act when needed—caution was the mother of survival.

Watching Du Ge suddenly turn frail, Feng Jiu's expression turned especially cold. He stared blankly at the doorway for a moment, then tore another piece of straw mat from beneath him, stuffed it into his mouth, and began chewing rapidly.