Abundant Martial Arts Virtue
Chapter 156 - 128: Battle on the Stage

Chapter 156: Chapter 128: Battle on the Stage

"It can’t hold on any longer!"

"Finish it off, all its materials can be sold!"

"Haha, attack!"

The dense crowd pinned the Demon Spider to the battlements, beating it incessantly.

—Will it be beaten to death?

Wu Xiaode wondered silently.

Suddenly.

A team squeezed their way through the crowd from behind, gradually spreading out and loudly issuing orders to the professionals.

"Class A number nineteen, hmm, not bad strength, stay and slay the demon."

"Class C number five? Healing professions are rare, eh? Stay."

"And Class C number twenty-one, Shield Warrior, you stay as well."

Shortly after.

One of the team approached Wu Xiaode, glanced at him, and waved dismissively:

"Class D number ninety-six? Weakling, we can’t use you in battle, go maintain order in the back streets and prevent disturbances,"

the man who seemed to be in charge said.

After speaking to Wu Xiaode, he immediately arranged various different tasks for the others.

"Yes."

Wu Xiaode responded and turned to leave.

Class D probably meant weaklings, so they weren’t given tasks to confront demons directly.

He looked down at the number plate in his hand.

On the plate, a task indeed appeared—it was to maintain the order of the streets.

Fine, that’s good.

Then let’s go maintain order...

As Wu Xiaode walked way, he couldn’t help but look back at the Spider Demon on the city wall.

The "Death God’s" "Dark Seal" skill had already been snatched away by the White Tiger and now lay within the Book of the Dead, ready for his use at any time.

The Spider Demon still possessed a soul-capturing skill.

Maybe it had some hidden abilities too?

Now was the moment to verify its true strength.

Wu Xiaode suddenly felt an alarm within him and quickened his pace, retreating rapidly.

Boom—

In the midst of the deafening blast, numerous close-combat martial artists were repelled, falling far and wide within the city.

For a moment, all was silent.

Before everyone’s eyes, the Demon Spider’s body started to shoot out long strands of thread, quickly weaving into a large web.

On this gigantic spiderweb, there were densely packed cocoons.

—What’s happening?

People held their breath in tension, waiting.

"No good!"

Suddenly, a sorcerer yelled loudly.

People looked toward him.

—Sorcerers possess vast knowledge; he must know something.

The sorcerer screamed with all his might:

"It’s possessed by a ’God’; quickly, ask a great one to come!"

The words had hardly left his mouth.

A slit opened in one of the cocoons, and a hand stretched out.

All the densely packed cocoons began to split open, and dark, human-shaped beings started to extend their limbs from within.

The "Death God’s" voice suddenly sounded:

"I’ve collected many excellent souls; they were originally meant as nourishment for the Demon God, but now, let them slaughter their own kind first!"

The cocoons began to struggle violently.

One by one, expressionless humans began to emerge from the cocoons.

Everyone watched in silence, unsure of how to react.

"Quickly!"

From the team that had been issuing orders earlier, a leading professional shouted out:

"We’ll hold them off here for a moment; the rest of you, go call for titled powerhouses!"

Immediately, many people ran back frantically.

Wu Xiaode found the sight peculiar and followed them.

He saw them run several hundred meters, stop before a fighting stage, kneel down, and shout, "A ’God’ has attacked; we beseech you, great one, to lend us your strength!"

There was no fight taking place on the stage, only four statues stood.

A long-haired man.

A burly man covered in feathers.

A hunched, frail old woman.

A short dwarf.

All four statues wore masks, rendering their faces indiscernible.

As the urgent cries grew louder, one of the statues began to move.

It was the statue of the long-haired man!

He was dressed in a martial arts uniform, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, hands in his pockets, looking utterly bored.

A voice came from within him:

"What’s the matter?"

People spoke over one another to explain.

"’Gods’? Aren’t they like robots that only do their own things? How did one enter the Intermediate Layer World?"

The long-haired man said, puzzled.

"Great one, it’s a Spider Demon—it’s taken possession of one!" a martial master exclaimed.

"That shouldn’t be possible... Alright, I’ll go kick it away," said the long-haired man.

With a flash, he disappeared from the spot.

The next instant—

A tremendous roar came from the direction of the wooden doors.

The Demon Spider’s agony followed.

Then came the long-haired man’s bellow: "Get out! This isn’t where you belong, get far away!"

After several breaths.

A series of cheers arose.

...Did he chase it away just like that?

Wu Xiaode was thinking when he felt his number plate buzz.

He looked down to see a line written on it:

"Task completed."

So that long-haired man really did drive away the Spider Demon possessed by the Death God?

—So powerful?

What kind of world is this?

Wu Xiaode suddenly remembered what that man had said before.

"They are too strong; even if they were to be reincarnated, various anomalies would immediately arise; more importantly, they don’t want to reincarnate, in fact, they find staying in the sin prison to be rather pleasant."

"Pleasant in the sin prison?"

"...There must be some reasons, but those are beyond what a small fry like me could know."

A shadow flashed suddenly, landing back on the stage.

—It was the long-haired man.

He yawned and said to the crowd, "That fella won’t dare to invade the city again; disperse."

"Yes, great one."

The crowd replied respectfully.

The long-haired man once again transformed into a statue and stood motionless at the empty spot among the other three.

Wu Xiaode’s eyes wandered, feeling as if he had never seen anything like this before.

Could someone really be this powerful?

...Interesting.

Since even the Death God was trapped in the Intermediate Layer World and couldn’t enter the city, there was no need for him to rush.

He might as well try to understand this world; perhaps it held the secrets to countering the Death God.

——That was his task for today.

Wu Xiaode thought quietly and turned to walk towards his dwelling.

Halfway there, he suddenly saw an inn.

Soul Power was gone, huh.

And I’m pretty tired too!

Should I grab something to eat?

Wu Xiaode paused, peering into the inn.

A waiter dressed in traditional attire and a maid-clad girl rushed out of the inn, reaching out to pull him in.

"Dear guest, would you like to have a meal?"

They said enthusiastically.

Wu Xiaode took a step back involuntarily.

——What’s with this mix and match? Why is one in traditional clothes and the other in cosplay?

Perhaps knowing what he was thinking, or perhaps the question had been asked too many times——

The waiter explained, "The strong from various worlds converge here, and our inn has to keep up with the times, providing services in different styles for the experts of diverse civilizations."

"Yeah, yeah, young man, I can join you for your meal," the maid-dressed girl said with a sweet smile.

After speaking, she reached out to pull Wu Xiaode again.

Wu Xiaode quickly said,

"Wait a moment——I only have one question, how do I pay for the meal?"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the enthusiasm on the faces of the waiter and the maid vanished.

"Damn bad luck, he’s just a small fry, might be sent to the Death World any minute now."

The waiter spat contemptuously.

"You’re new here, young man. You’re a D like us, right? So, survive first, else it’s off to the Death World for you,"

The maid-dressed girl withdrew her hand, speaking disdainfully.

They turned and walked back into the inn.

A loud "bang" followed as the door of the inn shut tightly.

Wu Xiaode froze on the spot.

"What the heck, it’s clearly not the real world, yet it’s so realistic,"

He murmured, shaking his head.

How could one survive in this city?

Suddenly, a burst of laughter erupted from behind him.

Wu Xiaode turned to look and saw a muscular man standing not far away, laughing at him.

"Hey, uncle, what are you laughing at?" Wu Xiaode called out.

The muscular man said, "I’m laughing at how snobbish these folks are. Don’t they fear that one day you’ll become strong and then——"

"Come back for a free meal?" Wu Xiaode interjected.

The muscular man laughed heartily and continued, "Go fight in the arena, kid. Only by winning can you stay in the city."

"Is that so? Thanks for the advice." Wu Xiaode bowed in gratitude.

"Just a heads up, if you win, you can spend a few more days in the city. Meals, accommodations, and other such affairs will consume your remaining time," the muscular man said.

"So I have to keep winning?"

"Yeah, if you lose, you’ll be off to the Death World pretty quickly."

"Got it, thanks a lot, Uncle."

"I’m this young, so in the future, please don’t call me uncle. ’Brother’ sounds much nicer," the muscular man nodded at him and walked away with long strides.

Wu Xiaode stood in place and glanced at his empty Soul Power, then rubbed his shriveled stomach.

Fighting in the arena...

If the D contestants were all of the same level as the waiter and maid he had encountered earlier, he could fight a match without Soul Power.

There were fighting stages all over the city.

——It was worth a try.

He also took a step forward, walking toward the other side of the street.

Before long.

An empty fighting stage.

Wu Xiaode approached the stage and stopped in front of a machine.

The machine resembled a computer, and the screen displayed a line of text:

"To partake in a fight, please attach your number plate to the sensing area."

Wu Xiaode placed his number plate onto a metal tray in front of the computer.

The screen flashed, and immediately three new prompt runes appeared:

"D number ninety-five."

"Pairing successful."

"31 D-level professionals have challenged you, you can now select an opponent."

So intelligent?

Wu Xiaode was somewhat speechless.

He clicked the random button.

A man covered in muscles with a bearded jaw appeared on the screen.

The man glanced at Wu Xiaode and said, "No need for nonsense, we’re all the crappiest fighters, let’s just get to it."

"I agree," Wu Xiaode responded.

On the stage, a flash of light passed by.

The muscled man appeared instantly.

Wu Xiaode leaped onto the stage, curiously asking, "Uncle, how did you come to this world?"

"A demon was about to kill me, but thankfully, a master who could transform into a wild wolf saved me. He killed that demon," said the muscle man.

"Then he took you with him to escape the world’s destruction?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"No, he killed me, and my soul made it here," the muscle man replied.

"..." Wu Xiaode.

"Is there any other way out? We’re in a sin prison and are ’crops’; aside from being harvested by a Demon God, the best outcome is to head to the true Death Realm," the muscle man said, spreading his hands.

"Makes sense," Wu Xiaode replied.

A sound emanated from the computer below the stage: "D number fight, begin."

"Let’s go, buddy," the muscle man said, striking a boxing pose.

Wu Xiaode stepped forward, swatted away his boxing stance, and pushed him off the stage.

"Thanks for the match," Wu Xiaode said.

"So strong? You must have just arrived," the muscle man said, getting up from the ground.

"How do you know?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"Because a high-level fighter like you would immediately move up from our garbage rank after just one match," the muscle man explained.

He waved at Wu Xiaode and, with a flash, was teleported away.

The computer emitted a sound again: "Match over."

"D number ninety-five wins."

"After preliminary analysis, D number ninety-five has at least the standard of Class B."

"Awarded new number plate: B number sixty-six."

"Basic reward obtained: Time in Holy City increased by 17 hours."

"Win another match for additional rewards."

Wu Xiaode looked down and saw that "D number ninety-five" had vanished from his number plate.

Replacing it was "B number sixty-six."