Infinite Fighting

Chapter 76: Chapter 67: Contact

The small town within the Divine Wind Ruins Realm was also known as the Desert Capital.

The climate here was constant, making it perfect for all sorts of plant life to thrive. The ecosystem was remarkably healthy.

As a result, resources were plentiful, and food was never scarce.

Furthermore, due to the locals’ special bloodline, their birth rates were modest, which naturally kept the population in check.

This resulted in a relatively peaceful and stable society.

Night was fading as a great sun slowly rose on the horizon.

The progression of day and night was nearly identical to that of the outside world.

Of course, while the celestial phenomena were similar, the two realms did not actually share the same sun and moon.

The Ruins Realm was isolated from the outside world; the sun, moon, and everything else within it were all simulated.

The first rays of the rising sun fell upon a distant, tall tower.

The tower was a full thousand meters tall, shrouded in invisible, fierce winds.

Atop the tower was an azure pearl that shimmered in the sunlight.

The Wind Treasure Pearl.

A treasure that recorded the strongest martial art of the Wind God, Fudoli.

All you had to do was climb to the top of the tower and touch it to inherit the martial art.

Zhang Ji clearly remembered that this was an (Excellent Seven Stars) martial art.

Basically, anyone playing the Divine Wind Sect path had to come here to collect this skill after reaching C-rank.

It was a god-tier skill for getting through the early game.

As the sunlight fell upon Zhang Ji, he began to absorb its rays to recover his stamina.

For players, the Blood of Dela was a fairly useful buff in the early to mid-game.

As long as there was sunlight, one could slowly recover stamina and health.

It drastically reduced the need for consumables, making it essential for exploration.

Once he had recovered sufficiently, Zhang Ji followed the path down from the statue of the Wind God.

The path was clear of weeds, as the locals would occasionally come here to perform rituals.

Zhang Ji moved quickly, reaching the edge of the small town in no time.

He was spotted by someone, who reacted with a mixture of confusion and surprise.

They didn’t recognize him and had no idea where he had come from.

Zhang Ji, in turn, sized the man up.

His accent was similar to the language of Guning Country, with minor variations, but Zhang Ji could understand most of it.

Judging by his movements and reaction speed, Zhang Ji determined the man was likely at the professional Third or Fourth Rank.

This matched the information he had.

The residents here were all descendants of the union between the Wind God and Dela, whose bloodline later mixed with the Zenar tribe through intermarriage.

Their bloodline had been mixed and diluted over many generations. Combined with a lack of external enemies, they had little need to practice martial arts. As a result, they couldn’t produce large numbers of C-rank—let alone B-rank—martial artists like the current royal family of Guning Country.

The strongest people here were only around the professional Seventh or Eighth Rank.

So in the eyes of players, this was just a peaceful Ruins Realm, a place for fortuitous encounters.

After all, their technology was undeveloped and their strength was mediocre. Their entire population wouldn’t be enough for a single C-rank player to massacre.

They posed no real threat.

Incidentally, Zhang Ji himself had once slaughtered everyone here while playing the game.

After failing to climb the tower dozens of times, he couldn’t stand the torturous mini-game anymore and had taken his anger out on the entire city.

Of course, that was when he was playing a game.

Now, he had truly entered this world, and the people before him were living, breathing human beings.

’To do that kind of thing again would be truly psychopathic.’

At that moment, a young man with short, crimson hair and holding a long spear rushed over from a distance with four others also carrying spears.

These were the local law enforcement, and Zhang Ji even recognized the red-haired leader.

Hudson Montu.

A special NPC who had inherited the blood of both Dela and the Wind God.

He was the son of the chieftainess, Zoeyna Zenar.

In the version of the game Zhang Ji had played, Hudson had already been chosen as the next chieftain.

"Outsider! Halt! Tell me your name, where you come from, and your purpose!" Hudson demanded.

For some reason, Hudson felt a suffocating pressure from Zhang Ji’s aura, and it irritated him.

He obviously didn’t know this was bloodline suppression. And since bloodline suppression only worked from a higher rank to a lower one, Zhang Ji himself wasn’t even aware of it.

"I am an explorer named Zhang Ji. I enjoy exploring the world’s dangerous places in search of ownerless treasures. I arrived here by studying ancient texts. I truly had no idea a hidden paradise like this existed here..." Zhang Ji explained.

Zhang Ji’s speech was similar to the dialogue from the game; he was essentially just following a script.

"An explorer?" Hudson frowned. "I don’t care what you are. Come with us. We need to take you to see the chieftainess!"

As he spoke, Hudson reached out to grab Zhang Ji’s shoulder.

Zhang Ji took a slight sidestep, easily dodging the grab.

"Young man, let’s just talk. No need to get physical," Zhang Ji said lightly.

Unconvinced, Hudson tried to grab Zhang Ji again.

This time, however, Zhang Ji did more than just dodge.

With a light palm strike, he slapped Hudson’s wrist aside. Hudson’s entire right arm went numb, leaving him unable to use any strength.

’This was only because he planned on taking something from these people. Under normal circumstances, faced with someone who so clearly couldn’t grasp the situation, Zhang Ji would have broken his arm.’

"HSSS!"

Hudson’s right hand throbbed with pain, but it only made him angrier.

A faint azure and red glow swirled around his body as he activated the powers of both his bloodlines at once.

The bloodlines of Dela and Fudoli were complementary.

Combined, they could indeed perform a joint attack.

Wind fanned the flames. Although Hudson’s overall stats were only around the professional Seventh or Eighth Rank, he could probably unleash an attack on par with a Grandmaster’s.

But that was the extent of it. Not only would the attack fail to harm Zhang Ji even if it landed, but its long charge time and obvious windup gave Zhang Ji plenty of options. He could either stop Hudson before he launched it or simply sidestep it afterward.

"Hudson! Stop it! What are you doing?"

Just as Zhang Ji was preparing to teach the young man a harsh lesson, a middle-aged, red-haired man with a thick beard hurried out.

Sivin Montu, Zoeyna’s younger brother and Hudson’s uncle.

"Uncle!" Hudson froze, halting his attack. He explained, "He wouldn’t cooperate, and he even attacked me!"

"You need to learn to control that temper of yours," Sivin said. "I’ll handle things here. You can go."

"Yes."

Hudson looked resentful, but he gritted his teeth and left.

Zhang Ji watched this performance with great interest.

’Hudson might genuinely be young and immature, but Sivin had clearly been here for a while. He was just using Hudson to test my strength. Only after realizing I might be powerful did Sivin step in to prevent the conflict from escalating.’

"My name is Sivin Montu," Sivin said. "That was my wayward nephew. He has a bit of a fiery temper. I hope you won’t take offense, sir."

"It’s not a big deal. He’s no threat to me," Zhang Ji replied, looking at Sivin indifferently.

"Thank you for your magnanimity, sir. Please, come with me. Our chieftainess wishes to meet you," Sivin said, his expression turning serious as he gave a polite bow.

Zhang Ji pretended not to see through his act, nodded slightly, and said, "Please, lead the way."

The two of them then headed toward a palace-like building at the highest point of the town.

Life here still resembled that of a primitive tribe. Their technology was quite backward; almost everything was handmade.

Due to some past incident, they had long since lost the knowledge passed down to them, including how to reach the outside world.

Only the Zenar descendants in the outside world, in Guning Country, still sang the riddle-like nursery rhyme, though they no longer understood its meaning.

For them, the arrival of players opened a path to the outside world.

It gave them the possibility of leaving.

But it was hard to say whether this was a good or bad thing.

After all, the value of a Ruins Realm was extremely high.

And they didn’t have the strength to protect it.

’Zhang Ji was starting to get an idea. A portable Ruins Realm is a portable Ruins Realm, no matter where I get it. And this one has so many martial artists with excellent potential, plus a great environment. Still, I do have some principles. If it doesn’t work out, I won’t force the issue. After all, this world is full of ownerless Ruins Realms. All things considered, this isn’t even the easiest one to acquire.’

Entering the fortress and heading straight for the main hall, Zhang Ji saw Zoeyna Zenar seated on a high throne.

She was a beautiful woman who looked to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, with long, bluish-black hair.

Her appearance was somewhat similar to the Wind God’s, but she looked more mature.

"Chieftainess," Sivin said, bowing to Zoeyna.

"I appreciate it, Sivin."

Zoeyna offered a brief pleasantry, then turned to Zhang Ji. "Hello, guest from the outside world. I am Zoeyna Zenar, the current chieftainess of the Zenar tribe."

"Zhang Ji. An adventurer and a martial artist," Zhang Ji said.

"Zhang Ji, may I ask how you found your way here?" Zoeyna asked.

"I have a fondness for ancient literature. I found relevant legends in the historical records of Guning Country..."

Zhang Ji casually spun a tale, following the game’s script. Players would first find information in the libraries of Guning Country, then travel to the ancient city where the Zenar tribe once lived. Finally, they would solve the riddle in a child’s nursery rhyme to locate this desert and enter the Ruins Realm.

In any case, it sounded perfectly reasonable.

"I see..." Zoeyna’s gaze grew distant. She asked, "What is the outside world like now?"

"It’s hard for me to explain in just a few words. If you don’t mind, I can personally take you out to see for yourselves. Or, I could bring back a video recording for you to watch," Zhang Ji said.

Zoeyna nodded slightly, her mind already weighing the possibilities.

"Zhang Ji, you must be weary after your long journey. We have prepared a place for you to rest and some food. We hope you will accept," Zoeyna said.

"Then I appreciate the trouble," Zhang Ji said with a nod.

’He really did want to rest for a bit, take a bath, and get himself back in good shape. There was no rush to climb the tower and touch the Wind Treasure Pearl, anyway.’

"It is our pleasure," Zoeyna said with a slight smile. Then she addressed a handmaiden, "Belinda, please show Zhang Ji to his quarters."

The handmaiden stepped forward, walked to Zhang Ji’s side, and said, "Please follow me."

...

After Zhang Ji left, Sivin said to Zoeyna, "Sister, you noticed it too, didn’t you?"

"Yes. The blood of the Sun God. He’s no mere traveler," Zoeyna replied.

"We’ve hidden ourselves away here, but they still won’t leave us alone?" Sivin said with a frown.

"I don’t think he represents any particular faction," Zoeyna said, shaking her head. "If he did, they would have sent an army, not just him alone."

"Then what should we do?" Sivin asked.

"Let the past be the past. This land was gifted to us by the Sun God in the first place. Besides, the Montu and Zenar are one and the same now. The hatred should have faded long ago," Zoeyna said.

This Ruins Realm was actually a gift from Dela Montu to Fudoli Zenar.

It was only by Dela’s permission that the remnants of the Zenar tribe were able to live here, and the people of Guning Country had never disturbed this desert.

When one truly considered it, the relationship between the two sides was very delicate.

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