Ah Kuli Houye Hou Ben, Li Da Luhun Ga Hou Dahei;
Give Xie Ga Hongmie Ou Ya La Ye, Bi Yali Give Xie Hou Da Hei;
Dululu Lu Lu Dululu Du, Dululu Lu Lu Dululu Duhei!
Amidst the vast sky, a brown wooden airship, shaped like a cockroach, flew at a leisurely pace, continuously emitting strong and bizarre exotic music.
To the sound of this curry-flavored music, on the deck of this huge airship, dozens of tall, curvaceous, dark-skinned women were continuously performing ancient dances with religious connotations, turning their hands and lifting their feet.
Meanwhile, the Lotus Continent participant for this Tianjiao Ranking Competition—the Brahmin-level monk Hasmi—was enjoying the dancers' fervent performance while violently assaulting a dozen Dalits like a beast.
The specific scene is not suitable for description, but in short, the bloody extent was comparable to a slaughterhouse, and both men and women were involved.
“Oh, my dear master Hasmi.”
Amidst the bloody chaos, a short, fat, dark-skinned man walked onto the deck from a lower cabin and loudly proclaimed, “Our journey is almost at its destination. You should prepare yourself.”
“Oh, that quickly?”
Accompanied by a dull, turbid sound, a tall man, almost completely covered in blood, suddenly emerged from a small mountain of severed limbs.
He grabbed a dancer, opened his large mouth, bit her neck, and sucked several mouthfuls before casually tossing her aside. He then looked at the short, fat man standing at the entrance and said in a hoarse voice:
“Is my bathwater ready?”
“Master, everything is prepared.”
The short, fat man spread his hands and bowed respectfully, “Only waiting for your noble feet to step into the bath.”
Hasmi nodded and, naked, walked down below the deck, simultaneously instructing the short, fat man from above:
“You, come here, bathe with me.”
“As you command.”
Upon hearing this, the pig-like man immediately showed a shy expression, “My dear master.”
As time continued to pass, the Great Jing Dynasty's various departments' Heavenly Boats arrived one by one at the boundless Gobi Desert.
And when all these Heavenly Boats had docked and teams emerged from them, the robot, which had been quietly suspended in the air on the floating platform behind the grandstand, slowly walked to its position and suddenly came to life as if activated by some signal.
It abruptly raised its head, holding a golden microphone, and surveyed the crowd slowly taking their seats in the grandstands on all four sides.
It loudly proclaimed:
“Three cycles have passed, the Tianjiao Ranking is open again! Welcome all participants to our competition venue—
“—First to enter is our Northern Military Region team, and the one leading them is this year's Northern Military Region participant—Zhen Lianbiao!! Everyone, welcome!!
“Zhen Lianbiao is a Martial Artist Genius and an unparalleled general from our Northern Military Region. He once led an army to defeat and capture invading enemy forces from the East Sea Merman Kingdom.”
As the robot host loudly called out and announced, the floating platform beneath its feet also began to play powerful, exciting music that made one want to immediately start calisthenics.
It was unknown what kind of audio system was installed on this platform, but the music it played was so loud that the entire arena below vibrated uncontrollably.
And with this inexplicably appearing vibration, the copper pillars embedded around the four sides of the huge arena, as well as the iron chains between the pillars, and the yellow Talismanic Incantations strung along the chains, immediately all began to shimmer with mysterious light.
“Senior Brother,”
Ke Qing, who had already taken a seat in a certain part of the grandstand, looked at the arena and asked curiously, “Why does the arena glow?”
Oriental Smile, sitting next to her, explained, “Because the destructive aftershocks of battles between Martial Artists are often quite immense, the Tianjiao Ranking Competition arenas are repeatedly reinforced with multiple types of spells to absorb the destructive power released by Martial Artists into the outside world.”
“Oh~” Ke Qing nodded, “So that’s how it is. Then, if someone gets knocked out during your battles later, will they hit the grandstand?”
“Hahaha, silly girl, no, they won’t.”
Oriental Smile shook his head and chuckled, “Once you step onto this arena, unless the duel ends with someone dying or admitting defeat, those on stage cannot leave.
This includes all types of attacks that appear on the arena, whether physical attacks, spell attacks, or mental attacks; they will all be sealed within.
Throughout the entire duel, only the battle visuals and some sounds will be transmitted outside. The spectators from various departments in the grandstands will absolutely not suffer any harm.”
“Oh~ I see.” Ke Qing nodded in realization, “That’s quite thoughtful.”
After hearing his Junior Sister's words, Oriental Smile leisurely said, “Actually, the emergence of all these thoughtful designs is due to the blood spilled by grandstand spectators from several previous competitions many years ago.”
“Ah?”
Ke Qing was startled upon hearing this, then immediately understood, “So that’s—Senior Brother, listen! The host up there is calling your name!”
“...Now, we once again solemnly introduce—
The robot host on the floating platform in the sky pointed a hand at Oriental Smile, who was sitting in the center of the dense crowd in the grandstand below, and loudly introduced:
“This, is the participant from our Great Jing Dynasty's Special Operations Division team—Oriental Smile!! Everyone, a warm welcome!!”
Clap clap clap clap clap clap ~
Accompanied by the enthusiastic applause played by the floating platform's audio system, and the cheers from the Special Operations Division personnel's seating area in the grandstand below, the robot host began to babble on about Oriental Smile's position and his various achievements over the years.
However, this announcement, apart from the enthusiastic response and continuous applause from the Special Operations Division's section, garnered little interest and a very cold reception from the spectators of the Military Intelligence Division and Divine Armory in the other northern, eastern, southern, and western military regions.
For instance, Shan Xiuran, sitting somewhere in the grandstand on the north side of the arena, merely chuckled indifferently and scoffed, “To put it bluntly, he’s just a thief-catcher, why bother with so much nonsense?”
“This humanoid Divine Armory is so talkative.”
The short-haired woman next to him said irritably, “I really want to dismantle it into a pile of scrap metal.”
But as soon as she finished speaking, Shan Xiuran said indifferently, “Xiuxiu, this humanoid Divine Armory seems ordinary, but in reality, it's not something you can dismantle.”
“Oh~” Dan Xiuxiu raised an eyebrow, “That powerful—”
Just as she started speaking, the robot host above once again raised its volume and introduced the Demon Slayer Division:
“...Now, a solemn introduction to our Great Jing Dynasty's Demon Slayer Division team participant—Li Hai!!!”
Clap clap clap clap clap clap —
Accompanied by rounds of applause, the host began to announce and introduce Li Hai's personal identity.
For example, he is only eighteen years old this year, holds the position of Heavenly Rank Commandant of the Demon Slayer Division, Chief Director of the Demon Slayer Division's Finance Department, Chief Inspector of the Demon Slayer Division's Discipline Department, and so on.
But Dan Xiuxiu, listening to all this with a frown, couldn't help but complain:
“Li Hai? My goodness, what a stupid name.”