Chapter 40: I Killed Myself Again?

With a heart full of trepidation, Zhang Fang stepped forward and slowly reached out his hand to grab the mask resting on the table.

However, the moment his fingers brushed against the mask, an abrupt voice rang in his mind without any warning. Unlike the cold and solemn notification voice of the Samsara Tower, this voice sounded much gentler, as if a benevolent old man was whispering right beside his ear, recounting some old, lingering tales of the pugilistic world.

"You were born into a martial arts family since childhood..."

"Before the age of eighteen, you had no proud achievements to speak of. In the eyes of your father and uncles, you were merely a timid, obedient child. Though somewhat lacking in ambition, you at least never brought any disaster upon the household..."

"In your eighteenth year, a major event occurred within your family. Your father and uncles united with hundreds of martial arts peers to hold a Heroes' Assembly, intending to join forces and collectively crusade against the descendant of a foreign tribe—an outcast of the martial world!"

"You knew that once both sides clashed, casualties would inevitably be severe. Regardless of whether the heroes won or lost, it would severely damage the vitality of the Central Plains martial arts community. Concerned for the welfare of the realm, you temporarily prevented the impending bloody battle by setting fire to the manor."

"Later, you unraveled the threads piece by piece to investigate the mastermind behind this manipulation."

"Wearing a mask, you brought the truth to light, exposing that hypocrite who appeared righteous on the surface while harboring malicious intentions in secret. Finally, the misunderstanding was resolved, and a potential martial calamity was averted without a trace."

"In the aftermath, a group of elders from the Beggars' Sect's main舵 took the initiative to invite you to join the sect, intending to elevate you to the leadership of this largest martial guild in the world."

"You knew that they wanted to leverage your special relationship with Qiao Feng to retrieve the sect's two lost legacies—the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms and the Dog-Beating Staff Technique. Yet, determined to accomplish something worthwhile for the pugilistic world, you gladly accepted the invitation."

"However, when heaven is about to bestow a great responsibility upon a person, it must first subject them to trials. While you were tending to your father and uncles as they recovered from their injuries, a ninth-generation elder named Yan Shanhe, possessed of extraordinary strength and formidable capability, rapidly rose to prominence within the Beggars' Sect's Great Wisdom Branch."

"By the time you returned to the Luoyang headquarters with the other elders, Yan Shanhe had already gained the recognition of six major branches: Great Benevolence, Great Wisdom, Great Justice, Great Faith, Great Propriety, and Great Valor. His momentum was so fierce that it rivaled yours—you who had turned the tide at Gathering Hero Manor."

"The branch leaders of these six branches intended to elevate Yan Shanhe to become the seventh leader of the Beggars' Sect, forming a stalemate with you, who enjoyed the support of the elders at the headquarters."

"Over the past year or more, both you and Yan Shanhe have made numerous contributions to the Beggars' Sect, making it difficult to judge from administrative capability alone who is more suited to be the leader. Ultimately, the two sides decided to hold a martial arts duel outside the city of Luoyang in seven days to vie for the leadership."

"Calculating the time, Yan Shanhe and the others will arrive at the Luoyang headquarters today..."

...

The aged, benevolent voice gradually faded away, followed by a flood of memories that did not originally belong to him rushing into his mind. Just like last time, these memories would not surface unless he consciously thought of them.

Yet with every sentence spoken by the old man, corresponding images flashed through his mind.

To think that this time crossing over, his identity was still You Tanzhi!

Because Zhang Fang had crossed over the first time to become You Tanzhi at his initial appearance, the Samsara Tower had taken the liberty of rewriting You Tanzhi's character profile based on Zhang Fang's performance in the first dungeon world, and extrapolated the subsequent plot trajectory for a long time to come!

And in the previous Q&A session, those questions and answers that seemed to have nothing to do with the original You Tanzhi fit the You Tanzhi played by Zhang Fang without a single flaw!

That was utterly absurd!

Wait...

Zhang Fang suddenly felt that it seemed not all questions and answers matched.

For instance, regarding the first martial arts senior who recognized him aside from immediate family and elders, the answer Zhang Fang had given was "a legendary physician." As for You Tanzhi's side...

The moment he thought of this, Xue Muhua's benevolent smile immediately surfaced in Zhang Fang's mind.

Speaking of which, this Divine Physician Xue had held him in high regard and treated him quite favorably back at Gathering Hero Manor. According to "You Tanzhi's" memories, Xue had even stopped by the Beggars' Sect's Luoyang headquarters just three days ago to check on him.

Viewed in this light, the only discrepancy between the answer he had given and You Tanzhi was that question—the one he mistakenly thought was "Zhang Wuiji sends his sixth aunt a thousand miles away," but was actually "You Tanzhi cares for his sister-in-law." The answer he gave did not align with his previous behavior.

As a result, that question had bloody well been invalidated!

Zhang Fang felt bitter inside, so bitter his facial features were twisted!

Actually, speaking frankly, the identity of You Tanzhi wasn't entirely bad. After all, with the foundation he had built in the previous dungeon world, he was long past the humble, pitiful little simperer of the original novel.

The problem was, the things he wanted didn't seem to exist in the world of *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils*!

Looking across the entire plot of *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils*, there were certainly plenty of famous supreme inner strength arts. Things like the *Northern Kunpeng Transformation*, the *Eight Desolations and Six Harmonies Sole Sovereign Skill*, the *Skill of Lesser Non-Emanation*, the *Muscle-Changing Classic*, the *Foot-Stiffening Scripture*...

Yet counting them down one by one, none of them seemed to be exceptionally outstanding in terms of "Yang" attribute affinity.

Wasn't this digging a hole for him?!

Combined with that "girl" from before whose single misstep turned into eternal regret, Zhang Fang felt that even his confidence to complain was somewhat lacking.

It's me, killing me again?

Just as Zhang Fang felt incomparably depressed, the familiar voice of the Samsara Tower finally sounded in his ear:

[Samsara world transmission complete, character identity replacement complete. Your current dungeon world is *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils: Shaolin Assembly* (Hell Difficulty).]

[Your identity in this world is: You Tanzhi.]

[Main Quest 1: Defeat Yan Shanhe in the martial arts duel for leadership in seven days, and win the position of Beggars' Sect Leader. Quest Reward: Dragon-Subduing Repentance level +1.]

[Main Quest 2: Arrive at Shaolin on time for the Heroes' Assembly on the Laba Festival one month from now. Elevate your martial arts reputation and status at the assembly as much as possible; the higher your reputation and status, the greater the reward. Quest Reward: Determined by quest performance.]

[Special Notice: *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils: Shaolin Assembly* is a multiplayer dungeon world. There are a total of 4 reincarnators participating in this dungeon trial. Depending on each reincarnator's identity and past experiences, the quests received will also vary. Please identify them yourself.]

...

He forced himself to pull his spirits together. Zhang Fang knew that now was not the time for self-pity.

Since the accident had already happened, regret was entirely useless. The most sensible course of action now was to complete the main quests well and extract as many benefits from this dungeon world as possible.

As long as his harvest was rich enough, even after leaving, whether through purchasing or trading, he would have the opportunity to acquire what he needed from other reincarnators.

As a bonus, he could also handle the loose ends from the "Gathering Hero Manor dungeon" that hadn't been fully resolved—for instance, that headache-inducing "sharing weal and woe."

As for the other three reincarnators who entered the same dungeon world with him, the first name that popped into Zhang Fang's mind was Yan Shanhe, the one competing with him for the leadership.

Zhang Fang was utterly certain that neither the original novel nor any adapted film and television works he had encountered in his past life had ever mentioned this name.

Therefore, the probability of the opponent being a reincarnator was extremely high!

While he was deep in thought, he suddenly heard a burst of footsteps approaching.

Following closely was a familiar voice sounding from outside the door. Through You Tanzhi's memories, Zhang Fang knew this was a sect member responsible for running errands and delivering messages within the headquarters: "Elder You. Elder Xu has already had people prepare breakfast. He invites you over to dine together, and mentioned there are important matters to discuss with Elder You today."

Today, I finally managed to finish writing the manuscript before dark.

Must keep up the momentum, hoping to return to midday updates tomorrow!

(End of this chapter)