Who are you calling a stable boy?!

As Zheng Jing spoke, he walked over and extended his hand to Xue Qing.

Xueqing, who was sitting on the stone bench, put down her phone, rested her chin on her hand, and watched Zheng Jing tilt his head back and drink the rest of the can of soda in one gulp. She handed the half-empty can of soda to Zheng Jing.

"Shall I get you another can?"

"I want a ○".

"I thought you suddenly wanted to change your tastes."

Xueqing stood up, went to the back kitchen, opened the refrigerator, took out a can of BBQ and a bottle of soda, then turned around and looked helplessly at Zheng Jing, who had been following her with a grin all the way from the front yard.

"It's always like this. Next time, just take it yourself."

She angrily shoved the can of yogurt into Zheng Jing's arms.

"Hehe, definitely next time! Definitely!"

With a click, the pull tab was pulled open. Zheng Jing and Xue Qing leaned against the kitchen counter, shoulder to shoulder, took a sip of their iced drinks, and then let out a long sigh together.

"Phew, so, how exactly has the plan changed?"

Xueqing looked up at Zheng Jing.

"Um......"

Zheng Jing rolled his eyes.

"Miss Cao, would you be interested in participating in the KOF tournament?"

"......ha?"

-

Late at night, in a luxury suite at a hotel in Ginza, Rin stood nervously in the center of the room, looking up at the ceiling.

Then, two illusory figures suddenly appeared in front of her.

When Lin hurriedly looked over, the illusory figure had already solidified within the swirling rainbow halo.

"Hey hey hey! I'm here!"

Upon seeing Rin, Zheng Jing, who had arrived in this material plane, immediately greeted her with a smile.

Seeing that Zheng Jing didn't fall from the roof this time, Lin visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Huh? Little Rin, you... you've grown taller!"

Zheng Jing bent down and gestured with his hand towards Lin's head.

Rin couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Of course I've grown taller! It's been almost three years since I left!"

"Oh? Hmm...that's true."

Zheng Jing scratched his head in frustration.

Lin sighed and turned to look at Xue Qing beside Zheng Jing.

Who is this?

"Hehe, let me introduce you. This is Cao Xueqing, the heroine. We are childhood sweethearts."

Zheng Jing put his arm around Xue Qing's shoulder.

"Laoqing, this is little Rin, Rin Tohsaka."

"Nice to meet you, Lady Cao."

Rin lifted her skirt and gave Rin a graceful bow.

"I am Rin Tohsaka, the eldest daughter of the Tohsaka family. Nice to meet you."

"Uh, um, okay, hello."

Still somewhat bewildered, Xueqing, faced with Lin's impeccable manners, instinctively followed the style she had adopted when she roamed the martial world and bowed in greeting.

"Alright, alright, stop standing there like idiots. If we're going to talk, let's sit down and discuss it."

Zheng Jing pressed Xue Qing, who was in his arms, onto the sofa, looked around a few times, and began to prepare tea.

Lin gracefully sat down opposite Xue Qing. After politely looking Xue Qing over, he took the initiative to say, "Miss Cao, I am sorry to trouble you to come. Please forgive me if there is any inadequacy in our hospitality."

"Um, Ms. Tohsaka? You can just call me Yukiharu, no need to be so polite."

"That's right! You call her Sister Qing, and she calls her Sister Lin, isn't that great! We're all family now."

Zheng Jing, who was boiling water, called out. Upon hearing this, Xue Qing and Lin exchanged a glance and then suddenly laughed in unison.

"Sister Xueqing, did Zheng Jing tell you about forming a team?"

"A friend of mine is preparing to participate in a martial arts tournament, but we are still short one person, including him."

"...That's all you said?"

Xueqing nodded.

Lin rubbed his temples.

"Haha, the hot water is here."

Disdainful of the amenities provided in the suite, Zheng Jing took out a tea set and tea leaves from his backpack, sat down next to Xue Qing, and began to brew tea.

"Zheng Jing, you should at least explain things clearly to Sister Xueqing, shouldn't you?"

"Hmm? Oh, sigh!"

Zheng Jing kept working while replying, "Don't worry, Lao Qingbao is capable!"

"That's not what I'm worried about..."

With a sigh, Rin took out a pristine white invitation from her backpack.

"Let me explain, Sister Xueqing. The reason I invited you and Zheng Jing here is to team up with you and participate in the World's Number One Martial Arts Tournament."

"?"

Xueqing was taken aback.

Didn't they say they were going to participate in the KOF tournament?

Where did this come from?

"This World's Number One Martial Arts Tournament is a competition organized by a legendary player from this material plane, and it has been held twice so far. In previous years, it was all one-on-one singles battles, but for some reason, this year the rules were suddenly changed, requiring contestants to form three-person teams to participate..."

At this point, Rin shook her head, looking somewhat troubled.

"Fortunately, the reward rules haven't changed. As long as you can achieve a top-three finish in the tournament, you can take a desired treasure from the treasure vault prepared by that legendary player. The tournament champion can even have that legendary player personally help them fulfill a wish."

"I obtained this invitation through some channels. Besides these free invitations that allow you to participate as long as you have them, I've also heard that star players who have achieved outstanding results in previous years also receive invitations specifically sent to them. Among these star players are locals from this material plane, as well as other players from the courtyard, and their strength should not be underestimated!"

"However, my goal isn't that high; I just want to get into the top three!"

Rin clenched her fist seriously.

"Don't worry, I've investigated. This competition has issued a total of three free invitations and six designated invitations. One of the designated invitations is for the previous champion team. The champion team doesn't need to participate in the earlier stages of the competition; they will face the challenge from the strongest team among the remaining eight teams at the end."

"In other words, we only need to defeat five teams! I've also studied previous tournaments, and in my opinion, we have at least an 80% chance of success!"

"Eighty percent?"

While Rin was speaking, Zheng Jing, who had already poured a cup of tea for each of them, raised an eyebrow.

"It sounds like a gathering of experts."

"There are indeed quite a few experts, including several martial artists at the extraordinary level."

Lin nodded, about to share some information about these extraordinary martial artists, when Zheng Jing spoke up: "Oh right, I forgot to ask, why did you suddenly decide to participate in this kind of conference?"

Upon hearing this, Lin pouted and looked at Zheng Jing with a slightly resentful gaze.

"How dare you ask?"

Zheng Jing shrank his neck and blinked.

"Oh? Is this something that I, Old Zheng, have to do with?"

Chapter 216: Every Master Has His Own Strengths and Weaknesses

Rin's goal in participating in this World Martial Arts Tournament is to receive an invitation from the courtyard.

She wanted to give this as a birthday present to Sakura.

Despite Zheng Jing having previously obtained an invitation and now being able to exchange for new courtyard invitations from the Sacred Arena at any time, courtyard invitations are actually not something that most players can easily obtain.

At least for players who haven't reached the extraordinary realm, it's almost impossible to obtain.

Even for players in the extraordinary realm, getting their hands on a copy is not easy.

In this situation, Zheng Jing certainly wouldn't say something like, "I'll buy one and you can give it to Xiaoying."

Not only would he not say that, he would also think about what birthday present to prepare for Sakura so that Rin could take it back and give it to Sakura as well.

But there's no rush.

Right now, his first priority is to work with Lao Qing and Xiao Xiao Lin to break into the top three of this year's competition.

Therefore, the three of them should naturally head to the competition venue first.

Rin has also investigated this arena.

It is said that during the first tournament, the venue was chosen to be a national stadium in a certain country, which resulted in the complete collapse of the stadium. There were over 60,000 spectators present at the time, and the fact that so many spectators escaped unharmed was entirely due to the timely intervention of that legendary player.

In the second tournament, the legendary player listened to advice and set the venue on the highest peak of a certain country. As a result, the active volcano almost erupted, but fortunately, the legendary player intervened in time to save the surrounding environment from disaster.

However, since then, the highest peak in that country has only been able to be replaced.

The venue for this third edition was set on a vast island.

Of course, how to get to that island was not something Zheng Jing and the other contestants needed to figure out.

The organizers set up multiple reception points around the world. As long as the teams that have received an invitation arrive at the reception point, a staff member will greet them and take them to the venue.

Rin led Zheng Jing and Xue Qing to the reception point in Tokyo Bay.

In the harbor here, a luxury ship was already quietly waiting for the arriving contestants.

-

"Ring ring..."

"coming."

Hearing the doorbell ring, Zheng Jing responded and went to open the door.

"What? You've changed your mind?"

Upon seeing Xiao Xiaolin outside the door, Zheng Jing grinned and said, "Then let them change our room."

"No."

Rin refused decisively.

"You two can live together if you want, I'm fine living on my own."

She clearly remembered the look the polite receptionist gave the three of them when she heard Zheng Jing and Xue Qing say they wanted to share a room, before asking if they needed a family suite.

She absolutely refuses to live in that family suite with Zheng Jing!

"Are they calling us to go out for a late-night snack? I asked when I boarded the ship. Their restaurant has a buffet all day, but they only offer à la carte service during mealtimes."

As he spoke, Zheng Jing turned back and called into the house, "Lao Qing, wanna go for a late-night snack?"

"Go, wait for me."

In the bathroom, Xueqing's voice, mixed with the sound of rushing water, reached Zheng Jing's ears.

Rin sighed.

"Can't you just... sigh, fine, fine."

Xueqing acted quickly, and the three of them soon left the guest room and headed to the buffet restaurant on the first floor of the passenger ship.

It's called a buffet restaurant, but it's actually the cruise ship's banquet hall.

In the spacious hall, rows of long tables covered with white cloths were neatly arranged. Ingredients from all over the world were carefully prepared using culinary techniques from around the globe and then placed one by one on the clean white tablecloths.

Handsome and beautiful waiters would occasionally walk among the dishes, replacing those that had passed their prime.