When Zhou Ming regained consciousness, he found himself standing on a street.
This was his second time experiencing such a cross-world transmission, but unlike the first time, there was no process of falling asleep and waking up, nor even the sense of separation from the world he had felt before.
He simply appeared directly in this world, the entire process incredibly smooth.
Zhou Ming looked around.
A road paved with bluestone slabs, wide enough for about two carriages to pass side by side, shops along the street, restaurants, teahouses, bathhouses, kimono-clad maidens passing by, geishas with their hair piled high, samurai with swords at their waists, peddlers carrying goods... Amidst the bustling crowd, Zhou Ming, dressed in a way that starkly contrasted with his surroundings, stood quietly by the roadside, yet he didn't attract the slightest abnormal glance from those around him.
While Zhou Ming was observing his surroundings, the Main God had already injected information into his mind.
Higashiteru Island Country, Moonlight Era. The Country Lord, Nohara Momonosuke, who has ruled the world for twenty years, feels his end approaching, so he summons all the Daimyos of the country and announces that he will pass down the throne.
However, his condition for passing down the world is not his offspring, not his retainers, nor how much wealth or how many samurai a certain Daimyo possesses.
He wants to see the slaughter and blood of the samurai with superb martial arts from all over the world.
He wants the Daimyos, who aspire to rule the world, to bring their self-proclaimed greatest samurai and have them kill each other as proxies for the Daimyos.
Ultimately, the Daimyo represented by the strongest The World's Greatest Swordsman will be the successor to this world.
This is a game played by a Country Lord, a tyrant, a Devil King, before his death.
Mission Mode: Solo Survival.
Mission 1: Participate in The World's Greatest Warrior Tournament. Within 10 days, join any Daimyo's faction and secure a spot to participate in The World's Greatest Warrior Tournament. Reward points: 1000. Failure to complete the mission will result in a deduction of 3000 reward points.
Mission 2: Eliminate Daimyos. For each Daimyo made to lose their qualification for the throne, gain 100 reward points.
Mission 3: Win the title of The World's Greatest Swordsman. Reward points: 3000.
When The World's Greatest Warrior Tournament ends, this mission will conclude, and you will return to the Main God Space.
Newbie period special buff: Cold Weapons Lv2, limited to this mission.
Newbie period special reward: Each time a samurai is defeated in a martial arts duel, a portion of his martial arts experience will be gained.
No identity information arrangement in this world, Reincarnator's appearance and attire receive a certain degree of disguise! Mission starts!
Zhou Ming carefully pondered the mission content. It took him a while to come back to his senses.
He already knew the world background, so there was nothing surprising about it. What he cared about were the three missions; only Mission 1 had a failure penalty, and the penalty was not severe, while the other two missions only offered rewards.
In other words, even if Zhou Ming didn't do any of the three missions, he would at most lose 3000 reward points and would not be directly erased by the Main God, unless Zhou Ming's reward points turned negative.
Although he knew that the Main God's requirements for Reincarnators were quite lenient during the first three newbie missions, being lenient to this extent was still somewhat beyond Zhou Ming's expectations.
"However, even without mandatory requirements, as a Reincarnator, for more reward points, one would definitely strive to complete the missions, right?"
The missions arranged by the Main God would become increasingly difficult, and skipping them would only cause the Reincarnator to lack reward points for strengthening, inevitably making things harder and harder later on, until he died in a certain mission.
"Hmm, although I will definitely participate in the main mission, such lenient conditions would be a waste if not properly manipulated!"
Zhou Ming stroked his chin and chuckled.
"Hey! Kid, what are you laughing at! Didn't you hear this lord calling you?!"
A crude voice boomed in his ear, interrupting Zhou Ming's thoughts, and he involuntarily swept his gaze towards the owner of the voice with a hint of disgust.
"Bastard! What kind of look is that! You damned brat, are you looking down on me?!"
A samurai with a comical chonmage hairstyle and wooden clogs, his face flushed, looking drunk, shouted excitedly at Zhou Ming.
Not yet having a clear understanding of his surroundings, Zhou Ming didn't want to stir up trouble, so he kept his tone as calm as possible and said, "Get lost."
"You bastard!"
The samurai's blood immediately rushed to his head, and in a fit of rage, fueled by alcohol, he instantly drew his sword and pointed it at Zhou Ming.
"How dare you treat a samurai like this, which Daojo are you from, brat, who is your master? Speak up!"
Zhou Ming sighed. Why were these samurai so short-tempered? Why couldn't they talk calmly and nicely? Drawing a sword at the slightest disagreement, was that reasonable?
Although Zhou Ming wasn't a good-tempered person either, seeing the other party's agitated look as if he was about to strike at any moment, he could only suppress his emotions and carefully chose his words to greet him: "You're so noisy, can't you just roll aside?"
"Ah! Die!" The samurai's eyes were bloodshot, and he raised his katana high, bringing it down towards Zhou Ming's head.
Clang!
A crisp sound.
The samurai's arms, raised high, paused in mid-air, and his entire being fell into a daze.
The katana in his hand was only half-left; the other half spun in mid-air, tracing an arc before landing, emitting a series of "clang-a-lang" crisp sounds.
He stared blankly at the long blade in Zhou Ming's hand, which was definitely not a katana. It was this blade that had effortlessly cut his katana.
"You, what kind of blade is that?"
The samurai asked, somewhat unwillingly.
As a samurai, having one's weapon cut by another was a great humiliation. Now, his only hope was that he had only lost due to an inferior weapon, and not due to inferior skill.
Zhou Ming raised an eyebrow and immediately said, "What, I've already been yielding step by step, and you still won't let me go? You still want to snatch my blade? You're going too far!"
He flicked his hand, so fast that the samurai didn't even see it, and the blade had already pierced his neck.
"It's a pity to use this blade to kill you, but, hmph, indeed, killing mosquitoes is the quietest."
With a gentle pull, there wasn't a single trace of blood on the adamantium alloy blade.
He sheathed his blade.
Faint wisps of martial arts experience appeared out of nowhere in his mind, gradually being digested and absorbed by Zhou Ming.
"Takenouchi Dansui-ryū? Is that his cultivation school?"
Zhou Ming carefully savored the martial arts experience kindly provided by this samurai whose name he didn't even know.
Unlike the previous round, the assassins' combat experience was very rich and not limited to marksmanship. Firearms, explosives, assassination, poisoning, it was extensive and varied, and the combat experience actually contained a large amount of knowledge.
The samurai's martial arts experience, however, was mainly reflected in his swordsmanship. Each distinct martial arts school, while possessing its own characteristics, ultimately fell within the cold weapon category, making it specialized and refined.
"Murder!"
As the samurai fell, the surrounding vendors and commoners let out screams. The crowd, who had already dared not approach due to the two men drawing swords, fled in panic even further away.
However, among the crowd, several men, also dressed as samurai, pushed against the flow of people, shouting with angry faces.
"Oda!"
"Bastard, where are you from, samurai, how dare you kill someone in the street!"
"You damned bastard, do you think our Takenouchi Dansui-ryū has no one?! Draw your blade!"
Before the samurai could even get close, they had already drawn their blades, clearly not wanting to give Zhou Ming a chance to react, intending to hack him to death with a flurry of blades.
"In broad daylight, hacking people down in the street, is this world so chaotic?"
"Alas, in troubled times, people are worse off than dogs in prosperous times. In such a dangerous situation, even I can only protect myself!"
A faint sadness appeared on Zhou Ming's face. A pistol slipped from his sleeve into his hand. He raised his hand and sent three bullets into the foreheads of the three charging men.
If necessary, he could even squeeze out a few tears to enhance the atmosphere, adding a touch of beauty to the sadness on his face.
A cold-faced wanderer with an infinitely tender heart, killing people while shedding tears—imagine that scene, how aesthetically pleasing.
Unfortunately, no one appreciated it.
Amidst the deafening gunshots, the three men simultaneously fell backward, collapsing onto the stone slab ground. In the swirling dust, blood splattered on the ground, like blooming red lotus flowers, enchanting and captivating.
Only one person remained. He had been lagging behind, and his sword was only half-drawn when he saw the people in front of him fall one after another. He was so scared that he instantly sobered up.
"This world allows guns, good news, firearms can be put to use, my survival ability has greatly increased."
"I didn't gain martial arts experience. As expected, using guns for self-preservation is fine, but the returns are not good. Hmm, you get what you pay for, it conforms to the choice of equivalent exchange. I wonder if using Gu insects would work?"
Zhou Ming put away his gun, nodded, and completed a simple experiment, gaining some conclusions, and still having some questions that needed further verification.
What was the technological level of this world? Were firearms used in practice? Were there supernatural powers? Were there tales of ghosts and gods? These questions concerning his survival had to be clarified.
"Hey, where are you going!"
At this moment, the samurai who had luckily escaped was trembling and preparing to flee. Zhou Ming suddenly called out to him, startling him so much that his legs gave out, and he directly knelt on the ground.
"Lord, don't kill me! I absolutely did not mean to offend you just now, please spare my dog's life! I still have an eighty-year-old mother at home..."
The samurai wailed and kowtowed repeatedly to Zhou Ming.
"I think you should be under thirty. Is your mother really eighty years old?"
Zhou Ming stepped forward, kicked the samurai to the ground, and cursed, "Don't you guys value samurai honor highly? Why are you such a coward? Get up!"
"L-Lord, don't kill me, please don't kill me!"
This samurai was either scared out of his wits or naturally timid. Zhou Ming told him to stand up, but he didn't dare. He crawled up from the ground and continued to kowtow to Zhou Ming like pounding garlic, begging for mercy non-stop.
"What a hassle." Zhou Ming impatiently stepped on the samurai's back, pointed a finger at him, and activated the Two-turn Bewitching Soul Gu.
This was one of Zhou Ming's set of Two-turn Soul Path Gu insects, whose purpose was to bewitch others' minds, making them obey him like hypnotized puppets.
Soon, the samurai's eyes became hazy, he giggled foolishly, and his movements gradually stopped. His entire body swayed as if sleepwalking.