Martial artists can never be ultimately insulted

But in reality, Iori Yagami is a rather cultured but melancholic young man who wouldn't kill someone for no reason—going berserk is another matter entirely.

On the other hand, Iori Yagami has just finished his battle with Yuan Chen. Even with the timely treatment from the Flame of Life, he has lost at least 20% to 30% of his combat power.

During their conversation, Yuan Chen learned that Iori Yagami was nineteen years old.

Yuan Chen was actually quite surprised when he learned her age.

Fun fact: Although Iori Yagami is undoubtedly the most popular male character in the King of Fighters series, he did not actually appear in King of Fighters '94. He first appeared in '95 when he was twenty years old.

But here's the problem—this isn't 1995.

However, Yuan Chen was not too surprised, because the timeline of this world is inherently chaotic. For example, when Yuan Chen was talking about when the Yagami family received Orochi's blood, he knew that the setting was 660 years ago in the era of King of Fighters '97, but he still deliberately said it was 'around 700 years ago', which was a vague statement. The main reason was to allow for some time-related errors.

With Iori Yagami at 19, Tokita Ohma is now 25, a "very old" age. Although he is six years older than Iori, he doesn't have the innate talent for energy transformation derived from his bloodline like Iori. However, with the body honed over time and the awakening of some memories... he might not win, but at least he won't lose too badly.

Thinking about this, Yuan Chen felt a little emotional.

Because if the timeline were changed, Iori Yagami would be 25, Tokita Ohma would be 19... If that were the case, apart from a very few characters in the Kengan universe, most of the others would probably have a hard time keeping up with the version.

However, even with his advantages in age, experience, and knowledge, it is unlikely that Tokita Ohma could defeat Iori Yagami in his current state.

It's too abnormal for arsenic to cause damage to the body, mind, and nerves at the same time.

Looking at Yuan Chen's expression, Tokita Ohma blinked curiously and asked, "Is that guy strong?"

"Ah."

Yuan Chen nodded and said, "I just had a fight with him."

"Who won?" asked Tokita Ohma.

"Me," Yuan Chen said, "I used about 80% of my strength."

Upon hearing this, Tokita Ohma raised an eyebrow and then asked, "Then how much strength did you use when you fought me?"

"Around 30%," Yuan Chen said. "Without considering using our trump cards... it's like your 'pre-borrowing'."

Upon hearing Yuan Chen's words, Tokita Ohma bared his teeth in displeasure, realizing that the red-haired guy who looked like a thug might be much stronger than he had imagined.

but……

"Giving up because you can't win and then feeling a stronger power..." Tokita Ohma looked up at Yuan Chen and said, "That's the mindset of a loser."

With that, Tokita Ohma stood up, then turned and walked toward the door: "I want to see if he's as strong as you say."

A moment later, accompanied by a series of low growls and muffled sounds of confrontation—

"Ugh!!"

With a scream, and then, under the worried gazes of Yamashita Kazuo and the others, Iori Yagami walked in from outside with a displeased expression, pointing at Tokita Ohma behind him, whose face was full of "I did nothing wrong" and said:

"What's wrong with this guy? Is he crazy? I was on the phone and he just showed up and said he wanted to fight me!"

"He is indeed sick."

Yuan Chen shrugged: "He has traumatic amnesia, myocardial strain, mild concussion, as well as multiple bruises, fractures, and swelling."

Upon hearing this, Iori Yagami was taken aback, then looked at Yuan Chen with a puzzled expression: "How do you know so much?"

“Except for the first one, I typed all the rest.” Yuan Chen shrugged, then took out his phone and rewound the footage recorded by the restaurant’s security camera.

Watching Tokita Ohma and Genji's conversation, Iori Yagami couldn't help but roll his eyes: "It's utterly inexplicable."

"Try to understand, this guy used to live in the mountains, so he's kind of a savage."

Yuan Chen poured a beer for Iori Yagami, then gestured with his chin toward Tokita Ohma beside him and asked, "How does it feel?"

"Hiss, he's got some skills." Tokita Ohma hissed, rubbing his chest, his eyes filled with surprise and wariness, as if he had found a formidable opponent.

Although it was just a simple exchange, within just a few rounds, Tokita Ohma's body was visibly covered in numerous scratches.

Especially on his chest, the five-finger marks were particularly obvious, as if he had been slapped hard by the claws of a bear or tiger.

"Do you have bandages and medicine? I need to treat my wound."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Chen stretched out his hand and unleashed a golden flame. The bleeding from the Ten-Ghost Serpent King's chest quickly stopped and the wounds largely healed. The flesh and blood from the scratches reformed, forming a smooth, new skin.

"Not bad, they didn't kill him." Yuan Chen gave Iori Yagami a thumbs up.

"How inexplicable." Iori Yagami shook his head, then returned to his seat and ate as he spoke:

"I've already told Dad the news, and we'll be communicating with the Kagura family in a while... Do you have time? The Kagura family might consult you then."

"No time," Yuan Chen shook his head and said, "I have to go out to compete, so I don't plan to travel back and forth for a while."

"A competition?" Upon hearing this, Iori Yagami raised an eyebrow with interest and asked, "What competition? The KOF tournament?"

“No, it’s the Kengan Association,” Yuan Chen replied.

Upon hearing Yuan Chen's answer, Iori Yagami thought for a moment.

Thanks to the Kengan Association's reputation in the underworld, although Iori Yagami, as a martial arts practitioner, rarely participates in underground fighting, he has heard some information about it as a martial artist.

"I see, I'll look into it later... but it shouldn't be a problem." Iori Yagami put a piece of salt-roasted mackerel into his mouth.

"The Kagura family is now the richest of our three families, and they should have some connections with the Kengan Association. Maybe we'll meet during the match... But speaking of which, this grilled fish doesn't taste very good."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Chen took the grilled fish, then picked up a lemon from the side, squeezed some lemon juice onto it, and lit a wisp of golden flame to accelerate the activation.

"Try it now."

"Yes, that's right." Iori Yagami nodded.

Mai Shiranui, standing to the side, simply covered her face sadly, muttering things like "That's too unfair" and "It's practically cheating."

Meanwhile, Rito, noticing the scar on Tokita Ohma's chest, asked curiously, "It looks like a scratch? Does that mean you also have Razor's Edge?"

"What Razor's Edge? Never heard of it." Hearing this, Iori Yagami shook his head: "It's just an ancient martial art passed down in my family. There's nothing special about it."

Although he fought with Tokita Ohma, Iori Yagami also noticed that although Tokita Ohma came to provoke him, he did not have much hostility. He was just curious about his strength, so he did not use his Azure Flame.

Similarly, Tokita Ohma did not use any techniques such as borrowing; he simply wanted to ascertain Iori Yagami's strength.

Even so, it is clear that Tokita Ohma is the one who suffers the loss—a power similar to Azure Flame, which, apart from being able to inflict additional damage when actively activated, also possesses unique functionality in certain matters, such as attacking souls.

Even without actively stimulating it to transform into flames, it can still serve as a more efficient form of 'qi' to enhance the human body's strength, accuracy, and power.

As it stands now, after a brief sparring match, Tokita Ohma has been left with a series of injuries, while Iori Yagami... while his clothes are not exactly dirty, he is only slightly disheveled.

Although Tokita Ohma is currently suffering from amnesia and most of his power is sealed, the result is still the same.

After eating and drinking for a while, Tokita Ohma also turned his gaze to Yuan Chen: "Can I ask you some questions?"

"Don't ask about Tokita Niko. I've only heard about it secondhand. If you really want to know, you can go to Himuro Ryo. He's a fighter from Yoshinokuniya Bookstore and will be participating in this elimination tournament. His nickname is 'Hyotei.' He knows more about Chuu and Tokita Niko than I do."

Yuan Chen shook his head.

The main reason is that the purification of the Kengan series is primarily in the first part, Kengan Ashura. In the entire second part, Yuan Chen was only interested in a limited number of guys, such as Shen Wulong.

“However, I can help you recover your memory.” Yuan Chen sighed and said, “You’re so boring to play now, you have no feel for it at all.”

"...Anyway, thank you."

Meanwhile, Iori Yagami ate silently, while also quietly sensing his own body.

I don't know if it's just my imagination... but the restless energy that always seems to be lurking in my veins seems to have calmed down a lot?

--------

Starting tomorrow, I'll resume updating frequently, with a minimum of 8 words.

Volume 1: Chapter 159 - My Rock Soul

Those who are family know their own situation. Iori Yagami was well aware of the torment the Blood Curse represented for his family, especially for the martial artists who inherited the ancient martial arts of the Yagami school.

Even in the most peaceful moments, that power originating from the depths of one's bloodline will relentlessly scorch the user's spirit like the flames of hell.

Now, Iori Yagami can sense that this blood curse originating from Orochi is as peaceful as a pool of spring water, rather than something as fierce and intense as flames.

Thinking about it, Iori Yagami looked at Yuan Chen beside him and did not hide his confusion. Instead, he asked directly, "Can you suppress the blood curse in my body?"

Upon hearing Iori Yagami's words, Yuan Chen paused for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I don't know about that... What do you feel?"

Upon hearing this, Iori Yagami then shared what he had felt.

Upon hearing Iori Yagami's words, a slight look of surprise appeared in Yuan Chen's eyes.

The blood curse of the Yagami family originates from Orochi, which is itself the embodiment of the Earth's will—or natural consciousness, an ancient consciousness that has existed since the birth of the Earth.

Initially, he viewed humanity as part of nature, but when the development of human civilization disrupted the natural balance, he came to see humanity as an "unnatural" existence that needed to be eliminated.

Although people have a clear image of the giant serpent, making it seem as if it has a complete physical body, this is not actually the case. The giant serpent does not have a fixed physical body, but is simply a consciousness, or something like the 'soul of the earth'.

Under these circumstances, Yuan Chen did not consider using life therapy to mitigate the effects of the Blood Curse on the Yagami clan.

Unfortunately, natural consciousness is still too advanced a concept.

Even with sufficient confidence in his own abilities, Yuan Chen, based on his current understanding of the Flame of Life, did not believe that he could subdue the natural consciousness of this planet with only these crude methods.

From another perspective, regarding the Miyamoto Musashi arc of the Baki series—initially, Yuan Chen felt that the Miyamoto Musashi arc had some major problems. After all, it was rather strange for a power like necromancy, which is close to supernatural magic, to appear in a fighting manga.

But if it's this world, then there's no problem.

Don't even mention that you could use a necromancy technique to summon Miyamoto Musashi's soul to the modern world, communicate with Orochi, and Yuan Chen wouldn't have any problem fighting a Holy Cup war.

Yes, King Arthur was indeed a woman, a top martial artist, and the Excalibur was an expression of spirit and will.

Because of Orochi's status and the fact that it was his first time meeting Iori Yagami, it was inconvenient to discuss too many personal matters, so Yuan Chen didn't ask too many questions.

And now it seems... to be effective?

Although Ingrid did say that the power she possessed was suspected to be the power of the code holder after descending to this world, Yuan Chen did not take it to heart because of the huge difference between the two.

Ultimately, both the Orochi and Ingrid are equally invincible to Yuan Chen.

Thinking this, Yuan Chen realized something and clapped his hands.

Yes, although Orochi's power is immense, ultimately, Orochi's consciousness has been sealed away.

Having lost consciousness, these so-called blood curses are actually just pure natural energy and natural laws; there is no additional consciousness to control or interfere with them. They simply follow the pre-set program.

In this situation, the consequences of life energy and the Blood Curse meeting are not what Yuan Chen originally envisioned. Yuan Chen controls the life energy, while Orochi controls the Blood Curse, pulling and vying for control within Iori Yagami's body.

Instead, Yuan Chen manipulated life energy, and the Blood Curse had no effect.

Thinking it over, Yuan Chen also shared his thoughts. Upon hearing Yuan Chen's words, a hint of surprise appeared in Iori Yagami's eyes.

After that, Yuan Chen extended his hand toward Iori Yagami and said:

"But speculation is just speculation. Give me your hand, let me confirm it, and you can feel it too."

Upon hearing this, Iori Yagami nodded and placed his wrist directly in Yuan Chen's hand.

Although he still had many doubts about Yuan Chen, Iori Yagami was always a decisive person.

Especially now, when faced with a situation like this, where his ancestors had all tried but ultimately failed—the matter of controlling and even breaking the blood curse—Iori Yagami has to choose between complete disbelief and utmost trust. Dragging things out will only waste more time and energy.

Yuan Chen placed his hand on Iori Yagami's wrist, and after sensing it for a moment, he nodded thoughtfully, "I see."

As he said this, he turned his gaze to Iori Yagami and said:

"Rather than saying the blood curse has been quelled, it's more accurate to say that the life energy... the essence of the golden flames I control, activated your body. Your body instinctively activated certain areas of your brain to achieve a more comfortable state, relieving mental stress through additional hormone secretion and nerve relaxation."

"What about the Blood Curse itself?" Iori Yagami said, "Is it just pure hormone secretion and nerve relaxation? Why do I feel that the strange sensation of the Blood Curse has also decreased a lot?"

“It has some influence,” Yuan Chen replied. “The source of the Blood Curse, which is the consciousness of the Great Serpent, is being sealed. So the Blood Curse is essentially a natural element like fire, water, lightning, and storms.”

In this situation, the Blood Curse simply follows its predetermined function and naturally diminishes!

"But now, with the infusion of life energy, this natural state has been artificially disrupted, so its effects have also changed."

At this point, Yuan Chen actually had one more thing to say.

In theory, Yuan Chen could even seal the Yagami family's 'Azure Flame' by injecting a large amount of life energy, restoring it to its original 'Crimson Flame' state... but unless necessary, Yuan Chen does not intend to try.

The reason is simple: although Iori Yagami hates Orochi, hates the family's fate, and hates the blood curse, he does indeed like Azure Flame.

All I can say is that anyone who has used this ability to simultaneously damage the body, nerves, and mind doesn't want to give it up; just hearing about it makes you feel that heartfelt desire.

It's no exaggeration to say that if Hibiki Kyo had mastered the Azure Flame back in Hong Kong, even Sagat, who couldn't even see through his own inner self, might not have been able to defeat him...

“Generally speaking, regularly absorbing life energy is beneficial to physical and mental health,” Yuan Chen said, looking at Iori Yagami. “Just come often when you have time.”

Upon hearing Yuan Chen's words, Iori Yagami paused for a moment, then looked up and asked, "So, you mean it can't be eradicated?"

“I can’t do it.” Yuan Chen shook his head and said, “The Blood Curse is infected by the blood of the Great Serpent. If it were only the first generation, it might be possible, but by your generation it is deeply rooted. At least with my current abilities, it is unlikely that I can erase it.”