Guys, it's important to keep in mind that if we hide our identity, it's still possible that we'll be discovered:
The first technique he taught you were the Shouwang Claws, (獸王狂爪, Mad Claws of the Beast King), his signature technique.
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“I will not tell you if you should participate or not. That is entirely your choice. If you do, however, be careful about it. Luoyang is under our protection, and besides me, Grand Taoist Zhengchong of Wudang, Abbot Fangzhang of Shaolin and Taoist Cuishan of Kunlun will be there. I dare say that you should be safe, but there are no certainties in life. As a contestant we are obliged to protect you, but as the Maniac’s apprentice there will be those that hate and fear you.”
This is very important; we have three people other than the Abbess attending who have very likely seen the Southern Maniac in action at some point in there lives. So when this mysterious stranger comes along and kicks the shit out of their guys with Zhang's brutal techniques, it's going to start looking very familiar. I'm sure that they won't notice it at first, but give it a few matches, and they'll definitely start paying close attention to what it is we're doing.
There is also another advantage in coming in openly, and that's blackmail. We have all the dirt on Abbess Miecao's past:
If news gets out that the Abbess of Emei is raising her granddaughters on the mountain, it would be a great scandal for the sect; she would be seen as partial and unfit to lead. Besides, even if you didn’t tell her the truth now, she would definitely recognize you during the tournament. You doubt you could hide from the Abbess.
Going into the competition anonymously puts us and Miecao on an equal playing field. We know something dangerous about her, she knows something dangerous about us. However, if we go into the competition as Zhang's apprentice, suddenly that puts her on the defensive and the truth sets us free. She cares about her reputation, but being crafty unorthodox types, we don't care about ours.
If we come in openly and everyone hates us, I could see lots of strategies that could work. Personally, I would start with a speech:
What you lookin' at? You all a bunch of fuckin' assholes. You know why? You don't have the guts to be what you wanna be? You need people like me. You need people like me so you can point your fuckin' fingers and say, "That's the bad guy." So... what that make you? Good? You're not good. You just know how to hide, how to lie. Me, I don't have that problem. Me, I always tell the truth. Even when I lie. So say good night to the bad guy! Come on. The last time you gonna see a bad guy like this again, let me tell you. Come on. Make way for the bad guy. There's a bad guy comin' through! Better get outta his way!
Revealing the Abbess' past would make for a suitably dramatic introduction that could lead to the Emei getting kicked out of the tournament. With tensions at an all-time high due to our scandalous but entirely truthful revelations, we then challenge all the disciples of all the sects to fight us at once, in order to "make things fair", since we're a fair guy for telling the truth about Miecao.
We'd go for the 8-on-1 fight ostensibly because we can take them all on at once, but the real reason would just be to read the style of each of our opponent's down the road so that we'd know more about them than they would about us. This is far more believable than going in with our real identity and losing like a little bitch.
We wouldn't be able to do any of the stuff above as a wandering martial artist character. Plus, we'd have to be careful so that the various sect bigwigs (other than Miecao) don't start putting the pieces together as to who we really are.
If we say we are Zhang Jue's disciple straight up then lose on purpose, some will be fooled, but others will remain suspicious - many heads will know Zhang personally and refuse to believe that the disciple is so useless. Whereas if we did what I suggested above, they will either think we are crap and it is because we are an imposter, or we are crap and we are indeed Zhang Jue's apprentice, etc - it adds an extra layer that will make just about everyone think we are a pushover. Again, I do think we can think of something better, perhaps dovetailing with our other resources like laxatives, but I think that's the direction we should be thinking in.
I don't think that everyone will be fooled by it either: out of all the competitors, we are very likely the only one being personally taught by a Great Pugilist. We are also the only one who's managed to survive this long under Master Zhang's tutelage. Coming in openly and losing like a little bitch won't fool the cleverer observers here. Really, if you want to come in with our true identity, you gotta go big and make it dramatic as hell. That's the only way that it'll work.