The chess piece drew ever closer to the board.
Suddenly, every black and white piece on the board flashed. They formed swirling vortex currents.
The ten-zhang space centred on the board remained as still as a boulder, but beyond ten zhang, winds howled and clouds surged. Power fluctuations rolled like ocean waves.
The Corpse clan great saint’s expression changed. Brilliant light burst from his eyes as he released saint qi with both hands at full strength, pouring out like a black waterfall.
The vortex currents grew stronger the more force they met. They repelled the white piece and struck back at the Corpse great saint’s chest, sending him flying.
Crack!
The piece fell to the ground.
After steadying himself, the Corpse great saint glanced at the spinning piece on the ground, then at the still-motionless inverted board. All contempt vanished. He uttered a single word: “Impressive.”
Then he turned and continued climbing Xing Tian Cliff.
The remaining cultivators looked at one another, naturally seeing the trick.
“Old sir, this is unfair! We all know your cultivation is profound. If you resist with mental strength, who among us could place the piece?” the beardless young Taoist said.
“Exactly! If this is a contest of cultivation, even all of us together are no match for you.”
“Your cultivation truly is unfathomably deep, old sir.”
…
The cyan-robed maiden looked displeased. “Look carefully. My grandfather did not use mental strength to resist. The game itself resonates with the Heavenly Dao; the pieces form their own domain. To place a piece on the board, you must show real skill.”
“The game resonates with the Heavenly Dao? This prince refuses to believe it!”
A demon clan demigod with a furry beast head the size of a water vat strode forward. His body was like a small mountain. He exhaled like thunder, stomped with a left bow stance, and struck the board heavily.
Boom!
Violent saint qi formed a raging storm.
Yet the board did not budge.
The demon demigod exclaimed in surprise, spun, and whipped out with his right leg in a diagonal slash.
The crowd could tell he was trying to knock the board to the ground first, then place the piece.
Bang!
For the third strike, he punched with a left thrust.
His fist force resembled a primordial treasure vase, slamming the side of the board with deafening noise.
The board remained fixed in space and instead sent the demon demigod staggering back.
The demon demigod attacked no further. He looked toward the scholarly-robed elder with reverence, bowed deeply, then silently departed.
“A true master, truly a master. Old sir, please tell us quickly: how can the piece still be placed on the board?” All displeasure had vanished from the young Taoist’s face, replaced by pure respect.
Every cultivator present listened intently.
Such a master was surely a god, worthy of their awe.
A gentle breeze stirred his sleeves. The scholarly-robed elder gave a faint smile. “The pieces on the board do indeed form their own domain. But wherever there is a domain, there must be a weak point.”
A mental-strength great saint in array-master robes said, “From what this junior sees, it is not so simple. If placing the piece from above, we need only find the domain’s weak point; with our cultivation, that should be possible. But placing it from below while fighting heavenly momentum and borrowing earthly momentum; even gods would find it impossible.”
The scholarly-robed elder openly admitted, “Correct. Given the strength of the domain formed by this game, placing a piece from below, even great gods would find few capable of success.”
All present sighed, feeling played.
In their eyes, even gods were unattainable. As for great gods, each was a cosmic overlord who could decide the fate of billions and slay gods with ease.
“Let us go. The old sir’s puzzle is beyond us.”
The cultivators left one after another.
“The placement point is very particular and relates to the endgame on the board.”
Bai Qing’er stared at the board for a long while. “White’s next move should be 7-13.”
As she spoke, she picked up the fallen white piece and walked straight to the board.
She held the piece between two slender jade fingers, no flourish, and pressed directly toward the intersection of the lines.
Powerful repelling force erupted from the board.
When the piece was only an inch away, the vortex force of the domain invoked heavenly rules, splitting the surrounding space into black and white halves.
Bai Qing’er’s brows knitted slightly. Her gaze turned cold as she mobilised the mysteries of origin to invoke the origin rules of heaven and earth.
Boom!
The board trembled faintly. A ring of black-and-white light rippled outward.
Bai Qing’er floated backward like a white petal. Zhang Ruochen stepped forward, caught her wrist, and dissipated the force bursting from the board.
As her feet touched the ground, the white piece flew back into Zhang Ruochen’s hand.
Holding the white piece, Zhang Ruochen walked toward the board.
Passing the scholarly-robed elder, he bowed politely. “Senior, can you truly answer any question?”
The elder looked at him with interest, stroking his beard and smiling. “I cannot claim to answer everything, but of the many questions in your heart, I should be able to answer one or two.”
Zhang Ruochen nodded and approached the board. “Placing at 7-13 would indeed greatly increase white’s winning chances. But we are not here to solve the endgame or to win; we only need to place one piece. What we seek is the weakest point in the domain formed by the pieces.”
“Here!”
“The centre.”
Zhang Ruochen pinched the piece and pressed it toward the board.
The centre, tengen, was the very middle point of the board.
The scholarly-robed elder, seated nearby, nodded inwardly. This youth always knows his true purpose and is not blinded by the desire to win. Excellent!
In his view, Bai Qing’er only knew how to solve the endgame and seek victory or defeat.
Being able to solve this game naturally showed extreme intelligence.
But intelligence can sometimes be the downfall of the intelligent!
Zhang Ruochen had found the domain’s weakest point, yet even exerting all his strength, he only closed half an inch more than Bai Qing’er.
Still half an inch remained.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, divine qi from heaven and earth, fine as silk threads, surged endlessly toward the board under Zhang Ruochen’s mental strength guidance.
The cultivators who had already left sensed the divine qi fluctuations and hurried back, gathering around.
Their eyes fell on Zhang Ruochen, but they could not see his face clearly. They only saw heavenly phenomena scrolls manifesting in the space around him and the board.
Sometimes, myriad lightning bolts wove into a net; sometimes, five-coloured chaos tides surged from ground to sky; sometimes, divine mountains rose from the earth.
“What powerful presence!”
The array-master-robed mental-strength great saint exclaimed, “He is borrowing heavenly and earthly momentum. The phenomena we see are the tangible manifestations of that momentum.”
“A true great personage. Could he be a great god?”
The cultivators bowed respectfully in awe.
Zhang Ruochen, standing beside the board, shone like a star. The piece in his hand trembled violently, unable to settle.
The tremor shook space itself.
Suddenly, a ring of light burst from Zhang Ruochen’s body. It did not spread outward but formed a plane parallel to the board, frozen in mid-air, roughly ten zhang in diameter.
The moment the ring appeared, it created perfect balance. The piece gently settled onto the board.
Zhang Ruochen withdrew his hand. The piece did not fall.
The surrounding cultivators stood petrified, unable to believe their eyes.
“He succeeded! He really succeeded. Is he truly a great god?”
“The old sir said even great gods would find few capable of this.”
“Greetings, great god!”
…
Facing their reverent and fearful gazes, Zhang Ruochen merely smiled and offered no explanation. He walked to the scholarly-robed elder. “Old sir, does this count as success?”
The elder replied, “Truly, each cosmic cycle brings forth new talents. Ask your question! But I will answer only one. Think carefully before you speak.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “I have countless questions in my heart, but I believe many of them even Senior cannot answer!”
The cyan-robed maiden frowned. “How rude.”
Zhang Ruochen stared into the elder’s eyes. “How about this: I ask one question. If Senior cannot answer, then Senior must answer my next three questions!”
“Trading one for three; you are a shrewd youth!”
The elder continued, “And if I can answer your question?”
Zhang Ruochen replied, “This junior will immediately kneel, kowtow, and apologise.”
“That seems fair. Ask!” the elder said.
Anyone could see that Zhang Ruochen’s coming question would be extraordinarily tricky. All looked on with keen interest.
It was as if two extraordinary gods were engaging in a contest!
While Zhang Ruochen pondered how to stump the elder, Bai Qing’er stepped beside him and whispered something in his ear.
Hearing it, Zhang Ruochen smiled. “Listen well, old sir! I have heard that three hundred thousand years ago, the Twenty-Four Heavens of Heaven and Hell went together to do something, and only three returned alive. I wish to know: where did they go, and what did they do?”
“That is two questions!” the elder said.
Zhang Ruochen replied, “Old sir need only answer one.”
The scholarly-robed elder stared into Zhang Ruochen’s eyes for a long moment, then gave a wry smile and shook his head. “Both questions, this old man truly does not know! You win!”
Though he won, Zhang Ruochen felt no great joy.
After all, he genuinely wanted the answer to that question.
Zhang Ruochen asked, “May I now ask Senior three questions?”
“Naturally! You two are also heading to the summit of Xing Tian Cliff, yes? Let us walk and talk.”
The scholarly-robed elder stored the chessboard and began climbing toward the peak, the cyan-robed maiden following close behind.
Zhang Ruochen said, “My first question! Three hundred thousand years ago, it is said three of the Twenty-Four Heavens returned alive. Besides Hao Tian and the Six Ancestors, who was the third?”
Zhang Ruochen held little hope for this question.
Surprisingly, the scholarly-robed elder replied, “This question is not difficult to answer at all.”
