Crossgate Seal Chapter 425

Southern Border, Ten Thousand Pine Mountain.
Ten Thousand Pine Mountain is both a single peak and a small mountain range, with its highest summit over a thousand zhang tall, spanning a hundred li.
The range is lush with various trees: pines, cypresses, birches, willows, locusts, banyans, and more, perpetually green, with flowers blooming year-round.
As for why it’s called Ten Thousand Pine Mountain and not Ten Thousand Cypress Mountain or Ten Thousand Birch Mountain, that’s because an ancient pine tree, of unknown age, stands on the main peak.
This pine has attained sentience, condensed its primordial spirit, and taken human form, naming itself Daoist Ten Thousand Pines.
What else would you call this mountain if not Ten Thousand Pine Mountain?
If you dared call it Ten Thousand Cypress Mountain, every cypress in the range would likely vanish overnight.
Fine, Ten Thousand Pine Mountain it is.
…
A breeze rustled through, pine needles clattering with a seemingly chaotic sound that carried an inexplicable rhythm, as if chanting an indescribable scripture.
At the summit of Ten Thousand Pine Mountain, beneath the ancient pine.
A stone platform, a few stone stools.
On one stool sat an old man in a jade-green robe.
His skin had a faint greenish tint, and his grey-white hair shimmered with a subtle green glow.
Clearly not human!
The old man’s expression was serene, calm as a gentle breeze, facing a stone platform etched with thirty-eight intersecting lines, adorned with black and white stones, silently pondering without a sound.
After a long while…
He reached out, took a black jade piece from a stone bowl beside him, and placed it on the board.
He placed the piece, withdrew his hand, and sat still.
The breeze stirred his robes, but his form remained unmoved.
If not for his recent action, he might have seemed a clay statue or wooden carving.
“Chirp chirp!”
A yellow bird, perhaps tired from flying, fluttered down onto his shoulder.
It looked around, then hopped from his shoulder to the stone table in front of him.
The flat stone surface wasn’t kind to the bird’s claws, so it hopped twice, perhaps feeling uncomfortable, spread its wings, flapped hard, and with a flutter, flew away.
“Hm?”
The old man’s tranquil eyes flickered briefly.
The next moment, two figures emerged from the ground not far from him.
“Old Pine, I’ve brought Lu, the young friend who solved your endgame,” Song Kaichuan said.
“Junior Lu Zheng, lay disciple of White Cloud Temple, greets Senior Ten Thousand Pines!”
The newcomers were Song Kaichuan and Lu Zheng.
Unlike Lu Zheng, who moved underground cautiously, struggling with direction and obstacles, Song Kaichuan’s Earth Travel Technique was lightning-fast, effortless, and free of Lu Zheng’s troubles.
From his occasional turns underground, it was clear he could easily sense conditions far ahead.
Due to the vast gap in their power, any demons in their path likely couldn’t detect Song’s probing.
Thus, they traveled south entirely underground, never surfacing once, leaving Lu Zheng clueless about where exactly Ten Thousand Pine Mountain was in the southern border.
The only upside was Song’s speed—barely a day and a bit, and they’d arrived.
Emerging onto the surface, hearing Song’s words and seeing the ancient pine tree, clearly aged, and the old man with greenish skin and hair, Lu Zheng knew they’d reached their destination and met the main figure.
“Greetings, young friend Lu,” Daoist Ten Thousand Pines nodded, his expression calm, smiling faintly. “Thank you for making the long journey.”
“You’re too kind, Senior Ten Thousand Pines!” Lu Zheng bowed with clasped hands. “I love chess, and to see the legendary dream chess game, I might be the one benefiting from your light!”
Daoist Ten Thousand Pines smiled faintly, gesturing to the seat opposite. “I’m playing against myself. Please, young friend, take a seat.”
Having lived thousands of years, with his primordial spirit having traveled the world, Daoist Ten Thousand Pines had seen countless smooth talkers like Lu Zheng—nothing rare.
The key was ability!
“Good!”
Lu Zheng nodded, not standing on ceremony, knowing Daoist Ten Thousand Pines was testing him.
Perfect, he’d get a taste of the daoist’s chess skills and the quality of the legendary dream chess game.
Lu Zheng sat, looking at the board.
The next moment, white jade and black stones filled his vision, the board shifting like a storm. Both sides seemed like two great dragons clashing in a sea of clouds.
Each within the other, intertwined.
Lu Zheng’s eyes flickered, instantly grasping the board’s overall momentum.
Black and white, evenly matched.
Black led the attack, bold and unrestrained, breaking through like bamboo, pressing from all sides, fierce up front, solid in the rear, ferocious as a flying tiger, steady as Mount Tai.
White held the defence, balanced and stable, intricate as brocade, layered and dense, steady in front, cunning in the rear, airtight yet hiding a needle in silk.
One person playing alone, yet displaying four distinct styles, all interwoven, maintaining balance, mutually restraining and enhancing, fused as one.
Simply terrifying!
Lu Zheng’s pupils contracted, suppressing the urge to gasp, sitting calmly on the stone stool with a composed expression.
Can’t show weakness!
He was a man standing on the shoulders of giants, after all, blending the essence of countless chess strategies from both modern and ancient worlds, refined through fortune light to reach an exceptional level in chess.
But…
Lu Zheng couldn’t help glancing at Song Kaichuan.
Honestly, Song’s chess skills were already impressive. The only person Lu Zheng had met who surpassed him was Master Peng Yu of the Jinhua Sect.
Yet, one look at Daoist Ten Thousand Pines’ board, and Lu Zheng couldn’t help but think Song’s claim of “losing more than winning” against the daoist was just saving face.
Sweeping the board with a glance, Lu Zheng spoke up, “I hold white, it’s my turn, right?”
Daoist Ten Thousand Pines raised an eyebrow, a hint of appreciation in his eyes. “Indeed, please, young friend.”
Lu Zheng’s words already revealed an extraordinary chess insight.
With both sides evenly matched, white defending, if black played next, white would immediately fall behind, so it had to be white’s turn.
To spot such a detail at a glance, Daoist Ten Thousand Pines felt a faint spark of expectation for Lu Zheng’s chess skills.
Before, he hadn’t held any expectations for Lu Zheng.
His own talent in chess was exceptional, or he wouldn’t have been drawn into a dream match by an immortal. Though the game remained unsolved for millennia, his chess skills had grown immeasurably over two thousand years.
He believed his chess had reached the pinnacle, unmatched in the world, and that the dream chess game could only be solved by himself.
As for Song Kaichuan inviting Lu Zheng, Daoist Ten Thousand Pines saw it as merely mentoring a junior, not taking it seriously.
But Lu Zheng faced his board without flinching and instantly grasped the situation.
Daoist Ten Thousand Pines nodded, his evaluation of Lu Zheng: not bad.