252: Chapter 251 Are the words on the stone tablet necessarily true?

"If you want to touch the Old Man, you'll have to ask the sword in my hand first!"

Su Hongling let out a roar that pierced through the clouds.

Her petite body suddenly crouched down, her legs like two jade pillars of heaven brimming with power, as she ruthlessly crushed the remaining black and white chess squares beneath her feet.

Using this violent counter-force, she transformed into a blinding blood-colored rainbow, soaring into the sky against the momentum.

"Get the hell back!"

The blood and Qi power of a Mahayana Stage Body Cultivator erupted without reservation.

Su Hongling gripped the [no edge] great sword, wide as a door panel, with both hands and smashed it upward with a rising strike against the ten-thousand-foot stone sword.

Clang!!!

A deafening sound of metal clashing exploded, sweeping outward frantically in all directions.

The Loose Cultivators hiding at the edges behind them felt their ears go deaf instantly, and many were blown away by the airwave, coughing up mouthfuls of blood.

The seemingly indestructible ten-thousand-foot stone sword, under Su Hongling's unreasonable brute force, actually began to show dense cracks starting from the point of contact.

Crack, crack, crack...

The edge of the stone sword shattered with a bang, turning into countless massive rock fragments that rained down into the abyss like a meteor shower.

Su Hongling was also shaken by the massive counter-force and fell downward, but she flipped nimbly in mid-air, her feet landing heavily, sliding hundreds of feet across the chessboard before steadying herself.

She wiped a trace of blood from the corner of her mouth, a frenzied Battle Intent burning in her red pupils: "Satisfying! This stone lump is much more durable than those soft Yao Beasts!"

Meanwhile, the other stone statue holding a book was not idle either.

"Trying to play with the iron Laws of the Dao in front of me?"

Cold Moon snorted coldly as she took a step forward, her purple-gold Phoenix robe fluttering without any wind.

Imperial Dao Dragon Qi poured out without reservation, and nine platinum true dragon phantoms spiraled upward, letting out dragon roars that shook all ages.

"Imperial Dao Suppresses the World, All Laws Recede!"

The nine true dragon phantoms opened their massive maws and directly bit down on the interwoven golden chains descending from above.

Cold Moon thrust her arms outward, forcibly tearing the sky-covering chains to shreds.

"Kill!"

On the chessboard, thousands of massive chess pieces condensed from pure Law had already charged forward like a flood.

"Just in time, my myriad soul banner has been hungry for a long time!"

Luo Ximei laughed loudly, the light of gods and demons frantically interweaving in her platinum right eye.

She threw the myriad soul banner high into the sky, and black and white Devilish Qi transformed into countless hideous tentacles, sweeping across the sky toward the charging chess pieces.

Every chess piece entangled by a tentacle had its internal Law core instantly extracted and devoured.

"Ten Thousand Poisons Spirit Devour!"

Chu Weiwei naturally would not fall behind.

She crushed a dozen poison bottles simultaneously, and multi-colored poisonous mists mixed in mid-air, turning into a strange dark purple miasma.

This miasma ignored the physical defenses of the chess pieces, directly corroding the spiritual energy meridians that formed their bodies.

Any chess piece touched by the poisonous miasma instantly became sluggish, then slumped to the ground like melting snow.

"Frozen."

Mu Qingxue stood behind Su Lin, her expression indifferent.

She pointed the long sword tied with the [ice soul concentration tassel] slightly downward.

Extreme cold air spread rapidly along the surface of the chessboard, freezing the chess pieces attempting to flank them, along with the space beneath their feet, into lifeless ice sculptures.

The group worked together to forcibly clear an absolutely safe area within this Heavenly Dao death trap.

But those Law chess pieces seemed endless; as one batch was destroyed, a new batch would immediately condense on the chessboard.

The two ten-thousand-foot stone statues were also constantly repairing themselves, launching even more violent attacks.

"Revered Master, there's no end to these things!"

Su Hongling smashed a chariot chess piece with her sword, shouting while panting heavily.

Even as a Body Cultivator, her physical strength would eventually be exhausted in the face of such an endless battle of attrition.

"I said long ago, this is no ordinary chess game."

Su Lin stood in the center of the group's protection, his figure tall and straight like a pine tree.

He looked at the two high-and-mighty stone statues and the seemingly endless black and white chessboard beneath his feet.

"With heaven and earth as the board, and all living beings as the pieces.

As long as you are still in this game, as long as you are still fighting according to the rules of the board, no matter how strong you are, you will eventually be worn to death by this world."

"Then how do we break the game?"

Cold Moon asked in a deep voice while maintaining her Imperial Dao Dragon Qi.

"It's simple."

Su Lin slowly raised his right hand, and within his palm, the [Myriad Heavens Star Chart] emerged once again.

"I said, I want to be the one who flips the chessboard."

He did not attack the continuously swarming chess pieces, nor did he pay attention to the two massive stone statues.

He locked his gaze on the absolute center of this space—the massive stone tablet suspended in mid-air with the rules carved upon it.

"All rules, all manifestations of Law, originate from that core."

Su Lin's voice was steady and full of power. "Once the thing that sets the rules is smashed, this chess game will naturally cease to exist."

The moment his voice fell, he transformed into a stream of light that ignored spatial distance, piercing through the layers of chess pieces and instantly appearing directly above the massive stone tablet.

"Audacious madman!"

The two ten-thousand-foot stone statues sensed Su Lin's intention and simultaneously let out earth-shaking roars.

The stone sword and Law chains turned their direction, carrying the power to destroy everything as they frantically surged toward Su Lin to kill him.

"Old Man!"

Below, the disciples were instantly pale with fright, wanting to help but already pinned down by the dense swarm of chess pieces, unable to pull away.

Facing the pincer attack of the two top-tier powers, Su Lin's face showed no emotion.

He simply threw the [Myriad Heavens Star Chart] in his hand downward.

"Stars of the Myriad Realms, Heaven and Earth Overturned."

With his sharp command, the small star chart unfolded violently in mid-air.

This was no longer the small-scale usage for protection or trapping enemies from before.

Fusing with the [world spirit] Little Star as the artifact spirit and drawing upon the vast Laws within the [world core], the star chart at this moment revealed its true majesty as a supreme treasure!

The moment the scroll unfurled, the originally grey Void Realm was forcibly replaced by a sea of stars brilliant to the extreme.

Countless great stars spiraled and rotated above Su Lin's head.

The ten-thousand-foot stone statue holding the long sword had its descending stone sword sink as if into a quagmire the moment it touched the edge of the star chart.

On the stone sword, those originally indestructible Law runes actually began to twist under the gravitational pull of the stars.

A massive dark-red star phantom fell from the star chart, smashing into the middle of the ten-thousand-foot stone sword's blade.

Boom!!!

Amidst the deafening explosion, the stone sword representing the world's Law of slaughter was actually smashed into two pieces by this star!

On the other side, the sky-covering golden chains released by the stone statue holding the book were also completely absorbed by the overturned silver river in the star chart.

The moment they fell into the star river, they were shredded into the most primitive spiritual energy fragments by the violent spatial turbulence.

"Im... possible..."

Su Lin's figure had already hovered directly above the massive rule stone tablet without any obstruction.

He looked down from above at the stone tablet carved with "Heaven and earth as the board, all living beings as the pieces."

"Since you like treating people as chess pieces..."

Su Lin's right hand made a grasping motion, and golden light flared from his brow.

The recently reforged half-step Immortal Artifact [destiny], which fused the Origin powers of his five Heaven-Defying disciples, let out a sword whistle that pierced the clouds and cracked stone, instantly appearing in his palm.

Upon the sword's body, divine runes flowed frantically, finally converging into a beam of Chaos sword light.

"Then today, I will chop this chessboard of yours, along with your rules, into firewood!"

Su Lin gripped the sword with both hands, pouring everything into this single strike without reservation.

A single sword strike fell.

In everyone's vision, only that blinding Chaos light remained.

Cracks spread rapidly, covering the entire stone tablet in an instant.

Bang!

The stone tablet exploded with a bang.

With the stone tablet, the core of the Formation, destroyed, the entire [Heaven and Earth Killing Tribulation Array] instantly collapsed.

On the chessboard, the thousands of Law chess pieces that were frantically besieging Su Hongling and the others became like Puppets with their strings cut; their bodies began to disintegrate inch by inch, dissipating into the Void Realm as wisps of black and white spiritual energy.

The two ten-thousand-foot stone statues, having lost their core support, also became like sand sculptures weathered for ten million years, collapsing with a roar in the gale and turning into two massive mountains of rubble.

The boundless black and white chessboard beneath their feet was even more like a shattered mirror, peeling off piece by piece and falling into the endless abyss.

A peerless death trap that was originally enough to wear down and kill all challengers was thus forcibly broken by Su Lin's most overbearing and unreasonable sword strike!

The storm gradually subsided.

Su Lin held the ancient sword [destiny], slowly floating down from mid-air, his clothes unstained by dust.

"Old Man!!!"

Su Hongling was the first to rush over. Ignoring the stone dust on her body from smashing the chess pieces, she grabbed Su Lin's arm, her eyes shining with excitement.

"So cool! So domineering! That sword strike just now was even more satisfying than me smashing people!"

"Revered Master's Divine Might."

Luo Ximei put away the myriad soul banner and walked over, swaying her slender waist, her platinum right eye filled with unhidden obsession and fanaticism.

"This is my Revered Master; what bullshit heaven and earth chess game? Under Revered Master's sword, it's just a pile of broken stones."

Chu Weiwei also crowded in, looking at Su Lin's sword-holding hand with heartache: "Revered Master, the counter-force from that sword strike must have been huge. Does your hand hurt?

Weiwei will massage it for you and apply some ointment to soothe the muscles and invigorate the blood..."

Mu Qingxue stood silently behind Su Lin. Although she didn't speak, the surrounding temperature had clearly risen quite a bit, showing she was in an excellent mood.

Cold Moon even directly took out a handkerchief embroidered with a golden dragon, naturally wiping the non-existent sweat from Su Lin's forehead.

Behind them, the surviving Loose Cultivators and mighty figures were now looking at Su Lin with eyes full of awe, as if looking at a god.

Too strong.

This was simply power from another dimension.

That boldness to jump outside the rules and directly smash the rules themselves to pieces completely shattered their understanding.

The Sword Cultivator Mo Chen took a deep breath, suppressing the shock in his heart, and stepped forward quickly, giving Su Lin a deep, respectful bow.

"Senior Su broke the game with one sword strike; this Junior is in awe!"

Mo Chen raised his head, and although his eyes were filled with respect, there was also a deep trace of confusion.

He hesitated for a moment but couldn't help asking:

"Senior, this Junior has something he doesn't understand and dares to ask for your guidance."

Su Lin withdrew the [destiny] sword into his Sea of Consciousness and glanced at Mo Chen, his tone gentle: "Speak."

"In this [Heaven and Earth Killing Tribulation Array], the stone tablet clearly stated that the winner lives and the loser is erased.

Since it is a chess game, as long as we followed the rules, chose a side, and with the heaven-reaching cultivation of the Seniors here, played strategically to kill all the opposing pieces and eventually checkmate the opponent, wouldn't we be able to pass the trial just the same?"

Mo Chen's question was actually the doubt in the hearts of all the Cultivators present.

Since they could win by playing, why take the huge risk of being backlashed by the array to forcibly flip the chessboard? This method of directly destroying the core—if something went slightly wrong, the exploding power of the array would be enough to turn everyone into ashes!

Hearing this question, before Su Lin could speak, Su Hongling rolled her eyes.

"Do you even need to ask? Playing chess is so tiring! You have to use your brain to think about moves; how can it be as satisfying as splitting it with a sword?"

"Second Senior Sister, do you think everyone's brain is just made of muscle like yours?" Luo Ximei mocked heartlessly, then also looked at Su Lin; she was actually a bit curious too.

Su Lin looked around at the surroundings.

The Cultivators all pricked up their ears, afraid of missing a single word.

He chuckled and shook his head.

"Mo Chen, you are a pure Sword Cultivator; your sword is very straight, but your vision is still trapped within the common sense of this world."

Su Lin put his hands behind his back, turned around, and pointed at the chessboard wreckage that had already turned into ruins.

"Do you all really think that as long as you play chess according to its rules, you can live if you win?"

His voice suddenly turned cold, carrying a depth that saw through the vicissitudes of the world.

"Completely wrong."

"If you all really played this game honestly, then no matter how high your cultivation or how exquisite your chess skills, there would be only one final outcome."

"That is death—slowly being drained, being assimilated, and becoming a new Puppet on this chessboard!"

"How could that be? The stone tablet clearly wrote that the winner lives!" Heavenly Calculation Granny couldn't help but cry out in alarm.

"Are the words on the stone tablet necessarily true?"

Su Lin asked back with a cold laugh.

"You only saw the surface rules, but you didn't see through the essence of this Formation."

Su Lin raised a finger and began to clear the doubts for everyone in an orderly manner. This was both an answer to Mo Chen and a vivid lesson on the Great Dao for his disciples.

"First, and the most fatal point. The phrase 'heaven and earth as the board, all living beings as the pieces' is itself a massive compliance trap!"

"You cultivate immortality; what are you cultivating?"

"From the moment you stood before this chessboard and chose to become the general, the advisor, the elephant, the chariot, the horse, or the cannon, in your subconscious, you had already accepted your identity as a chess piece!"