592: Rotten Chessboard

"Fellow Daoist, what a tranquil state of mind."

On a not-so-tall, verdant and beautiful mountain peak on the Eastern Barren Continent, the empty mountain had fresh rain, and falling leaves heralded autumn.

Half-yellow fallen leaves were swept down by a sudden wisp of breeze, landing in the mountain forest, on a stone platform beneath a giant tree.

On either side of the stone platform sat two figures whose auras were not apparent.

Outside the stone platform, another youth of about twenty years old, carrying a bamboo basket on his back and holding a very ordinary hoe, stood with it propped on the ground, gently supporting his body. The youth was fully focused, his eyes fixed on several finger-sized, smooth green stones on the stone platform.

The ordinary green stones, now neatly arranged on the stone platform, looked like individual chess pieces.

At this moment, a light laugh of admiration echoed through the quiet, serene mountain forest, where only the rustling of the wind could be heard.

The gaze from outside the stone platform wavered, as if startled by the sound, and he returned to his senses.

"It seems the two Daoist Priests have finished their game..."

"Oh no..."

"I got so engrossed in watching the game, I don't know what time it is..."

The youth was startled, suddenly remembering that he had come up the mountain to collect herbs, specifically to gather some peony roots while they were in season, to exchange for silver to cover his needs for the coming year.

"It seems there's no time today..."

As the youth felt a slight annoyance.

A Middle-aged Cultivator in white robes, seated on one side of the stone platform, raised his eyes and looked at the figure of the old man, who appeared to be about fifty years old, in Daoist robes opposite him, who had just spoken with admiration.

"Senior's cultivation is profound; He Run is far inferior."

Venerable He Run looked at the stones on the stone platform before him. Although there was no chessboard or chess pieces, he and the old man had played with stones, and now he was one move short.

"Hehe."

"That day, I saw that Fellow Daoist's cultivation was extraordinary, yet you measured heaven and earth with your feet, which piqued my interest."

"I didn't expect to sit here with Fellow Daoist for ten years."

Opposite Venerable He Run, the fifty-year-old man in ordinary Daoist robes lightly shook his head with a chuckle.

"Fellow Daoist, in my younger years, I accidentally obtained a method. Today, meeting Fellow Daoist, it is truly fated, and I shall bestow this method upon you."

As the fifty-year-old man's voice fell, without waiting for Venerable He Run to speak, he extended a finger and lightly tapped the ordinary stone platform before him.

Buzz~

On the stone platform, the green stones quietly lit up, transforming into an abstruse imprint.

This imprint naturally entered Venerable He Run's eyes, slowly forming in his mind, never to be forgotten.

"Senior..."

Venerable He Run's expression changed slightly.

He quickly spoke out.

However, he saw the fifty-year-old man before him gently wave his hand, and between heaven and earth, stars shifted and time turned.

Venerable He Run only felt a blur before his eyes. When he regained his senses, the old man's figure was no longer before him, nor were the beautiful mountain, the stone platform, the green stones, or the herb collector.

"What a profound method..."

Venerable He Run sighed in his heart. With his current insight and cultivation, he couldn't detect any trace of that person's action. It seemed no magical power was used at all to send him to this place.

Looking at the river before him and the strangely shaped stones scattered along the riverbank, Venerable He Run understood that this was the place where he had first encountered that old man.

After a long while, Venerable He Run gently sighed.

His mind sank into his Sea of Consciousness, where he saw the abstruse imprints formed by the green stones materialize.

"Mind-Clarifying Dharma Seal..."

Venerable He Run's heart stirred. The imprint transformed into a Dao light and scattered, and a ray of enlightenment emerged in his heart.

"Clarifying the mind and calming the Qi, cultivating Dharma and comprehending the Dao..."

"Truly profound... It seems to have no rank..."

"But this method cannot be passed on to Xiao Tong..."

A hint of regret appeared on Venerable He Run's face. After all, this was a gift from another; without permission, he naturally could not teach it to others.

Without lingering, the white-robed figure stepped forward.

No magical power flowed, yet a single step covered several zhang, as if the earth had suddenly shrunk beneath the feet of the Middle-aged Cultivator in white.

Meanwhile, in the mountains.

The young man propping himself with a hoe had just come to his senses when he saw the white-robed Middle-aged Cultivator sitting by the stone platform suddenly disappear.

As the young man stood stunned, a voice carrying the traces of time's passage sounded in his ear.

"You should also leave."

Buzz~

The world spun, and everything changed.

The youth focused his gaze, and before him, there was no one.

"This...was it a dream...?"

The youth recovered for a long time, composed himself, looked at the already darkening sky, and quickly headed down the mountain.

"Are you... Erhu?"

Down the mountain.

A middle-aged man of about thirty or forty years old stared, looking at the young figure descending from Qingxiu Mountain in the distance, somewhat disbelieving.

"Daniu? How did you... become like this?"

The youth's face showed surprise. He quickly went to meet him, and following the appearance in his memory, vaguely recognized that this person was indeed his village companion with whom he had grown up.

"Erhu, ever since you mysteriously disappeared ten years ago, I thought you had met with misfortune. I didn't expect you to still look the same as ten years ago. Could it be that you encountered an Immortal?"

The man named Daniu had a complex expression. He was no longer young, but his playmate still looked as he did back then.

"Ten years..."

The youth's face changed drastically. He had only watched one game of chess; how could ten years have passed?

"Daoist Priest... Immortal..."

The youth was already somewhat confused.

Several months later.

The story of Erhu, a villager from Mangniu Village, encountering an Immortal in the mountains, spread.

Countless villagers searched Qingxiu Mountain, but they couldn't find anything that Erhu had spoken of.

Another month or so later.

An Immortal, arriving on a sword, descended upon Mangniu Village and took away the youth named Erhu.

Thereafter.

Mangniu Village was renamed Yuxian Township, and people continuously came to visit, making Yuxian Township prosperous.

...

On Qingyang Peak, Gui Zhou Island, in the northern Chaotic Sea.

"Worldly rumors say that between heaven and earth, there is a Rotting Axe Mountain. On Rotting Axe Mountain, there is a Rotting Axe Temple. In Rotting Axe Temple lives a Rotting Axe Immortal. This Rotting Axe Immortal is unrestrained by nature, and his cultivation is unfathomably profound. With a single thought, stars shift and time turns."

"This Rotting Axe Mountain moves according to the Rotting Axe Immortal's will, appearing anywhere between heaven and earth. It is said that if a Cultivator can enter the mountain, they are sure to gain a great fortune."

On Qingyang Peak, by the flowing stream, an eleven or twelve-year-old girl, dressed as a boy, with beautiful black hair tied back with a hairband, wearing a close-fitting outfit, her eyes like stars, shimmering with divine light, stood with her hands behind her back, slowly speaking to a group of children, some as young as four, five, or six years old.

"Sister Jiajun, you're lying! My father said there are no Immortals in this world, only powerful Cultivators."

A chubby boy, appearing to be four, five, or six years old, shouted.

"No, Jiayong, you're wrong! My Great-Grandfather said that Old Ancestor, he is an Immortal, a Demonic Immortal!"

As soon as the words fell, another slightly thinner child quickly retorted loudly.

In the field, a large group of children immediately erupted into a noisy quarrel.

The noise made Zhou Jiajun's eyebrows twitch.

"Hehe~"

At this moment, three young figures in the distance looked towards the noisy commotion.

Zhou Chuanqi shook his head and chuckled lightly, as if seeing his younger self.

"Chuanting, what's written in that spirit jade? Why are you being so mysterious?"

Zhou Chuanqi withdrew his gaze and looked at the rugged, tall figure beside him.

"It's from the Xinlai Ancient Kingdom... Do you know anyone there?"

Zhou Chuanqi rubbed his chin, nudged the calm-faced Zhou Chuanfa on his other side with his elbow, and raised an eyebrow.

Zhou Chuanfa ignored him, paying no heed, and continued forward.

"It's a spirit jade sent by Princess Huaying. She said she's inviting me to the Flowing Light Sand Realm again in five years for a battle, and we can only use Daoist techniques and Divine Abilities comprehended from the Great Power Lei Yan's Legacy."

Zhou Chuanting frankly handed the spirit jade to Zhou Chuanqi.

"Hiss~"

"Could it be..."

"Is it really such a cliché?"

Zhou Chuanqi touched his face, looked at the thick-browed, big-eyed, rugged-looking Zhou Chuanting beside him, feeling a bit defeated. He clearly wasn't bad-looking himself...