871: A net of heaven and earth, a game of deceit and trickery.

“A piece placed at the center of the board, that’s quite interesting! Zhongzhou Academy has someone who calls himself the Chess Saint. I once played against him. Today, I will mimic his game and play a round with Fellow Daoist Xie.”

Shi Qingxuan placed her white piece, taking the star point.

A piece at the center of the board?

She had seen many such chess games.

They were nothing more than games of the King’s Way, the Monarch’s Way, or the Emperor’s Way, all accustomed to placing a piece there, seeing it as sitting at the center and dominating all directions.

Xie Weilou’s move this time was perhaps a similar idea.

Xie Weilou picked up another black piece: “May I ask what game the young lady intends to mimic?”

As Shi Qingxuan expected, he was playing the Emperor’s game, with the momentum of sitting at the center and sweeping across all directions.

Playing this kind of chess required no hesitation; one could simply attack, cutting through mountains and filling in seas.

Shi Qingxuan said: “Heaven’s Net and Earth’s Snare.”

Xie Weilou placed his black piece, still not grabbing the star point. He smiled and said: “Heaven’s Net and Earth’s Snare?”

Shi Qingxuan said: “Heaven’s Net and Earth’s Snare are omnipresent; Heaven’s Net and Earth’s Snare leave the enemy nowhere to hide.”

“Interesting!”

Xie Weilou smiled faintly.

Shi Qingxuan said nothing more, continuing to place pieces... In a blink.

Half an hour passed.

The board was already filled with pieces.

The white pieces held the advantage, in an absolute encirclement, just as Shi Qingxuan had said: Heaven’s Net and Earth’s Snare were omnipresent, and all within the encirclement were prey!

In contrast, the black pieces, which had initially followed the Emperor’s game, advanced steadily and attacked continuously.

But at this moment, he had lost troops and generals, with eighty-one pieces captured, utterly routed. The so-called monarch had become a turtle in a jar, only able to quietly await slaughter.

“The Emperor’s Game cannot break free from this Heaven’s Net and Earth’s Snare, Fellow Daoist Xie, it seems you will lose this game!”

Shi Qingxuan slowly spoke.

Xie Weilou held a black piece and smiled faintly: “Heaven’s Net and Earth’s Snare are all-pervading, but it is not impossible for one to escape.”

“Oh?”

Shi Qingxuan looked at Xie Weilou.

Xie Weilou said: “The Great Dao has fifty, Heaven’s will is forty-nine, one escapes. Heaven’s Net and Earth’s Snare can indeed cover the entire board and devour countless enemy pieces, but the one that escapes is unpredictable and not within this net!”

Saying that, he casually placed a piece, turning decay into wonder.

The black piece was originally an Emperor’s piece, but at this moment, the Emperor’s game vanished, transforming into a treacherous game of risky maneuvers.

The black pieces were still surrounded by the white pieces, but with Xie Weilou’s move, a gap appeared in the white pieces’ encirclement, and this was the key for the black pieces to break through.

“This is...”

Shi Qingxuan was stunned for a second.

In her eyes, the black pieces were dead, completely devoid of life, but Xie Weilou’s move directly revived them. His central piece, which should have been a Useless chess pieces, was now alive.

In contrast, her white pieces, with their grand layout, had developed a slight flaw.

Xie Weilou smiled and said: “The board is dead, and the game is dead. The key lies in how the person placing the pieces brings them to life! Heaven’s Net and Earth’s Snare are all-pervading, but the layout is too large. It looks impenetrable, but in reality, it is weak everywhere. One only needs to find a point to break through, and it will crumble.”

“It’s just a sliver of life; it won’t last long. Your central piece should be discarded!”

Shi Qingxuan continued to place pieces, directly eliminating the central piece.

The center is the monarch; if the monarch falls, the game collapses!

Xie Weilou picked up a black piece and smiled: “Warfare is the art of deception. The central piece was originally a discarded move. The so-called Emperor’s game was merely a decoy. If I hadn’t made you think it was an Emperor’s game, how could you have gone all out to surround and kill? When you focus too much on one target, you often overlook the hidden dangers around you...”

He directly placed a piece on one of the star points, and the black pieces’ situation suddenly changed.

The Emperor’s pieces completely transformed into unpredictable, treacherous pieces. Every black piece, seemingly discarded, was full of countless possibilities for change.

Looking at the white pieces’ encirclement, if they were encircling an Emperor’s game, they would naturally cut off its breath and destroy its pieces, making it difficult for the black pieces to turn the tide.

However, at this moment, the black pieces were constantly changing, and the white pieces’ encirclement became full of loopholes. There was more than one weak point!

The white pieces, at the moment of impending victory, had already exerted all their strength. Now that the black pieces were changing, filled with countless dangers, the white pieces no longer had the energy to continue the encirclement.

What it needed to wait for was the black pieces’ counterattack, breaking through layer by layer.

Heaven’s Net and Earth’s Snare, every part was extremely powerful, yet its distribution was too broad, making it difficult to inject all its strength into one place. This was its biggest flaw.

“...”

Shi Qingxuan watched the changes on the board and couldn’t help but frown.

Xie Weilou only needed to place a few more pieces, and her white pieces, her encirclement, would become completely powerless.

She looked at Xie Weilou: “You sacrificed eighty-one pieces just for this moment?”

Xie Weilou smiled and said: “A game of chess is just a game of chess, nothing more than victory or defeat, a draw or a tie. To win, what does sacrificing eighty-one pieces count for?”

“To achieve your goal, you stop at nothing, regardless of losses, just for victory or defeat. Is this the treacherous way?”

Shi Qingxuan stared at Xie Weilou.

They say one’s character can be seen from their chess style. From Xie Weilou’s chess style, the person in front of her was definitely not a good person, belonging to the cunning and treacherous sort.

Xie Weilou smiled faintly: “If it was just to win against the young lady, in fact, at the fifteenth move, the young lady had already lost. I just wanted to see what it feels like for the young lady to fall from heaven to hell in an instant?”

“...”

Shi Qingxuan fell silent upon hearing this.

After a few breaths.

She spoke: “You won! Ask the question you want to ask.”

In this game, she was playing the Chess Saint’s Heaven’s Net and Earth’s Snare game. This kind of game, with its grand layout, also had large loopholes, and could not be considered an impenetrable game.

Xie Weilou looked at the back of Shi Qingxuan’s hand: “The totem on the back of the young lady’s hand is very interesting. I wonder what its meaning is?”

Shi Qingxuan was a little surprised, not expecting Xie Weilou to ask this question. She spoke: “I once saw a divine stone from an outer realm, and it had this kind of totem on it. I found it interesting, so I carved it on the back of my hand.”

As she said this, she looked at Xie Weilou: “Fellow Daoist Xie, have you seen a similar totem?”

Xie Weilou said with a strong smile: “I have not seen a similar totem, but I have seen a green scale whose shape is similar to the totem on the back of the young lady’s hand.”

“Green scale?”

Shi Qingxuan’s eyes showed a pensive look.

Xie Weilou stood up and said: “A game of chess has been played, and This Xie should take his leave.”

Shi Qingxuan must know something.

This totem was not as simple as she made it out to be, but this woman didn’t seem to intend to say more.

This woman was very mysterious, he could not see through her, nor did he have full confidence in taking her down, so he couldn’t directly make a move.

Shi Qingxuan said: “I estimate it won’t be long before I see Fellow Daoist Xie again.”

Xie Weilou said: “I hope next time, I can see the young lady’s own chess game.”

With that, he took Xie Buxian and flew away.

Shi Qingxuan watched Xie Weilou’s departing back and murmured: “Xie Weilou, how interesting!”

Not long after.

An old man flew over and bowed to Shi Qingxuan: “Vice Dean, the Grandmist Dao Body has arrived at Zhongzhou Academy.”

There was no ripple in Shi Qingxuan’s eyes.

The old man whispered: “Should I go and eliminate this Xie Weilou?”

Shi Qingxuan said indifferently: “Do you have the strength? As far as I know, you still seem to have one of your arms with him.”

“...”

The old man’s expression froze.