248: Chapter 248 Progress

"As you wish."

As the voice fell, the vast Starry Sky Chessboard condensed once again.

Zhang Huaiyuan did not dare to be negligent this time, quickly locking onto the star he had cracked in the previous round.

"As expected, the difficult problem set inside has changed. I knew there wouldn't be any loopholes for me to exploit."

All the knowledge from three hundred years of bitter cultivation and research was mobilized in an instant.

After the previous round of play, Zhang Huaiyuan found that his application of knowledge related to Mechanical Dynamics had clearly become more flexible.

This time, after only twenty-eight minutes, the difficult problem contained within the star was cracked.

It transformed into a chess piece once more and fell onto the board.

This time, he changed his strategy, placing it in a position far from his opponent.

He glanced over; for the existence on the opposite side, the second chess piece was already about to finish being refined.

His heart skipped a beat, and he quickly searched for his next target.

Soon, a star primarily focused on biotechnology caught his eye.

"The rules of these two happen to be completely complementary; perhaps they can be fused into an even more powerful weapon."

Without time for much hesitation, Zhang Huaiyuan immediately began to crack this star with all his might.

"To think they could interlock like this to form a synergistic effect, using the core gene editing of biotechnology to encode fused metals..."

During the cracking process, Zhang Huaiyuan was surprised to find that the difficult problem contained in each of these stars could independently form an outstanding achievement for a graduate of an Elite Zone academy.

And according to the ruin's intelligence, there were over twelve trillion such stars!

Not to mention, every time it reset, new difficult problems would be recomposed.

It almost exhausted all the variables of basic knowledge!

"Incredible, incredible. What kind of terrifying existence created this ruin and this kind of chessboard!"

Zhang Huaiyuan suddenly realized that this was not merely a test, but an unimaginable opportunity!

Every star of knowledge was a perfect fusion of various disciplines.

If he could master even a portion of the changes on this chessboard, he would truly become a 'Hexagon Warrior' without any weaknesses.

At that time, winning first place in the competition would be as easy as turning over his hand.

Having understood this, Zhang Huaiyuan was no longer anxious about quickly breaking the game in his heart.

He began to carefully experience the brilliant thinking contained within.

Unlike the previous star which took only five hours, this time, it took him a full nine hours to complete the cracking.

The star transformed into a chess piece and fell onto the board according to his will.

The rules within the two chess pieces converged; vaguely, accompanied by a resonant dragon roar, a mechanical dragon that seemed like a living thing soared into the air and roared.

However, at this time on the other side of the board, as that great existence placed its fifth piece,

A perfectly linked formation swept across, instantly enveloping the mechanical dragon within it.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The mechanical dragon roared angrily and collided, causing the formation to shake violently, yet it was always just a bit short of being truly shaken.

Finally, amidst a mournful cry, it was crushed alive.

The two chess pieces also flew to the other person's hand, just like in the previous game.

However, Zhang Huaiyuan was not worried but happy instead.

In the previous game, his single chess piece had been instantly consumed without even the power to resist when facing the attack of three independent chess pieces.

But in this round, against the fused attack of the opponent's five chess pieces, he had resisted for a long time relying only on the combination of his two pieces.

This showed that finding sufficiently suitable and complementary knowledge stars could create an effect where one plus one was far greater than two.

"It seems the mysteries within the chess game are far more than I imagined."

Understanding this point, Zhang Huaiyuan did not rush to finish, but continued to comprehend various stars.

Until a certain moment a day later, a gentle force cut off his thoughts and kicked him out of the chessboard.

"One side has already led by twenty pieces; the outcome is decided. This game is over."

Hearing the voice coming from his ear, Zhang Huaiyuan only then woke up as if from a dream, looking at the receding stars with lingering interest.

He found that these stars, rather than containing unsolved riddles for people to crack, were more like they were deliberately guiding him to discover and master new ways of thinking and paths.

"Kid, very good."

The voice in the void sounded again, carrying a hint of admiration:

"To have discovered part of the chess game's mysteries in only your third attempt."

"Many geniuses often focus on the speed of gains and losses of a single piece or move, but forget that knowledge is the true pursuit of a Scholar."

"Senior overpraises me. The existence that created this chessboard is the true genius. Junior has only occasionally picked up a few seashells by the vast ocean he created and has already benefited immensely."

Zhang Huaiyuan shook his head modestly, then suddenly asked with some curiosity:

"Junior has an unpresumptuous request. I wonder if Senior could tell me the name of that great existence?"

The voice in the void was silent for a moment before speaking again:

"The Master is omnipresent and omniscient, transcending real time and space, presiding over the opening of each era."

"You are not yet qualified to know His name, however..."

The existence in the void changed its tone and said indifferently:

"Considering your good talent and sincerity, I can tell you another identity of the Master."

"Please enlighten me, Senior."

"Do you remember what I answered when you asked me what would happen if you were lucky enough to win by half a piece?"

"Of course I remember. You said that if I could tie with him, then from then on, what I say would represent truth... Wait, Truth!"

Zhang Huaiyuan was suddenly startled and blurted out: "Could that existence be the Lord of Truth!"

"Correct."

A teasing laugh came from the void:

"Do you still have the confidence to continue the match now?"

"So that's how it is, so that's how it is..."

Zhang Huaiyuan looked at the side of the vast chessboard, at that great existence whose face could not be seen clearly.

So he was playing against the young "Lord of Truth"; no wonder the gap was so enormous.

"To play against such an existence, what an honor."

In a low murmur, Zhang Huaiyuan's expression instead became increasingly high-spirited.

He closed his eyes to clear his mind, adjusting his state to its best.

Then he directly injected a whole dose of 'Absolute Focus' and bowed once more: 'Senior, please open a new game for me.'

"Good."

As the voice fell, the chessboard reset again.

In this game, the two combinations Zhang Huaiyuan tried were clearly much weaker than in the previous round, and he was eliminated again after lasting less than twenty-four hours.

But he was not discouraged; if one game didn't work, then a thousand games, ten thousand games.

In the fifth game, he changed his thinking, looking for the knowledge stars he was best at, attempting a fast attack and head-on confrontation.

After persisting for two days, he failed.

The sixth game... the seventh game... time meant nothing during the matches. It was the 11,652nd match.

The moment the second star was refined and placed, a feeling of perfection arose spontaneously.

A seemingly ordinary sniper rifle vaguely took shape, locking onto the chess piece on the other side from afar.

And on the other side, the attack formed by four chess pieces also arrived simultaneously.

Bang!

After a sound that seemed to ring in the depths of his heart, the two chess pieces forming the sniper rifle shattered again.

But Zhang Huaiyuan didn't have time for regret, his eyes staring fixedly at the other side of the board.

He saw that one of those four pieces had been pierced through by an invisible bullet.

Cracks spread bit by bit, and finally, it shattered silently.

"It worked!"

...