286: Chapter 286 Interfering with the Timeline

"As expected, it's much simpler than I imagined."

Zhang Huaiyuan's eyes flickered as he activated True Sight to scan the Knowledge Stars floating in the starry river.

Not only was the quantity far less than the actual "Truth Chess Game," but the complexity contained within the stars was also significantly lower.

With the assistance of True Sight, he quickly sorted out the key nodes and refined one of them.

Under the influence of the power of rules, that star contracted, shrinking proportionally at a speed visible to the naked eye, and landed on the chessboard under Zhang Huaiyuan's mental control.

Immediately, an illusion of an electromagnetic tower flickering with electric light stood faintly.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the star chosen by the High Priest of the Elf Race's projection had not yet been fully analyzed.

"As expected, I was right. With the help of True Sight, I can see through the essence of any complex knowledge at a glance. Even if this High Priest's projection has ten thousand more years of knowledge, he can't possibly be faster than me."

Zhang Huaiyuan glanced over slightly, feeling reassured while a somewhat peculiar sensation welled up in his heart.

Previously, when playing against the "Lord of Truth" in the ruins, he had never been in the lead; he could only passively counter every move.

Now that he had taken the lead by placing a piece first, he actually felt a bit unaccustomed to it.

Fortunately, he had tried many combinations before. After only a brief pause, Zhang Huaiyuan began searching for the next suitable Knowledge Star.

"Oh no, so fast?!"

But seeing this, the actual High Priest of the Elf Race's expression turned sour.

His original intention had been to hint for Zhang Huaiyuan and Saintess Jiang Nian to choose him as their opponent.

In his mind, this assessment was extremely difficult, and just getting familiar with the rules would take quite some time.

Within a mere hundred years, with his talent plus ten thousand years of superior knowledge, he should at least be able to stall these two geniuses.

This was so the score gap wouldn't widen further and look embarrassing.

He never expected that this kid named Zhang Huaiyuan would actually analyze faster than his own projection right from the start.

"I've completely lost face this time. Oh well, looking on the bright side, with such geniuses, the future holds infinite possibilities."

The High Priest of the Elf Race couldn't help but shake his head secretly, his mindset calming down as he continued to watch the match in the sky.

On Zhang Huaiyuan's chessboard, the second star also transformed into a chess piece and fell.

Compared to before, four encircling amplification devices appeared around the original electromagnetic tower, and the faintly flickering electric arcs gradually deepened from blue to nearly purple.

Meanwhile, the High Priest's projection playing against him had only just managed to place one piece—a magic circle inscribed with nature-based runes.

Clearly, he had chosen his specialty, Rune Magic, for the opening.

Illusions of treants emerged one after another from the chess piece.

"These treants are insulators; the high voltage of the electromagnetic tower won't be very effective against them... I'll play it safe for one more move."

Zhang Huaiyuan did not choose to attack rashly and began looking for a new Knowledge Star to refine.

Soon, another star was refined.

The three chess pieces connected in a line, and huge muzzles extended from the base of the original electromagnetic tower.

This transformed the original electromagnetic-based attack into one primarily focused on kinetic energy and thermal effects.

At this moment, the High Priest of the Elf Race's projection had only just refined its second star.

It appeared to be an auxiliary magic circle, equipping the original treant army with sophisticated weapons.

"Capture!"

Seeing this, Zhang Huaiyuan's mind shifted.

All three chess pieces lit up simultaneously. Under the influence of the amplification devices, infinite electromagnetic force was continuously channeled into the giant cannons below.

Instantly, amidst a silent roar, brilliant spheres of electric light poured forth.

In this assessment, the power of everything depended solely on the effectiveness of the knowledge used.

A combination of two conventional Rune Magic spells was clearly far from enough against three complementary technological weapons.

In just an instant, the treant army was blasted into fragments.

The luster on the two chess pieces in front of the High Priest's projection faded, and they drifted slowly to Zhang Huaiyuan's side.

The scoreboard on the side also displayed a clear score: 2:0.

"How did two freaks like this appear in this batch?"

On the other side, a Leviathan Academy student who hadn't found a clue yet looked up irritably, just in time to see the score on the nearby chess match.

One was Zhang Huaiyuan's 2:0, and the other was Saintess Jiang Nian's 1:0.

He immediately showed a stunned and somewhat helpless expression.

He too had been selected from countless worlds and was looked up to by many as a genius.

But at this moment, he finally understood how others used to feel when looking at him.

That feeling of helplessness a failing student has when looking up at a god of study.

The others were much the same, feeling somewhat discouraged.

Even those students who chose ordinary examiners were struggling to even get started.

One must know that even with True Sight, it took Zhang Huaiyuan over 3,000 years to initially master the skills.

In just a short hundred years, even if this assessment was much simpler than the actual "Truth Chess Game," it was not so easily understood.

The chief examiners were naturally well aware of this and didn't mind.

Every year's third-round assessment was like this, aimed only at identifying students with true potential worth nurturing.

The results could often be seen right from the start.

...

Meanwhile, while Zhang Huaiyuan and the others were fully immersed in the assessment.

No one noticed that an unimaginable power had completely obscured the entire timeline, painting it with a facade of calm.

A certain parallel world, Blackstone Star.

"Behave yourselves, all of you, kneel down!"

A fierce-looking soldier raised his leg and kicked a group of escorted Mine Slaves to the ground, then shouted vigorously:

"This is the last batch of Mine Slaves for the year..."

"You can take one back for just 2,000 Star Coins..."

Although one of them was dressed in rags, unlike the mostly numb-looking Mine Slaves around him, his eyes were clear, carrying a hint of fear and unease.

It was the Zhang Huaiyuan of this world.

"Target confirmed. Interfering with the world line... Interference complete."

In a place invisible to everyone, an indescribable distorted existence gazed indifferently at the crowd below.

Almost simultaneously, the eyes of a middle-aged man in the crowd lit up slightly, and he seemed about to step forward.

But then, a familiar voice suddenly reached his ears.

"Hey, Vidi, I finally found you. There's a problem with that weapon I had you modify last time..."

"Mr. 'Wild Wolf', it's you. I wonder what the problem is?"

The middle-aged man looked back and immediately straightened up. For a moment, he couldn't be bothered to buy the apprentice he had his eye on and hurriedly began to inquire.

Meanwhile, the soldiers responsible for the escort seemed to lose patience and didn't wait any longer. They marched the remaining unbought slaves toward the Imperial Mining Zone, slowly entering the dark underground.

"He will die in a mining accident three years later..."

The distorted existence's eyes rapidly evolved images of the future.

"With such slight interference, combined with the Master's disguise, it's absolutely foolproof..."

"Proceeding to the next timeline."

...