Chapter 2 The Long-Eared Provocation

The sword's edge was scorching hot.

The high temperature singed and curled a strand of hair on Gu Ziyuan's forehead.

Holding a black piece between his fingers, he paused in mid-air.

His gaze moved past the sword's edge, landing on Bixiao's face, which was flushed with anger.

With a slight thought,

a pale blue light screen expanded deep within his retina.

[Host: Gu Ziyuan]

[Cultivation: Heavenly Immortal Perfection (Primordial Standard)]

[Cultivation Technique: "Wuwei Sutra" (System produced, perfectly conceals presence. Unless facing a Saint, one's true background cannot be seen through.)]

[Chess Skill: Rank 9 (Only one step away from the Rank 8 gap between Immortal and Mortal. Placing a piece can trigger heaven and earth phenomena and reverse Yin and Yang.)]

[Core Function: heaven and earth chessboard (Deduces the trajectory of all things, sets up Innate Absolute Formations to trap and kill powerful enemies.)]

This was the greatest source of confidence that allowed him to lie low at Siguo Cliff.

On the surface, he was a Heavenly Immortal who struggled even with sword flight.

In reality, as long as he was given enough time to set up a chess game,

even a Grand Unity Golden Immortal would lose a layer of skin upon stepping into it.

Cold text flickered on the light screen.

[Ding.]

[Detected an approaching Karma line, triggering a minor crisis event. Completion level will directly affect the deduction of survival chances during the Shaman-Yao Great Tribulation.]

There was no avoiding it.

Gu Ziyuan remained expressionless.

In an instant, thousands of sandbox deductions unfolded in his mind.

Option One: Continue to play dead and submit. Allow Bixiao to insult him and even destroy the visible chessboard.

Result: The Karma line is temporarily cut, but he will be thoroughly labeled as trash. When the Jie Sect higher-ups eventually clear out the outer sect, he will surely be the first to be sent to the investiture of the gods to fill the sea eye. A dead end.

Option Two: Reveal Rank 9 Chess Saint strength and directly suppress Bixiao.

Result: Alarms Sect Leader Tongtian. Forcibly taken as a Personal Disciple. Directly swept into the core vortex of the Great Tribulation, enduring the dual schemes of the Yao Court and the Shaman Race. A dead end.

Option Three: Use the enemy's strength against them. Use Way of Chess theory to shake Bixiao's Dao Heart, planting the first idle piece. Simultaneously draw out deeper contradictions and demonstrate value within a controllable range.

Result: The Karma line entanglement deepens, but he gains a certain level of initiative. Tears open a gap within the Great Tribulation.

Survival is definitely not found by hiding in a turtle shell.

The Heavenly Dao operates, and the Qi of tribulation permeates everything.

He must enter the game.

But he must never be cannon fodder on the front lines.

He needed to accumulate strength in the shadows and place pieces at critical nodes to leverage the direction of the entire Primordial World.

This fiery-tempered woman before him was the perfect opportunity to place that first idle piece.

Bixiao flipped her wrist.

The long sword moved forward half an inch.

Scorching Sword Qi left a charred mark on the bluestone.

Fiery red mana flickered on the blade, instantly evaporating the surrounding white mist.

"Every Outer Sect Disciple is fighting tooth and nail to form their core and transform their nascent soul!"

"They sharpen their heads just for a chance to go to Biyou Palace and hear Revered Master preach the Dao!"

"All just to have one more bit of self-preservation before the Great Tribulation arrives!"

"But look at you!"

"Ten thousand years! Still idling away in the Heavenly Immortal Realm!"

"Even trash like Zhao Ming dares to ride over your head and shit on you!"

"You've lost all the face of the Jie Sect! How long are you going to play dead here!"

Her voice rolled like thunder.

Gravel on Siguo Cliff tumbled down.

More and more Disciples gathered to watch from a distance.

Various streaks of light stalled in mid-air.

Zhao Ming clutched his chest, hiding behind Li Qing with a face full of schadenfreude.

This waste had enraged an Inner Sect elite; he was definitely going to get what was coming to him today.

It would be best if she split this pretentious dog in two with one sword strike.

Gu Ziyuan ignored Bixiao's fury.

He applied pressure with two fingers.

The black piece landed steadily on a corner of the chessboard.

"Senior Sister Bixiao."

"So what if one forms a core and transforms their soul? So what if one goes to Biyou Palace to hear the Dao?"

"The Jie Sect claims ten thousand immortals come to pay court, like a fire cooking with oil."

"But look at the foul atmosphere all over this mountain."

"Yao cultivators swallow blood and flesh, while demonic cultivators refine living souls."

"Karma and negative energy have wrapped the entire Jinao Island so tightly not even air can get through."

"The higher the cultivation, the heavier the Karma one is tainted with."

"When the Great Tribulation descends, the faster they will die."

He unhurriedly picked up a white piece from the chess container.

"The Heavenly Dao has fifty paths, heaven deduces forty-nine, and one escapes."

"There are three thousand Great Daos, and every single one can prove the Primordial Chaos."

"You Cultivate your Dao of Immortal Slaying and Slaughter, and I comprehend my Vertical and Horizontal Chess Dao."

"We each mind our own business."

"What is the fault in that?"

Bixiao was so angry she laughed.

She swung her long sword violently.

A red sword light flew past the top of Gu Ziyuan's head.

Boom!

A ten-zhang-tall boulder behind him was sliced in half, the cut extremely smooth.

"Fallacious reasoning!"

"You dare claim the Great Dao while playing with a few broken stones?"

"The Way of Chess is nothing more than a side path for commoners' leisure!"

"How can it be compared to our Jie Sect's Shangqing Immortal Arts!"

"You are wasting Revered Master's principle of teaching all without discrimination!"

Gu Ziyuan shook his head.

His fingertips lightly tapped on the stone chessboard.

Tap.

Tap.

The crisp tapping sounds penetrated Bixiao's mana seal.

"Senior Sister, you are mistaken."

"In this small space, the intersection of black and white is the rotation of Yin and Yang."

"The rise and fall of chess pieces determines the fate of life and death."

"The planning and strategy are all the creation of heavenly secrets."

He raised his hand, pointing to the churning sea of clouds above.

There, two immortal cranes were pecking at each other's feathers.

"Look up at this Primordial World."

"Ten thousand races stand tall, great experts emerge in succession, and Saints sit high above the Nine Heavens looking down on all living beings."

"The Yao Race controls the heavens, and the Shaman Race manages the earth."

"All living beings think they are defying heaven to change their fate."

"Is this Universe and Primordial World not just a larger chess game?"

"You and I are both pieces within the game."

"Being in the game without knowing it, yet still trying to break the game with brute force."

"Who exactly is the frog in the well?"

As his voice fell,

a faint, obscure light flashed across the surface of the heaven and earth chessboard.

The surrounding Spiritual Qi experienced an extremely brief stagnation.

A trace of imperceptible Heavenly Dao rhyme flowed from Gu Ziyuan's fingertips into the air.

The surroundings fell into a deathly silence.

The wind stopped.

Bixiao's hand holding the sword paused in mid-air.

A flash of bewilderment crossed her rosy cheeks.

In her mind, she repeatedly chewed on the phrase about the Universe and Primordial World being a chess game.

The Shangqing Immortal Arts emphasized intercepting a sliver of survival for all things.

This waste's arrogant words actually faintly resonated with the supreme teachings Revered Master preached daily!

It was even a few degrees more profound than what those Grand Unity Golden Immortal Senior Brothers in the inner sect taught!

How was this possible!

A Heavenly Immortal who hadn't broken through in ten thousand years and hadn't even finished tempering his Dao body—how could he have such a deep insight into the Heavenly Dao?

The flaming long sword in her hand involuntarily lowered a bit.

Zhao Ming's mouth hung open, his jaw nearly hitting the ground.

This waste is crazy!

Absolutely insane!

To dare lecture a candidate for the Three Xiao Fairies of the inner sect—he was simply tired of living!

He turned to look at Li Qing.

Li Qing also had a face like he'd seen a ghost, his legs trembling violently.

The watching Outer Sect Disciples looked at each other in dismay.

Some showed disdain, secretly cursing Gu Ziyuan for not knowing the heights of the heavens and daring to play the mystic even when death was imminent.

However, a few old Disciples who had been stuck at the True Immortal Bottleneck for years were lost in thought.

They stared at that simple chessboard, faintly feeling a hidden mystery within, even sensing a slight loosening of their long-stagnant Realms.

The originally one-sided situation of mockery was forcibly torn open by these few sentences.

A piercing sneer suddenly came from the edge of the crowd.

"What a sharp tongue."

"Even I was almost fooled by your grandiloquent nonsense."

The crowd automatically parted to form a path.

No, they were forcibly pushed aside by a powerful surge of mana.

Several Outer Sect Disciples with lower cultivation were directly blown away, slamming heavily against the rock walls.

A male immortal wearing ornate Daoist robes and possessing two long rabbit ears stepped forward.

The pressure of the Early Stage Taiyi Golden Immortal was released without reservation.

The surrounding Outer Sect Disciples lowered their heads and retreated, not even daring to breathe loudly.

Long-eared Dingguang Immortal.

One of the Seven Attendant Immortals, a Core Disciple of the inner sect.

A favorite in front of Sect Leader Tongtian.

He walked to Bixiao's side, his originally haughty face instantly piling up with a fawning smile.

"Junior Sister Bixiao, why bother talking to such dead wood."

"His mouth is full of nonsense, nothing more than an excuse to hide his own dull Aptitude."

"The outer sect is the outer sect; rotten wood cannot be carved."

"Revered Master often says he teaches all without discrimination, but even he can't stop waste like this from occupying a spot without contributing, ruining the Jie Sect's Luck."

Long-eared Dingguang Immortal turned his head.

He looked down condescendingly at Gu Ziyuan sitting on the bluestone.

His eyes were full of disdain and disgust.

A mere Heavenly Immortal ant dared to show off in front of Junior Sister Bixiao?

Today, I'll use you to establish my authority and win a smile from my Junior Sister.

"Since you've praised these broken stones as something divine,"

"I, your Senior Brother, will show some kindness today."

"I'll help you smash this damn chessboard,"

"and cut off your crooked thoughts."

"Let's see what you'll use then to comprehend your Chess Immortal Great Dao!"

Long-eared Dingguang Immortal raised his right hand.

A ball of blinding purple lightning condensed in his palm.

Shangqing Divine Thunder.

The destructive mana fluctuations caused the surrounding air to distort.

Crackling arcs of electricity danced through the air.

Several Spiritual Plants by the cliff edge instantly withered and turned to ash.

The pressure of a Taiyi Golden Immortal formed a physical mountain, weighing down on the shoulders of all the Outer Sect Disciples.

Gu Ziyuan lowered his eyelids.

In his mind, the Formation patterns of the heaven and earth chessboard began to reorganize frantically.

A killing Formation?

No, the Shangqing Divine Thunder is too powerful; a normal killing Formation won't stop it. I must use a trump card.

A trapping Formation?

Zhenlong Chess Game.

Severing the life force, drawing a prison on the ground.

I only need to mobilize one-thousandth of my Primordial Spirit's power to completely drain this dead rabbit's mana.

It will save the chessboard and make this fool look like an idiot in public.

Most importantly, the Zhenlong Chess Game operates silently; it's extremely difficult to detect that a Formation is at work.

It perfectly fits the principle of keeping a low profile.

The white piece at Gu Ziyuan's fingertips grew slightly warm.

Zhao Ming hid in the distance, excitedly clenching his fists.

Smash it!

Smash this arrogant waste to death!

It would be best to blast both the person and the chessboard to smithereens!

Bixiao's expression changed slightly.

She only wanted to force Gu Ziyuan to Cultivate, not actually destroy his belongings.

The Shangqing Divine Thunder was incredibly powerful; one mistake could cost Gu Ziyuan his life.

She wanted to speak out to stop it, but she was a step too late.

The lightning had already left his hand.

Gu Ziyuan sat on the bluestone, motionless.

He didn't even make a move to dodge.

His fingertips held a crystal-clear white piece,

suspended half an inch above the chessboard.

The violent purple lightning, carrying destructive power, slammed toward the edge of the stone chessboard.