Chapter 3: The Ingenious Chess Game – A Gambler's Paradise!

The thunderous light was blinding.

Destructive fluctuations of mana surged like a tide, crushing the ground around the bluestone into a web of cracks.

The smile at the corners of Long-eared Dingguang Immortal's mouth had widened to its limit.

He could almost see the scene of Gu Ziyuan and that tattered chessboard turning into ashes together.

A mere ant who dared to talk back to him and, even worse, talk big in front of Junior Sister Bixiao—his death would not be a loss!

Bixiao's expression changed abruptly.

She had scolded Gu Ziyuan out of frustration for his lack of ambition, wanting to use her own way to force him onto the right path.

But she never intended to take his life!

This strike from Long-eared Dingguang Immortal was made with certain killing intent!

"Long-eared, how dare you!"

Bixiao shouted in anger, the mana within her body surging as she prepared to intervene.

But how fast was a strike delivered in anger by a Taiyi Golden Immortal?

Her movements were, in the end, a step too slow.

The purple thunderous light had already reached Gu Ziyuan's face.

The surrounding Outer Sect Disciples retreated repeatedly in fear, terrified of being caught in that horrific thunderous power.

Zhao Ming hid behind the crowd, his face filled with a morbid ecstasy.

Die!

Die for me!

However, the expected scene of flesh and blood flying everywhere did not occur.

Just as the thunderous light was about to touch the chessboard—

"Buzz—"

A soft sound, barely audible, rang out.

The white piece that had been hovering at Gu Ziyuan's fingertips finally fell.

Clack.

The piece made contact with the board, the sound crisp.

It was as if a stone had been cast into a calm lake, stirring up layers of invisible ripples.

That violent purple thunderous light eerily stalled just three inches away from the edge of the chessboard.

It was as if the pause button had been pressed on time at this very moment.

The thunderous light continued to crackle, its destructive energy clamoring wildly, yet it could not advance even a hair's breadth further.

It looked like a freeze-frame in a painting.

"Hmm?"

The smile on Long-eared Dingguang Immortal's face froze.

He urged his mana, attempting to make the divine thunder continue its descent.

But that cluster of thunderous light seemed to have fallen into a quagmire; no matter how hard he tried, it remained motionless.

Even more bizarrely, he felt his own mana being frantically drained by an invisible force through its connection with that cluster of divine thunder!

In just a single breath, nearly ten percent of the mana in his body vanished without a trace!

"What on earth is this!"

Long-eared Dingguang Immortal was terrified and, making a prompt decision, forcibly severed his connection with the Shangqing Divine Thunder.

Boom!

Losing the support of mana, that cluster of purple thunderous light exploded violently.

Violent air currents swept in all directions.

Bixiao immediately propped up her protective mana, shielding herself and Gu Ziyuan in front of her.

The other Outer Sect Disciples were blown every which way; those with weaker cultivation levels simply rolled onto the ground in a pathetic state.

The dust settled.

Siguo Cliff was a mess.

Only that bluestone and Gu Ziyuan upon it remained completely unharmed.

Even the hem of his robe hadn't moved.

It was as if that world-shattering strike just now was nothing more than a gentle breeze brushing against his face.

"He... blocked it?"

"A Heavenly Immortal blocked the Shangqing Divine Thunder of a Taiyi Golden Immortal?"

"Am I seeing things? That's one of the Seven Attendant Immortals, Long-eared Dingguang Immortal!"

The spectating Disciples were in an uproar. Their gazes toward Gu Ziyuan shifted from disdain and contempt to shock and horror, finally turning into deep disbelief.

Zhao Ming's mouth hung wide open, his eyes nearly popping out, as the ecstasy on his face froze into a comical look of bewilderment.

Li Qing beside him felt his legs go weak and slumped directly onto the ground.

Bixiao was also stunned.

Standing in front of Gu Ziyuan, she could most clearly feel that the power which neutralized the divine thunder just now did not come from her, but from the plain stone chessboard beneath him.

She whipped her head around and stared fixedly at Gu Ziyuan.

This person who, in her eyes, had spent ten thousand years just waiting to die—exactly how many secrets was he hiding?

"Crooked ways!"

Long-eared Dingguang Immortal was both shocked and enraged, his face turning various shades of blue and white.

In front of so many people, his full-strength strike had been easily neutralized by a Heavenly Immortal waste.

This was simply a humiliating disgrace!

He stared intently at that ancient chessboard, his eyes filled with greed and malice.

This was definitely no ordinary stone!

It must be some kind of defensive Innate Spirit Treasure!

What right did an outer sect waste have to possess such a treasure!

"Junior Sister, did you see?" Long-eared Dingguang Immortal turned to Bixiao, forcibly trying to save face. "This boy has an impure heart; he only dares to be so arrogant because he has a strange treasure protecting him! Today, I shall clear the sect on Revered Master's behalf and seize this treasure for you!"

His words were high-sounding, but in reality, he had already regarded the chessboard as his own possession.

Bixiao's brow furrowed, her beautiful face cold as frost.

What she loathed most was this hypocritical face of Long-eared Dingguang Immortal.

She said coldly, "Senior Brother Long-eared, this is a matter between him and me. There is no need for you to trouble yourself."

"Junior Sister, you are mistaken!" Long-eared Dingguang Immortal, thinking he had grasped Bixiao's thoughts, said with a smile, "Junior Sister is kind-hearted and unwilling to lower herself to deal with such a stubborn rock. But to deal with such a person, one must use a heavy hammer! I am also doing this for the sake of the Jiejiao Sect's reputation!"

Saying this, he turned to the surrounding Outer Sect Disciples and spoke with righteous indignation.

"Our Jiejiao Sect has ten thousand immortals coming to pay homage; what we emphasize is the word 'struggle'! Struggle with heaven, struggle with earth, and struggle with the Great Dao! Look at him, shrinking back here, lacking any drive, making no progress for ten thousand years! Is such behavior not tarnish the prestige of our Jiejiao Sect?!"

These words caused many Disciples who were already jealous of Gu Ziyuan to nod repeatedly.

"Senior Brother Dingguang Immortal is right!"

"Such a waste should be expelled from Jinao Island!"

Gu Ziyuan watched the farce before him with no ripples in his heart.

Bixiao was the 'Trigger,' and Long-eared was the 'Calamity Piece.'

Very well.

This game was, in the end, unavoidable. In that case, he might as well play it a bit larger.

Seeing the mana within Long-eared Dingguang Immortal surge once more, as he was actually going to disregard his dignity and strike again.

Bixiao gritted her teeth and stepped forward, completely shielding Gu Ziyuan.

"Long-eared! What do you want to do? Are you not afraid of Revered Master's punishment for attempting to kill a fellow Disciple on Jinao Island!"

"Junior Sister misunderstands." Long-eared Dingguang Immortal gave a fake smile. "I only want to help this Junior Brother Gu 'move' this stumbling block of a chessboard; it doesn't count as attacking."

Before his voice had even faded, the pressure of a Taiyi Golden Immortal, like mountains and seas, crushed toward Gu Ziyuan.

He wanted to first crush Gu Ziyuan with pressure, then seize the chessboard, making him lose all face!

Just as the situation became critical.

The long-silent Gu Ziyuan finally spoke again.

His voice wasn't loud, but like a stone thrown into the center of a lake, it spread clearly throughout the field.

"If you want to touch my chessboard, you can."

"However, there must be a Wager, right?"

As soon as he spoke, the entire field fell into a dead silence.

Everyone looked as if they had been hit by a paralysis spell, staring blankly at Gu Ziyuan.

A Heavenly Immortal dared to negotiate terms with a Taiyi Golden Immortal?

Has he gone mad?!

Long-eared Dingguang Immortal was stunned at first, then, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world, he burst into wild laughter, doubling over.

"A Wager? Hahahaha! Good! What a Wager! I want to see what an ant like you has to gamble with me!"

He stopped laughing and looked at Gu Ziyuan with a playful gaze, as if looking at a clown.

"I'm just afraid you won't be able to afford the loss!"

The eyes of the entire field focused on Gu Ziyuan once again.

Bixiao also turned back to look at him in shock, her beautiful eyes full of disbelief.

She realized that she seemed to have never truly known this Junior Brother.

Meeting everyone's gaze, Gu Ziyuan's expression was calm as he slowly lifted his eyelids, looking directly into Long-eared Dingguang Immortal's narrow rabbit eyes.

His every word was clear and firm.

"If I lose, this Heaven and Earth Board, along with my life, will be at your disposal."

"If you lose..."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over a golden ring hanging from Long-eared Dingguang Immortal's waist.

"I want those Low Grade Innate Spirit Treasures of yours, the immortal binding rings."