Chapter 70 Breaking Through the Wall, the Difference Between Immortals and Mortals

In the grey space of the imitation taiji diagram, only a dead silence remained.

Chi Jingzi hovered in the Void Realm with his hands behind his back, his Divine Thought sweeping over that cluster of golden light for the umpteenth time.

Far from dissipating, the golden light was becoming increasingly hot.

He withdrew his Divine Thought, his brows furrowing tightly.

A Mortal trapped in the heart of a Magic Treasure should have logically suffered Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering long ago.

He had waited outside for half a day, waiting for the movement of that faint aura inside to be completely extinguished.

But it hadn't.

The golden light was still there.

A sudden buzzing sound arose, coming from the deepest part of the Magic Treasure's space.

One sound after another, becoming clearer and more resonant, as if something inside was pushing open layer by layer.

Chi Jingzi's expression changed abruptly.

He violently activated all the power of the imitation taiji diagram, causing the four walls of the Magic Treasure to contract and press down toward the golden light in the center.

It was too late.

The golden light surged, turning into a vortex that tore a hole in the barriers of the imitation taiji diagram's space from the inside out.

The crack expanded with one shattering sound after another; Chi Jingzi's Divine Thought was stung by the backlash, and he retreated three steps before steadying himself.

A youth in white walked out from the rift.

His pace was not fast; it could even be called composed.

In his plain white robes, his face looked the same as before. He still held a chess piece, which he spun half a circle with his fingertips before casually tucking it into his sleeve.

Chi Jingzi's Golden Immortal Divine Thought instinctively probed toward him.

In the next moment, it was bounced away.

It wasn't a collision of magic power; it was dao rhyme.

A kind of dao rhyme he couldn't name—ancient and profound.

It was as if it stood above all the Laws he practiced, bouncing his Divine Thought back so hard his Primordial Spirit stung and his fingers trembled slightly.

"Impossible."

He heard himself speak, his voice much lower than he had imagined.

Chen Yuan stood before the shattered spatial barriers and glanced at him.

There was no hatred, no fear. There was only a calmness that reached deep into his bones.

"This poor Daoist is Gu Ziyuan; Fellow Daoist may also call me Chen Yuan."

His voice wasn't loud, yet it was extremely clear within the space.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist, for this world, which allowed this poor Daoist to meditate on the Dao in peace for a few days."

He smiled slightly. "Now, it is time to return the favor."

Chi Jingzi instinctively took a step back.

He retreated.

A Grand Unity Golden Immortal, facing a youth in the Taiyi Realm, had taken a step back.

It wasn't magic power that made him retreat; it was that dao rhyme.

The moment his Dao Heart touched the other's aura, it birthed an instinctive wariness he had never felt before.

It was like an eagle sensing something inexplicable; its feathers stood up, and its wings tightened slightly.

But Chi Jingzi was, after all, one of the Twelve Golden Immortals.

After a brief loss of composure, he took a deep breath and steadied himself once more. With a cold sneer, his magic power surged.

"Taiyi Peak?"

"So what if you are Gu Ziyuan? No matter how much you struggle, you are but an ant before a Grand Unity Golden Immortal."

With a flick of his sleeve, the residual spatial power of the imitation taiji diagram condensed into a giant hand, crushing down toward Chen Yuan.

Chen Yuan did not move.

Holding his hand up as if supporting something, a miniature Chessboard emerged and rotated in his palm.

Black and white lines crisscrossed, and chess pieces settled one by one like stars.

It expanded.

"Drawing a Circle to Imprison."

As those words fell, the Void Realm beneath their feet suddenly changed color.

Chi Jingzi looked down and found himself standing on a massive Chessboard.

The vertical and horizontal lines extended to the limit of his vision, and black and white Qi flowed and gathered at the intersections of the lines.

He mobilized his magic power, wanting to break through this Domain—but the moment his magic power poured out, it was as if a chess piece had fallen into the opponent's layout.

He felt that power being invisibly caught, diverted, and neutralized. The direction was lost, and the point of impact vanished.

He activated his power three times in a row, and all three times it missed.

Chi Jingzi was furious and sacrificed the Yin and Yang Mirror.

The mirror surface rotated, and the twin lights of Yin and Yang shot out together, their cold light illuminating the grey Void Realm.

Chen Yuan turned sideways and took half a step back, not meeting it head-on within the Chessboard Domain.

Using the direction of his steps and the shifting of his position, he deduced the trajectory of the Magic Treasure; every step was like placing a piece on the Chessboard.

Precise, concise, and without a single redundant movement.

The twin lights of Yin and Yang turned within the Domain, their force being neutralized bit by bit until they finally brushed past him and struck empty space.

Chi Jingzi gnashed his teeth and attacked repeatedly, his magic power becoming increasingly violent.

After dozens of exchanges, Chen Yuan was unscathed, yet he was also unable to further trap his opponent.

Within the Chessboard Domain, he could feel his magic power being consumed bit by bit, and cracks began to appear at the edges of the Domain—thin as hair, but clearly visible.

The gap between a Grand Unity Golden Immortal and a Taiyi is not one of quantity, but of quality.

Even though he had achieved a Breakthrough to Taiyi Peak within the Chaos, and even though the Chessboard Domain could suppress the opponent for a time,

Chi Jingzi's foundation was still continuously pressing against the gaps in the Domain. Given enough time, it would surely break.

Chen Yuan was very clear about this.

He did not panic, nor did he speed up his placement of pieces; instead, he slowed down slightly.

He gathered his magic power into the steadiest operational trajectory, maintaining the Chessboard Domain at a state that was just enough, without wasting a single bit.

He was waiting.

Chi Jingzi was enraged. He saw through the fact that the opponent was stalling, yet he simply couldn't find a gap to completely pierce through the Domain.

Every time he pressed down with all his strength, he was caught by that youth in a nearly flawless manner and then neutralized.

He let out a furious roar, using his Grand Unity might to forcibly shatter a corner of the Chessboard Domain, and struck a full-strength palm down toward Chen Yuan's face.

Chen Yuan's footsteps paused.

The path of that palm strike had already been fully deduced in his mind. He couldn't block it.

And then—

The Void Realm split open.

It wasn't his Chessboard Domain that cracked; the outer space was being torn open by someone from the outside.

A cold, clear voice entered first, half a step faster than the person.

"People of the Chan Sect, what grand airs you have."

"Bullying my Junior Brother—have you asked me first?"

Three figures landed.

Yunxiao was in the center, Bixiao on the left, and Qiong Xiao on the right.

Above Yunxiao's head, the hunyuan golden bucket hovered in mid-air, its golden light slowly spreading out, not yet fully activated.

Just that aura descending was enough to make the momentum of Chi Jingzi's palm strike come to a jarring halt.

Chi Jingzi's pupils contracted; he retreated two steps and looked at that Magic Treasure, his expression darkening completely.

The hunyuan golden bucket.

He knew this Magic Treasure, and Kunlun Mountain knew it too.

Even a Grand Unity Golden Immortal would need to think twice before taking this Magic Treasure head-on.

Bixiao was already staring him down, her eyes filled with uncontrollable anger, magic power surging at her side as she waited for Yunxiao to speak.

Qiong Xiao glanced at Chen Yuan and saw him standing there in his plain white robes, his expression unchanged.

She quietly breathed a sigh of relief, though her eyes inexplicably turned red. She quickly looked away and stared deathly at Chi Jingzi without saying a word.

Chen Yuan withdrew the Chessboard and walked to a position one step behind the three of them, standing still.

At this moment, Chi Jingzi truly felt that things were troublesome.

His gaze swept back and forth between the hunyuan golden bucket and Chen Yuan.

His magic power had already begun to quietly withdraw backward; the movement was extremely subtle, but Chen Yuan caught it.

He was going to run.

"Fellow Daoist," Chen Yuan spoke, his voice steady.

"Kunlun Mountain is still a way off. Safe travels."

Chi Jingzi's face was ashen. Without a word, his figure suddenly retreated.

He turned into a streak of light and fled into the depths of the Void Realm, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Bixiao blurted out, "Pursue him!"

"No need."

Chen Yuan's voice wasn't loud, but Bixiao's footsteps stopped.

"Let him go back."

He said calmly, "What he says when he returns will be more useful than him not returning at all."

Bixiao turned her head and looked at him, her lips moving, but in the end, she didn't speak and forcibly swallowed her anger.

Yunxiao did not speak.

She just looked at Chen Yuan, her expression calm, but her palms had long since been clenched tight.

The hunyuan golden bucket was quietly withdrawn, sinking back into her sleeve.

Seven days.

She had sat kneeling by the couch, holding on for seven whole days.

"Return to the manor."

She heard herself speak, her voice as flat as if she were mentioning a trivial matter.

"Your magic power is in total disarray; it needs to be sorted out."

Chen Yuan gave an 'en' in agreement.

After walking a couple of steps, Qiong Xiao suddenly leaned in from the side, her voice lowered and her eyes still red.

"Do you have any idea how long we've been waiting?"

"I know."

"You knew and you were still so slow!"

"A matter like meditating on the Dao," Chen Yuan paused, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.

"Cannot be rushed."

Qiong Xiao was so angry she stomped her feet, but she didn't say anything else and followed along.

The four figures, one in front and three behind, stepped out of the rift and vanished into the night toward Zhaoge.

In the ruined space of the imitation taiji diagram, only the last few wisps of black and white Qi left by the dissipation of the Chessboard Domain remained.

They flowed quietly in the Void Realm for a moment before silently dispersing.