Chapter 9 Senior Brother, would you like to try my chess game too?

The thick mist receded like a low tide, eventually all sinking into that unremarkable stone chessboard.

On Siguo Cliff, there was a deathly silence.

The wind stopped, the clouds stalled, and even time seemed to have frozen.

Everyone's eyes were fixed firmly on that open space that had regained its clarity.

There was no earth-shattering explosion crater, no scorched earth ravaged by magic power.

Gu Ziyuan still stood quietly before the chessboard, black clothes and black hair, his posture upright, as if he hadn't moved a single step from beginning to end.

And opposite him, three zhang away.

Long-eared Dingguang Immortal lay on the ground.

No, that could no longer be called "lying."

His entire body was twisted in a bizarre posture, the bones of his limbs completely shattered, not a single piece of intact flesh could be seen on him, and his originally magnificent Daoist robe had long since turned into strips of cloth, stuck together with blood and filth.

His eyes were wide open, his pupils dilated, no longer containing any of the arrogance or spirit of a Taiyi Golden Immortal, leaving only the emptiness and numbness of a Soul that had been drained.

His breath was as thin as silk.

If not for the imperceptible rising and falling of his chest, everyone would even think this was a corpse just fished out from the Nine Nether Blood Sea.

Hiss—

The sound of people drawing in cold breaths rose and fell among the crowd.

Zhao Ming and Li Qing's eyes rolled back, and they actually fainted directly from the terrifying sight.

Lost?

No, this was no longer a question of winning or losing.

This was a crushing defeat! It was a slaughter! A complete, one-sided execution!

"He... he crippled... Senior Brother Long-eared?" an Outer Sect Disciple muttered in a trembling voice, his words filled with disbelief.

That was one of the Seven Attendant Immortals, a Taiyi Golden Immortal!

On Jinao Island, within a Saint's Daoist arena, he had actually been tortured into such a miserable state, neither human nor ghost, by an Outer Sect Disciple with Heavenly Immortal cultivation!

Lunatic! This Gu Ziyuan is an absolute, thorough lunatic!

In Bixiao Fairy's beautiful eyes, there was now only endless shock.

She had imagined countless endings, even thinking that Gu Ziyuan might be able to rely on that bizarre chessboard to fight Long-eared Dingguang Immortal to a stalemate where both sides suffered.

But she never expected it would be the scene before her.

From beginning to end, Gu Ziyuan had been calm and composed, and not even a corner of his clothes was messy.

Yet Long-eared Dingguang Immortal had been knocked down to the mortal dust, worse than a dog.

What kind of terrifying control was this? And what kind of exquisite and peerless Dao of slaughter was this chessboard Formation?

Looking at Gu Ziyuan's side profile, which was calm to an excessive degree, a thought suddenly rose in her heart that she herself felt was absurd.

Perhaps...

He didn't care about any stakes at all, nor was he trying to establish authority.

He was just... upholding his Dao.

A supreme Dao called "Chess," which did not allow any ants to desecrate it!

Just then, the heap of mangled flesh on the ground that was Long-eared Dingguang Immortal made a "he-he" sound in his throat.

Using his last ounce of strength, he crawled with difficulty toward Gu Ziyuan, letting out a weak and raspy plea.

"Senior Brother... Gu... I was wrong... I was really wrong..."

Senior Brother!

This form of address made everyone's hearts jump.

"The immortal binding ring... is yours... everything on me... I'll give to you..." Long-eared Dingguang Immortal's voice carried a sob, filled with endless regret and fear, "Please... spare my life... I won't dare to do it again..."

Dignity, Face, and the pride of a Taiyi Golden Immortal were trampled into pieces by him without hesitation in the Face of death.

He just wanted to live.

Everyone's eyes involuntarily turned to Gu Ziyuan.

Now that things had reached this point, his cultivation crippled and his Magic Treasure seized, it should be time to stop, right?

However, Gu Ziyuan only looked down at the humble figure begging for life on the ground, his eyes as calm as a deep well, without a hint of pity.

He spoke slowly, his voice not loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears.

"I said, it's too late."

These five words were bone-chillingly cold.

Long-eared Dingguang Immortal's body stiffened suddenly, and a look of despair finally appeared in his hollow eyes.

Gu Ziyuan raised his hand, and with his index and middle fingers, he gently picked up a pitch-black chess piece from the chess box.

He looked at that black piece as if admiring a perfect work of art, and pronounced indifferently:

"On the chessboard, life and death are the stakes. Since you overturned the board, you must have the awareness to be liquidated."

"For us Cultivators, our words carry the weight of Law."

"I said, those who insult my Way of Chess shall be executed!"

The moment his voice fell, a slaughtering intent more pure and terrifying than any time before suddenly erupted!

Buzz!

Above Siguo Cliff, the wind and clouds changed color!

In the Void Realm, a massive phantom of a black chess piece actually appeared out of thin air, like a death star descending from Chaos, slowly rotating.

On that chess piece, there were no Law fluctuations, no magic power circulation; there was only the most primitive and pure concept of "erasure"!

It locked onto the weak Primordial Spirit fire of Long-eared Dingguang Immortal below, preparing to deliver the final judgment!

"Stop!"

Bixiao's Face turned pale, and she finally couldn't help but cry out.

She could accept Long-eared Dingguang Immortal being heavily injured or crippled, but she absolutely could not watch him be executed by a fellow disciple before her eyes!

However, her voice seemed so pale and powerless before that slaughtering intent that suppressed heaven and earth.

Gu Ziyuan's hand, holding the black piece, did not pause at all, and slowly pressed down toward the Tianyuan position on the chessboard!

It's over!

These words appeared in everyone's hearts.

Today, Long-eared Dingguang Immortal is bound to die!

But at this moment!

A distant and majestic sigh sounded without warning above Jinao Island, spreading to every corner.

"Sigh... Junior Brother, show mercy."

This voice seemed to contain some strange power where words carry the weight of Law; the moment it sounded, the deathly black piece hanging above the Nine Heavens actually paused slightly!

Immediately after.

Rip—!

The space above Siguo Cliff was torn open like a huge gap by a pair of invisible hands!

A golden, glowing giant palm with circulating Dao rhythms reached out from the spatial rift, ignoring Gu Ziyuan's biting slaughtering intent and grabbing straight for the black chess piece that was about to fall!

The newcomer was actually going to forcibly intervene in the chess game and interrupt Gu Ziyuan's killing blow!

"It's the Eldest Senior Brother!"

"Eldest Senior Brother Duobao has taken action!"

Bursts of exclamations erupted from the crowd, and the eyes of all the Outer Sect Disciples looking at that golden giant palm were filled with fanatical reverence.

The first disciple of the Jie Sect, Daoist Duobao!

That was the acknowledged number one person in the Jie Sect below the Saint! A supreme existence at the peak of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm!

Bixiao's tense heartstrings also suddenly relaxed; now that the Eldest Senior Brother had come, Long-eared Dingguang Immortal's life was finally saved.

She looked at Gu Ziyuan with complex emotions.

Since the Eldest Senior Brother personally intervened to stop him, this Junior Brother Gu should give some Face and stop here, right?

However, what happened next almost made everyone's eyes pop out.

Facing that golden giant palm that had torn through the Void Realm, not only was there no trace of reverence or wariness on Gu Ziyuan's Face, but the corners of his mouth even curled up slightly, forming a playful arc that no one could understand.

His hand did not stop; instead, the speed of its descent became a bit faster!

"Eldest Senior Brother?"

Gu Ziyuan didn't even lift his head, his indifferent voice clearly reaching everyone's ears and into the endless Void Realm.

"You want to... break my chess game?"

Snap!

Before his voice even faded, that black chess piece symbolizing death was pressed heavily onto the Tianyuan position of the chessboard without hesitation!

In an instant, a slaughtering Qi a hundred times more terrifying than before exploded!

At this moment, the entire Zhenlong Chess Game instantly evolved from a "slaughter Formation" into a "Death Domain" that devoured all things!

That golden giant palm that had just entered the range of the chess game was actually frozen in mid-air by the erupting power of the Death Domain, unable to advance an inch!

Daoist Duobao was actually blocked!

At this moment, the entire Jinao Island fell into a deathly silence.