Chapter 23: Heavenly Destiny Chessboard

Heavenly Destiny Chessboard

Since things had come to this, she couldn't refuse. Ruan Ci thought this was probably the so-called opportunity to take an apprentice. She hardened her heart and sat down opposite the old man, "Old man, I don't know how to play chess."

There were more than a dozen types of chess games popular in South Zhuzhou. The old man usually set up a beast-fighting chess game popular in the Tan City area. This beast-fighting chess could be considered a rare treasure in mortal kingdoms. When playing, the chess pieces turned into strange beasts, biting and fighting on the chessboard, which was very interesting. The outcome was uncertain, depending on the size of the dice thrown and the quality of the pieces themselves. Because chess sets cost some spirit money, the shop assistants and rogue peddlers couldn't afford them, so they would play at the chess stall after work. Ruan Ci often passed by, and the chess stall was always lively, but she had no interest in chess games and always hurried past. When she was free, she would either contemplate sword intent or ponder sword techniques. In three years, she had never patronized the chess stall once.

The old man smiled, "I know, you are very diligent, only focused on cultivation—chess is very simple, what do you want to play? I'll teach you."

He took out one set of chess pieces after another from his arms, like a magic trick, pearl chess, Chinese chess, Go, for Ruan Ci to choose. Ruan Ci said, "I don't like beast-fighting chess, the fighting is too much, it's uncomfortable to watch."

The old man took away the beast-fighting chess and similar chess sets. Ruan Ci asked, "What is this black and white chess? It looks the simplest."

"This is Go. Has the little peddler never seen it since childhood?"

Ruan Ci shook her head, "I grew up in Song Guo. How could the people there have the leisure for this? When we had free time, we would chant scriptures and keep precepts. It was very boring."

"Is that so." The old man said with a smile, "Then the little peddler should also see more of the world's amusements. Only knowing how to cultivate and not knowing how to play, what fun is there in life?"

"Must life be fun?"

The old man laid out the Go board, "If it's not fun, why do people live?"

For Ruan Ci, living never seemed fun, but it wasn't painful either. In Song Guo, she lived according to the rules of Song Guo and the arrangements of the Ruan family. Leaving Song Guo, first there was Xie Xie Yan Huan, then Wang Panpan, all arranging her life. She could only let nature take its course. Now, an old man who had been setting up a stall in Tan City for three years had appeared. Three years ago, she was still in Chen Guo, and he had already been waiting for her in Tan City.

For some reason, sitting with this old man, although they were meeting for the first time, she felt close. Ruan Ci couldn't help but let down her guard and speak her heart, "I don't know why I live, but I know why you want me to live."

Her words were somewhat harsh, but the old man didn't get angry when he heard them, but was amused instead, "The little peddler seems to not like us people very much."

"Who likes being arranged by others?" Ruan Ci picked up a black piece and said, "It's fine if others arrange my fate, but you, old man, are something else. As soon as we meet, even what I like, what is fun or boring, you want to arrange."

She usually had a very good temper. Whether in the Ruan family or later with Wang Panpan, she rarely quarreled with anyone. Beside this chess stall, she seemed to reveal another side hidden deep in her heart, and her words were very difficult for people to respond to. The old man lightly slapped his own face, "Too much talk, too much talk, it is this old man who talked too much."

He was so easy to talk to that Ruan Ci felt bad again, "You were just talking, and I was just talking, why take it seriously?"

"What the little peddler said is the truth. You and I are strangers meeting by chance. For the little peddler to be willing to play a game of chess with me is already giving this old man enough face. This old man was a bit relying on his age to sell his age."

The old man told Ruan Ci the rules of the chessboard. Ruan Ci held the chess piece and pondered for a while, then said, "Let's play and see. The rules look simple, but with nineteen lines crisscrossing, the changes must be the most numerous. I can only learn while playing. One game is not enough."

"Then how many games are enough?"

Ruan Ci pouted, "I'll know after playing. You old man, why do you have so much idle talk."

The old man had a good temper and smiled, not caring. He taught while playing. Ruan Ci had never played Go before and didn't understand anything about capturing or taking pieces. In the first game, the old man gave her nine pieces and still won by a large margin. Ruan Ci said, "Play another game."

In the second game, she gradually tasted the flavor. In this game, the old man only won by more than thirty pieces. Ruan Ci said, "Your method of winning the capture must have a ready-made chess manual. There must be many established rules for capturing in this chess."

The old man said, "There is a manual. Do you want to see it?"

Ruan Ci took over a dozen chess manuals, flipped through them, and after thinking for a few cups of tea, said, "Play another game."

In the third game, the old man only narrowly won by half a piece. Ruan Ci said, "Alright, no need to play anymore. This is as far as I can play for the first time. This half-piece difference will take several days of hard work to cross."

The old man smiled, "I even gave you nine pieces—"

"Then I can't be in a hurry." Ruan Ci smiled and packed up the chessboard, "Shuangcheng is still waiting for me to go back and report. Old man, there will be plenty of opportunities to play this chess in the future, right?"

The old man stared at her for a while and clapped his hands, "Little peddler, has anyone ever said that you are very smart?"

Ruan Ci laughed, "No, but many people have complained that my aptitude is not enough."

She patiently separated the black and white pieces, packed them up one by one, and put them into the jars. Strangely, the chessboard was packed up piece by piece, but it seemed like it would never be finished. Ruan Ci simply pushed all the pieces away and leaned back, "Not packing anymore, you old man, busy yourself."

"Still have a bit of a temper." The old man was amused. He was also easygoing. Ruan Ci let him pack it himself, so he really threw the pieces one by one. Ruan Ci crossed her legs and watched for a while. Seeing that he was packing slowly, her heart softened, and she went up to help him pack together.

"Does the little peddler know? Xie Xie Yan Huan, who was once the senior sister of the Shangqing Sect, the smartest disciple in the Central Continent for ten thousand years, and is now a great demon that everyone fears, also learned to play chess from me."

White pieces like jade, black pieces like ink, one by one thrown into the grass-woven chess box, the old man talked leisurely, as if talking about anecdotes from his youth, "She also learned Go. Guess, why did she choose it?"

Ruan Ci originally thought Xie Xie Yan Huan would choose beast-fighting chess, as it seemed more suitable for her temperament. But thinking back, beast-fighting chess was popular in South Zhuzhou, not necessarily in the Central Continent. "I think, Sister Xie probably chose it because the Go board has the most squares and the most changes."

"Correct, that is exactly why." The old man smiled, "The little peddler is very smart. At that time, she told me that if she wanted to learn, she would learn the most difficult chess. Just like she wanted to learn the most difficult sword techniques, practice the highest cultivation methods, and pursue the most perfect realm. Xie Xie Yan Huan wanted to be number one in everything, and indeed she was number one in everything—guess again, how many games did she take to reach your level?"

Ruan Ci thought for a while, "Two games?"

The old man shook his head, "She took six games."

Twice as slow as Ruan Ci. It seems Xie Xie Yan Huan was not number one in everything.

Ruan Ci felt this was just a minor detail, but smiled casually and threw the pieces into the chess box, "It's all just playing, why calculate so clearly."

"Your temperaments are truly very different. At that time, Xie Xie Yan Huan pestered me to play chess for half a year until she could play evenly with me, and only then was she satisfied and stopped to look elsewhere. The little peddler, however, just tastes it and stops, not caring." The old man stroked his beard and smiled, "Seeing people through chess, interesting, interesting."

He picked up a black piece and threw it into the chess box. Only one white piece remained on the chessboard. Ruan Ci reached out and picked it up, but when she lowered her head, she couldn't find the chess box. When she looked up again, the chessboard was gone. White mist rose before her eyes. She seemed to have fallen into the towering mountains and ridges. Under her feet were crisscrossing black lines like ditches, and above her head were longitude and latitude chess squares like stars. The old man's voice echoed in the clouds, "Also, little peddler, you said this Go is just a toy. That is right, but also wrong. All things are toys, and small things also have the Great Dao. For example, at this moment—you are in the middle of a battle between two armies, holding this most critical piece. If you move forward, then jade and stone will burn together, and the robbery will be immeasurable."

Following his voice, the clouds and mist in front of her gradually dissipated. She saw stars on the chessboard, which were like great heavens, black and white energy entangled, smoke and fire everywhere on the chessboard. The black dragon coiled in the middle, the white crane danced in the abdomen, and both sides had countless robbery materials. As long as the white piece fell, it would be an immeasurable robbery stretching across the stars.

"If you move backward, then the chess will be one move behind, and you will regretfully lose by half a piece."

The smoke and clouds unfolded again, and the smoke and fire in those great heavens seemed to be reflected in her eyes. The joys and sorrows of thousands of people were all in one glance. This move backward stopped the war, and although she regretfully lost by half a piece, it could make this half of the country peaceful, recuperate, and plan for the next game.

Ruan Ci stood alone with the piece, looking around blankly, standing in the void. She looked down at the chessboard and pondered for a long time. The old man above her head asked, "Little peddler, where are you going to play?"

Where are you going to play?

The little peddler held the piece and bowed her head, like a giant looking down. The white piece in her hand was like a powerful cosmic spirit treasure. She was a Golden Immortal Dao Ancestor who could control the situation. This piece was like the Donghua Sword. One piece probed out, which could point out the universe and completely change the dragon-roaring and tiger-howling great thousand pattern.

Those thousands of great heaven creatures, countless cultivators who entered the Dao, all looked up at her, waiting for her decision. The fate of the universe was decided by Ruan Ci alone!

After a long time, she had made her calculation. The white piece flew out of her hand toward the chessboard, but it did not fall on the longitude and latitude lines, but hit a corner of the chessboard directly. The great force immediately cracked the chessboard, the pieces trembled together, the great heavens collapsed one after another, and with a loud bang, the universe shattered, the clouds and mist flew backward, and Ruan Ci stood in the blue stone alley again. The chess stall was gone, and the old man didn't know where he had gone. Only that white piece was still pinched between her fingers.

She frowned and looked around, looking up, down, left, right, front, and back, but she didn't see the old man or the pursuers, "I said there would be plenty of time in the future... I also said it, it's just playing, why be so serious."

Ruan Ci tossed the chess piece and shrugged, walking toward the firm, muttering complaints. "Can't you listen to what's said..."

The old man's laughter seemed to come to her ears again, this time with a hint of embarrassment, "Little peddler, your temper is indeed bigger than Xie Xie Yan Huan's—don't lose the chess piece, return it to this old man in the future. Three days later, come to Ningshan Pond."

He seemed afraid that if he didn't say this, Ruan Ci would throw away the chess piece, but Ruan Ci was not so willful. The old man left her a chess piece, which must be useful. Even if he didn't say it, she wouldn't throw it away. Upon hearing this, she looked at it carefully with her divine sense, only to see the chess piece shining brightly, seemingly nothing special, so she put it into her pocket and accelerated her pace back to the Zhengqi Firm. Everyone had already heard that the Tai Bai Sword Sect disciple had fought with someone. The old shopkeeper said, "At the speed of information transmission in the city, Master Lu should already know about this, but you and I should still go and see."

He carried Ruan Ci and drove the butterfly-winged magic tool to fly toward the city gate. Many cultivators had already gathered on the city wall to look from afar. Master Lu and Huan Changyuan were among them. Ruan Ci was worried about Dong Shuangcheng, went over to salute, ignored etiquette, and whispered, "Elder Lu, I see the meaning of Fairy Shuangcheng, it seems she thinks her strength is not as good as the other party..."

"Indeed not as good, Shuangcheng just reached Foundation Establishment not long ago, and that one from the Chu family is already in the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment." Master Lu was usually smiling and had no arrogance of a sword cultivator, but at this time his expression was faint, "However, since Shuangcheng has started fighting with him, life and death are in her own sword."

Ruan Ci said anxiously, "But she—if she falls, she will, will—"

Master Lu said, "If she really falls to her death, the Tai Bai Sword Sect will naturally have someone to come and get justice."

Huan Changyuan hugged his chest with both hands, staring at the outside of the city with burning eyes, and said in a deep voice, "Uncle Master, if Shuangcheng loses, I will fight him."

Master Lu was noncommittal, but Ruan Ci had an indescribable expression on her face, only feeling that the actions of the Tai Bai Sword Sect people were indeed not something ordinary people could understand. She saw Dong Shuangcheng and the young man fighting fiercely, a sword pellet coming and going without a trace in the air, fighting evenly with the black sword used by the young man. Although her sword moves were exquisite, her magic power was indeed not as good as the opponent's, and she was actually at a disadvantage. If it weren't for the fact that the young man didn't seem to want to kill her immediately, she would have lost long ago—she refused to admit defeat, and the young man couldn't stop. The sword momentum grew and waned, and that fatal move had gradually brewed with the momentum of the two fighting.

Ruan Ci was anxious, hardened her heart, and shouted loudly, "Hey, you fool, do you have no eyes? What unchaste, I am close to Sister Shuangcheng because I am also a woman!"

As she spoke, she pushed the old shopkeeper, tore off her headscarf, her long hair flying, and rushed out of the city wall to save Dong Shuangcheng.

The young man didn't avoid people when he spoke in the shop. Ruan Ci rushed out of the shop and heard a few sentences, knowing that he wanted to teach Dong Shuangcheng a lesson for being unchaste on behalf of his brother. Who on the city wall hadn't heard it? At this time, seeing Ruan Ci reveal her female identity, everyone couldn't help but laugh. The young man was also taken aback. Just as the old shopkeeper rushed over, disrupting the sword momentum of the two, he took the opportunity to withdraw his precious sword, flew back, and looked at Ruan Ci in astonishment, "You—you—"

Ruan Ci also knew that he was probably Dong Shuangcheng's relative by marriage, but she didn't know why Shuangcheng didn't recognize him. She sneered, "Young Master is good at everything, but his eyesight is a bit poor."

As she spoke, she reached out and helped Shuangcheng onto the butterfly wings. Shuangcheng was already panting and covered in fragrant sweat. Fighting outside Tan City required standing in the void and controlling the sword pellet. Her magic power was almost exhausted. Regardless of talking, she immediately sat cross-legged, holding spirit jade, and began to absorb the spirit energy in it.

The sword fight was over, and Master Lu and Huan Changyuan also flew out from the city wall. Master Lu arched his hands and said, "Young Master Chu, long time no see."

Young Master Chu sheathed his sword, raised his hand to return the salute casually, glared at Dong Shuangcheng again, and sneered, "More than twenty years, and you only have this cultivation? Still going down the mountain? I'm afraid you don't even know how you died."

As he spoke, he rose into the air, took those followers, turned into a stream of light, and flew back into the city, not even bothering to leave a few polite words. Master Lu said gloomily, "This is a Sheng Sect disciple."

The excitement had come to an end, and everyone dispersed, with no idle gossip. The Tai Bai Sword Sect was one of the most powerful branches among the Mao Sects in South Zhuzhou. Judging by Master Lu's tone, that Young Master Chu was under a Sheng Sect. How many people in Tan City could discuss the rights and wrongs of these people at will? Master Lu and others waited on the city wall for a while, and after Dong Shuangcheng finished adjusting her breath, they returned to the firm to drink tea together.

Distracted by this matter, the business Master Lu was originally discussing could not continue and had to wait until tomorrow. Shuangcheng pleaded guilty to her Uncle Master, "Disciple is incompetent and has brought shame to the sect."

"No need to say such big words. That kid from the Chu family is an inner sect disciple of the Yunkong Sect, a genius disciple of the Sheng Sect. It's not shameful to lose to him." Master Lu sneered, "Besides, hasn't he been in the sect for more than forty years? He's only in the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment. If it weren't for the cultivation method you practice, Shuangcheng, your progress might not be slower than his. However..."

His expression was a bit strange, "I heard them say that he entered the sect first and sat in a conspicuous place, but you came in later and turned a blind eye to him, as if you didn't know him. With Chu the Fourth's arrogance, it's not unreasonable for him to come and trouble you. This matter is considered your impoliteness first. It's best to write a letter to explain to Chu the Third."

Shuangcheng clearly didn't want to write a letter, lowered her head, and didn't make a sound. Master Lu sighed, "As you wish."

He raised his hand to Ruan Ci again, "Little friend, thanks to you for smoothing things over this time. I will definitely write a letter to speak well of you. When we return to the mountain gate in three years, I will see if we can bypass the entrance exam and directly take you into the inner sect."

Ruan Ci was confused at first, then shocked. Entrance exam, inner sect—these were not words spoken to a guest, but clearly to a future disciple. But she couldn't sense Dao rhyme, so regardless of Master Lu, the old shopkeeper, or Huan Changyuan, Dong Shuangcheng, and Assistant Li, they all classified her as a mortal without any consideration. These words were simply baffling.

But even more frightening was that everyone present had no doubts about this. Dong Shuangcheng even held Ruan Ci's hand and said affectionately, "Don't worry, the Sword Venerable dotes on Senior Brother Changyuan the most, and with Elder Lu's good words, maybe he'll be happy and directly take you as an inner disciple, even higher than Senior Brother Changyuan."

Master Lu said, "What nonsense, without Core Formation, how can one be an inner disciple..."

Shuangcheng didn't listen to him, pulled Ruan Ci to the side, and whispered, "Actually, I didn't deliberately neglect that Chu the Fourth, it's just that we have only met a few times, and we were both very young then, I... I don't remember his face at all."

She looked a bit embarrassed, "I often lose my mind, I was confused, and instead implicated you—are you okay? Those people came to chase you, did they cause you any trouble?"

Ruan Ci only prevaricated in her mouth. She kept looking at Master Lu, Huan Changyuan, and the old shopkeeper, and used her eyes to look at her own hands, only to see five-colored spirit brilliance like water, colorless Dao rhyme like snow, drifting and falling into her palms, all melting and disappearing. This was exactly the appearance of an ordinary cultivator sensing Dao rhyme and absorbing spirit brilliance.

She reached out and pinched the chess piece in her sleeve, the horror in her heart lingering for a long time: not to mention how heaven-defying the means to create such an illusion were, just speaking of everyone's memory, knowing that cultivators could guard their hearts, to be able to silently tamper with everyone's memory, this... what kind of cultivation would it take to do this?

Three days later at Ningshan Pond, what kind of chess stall would that old man set up to wait for her?

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Updated, sorry to keep you waiting. Let's talk about yesterday's comment lottery. Because a book can only have one lottery at a time, we have to wait until tomorrow's full-order lottery ends before drawing yesterday's comments. Everyone, please wait a moment.

Ruan Ci actually has a lot of ideas.

We had spring pancakes at home today~~~~~~~~ And I also ordered Bobo Chicken as a snack. I love eating Bobo Chicken, how about you???

. Thanks to the little angels who cast overlord votes or irrigated nutrient solution for me between 2020-07-11 12:00:52 and 2020-07-12 12:05:46~

Thanks to the little angels who cast hand grenades: Yu Yu Wan Yao, njc138 (1);

Thanks to the little angels who cast landmines: Fanzhou (2); Xiao Qiao, Li Li He Ping, Cao Cong Li De Liu Yin Jiang, Wo Yao Chi Tudouhua, Lu (1);

Thanks to the little angels who irrigated nutrient solution: Nana (60 bottles); Bai Lingye (50 bottles); 36702057 (30 bottles); Haimian Baobao, Luoxue Shengqing, Bu Zhidao Jiao Sazi Mingzi (20 bottles); Xiaosuda, Daoba Lian, Xiegen, UMASOU, shanlan, Yumu (10 bottles); Changxi, Yan Xizao, Danding, xiaoxiao, Lizhi who had her account stolen, Fengfeng, sidewalker (5 bottles); Meigui Dao (3 bottles); yzac, Spadezc, 18205385, He Baobao Baobao w, Cheng Bi, Suansuan, 45269122, Ling Ling 610, Feng Chui Tuoluo (1 bottle);

Thank you all very much for your support, I will continue to work hard! ===== CHAPTER 24 =====

Thank you all very much for your support; I will continue to work hard!