Chapter 554: Piece-Trading Simplification Strategy

Almost visibly, whether it was steamed buns, bread, or air-dried salted meat, once it came into contact with the external environment, it would rapidly weather and disintegrate, eventually becoming a wisp of floating dust that drifted down in silence.

Calling it the "Annihilation Plane" is really quite fitting!

"What is the situation with this 'Annihilation Plane' you mentioned?" Xia Duo asked.

"The 'Annihilation Plane' is just a Sub-plane! I've seen some descriptions of the 'Annihilation Plane' in the Library; it's said that the flow of time there is faster than in the Main Plane. Could that be true?"

Niya's eyes were full of curiosity. She had been to more than one Sub-plane, but she had never been to the "Annihilation Plane," and there was very little information about it in the Library.

"If my experience from a short while ago wasn't an illusion, then it should be true." Xia Duo didn't speak with absolute certainty, as it is indeed possible for Perception of time to be wrong within an Illusion. "Last night—"

"Uh, it feels a bit strange to say it this way, but for you, it was indeed last night that Archmage Greta took me to another Plane. I stayed there for five days and five nights. Perhaps that place is the 'Annihilation Plane' you mentioned."

"What is inside the 'Annihilation Plane'? Why would the flow of time be faster than in the Main Plane?" Niya seemed to be asking Xia Duo, yet also talking to herself.

At this moment, the competition on the field had already begun, but her mind was no longer on the arena.

"I also don't know why the flow of time there is faster. As for what is inside, I can answer that for you!"

"What is there?" Niya asked hurriedly.

Xia Duo replied, "Nothing at all!"

"No way?" Niya's eyes clearly revealed her disbelief, but Xia Duo truly had no reason to lie to her, which left her even more confused. "If there is nothing at all, how did you manage to stay there?"

"Alright, I wasn't precise. To be more accurate, other than dust and those of us who went over from the Main Plane, there is nothing else."

Following this, Xia Duo explained the result of the food he had taken outside the Sacred Dwelling. Now Niya finally understood, "So that's what the 'Annihilation Plane' refers to!"

As for the reason Xia Duo went there, it wasn't hard for Niya to guess. Xia Duo had just appeared together with those ten competing Arcanists; it was highly likely he had gone to conduct training just like before.

In today's first match, an Yierlan contestant challenged a Cormanthor contestant. Just like the previous "Spell Duel," they held back significantly, and this match ended very quickly.

The subsequent match, where a Cormanthor contestant challenged a Netheril contestant, was the main event.

Xia Duo couldn't help but sit up straight, watching the field with some nervousness. He didn't know what effect the intensive training on the Elf side had, but he had already trained the Netheril contestants with great care, doing almost everything he possibly could.

According to the strategy here in Netheril, the person challenged by Cormanthor must immediately challenge an Yierlan contestant in the next match, trying their best not to give the Elves a chance to study their strength.

And the corresponding challenge from the Cormanthor side would certainly be high-stakes as well; if they couldn't secure a win, then the person challenged by Yierlan would also largely be unable to win.

No matter how you look at it, this match was extremely critical.

"Snow Melting Competition, 'Arcane Maze,' twelfth match, Cormanthor—" Just as the host Elkamon announced the match, a tall male Elf Mage walked out from the seating area where the Cormanthor Elves were located.

Elkamon was familiar with the information of all the contestants, and he immediately announced the opponent's name, "Naris, against—"

After receiving the challenge information from the Elf Naris, Elkamon announced the name from the Netheril side—"Netheril, Jinuo!"

Immediately, Jinuo stood up from the seating area where Morien Tower was located.

Seeing this result, Xia Duo couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief and explained to Niya, "It looks like the Cormanthor side really wants to win! But what they don't know is that Jinuo has improved far too much since the last match!"

Jinuo was the Arcanist who had replaced Stuart. Based on strategic considerations, he was the first one in the "Arcane Mythallar," and he won beautifully; the Elves didn't challenge him afterward.

Perhaps in the eyes of the Elves, Jinuo had prepared less beforehand and had already experienced one match, so they felt the win rate for challenging Jinuo was higher. But Xia Duo knew that Jinuo was very talented at Chess and could rank in the first tier among the ten Arcanists.

If the Elves chose someone else, they might have a chance to win, but if they chose Jinuo, they basically couldn't win.

Of course, Xia Duo couldn't guarantee the specific outcome, but if even Jinuo lost, it would mean the Elves' overnight intensive training was too effective, and it would be very difficult for Netheril to win later on.

While explaining the chess moves to Niya, Xia Duo also divided his attention to take notes in his Personal Space. He didn't need to record the chess moves, but the content regarding the Spell Duel needed to be documented.

In the center of the Arena.

The original Semi-plane combat space had now become a chess board space, with uniquely shaped chess pieces placed upon it, while the contestants stood outside the Semi-plane to command the pieces in battle.

The Semi-plane chess space always remained overlapped with the Main Plane. Through special processing, the contestants could influence the interior of the Semi-plane from the outside, while any spell effects inside could not affect the outside.

As soon as the chess game began, Jinuo felt that the Elf opposite him was very difficult to deal with. Who trades pieces right from the start? Even if they did trade pieces, he still had the confidence to beat the opponent.

But the problem was that the opponent seemed to have undergone special training in terms of auxiliary pieces.

In an instant, Jinuo understood the strategy of the Elf side—try to trade pieces, simplify the game, and reduce the influence of chess skill; furthermore, strengthen auxiliary abilities to reduce the first-move advantage of the pieces.

Once he made a mistake, the impact of that move being nullified would be greatly increased.

In the audience, Xia Duo also understood the Elves' strategy. They admitted their chess skill was inferior to humans, so they tried to minimize the influence of chess skill. In other words, the Elves' ultimate goal might not be to win, but to force a draw.

As long as it was a draw, the Netheril contestant would not have a double win, and thus could not score points.

In events where they were at a clear disadvantage, the Elves knew it was hard to score, so they would rather not score at all, while also minimizing the score of the Netheril side as much as possible. Although they would still lose in the end, they wouldn't lose so miserably.

Finally, Elkamon announced the result, "Snow Melting Competition, 'Arcane Maze,' twelfth match, Jinuo, wins!"

Although they won this match, it wasn't as satisfying as the first day of competition; it could be called a difficult slaughter.

The fewer pieces on the board, the clearer the situation, the less room for controllable layout, and the more likely a draw would occur.

Jinuo's chess skill was indeed a cut above that Elf named Naris, which was why he could win, but that might not be the case for others.

The Elves had clearly undergone some training in chess skill as well, improving quite a bit from before. Coupled with the fact that they could occasionally nullify the opponent's attacks, this was troublesome!

In the audience, Xia Duo frowned. The chess skill on the Netheril side was indeed higher, but not so high that they could win every few turns. This was clearly relying too much on the first-move advantage of the pieces.

Just as Xia Duo was considering countermeasures, the third match of the day began.

(End of chapter)