Chapter 1344: The game begins!

First, apply the status.

Qisheng had already made the first move, but the player side's chessman, Ximen Gou Sheng, did not rush to act.

Each move allows one minute for consideration, enough to make a judgment.

Now playing requires sufficient HP; several team members lack even 10 billion HP, equivalent to just 2 HP, dying on contact.

Thus applying a series of HP buffs is very necessary.

The alchemist player gave teammates a long-lasting buff 'Longevity Secret', increasing HP by 2%, lasting half an hour.

The talisman player can also apply a layer lasting five minutes of 'Immortal-grade Strengthening Talisman', raising HP cap by 30 million.

Adding food delicacies, equipment effects, and other multiple buffs, when finally entering the game, each person's HP can exceed at least 10 billion, reaching the minimum standard of 3 HP.

Xue Ningzhen, with the highest HP, reached 9 HP, exactly an Immortal King piece.

Moreover, several players have HP between 4 and 6 HP, barely enough to act as Immortal Generals.

Alright, Fellow Daoist Gaochucheng, please enter the game, position Mao-7!

The first to go onto the board is indeed Gaochucheng.

The intersection points on the board are named with earthly branches plus numbers; Mao-7 is the middle of the left third vertical line from our side's perspective, several points away from the enemy's pieces.

Creating this distance avoids being 2v1 in the first round and getting reduced to low HP in one hit.

Seeing our side avoid battle, Qisheng laughed: 'How can youngsters be so cowardly? Yun Xuzi, Chen-7!'

Yes, Grandmaster-uncle!

A blue-clad disciple leapt up and landed beside Gaochucheng.

At the end of the turn, Yun Xuzi raised a hand and released a sword qi.

Swish!

Gaochucheng could only stand there and take the hit, losing exactly 500 million HP.

Moreover, in the match, he cannot recover HP.

The old geezer indeed opened with an Immortal General; Fellow Daoist Xiao Feng, you go to Chen-8, we'll go on the offensive!" Ximen Gou Sheng looked at Yun Xuzi with 12 HP, rapidly calculating counter-strategies in his mind.

Xiao Feng didn't expect his Immortal King piece to enter the fray so early.

But thinking about it, his HP is so high he could fight from start to finish, as long as he isn't surrounded and instantly killed; he can effectively compress the enemy's HP, and the earlier he enters, the better.

Thus he moved his body and flew into the Chen-8 intersection.

At the turn's end, he raised a hand and shot out a blast of qi, dealing 500 million damage to Yun Xuzi.

Tsk tsk, it's been a while since I've seen such low damage." Xiao Feng muttered to himself.

At this point he had stacked over 80 layers of 'Endurance'; his surface attack power already exceeded 1 billion, and once he drew his sword, it would approach 3 billion!

Seeing Xiao Feng, designated as an Immortal King, enter the board, the Qisheng boss laughed heartily: 'So eager to die, I'll grant you that. Yun Quanzi, step forward!'

Yes! Grandmaster-uncle!

Another Immortal General entered the field, landing beside Xiao Feng, together with the previous piece blocking his two exits.

At the turn's end, the two Immortal Generals unleashed their power, immortal energy surging, dealing 2 HP damage to Xiao Feng. Yun Xuzi also additionally reduced Gaochucheng by 1 HP, nearly killing him.

Handsome Fellow Daoist, go protect Xiao Feng's rear. Fellow Daoist Xiao Feng, keep attacking; the enemy should defend." Ximen Gou Sheng continued to respond to the enemy's offense.

The order was given in the team channel; the enemy could only see the result, not the hidden move.

Xiao Feng can only attack, because his HP now exceeds 960 billion; aside from being surrounded, there's no way to kill him, so Qisheng won't rashly attack, guarding against his counter.

Xiao Feng's opening strike knocked off 1 HP from each of the two Immortal Generals that attacked last turn, and Gaochucheng also dealt Yun Xuzi a drop of blood. Teammate 'Handsome Cangqing' then took the empty spot behind him, guarding Xiao Feng to prevent being surrounded.

Li Qingfeng, step forward!

Qisheng continued placing pieces; this time it was an Immortal Soldier, intended to flank, planning to surround Xiao Feng and Handsome Cangqing, then after all later pieces land, carry out the final encirclement.

If he manages to surround them, a wall of blocks will rise; wanting to run leaves no path, even if there is calamity ash on the ground.

At the turn's end, Xiao Feng suffered no attack, and consequently Gaochucheng survived an extra turn, able to strike again.

The Immortal Generals not attacking must be defending.

Next turn, Xiao Feng's attack will be ineffective against the two Immortal Generals, equivalent to idling for a turn.

However, to prevent endless defending idling, the game also stipulates that a single piece may defend or counterattack consecutively for at most two turns; as long as one holds out long enough, it can eventually be killed.

Pieces fell one by one, and the fighting continued without cease.

Immortal Soldier pieces can only attack, not defend; if an enemy is nearby, they basically won't survive a few rounds.

Gaochucheng, the first to enter, quickly turned into a pile of calamity ash, his name floating, emitting a blue-green light.

As pieces fell one after another, the board gradually showed two opposing great dragons.

One side focused on protecting Xiao Feng, the other on encirclement.

Ximen Gou Sheng placed his pieces very carefully, each step thoroughly considered, to prevent a single broken link from leading to total encirclement.

Nevertheless, due to the disparity in piece quality, a significant disadvantage inevitably appeared; friendly calamity ash on the board clearly outnumbered the enemy's red calamity ash.

After twenty moves, Xiao Feng also reduced the two defense‑loving Immortal Generals beside him to low HP.

Seeing them about to be killed, a new phase arrived.

Beside Qisheng there was no one left; all twenty disciples had already entered the game.

Two of them, Immortal Kings, landed respectively beside Xue Ningzhen and Handsome Cangqing, evidently intending to use the highest‑HP Immortal Kings to forcibly blockade the king piece Xiao Feng.

He Ming Shan, Wei-6 advance one.

Both sides' pieces are pressed tight; unless retreating, there's hardly any big step to take.

Qisheng pushed an Immortal Soldier forward, crushing a clump of calamity ash on this side; the soldier himself also lost 1 HP, about to turn into calamity ash.

Ximen Gou Sheng is now also in the game; surveying the whole field, he calmly analyzed and ordered: 'We hold our positions; Fellow Daoist Xiao Feng continues attacking, Fellow Daoist Xue does counter‑attack defense, and all other Immortal Generals defend as much as they can.'

The situation is unfavorable to us; without opening up HP or numerical advantage, we can only do our best to defend.

Qisheng laughed loudly: 'Junior, still not admitting defeat? Wu-7 advance one!'

Another celestial soldier advanced, trampling a clump of tribulation ash.

Ximen Gou Sheng's strategy is to fully protect Xiao Feng while inflicting as much damage on the enemy as possible.

Qisheng's strategy, however, is to first dispose of the fodder troops, then easily encircle and kill Xiao Feng.

Both sides are clear about the other's objective; what needs to be done now is to play a game of addition and subtraction, to see who can endure more.

At the end of each round, the celestial soldiers will attack nearby enemies, while celestial generals and kings may choose not to move.

Since the attack targets all enemies within one grid of the attacker, when there are many pieces many people act simultaneously, resulting in considerable damage; unless they have a defensive stance, they are easily killed instantly.

After another round of damage, Xiao Feng's side has only 14 pieces left, while the opponent still has 18.

Xue Ningzhen, while defending and counterattacking to wound the enemy, is also losing HP; it looks like she can't hold out much longer.