Chapter 139: Endless Azure Sky, How It Is Lesser Than Me!

On Wuzhangyuan, the autumn wind was bleak.

Zhuge Liang quietly stared at the opposite side of the board.

He watched the young man, who repeatedly rehearsed in the Prison, exhausting his effort, whose features grew ever more like his own.

Letting him personally experience what it means for the Mandate of Heaven to be hard to defy!

However.

There was not a hint of smugness on Zhuge Liang's face.

In those eyes that had witnessed the flow of stars and the rise and fall of dynasties, a deeper weariness surged instead.

"In the end, still... can't do it?!"

The other side of the board.

Zhuge Kongming felt his life was like a dying candle in the wind.

But this time, he sensed a trace of an unusual aura.

That old turtle, entrenched in Yongliang, defiant no matter the provocation, even when sent a woman's garb, still steadfastly refused to emerge—

Sima Yi moved!

He seemed also unable to continue expending!

"Opportunity!"

Zhuge Kongming's calm, still eyes suddenly erupted with unprecedented brilliance.

He began to lay his scheme.

One step, another step, and another.

Using himself as bait, he lured the enemy deeper.

He dispatched troops and generals, planting countless ambushes.

The entire board, under his control, transformed into a massive net that devoured heaven and earth.

Finally!

Sima Yi, leading the main force of 150,000 Wei army, stepped into the death trap he had meticulously prepared!

A valley flanked by two towering mountains, its entrance narrow and shaped like a gourd.

Shangfang Valley!

"Hahaha..."

He stood on the summit, watching the white torrent in the valley descend into chaos, letting out a maniacal laugh that had been suppressed for years.

Won!

This time, I will win!

Tears welled in his eyes as he suddenly brandished the command banner in his hand and roared!

"Fire, come!"

Boom—!!!

In an instant, the earth shook and the mountains quivered!

On both sides of the valley, countless vats of fire oil poured down, rockets rained like hail!

Flames surged skyward, turning the entire Shangfang Valley into a roiling sea of fire!

The elite 150,000 Wei army struggled and melted within the towering inferno!

He won!

He, with mortal strength, reversed the Mandate of Heaven!

"Haha... hahahaha!"

He was ecstatic.

However.

A drop of cold liquid fell on his cheek.

He instinctively looked up.

The sky, at an unknown time, had become shrouded in dense black clouds.

Rumble!

A Jinglei tore through the Sky Vault.

Splash—

A torrential downpour poured down!

The icy rain raged, dousing the sea of fire that should have consumed everything.

"No..."

The wild joy on his face froze instantly.

Snicker... snicker...

The towering flames burned fiercely.

In the cold, merciless rain, they quickly weakened and extinguished...

The Wei army who had narrowly escaped knelt in the rain, frantically bowing to the heavens, crying with joy.

The rain grew heavier.

It doused the inferno that had scorched the eight realms.

It also extinguished the last spark that had just ignited in his eyes.

He stood dumbfounded on the summit, letting the cold rain soak his clothes and his greying temples.

It's over!

Everything is over!

Schemes are in human hands.

Success is in Heaven.

He calculated every mechanism, yet could not foresee this rain that should not have fallen.

He opened his mouth, and his grief and resentment surged straight toward the Heavenly Spirit Cover.

He wanted to face the heavens and issue this Sheng (Opera Role) most desperate question!

However, he had not yet had time to speak.

A sigh older, more weary, more regretful than his.

At his ears, in his heart, in every corner of his soul, it boomed and exploded!

"Oh endless heavens, how thin you are to me!"

Boom!!!

【Zhuge Kongming】shook violently!

Who?

Isn't this what I wanted to say?!

No…

I…

Who am I?!

Countless chaotic memory fragments surged wildly into his mind!

Blood‑red Slaughterhouse!

Gray Rain!

Blood Moon!

Mid‑Autumn Performance!

【Crimson】!

【Abyssal Demon Dragon】!

Dad and Mom!

"Wake up."

A calm voice pierced the endless rain curtain and resonated directly in the depths of his soul.

Buzz—!

Su Ming suddenly opened his eyes!

There was no Shangfang Valley before him, no torrential rain.

It was still the charred Wuzhangyuan, still the massive board of intersecting light and shadow.

And opposite him.

That figure with Feather Fan and silk kerchief, at some unknown moment, closed his eyes.

Su Ming lowered his head and looked at the board.

The black piece representing him was surrounded layer upon layer by countless white pieces that had escaped death, sealing him completely.

This!

Lost.

Completely, utterly lost.

He did not lose because of strategy.

Nor did he lose because of scheming.

He lost to that rain that should not have fallen.

Lost to…

Heaven's Will!

"You, did you see?"

Opposite, Zhuge Liang opened his eyes, his voice carrying a calm that saw through everything.

Su Ming gave no answer.

He simply bowed deeply to the figure before him.

This bow, unrelated to status or strength.

It was a tribute to the spirit of 【bowing and serving to the utmost, dying only after all is done】.

It was also a self‑reflection on his brief Manifestation!

"Thank you, Chancellor, for enlightening the junior."

Su Ming straightened, his voice hoarse.

He understood.

The weight of bearing the nation's destiny, each step like treading thin ice, unable to err.

And the despair of exhausting all wisdom, yet still being strangled by the Mandate of Heaven!

"Confusion cannot be resolved."

Zhuge Liang gently shook his head, the Feather Fan in his hand swaying slowly again.

"Liang also once thought that man could conquer Heaven."

"But this board, I have played for a thousand years, and it remains unsolvable."

He looked at Su Ming, and from those dead, desolate eyes shone a hint of elder's gentleness and admonition.

"Your Dao is sharp, like a wildfire that burns everything."

"But being overly rigid makes one easy to break."

He paused, his voice seeming to span a thousand years, resonating deep within Su Ming's heart.

"The conduct of a gentleman is to cultivate oneself through tranquility and nurture virtue through frugality."

"Without detachment one cannot clarify ambition; without serenity one cannot reach far."

Precepts for Sons!

These are the most precious maxims the ancient sage left to posterity.

At this moment, he used them to admonish this fleeting junior of his.

"This Prison does not trap the Mandate of Heaven…"

Zhuge Liang's voice faltered slightly.

In those eyes that have witnessed the turning of the stars, a hint of incomprehensible desolation flickered.

"It is merely Liang's own obsession."

He no longer wishes to go out.

Having lost this game of chess, he feels there is no longer any need to gaze upon the world.

"In your era, there are still storms to stir and heavens and earth to contest."

"Go then."

"Do not let this withered thought of mine, together with you, sink here."

Zhuge Liang issued an Expulsion Order.

In his tone there was not a hint of hostility, only fulfillment.

Having cherished talent all his life, he saw in this junior a flame that does not belong to this game.

He did not wish this uncut jade to be shattered in a game destined to lose.

Su Ming fell silent.

He could feel the other's goodwill.

He also knows that turning away now might be the most dignified choice.

But…

Su Ming slowly lifted his head, met those weathered eyes, and grinned broadly.

In the Smile Mask, the previous madness and ferocity had faded.

A hint of the cunning and unrestrained spirit appropriate to his age appeared.

Chancellor.

"You are right about everything."

"But…"

Su Ming extended his hand, pointing to the massive chessboard where light and shadow intertwined.

"You, take another look at this game!"