[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces":3,"chapter-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-298":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Dragon of a Thousand Faces",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2269944,4431,"Chapter 298: Timeless Legacy","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-298",298,"\u003Cp>Li En has been getting along well with his teacher lately, as both have their own needs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though it sounds cold, both Li En and his master Alcastre Yanyu appreciate this teacher-student relationship based on mutual benefit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How is things with the Princess?” the Archmage asked about what concerned him most.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ve made contact and delivered the letter. Didn’t she reach out to you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I asked, but you know she’s busy now—so is the entire city. Let’s hope for a formal meeting soon,” the Archmage sighed; the planned meeting and trade had been postponed due to too many unforeseen matters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Starburner” Alcastre is the Kingdom’s Archmage and a leader of a half-elf organization.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this critical juncture, he seeks a path to survival for his people, and Li En can offer him some assistance in this regard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because of this favor, he at least answers Li En’s questions without hesitation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a newly admitted apprentice, this is already rare—ordinary apprentices must first serve as laborers for a time to prove their trustworthiness and usefulness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet the Archmage clearly dislikes “Fistriion.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wait, let me find that piece—I remember using it recently.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mage Chess is a board game originating from the elves, involving miniature magical constructs in a self-designed battlefield. Given this world’s abundant martial power, it is undoubtedly a war-simulation game (in truth, nearly all board games across any world simulate warfare).\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, simulating warfare and conducting strategic projections were the original purposes of sand tables and game boards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Due to the elves’ surplus of magic, their chess pieces are animated: the cheap ones are animated “statues,” while the high-end versions are miniature golems—or even “gargoyles”—with inner realms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pieces come in many types: troop pieces, hero pieces, monster pieces, and terrain pieces—but the “Fistriion” before them is undoubtedly the most unusual of all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He’s a sacrifice piece. By spending one turn’s movement and adding two units of mana, you summon the thunderous divine punishment of the Elven King Siloselfen.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The way this piece works is like a “bomb”—you expend resources and activation cost, then a bolt of lightning strikes, obliterating everything nearby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Uh, what did he do?” Li En sensed the malice behind it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“‘Traitor,’ ‘Great Sinner.’ During the elven civil war, he stole the holy relic of King Siloselfen, directly causing the defeat of the battle and the great purge of half-elves by the high elves.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alcastre Yanyu spoke these words with a grim face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the half-elf perspective, betraying the elven main clan, deepening the rift between both sides, and triggering a massacre—labeling him “Great Sinner” is entirely justified.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And then?” Li En was curious—what became of him after doing such a thing?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He fled. Probably died in some corner—the times were chaotic back then.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every race, in its heyday, has endured internal wars, and the elven civil war was said to be especially brutal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But whether they truly hated this “Great Sinner” is debatable. The conflict between elves and half-elves is rooted in fundamental differences; wars between them have been frequent. One side’s hero is the other’s enemy, and both sides’ historical records are a tangled mess.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Events from five thousand years ago? The elves can keep records—that’s enough. For half-elves, whose lifespans are far shorter, Alcastre’s own grandfather might not have been born yet—how much hatred could remain?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I hate this piece because the ‘Bomb Deck’ built around it is famously cost-effective and devastating against mid-to-late game formations! I play late-game decks!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ah, so the grudge stems from this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clearly, this master is a hardcore Mage Chess enthusiast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He not only took out his prized collection with interest, but also explained the rules to Li En and even recommended where to buy a basic starter set.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This game seems popular—but to activate the pieces requires regular mana support. If you’re not a spellcaster, you must pay others to recharge them regularly, which is simply too extravagant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Using Fistriion as a core for a beginner deck is actually a decent strategy—but if you play too many self-destruct decks, be careful your opponent beats you up in real life.”\u003C\u002Fp>",682,"2026-06-19T21:45:42.084Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","62340c1f5a7e5af0e95c8982435b0ff1d706cc939b95f05cb2d92bf17c269a1f","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-299","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-297",362,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-cover.jpg"]