Chapter 288: War Reparations, Dust Settles [6000 today, please vote

Looking at Fang Can, the abbot said earnestly: "I humbly beg the layperson to allow Chi Xiao and this old monk to depart."

As if fearing Fang Can would refuse, the abbot added:

"If the layperson still has doubts, I may offer the method to counter the Heavenly Eye Technique."

Elders of Fanyin Baocha: …

Just moments ago you said not to casually leak core techniques.

You didn't leak the core technique—but now you're leaking its countermethod, aren't you?

As if fearing Fang Can would disagree, the abbot pulled out a Buddhist bead and handed it over: "It contains the countermethod to the Heavenly Eye Technique. Learn it, but do not reveal it to others."

Ji Donglai took the bead; the third-transformation elder beside him objected.

"Chi Xiao is our Sacred Heart lineage's sacred son—I refuse to let you take him," the elder shouted through the livestream.

"This child uses our temple's Heavenly Eye Technique. I have a duty to prevent him from slaughtering the innocent."

The abbot explained: "As long as Chi Xiao passes the trial of character, or severs his karmic ties by relinquishing the Heavenly Eye Technique, we will not interfere."

"If the layperson fears Chi Xiao will be mistreated within our temple, you may allow the Sacred Heart lineage to supervise him—there is no issue."

The third-transformation elder opened his mouth but could not speak.

He had intended for Chi Xiao to shine before everyone—but in the end, the Fanyin Baocha folks dragged him off as forced labor.

And to sever the Heavenly Eye Technique? That would mean the sacred son's pure heart has a flaw—this he absolutely cannot accept.

Before the one standing aside could react, Fang Can stepped out from Ji Donglai's internal space.

He walked straight to the chessboard where Yi Tianxing was playing, observing the man's expression.

On the seven boards before him, over a hundred moves had already been played; with his current skill, Fang Can saw at a glance that the black stones were in absolute defeat.

But Yi Tianxing's condition before Fang Can was truly terrifying!

After activating Life Return, all his bodily matter had been fed into his brain, causing everything except his brain to melt into pure energy fluid and be absorbed.

After these hundred moves, Yi Tianxing was no longer human—he had surpassed human comprehension.

His former appearance of white hair and youthful face was gone; only a floating brain remained, its surface thickly knotted with purple-red veins.

Yet even so, it could not stop his determination to play—each black stone fell one after another onto the board.

The air echoed with his thoughts: "Brilliant move! Truly brilliant! Almost divine!"

Seeing the man's state, Fang Can recognized it as his martial path—and naturally, he would see it through, dropping a white stone to entangle with the black.

Within Ji Donglai's space, Li Huowang's body had fully recovered.

"Man, I won the rematch against Ji Laoda."

Li Huowang, after time reversal, spoke with forced solemnity.

Then his body slowly descended, reverting to his original form.

Outside, as moves gradually filled the board and possibilities collapsed, the pace of Fang Can and Yi Tianxing's game accelerated again.

Forty more moves later, as Fang Can placed another white stone, all seven boards entered a dead position.

Sensing the flow of the game, Yi Tianxing vibrated the air: "Young friend, your chesscraft is divine—I yield…"

As he surrendered, the black stones scattered, and a beam of light descended from the heavens.

Amid the lamentations of the Chess Pavilion's disciples, seven fourth-transformation peak attacks struck Yi Tianxing's entire brain at once.

Without even a chance to disperse, he dissolved into invisible dust.

"Finally over," Fang Can exhaled deeply.

Though the entire battle—from detonating the antimatter bomb to now—took less than three minutes, every second demanded intense calculation, stretching time unbearably long.

Now that it was finally settled, he could finally relax.

"But… why no other fourth-transformation reinforcements? Are they all afraid?" Fang Can thought instinctively.

The answer was… yes!

After seeing Ji Donglai still had countless antimatter bombs in reserve, most fourth-transformation cultivators abandoned any thought of sending reinforcements.

Moreover, even Emperor Xiang Hongtu Hongtu, a fourth-transformation peak with an absurdly powerful mechanism, had been killed—others who knew they lacked such power wisely chose to yield.

Including Emperor Xiang Hongtu Hongtu, five of the mechanism monsters had been killed by Fang Can's group, leaving only one alive.

Ordinary fourth-transformation cultivators like them would only join the first wave of those wiped out by antimatter weapons.

What of the few fourth-transformation peaks just one step from fifth-transformation?

They were now conserving energy, awaiting the opening of the next sixth-transformation mystical realm, preparing to break through to fifth-transformation—Fang Can's furnace was useless to them, so why bother with this mess?

After all, if they managed to break through to fifth-transformation inside the mystical realm, wouldn't they easily manipulate Fang Can upon returning?

Thus, after multiple rounds of maneuvering, the strong refused to join, the weak dared not join—the situation had stalled.

With the battle over, Baixiaosheng terminated the public viewing effect—but that didn't mean Fang Can's image vanished from others' eyes.

Depending on individual information-processing ability, the livestream would persist in different people's perception for anywhere from minutes to several hours.

On the other side, after patient negotiations, the Fanyin Baocha abbot and the third-transformation elder could only reluctantly agree to let Chi Xiao accompany them to the Land of Buddha for quiet cultivation.

Once negotiations were complete, the abbot walked to Fang Can and said: "Layperson Fang, I have one thing to warn you."

"What?" Fang Can asked curiously.

"Through Mind-Reading, I sense your mindset is… somewhat…" The abbot hesitated, then said: "Excessively obsessive."

"Uh…" Hearing the abbot's words, Fang Can recalled how Luo Yanmo had said the same thing when descending Guiyun Peak.

"Am I really that deranged?"

Fang Can doubted his own mind—but then remembered his suppressed mental state during the first few days after breaking through to first-transformation, and immediately thought: No wonder the master sees so clearly.

"Layperson, the martial path is cultivation of the heart. If this continues, you risk falling into demonic ways, hindering your cultivation progress," the abbot warned. "You must constantly monitor your mental state and avoid obsession."

Fang Can nodded seriously, storing the abbot's words in his heart—he truly needed to watch his mindset closely in the coming days.

The abbot pondered, then added uneasily: "If you feel anything unusual, come to Fanyin Baocha—we can use the Mirror of the Heart to peer into your soul, find your inner blockages, and treat them accordingly."

"No need, no need..." Fang Can waved his hand lightly; he probably hadn't reached that level yet.

And as Fang Can thought, within his sea of consciousness, the pitch-black sun surrounded and imprisoned by golden chains was now releasing pitch-black flames drop by drop outward.

But immediately, before the black flames could break through the obstruction, they were absorbed by the golden chains, releasing not a single ripple, leaving only pure Jin Guang to strengthen Fang Can's body.

As a psychological reflection of Fang Can, what the black flames represented was Fang Can's purely evil part.

Now, under the restraint of the golden chains, those black flames seemed unable to affect Fang Can, but one day, if the Great Sun broke free from the bonds of the heart, it might turn the human world into a sea of fire.

In reality, after both sides had a friendly discussion, the host departed lightly.

Ji Donglai had already washed all the mud from his body and now stepped forward, saying, "Shall we continue hunting the other Four-Transcendence cultivators?"

"It's difficult. After today's battle, once the Four-Transcendence cultivators are on guard, they will hide, and we will find it hard to locate their tracks."

"Moreover, killing too many might cause the Fan Yin Precious Temple to intervene. The effect of a Five-Transcendence-level sacrificial vessel might drain your savings, so it's better to lay low for now."

"Is that it?" Ji Donglai was still somewhat dissatisfied, but thinking of how the old monk had casually handled Chixiao, who had just rolled in the mud with him, he could only accept it.

"How could it be? War reparations are certainly not to be missed." Fang Can laughed:

"The monk may run, but the temple cannot. Those Four-Transcendence cultivators might escape, but sects and nations cannot. We must squeeze them hard."

"Next, let's return to Dayan first. Now that the Dayan imperial family is in decline, except for the Robbery Jianshan, all Four-Transcendence cultivators have been wiped out by us. We taking over, they dare not resist, or rather, they are glad to see it."

"Then, in the name of Dayan, we demand compensation from all Four-Transcendence cultivators who attended this Gathering Yunfeng. After all, my title of Dayan Hero has not yet vanished; it is reasonable, just, and legal for Dayan to speak up for me."

"At that time, stepping on the sects that just lost their Four-Transcendence cultivators to squeeze some oil out, devouring them utterly. Sects whose Four-Transcendence cultivators suffered no loss probably won't speak up, after all, this aligns with morality."

"If they don't pay compensation, we'll dig up their roots and excavate their graves. Who told them to idly attend the meeting? Even those Monks couldn't find fault with it."

"We superpower users aren't fragile in body, right? Let them compensate with several life-saving sacrificial vessels, striving to ensure every superpower user at the city level or above has one. This battle won't have been in vain."

Fang Can smiled like a fox that had stolen a chicken. Speaking of war reparations, his mood was so pleasant that the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up; after all, this was endless money. As the victor, he must make a huge profit.

Then recalling the old Monk's earlier admonition, his expression sobered slightly. He coughed lightly and said, "Mm, that's about it. Anyway, let's return to Dayan first; we'll proceed accordingly from now on."

"However... wasn't that lightning earlier from the Robbery Jianshan?" The rotten Li Huowang beside him teased with a smile:

"Ha Ji Can successfully captured a Four-Transcendence cultivator with his extraordinary charm."

"What are you thinking? She's just an elder who owed me a favor. Don't spread baseless rumors."

Fang Can hurriedly shook his head and said, "I do have some entanglement with Elder Liu's disciple. Come to think of it, Elder Liu should be considered my senior mother-in-law?"

'But if Elder Liu counts as my senior, then what is the situation between Little Liu and me?' Fang Can strangely raised this thought in his heart.

'Never mind.' He shook his head lightly and said, "Boss Ji, teleport me to Yan Chuqing first. One month of hard control is a bit short; I'll top up three years of data for her."

(End of this chapter)