newbobooks Chapter 242 I Will Overturn the Chessboard
Chapter 242 I Will Overturn the Chessboard
Liu Shu left Bingdeng Academy, like a light leaf drifting in the wind, suddenly disappearing into the mountains without a trace.
Ji Fangya stroked his beard, glanced at Ling Yuanzi beside him, and said in a clear and upright voice with a hint of curiosity, "Now that the person is gone, do you still think this was your eldest disciple's scheme?"
The heavy snow that Ling Yuanzi had just stopped started falling again.
The young man in white robes smiled gently: "Who knows? She's a child I picked up. Maybe I'm just a makeshift master for her!"
Ji Fangya looked at the man's grin that almost reached his ears, completely ignoring the sarcasm in his tone.
Dean Ji remained silent. Ling Yuanzi suppressed his smile, his youthful and handsome face devoid of its exaggerated grin, and a hint of melancholy appeared at the corners of his eyes.
“You know, I’m going to wait here for fourteen years, waiting for her to come and see me.”
Ji Fangya glanced at Ling Yuanzi: "Can she really come?"
Even if they come, they might not accept the chessboard you offer.
Dean Ji didn't say the next sentence, because Ling Yuanzi, who had been arrogant and reckless in affecting the weather, was now sitting under a pillar behind him, clutching his chest.
A small figure peeked out from his collar.
That was the shrunken Zhu Jiuyin, now resembling a weak little snake coiled around the young man's neck.
The young man's voice was a little hoarse, but his tone was full of certainty: "Yes!"
More than ten years ago, when he first saw that child in the snowy night, he knew they were kindred spirits.
One looked like a child, but his dark eyes were filled with a world-weary indifference.
An elderly man with white hair desperately pleaded for his own survival so that others could come back to life.
Ling Yuanzi looked at the light gray sky, where snowflakes were swept up by the gale, creating a white storm that swirled between the mountain peaks.
The surrounding mountains were blurred, as if the clear and bright weather before was just an illusion.
"I'll wait for her here, waiting for her to come and take over my role as the player of the game..."
A pale blizzard rises between the white mountains and black waters, and a snowflake, caught in the gale, cannot decide where it will go...
But... in winter snow and summer rain, who cares about the fate of a single snowflake?
On this chessboard of heaven and earth, the battle between immortals has drawn in countless snowflakes and countless lost souls who have no way to return.
"The player who wields the chess pieces?"
Inside Xue Lan's secluded cave, the girl slammed her hammer down on the smelting platform, and a spark flew to her brow, leaving a small black dot there.
Dan Dao sat opposite Xue Lan, watching the strange fire burning inside the furnace.
It was a magnificent blend of blue and red, like the skirt of an exotic dancer, constantly burning and trembling inside Xue Lan's smelting furnace, with the blue and red flames occasionally licking the girl's forearm.
The young man nodded slightly. His dark robes made him appear extremely cold and hard, but his voice was surprisingly gentle.
"This was a plan devised by the lower and upper realms when the Sword Master was alive. The one who will play this role in this generation is your master, Ling Yuanzi."
Xue Lan nodded, indicating that she understood, but Dan Dao seemed somewhat indifferent.
Dan Dao asked with some curiosity, "Aren't you curious about who your master will pass on his role as the chess player to, given his current state?"
Upon hearing this, Xue Lan continued her work without pause, her voice laced with a mocking, hoarse laugh: "You still don't quite understand the current situation at Jiyuan Peak."
A few drops of sweat trickled down the girl's chin, and her greyish-white eyes, reflecting a questioning light, took on an eerie, misty red hue.
“Ji Yuanfeng has no other choice but me.”
"So he only had two choices: either he worked himself to death, or he put me on that chessboard."
What a joke! What right does a master who only knows how to run around outside all day have to order her junior brothers and sisters around?
Dan Dao spoke softly, "And what about you?"
If you were the player holding the pieces, how would you place them in this game?
"What if it were me?"
Upon hearing Dan Dao's question, Xue Lan suddenly burst into laughter. The girl laughed so hard she nearly fell over, as if she had heard something incredibly funny.
Then, Dan Dao saw Xue Lan place the hammered iron into heavy water, watching the wisps of white steam rising in front of him, and utter a sinister statement:
"I would just flip the chessboard over."
Dan Dao was speechless; he had a gut feeling that Xue Lan was capable of doing this.
Xue Lan smiled.
From the perspective of the players, it appears to be a fair game between two sides on the chessboard.
But what is happening in the upper realm is unknown to those in the lower realm, so how could Xue Lan not know?
She couldn't remember what happened before she died in her previous life, but in her more distant memories, the demons suffered a great loss at her hands, and even the demon god fell into a deep sleep, not daring to invade the upper realm for 1,500 years.
But what about the Yuan and Ming dynasties in the lower realms?
For thousands of years, death and injury have been constant, and large swathes of territory have been occupied. The demons, emboldened by their power, have turned this place into their hunting ground.
At this point, they were still thinking about playing a game of chess with the old foxes from the upper realm, creating some kind of "chess player pursuing fairness" scenario.
When the disparity in conditions between the two sides is too great, the so-called fairness has actually already subtly tilted towards the Yuan-Ming Upper Realm.
Rather than being toyed with by those old monsters in the upper realm like a monkey, it would be better for Xue Lan to take action and directly use the demons to stir up trouble in the entire Yuanming Realm.
In his previous life, he did everything in his power to protect the upper realm. In this life, it's okay for him to be a little willful, right?
Thinking of this, Xue Lan revealed a sinister smile.
The refined iron was pulled out of the heavy water by the girl and thrown onto the smelting table with a "clatter".
The girl focused on the important parts, speaking concisely and to the point:
"The people in the upper realm want to use this game of chess as a deception to get what they want from the lower realm."
"That's not fair."
Those old guys in the upper realm probably wanted to abandon the lower realm a long time ago.
If it weren't for the Heavenly Dao clinging to life and the malfunction of the barrier between the upper and lower realms, they would have already taken action, fearing that the demons would rise up after abandoning the lower realms.
The girl held the still-warm lump of refined iron, mixed with various precious materials, up to her eyes and let out a long sigh:
"How could I not know what they look like?"
Dan Dao was a little confused by Xue Lan's sudden words, not knowing what Xue Lan, a blind man, was looking at by holding something up to his eyes.
Xue Lan smiled and said, "It's nothing!"
She brushed the matter aside with a light tone, and for the rest of the time, the girl didn't say another word, focusing on the materials in her hands as before.
Of course, this is just a one-man show idea.
Unbeknownst to the sword spirit, within Xue Lan's sea of consciousness, the inner demon sat cross-legged before the seal, his voice cold and hoarse: "Are you truly prepared to tear apart all ties for the sake of the people of the lower realm and the old monsters of the upper realm?"
"What do you mean by 'tearing off the mask'? The one with real influence among them is Jun Xuelan, the chieftain of the Northern Wild Wolf Clan. What does that have to do with me, a lowly rogue cultivator from the lower realm who has fallen into demonic possession?"
Xue Lan stared wide-eyed, looking utterly innocent.
The inner demon couldn't help but laugh: "Just as I thought!"