Chapter 425: Chapter 178: Three Months’ Time—The Demon Hunting Department Shakes Tongye, the Sophora Chess Game, Jixia Ascends to the Peak of the Primordial Pill!
Moreover, when the demon army entangled by the Jing River Dragon Court suffered a setback under the hands of the ’Demon Hunting Department.’
These ’Demon Hunter Generals’ were so daring that they secretly established the so-called ’Tongye Demon Hunting List,’ listing all demons with Primordial Pill and Great Innate abilities for bounty as ’heads,’ even...
The old Dragon King of the Jing River Dragon Court, ranked first in the Zhenren Realm!
In this ever-changing situation.
The old Dragon King found himself in a nightmare-like headache.
Faced with this invincible swarm of locusts, he was extremely furious, frantically sending people to investigate the identity of the ’Great Demon Hunter Master,’ seeking to crush that ant completely!
However,
he never would have thought...
The mysterious Great Demon Hunter Master, seemingly controlling everything.
Was just a mere boy!
...
Tongye State, Tongye Mansion.
In this small remote town, within a tranquil courtyard.
Under the old locust tree, leaves falling.
An old man and a young man sat on stone stools, engaging in a chess match, back and forth, seemingly calm on the surface, but underneath, it was a murderous battlefield.
The two hardly paused, as the young man took white, the old man took black.
In the chess game, the setup, capturing, and attacking the tiger’s mouth didn’t take more than a quarter of an hour. The nineteen lines of the ancient chessboard were quickly filled with black and white pieces.
As the situation grew increasingly tense, neither showed any change in expression.
In the end, two Divine Thoughts even rose behind them, one black and one white, opposing each other evenly.
This made a silent, black-clad young man on one side watch with eyebrows raised, even the hand hidden within his wide sleeves trembled slightly, his face filled with shock:
"This boy... it’s only been a few days?"
"Already able to play at such a level with his adoptive father, who is known as ’Great Yin’s Number One National Master’?"
"His adoptive father has immersed himself in the Chess Dao for sixty years, a lifetime, even gleaning some fundamental principles of ’technique’ from chess. If he advances in the True Zhenren Dao in the future, he might even be able to ’cultivate technique through chess’!"
"Young as he is, has his skill in the Chess Dao already reached such a level? The old man, obsessed with the Chess Dao all his life, surely must consider him a kindred spirit now?"
The young man is named Xu Heng.
The name sounds ordinary.
But his identity...
In the Divine Capital, is known by everyone!
The Six Pillars of Great Yin Divine Blood, comparable to princes, each is at the pinnacle grade, capable of being considered a colossal power like ’nobility.’
As the saying goes, there are seven grades of officials at the prime minister’s gate.
As the so-called ’Nine Thousand Years,’ the tributor guarding Great Yin, Xu Ruotong, though not a eunuch, has no children all his life, and is obsessed with chess art, so has adopted many sons and guests in recent years.
Among them, those who have succeeded in cultivation and can handle chores for him are known as the ’Nine Adopted Sons.’
The leader among them, is indeed named Xu Heng, ranked Senior Third Grade, is the Great Yin Imperial Guard responsible for patrolling the capital, holding high rank and authority!
Even dukes, princes... treat him with respect, trying to connect with ’Nine Thousand Years’ Xu Ruotong through him.
And what is Xu Ruotong’s title?
The Thousand Autumn Chess Saint!
As the name suggests.
Among all national masters emerging in the past three hundred years, solitary stories, incomplete records...
There hasn’t been anyone capable of competing on equal terms in the Chess Dao with him for thirty years.
Having stayed by Xu Ruotong’s side for so long.
Xu Heng has never seen anyone who, like this young man, can exchange blows on the Chess Dao with his adoptive father!
"Elder Xu, this time..."
"You lost."
Click.
The boy, with his hair tied and a composed, mature appearance, pinched a white piece, placing it lightly in the corner.
This seemingly ordinary, unremarkable move.
Instantly gave rise to a ’force’ on the chessboard, connecting the several dozen white pieces scattered along the nineteen lines into an unstoppable white dragon, baring its fangs and claws!
Then, it swiftly devoured all the most threatening ten or so black pieces on the board in one fell swoop, shattering Elder Xu’s strategy.
With the fall of one piece, Jixia exhaled and inadvertently lifted his head to look at the deeply contemplative ’Elder Xu’ opposite, his eyes revealing thought.
This elder moved here three months ago, seemingly ordinary, without any trace of cultivation.
Yet,
when he saw himself and invited him to play their first game.
Jixia discovered.
Whenever he played against him, he could always enhance his understanding of the Divine Soul from the ’chess game,’ even accelerating his progress in comprehending the ’Celestial Human Domain,’ advancing to the third stage of the Primordial Pill ’Celestial Human Realm.’
Moreover, it was far faster than if he isolated himself to comprehend the Divine Soul.
Initially, he thought it was his original destiny as ’Li Treading Immortal’, the national master of chess starting to take effect.
He even marveled at it, surprised that a destiny he had ignored could have such an effect.
But when Jixia played against former Mountain and River Sect members, now Demon Hunter Generals like Ye Xuan and Qing Shan Taoist.
He found he couldn’t enhance his progress in the ’Celestial Human Domain.’
That’s when he suddenly realized.
The power wasn’t his ’destiny.’
But...
It was this ’Elder Xu’ in front of him.
It was the powerful domain he emanated, inherently hidden in chess, invisible, shapeless, yet ever-presently influencing the surroundings.
