The Prodigies War-Chapter 2377 Playing Chess

“Chessboard world?” Lin Xun was surprised.

The monkey said, “Yes, that mysterious freak created a chessboard using his own dao, and it seems to hold within it a vast world. Everyone whose memories were erased by him became a chess piece in it.”

Lin Xun nodded. Then, together with the monkey, he entered the next Origin World.

This one was immense in size, and the land was as barren as it was boundless.

There were no mountains, no rivers, no greenery, no anything. It was empty and quiet as far as the eye could see.

The monkey, however, looked incredibly nervous as soon as they arrived here. It started to cower and didn’t even dare to talk, only making eyes at Lin Xun telling him to be careful.

Lin Xun narrowed his eyes as he rushed forward with the monkey.

This Origin World was indeed very unusual, presenting a withered, silent scene. It was as if everything it was once home to had gone extinct.

Not even the faintest fluctuation or aura of the dao could be sensed.

After an incense stick of time, the two saw a bare, old tree on the extreme horizon. Its branches were like swords that reached up to the sky, and its roots were exposed above the soil like firm rocks.

A withered figure sat before those roots, his beard and hair unkempt. He was gazing at a chessboard in front of him, motionless like a clay statue.

In this whole world, there was only one tree, one person, and one chessboard!

Obviously, the withered figure was the mysterious freak that the Ghost Spirit Monkey had mentioned earlier, a terrifying existence that could erase the memories of Emperor experts with a snap of his fingers.

The monkey was so nervous that it was shaking like a leaf. It frequently winked at Lin Xun, signalling him to ignore the old man and walk straight by. freēwēbnovel.com

Because not far behind that dried tree, there was an invisible portal. As long as they passed through it, they would be able to reach the origin core of all Heavenly Dao!

Lin Xun gave it some thought, and finally decided against using his spirit sense to investigate the man. He looked away and followed the monkey's instructions, going toward the place where the portal was located.

Nothing, not even a sound of wind could be heard between heaven and earth. The utter silence was dreary.

Lin Xun and the monkey passed the withered tree, and before they could go far, a dry and hoarse voice suddenly rang out, “Wanna play?”

The mere two words were like a crash of thunder that paralyzed the monkey with shock. It screeched, “We’re dead...”

Lin Xun turned his head, and saw that the withered figure under the tree had moved his gaze from the chessboard to them.

That gaze was pure as that of an infant. It was without any impurities, and resembled a true mirror that could reflect everything in the universe.

The second Lin Xun felt those eyes on him, he inwardly tensed up before quickly relaxing, and said with a calm expression, “Why?”

The withered figure pointed at the chessboard in front of him, “At the beginning of the primeval era, I entered this place. With the origin power of all Heavenly Dao I have comprehended here, I created this chessboard. Through nonstop deliberation and improvements, I’ve successfully imbued the origin auras of all Heavenly Dao in this chessboard... ”

Lin Xun's pupils constricted.

This old man was actually a character from the early primeval era, and on top of that, he had refined the mysteries of Heavenly Dao origin and integrated them into a chessboard!

This alone was already some terrifying skills!

“You must be here for the origin enigmas of all Heavenly Dao, but let me tell you something you might not know yet. Aeth qi has returned to these places, and thanks to this, the origin enigmas have long been released and are currently spreading outward.

“When you came here, you should have already noticed that the aeth qi is madly reproducing itself in the outside world. All sorts of opportunities and fortunes have been springing out, and the structures of the worlds have undergone sudden changes. It’s like an unprecedented new era is coming...

“Such is the manifestation due to the origin core of all Heavenly Dao’s leaking out.

“This also means that it’s no longer possible for you to grasp the complete origin aura on this trip...”

As more and more words were uttered, the withered figure’s voice gradually went from dry and hoarse to low and clear, “In that case, you might as well stop a while and play a game of chess with me, right?”

The monkey was so nervous that it was close to collapsing. It hissed, “You can’t agree, you must not agree! Otherwise your memories will definitely be erased, and you’ll be reduced to a piece on that chessboard!”

The withered figure ignored the monkey. His gaze was fixed on Lin Xun.

Lin Xun, on the other hand, sank into silence.

The old man's words had given him a rude awakening.

Why had aeth qi concentrations been recovering and causing drastic changes in the lower plane?

The withered old man had already given the answer.

It was because the power of the origin core of all Heavenly Dao had been bleeding out and continuously spread!

However, this also meant that this origin core power was constantly melting and evaporating like snow. It had long ceased to be complete, and with the passage of time, it would even be exhausted and go extinct one day!

No matter who it was, they were bound to find it impossible to grasp the complete principle of the origin of all Heavenly Dao under such circumstances.

The thought of it put a self-deprecating arc on Lin Xun’s lips.

He had spent the past month constantly trekking through different secret worlds, only to find out that the ultimate mystery that he had been searching for had turned into nothing but an illusion. It felt like he had been using a wicker basket to draw water – a complete waste of effort.

However, Lin Xun didn't regret it.

Along the way, he had collected more than a hundred Origin Dao Crystals. Their value was already incalculable.

“Even if I can’t have the enigmas of the origin core, I still have no interest in playing with you,” Lin Xun refused.

To this, the withered figure said, “If you win, you can take away this chessboard that contains the origin auras of all dao. If you lose, you will just be reduced to a chess piece on this chessboard.”

What was contained in this simple proposal could make all Emperor Ancestors in existence go crazy.

A startled Lin Xun asked, “You spent infinite years since the early primeval era to painstakingly craft such an extraordinary chessboard. Are you really willing to give it up if I win?”

The withered figure said, “At the end of a game, there is always a winner and a loser, but in these countless years I’ve been sitting here, no one has been able to win this chessboard from me.”

He had never experienced being on the losing side since the beginning of this all!

After some more consideration, Lin Xun still refused and wanted to take his leave. “You were wrong about something. I came here not to seek the origin of all Heavenly Dao, but my clansmen.”

“You’re looking for people?” The withered figure was stunned. He muttered, “What else in this world is more important than studying the great dao...?”

Lin Xun didn’t intend to waste more time on this old man.

However, he heard the latter ask, “Among these, is there someone you are looking for?”

As soon as his question dropped, a prosperous world appeared in the void. It had countless cities, and countless beings inhabiting them, from royalties to nobles down to all kinds of characters from all walks of life. It was a perfect drawing of a mortal world.

Lin Xun looked up at it, and in just a second, he captured many familiar figures.

Zhao Tailai, Zhao Xingye, Lin Zhong, Lin Huaiyuan, Spirit Vulture, Third Old Zhu...

Some of them became private tutors in the countryside, some were escorts, some were young masters of noble families...

In that mortal world, those familiar faces were just a part of the masses, experiencing their own life and all the joys and sorrows that came with it.

When Lin Xun was about to probe with his spirit sense, the world in the void disappeared.

The withered figure said, “It seems that the people you are looking for are in there.”

Lin Xun stared deeply at the other party, “You erased their memories and turned them into chess pieces in your chessboard world?”

The withered figure's voice was without ripples, “Have a match with me. Win, and I'll tell you.”

Lin Xun strode straight to the withered tree. Sizing up the scruffy and skinny old figure, he asked, “How do we play?”

In the distance, the monkey’s soul had flown off, probably having realized that Lin Xun already had no escape.

“Use this world as a chessboard, and use our own great dao as the chess pieces,” replied the withered figure.

The next second, crisscrossing grids abruptly appeared in the barren world like a massive, heavenly net.

Half black, half white, the two sides were clearly divided.

“These chess grids will be the battlefield of our dao, you and I each command a side. Whoever's turf falls to the other’s occupation, they lose.” The withered figure got up to his feet. “You can choose, either the black or the white world.”

Lin Xun nodded. In a flicker, he teleported to the piece of heaven and earth covered by black grids and faced off with the withered figure from afar. “Are there any rules for combat?”

The withered figure shook his head. “This chess game will be the battle of dao. You can show your full strength and attack however you like.”

Lin Xun nodded. “Alright.”

The withered figure waved his sleeve, “Rise.”

Boom!

In each of the white grids beneath his feet, a star appeared, coalesced from a kind of law power.

Each star represented a different law power and was filled with a supreme, boundless aura.

In an instant, countless stars dotted the landscape, blossoming with various splendors that lit up the white world into something brilliant.

The most marvelous thing was that despite being in separated chess grids, the stars moved along a dense set of magical trajectories that complimented each other in a perfectly natural way.

It was like a grand picture of ‘all Heavenly Dao in harmony.’

“Fellow Daoist, if you can break the dao world in the white chess grids, then it will count as my loss.” The withered figure's voice was always so calm, permeated with absolute confidence. He was like a god who had seen through all the hypocrisy in the world and now stood above the heavens.

Lin Xun played a thought in his mind.

Immediately following, a cauldron appeared in the black world under his feet, veiled by a faint charm of eternity and uniqueness.

The cauldron enveloped the black world as it interpreted all sorts of great dao principles.

“Not bad at all!” exclaimed the withered figure with surprise in the distance as his eyes burned like the sun. “In these countless years, there are only a handful of people I've encountered who possess this level of attainment... Fellow Daoist, I hope you won't let me down.”

With that, he flicked his fingers.

Boom!

From the star cycles, a patch of dao light shot out and condensed into a seal. Vaguely, it emitted the terrifying might that could subdue everything in heaven.

In a split second, it swept toward the dark world where Lin Xun was and violently stamped down.

“Doh!” shouted Lin Xun, his eyes like electricity. From the steaming cauldron, a dao sword emerged and slashed out.

CRACK!

The dao seal was broken in half and exploded.

Unfazed, the withered figure flicked his fingers repeatedly, sending out various offensive skills from the white grid world under his feet.

They either formed a mountain, a vast sea, or manifested as soldiers... With the momentum to alter terrains, they crushed out a path toward Lin Xun’s world.

At that instant, it was as if all daos had risen together, taking away all color from heaven and earth!

Read lat𝙚st chapters at fre(𝒆)novelkiss.com Only