“Hold on, kid.”
On the chessboard, right as Su Yi's majestic sword intent was about to erupt completely, a cool, crisp female voice sounded without warning in his sea of consciousness.
The voice was like clear spring water poured over his head, causing Su Yi's heart to tremble slightly. The spiritual energy and sword intent gathering around him receded quietly like a tide, vanishing without a trace.
'Senior Lin Chan?' Su Yi was slightly startled. 'Have you completely recovered?'
“Mm, I've restored about seventy percent of my divine soul strength.” Lin Chan's voice sounded faintly guilty, though barely noticeable.
In truth, she had mostly recovered long ago. It was just that over the past few days, Su Yi had been closely entangled with that Ming Xi girl. After “witnessing” certain details that night, she felt deeply that showing herself then was by no means a good idea, so she simply remained “asleep” to lie low.
“Alright, let's not dwell on that,” Lin Chan quickly shifted the topic, her tone carrying an eager touch of excitement. “Play Five Elements Chess with him. Leave placing the pieces to me.”
'Senior wants to play chess?' A trace of doubt flashed through Su Yi's mind. Why did this development feel a bit like those passionate, classic anime tropes—possessed by a 'Chess Spirit'?!
“Rest assured. Would I ever harm you?” Sensing his skepticism, Lin Chan spoke with a touch of a young girl's smugness and pride.
“Though I was not as specialized in martial and killing techniques as my Senior Brother, when it comes to the art of chess... humph, back then, even Master had to concede defeat to me!”
Feeling the long-lost, playfully confident tone in Lin Chan's words, Su Yi could not help but ponder.
He had long come to understand deeply that this was not a game; he could not view Lin Chan through the mindset of a player.
If nothing went wrong, Lin Chan would accompany him for a very long time, so he indeed needed to grow closer to her.
Oh well, since she was interested, what harm was there in playing around with Zhuge Hong? Besides, even if Lin Chan lost the game, he was still confident he could defeat Zhuge Hong even with his spiritual energy suppressed by fifty percent.
Furthermore, Lin Chan had been dormant in that pitch-black secret realm for a thousand years. Having an opportunity now to stretch her mind and unleash a bit of energy was a good thing.
“Alright, then I shall trouble Senior.” Su Yi smiled and agreed in his heart.
The moment he agreed, to the outside world, the wild, sky-soaring sword intent around Su Yi suddenly pulled back and settled into tranquility.
He still stood there, holding the longsword, but his previous momentum of intending to forcibly break the layout had completely vanished.
Immediately after, under everyone's bewildered gaze, the Liangyi Chessboard—which had been fluctuating wildly and nearly collapsing due to Su Yi's resistance—quickly stabilized its spiritual light, circulating in an orderly fashion once more.
Even more astonishingly, in the void beside Su Yi, streams of spiritual light gathered, and phantom chess pieces began to condense out of thin air, emitting a profound aura—meaning he had willingly accepted the rules of the game!
“Look! Chess pieces are appearing beside Young Manor Lord Su!” “He—he changed his mind? He accepted the match!” “Did he give up resisting?”
An uproar erupted again among the crowd below. The sudden shift in the situation left everyone utterly baffled. Just moments ago he looked ready to break through by brute force, so how did he become so “cooperative” in the blink of an eye?
Seeing this, Zhuge Hong froze for a moment, followed by wild joy in his heart! Although he couldn't understand why Su Yi suddenly changed his mind, as long as his opponent entered the match, he had absolute confidence in scoring a victory first!
When that time came and a fifty-percent spiritual energy suppression was imposed, let's see how arrogant Su Yi could still be!
“Haha, Young Manor Lord Su truly knows how to adapt to circumstances!” Zhuge Hong laughed smugly and impatiently activated the chessboard. “In that case... let us begin!”
However, watching the scene on stage, Murong Yue furrowed her brows slightly. She felt Su Yi's shift was somewhat abrupt and uncharacteristic of his usual style.
Qiu Ning also wore a worried expression, unable to fathom why Su Yi would choose what appeared to be the most disadvantageous route.
Only Su Yi was currently still focusing on the match.
Five Elements Chess was an in-game minigame developed by the game designers.
Players could not only engage in PVP, but also challenge open-world NPCs. As for Zhuge Hong, he was also someone in Su Yi's memories. Unfortunately, Su Yi had never been interested in such minigames and used to lose to Gongsun Lin frequently when they were young, so this time, he had to rely entirely on Lin Chan.
In truth, he was originally better at traditional Go and similar games, but since Lin Chan wanted to play Five Elements Chess, he couldn't very well refuse.
As time passed, the phantom chess pieces condensing beside Su Yi gradually grew distinct, revealing five incessantly flowing lights of green, red, yellow, white, and black.
“Five Elements Chess? Young Manor Lord Su actually chose to play Five Elements Chess?” A disciple exclaimed in surprise. Five Elements Chess had endless variations, posing an extreme test to a player's deductive ability and big-picture vision.
Upon hearing the words “Five Elements Chess,” Gongsun Lin—who had been staring intently at the stage—instantly changed expression and blurted out subconsciously, “Oh no!”
Qiu Ning, standing beside her, keenly noticed her reaction and asked in a low voice, “Little Lin, what is it? Is something wrong?”
Gongsun Lin's brows knit tightly, her tone filled with obvious worry. “Senior Brother used to play Five Elements Chess with me in the manor to pass the time, but he... he's a total terrible player! He loses nine and a half games out of ten, and the half game is only because I intentionally let him win! Why would he choose this...”
Though her voice was soft, everyone present was a cultivator with sharp sight and hearing, so many heard her loud and clear.
Instantly, hearts sank among the Divine Might Manor disciples, and even Qiu Ning's expression grew even graver.
Upon hearing this, Ming Xi curled her red lips from the side, her tone dripping with envy. “Heh, and to think your Senior Brother indulges and protects you so much normally. You don't even have the most basic trust in him? What a waste of his feelings toward you.”
“?! What do you know?”
These words were like lighting a powder keg. Gongsun Lin turned around and took a step forward, glaring straight at Ming Xi, her voice raising a notch. “I'm not like a female beast in heat who suddenly went wild over Senior Brother! This is concern! You don't know a thing about his past, so what right do you have to lecture me here?!”
Having been provoked by Ming Xi multiple times, she was at her limit. Were it not for considering Ming Xi's status as the Young Pavilion Master of Perching Phoenix Pavilion, given her temper, her words would have been far less 'polite'.
Maddened to a pale face by the phrase “female beast in heat,” cold light glinted in Ming Xi's golden eyes. She sneered, “Little brat, you're not very old, but your mouth sure is vicious! Do you want to fight?”
“I wonder how many strikes of mine you can take?”
Her words lacked any air of a young lady, sounding instead like a rogue.
“You!” Gongsun Lin was choked with rage, arcs of electricity around her body crackling uncontrollably once more.
Seeing the two drawn into a battle of swords and bows, about to clash on Ancient Sword Mountain's turf, Qiu Ning quickly stepped forward between them and urged in a low voice, “Junior Sister Gongsun! This is Ancient Sword Mountain, do not lose your manners!”
Yet Gongsun Lin was in the heat of anger and couldn't listen at all. Bypassing Qiu Ning, she continued her barrage against Ming Xi, her lips curling into a sneer. “Fight then! Do you think I'm afraid of you? Either way, no matter who wins or loses between us...”
She deliberately paused, her eyes sweeping toward Su Yi on the sword platform, who seemed completely oblivious to the quarrel below. Her tone carried absolute certainty and a trace of provocation:
“Guess who Senior Brother will protect? And who he'll pull up first?”
“You—!” Ming Xi's face stiffened, left completely speechless by those words.
In spite of herself, scenes of Su Yi defending Gongsun Lin flashed through her mind, and that feeling of stifling helplessness surged once again.
'Dammit!' she cried out indignantly in her heart as an absurd thought popped out uncontrollably: 'If... if only Su Yi had grown up in Perching Phoenix Pavilion!'
Then the one who grew up by his side would have been her, Ming Xi! Where would there be any turn for this Gongsun Lin to clamor here!
However, shortly after, she felt a bit strange.
Would she still feel this way toward Su Yi if that had been the case?
Rate on N.U.
