Longzang

Chapter 442 Overestimating Oneself

At this point, the ground battle was drawing to a close. The main force of the Wu tribe retreated, while the western route force that had been separated from the main force was completely annihilated.

Throughout the battle, the Witch Clan lost over 200,000 corpses, with countless wounded. The Azure Netherworld suffered 30,000 casualties, the vast majority from the Blood Curse, and several thousand more perished in the Blackwater of the fortress zone.

All five bastions were contaminated by black water, and nothing could grow on the ground anymore. Underground life was cut off, and they could only be purified little by little by the power of the realm.

Most of the great shamans lost by the Wu tribe died at Wei Yuan's hands. The deaths of the two great shamans who were shot by giant crossbows were also mostly attributed to the realm by heaven and earth. Therefore, the gifts from heaven and earth mostly went to Qingming and Xianzhi. As a result, bursts of spiritual energy rain appeared from time to time in the sky, allowing Qingming to replenish his nourishment.

The Wu tribe still possessed considerable strength when they retreated this time, but they had to withdraw because of Yu Jing's defeat. As a result, they took many wounded soldiers with them and even moved some corpses.

Having been established for nearly two years, Qingming had already experienced countless battles, boasting at least 200,000 veteran soldiers. Every general was highly experienced, and even the seasoned farmer could speak eloquently about military formations. Therefore, Wei Yuan didn't need to worry much at this point; the generals themselves cleared the battlefield and treated the wounded.

At this moment, Wei Yuan was facing Huang Yun, Xuan Yue, Zhu Yuanjin, Ouyang Ming, a great Confucian scholar from the Four Saints Academy, the Seventh Elder of the Bao Family, Chen Zhou, and Monk Qiu Yue. The auras of these seven people were intertwined, and none of them could suppress the others. Each of them was a Bodhisattva, and Wei Yuan, this small temple, needed to treat them with utmost respect.

Wei Yuan sensed the presence of seven towering mountains standing before him simultaneously using his sense of energy.

Ouyang Ming of the Four Saints Academy simply nodded to Wei Yuan and then went to Li Zhi's place to give some pointers to the academy's star disciple.

The three True Lords of Taichu Palace offered Wei Yuan some encouragement. Then, True Lord Huangyun, unable to linger, spoke a few words with Bao Yun before returning to the northern battlefield. Zhu Yuanjin simply patted Wei Yuan on the shoulder and then vanished. She was always elusive, and Wei Yuan was used to it.

Xuan Yue Zhenjun was extremely satisfied with Wei Yuan, but he was now in a sorry state. His inner and outer robes had been turned into strips of cloth, and he could only use clouds to cover his true form as a disguise.

Upon seeing this, Wei Yuan hurriedly and quietly took out a magic-grade outer robe that he had just exchanged from the Taichu Palace, imbued it with the power of concealment, and secretly floated towards Xuan Yue Zhenjun.

The item had just left his hand when it suddenly disappeared. Then, True Lord Xuan Yue appeared, dressed in new clothes and looking very energetic, and deliberately flicked his sleeves.

Unfortunately, Wei Yuan wasn't a Taoist priest and hadn't exchanged for Taoist robes, so he couldn't completely transform the patriarch from head to toe; he could only do a token gesture. Wei Yuan wanted to sculpt a Taoist crown out of stone, but everyone present was a True Lord, and he couldn't hide it from them.

Wei Yuan exchanged a few words with Ancestor Xuan Yue and learned the general course of the battle.

Xuan Yue still disdained to gang up on his opponents. After communicating with the True Monarchs of the human race, he held off three Nether Witches by himself, while Ouyang Ming held off one Nether Witch. The other True Monarchs joined forces and severely injured one Nether Witch in a few moves. However, the Nether Witch's outburst in the face of adversity also attracted the attention of the extraterrestrial monsters.

Seeing the situation was dire, the ghostly witches had no choice but to flee under the watchful eyes of the extraterrestrial monsters, resulting in damage to their very foundations. The ghostly witch who was initially besieged and severely injured was on the verge of death, and it would take her one or two hundred years to fully recover.

True Lord Xuan Yue was as formidable as ever, but he also overestimated himself a little. He barely managed to fight against thirty opponents. Fortunately, he had extremely rich combat experience, and the injuries on his body were concentrated on his body, while his face was completely unharmed.

After speaking with the patriarch, Wei Yuan thanked the Seventh Elder and the other two True Lords.

The sudden appearance of these three True Monarchs was completely unexpected by Wei Yuan. Without them, the human race would be one less in number. Although True Monarch Xuan Yue was fighting two against one, their overall strength was still at a disadvantage, and they would have to wait for the elders of the Li family to arrive to turn the tide.

After expressing their gratitude, the three True Lords showed no intention of leaving, and the Seventh Elder's expression was quite unpleasant.

This place is the Shattered Realm, where the will of extraterrestrial monsters has just descended. Even Dharma Aspects like Wei Yuan occasionally felt a tremor in their hearts, let alone these powerful beings at the Imperial Realm.

They must always maintain a calm and still mind, and their spiritual power must not fluctuate or leak out in the slightest, so as not to be discovered by the extraterrestrial monsters.

The True Lord's mental world is vast and difficult to control, making it very arduous to stay here. Therefore, True Lord Huangyun and the great Confucian scholar Ouyang Ming left after a brief exchange of pleasantries, and Zhu Yuanjin also left quite decisively.

However, neither the Seventh Elder nor the two unfamiliar Imperial Realm experts showed any intention of leaving. Since they didn't leave, True Monarch Xuan Yue also didn't leave, wanting to see what these three dared to do to his great-grandson.

As the Seventh Elder looked at Wei Yuan, he couldn't help but think of that crushing defeat in the game of chess, and his expression grew increasingly unpleasant. He found Wei Yuan increasingly displeasing.

It feels like teaching a student a sword technique, but the student just doesn't follow the rules, and you still can't beat them. So you have a lot of profound knowledge but no chance to share it, which is incredibly frustrating.

The Seventh Elder snorted heavily and said, "I think you've taken a risky approach to chess, deviating from the true path. If you continue like this, you'll ruin yourself sooner or later! But I suspect you won't accept that. However, after Master Qiuyue and Mr. Chenzhou saw the game you played, they took pity on your talent and decided to come and give you some pointers to prevent you from going astray in your chess journey." Wei Yuan could only thank them and at the same time mobilized the mortals in the human world.

At this time, the soldiers had just finished a major battle, and the main force had already withdrawn. After having a hearty meal, they began to rest, so tens of thousands more people joined the ranks of civilians, greatly increasing the speed of deduction.

Master Qiuyue and Mr. Chenzhou came prepared and were clearly not easy to deal with. Fortunately, Wei Yuan wasn't that competitive and felt that winning or losing a game wasn't a big deal. But thinking about it more deeply, since he had defeated the Seventh Elder, if he were to easily lose to Monk Qiuyue and Mr. Chenzhou, wouldn't that mean the Seventh Elder's chess skills were very poor?

Having just gained the Seventh Elder's support, Wei Yuan couldn't afford to lose face now. So he had to fight the two great masters before he was defeated.

Upon hearing this, True Lord Xuan Yue was taken aback and then at a loss for words. Although he considered himself to be a decent chess player, he was self-aware enough to know that he was certainly not at the level of a national master, and his skill was at least a grade below. Without strength, one has no right to speak, so True Lord Xuan Yue wisely kept quiet.

The group descended into the azure sky and arrived at Wei Yuan's residence. Wei Yuan ordered his men to bring chess sets, and they set up their formation, starting with a game against Qiu Yue.

Xuan Yue, who was standing nearby, only watched a few moves before realizing something was wrong. Wei Yuan's moves were completely unrelated to the chess manual; the shape of the pieces was incredibly ugly, with several pieces forming a wall. The overall shape was so clumsy it was beyond description.

Xuan Yue Zhenjun could only sigh inwardly. Tianqing Palace had never valued music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, but focused solely on mastering martial arts. Wei Yuan's chess moves were clearly in line with Tianqing Palace's style.

In contrast, the monk Qiuyue's moves were light and agile, possessing both Zen-like charm and the grandeur of mountains and rivers, displaying a magnificent and ever-changing style. This game had the potential to become a legendary masterpiece. However, Wei Yuan's moves were simply too ugly, severely hindering the monk Qiuyue's progress.

Xuan Yue found it really boring, so she glared at Mr. Chen Zhou and said, "Come on, let's try a game too."

Although Mr. Chenzhou was arrogant, he had already witnessed the terrifying combat power of True Monarch Xuanyue in the previous battle, and he realized that he was no match for him. Therefore, he pretended not to see True Monarch Xuanyue's impoliteness, and with a wave of his hand, a jade table, jade chairs, and a jade chessboard with an ethereal aura appeared in front of him.

True Lord Xuan Yue didn't hold back, placing his piece directly on the star point. This was the standard move; True Lord Xuan Yue went first, acknowledging that his skill was inferior to his opponent's.

Both sides made their moves with lightning speed, and in the blink of an eye, a murderous intent appeared in Xuan Yue Zhenjun's eyes.

Mr. Chenzhou suddenly flicked his sleeves and ended the game, saying, "This game doesn't count. Let's start again."

He placed a white stone on each of the diagonal star positions, then played a move with black. Although the game was short, Mr. Chenzhou had already seen that True Monarch Xuanyue's chess skills were lacking, and before he could get angry, he ended the game by giving him a two-stone handicap.

Xuan Yue Zhenjun tacitly agreed, after all, he just had a bad temper, not the kind of person who would act shamelessly. If one's skills are inferior, one should be allowed to yield.

A moment later, Mr. Shenzhou put away the game and gave his opponent a four-stone handicap.

Then it's about giving a five-piece handicap, a six-piece handicap, a seven-piece handicap, and so on, up to an eight-piece handicap. Giving an eight-piece handicap is generally the limit. Going down to a nine-piece handicap means the gap between the two sides is so large that even a disciple's disciple can play against the opponent.

This time, True Lord Xuan Yue finally got serious. After a dozen or so moves, he slowed down more and more, often taking the time it takes to burn an incense stick to place his last piece. True Lord Xuan Yue wasn't truly pondering for a long time; with his chess skills and spiritual speed, a single breath was enough. Thinking any longer wouldn't yield a good move. This wasn't a matter of overcalculation, but rather a matter of skill level.

Therefore, True Monarch Xuan Yue made up his mind that at worst he would only make one move a day. Currently, Yu Jing was finding it extremely difficult to remain in the Shattered Realm, constantly consuming his Dao power without any replenishment, and his mental state could not be disturbed. Therefore, True Monarch Xuan Yue was certain that his opponent's cultivation was inferior to his own, and that if he could hold out for seven or eight days, Mr. Chen Zhou would be unable to continue, thus allowing him to easily win this game.

Therefore, Xuan Yue Zhenjun held a chess piece in his hand, as if it had turned into a statue, his divine sense already drifting to Wei Yuan's game. At this moment, Wei Yuan's head was steaming, he had already done his best, and he had mobilized 80,000 mortals from the human world, and the number was still increasing.

The more times ordinary people deduce the chess game, the faster they can do so, and the more incisive and effective their moves become, though sometimes they may seem incomprehensible.

Wei Yuan's chess formation was as ugly as ever, and he successfully led the monk Qiuyue astray. Under Wei Yuan's constant pressure, the monk Qiuyue also started making clumsy, unorthodox moves.

The Autumn Moon Chess Formation was originally a magnificent landscape painting, but now it looks like it's been smeared with several large ink blots, almost as ugly as Wei Yuan's chess formation.

At this moment, the monk Qiuyue's face was ashen, his bald head was red, and his Zen mind was about to be lost.

(End of this chapter)