Longzang

Chapter 511 A Balance of Tension and Relaxation

At dawn, the southern town welcomed a new batch of refugees. In addition to the 30,000 refugees sold by Cui Shutong, the first batch of 50,000 refugees sent by Marquis Ping'an also arrived. Together with the 20,000 refugees who were still observing the situation in the town, the total exceeded 100,000.

As dawn broke, the soup kitchen opened. The refugees knew from the moment they arrived that the soup kitchen would continue to serve food until everyone had received it, so there was no pushing or shoving.

At this moment, a commotion broke out at the execution platform. A large group of people appeared and escorted a richly dressed nobleman onto the platform.

The executioner listed thirty heinous crimes, which were simply unforgivable. The vagrants present were enraged, and almost everyone saw themselves reflected in these thirty crimes. So the cries for beheading were deafening!

Amidst deafening shouts, the executioner swung his blade, and a head fell to the ground, blood spurting several meters away!
Wei Yuan immediately gained three thousand units of green energy.

The revelers overlooked one thing: the executioner did not mention the young master's name, and the charges he read out were mostly vague terms like extravagance and abduction of women.

After the young master was beheaded, the executioner cast another spell, and flames several meters high erupted from his corpse. The fire was extremely fierce and quickly reduced the young master to ashes. The executioner then conjured a gust of wind, scattering the white ash everywhere.

This left even the refugees dumbfounded. Beheading them wasn't enough; they wanted to grind their bones to ashes as well.

In an instant, countless people felt their minds clear, cheering and jumping for joy, never having been so happy in their lives. Cheers and shouts filled the air, and Wei Yuan gained another ten thousand green energies.

Those who truly saw and knew that young master were either executed or imprisoned; those capable of fighting were sent to the front lines, while those not were sent to mines. Since they were of little value, Wei Yuan planned to return them to Marquis Ping'an. In short, those who knew the truth would never have the chance to speak.

The only way to leak the information is through the young master himself, but he'd probably be too ashamed to talk about something so disgraceful. Even if the truth were to leak out one day, no one would care anymore.

With this, the grain relief case was completely resolved.

Having dealt with this major matter, Wei Yuan felt relieved and went to observe the everyday life of ordinary people.

Several days had passed. Zhang Sheng had made himself a throne with his immortal sword, sat on it, crossed his legs, and was taking advantage of the lull in the heavenly tribulation to read Taoist books, waiting for the arrival of the 256th tribulation lightning.

A moment later, the heavenly lightning arrived late. Zhang Sheng sat motionless, and thirty-six immortal swords rose from his throne, forming a sword array that drew the heavenly lightning in a circle, pulling it all onto Zhang Sheng himself, leaving none for the remnant soul of the Netherworld Witch beside him.

The remnant soul of the witch escaped the tribulation of lightning and, instinctively, felt grateful to Zhang Sheng, as if she had contributed something to him.

As the heavenly lightning struck, Zhang Sheng closed the Taoist book in his hands, shut his eyes, and endured the tribulation. After the lightning dissipated, he continued reading, waiting for the next strike. Another immortal sword materialized before her and flew into the throne on its own.

When the 256th immortal sword returned to its place, a powerful, magnificent, and dazzling light burst forth like a newborn sun at dawn, surging forth from the core of the throne!
The throne, which had been haphazardly assembled, gradually grew taller, more majestic, and solemn, with a layer of golden celestial light appearing on its surface and countless tiny runes moving within.

Several dreamlike halos appeared around the throne, like deep star trails, constantly floating and flowing along their predetermined paths. Within each halo, countless tiny, sand-like rays of light could be seen.

Clearly, the forging of this 256th immortal sword elevated Zhang Sheng's entire Dao foundation to a new level.

The tribulation clouds in the sky changed, revealing a five-colored, crystalline halo. This is the Lingxiao Glazed Purification Heavenly Tribulation, which ranks among the top five in the Dharma-form Heavenly Tribulations.

But Zhang Sheng only glanced up at it and then continued reading.

Wei Yuan watched from afar, already numb.

The heavenly tribulation seems endless, as does Zhang Sheng's immortal sword. Perhaps by the time the next round of the Witch Clan's attack is repelled, her heavenly tribulation will still be over.

Leaving behind the mundane world, Wei Yuan saw Su Xuejing standing before him. The white-clad swordsman said, "I heard your chess skills are quite good. I've finally found some free time. Would you like to play a couple of games?" Wei Yuan immediately refused, "When do I have time to play chess now?"

"The way of both literature and martial arts is a balance of tension and relaxation. Furthermore, playing chess can also help one understand the Dao. The ancients set up these nineteen lines, one more and one less, which has a profound meaning."

Wei Yuan thought to himself that with his chess skills, even if he played a thousand or eight hundred more games, he wouldn't grasp a single point of understanding. As for the chess played in the mundane world, he couldn't understand it from the very beginning, and no matter how many games he played, he still wouldn't understand it.

As for why the chessboard has nineteen lines in each direction, Renjian Yanhuo does not agree with Su Xuejing's view, believing that the wisdom of the human ancestors was limited, and that a small chessboard would not be fun, and a large chessboard would not be fun.

Seeing Su Xuejing's expectant expression, Wei Yuan had no choice but to agree. As long as this genius swordsman stayed in Qingming, it meant that the Sword Palace was showing goodwill. Since he didn't have any other hobbies and Wei Yuan didn't have time to discuss Dao with him, he could only play chess with him.

The two arrived at Su Xuejing's residence. Shangguan Qianmo, smelling the aroma, rushed over and quietly prepared tea and fruit. He then took out several large cushions from who-knows-where and sat comfortably to watch the game.

Su Xuejing let Wei Yuan play white first, then placed another piece, each occupying a corner, and then smiled and said:
"All good things must come to an end. I have other matters to attend to and will probably have to leave for a while in a couple of days. However, given your high level of expertise in Taoism, governance, and military strategy, your skill in chess must be quite good as well. If I have time these next few days, I will teach you properly. I will leave after instructing you in three games. I hope to have a worthy opponent in the chess world in the future."

Wei Yuan was taken aback, not expecting Su Xuejing to leave. It seemed that he hadn't had a chance to use his skills in the last battle, and didn't want to use ordinary witch clan members to get involved in karma and taint his pure sword heart.

But since Su Xuejing had said she would guide Wei Yuan through three games of chess before making her own move, she would surely keep her word. So, while activating the Human Fireworks, Wei Yuan asked, "What does 'guidance' mean?"

Su Xuejing smiled and said, "When I play with you, I will explain some key principles of chess. If you study them carefully, your chess skills will naturally improve."

"I see!" Wei Yuan suddenly realized, then asked worriedly, "What if my chess skills don't improve?"

Su Xuejing was confident and said, "I promised to play three games of instruction, and of course I will keep my promise and play all three. If you can't improve, then I will teach you until you improve before I move on."

Su Xuejing wasn't worried that Wei Yuan would cheat, denying his improved chess skills. She was certain Wei Yuan wouldn't stoop to such childish behavior. Observing Wei Yuan's bravery and uprightness in challenging her the other day, Su Xuejing was quite impressed with Wei Yuan's character.

Su Xuejing suddenly turned her head and saw Shangguan Qianmo covering his face with one hand, looking up at the sky, his shoulders trembling. It was unclear whether he was laughing or crying, but his sword heart had clearly been lost.

Su Xuejing's face darkened, but with Wei Yuan present, he was too embarrassed to reprimand the junior in person.

But a chill ran through him as he suddenly realized something: "She must have seen through something, and I was completely oblivious?! When did my sword sense become so dull?"

Just as Su Xuejing felt a sense of alarm, she heard a snap as Wei Yuan slammed a piece next to a black piece, firmly attaching it to the spot!
Su Xuejing felt a surge of anger and wanted to reprimand him, but then she remembered that this was a demonstration game and Wei Yuan's chess skills were obviously weak, so any random moves could be forgiven. Otherwise, what kind of demonstration game would it be?

So Su Xuejing suppressed her restless heart and casually made a move, preparing to capture all the pieces that Wei Yuan had moved up.

The two players moved their pieces swiftly, completing more than sixty moves in a short time. Su Xuejing's corner pieces were completely wiped out, leaving only a rootless floating piece that needed to survive.

Su Xuejing was stunned.

Even a beginner can see that he lost.

Wei Yuan said, "This round doesn't count, let's play again."

(End of this chapter)