Wet viviparity

Chapter 801 A Bad Move, a Standard Pattern
Outside the pavilion, an empty, plain snow-covered cushion appeared, along with an irregularly shaped ice crystal, from which a chessboard rose.

Ji Ming didn't rush to play chess. He looked around the pavilion and saw that there seemed to be only the Star Lord of Calculation. He didn't see the Goddess of Divinity, but with his cultivation, he could still sense the aura surrounding the place.

This thought originates from the goddess and is found on chessboards everywhere.

Some pieces appear as a hazy, clear glow outside the chessboard, signifying the skill and mastery of the player on that board.

The moonlight was particularly heavy in front of several chessboards, especially at the place of the Iron Fork Taoist, where the moonlight outside his chessboard shone high into the outside of the palace.

Here, no one noticed Ji Ming's arrival, nor did anyone notice his sweeping gaze; everyone's attention was focused on the chessboard in front of them.

In this place, some of the goddess Chang'e transformed their primordial spirits into the pure and ethereal energy of the Guanghan Palace, which roamed above and around like misty pythons and cloud dragons.

One of the downstream people came to the fairy who had led Ji Ming and said to her, "This Master Lingxu is really quite leisurely. Throughout history, all those who have participated in the game have given their all, afraid of not being able to satisfy the Goddess. But he has the leisure to look around."

"It seems that Qiaoniang has a particular problem with him?" the fairy asked curiously.

The fairy sensed that Qiao Niang's opinion was not unfounded. There were only five female immortals in the Taiyin realm, and they had not set foot in the mortal world since the change of dynasties. She wondered where Qiao Niang's nameless resentment came from.

Qiao Niang didn't say anything more and changed the subject.

"The six Jade Immortals never leave the Medicine-Pounding Platform lightly, yet this person suddenly descended to the mortal realm, and then immediately began traveling to the Moon Palace bearing the seal of the 'Jade Light Boy.' There must be some hidden story behind this, stories that many of his colleagues in the palace are eager to investigate."

Has anyone investigated this matter?

"The old men in the palace, and our palace official, are all eager to hear this story. I see you two are getting along quite well."

"Haha, Qiaoniang! Among all the immortals of Taiyin, only you dare to bring up the affairs of the Jade Immortals. You should have listened to the Goddess back then and gone down to undergo another tribulation so that you could completely wash away your demonic nature and evil roots."

Before the prayer mat, Ji Ming released Su Lian and sat her down on it.

His actions attracted some attention, after all, Su Lian came from the Cold Pool of the Moon Palace, so they couldn't help but pay attention.

Some people frowned, wondering what the significance of this new player's actions was.

Ji Ming ignored those gazes. He wasn't really there to play chess. One of the key points of his unorthodox approach was to attract the attention of the Divine Mother.

Sure enough, before he even made a move, a large clump of moonlight had already gathered in front of the chessboard.

Before the chessboard, he took a deep breath of the icy, crisp air, suppressing the slight ripples in his heart caused by the impending chess match against the Divine Mother. At the same time, he secretly recalled some special patterns in his mind.

These are all "bad opening moves" that he painstakingly created by going against the grain.

Others study the art of chess to pursue exquisite moves and deadly strategies, while he refines seemingly foolish, stupid, and self-destructive moves through repeated practice and refinement until they reach a level that appears perfectly natural but is actually full of hidden secrets.

These strategies don't aim for victory, but rather for a unique and surprising defeat, one that allows even a master like the Goddess of Chess to find a touch of unexpected fun amidst the crushing defeat.

He did not rush to make a move, but instead closed his eyes and concentrated, as if he was conserving his energy.

Even though the shimmering light on the opposite side of his chessboard was more "active" than the surrounding area, indicating that the Taiyin Goddess was paying more attention, Ji Ming still didn't move a single piece.

His primordial spirit was not idle; it spread out like an invisible net, quietly observing the tense situation of the black and white pieces on the several chessboards within this realm.

At the presence of a spirit official and a Western Divine General, one can sense the resistance of not wanting to be observed by the primordial spirits of others.

Surprisingly, inside that pavilion, the Star Lord of Fortune didn't seem to mind this kind of observation.

There was a certain momentum on the chessboard in front of this star lord, like a mountain stream, ethereal and elusive. The star lord made his moves without leaving a trace, yet they contained hidden secrets. The moves in the game drew the thoughts of the goddess, whose radiance was as clear as smoke and mist.

There was no additional resistance at the Iron Fork Taoist's place. The clear light outside the chessboard was as heavy as a rock, and the clash of their thoughts was like a raging wave crashing against the shore. Every move the Iron Fork Taoist made seemed extremely heavy, a profound game of mental calculation.

Meanwhile, Jiang Zhao's chess moves were like oil being poured over a raging fire, his sharpness fully revealed, pressing forward relentlessly.

The moonlight before his chessboard also trembled violently. This did not mean that Shenmu and Jiang Zhao were evenly matched, but rather that Shenmu's thoughts were impatient and overwhelming when they clashed with Jiang Zhao's.

Those celestial officials and mortal masters, their chess skills were either powerful, unpredictable, or exquisite. Their thoughts intertwined and collided, forming an invisible torrent that impacted the omnipresent power of the Divine Mother.

Time slipped away in the silent game of chess.

Ji Ming could clearly sense that the glow surrounding his chessboard, after the initial curiosity, seemed to gradually reveal a hint of weariness and boredom as he continued to deduce countless ingenious chess games.

Just as after tasting too many delicacies, even the most exquisite dishes can hardly evoke the initial amazement. It is a kind of ancient and sacred grand sentiment, a natural impatience with the taste of 'repetition'.

"The time has come."

Ji Ming silently recited the mantra, then suddenly opened his eyes, a glint of light flashing in them.

Without further hesitation, he picked up a black chess piece, his fingertips trembling almost imperceptibly. This wasn't fear, but rather a slight tension, apprehension, and lingering apprehension before undertaking something momentous.

After all, he had placed many bets on this "gambling table," and even though the Pleiades Golden Rooster helped him back his treasure, he still couldn't satisfy his ambitions if he couldn't invite the Divine Granny.

Only when his primordial spirit actively perceived and cut off this trace of hesitation in an instant did his mind become focused.

Instead of correcting his trembling, he deliberately created a slightly "clumsy" appearance.

He raised his arm slightly, as if he was hesitating, and finally, with an extremely slow and even somewhat clumsy motion, he placed the black piece on the chessboard in an extremely strange position—right below and adjacent to the center point.

The moment this move was made, not only did Qinghui in front of his chessboard freeze abruptly, as if stunned by the inconceivable placement of the move, but even the fairy Chang'e, who had been watching from afar, and Qiaoniang, whose primordial spirit had transformed into mist, instantly cast incredulous glances.

The strange behavior of the fairy Chang'e quickly subsided; she had almost forgotten the chess strategy that Lingxuzi had told her.

There was no way around it. Even though she wasn't a chess player, in such a setting, feeling the overwhelming torrent of thoughts and mental energy intertwined and counteracted by numerous cultivators from both the celestial and human realms, she couldn't help but feel tense. When she suddenly saw Ling Xuzi's landing point, she was still taken aback.

Thinking of this, she chuckled inexplicably again.

"A move so close to the center point? Even a beginner wouldn't make that kind of blunder!" Qiao Niang's thoughts were filled with undisguised astonishment and a hint of mockery. "Has he gone mad, or has he given up on himself because he feels his chess skills are too weak?"

Beside her, the fairy Chang'e frowned slightly, a hint of doubt appearing in her eyes.

Although she knew that Ling Xuzi was going to take an unconventional approach, this opening move was a bit too unusual, so she couldn't help but focus all her attention on Ling Xuzi's chessboard.

Ji Ming wanted exactly this effect: either not bad at all, or thoroughly bad. It absolutely could not be bad with a hint of fragrance, which would end up being neither fish nor fowl and would actually put him at a disadvantage in a bad game.

His move was the opening move of a classic bad opening pattern – the "Foolish Old Man Moving Mountains" pattern.
This move blocks its own way out, wasting valuable initiative on irrelevant central entanglement, which violates general chess principles.

After a brief pause and moment of surprise in the clear light before the chessboard, a thought came to mind, carrying a hint of amusement and scrutiny. The white piece representing the Goddess then fell to the ground, its position conventional yet carrying a sense of overwhelming dominance.

Sensing the aura of the Divine Mother, Ji Ming felt reassured.

He took a deep breath and began to place his piece, his expression subtly changing with each move.

On the chessboard, he sometimes charged recklessly like a brute, sending his pieces into the encirclement carefully set up by the Goddess; sometimes he was like a blind man touching an elephant, getting entangled in unimportant places and missing excellent opportunities to counterattack; and sometimes he was like a frightened bird, retreating hastily when the Goddess made a feint, losing his composure.

"Throwing stones to test the waters, a blind turtle floating on a piece of wood, the sound of wind and the cry of cranes."

One after another, his blunders and predictable moves surfaced in his mind. At this moment, he had reached another peak in the art of chess, feeling as if he were the only one sober while everyone else was drunk.

With this mindset, he was in exceptionally good form, and every move he made was strangely bad, and unexpectedly bad.

Every move she made was precisely timed to coincide with the rhythm of the Divine Mother's "crushing" tactics, providing her with countless opportunities to unleash her power and deliver a crushing blow.

The old woman's white pieces were like a skilled butcher dissecting an ox, each move precisely cutting through Ji Ming's seemingly chaotic but actually meticulously designed "blunder formation" of black pieces.

In a short time, the white pieces' offensive was sometimes like a celestial river surging backward, sweeping up large areas of black pieces; sometimes like a nimble snake emerging from its hole, cleverly cutting off the black's large dragon; and sometimes like a stabilizing force, easily neutralizing Ji Ming's flawed "counterattack".

The clear light opposite Ji Ming's chessboard had condensed to cover more than half an acre. With Shen Mu's skillful moves to slay dragons and precise kills, its "activity level" was increasing at a visible speed.

Many players who had already lost or made futile resistance were overshadowed by the clear light before Ji Ming's chessboard. A wave of joy and exhilaration emanated from the light. Compared to Shenmu's exhilarating thoughts, Ji Ming found it increasingly difficult.

The initial difficulties had an element of acting, but the further down the road it went, the more real it became.

"Disaster!"

Sweat beaded on his forehead, shattering into pieces on the chessboard.

This kind of terrible move isn't just playing your own game, it's also playing a game against the Goddess, otherwise how could you guarantee the Goddess's complete satisfaction?

The few bad opening moves that had been prepared in advance had long been used up. Now, he was relying purely on the help of the Pupil God to deduce the course of the game. In a daze, what he saw was no longer a chess game, but some kind of intricate and mysterious divination.

Suddenly, his vision went black, and he knew that the Pupil Gods had reached their limit. The veins around his eyes were bulging like a net.

"This"

The fairy Chang'e covered her mouth, unable to tell whether Ling Xuzi was serious or just putting on an act.

Qiao Niang remained silent. Anyone could sense that Shen Lao was engrossed in her game of chess. Although she wasn't an expert in chess, she knew Shen Lao's skill level. The fact that Ling Xu Zi could elicit such a state from Shen Lao made him a true chess master.

"Huh?" A very slight fluctuation of thought came from the dazzling moonlight in front of the chessboard, carrying a hint of surprise.

(End of this chapter)