Under One Person: My Inner Realm Connects to All Worlds!

Chapter 110 Western Mysterious Cave Heaven
The young man's chess moves were fierce and unparalleled, yet there was a hint of cunning and planning in them; the old man's chess moves were like yin and yang, unpredictable and without fixed moves, each move calculated and every strategy meticulously planned.

It's like a giant net, with countless threads, segmented and switched, capturing the dragon within it.

In the end, the young man's eyes flickered with uncertainty, while the old man made his move.

The old man stroked his beard and laughed: "What a fine analogy of the world being like a game of chess! Now that this game is over, you shall rule the land, but you will still lose to this humble Taoist!"

Before he finished speaking, the black pieces on the chessboard suddenly transformed into a black dragon soaring into the sky, while the white pieces turned into chains that bound it. The young man was terrified, and the dragon-shaped staff in his hand fell to the ground, smashing into the stone and creating a deep crater.

Han Yun withdrew his thoughts from the chessboard and discovered that the unfinished game on the board was exactly the same as the last scene in the illusion. He bent down to examine it closely and indeed there was a stick mark on the bluestone, which was still clearly visible after a thousand years of wind and rain.

"This is... the endgame of the game between Ancestor Chen Tuan and Zhao Kuangyin?" Han Yun lightly touched the chessboard with his fingertips, sensing the remaining innate Qi.

Zhao Kuangyin was able to conquer the world with just a dragon-patterned staff, so he must have been an extraordinary person, and one with considerable skill.

Unfortunately, Yiren was not destined to rule the world for long and was eventually replaced by Zhao Guangyi, an ordinary man.

As Han Yun was concentrating, he suddenly heard Dian Yangzi's voice from behind him: "Young friend, you are indeed destined to trigger the image left in this thousand-year chess game."

Looking back, one could see Dian Yangzi standing on a rock three zhang away, his robes fluttering, seemingly blending into the clouds and mist.

He lightly swept the duster, and the black pieces and most of the white pieces suddenly turned into dust.

This was not caused by Dian Yangzi.

The black pieces were originally held by Zhao Kuangyin, and compared to the white pieces, they naturally lacked sufficient Qi. If it weren't for the purpose of constructing this chessboard, the black pieces would probably have been worn away by the wind and rain over the past thousand years.

Then, the remaining white pieces formed a hexagram on the chessboard, which was presented to the two players.

"Master, what kind of opportunity does this chess game involve?" Han Yun asked.

To everyone's surprise, Dian Yangzi shrugged and said, "I don't know either. I only know that it was left here by the patriarch Chen Tuan. I brought you here hoping you would give it a try."

Han Yun stared at the trigrams formed by the white pieces on the chessboard. The jade-like pieces were arranged in the shape of the Eight Trigrams, but there was an unusual line running diagonally across the chessboard between the Qian and Kun trigrams.

"This is... the Seeking Truth Divination?!"

Dian Yangzi stroked his long beard, a look of surprise flashing in his eyes: "Ancestor Chen Tuan mentioned this hexagram in the Preface to the Yi Long Tu, calling it the key to heaven and earth, and the key to the gateway."

Han Yun bent down for a closer look and discovered that the chess pieces were not arranged randomly.

The three pieces of the Qian trigram gleam with a faint golden light, symbolizing heaven; the three pieces of the Kun trigram have a darker light, representing earth. The diagonal line connecting them is composed of seven semi-transparent jade pieces, running from the northwest corner of the chessboard to the southeast.

"The northwest is the Heavenly Gate, and the southeast is the Earthly Gate."

Han Yun's heart stirred, recalling the record in the Daoist Canon: "Heavenly Gate and Earthly Gate, Grotto Heaven and Blessed Land, could this hexagram point to the Western Mysterious Grotto Heaven?"

Dian Yangzi flicked his whisk and pointed to the southeast: "The Western Mysterious Grotto Heaven is the fourth grotto heaven of the Daoist school, known as the Heaven of the Three Primal Extremes. Countless people have sought it for thousands of years, but none have seen its true form. Today, the chess game has manifested, which must be due to a connection with Layman Han."

Han Yun looked in the direction the whisk pointed and saw a vast sea of ​​clouds, with the South Peak faintly visible, piercing the sky like a sword.

He activated his third eye, and golden light flowed in his eyes. He even saw a faint Qi-like vein in the clouds, exactly as indicated by the divination.

"Thank you for your guidance, Daoist Master." Han Yun bowed respectfully. "Daoist Master, you may come with me."

Dian Yangzi smiled slightly: "Blessed lands and grottoes have their own destiny; they cannot be forced. You may go there yourself, layman." After bidding farewell to Dian Yangzi, Han Yun followed the direction indicated by the divination. The mountain became increasingly steep, and finally he arrived at a cliff jutting outwards on the south peak.

At the end of the cliff, clouds and mist swirl around, and below lies a bottomless abyss.

At noon, the once calm sea of ​​clouds suddenly began to churn, and the sunlight shone down, drawing a pattern in the sky that was exactly the same as the hexagram of a chess game.

Immediately afterwards, as if an invisible hand had parted the clouds, a faintly visible suspended stone staircase was revealed, leading into the depths of the clouds.

Without hesitation, Han Yun stepped onto the stone steps. With each step, the stone steps behind him turned into mist and dissipated.

After walking about a hundred steps, the view suddenly opened up before us, revealing a stone platform floating above a sea of ​​clouds, with an ancient stone gate standing in the center of the platform.

The lintel is inscribed with the four ancient seal characters "Xi Xuan Dong Tian" (西玄洞天), the characters vigorous and powerful. On either side of the stone gate is a couplet:
The westernmost point is blessed with spiritual energy, and the mist and clouds of ten thousand valleys gather in the purple palace.

The Xuanmen Temple is a place of outstanding beauty, where a pot of heaven and earth contains the essence of Danqiu.

Han Yun walked toward the stone gate, and the moment he reached out to touch it, the entire stone gate suddenly became as transparent as water, and a suction force came, pulling him into it.

The scene before my eyes is changing rapidly.

When his vision cleared again, Han Yun found himself standing in an unfamiliar world.

In the distance, the green mountains are like dark eyebrows, and nearby, clear waters surround the landscape. A sun and two bright moons float in the sky, displaying gold, silver, and purple colors respectively, illuminating the earth in a dreamlike way.

The Records of the Ten Great Grottoes states: The Western Mystery Grotto is three thousand li in circumference. The heavens and earth inside the grotto are vast, and the sun, moon, stars, wind, clouds, grass and trees are no different from those outside the grotto.

The sun and moon do not rise in the east and set in the west; they always shine brightly, reaching into the sky, making it bright day and night, and spring-like all year round, thus creating a realm of perpetual spring.

The palaces and pavilions inside the cave are all made of the seven treasures, and purple trees and fragrant flowers grow all around. Jade marrow and golden essence are everywhere, making it comparable to Penglai and Yingzhou.

"This is... the Western Mysterious Grotto-Heaven?"

Han Yun exclaimed in amazement.

He felt that the Qi of heaven and earth here was so rich that it was almost tangible. Every breath was like drinking nectar. The innate Qi in his body circulated on its own, several times faster than outside.

As Han Yun walked along the bluestone path, he discovered that the flowers, plants and trees along the roadside were all extraordinary. Seven-colored Ganoderma lucidum grew under the trees, and golden thread lotus bloomed by the water. He even saw several white deer carrying Ganoderma lucidum as they passed by, undisturbed by people.

I wonder how this grotto was formed and how it came to have such wondrous features.

After walking for about half an hour, a Taoist temple appeared ahead. In the square in front of the temple, there was a chessboard exactly the same as the one outside the mountain.

The difference is that the pieces on this chessboard are complete, with black and white pieces interspersed. Han Yun walked closer to the chessboard, and suddenly all the pieces lit up at the same time.

Black and white light intertwined in the air, transforming into a line of text: "Heaven and earth are the game board, rivers and mountains are the pieces. He who breaks this game board shall enter the temple."

After the text disappeared, a white chess piece flew out of the chess box on its own and hovered in front of Han Yun, seemingly waiting for him to make a move.

Han Yun observed the game intently and discovered that it was not an ordinary game of Go, but a strange layout that subtly resembled the mountains, rivers, and Luo River system, with a blank space in the center, just like a Tai Chi diagram waiting to be filled.

(End of this chapter)