Film and Television: Starting with Using AI to Solve the Rare Chess Puzzle

Lu Ming withdrew his Killing God Domain, and the crimson aura receded back into his body like a tide. He stood at the valley's exit and glanced back—the City of Slaughter, the place where he had lived for over a year, was now finally left behind.

He didn't rush to leave. The Tai Chi diagram silently spread its perception, and after confirming that there were no ambushes within a radius of several miles, he sat cross-legged on a blue stone and began to circulate the Eternal Youth and Longevity Technique to heal his injuries.

Three hours later, Lu Ming opened his eyes. The injuries caused by the self-destruction of the Great Sumeru Hammer had mostly healed and no longer affected his mobility.

"Level 80." Lu Ming clenched his fist, feeling the surging, almost uncontrollable power within him, a smile appearing on his lips. He was already level 79 before entering the City of Slaughter. After fighting hundreds of battles there, killing nearly a thousand Fallen Ones and absorbing their soul power, his soul power had long since reached level 80. He only needed one more soul ring to break through to the Soul Douluo level.

His eighth spirit ring already had a target in mind—the 100,000-year-old Tree of Life. This kind of spirit beast is extremely rare, and it can only possibly exist in the deepest part of the Star Dou Great Forest in the entire Douluo Continent.

The soul skills granted by the soul rings of the Tree of Life are usually related to life, healing, and recovery, and these are exactly what Lu Ming values.

"But before we go to the Star Dou Great Forest, there's one more thing to do." Lu Ming stood up and looked southeast. That was the direction of Holy Soul Village, where Tang San grew up. According to the original story, after Ah Yin's sacrifice, Tang Hao buried her soul bones in the back mountain of Holy Soul Village.

That soul bone was the left leg bone of the Blue Silver Emperor, which granted him the soul skills of flight and the ability to recover from wildfires and spring breezes.

Now that Tang Hao and Tang San are dead, that 100,000-year-old soul bone is ownerless. The value of a 100,000-year-old soul bone is self-evident, not to mention the terrifying vitality brought by the Blue Silver Emperor soul bone.

Holy Soul Village is located at the foot of a small mountain on the southwestern border of the Heaven Dou Empire. The village is small, with only a few dozen households, who make a living by growing vegetables.

When Lu Ming arrived, it was noon. Several elderly people were sitting under an old locust tree at the entrance of the village, enjoying the cool air. When they saw a stranger entering the village, they only glanced up and then looked away. This place was remote and poor, and few outsiders came, but it wasn't completely deserted.

Lu Ming didn't enter the village. Instead, he walked around the village and finally found his target in a cave behind the waterfall in the back mountain. Inside the cave was a Blue Silver Grass and a small mound next to it, which should be Tang San's grave.

Sensing someone entering, Ah Yin's branches and leaves instinctively began to sway. However, Lu Ming only glanced at it before turning his gaze to the stone wall beside him. His senses, as if in perfect harmony with nature, spread out like mercury, and he finally sensed an extremely faint life force.

"Found it!"

Lu Ming stepped forward, using his palm as a shovel, and carefully cut open the stone wall. He found a huge lead box. The moment he opened the lead box, a vibrant life force rushed out, bathing the entire cave in a faint blue halo.

Inside lay a left leg bone. Its entire body was blue-gold, crystal clear like the finest gemstone. Fine golden patterns flowed slowly across the surface of the bone, like living vines growing and spreading within it. This was the left leg bone of the Blue Silver Emperor, a priceless treasure left behind by the 100,000-year-old soul beast, Ah Yin, after her sacrifice.

"Such strong vitality..." Lu Ming held the soul bone in his hand and could clearly sense the powerful vitality unique to the Blue Silver Emperor lineage.

Without hesitation, he placed the soul bone on his left leg. The moment the soul bone touched his skin, it transformed into a blue-gold stream of light and disappeared into his leg. A burning sensation spread from his left leg throughout his body, but this heat was not violent; instead, it carried a gentle vitality, like a spring breeze sweeping across frozen earth, awakening all things from their slumber. The Blue Silver Emperor soul bone resonated with the Soft Bone Rabbit's right leg bone already within him, and the auras of the two 100,000-year-old soul bones intertwined and fused within him without any repulsion.

Lu Ming stood up and stretched his legs. The soul bone in his left leg fit perfectly into his skeletal frame, forming a delicate balance with the Soft Bone Rabbit soul bone in his right leg. With a thought, he levitated in mid-air.

A moment later, he retracted his wings and landed back on the ground, resealed the cave entrance, and turned to leave Holy Soul Village. He didn't disturb the villagers, as if he had never been there.

Half a month later, in the deepest part of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Lu Ming had been searching deep in the forest for thirteen days. The Tree of Life, a spirit beast, was even rarer than he had imagined. Even with his heightened senses, he had searched most of the core forest area without finding a trace. However, he wasn't worried. Ten-thousand-year-old spirit beasts were already rare, let alone the Tree of Life. If it were so easy to find, it would have been hunted down by the Spirit Hall or other Title Douluos long ago.

On the evening of the fourteenth day, Lu Ming finally found his target in a secluded valley.

The tree stood right in the center of the valley. Compared to the towering ancient trees around it, some dozens of feet tall, it appeared quite small—no more than three feet tall, its trunk only as thick as a person's embrace, its emerald green leaves shimmering with golden light in the afterglow of the setting sun. Yet, it was this not-so-tall tree that caused Lu Ming's pupils to shrink sharply, his aura instantly dropping to its lowest point.

Because every leaf of that tree exuded a life force so intense it was almost tangible. Above the canopy, the air was distorted into streaks of emerald light by that immense vitality. Looking across the entire valley, this tree was the only living plant—there wasn't a single weed, a single shrub, not even a speck of moss. All life within a radius of hundreds of feet had been absorbed by this tree.

The Tree of Life, 100,000 Years Old.

"Finally found it..." Lu Mingyin, hidden in the treetops, was breathing heavily, almost like a turtle. He had never felt so exhilarated, following the latest chapter. His heart rate plummeted to only a few beats per minute. He was waiting.

The Tree of Life itself isn't a particularly powerful spirit beast—it's not good at attacking, doesn't know anything about poison, can't fly, and can't even run. But it has a characteristic that gives all titled Douluo a headache—extreme vitality, and the ability to absorb the life force of its enemies.

Within the area covered by its root system, the life force of all living beings is controlled by it. Whether it is a titled Douluo or a 100,000-year-old soul beast, as long as it enters its territory, its life force will be continuously drained by it.

This extraction is invisible and undefendable. Unlike toxins, it cannot be expelled from the body, nor can it be resisted like soul power. Within the realm of the Tree of Life, every breath you take drains your life force, and every heartbeat nourishes it. The stronger you are, the more fiercely it extracts.

Therefore, there is only one way to hunt down the Tree of Life—ambush it. Before it can react, strike it dead with the most violent means. Once it enters a prolonged battle, few Soul Masters can outlast it.

Night slowly descended, and the light in the valley gradually dimmed. The leaves of the Tree of Life began to close in the darkness, and the emerald green halo on its crown gradually faded. It was "sleeping." Or rather, it was entering a state similar to hibernation. In this state, its range of perception was greatly reduced.

Right now.

Lu Ming made a move.

The Blue Silver Emperor's left leg bone granted him the power of flight, and his figure transformed into a pale blue meteor that streaked across the night sky, heading straight for the ancient tree in the center of the valley that emitted a verdant glow.

Mo Yuan drew his sword. Black and white energies intertwined wildly on the heavy sword, condensing at its tip into a chaotic sword beam powerful enough to tear the heavens and earth apart. In his state of perfect harmony with nature, the speed, power, and angle of this strike reached near perfection. The moment the sword's edge sliced ​​through the night sky, the air parted silently, even sound was swallowed up by its terrifying sharpness.

"The finishing touch!"

Mo Yuan's sword tip pierced precisely into the center of the Tree of Life's trunk. The instant the sword tip entered the wood, Lu Ming felt an overwhelming surge of life force flow into his body through the sword—it was the Tree of Life struggling in its death throes, pouring all its stored life force into Lu Ming's body, trying to burst him apart.

But Lu Ming had anticipated this. His Eternal Youth and Longevity Technique circulated wildly, the vortex of true energy within his three dantians devouring and refining this foreign life force. A layer of shimmering emerald light appeared on his body, a sign of excess life force. But he didn't stop. Mo Yuan suddenly flipped within the trunk of the Tree of Life, his sword spun and swept, cleaving the entire tree in two.

boom!

The thunderous crash of the Tree of Life collapsing echoed through the valley. Countless emerald green lights burst forth from the broken trunk, like a grand fireworks display in the night sky. Those lights were the life force stored within the Tree of Life for a hundred thousand years, now returning to the world with its death.

A blood-red, 100,000-year-old soul ring slowly rose from the broken tree trunk. At the same time, a piece of soul bone, entirely emerald green and radiating a soft glow, fell from the tree trunk and was caught by Lu Ming.

Without any hesitation, Lu Ming sat down cross-legged, and the Tai Chi diagram flew out from his Baihui acupoint, summoning the 100,000-year-old soul ring.

The spirit rings returned to their original positions. The eighth spirit ring, the 100,000-year-old Tree of Life, entered the body.

The feeling of the Tree of Life's soul power surging into his body was unlike anything he had ever experienced before. It wasn't as violent as the Fiery Pepper Grass, as sharp as the Eight-Cornered Ice Grass, or as impactful as the Soft Bone Rabbit Soul Ring. It was like a spring rain, nourishing everything silently. The boundless soul power, carrying an extremely rich life force, flowed through his meridians to every corner of his body.

He could feel his body undergoing some kind of mysterious change. The ice and fire physique tempered by the Fiery Apricot Pepper and the Eight-Cornered Mystic Ice Grass, the solid foundation of the Primordial Immortal Grass, the indestructible Vajra Chrysanthemum, the amplification from the Blue Silver Emperor and the Soft Bone Rabbit soul bones, and all the foundation he had accumulated over the past two years of cultivation—all of these were connected at this moment by the soul power of the Tree of Life, forming a perfect closed loop.

He could feel his body undergoing some kind of mysterious change. The ice and fire physique tempered by the Fiery Apricot Pepper and the Eight-Cornered Mystic Ice Grass, the solid foundation of the Primordial Immortal Grass, the indestructible Vajra Chrysanthemum, the amplification from the Blue Silver Emperor and the Soft Bone Rabbit soul bones, and all the foundation he had accumulated over the past two years of cultivation—all of these were connected at this moment by the soul power of the Tree of Life, forming a perfect closed loop.

His life level is rising. This isn't just an increase in soul power level, but a more fundamental change. If before he was merely living a little longer than ordinary people, now his lifespan has been extended by at least several hundred years. Moreover, this improvement continues; as the soul power of the Tree of Life is continuously refined, his vitality continues to grow.

Level 81.

Level 82.

Level 83.

The soul power level climbed at an almost insane speed. In the dantian, the nebula formed by the Star Luo Spirit Pearl was also greedily absorbing the soul power of the Tree of Life. The volume of the nebula expanded by 30% in just one hour, and the speed at which it absorbed the power of the stars also increased dramatically.

A day and a night passed. Lu Ming slowly opened his eyes. Deep within his pupils, black and white light swirled, and a faint emerald green luster appeared in the depths of his eyes. He looked down at his hands—the surface of his skin hadn't changed much, but beneath it, every inch of his blood, bones, and meridians contained an unprecedented, vibrant life force.

Level 85 Contra.

A 100,000-year-old Tree of Life soul ring instantly boosted his level from 80 to 85. As the old saying goes—cultivating with cheat codes makes the speed utterly unreasonable.

He stood up and stretched his limbs. A series of booming sounds, like the roar of a dragon and the howl of a tiger, echoed through the valley. He felt better than ever before, every muscle brimming with power.