Chapter 730: The Chess Game of the World
Within a radius of a thousand miles, under the spiritual power of Snake Two, the world's spiritual energy violently trembled, causing a torrential downpour to fall.
"Thousand Mile Water Realm."
Snake Two unleashed a very powerful fourth-rank water-type spell. At the same time, she merged her sword intent with her spiritual power, combining the two forces together.
The raindrops between heaven and earth stopped in an instant, all condensing into ice swords that flew towards the battle platform, making a "shua shua" sound.
"Break for me!"
Snake Two pushed her palm forward, and tens of thousands of ice swords coalesced into a sword river dozens of zhang wide, like a dense swarm of locusts, surging endlessly towards Zhang Ruochen.
All the cultivators in the entire Divine Platform City felt suffocated.
They knew that this was no longer power that a Fish-Dragon realm cultivator could unleash; it was an attack method that only a Half-Saint could unleash.
Under the crushing force of absolute power, even the Divine Dragon Transformation would likely be difficult to withstand.
Just when everyone thought that Lin Yue was certain to lose.
Lin Yue withdrew the Divine Dragon Transformation, his body reappearing, standing in the northeastern corner of the battle platform. With one hand holding the Thunder Pearl and the other holding the black chess piece that Shengshu Cainü had once given him, he also mobilized his vast spiritual power.
If Snake Two could use spiritual power attacks, Zhang Ruochen certainly could too.
In fact, Zhang Ruochen could have used the Void Sword without borrowing Shengshu Cainü's spiritual power, which would have been enough to break Snake Two's spell.
In the Fallen God Tomb Forest, the artifact spirit of the Void Sword had already awakened somewhat.
Although the sword's power had not fully recovered, when fully activated, it could still unleash the power of a Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifact level, far exceeding the power of the Dragon Pattern Azure Water Sword and Snake Two's Serpent-Shaped Sacred Sword.
However, the origin of the Void Sword was too great; once it was revealed, it would inevitably stir up endless turmoil.
Zhang Ruochen had already decided to keep the Void Sword as a trump card, to be used during the Sword Discussion Conference. Exposing all his trump cards now was not a wise move.
Moreover, in today's battle, Zhang Ruochen had already revealed many things, and it was certain that saints from various major powers would send people to investigate him thoroughly.
Now, by borrowing Shengshu Cainü's spiritual power, he was also using a borrowed authority to send a message to the older generation of saints watching from the shadows.
With Shengshu Cainü's status, she could certainly intimidate many people.
"Chi chi!"
As Zhang Ruochen continuously extracted spiritual power from the chess piece and infused it into the Thunder Pearl, in an instant, ninety-nine electric dragons as thick as bowls flew out from the Thunder Pearl, rushing from the ground straight into the sky.
"Electric Fire Vortex."
The power of lightning and flame surged from the ninety-nine electric dragons, spinning rapidly, forming a massive vortex a hundred zhang in diameter, crushing all the flying ice swords into pieces.
Zhang Ruochen let out a low roar, pushed his palms forward, and the Electric Fire Vortex immediately pressed down towards Snake Two.
The power unleashed by the Electric Fire Vortex caused every cultivator present to tremble in their hearts, feeling as if their bodies were like a leaf, about to be swept into the vortex at any moment and torn to shreds.
In Divine Platform City, an old man with red skin all over his body stared with a gloomy gaze at Zhang Ruochen on the distant battle platform.
Finally, his eyes fixed on the chess piece in Zhang Ruochen's hand, showing a surprised expression.
The red-skinned old man let out a laugh like a night crow, hoarse and raspy. "To be able to borrow Shengshu Cainü's spiritual power, it seems this Lin Yue has an extraordinary relationship with her. Could it be that Shengshu Cainü has already confirmed him as one of the nine Realm Sons?"
If Lin Yue was indeed going to become one of the nine Realm Sons, then from now on, no one would dare to offend him lightly.
All the saints of the Kunlun Realm were well aware that Empress Chi Yao's order to select the nine Realm Sons was entirely to use the resources of the entire Kunlun Realm to cultivate a new generation of nine Emperors.
Who would have the audacity to offend a future Emperor-level figure of the Kunlun Realm?
At the top of the Formation Tower, Lingding Saint and the three Half-Saints of the Law Enforcement Palace also showed extremely surprised expressions, all looking towards Shengshu Cainü.
Only then did they realize that Lin Yue had long known Shengshu Cainü, and their relationship was quite good.
Otherwise, how could Lin Yue possess Shengshu Cainü's chess piece and be able to mobilize her spiritual power?
It was said that Shengshu Cainü's chess skills were exceptionally superb. She had once studied under the Grand Chancellor of the First Central Empire, Wang Shiqi, learning the Way of Chess, and in just seven years, she had cultivated the Way of Chess to the Saint realm.
Some people spread rumors that Shengshu Cainü was continuing an unfinished "Chess Game of the World" on behalf of Wang Shiqi.
The so-called Chess Game of the World was actually Wang Shiqi's method of governing the country.
Using the Kunlun Realm as the chessboard, and the rulers of the major powers and the saints of the five domains as chess pieces, he controlled the state affairs of the entire First Central Empire.
Wang Shiqi used the Chess Game of the World to help the Empress control the entire Kunlun Realm, maintain the stability of the major powers, and deploy all the world's resources, making the world increasingly prosperous and peaceful, with martial arts flourishing and the world unified.
His power and influence could be considered second only to the Empress.
Shengshu Cainü continuing the Chess Game of the World on behalf of Wang Shiqi was clearly someone paving the way for her to eventually succeed Wang Shiqi and become the next Grand Chancellor of the First Central Empire.
Therefore, anyone who could obtain a chess piece from Shengshu Cainü carried an extraordinary meaning, representing a piece in the Chess Game of the World.
The Kunlun Realm was vast, but the chessboard was very small.
Any piece had considerable power; even a slight shift in its position could cause turmoil in a small part of the Kunlun Realm.
Previously, those who could obtain a chess piece were at least at the Ninth-Step Half-Saint realm.
Now, Lin Yue, at only the Seventh Change of the Fish-Dragon realm, had obtained a chess piece, leading many to suspect whether Lin Yue truly possessed such immense power.
Unless Shengshu Cainü had already confirmed that Lin Yue would be one of the nine Realm Sons.
That was the only possibility.
Of course, the Chess Game of the World had always been just a legend; no one knew if it truly existed. After all, to set up such a chess game and treat all the saints as pieces was not something human power could achieve.
Even if Wang Shiqi's cultivation was heaven-reaching, setting up a Chess Game of the World was highly unlikely.
Lingding Saint was naturally overjoyed and immediately sent the news back to Taiqing Palace, reporting it to the Sect Leader of the Liangyi Sect. If Lin Yue could become a Realm Son, the Liangyi Sect would undoubtedly reap endless benefits.
Shengshu Cainü, however, remained calm and composed, smiling slightly. When she had given the chess piece to Lin Yue, it was solely to help him fend off the pursuit of the Qi Family Half-Saint.
It was only later, when Zhang Ruochen displayed exceptional talent, that Shengshu Cainü decided to gift it to him.
"After this use, the spiritual power in the chess piece will probably be exhausted," Shengshu Cainü thought to herself.
"So he really is my Grand Protector." Red Desire Star Envoy stared at Lin Yue on the battle platform with a pair of charming yet resentful eyes.
Back when Red Desire Star Envoy was competing with Di Yi for the position of Young Master, there was a mysterious person helping her in the shadows. She had even appointed that mysterious person as her Grand Protector.
Unfortunately, after the final battle, the Grand Protector killed Di Yi and then vanished like smoke, disappearing without a trace.
Red Desire Star Envoy had sent many evil cultivators to find him, but after searching for over half a year, there was no result, and she only assumed he had met with misfortune.
It wasn't until she came to the Liangyi Sect and heard about Lin Yue's deeds that she began to suspect him. She always felt that Lin Yue was her Grand Protector.
Because Blue Nether Star Envoy was killed by the combined efforts of Red Desire Star Envoy and the Grand Protector.
After the Grand Protector took Blue Nether Star Envoy's corpse, news spread that Liangyi Sect disciple Lin Yue had killed Blue Nether Star Envoy.
Now, seeing Lin Yue take out the Thunder Pearl and unleash a spiritual power attack, she was completely certain that the Grand Protector she had been desperately searching for was actually the proud son of heaven of the Liangyi Sect.
"What a hateful scoundrel. If you hadn't left me and continued as my Grand Protector, how could I have failed to deal with that little wretch, Yueyue Star Envoy?" Red Desire Star Envoy revealed her snow-white teeth, gently biting her lip, her eyes filled with resentment.
Although Di Yi was dead, Yueyue Star Envoy, Murong Yue, had emerged to compete with her for the position of Young Master.
Now, the Black Market First Class Hall had become a situation of two Star Envoys vying for power. Their strength and the forces behind them were evenly matched, with neither able to do anything to the other.
It was for this reason that Red Desire Star Envoy deeply missed the days when the Grand Protector had strategized for her and helped her, with a weak force, defeat the powerful Di Yi.
Originally, the Grand Protector could have shared in her glory and wealth, but unfortunately, this fellow turned out to be a disciple of the Liangyi Sect, which greatly disappointed Red Desire Star Envoy.
A proud son of heaven like Lin Yue, even if she wanted to control him, it would be impossible.
Whether they would be enemies or friends in the future was entirely unknown.
Now, the power Red Desire Star Envoy commanded was already immense, with numerous experts around her. Even if she couldn't compare to Di Yi in his prime, she still held half of the Black Market's territory.
At this moment, she was full of ambition, with countless talented individuals coming to pledge their allegiance every day.
Having Lin Yue would not make much difference; losing him would not matter either.
Even without his assistance, Red Desire Star Envoy was confident that, in the near future, she would defeat Yueyue Star Envoy and become the Young Master of the Black Market First Class Hall.
At the same time, Yueyue Star Envoy also guessed Zhang Ruochen's identity.
"So the Crown Prince has taken the alias Lin Yue and is hiding in the Liangyi Sect." Yueyue Star Envoy's eyes shone with a bright light.
It had to be said that in Zhang Ruochen's battle with Snake Two, aside from the power of time and space, he had indeed fought with all his might, exposing many flaws that allowed those familiar with him to recognize him.
Even Huang Yanchen tightly pursed her lips, showing a suspicious look, always feeling that this Lin Yue had a somewhat familiar feeling.