Chess Piece, Chess Player
Xiao clan’s ancestor has built a huge lead in refined battle will. The other Southern Border Gu Immortals want his pawn Xiao Shan defeated or killed to erase it. Wu Dang Zhi, a Wu clan Gu Immortal, sends her pawn to take the stage second under the contest’s rules: Wu Shen Tong, a rank four peak stage enslavement path Gu Master. She chooses a pawn of lower cultivation as the price of entering Yi Tian Mountain earlier. Thin, pale and sickly, he still fights many singlehandedly through his path. ch. 999
Sent on a forced clan mission with a strict deadline, Wu Shen Tong suspects he has become a sacrifice in its own political conflict, but rallies his escort with his words. He will never understand, even after death, that every Gu Master here is only a tool in the Gu Immortals’ gambling contest. He leads a beast group in a sneak attack on Yi Tian Mountain. Yi Tian Village is still being built. The demonic path Gu Masters, used to fighting alone, fall into chaos, and Xiao Shan’s attempts to group and organize them have little effect in the short term. He orders them to defend Yi Tian Village with their lives, greatly overestimating how well they can cooperate. ch. 999
Against the huge beast groups they do not prioritize the strategic points, which is what Wu Shen Tong most wants to see. Their attacks thin as a mortal Gu Master’s primeval essence is limited, the beasts break through, and the battle tilts toward the righteous path. Xiao clan’s ancestor watches with a dark expression fixed on Xiao Shan. Recognizing the situation cannot continue, Xiao Shan orders his rank four and five fighters to break out and kill Wu Shen Tong while everyone else retreats fighting. The weaker rank two and three Gu Masters left behind are surrounded with nowhere to go. Only Fang Yuan stays at peace inside, since even a beast group a hundred times larger poses him no threat and his previous life already tells him what comes next. ch. 999
The fight runs almost exactly as in his previous life. The demonic path Gu Masters push through wave after wave of beasts, many dying, until they reach Wu Shen Tong. Xiao Shan, Sun Pang Hu and Zhou Xing Xing, all rank five, fight desperately against the righteous path. Two rank four righteous path Gu Masters die, and Wu Shen Tong retreats heavily injured, saved by a flock of birds while a Wu clan elder blocks the pursuit. The survivors return to Yi Tian Mountain. ch. 999
That night Xiao Shan, still bathed in blood, gathers the survivors in a cave. He declares that Wu Shen Tong is still alive and must be killed, or Yi Tian Village will never be built. His words meet little response, since morale has fallen after their losses. A rank three Gu Master dejectedly suggests retreating to rebuild the village elsewhere. Xiao Shan kills him on the spot, warning that anyone else who asks to retreat will meet the same end, while Sun Pang Hu and Zhou Xing Xing flank him, eyeing the crowd warily. The stunned Gu Masters quickly agree to fight to the death. ch. 999
Only Fang Yuan sleeps soundly among them, his snoring filling the cramped cave while the rest lie awake, his wounds still bleeding as part of his disguise. Xiao Shan opens his eyes at the sound and says this man has no worries, drawing the room’s attention. He then vows he will not run, and the inspired Gu Masters do not know his motive: subduing the Immortal Gu in his body and winning Xiao clan’s ancestor’s acknowledgment. Short of no other choice, he would never retreat. He thinks of these Gu Masters as his own chess pieces, not knowing that he himself is a chess piece of Xiao clan’s ancestor. ch. 999
That night the chess player himself, Xiao clan’s ancestor, stands on a mountain peak. He feels anxious after the day’s fighting. Lu Zuan Feng gently asks whether it is wise to keep a rank seven Gu Immortal waiting outside two hours already, since Xiao clan’s ancestor has come to meet his master. ch. 999
