الشطرنج الخالد - Book 03 Chapter 039

Sixty-eight gigantic dragons were languidly coiled up in a large trench in the Silver Moon Sea, below the three islands in a pyramid formation. The largest among them was a black dragon. It was Gui Mian, whom Gu Hai’s group recently met.

“Huh? Leader, look. There seems to be more fog over the three islands above,” a red dragon said.

All the dragons raised their heads and looked up.

“It must be some ritual array, right? He Shikang is really wasteful. What is the point of finding some trashy guards and posting them up there? It is already enough with us around,” a white dragon said with disdain.

Gui Mian did not care, lowering its head again.

“Leader, it is quite unbearable remaining coiled up here!” the white dragon said as it carefully looked at Gui Mian.

“Unbearable? What do you want to do?” Gui Mian asked indifferently.

“I want to eat human meat. Previously, Young Master An brought you all to the Northern Sea to hunt black tortoises, but you left us behind here to stand guard. We feel unbearably stifled,” the white dragon said, feeling aggrieved.

“Eat humans? Haha! Have you forgotten how you got branded with the sin mark?” Gui Mian said coldly.

“Of course I remember. Isn’t it just for eating some humans? The humans are the essence of the ten thousand beasts, the best food for my dragon race. Back then, I did it very secretively, eating everyone in a small town of the Qian Heavenly Dynasty. It was very clean, and I definitely left no one alive. However, a treacherous dragon reported me, causing the dragon crown prince to brand me a sin dragon.”

“I was also branded a sin dragon because I ate humans. Back then, before my dragon race allied with the Qian Heavenly Dynasty, we ate humans as we pleased. We are the great dragon race; eating humans is their glory. Why is it that we can’t eat them anymore after allying with the Qian Heavenly Dynasty? The dragon crown prince is just pandering to the Qian Heavenly Emperor. How far has my dragon race fallen?” a red dragon said with a frown.

“Indeed. We are only eating what we should be eating, yet they call us sin dragons? In that case, we might as well go all the way. Previously, I went to a small village near Silver Moon City and ate all eight hundred people there. Even so, no one knew,” a blue dragon said with a smile.

“Huh? You went out to eat humans again?” Gu Mian’s face sank.

“Yes. When Leader went to the Northern Sea to eat black tortoises, I was quite bored waiting here, so…” the blue dragon looked at Gui Mian cautiously.

“He Shikang sends you all one thousand convicts every month. Is that not enough? I told you before not to take independent action. Did my words go in one ear and out the other?”

“I-I-I did it because you all went to eat black tortoises…Leader even said that you would bring some back for us but…,” the blue dragon stammered softly.

“Roar!”

Roaring, Gui Mian trampled on the blue dragon with its claw. The blue dragon struggled for a bit under the immense force but could not move at all. The other dragons did not dare to step forward and help.

Gui Mian glared ferociously at the blue dragon and said, “Do you know how I got branded a sin dragon? Previously, three black dragons dared to oppose me. Eventually, I ate them all. Do you want me to eat you as well?”

The blue dragon shivered and said, “No, no! I don’t dare to anymore, Leader!”

“Humph! Listen up. The situation now is tense. If you upset me, I will eat anyone who dares to take rash independent action!” Gui Mian said coldly.

“Yes!” the dragons answered.

“When this blows over, I’ll bring you to a place to eat humans!” Gui Mian said coldly.

“Ah? Where?” the dragons asked in pleasant surprise.

“When Mister Mo sent people to pass on his orders, I asked a few questions of my own. That person who used an imperial seal to crush that blue dragon to death is called Gu Hai. He seems to be from the Thousand Islands Sea. I asked that messenger to help me investigate. Humph! No matter which island of the Thousand Islands Sea Gu Hai comes from, we will eat everyone from that island. If we cannot finish eating the people there, I will destroy everything on the island,” Gui Mian said coldly.

“Ah? Eat them all? Excellent. Leader is wise. This time, you must bring me!”

“I want to go and eat humans too!”

“Leader, bring me when you go to eat Gu Hai’s family!”

The dragons were bursting with eagerness.

“Huh? Someone is coming?” Gui Mian’s expression changed.

The dragons immediately quieted as they coldly eyed the man who entered the sea.

“Fang Minghou?” Gui Mian appeared somewhat shocked.

Upon seeing that it was Fang Minghou, the dragons lowered their guard.

“Gui Mian, Young Master An is here. He is above and wants you to go up for a while!” Fang Minghou said in an icy tone.

“Oh? Young Master An is here? Didn’t Mister Mo say that no one would be looking for us during this period and that we were not to leave the sea?” Gui Mian frowned.

“Young Master An is just above. He has something to discuss. Quickly come up!” Fang Minghou said.

After speaking, Fang Minghou rushed out of the sea, leaving.

Gui Mian frowned slightly.

“Leader, Fang Minghou’s attitude seems a little strange today?” a red dragon said, feeling suspicious.

“Wait here. I’ll go take a look!” Gui Mian said.

“Yes!” the dragons answered.

Gui Mian charged out of the sea, only to meet a foggy ritual array covering the sea’s surface.

Upon Gui Mian’s entry into the ritual array, eighteen Buddhist prayer beads suddenly fell like meteors crashing towards the black dragon.

“Roar!”

With a ferocious expression, Gui Mian roared and clashed with the Buddhist prayer beads.

Rumble…!

Gui Mian immediately knocked back the eighteen Buddhist prayer beads. However, it could no longer make out its orientation, even unable to figure out where up and down were.

After knocking back the eighteen Buddhist prayer beads, Gui Mian looked at the nearby Venerable Liu Nian and Fang Minghou.

“Fang Minghou, what are you doing? Are you colluding with this monk to harm me?” Gui Mian raged.

Fang Minghou smiled bitterly and said, “It is not that I want to harm you. However, if I did not trick you into coming up, Young Master An would die!”

Gui Mian turned its head and looked.

It saw a huge cloud beast general holding Lu An.

Gu Hai stood at the side, gazing at Gui Mian with indifferent eyes.

“You again?” Gui Mian looked at Gu Hai coldly.

Gui Mian’s body was gigantic. The moment it entered the ritual array, it occupied a large area.

“Sin dragon Gui Mian?” Gu Hai smiled faintly.

“You captured Young Master An to threaten me? What do you want?” Gui Mian asked coldly.

“Captured Young Master An? Ha! Sin dragon, you got it reversed. It was Young Master An who wanted to kill me. I only captured him while protecting myself. Furthermore, I did not harm him!” Gu Hai said.

“Gu Hai, what do you want?” Lu An glared at Gu Hai.

“Nothing. Don’t move, and that will do. I just want to retrieve something, and I won’t harm you.” Gu Hai smiled faintly.

“You won’t harm us? Hahahaha! You are even thinking of harming me? Gu Hai, I was just thinking about when I should go to the Thousand Islands Sea to eat everyone on your island earlier. Now, I’ve made up my mind. After I eat you, I’ll immediately go and eat your family!” Gui Mian said with a ferocious expression.

“Eat everyone on my island?” Gu Hai narrowed his eyes.

“I also want to eat you. Roar!” Gui Mian opened its jaws and roared as it charged at Gu Hai.

“You evil beast!” Venerable Liu Nian threw a palm strike.

Boom!

A manifested palm slapped the gigantic dragon. The gigantic dragon’s figure shook, and churning dark clouds appeared out of nowhere, filling the surroundings in the ritual array.

“Roar!”

As the black dragon roared, it instantly knocked Venerable Liu Nian back. However, the two sides remained in a stalemate.

“Fang Minghou, why are you not making a move?!” Gui Mian roared.

Fang Minghou turned his head to look at Gu Hai.

“Fang Minghou, I do not want to kill you or Lu An. If you dare to do anything, I’ll immediately kill Lu An. Furthermore, you are not a match for me in the ritual array!” Gu Hai said with a cold voice.

Fang Minghou’s expression turned stiff.

“Lu An did say earlier that if he died, you would not live, either. He wanted to kill me several times already, but I have been enduring it. I have already reached the limits of my patience. Do you want to challenge my patience?” Gu Hai glared at Fang Minghou.

“Gu Hai, if you dare to kill Young Master An, you won’t survive, either. The duke has left a remote artistic conception in Young Master An’s body. Even if Young Master An dies hundreds of millions of kilometers away from the duke, the duke will know. The duke will even know who killed Young Master An!” Fang Minghou said coldly.

“A remote artistic conception?” Gu Hai’s expression suddenly changed.

The duke can know about the other party’s situation from hundreds of millions of kilometers away? Can he control the other party as well? A remote artistic conception? Back then, the Divine Strategy Battalion Commander, Li Haoran, was controlled to kill Long Xiaoyue. Could he…

Gu Hai’s face sank.

“Gu Hai, if you dare to touch me, my grandfather will know for sure. You are dead for sure! You are dead!” Lu An shouted.

The cloud beast general holding Lu An moved its thumb and covered his mouth, preventing him from speaking.

“Ummm! Ummm! Ummm! Ummm! Ummm!” Lu An grunted in anger.

Buzz!

Suddenly, another cloud beast general instantly appeared beside Fang Minghou.

“Alright! I promise to leave you and Lu An alive. However, you are not to resist!” Gu Hai said coldly.

Fang Minghou looked at the huge cloud beast general next to him, and his face sank. However, he nodded.

The cloud beast general immediately held Fang Minghou in its grip, preventing him from moving.

“Fang Minghou, you useless scoundrel!” Gui Mian raged.

“You are the useless scoundrel. Didn’t you say earlier that you wanted to destroy my entire island?” Gu Hai said coldly.

As Gu Hai spoke, he stomped. Then, another huge cloud beast suddenly manifested.

The Xiang Yu cloud beast held a halberd and charged into the battle between Venerable Liu Nian and Gui Mian.

“I have the strength to pick up mountains, and my might conquers the world!” the Xiang Yu cloud beast roared.

As Xiang Yu swung down the halberd, it sent a blast of cold wind rushing over.

Gui Mian roared.

Boom!

Gui Mian’s horns clashed with the halberd, blocking it. However, Venerable Liu Nian landed a palm strike on the black dragon’s abdomen.

Boom! This attack knocked Gui Mian back.

“Humph!” Gu Hai snorted coldly as he waved his hand.

Whoosh!

A surging fog instantly filled the entire ritual array.

Fang Minghou, Lu An, Long Wanqing, and Shangguan Hen could no longer see the battle taking place.

“I have the strength to pick up mountains, and my might conquers the world!”

“Nine Star Alignment!”

“Dragon’s Roar Collapsing Heaven!”

Boom!

A loud report rang out in the fog.

“Argh!”

A rebound force knocked Venerable Liu Nian back.

“Oh no!” Venerable Liu Nian’s expression changed as he was about to charge forward.

However, Gui Mian’s miserable cries came from the fog.

“What is this? What is this? Argh? What sinister technique is this?” Gui Mian exclaimed.

Rumble…!

Gui Mian controlled the dark clouds to send down lightning bolts on itself.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

As lightning bolts struck Gui Mian, its cries grew increasingly miserable.

“Go away! You monster!” Gui Mian roared.

Venerable Liu Nian quickly charged back inside and saw the Xiang Yu cloud beast pinning down Gui Mian’s head, preventing it from moving. Wounds with lingering black energy dotted Gui Mian’s body. Tiny skulls in the black energy quickly chewed on Gui Mian’s body.

Gui Mian used the lightning bolts to strike the black energy. However, the tiny skulls in the black energy had already entered its body. Now, more places on its body gave off that black energy.

Gu Hai held a bone saber while standing on the Xiang Yu cloud beast’s head, showing a ferocious and cold expression.

“Roar! No! Go away!” Gui Mian roared.

“Initially, I did not want to kill you. However, if you don’t die today, it will be my destruction in the future,” Gu Hai said coldly.

Rumble…!

Countless lightning bolts lashed down frantically.

Venerable Liu Nian hovered in the sky, not knowing whether to go forward or not.

“Roar! Roar! Roar!”

The black dragon’s piercing, miserable cries rang out.

Although the captured Lu An could not see what was happening inside, dread stirred in his heart when he heard these miserable cries.

Fang Minghou’s complexion was also extremely unsightly.

After a while, the surrounding dark clouds and lightning disappeared.

Then, the fog slowly scattered.

The Xiang Yu cloud beast carried Gu Hai back. Venerable Liu Nian returned as well.

Gu Hai also brought back the skeleton of a gigantic dragon.

Gui Mian had disappeared, leaving a pile of dragon bones.

“You…you…what did you do to Gui Mian?” Fang Minghou exclaimed.

“Venerable Liu Nian, please watch over Fang Minghou. I’ll deal with the rest!” Gu Hai said.

“Alright!” Venerable Liu Nian nodded.

Now that they had taken down the strongest Gui Mian, there was no need to worry about the other sin dragons.

“Gu Hai, you…you are going to kill all the sin dragons?” Long Wanqing asked somewhat worriedly.

After all, the dragons were the Qian Heavenly Dynasty’s national beast. As the Qian Heavenly Dynasty’s Elite Hall Master, could she just watch Gu Hai kill these dragons?

“Yes!” Determination flashed in Gu Hai’s eyes.

These dragons had crossed Gu Hai’s bottom line. They wanted to slaughter everyone on Nine-Five Island? In that case, he needed to take precautions.

Eventually, Long Wanqing sighed. She nodded and said, “Never mind, this was of their own doing.”

“Shangguan Hen, call them out!” Gu Hai waved his hand, and the ritual array shook, the sound isolation apparently removed.

“Yes!” Shangguan Hen responded.

“Young Master An brought humans over to reward us. Come over in batches. The red dragons first!” Shangguan Hen said.

Although Lu An was gagged, he still goggled. Isn’t that Gui Mian’s voice? This person learned it?

“Roar!”

“Roar!”

Excited roars suddenly came from the bottom of the sea.

After that, four red dragons swam up eagerly and exited the sea, only to get encased by the ritual array.

——

On an island in a sea region not far from Gu Hai’s ritual array:

Two gray-clad cultivators watched from afar.

“Did you see it clearly?”

“When Venerable Liu Nian returned, he removed his wig while at sea, which is why I recognized him. He is in there. This large ritual array might have been laid by Gu Hai. Lu An and Fang Minghou seemed to want to capture Gu Hai. However, there has been no word from them after they entered. Furthermore, look at the waves in the surroundings. There should be dragons hidden at the bottom of the sea.”

“Dragons hiding at the bottom of the sea? However, there are no dragon race strongholds here, right?”

“Look! Look! There are white dragons over there—about six of them. They are entering the ritual array from the bottom of the sea?”

“Sin dragons?”

“Yes. I guess so. It looks like we found a clue!” one of the gray-clad cultivators said excitedly.

“Keep watch here. I’ll go and inform Lord Sima. Silver Moon City’s secret might be here.”

“Alright!”