الشطرنج الخالد - Book 06 Chapter 105.1

The third day after Hetu made his divination:

After receiving the news, everyone had felt flustered. Although they did not try to barge into All Magnificent Island again, they did not leave. Instead, they stationed themselves around All Magnificent Island.

Staying near All Magnificent Island was also a form of hope. They hoped that Fuxi would come out of closed-door cultivation when they fought.

Although they had no friendship with Fuxi, they believed he would not let the Six Paths Veritable Lord kill Heaven.

A bevy of flying ships with many people aboard hovered outside All Magnificent Island.

On the Supreme Ascendant and Heavenly Access’s flying ship:

Heavenly Access frowned at Gu Hai’s distant flying ship.

“Hah! Those three divine beasts are hanging out with Gu Hai again?” Heavenly Access’s frown deepened slightly.

“There has to be a reason for their friendship with Gu Hai eight hundred thousand years in the future. Furthermore, he is still Gu Hai. His means are extraordinary,” the Supreme Ascendant said.

“First Senior Brother, should we help Gu Hai seven days later?” Heavenly Access asked, still frowning.

“If you are not willing, we can help Jiang Lianshan. In any case, we are killing the Six Paths Veritable Lord,” Sect Master Supreme Ascendant said seriously.

“Alright.” Heavenly Access nodded.

“Oh? That is…Murong Yan?” Sect Master Supreme Ascendant’s expression suddenly changed when he saw a woman flying towards Gu Hai’s flying ship.

“Isn’t Murong Yan with Jiang Lianshan? Why is she going to Gu Hai’s ship?” Heavenly Access appeared curious.

——

In a hall on Gu Hai’s flying ship:

Gu Hai looked at the three—Ensnaring Performance, Purple Subtlety, and Longevity—before him. “I have already described the situation of eight hundred thousand years into the future and what happened to the three of you. Is there anything else you would like to ask?”

“Is my singing that terrible? That can’t be. You replicated this ‘Little Raddish’ using a ritual array earlier. It sounded good, the pinnacle of the music Dao, nourishing the soul. It is a good song!” Ensnaring Performance frowned.

Longevity immediately glared. “Scram! Don’t ever sing in front of me in the future. Look! Kong Xuan could not even endure it and left first!”

“To think you are not embarrassed to criticize me? I nearly fell for your trick earlier. What was that you drew?” Ensnaring Performance glared back.

“What do you know? That is the primal essence of lifeforce. Life comes out of the primal chaos. That egg can create life. How unexpected! How unexpected that I can hide the power of the law with a brush. Eggs are truly the most wondrous thing in the world!” Longevity countered.

Purple Subtlety complained at the side, “Ptooey! Your true body is egg-shaped. No wonder you can only draw eggs eight hundred thousand years later! You made me suffer eight hundred thousand years later.”

“You are no better. The poems you recited nearly turned us into fertilizer,” Longevity called out.

“That is fertile land!” Purple Subtlety glared. 6444

“Right now, your true body as a divine beast is that of rotting fertile land. Even after reincarnation, you give us a hard time!” Longevity glared.

Gu Hai watched the three interact and realized that the three’s incompatibility had happened for a reason; this was where it began.

“Do the three of you believe what I just said?” Gu Hai asked, feeling confused.

The three stopped arguing.

After some silence, Ensnaring Performance nodded. “Actually, we already believed it before we met with you.”

“Oh?” Gu Hai felt slightly startled.

“When we searched for Mao Tianyun, we found several people like you. We used various methods—threats, bribes, even soul searching—to question them. We just could not accept it then. Did you think Houtu would let Hetu use her so easily?” Ensnaring Performance said.

“It’s good that you believe it!” Gu Hai nodded after taking a deep breath.

“We never expected that Six Paths Veritable Lord would dare to kill Heaven. He has a glowing reputation. Stories of the Six Paths Veritable Lord have spread everywhere in the world; everyone respects him. Who could have expected… Not long ago, he told Heaven that he wanted to create a new perfect immortal firmament, to give all life a vaster world to live in. He wanted to create a world, a new world that could survive in the void, just like our immortal firmament,” Ensnaring Performance explained.

“The Six Paths Veritable Lord has an immortal firmament, but its laws are incomplete. I heard that time is slower at the edge of the immortal firmament, and space is warped. That is due to the conflict between nothing and something. A perfect immortal firmament has countless laws to protect it, preventing the nothing of the void from draining it. How could an incomplete immortal firmament like his endure the drain of the void, creating a world?” Gu Hai frowned.

“He said that he could. Heaven got cheated by him, believing him and giving him all sorts of help. Heaven helped the Six Paths Veritable Lord grow stronger and perfect his immortal firmament. Heaven even left our world to go to the void. Once Heaven enters the void, Heaven loses the connection with all life and cannot use much of the power available to him. If Heaven runs into trouble there…,” Longevity said with an unsightly expression.

“Will you make a move against the Six Paths Veritable Lord?” Gu Hai asked gravely.

The three exchanged looks and remained silent for a while.

“According to history, we reincarnated. Perhaps the three of us died resisting the Six Paths Veritable Lord. Perhaps we died because we resisted,” Purple Subtlety said.

Gu Hai nodded.

The three remained silent for a while longer before Ensnaring Performance said, “Although we will die, we will live in cowardice for the rest of our lives if we do not resist. You said that we would reincarnate eight hundred thousand years in the future? So, why not give it our best?”

“But I cannot guarantee that history won’t change,” Gu Hai said seriously.

“Haha! Wouldn’t it be better if we won?” Longevity laughed.

Upon seeing the three’s determination, Gu Hai stood up and bowed deeply to them.

“Imperial Emperor Gu, there’s no need for this. We are doing this for Heaven. Heaven is in trouble. How can we not rescue Heaven with everything we have? That would not be worthy of Heaven’s recognition of us back then!” the three immediately protested.

“No. This bow is necessary. It is for your righteousness!” Gu Hai said gravely.

The three exchanged looks but no longer stopped Gu Hai.

“There are seven more days. I hope that the three of you will help me!” Gu Hai said seriously.

“We will do our best. Honestly speaking, the three of us might not be a match for the Six Paths Veritable Lord. He is too strong now,” the three said with bitter smiles.

“That’s sufficient!” Gu Hai smiled.

As the group chatted, Kong Xuan called out from outside, “Your Reverence, Murong Yan seeks a meeting.”

“Oh?” Gu Hai walked out of the hall.

Murong Yan waited quietly outside the hall. When Gu Hai and the others walked over, she bowed. “Greetings, Mister Gu!”

“Murong Yan, there’s no need for the formalities,” Gu Hai immediately said.

At the same time, Gu Hai looked at Jiang Lianshan’s distant flying ship.

At this moment, discomfort flashed in the Flame Monarch’s eyes as he looked over.

“Imperial Emperor Gu, we will let you have some privacy!” Ensnaring Performance said solemnly.

“Thank you!” Gu Hai nodded.

Then, the three stepped away.

“Murong Yan, how about we take a seat at that pavilion shelter there?” Gu Hai did not invite Murong Yan into the hall.

She smiled and nodded.

The two walked to the nearby pavilion shelter.

When the distant Flame Monarch saw that Murong Yan did not enter the hall, his frown relaxed somewhat.

“Murong Yan, why are you looking for me?” Gu Hai asked.

After the two sat down, Murong Yan remained silent for a while before saying, “Mister Gu, let me tell you Murong Yan’s story. I hope you will not shun it.”

“Oh? I could not ask for anything more!” Gu Hai’s eyes lit up.

——

There was a peony on the Eastern Sea’s Phoenix Island. After being nourished by natural Spiritual Energy for countless ages, it was about to become a spirit. Before it did, it released a fragrance that attracted many animal spirits. Just as it turned into a peony spirit, those animal spirits all pounced, wanting to consume it to raise their cultivation. It looked like the peony spirit would die at the hands of those beasts. However, a hoe descended from the sky, scattering the surrounding animal spirits.

At the peony spirit’s moment of despair, the hoe had saved it. Its heart trembled intensely. It cried out of gratitude. The person who wielded the hoe was Jiang Lianshan.

“This is the first time we’ve seen such a beautiful peony!” Jiang Lianshan was entranced by the peony flower.

“Many thanks, Benefactor!” The peony spirit immediately bowed in gratitude.

“What is your name?”

“I do not have a name. If Benefactor does not think it beneath him, how about you give me a name?”

“Your smile is lovely, surpassing that of a myriad of flowers. I’ll call you Yaner.”

[TL Note: Yan means lovely or sweet.]

“Many thanks, Benefactor!”

“Yaner, you have just become a spirit and do not have any cultivation yet. It is not safe for you to wander around. How about this? We shall see this good deed to the end. We’ll assign you under the Flame Monarch, and we will take over after we are done with the court’s administrative matters.”

Naturally, Murong Yan accepted Jiang Lianshan’s arrangements. Back then, her intelligence was limited. When he descended from the sky, she had given her heart to him. She felt that becoming a spirit was the best thing in the world.

A phoenix was a beautiful animal. However, Yaner’s beauty surpassed all the phoenixes. She gave off a fragrance the phoenixes liked. Back then, many phoenixes pursued Yaner. However, she had already given her heart to Jiang Lianshan, not accepting anyone’s pursuit.

Back then, the Flame Monarch also fell for Yaner’s innocence and kindness.

Despite the Flame Monarch expressing his feelings for Yaner a few times, Yaner did not reciprocate. She had only Jiang Lianshan in her heart, not letting anyone else in.

Jiang Lianshan frequently came to Phoenix Island. Yaner felt incredibly happy every time he came.

This continued until Jiang Lianshan gave Yaner an important mission. Before assigning her to it, he asked Yaner for her opinion.

Jiang Lianshan wanted Yaner to seduce another man. Yaner was very beautiful, and her air of innocence attracted many people.

Yaner felt very upset. However, as this was Jiang Lianshan’s request, she agreed reluctantly.