Heaven and Earth Are Merciless, Treating All Things as... Chess Pieces

Inside the immortal palace, the emerald green candlelight flickered. A cold wind blew faintly through the air. Xiang Shaoyun's gaze was sharp, his body emanating a formidable aura with the blood and energy rolling within.

Li Sansi held a wooden sword, and everyone tensed up, focusing their minds. They all knew that only fate could be grasped with a destined life. In an instant, the candlelight turned a ghostly green, and it seemed as if someone was watching them from the shadows. The atmosphere in the palace was truly bizarre.

"I feel like we've been tricked," Mo Shougui said.

"This is no place of celestial fate, it's a tomb of the dead. Who knows what kind of evil spirits are buried here," he continued, as the eerie wind and the greenish light cast a sinister ambiance.

Kong Nanfei took a scroll of bamboo slips from a bookbox and glanced at Mo Shougui, "Who says a tomb cannot also be a place of celestial fate?"

Li Sansi ignored the argument between Mo Shougui and Kong Nanfei, and looked straight into the depths of the palace. Rows of ghostly green candles stretched into the interior, with no end in sight. Holding the wooden sword, Li Sansi slowly stepped forward.

"According to the layout of the underground palace and tomb, once you enter the door, you'll find a long, narrow tunnel, followed by the front chamber, middle chamber, and rear chamber..." he said.

"This palace is even more complicated. With such a layout, the status of the tomb's owner goes without saying. Be careful."

Li Sansi wasn't originally interested in the so-called celestial fate, and he wouldn't have bothered to come if not for the command of the Daoist master. However, now that he had witnessed the strange occurrences, his interest was piqued.

"Whether there's celestial fate or not, witnessing such a magnificent palace makes this journey worthwhile," Li Sansi said with a nonchalant smile.

He was indeed carefree.

"Foolish. If it were just an ordinary trap, could it make us kneel in submission?" Xiang Shaoyun's gaze was piercing as he glanced at Mo Shougui, who immediately fell silent.

The silence in the palace deepened as the four of them walked deeper in. "Previously, we entered the palace with our Qi orders, and others with Qi orders were also drawn here. Now, there are only four of us in this tomb passage, which means there must be more than one entrance to the tomb," Li Sansi analyzed, gazing into the dark passage.

"We must go deeper, I have a feeling that the celestial fate... lies within," Xiang Shaoyun said.

As they proceeded, the ghostly green candlelight trembled. Suddenly, Xiang Shaoyun, who was walking in front, stopped in his tracks. Li Sansi, Mo Shougui, and Kong Nanfei also halted.

"Listen," Xiang Shaoyun said with a solemn expression. The palace was too bizarre.

Fortunately, they were all outstanding talents from the Great Zhou dynasty. If they were ordinary people, facing such indescribable fear, they might have already collapsed.

The four of them stood still, listening intently. The rows of candles on both sides began to tremble, and a cold wind blew, accompanied by low, mournful cries and rustling sounds.

"Something... is coming," Xiang Shaoyun exhaled and said.

As he finished speaking, the axe on his back suddenly fell into his hand. The rustling sounds continued...

The ghostly green candles on the tomb walls were extinguished one by one. With each extinguishment, gaunt, twisted, and eerie humanoid creatures with bony limbs rapidly crawled along the passage walls.

As the green candlelight was snuffed out, darkness engulfed them. Seeing this, the four of them didn't hesitate to release their blood energy. The unique sounds of master-level blood energy echoed throughout the passage.

Roars erupted as Xiang Shaoyun's gaze burned like a torch. He swung his axe, and with a burst of blood energy, he split a rushing imp in half. The terrifying force continued to slash, annihilating several more imps.

Mo Shougui and Li Sansi gasped in amazement. They knew that the pressure exerted by these spirits was no less than that of a typical master-level expert. Yet, in front of Xiang Shaoyun, killing a master-level spirit was as easy as cutting melons and vegetables.

The imps were split in half, turning into faint blue streams of spiritual energy that howled through the passage.

Xiang Shaoyun's eyes suddenly brightened, he understood!

"Fairy fate... this is fairy fate!"

"Interesting, to obtain fairy fate, one must have strength; without strength... even if one enters the realm of fairy fate, it's still a death sentence!"

"Fairy fate belongs to those with power!"

Xiang Shaoyun laughed heartily, "I, Xiang Shaoyun, am convinced by the immortal's actions!"

Boom!

Xiang Shaoyun's blood and energy surged, revealing his formidable strength as a grandmaster in the passage.

The little goblin spirits were annihilated, turning into a faint blue air current, illuminating the tomb passage.

They swirled around Xiang Shaoyun, constantly being absorbed into his energy pill.

Li Sansi, Mo Shougui, and Kong Nanfei's eyes lit up.

They were not foolish; they instantly understood what the so-called fairy fate was.

Killing little goblin spirits, obtaining spiritual energy!

Inside the tomb passage.

The overlord danced with his staff, like a demon-god, with the faint blue air current wrapping around his body; this scene was dreamlike and illusory.

Li Sansi held a wooden sword and lightly stabbed it through the head of a little goblin spirit. A wisp of faint blue air current floated out and coiled around his body.

Li Sansi's spirit was invigorated.

"Amazing! This is... the spiritual energy of heaven and earth?!"

As he operated the blood-moving technique, the spiritual energy immediately rushed into his body, circulating constantly, but unfortunately, it failed to be refined and dissipated within his body.

"Refining energy in the dantian?"

Li Sansi glanced at Xiang Shaoyun's actions in the distance and felt a sense of realization.

He stabbed the wooden sword again, killing a little goblin spirit in three strokes.

A wisp of spiritual energy was drawn into his energy pill.

Boom!

Li Sansi's hair fluttered, and he exhaled a breath of turbid air.

"I feel it!"

"So this is... fairy fate! Hahaha!"

Li Sansi's face turned red.

The wisp of spiritual energy in his energy pill caused his power to surge, as if he had experienced a storm that cleansed the murky world.

Mo Shougui and Kong Nanfei were also like this.

They were shocked, and after the shock, they realized that these seemingly terrifying little goblin spirits were actually opportunities!

Killing the spirits could obtain the spiritual energy of heaven and earth!

However... they were slow to react.

There were about a hundred little goblin spirits pouring into the passage, equivalent to a hundred grandmasters of the "One Sound Sect."

But they had already been slaughtered clean.

At the front of the tomb passage.

Xiang Shaoyun danced with his staff, standing in place, with steam rising from his body like a demon-god.

A total of four wisps of spiritual energy swirled around his body...

Li Sansi killed ten little goblin spirits, absorbed a wisp of spiritual energy, and entered the first stage of the energy pill.

Mo Shougui killed five, with no gains.

Kong Nanfei was also like this.

Xiang Shaoyun killed nearly eighty spirits, absorbing and refining two wisps of spiritual energy...

"The conversion rate is a bit low... No, it's because we don't have the fairy cultivation **!"

Xiang Shaoyun raised his head, his eyes flickering with fanaticism.

Since this was a burial palace of immortals, there might be fairy cultivation ** among the burial objects of the tomb owner.

If he obtained **, his success rate in refining spiritual energy would greatly increase!

Having figured this out, Xiang Shaoyun did not hesitate and suddenly shot out, charging deeper into the palace of immortals.

Li Sansi opened his eyes, his hair fluttering, and with a light tap of his toes, he performed lightness kung fu and followed.

Since there was true fairy fate, he naturally had to compete for it.

Mo Shougui and Kong Nanfei also followed one after another.

They were all proud and ambitious, how could they be willing to lag behind?

Not far from Xiang Shaoyun's passage, there was another passage.

At this moment, a battle also erupted inside the passage.

However, compared to the ease of Xiang Shaoyun and the others, the battle here was much more brutal.

After all, each little goblin spirit was equivalent to a grandmaster of the "One Sound Sect," and not everyone was like the Western County Overlord, slaughtering grandmasters like dogs.

At this moment, the passage was filled with blood.

Out of the six people with fate, only three survived, soaked in blood.

They were covered in injuries, sitting cross-legged, absorbing the spiritual energy in the passage to strengthen themselves...

...

 "My name is Jiang Chao, an ancient cultivator of the Qi Refining realm, having reached the grand perfection of the Qi Pill."

"I have lived for five hundred years, accompanying the ancient great emperor to quell rebellions in the wild, fiercely battling the 'Body Hiding' Qi cultivators of the rebel army. I perished in battle and was buried in Wo Long Ridge."

"But, why am I still alive?"

In the underground palace, central chamber.

A deep, lingering voice echoes from within the coffin placed at the center of the tomb.

Creak... Creak...

Inside the coffin.

A stiff body slowly sits up.

...

Outside the Immortal Palace.

Dan Tai Xuan, dressed in military attire, stands with the army that was originally stationed at the foot of the mountain behind him.

Armies from various counties gather, a total of 50,000, densely covering the mountain range.

Mo Ju lightly waves his feather fan, standing behind Dan Tai Xuan, and sighs while watching the scene.

"Master, this is not advisable."

Mo Ju tries to dissuade him.

Dan Tai Xuan simply waves his hand.

"Even if there are truly immortals in this world, in my eyes, they are just stronger warriors."

"As strong as Xiang Shaoyun, a grandmaster at the peak of martial arts, he still cannot defeat ten thousand enemies single-handedly. If this so-called immortal is even stronger, if ten thousand troops are not enough, then I'll send twenty thousand; if twenty thousand are not enough... then a hundred thousand!"

"Moreover, Mo Ju!"

"The imperial power is granted by the immortals. Regardless of whether there is truly any immortal fate, once Xiang Shaoyun walks out of the Immortal Palace alive, he will control the mouths of the people, and that will be the trend of the times... The thirteen regional lords' campaign against the Great Zhou would become a joke, with the霸王 family dominating alone, and the world... almost falling into the hands of the Xiang family!"

"How could I... be willing?!"

Dan Tai Xuan's eyes are sharp as he speaks word by word.

Mo Ju opens his mouth, but all he can say is, "You make a good point..."

Dan Tai Xuan's red cape billows.

He raises the flag in his hand, commanding the army: "Where are my brave men from the Northern County?!"

"Break through the Immortal Gate!"

"The first to break through the Immortal Gate will be rewarded with 100,000 taels of silver!"

Dan Tai Xuan roars.

Not only Dan Tai Xuan, but also the various county magistrates in Wo Long Ridge are commanding their troops.

These magistrates have similar thoughts to Dan Tai Xuan.

The command flags wave.

Shouts of battle resound through the sky, startling the birds and crows on the mountains.

Soldiers and generals swarm out from various places in Wo Long Ridge, densely packed like a black cloud pressing down on the city, pushing through the pressure and charging towards the Immortal Palace!

...

On the lake island.

Lu Fan holds a bronze wine cup, with warm green plum wine inside.

Feeling the increase in his spiritual energy reserves, he is quite pleased.

Suddenly.

His eyebrows twitch.

Lu Fan's gaze falls upon the chessboard, with numerous red dots swarming towards the Immortal Gate at Wo Long Ridge.

He can almost hear the earth-shattering shouts of battle echoing throughout the mountains.

Shaking his head gently, as if he had anticipated this situation, he takes a sip of the warm wine.

He murmurs softly, "Heaven and earth are ruthless, treating all things as... chess pieces."

His slender fingers hold a chess piece, and he decisively places it down, pressing his middle finger on the piece and gently pushing it forward on the chessboard.

The next moment.

The swarm of red dots on the chessboard tremble.

The ice melts, and the snow vanishes.