Chapter 1468: What’s the Point

When Zhou Yuan’s voice, carrying a chill, reached him, Yan Xu’s face gradually turned grim, for he too had sensed Zhou Yuan’s aura steadily rising.

This indicated that the Heavenly Luo Chessboard’s empowering force had begun to transfer to him.

Conversely, Yan Xu’s own Saint power began to weaken proportionally. This was because, under the rules of the Heavenly Luo Chessboard, he was now at a disadvantage.

Therefore, his Saint power was directly transferred and grafted onto Zhou Yuan by the Heavenly Luo Chessboard.

It was truly a case of one's gain being another's loss.

At this moment, Yan Xu suddenly understood the meaning of shooting himself in the foot.

However, this unexpected turn of events clearly surpassed all prior predictions. Although the Heavenly Luo Chessboard generally ensured a balance of power, as its master, Yan Xu could exploit certain loopholes—for instance, using special methods to help Hong Lin break through to the Saint stage, thus disrupting the equilibrium.

Yet, despite all his calculations, Yan Xu never anticipated that two individuals from the Cangxuan Heaven would break through to the Saint stage during the battle. It was well known that, due to the previous events involving Sheng Yuan, the Saint Race had a thorough understanding of Cangxuan Heaven. They were aware that figures like Master Qing Yang were second only to Zhou Yuan in Cangxuan Heaven, but these older individuals had exhausted their potential, making their chances of becoming Saints extremely slim.

As for younger generations like Chu Qing and Li Chunyun, they had only recently entered the Law Domain a few years prior, making their chances of becoming Saints even more impossible.

Consequently, the Saint Race paid little attention to them, and Yan Xu thus overlooked these individuals whom he considered insignificant ants. Yet, who could have imagined that his very neglect would lead to the current reversal of the situation?

Buzz! Buzz!

On the battlefield, after Chu Qing and Li Chunyun jointly dealt with Hong Lin, they immediately charged into the main forces of the Saint Race's Law Domain army without hesitation, their vast sword qi raging fiercely.

The entry of the two Saints was undoubtedly like two fierce dragons plunging into a pack of wolves. Their rampant charge inflicted tremendous casualties on the Saint Race in a short span of time.

Crack! Crack!

As Chu Qing and Li Chunyun unleashed their full power and rampaged, the chess pieces representing the Saint Race's Law Domain experts on the Heavenly Luo Chessboard began to shatter continuously.

Yan Xu's expression grew increasingly grim.

Zhou Yuan's aura on the opposite side was becoming increasingly vast and powerful.

The Heavenly Luo Chessboard continuously weakened his own power and used it to empower Zhou Yuan.

Fierce light flickered in Yan Xu's eyes. He knew he couldn't let this continue.

His plan, up to this point, had completely failed.

Therefore, he had to change tactics.

“Zhou Yuan, don't get too ahead of yourself. While the Heavenly Luo Chessboard has its rules, I am, after all, its master. My advantages here are greater than you imagine.” Yan Xu stared at Zhou Yuan with shadowy eyes, then a drop of golden Saint blood fell from his fingertip, landing on the chessboard.

“Heavenly Luo Chessboard, withdraw!”

Since the game was about to be lost, he might as well flip the table. Although the power transferred to Zhou Yuan was already gone, he could at least prevent the situation from deteriorating completely.

As Yan Xu's command fell, the Heavenly Luo Chessboard immediately vibrated. Wisps of ethereal energy seemed to rise from it, and the many chess pieces began to show signs of fading.

The entire chessboard was about to dissipate directly.

Zhou Yuan watched this scene and chuckled, “Your sportsmanship is truly terrible.”

Yan Xu ignored his mockery, instead accelerating the dissipation of the chessboard.

However, Zhou Yuan's palm suddenly rested lightly on the chessboard at this moment, and he calmly said, “But for you to set up this game whenever you wish and then withdraw it whenever you wish, that’s a bit too much.”

Yan Xu's eyelid twitched. “What can you do about it?”

But just as he finished speaking, Yan Xu suddenly noticed that although the chess pieces on the Heavenly Luo Chessboard kept shifting between ethereal and solid forms, they consistently failed to truly disappear.

They seemed to be obstructed by some force.

Yan Xu's pupils contracted sharply. In a flash, he understood, and his gaze turned sinister as he looked at Zhou Yuan: “You tampered with it?!”

As the master of the Heavenly Luo Chessboard, only now did he sense ancient Genesis Runes flowing into the chessboard at some unknown point. These Genesis Runes didn't damage the Heavenly Luo Chessboard, but they created a unique disruptive force. It was precisely this interference that thwarted his attempt to overturn the game.

Although this interference was temporary, it was clear that Zhou Yuan only needed this brief window of time to make the outcome of the game even more decisive.

Zhou Yuan's lips curved into a cold arc. “You want to renege on a deal just like that? Do you really think I’m made of mud?”

“You!” Fury and murderous intent surged in Yan Xu's eyes.

However, impotent rage was useless. He could only pour all his effort into controlling the Heavenly Luo Chessboard, continuously channeling vast power into it, attempting to eliminate Zhou Yuan's layer of interference.

But the effect was not particularly obvious. Zhou Yuan's method was extremely subtle, and the Heavenly Luo Chessboard itself was quite special; it had to adhere to certain rules to even exist. Even if Yan Xu was its master, he would need to exploit specific loopholes to cheat, rather than arbitrarily change things.

This made his attempt to eliminate Zhou Yuan's interference even more difficult.

Meanwhile, time rapidly slipped away. On the chessboard, pieces representing the annihilated Law Domain experts of the Saint Race continuously shattered.

Yan Xu's originally composed face had now turned ashen, his eyes filled with rage and regret.

“Soon, soon!”

Yan Xu gritted his teeth, feeling that the interference Zhou Yuan had placed within the Heavenly Luo Chessboard was almost eliminated.

However, concurrently, the Saint power surging within him was rapidly weakening during this period.

In front of him, Zhou Yuan stood with his arms behind his head, carried by clouds of mist, appearing extremely leisurely. Yet, amidst this seeming idleness, the fluctuations of power emanating from his body had grown to an almost terrifying degree of might.

At a certain moment, a strange sound emanated from the Heavenly Luo Chessboard, and then Yan Xu saw a wisp of black mist slowly rise.

Ecstasy surged in his eyes; the interference within the chessboard was finally cleared.

“Withdraw!”

Yan Xu shouted sternly, and the Heavenly Luo Chessboard immediately vibrated. All the chess pieces on it instantly dispersed into clumps of mist, and then the chessboard transformed into a dark black light, which Yan Xu swallowed in one gulp.

The peculiar power that permeated the space also quietly dispersed.

“Zhou Yuan, you—!”

Yan Xu raised his head, his face contorted into a ferocious grimace, his eyes brimming with murderous intent.

But at that very moment, the ferocity on his face suddenly froze.

Because in front of him, Zhou Yuan stood suspended in mid-air, hands clasped behind his back, his indifferent gaze like a bone-chilling current, showing signs of even freezing the void itself.

Of course, what made Yan Xu's expression turn ugly was not Zhou Yuan's demeanor, but the overwhelming power emanating from within Zhou Yuan.

Originally, Zhou Yuan was at the peak of the One-Lotus stage, while Yan Xu was at the peak of the Twin-Lotus stage, with strength comparable to veteran peak powerhouses like Grand Exalted Wan Zu.

Therefore, in terms of cultivation level, the gap between Zhou Yuan and Yan Xu would indeed be significant if not for the blessing of the Cangxuan Heaven Master's power.

But now, the overwhelming power radiating from Zhou Yuan had long surpassed the limits of the One-Lotus stage, directly entering the Twin-Lotus level.

In contrast, Yan Xu had fallen from the peak of the Twin-Lotus stage to that of an ordinary Twin-Lotus.

In a sense, he was now even slightly weaker than Zhou Yuan.

This shift in power between the two directly made Yan Xu feel an urge to faint on the spot. Because he suddenly realized that after all his meticulous planning and setting up such an elaborate scheme, the final outcome was that he himself was reduced to an ordinary Twin-Lotus stage, while Zhou Yuan, who was originally One-Lotus, was elevated to a Twin-Lotus stage even stronger than himself?!

At this moment, Yan Xu couldn't help but angrily question himself: What exactly had he been trying to achieve with all this?!