Chapter 2604: You Cheated

Lu Ye didn't even turn his head. His long saber, drawn from his waist, swept lightly behind him.

It was as if he were sweeping away falling leaves; with one strike, he sheathed his saber.

Only four figures stood not far from him, each with an expression of disbelief.

Blood gushed, and heads were severed from bodies.

Four wisps of black light drifted out from the four corpses and merged into Lu Ye's body. As these four wisps of black light flowed in, the white light around Lu Ye seemed to undergo a subtle, almost imperceptible change.

He silently sensed the change, then clenched his fist. As the power of the Dao surged, his brow subtly lifted.

He hadn't activated his own Dao power just now, yet four strands of Dao power lingered around his fist!

A mere four strands of Dao power were insignificant to him, but this was a reward for defeating enemies within the Starry Sky Chessboard.

The rule information imprinted in Lu Ye's mind earlier had elaborated on this: anyone who defeated an enemy within a square would receive a corresponding reward.

However, the rules only vaguely mentioned these rewards without specifying what they were, so Lu Ye only understood at this moment.

These four strands of Dao power were not his own strength, but they could be used within the chessboard, akin to external power borrowed by Dao Integration realm cultivators.

His eyes brightened. This reward might seem small, but it was precisely what he desired. Killing four Dao Fusion realm cultivators brought an increase of four strands of Dao power. If he killed hundreds or thousands, wouldn't his strength skyrocket?

Currently, there were numerous enemy Dao Fusion cultivators on the Starry Sky Chessboard. As long as he killed enough, the borrowed external power could increase without limit.

He immediately abandoned his previous thoughts. Yuan Xi would definitely mobilize him to continuously move towards their main city. During this, they were bound to encounter enemies, leading to inevitable major battles.

Rather than returning directly to the main city to passively defend, it was better to seize the opportunity to quickly improve himself. In such circumstances, the stronger he was, the greater his ability to protect himself.

Yuan Xi had already made her move, and it was Black Blood's turn next.

Before Lu Ye could finish his thoughts, he saw a figure step into his chess square. This was an Insectoid, who, despite having a humanoid form, still exhibited very obvious insectoid features. Its body was covered in extremely durable white chitin, and it carried a long bone saber.

It merely glanced at Lu Ye with disdain, then raised its long saber and brought it down, Dao power surging on the blade.

Its movement was casual, as if merely intending to cut down a clump of weeds by the roadside.

This Insectoid had been in an adjacent square moments ago and had personally witnessed Lu Ye's single strike that killed the four Dao Fusion cultivators, yet it still didn't put Lu Ye in its eyes.

Because it hadn't sensed any traces of borrowed Dao Integration power from Lu Ye, it judged this human weapon cultivator to be merely a very strong Dao Fusion realm cultivator.

How much effort would a Dao Integration realm cultivator like itself need to deal with a Dao Fusion realm cultivator?

A flash of saber light met its gaze. The Insectoid Dao Integration cultivator showed an impatient expression, meeting the attack head-on, appearing ready to sever both the Mountain-Splitting Saber and Lu Ye himself.

However, in the very next instant, it was suddenly terrified, boundless horror seizing its heart. In that life-or-death crisis, the white chitin around its neck rapidly thickened, as if receiving an instantaneous surge of power that caused it to grow.

At the same time, its head snapped sharply backward.

Blood splattered. It reeled backward, hastily stabilized itself, holding its saber in one hand and clutching its bleeding neck with the other, its face filled with shock.

In that brief moment, had its reaction been even slightly slower, it would likely have lost its life.

Even so, its neck bone was largely severed. Fortunately, for it, such an injury was not fatal.

Its heart was filled with dread. This weapon cultivator's strength was formidable. What confused it even more was that it clearly should have blocked that saber strike, yet the strike still severely wounded it.

It looked up, but its vision was empty.

Where was the person?

The Insectoid Dao Integration cultivator broke into a cold sweat, its senses activated to their fullest. The next moment, it finally grasped Lu Ye's presence. It immediately turned its head, only to see Lu Ye's saber slashing diagonally from the side.

That sense of facing life and death descended once more. Dao power surged around the Insectoid Dao Integration cultivator's saber as it prepared to unleash a strike to block Lu Ye's furious assault.

But what left it bewildered was that for a moment, it couldn't discern where its opponent's saber would land.

It seemed to be aimed at its neck, yet also like a thrust towards its chest. The saber's momentum shifted inexplicably, making it impossible to predict.

With no time to ponder, it roared furiously and launched a fierce counter-attack.

Then, a sharp pain struck its neck once more...

The Mountain-Splitting Saber landed with pinpoint accuracy on the wound at its neck. The sharp blade severed the Insectoid Dao Integration cultivator's neck bone, and its head flew off.

The Insectoid remained in its saber-wielding posture. Its headless body swayed, then toppled, its severed head landing nearby. The eyes blinked twice, then quickly lost their luster.

Lu Ye sheathed his saber, quite satisfied with the results of his recent cultivation.

Fu Wei had called this saber technique "Evasive Left-Right Saber," but Lu Ye named it "Illusionary Saber."

This saber art, at its core, was a utilization of illusion techniques. When facing an enemy, he would secretly construct Dao patterns on the blade, so the more an enemy tried to discern the saber's trajectory, the more they would fall into illusion.

However... the Insectoid's white chitin armor was truly durable. This Insectoid's strength was considerably weaker than his, possessing only about seven hundred strands of power. Yet, even so, with the current sharpness of the Mountain-Splitting Saber, aided by the Illusionary Saber, he hadn't managed to decapitate it with a single strike.

Of course, this was also related to the opponent's quick reaction. The Insectoid had tilted its head back at the crucial moment, preventing Lu Ye's initial saber strike from fully expending its force.

Unfortunately, under the rules of the Starry Sky Chessboard, its fate was sealed once it encountered an enemy stronger than itself.

Lu Ye was filled with anticipation.

Killing four Dao Fusion cultivators earlier had granted him an additional four strands of external power.

What about killing such a Dao Integration cultivator?

A wisp of black light flew out from the dead Insectoid Dao Integration cultivator, imprinted itself within Lu Ye's body, causing the white light around him to change again, and this change was undoubtedly more noticeable than before.

Lu Ye gently clenched his fist to test, and was instantly overjoyed.

Killing this Dao Integration cultivator had brought him an increase of fifty strands of power, equivalent to killing fifty Dao Fusion cultivators.

He had previously noted a rule within the Starry Sky Chessboard: if one could defeat a stronger enemy of a higher realm, there would surely be unexpected surprises.

This truly was a surprise, a world of difference compared to the previous four strands. In just two battles on this chessboard, the external power he could borrow now totaled fifty-four strands.

He looked up towards Yuan Xi, their gazes meeting. Faintly, he seemed to see Yuan Xi give him a slight nod.

Although Lu Ye occasionally slayed Dao Integration realm cultivators, there were many such powerful cultivators in the field right now, countless ones stronger than him. Therefore, Yuan Xi was quite worried that he might encounter an unmatchable opponent. If that happened, her Grand Commander would be in great peril.

Fortunately, Lu Ye easily dealt with that Insectoid Dao Integration cultivator.

Seeing his current demeanor, it was clear he had gained considerable benefits. As her thoughts turned, Yuan Xi's heart stirred, and an imperceptible hint of joy appeared between her brows.

For as Lu Ye slew the Insectoid Dao Integration cultivator, not only did he benefit, but Yuan Xi, the chess player, also gained from it.

She looked up at Black Blood across from her, who was glaring back with a gnashing of teeth. When Black Blood had made his move earlier, he also hadn't enhanced his defenses but had chosen to attack Yuan Xi.

Because Black pieces moved first, he would always have one more round of attack than Yuan Xi. In such an exchange, an extra round of attack could be the difference between life and death, not to mention that due to his advantage on the board, his offensive was slightly stronger than Yuan Xi's.

In his mind, Yuan Xi would surely enhance her defensive power when making her move this time. But to his anger and shock, Yuan Xi still pointed a finger directly at him.

Black Blood could only endure this strike.

After the fierce assault, more blood flowed from the corner of Black Blood's mouth, but it was not a serious injury. He was about to utter some harsh words to Yuan Xi when he suddenly noticed something was amiss.

The giant figure hastily lowered its head to look at the chessboard and was startled to discover that this time, the white pieces under Yuan Xi's control had moved two more squares than his own.

He was enraged and looked up at Yuan Xi: "You cheated?"

This was completely illogical. Although the number of squares the two chess players could move in one turn would increase over time, any changes should begin with the Black pieces, which moved first.

It was impossible for the White pieces to suddenly gain two extra squares!

One shouldn't underestimate these mere two squares. This contest was destined to involve many rounds. If one gained two extra squares per round, the cumulative effect would be very significant.

Two extra squares meant that Yuan Xi could mobilize cultivators from two more squares each time. Once this advantage expanded, it would have a snowball effect.

The Starry Sky Chessboard had a great reputation, and many had heard of it, but this supreme treasure had many types of chess games, and all its various rules were not fully known to outsiders.

So Black Blood completely failed to understand why such a change had occurred on the chessboard.

Yuan Xi sneered disdainfully, naturally offering no further explanation.

How could she cheat in the face of a supreme treasure's rules?

Her ability to move two extra squares was entirely due to Lu Ye's cross-realm slaying of that Dao Integration cultivator. The death of the Insectoid Dao Integration cultivator not only brought Lu Ye an increase of fifty strands of power but also granted Yuan Xi, the chess player, the right to move two additional squares.

This was one of the unexpected surprises outlined in the rules, but regarding this, Lu Ye was unaware; only Yuan Xi knew.

In this game of contention, the chess players were the dominators, but the numerous pieces were also fundamental. The two were, in fact, complementary. If a chess player could effectively utilize their pieces, they might not necessarily fail to win with a weaker force. However, if a chess player merely aimed to overwhelm the opponent with numbers and overall strength, they might suffer an unexpected defeat.

After saying that, Black Blood also realized he had jumped to conclusions. The woman opposite him was indeed very strong, not inferior to himself in the slightest, but if it meant she could disregard the supreme treasure's rules, he himself wouldn't believe it.

But what exactly was the reason that allowed the enemy to move two extra squares?

He carefully recalled the rules he had just seen but found no special elaboration. For a moment, he couldn't help but feel suspicious.