Chapter 2621: Can You Play Like This?

Novel

Within five breaths, Lu Ye was completely at a disadvantage, so suppressed that he had almost no power to retaliate.

After ten breaths, he was gravely wounded, forced by Jiao to the very edge of the chessboard square, with no room left to retreat.

After fifteen breaths, the situation was precarious. A strong sense of crisis enveloped his mind, and Lu Ye knew clearly that if this continued, he would surely die!

If Perin of Hundred Battles City was the Star Abyss Son of the previous generation, then Jiao was at least from the generation before that, or even much earlier. Centuries of accumulation had made his foundation incredibly profound; even without the amplification of Hedao City at this moment, his strength was beyond what ordinary Hedao cultivators could match.

Lu Ye's proud Three Thousand Dao Powers were simply no match for Jiao.

Although he could be moved by Yuan Xi if he just held on for two more breaths, what then? He could leave, but Jiao could also pursue him under Black Blood's command, leaving him with only twenty breaths of respite.

If he survived this round, he would most likely not last the next.

If the power gap wasn't so vast, he could have hoped for Liao to consume the mysteries within the opponent's artifact, shattering Jiao's golden and silver twin blades, which would surely have given him a chance to secure victory.

But Lu Ye estimated he would find it difficult to last until then; he would likely already be slain by Jiao before Liao could succeed.

This was clearly a death trap!

As his thoughts raced, the storm-like assault suddenly ceased. Far from being pleased, Lu Ye felt an even stronger sense of crisis.

Because Jiao currently held the upper hand in the battle, his sudden cessation of attack in these final two breaths clearly wasn't to let him off the hook, but to unleash some even stronger technique.

He had lost his patience and didn't want to wait for the next round. He only wished to use his strongest blow to annihilate Lu Ye here and now and seize the Star Abyss blessing from him as soon as possible.

As expected, when Lu Ye looked forward through a haze of blood, he saw Jiao solemnly bring his two short blades together.

As a ripple spread out, the two short blades merged into one, forming an object that Lu Ye found familiar.

It was a pair of scissors. He had played a game with it previously when he and the others from Yuan Xi City were trapped by the mirage, and this object had appeared in that game.

The Golden-Silver Scissors!

Jiao held the scissors with both hands. Under a furious surge of his Dao Power, the Golden-Silver Scissors suddenly expanded, instantly reaching a hundred zhang in size.

Jiao then advanced, wielding the massive scissors towards him. Golden and silver hues surged, transforming into two giant dragons in Lu Ye's vision, roaring as they crossed from left and right. He could see absolutely no space to escape or dodge.

This single strike had sealed off all his avenues of escape, leaving him no choice but to confront it head-on.

The aura of death assailed him, more intense than ever before.

Faced with such a terrifying strike, Lu Ye was powerless to counter it. He could only frantically unleash his Dao Power to protect his body while brandishing the Mountain-Stalwart Blade in his hand!

At this moment, Jiao's expression was exhilarated. Their previous exchanges had confirmed that the enemy was no match for him, and that the powerful strike he had just unleashed was impossible for the enemy to withstand.

He was about to seize his second Star Abyss blessing. With this, his strength would surely increase significantly, and even if he didn't become the Lord of Black Blood City, he would surpass Black Blood in power.

He also saw the confusion and despair in Lu Ye's eyes. He had used this move to kill many powerful enemies before and naturally knew that under this move, enemies could not evade and could only meet its sharp edge head-on. But if their strength was inferior to his, the result was death!

Then, he suddenly felt a searing pain throughout his body. Numerous wounds on his body seemed to be torn open by invisible hands, and blood gushed out wildly.

This sudden change startled him slightly. Though he quickly regained his composure, the unstoppable and invincible momentum he projected developed a subtle flaw.

Normally, such a flaw wouldn't matter, but crucially, this was the very moment he intended to annihilate Lu Ye in one fell swoop.

In Lu Ye's vision and perception, the golden and silver colors, which enveloped his body and mind and had previously flowed seamlessly, now experienced a momentary stagnation, as if they had jammed for an instant.

His eyes lit up. Without a moment's hesitation, he threw himself forward, dashing towards the direction of the stagnation.

A sharp pain struck his waist!

When he regained his footing, he had already appeared beside Jiao. Blood streamed from his waist and abdomen, the wound deep to the bone, as if he had almost been cut in half.

He secretly rejoiced that Liao's power had saved his life at a crucial moment.

In their previous exchanges, though he had been at a disadvantage, he had indeed managed to wound his opponent, though only on rare occasions. Every wound on Jiao's body retained traces of Liao's power, and when Lu Ye suddenly triggered them, even Jiao couldn't ignore the effect, thus granting Lu Ye a sliver of a chance to escape.

Seventeen breaths had passed!

Lu Ye finally felt the signs of being moved. However, he couldn't help but be slightly stunned, because the direction of movement was surprisingly towards Jiao's position.

In other words, to leave this chessboard square, he would have to pass through Jiao's location.

He had just escaped from the tiger's mouth, so why would he throw himself back into the net?

At this moment, the ideal direction for him to be moved would have been away from Jiao. That way, Jiao would have been helpless.

Although this formidable enemy would soon be mobilized by Black Blood to pursue him, he would at least have twenty breaths of time to adjust and perhaps think of a countermeasure.

Given the current situation, any extra moment of delay was a gain.

Yet, Yuan Xi was moving him in the most disadvantageous direction.

Yuan Xi couldn't possibly make such a basic mistake. Since the City Lord was moving him this way, she must have her reasons.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, Lu Ye felt a shadow fall over him from above.

When he sharply looked up, he saw a colossal hand reaching down from above. Enveloped in a shimmering halo, three fingers were splayed, reaching to grasp him.

This hand... it looked familiar!

He quickly realized this was clearly Yuan Xi's hand, only magnified countless times over.

And following the hand upwards, he indeed saw Yuan Xi beside the chessboard. She was slightly leaning forward, about to pick up him, the white piece.

“Can it be played this way?”

This scene not only startled Lu Ye but also astonished Black Blood on the opposite side.

When they, as the two chess players, moved their pieces, they only ever needed to send a thought, without physically moving the pieces themselves. Once an order was given, the pieces would move according to it, and they had no choice but to move, because failing to move within the allotted time was a violation of the rules and would result in annihilation by the supreme treasure's will.

Therefore, as long as their orders were issued, no matter how unwilling the pieces were, they had to obey the commands.

This was the helplessness and tragedy of the chess pieces.

But in this life, who isn't a chess piece?

So, when Black Blood saw Yuan Xi's action, he had no idea what she was doing.

Then, to his astonishment, he discovered that Yuan Xi's colossal hand had indeed picked up the blood-soaked Lu Ye!

Suddenly, Black Blood had a sudden realization. This was some sort of surprise that the White player had received! She hadn't used it before, but now, to protect that white piece, she had no choice but to use it!

“Don't even think about leaving!” Jiao had already charged forward. He was furious that his strongest strike had failed, and at this moment, he realized the grave mistake he had made: in that previous instant, he shouldn't have allowed his mind to be disturbed, giving Lu Ye any opportunity.

But at such a critical juncture, when something unusual suddenly happened to him, it was only natural that he would react. It was what any normal person would do!

Nevertheless, he had to kill the enemy. The Star Abyss blessing was too great a temptation for him. Moreover, Lu Ye clearly couldn't withstand his attack, so if he just had one more chance, he would surely succeed.

In an instant, the colossal Golden-Silver Scissors were once again scissoring towards Lu Ye, Jiao's Dao Power surging, almost boiling.

“Stop!” Black Blood hurriedly tried to stop him. This Jiao fellow was completely insane. Attacking Lu Ye was fine, but it was currently the white piece's turn, and the White player had already intervened in the game; by attacking like this, he was attacking the White player as well.

Black Blood didn't know what the consequences would be, as this had never happened before, and there was no mention of such an event in the ancient texts he had read. But he knew instinctively that Jiao's actions would not end well.

Almost at the same moment Black Blood's words fell silent, Yuan Xi let out a cold snort and lightly reprimanded, “Begone!”

As she spoke, she lightly flicked her middle finger.

Jiao's actions were precisely what she had expected.

One could say that if Jiao hadn't attacked, as a chess player, all she could do at that moment was simply move Lu Ye, the chess piece, and nothing more.

But Jiao had actually interfered while she was moving a piece, which played right into her hands.

Of course, if it were truly possible, she would have preferred to just kill Jiao outright. On the entire chessboard, Jiao was currently the strongest Black piece and could be considered Black Blood's right-hand man. Eliminating Jiao would remove one of Black Blood's key aids.

Unfortunately, even as a chess player, she couldn't directly kill an opponent's piece. This would violate the rules of the game.

So, she could only deliver a minor punishment as a warning, which could also be considered a way to vent Lu Ye's frustration.

The golden and silver colors were instantly shattered like smoke and transformed back into two short blades that flew off to the sides. Jiao, like a mere pebble, was sent tumbling from the flick, colliding with the edge of the chessboard square and splayed against it like a cross. He coughed up large mouthfuls of blood!

Black Blood was greatly alarmed.

Though he didn't like Jiao and they often had disagreements, he was relying on Jiao's strength in this game. Thus, he truly didn't want Jiao to die here.

Fortunately, upon closer inspection, though Jiao looked miserable, he was not actually in mortal danger. Under Yuan Xi's flick, he hadn't even sustained a serious injury, merely appearing disheveled.

He couldn't help but breathe a slight sigh of relief.

As long as he wasn't dead, that was good. If he wasn't dead, he could continue to be useful.

Within the chessboard square, Lu Ye was held by Yuan Xi, and his vision instantly shifted and changed. By the time he recovered his senses, he had already appeared in another chessboard square.

This particular chessboard square was empty, but a group of Black pieces in an adjacent square were staring at him in astonishment, because they had clearly seen how Lu Ye arrived here: he had been carried here by a glowing colossal hand.

Lu Ye, however, ignored them, because after he appeared, his gaze was drawn to a massive die in the very center of the chessboard square.