Chapter 2763: Playing Chess

After several days, Xue Jiu, who had been fiercely pursuing Lu Ye from behind, suddenly frowned.

Just now, he discovered that the aura of the Starry Sky Chessboard had inexplicably vanished!

Over these past few days, Lu Ye had repeatedly used his clones, carrying the Starry Sky Chessboard to distract him, while also using them as reference points to perform teleportation techniques.

Yet even so, he still found it difficult to escape Xue Jiu's relentless pursuit.

This Lord of the Ten Cities was clearly determined to capture Lu Ye.

And even before that, he had sensed something was amiss with the Starry Sky Chessboard; the aura of this supreme treasure had been steadily weakening until, just now, it had completely disappeared!

Even with Xue Jiu's extensive knowledge, he couldn't comprehend what was happening.

The Starry Sky Chessboard's spirit had been destroyed, which indeed significantly reduced the difficulty of refining it, but the refinement process shouldn't be like this.

"Xue Jiu, aren't you afraid your stronghold will be overthrown if you don't stay in Blood Drinking City?" Lu Ye shouted as he fled.

It wasn't easy for Xue Jiu to capture him, but such a pursuit was truly agonizing for Lu Ye, so he could only try to unsettle Xue Jiu's resolve.

The significant upheaval within the Blood and Insect races this time couldn't be kept secret, and with Xue Jiu relentlessly pursuing him now, if their enemies learned of it, they would certainly not miss the opportunity.

Aside from that, the Dragon and Phoenix races would certainly be happy to seize this chance to do something.

Lu Ye estimated that once the Dragon Lord and Phoenix Empress learned of his situation, they would surely find a way to provide support.

In fact, he could have sought help from the Dragon Lord through the Dragon Scroll in his Divine Sea, but his current situation was somewhat unique, so he had always been hesitant.

Moreover, he hadn't yet reached a desperate situation.

Hearing Lu Ye's words, Xue Jiu didn't answer, but instead asked coldly, "Where did you put the Starry Sky Chessboard?"

He strongly suspected that Lu Ye had hidden this supreme treasure somewhere, but on second thought, Lu Ye shouldn't have such capability.

Both Lu Ye's main body and his clones were under his constant surveillance; where would he find the time to hide it? Moreover, how could a supreme treasure be hidden so easily?

At this moment, Lu Ye was dedicating a sliver of his attention to examine the Talent Tree.

A third "fruit" had indeed formed on the tree, though calling it a fruit wasn't entirely accurate, because it looked like a miniature Starry Sky Chessboard hanging from the branches.

Lu Ye briefly investigated and quickly comprehended the profound mysteries of this supreme treasure, his eyebrows instantly rising.

He hadn't turned the mysteries of the Starry Sky Chessboard into nourishment for the Myriad Poison Pearl fruit, and this choice was correct, because the profound power of the Starry Sky Chessboard was indeed somewhat helpful to his current situation.

"Where exactly did you put the Starry Sky Chessboard?!" Xue Jiu roared angrily. He desperately wanted to understand this, and even though he knew Lu Ye wouldn't answer, he couldn't help but continue asking.

No sooner had he spoken than Xue Jiu was astonished to discover a profound power from a supreme treasure emanating from Lu Ye's direction. This aura felt extremely familiar to him; it was indeed the aura of the Starry Sky Chessboard.

Immediately, a chessboard unfolded, enveloping a vast expanse of the void.

Xue Jiu was utterly shocked and momentarily froze in place.

Boom, boom, boom...

Huge chess pieces descended from the sky, landing on the chessboard, arranged in distinct formations. In the very center of the board, a large river flowed, its waters a dark yellow, emitting a strong aura of death. Even someone as powerful as Xue Jiu felt uneasy just by looking at it.

Xue Jiu stood rooted to the spot, staring fixedly at Lu Ye across the river, his teeth almost grinding to dust. "You actually refined the Starry Sky Chessboard!"

He had just been thinking Lu Ye had hidden this supreme treasure somewhere, but it turned out it had been refined.

But it made no sense; even if the Starry Sky Chessboard's spirit was destroyed and Lu Ye was qualified to refine it, it shouldn't have been this quick.

How long had this supreme treasure been in Lu Ye's hands? At most, only a few days.

When he had refined it back then, if it had been this quick, he wouldn't have had subsequent trouble.

He couldn't understand why this was the case, but the refinement of the Starry Sky Chessboard was a done deal, and Lu Ye had already activated the supreme treasure's power against him.

Xue Jiu was greatly annoyed; Lu Ye was already extremely troublesome, and now with an additional supreme treasure, he would only become more difficult to handle!

However, what he needed to figure out now was what kind of game this was!

He generally understood the power of the Starry Sky Chessboard; it wasn't an offensive supreme treasure, so even if Lu Ye used its power, he might not be without a way to break the situation.

The moment the game formed, a piece of information had actually appeared in his mind, clearly outlining the various rules of the game.

However, these rules were incomplete, and Xue Jiu immediately glared fiercely at Lu Ye, knowing that Lu Ye had tampered with them in secret!

This was unavoidable.

Under normal circumstances, when the power of the Starry Sky Chessboard was unleashed and a game board was set, all pieces within the game would instantly perceive its rules, just like during the battle on the snowy plains.

Even if Lu Ye had now refined the Starry Sky Chessboard, he still had to follow this rule to wield the supreme treasure's power.

But he could secretly make some adjustments...

For instance, at this moment, the rules Xue Jiu understood were incomplete.

He only knew that this was a game called Chinese chess, and that different pieces had their own movement patterns.

But how could he obediently play chess with Lu Ye here? Immediately, his power surged, and he charged ferociously towards Lu Ye.

However, the moment he moved, all the chess pieces around him sprang to life: horses neighed, mighty elephants roared, battle chariots crashed haphazardly, and armored soldiers, wielding sharp blades, advanced emotionlessly from all sides.

In an instant, Xue Jiu was surrounded by enemies.

Yet he remained unafraid, acting recklessly due to his immense power, he blasted apart all the chess pieces blocking his way.

However, those pieces would quickly recover after being shattered, as if each possessed an immortal body.

Moreover, the great river in front churned, as if transformed into a celestial river, carrying a dense aura of death to assail him.

Xue Jiu frowned deeply.

Although those chess pieces were no match for him, they were practically indestructible within the chessboard, and this peculiar river water made him extremely wary.

The supreme treasure, the Starry Sky Chessboard, had somehow conjured such a large river when manifesting this game board.

"I advise you to behave yourself." From across the river, Lu Ye was taking this opportunity to frantically refine the fragments of the Dao Integration Pearl.

The Starry Sky Chessboard had already transformed into a fruit hanging on the Talent Tree, so of course he had to quickly refine the Dao Integration Pearl fragments; after the Talent Tree's metamorphosis, the efficiency of refining fragments was vastly greater than before.

This greatly pleased him, because the longer he delayed now, the more benefits he would gain.

The only price he had to pay was a significant consumption of his Dao power; everything within the current chessboard was manifested based on his own power, and the techniques displayed by the chess pieces all consumed his Dao power.

Such consumption, even Lu Ye couldn't sustain for too long.

On the chessboard, Xue Jiu retreated back to his original position, and the moment he stood firm, all the chess pieces returned to their starting positions, the game becoming calm as if nothing had happened.

Xue Jiu's expression flickered erratically.

Through his earlier probing, he could confirm one thing: Lu Ye couldn't fully unleash the Starry Sky Chessboard's power. So, if he acted regardless of consequences, he should have a chance to break through the layers of blockade and reach Lu Ye.

But doing so was meaningless, because even if he did reach Lu Ye, would Lu Ye simply wait for death? The situation would merely revert to its previous state.

And it would also consume his power.

In a flash of thought, Xue Jiu made his decision: since the other party wanted to compete against him on the chessboard, he would grant their wish.

Although he didn't fully understand the rules of this game, it wouldn't be easy for the other party to defeat him; as long as he won this game, the supreme treasure's power would backfire, giving him a chance to capture Lu Ye!

"Are you ready?" From across the river, Lu Ye saw Xue Jiu settle down and also sighed in relief. If this guy had disregarded everything and flipped the board, that would have been troublesome; the opponent was, after all, one of the Lords of the Ten Cities and possessed that capability.

As he spoke, he moved his cannon to the central position, and then continued refining his Dao Integration Pearl fragments.

As for Chinese chess, Lu Ye himself wasn't very proficient and his skills weren't great, but Xue Jiu's situation was even worse than his. If he still couldn't win a game like this, then Lu Ye might as well smash his head against something and die.

Across from him, Xue Jiu's expression was grim, with nowhere to vent his frustration.

Chasing Lu Ye all the way here, not only had he gained nothing, but now he was also being forced to play a game against him; it was utterly absurd.

Yet he still had to calm himself down and carefully recall the various rules of this game.

It was a long time before, almost until a time limit was reached, that Xue Jiu finally made his first move.

Lu Ye smiled at the sight.

"What are you laughing at!" Xue Jiu was utterly exasperated.

Lu Ye replied nonchalantly, while refining the Dao Integration Pearl fragments, "Oh, nothing funny. It's just that your move, Blood Lord, was extremely clever. I need to think about how to defend against you."

Xue Jiu became even more annoyed hearing this.

This was only the first move; how could it be considered clever?

But to his surprise, Lu Ye genuinely showed a contemplative expression, scratching his ears and cheeks from time to time, appearing indecisive.

Xue Jiu was astonished and puzzled, secretly wondering if his move was truly brilliant.

But it was his first time playing Chinese chess with someone, so he didn't know what was so brilliant about it.

However, Xue Jiu soon realized that wasn't the case.

Because every time it was Lu Ye's turn, he would be there deep in thought, scratching his ears and cheeks.

This kid was completely stalling for time!

One was new to the game, the other intentionally stalling for time, making this game incredibly difficult.

However, there would eventually be a winner. After half a day, as Lu Ye's last piece fell, he smiled and cupped his hands towards Xue Jiu, saying, "Thank you for the game!"

Xue Jiu's face was ashen.

The chessboard dissipated, transforming into an extremely condensed attack that frantically devoured the surrounding free-flowing Dao power and surged with a rumble towards Xue Jiu!

This was the price Xue Jiu had to pay for losing the game.