Chapter 1257: Stump Chess Game

Outside Miracle Forest, in front of a roughly hewn, short tree stump.

Mei Yiren held white chess pieces in his hand, gazing up at the Magic Emperor Black Dragon high in the sky, unable to make a move for a long time.

"Xu Xiaoshou, are you really okay?"

After being released from Sin One Hall by Rao Yaoyao, Mei Yiren hadn't immediately left Void Island because the communication talisman still had a connection. It could point the way, which meant Xu Xiaoshou hadn't departed yet. If his student hadn't left, how could a teacher go first? What if he left early and Xu Xiaoshou ran into trouble later? With this in mind, Mei Yiren followed the talisman's guidance, moving stealthily toward Falling Abyss.

Little did he expect to encounter an "uninvited guest" just outside Miracle Forest. The person seemed like an ordinary wanderer in the midst of apocalyptic disaster, with no trace of ancient sword cultivator or refining spirit master energy about him. He was also traveling, but at a leisurely pace—no flying, no escaping, just walking on foot, taking "uninvited" to the extreme.

Mei Yiren subconsciously ignored him. But when he realized there couldn't possibly be an ordinary person on Void Island, he halted his sword flight and landed on the ground. Looking closely, he saw a familiar profile: sharp brows like swords, murky yellow eyes, a hint of former heroism amid the weariness. Glancing lower, he noticed scars on the neck and only eight fingers on the hand.

"Xu Xiaoshou?"

Mei Yiren initially thought this was Xu Xiaoshou in disguise. He checked the communication talisman, which pointed in this direction but didn't stop at the person in front of him. Only when the man turned with a smile, as if he had been waiting a while, and gestured with the black and white chess pieces in his hand, did Mei Yiren realize:

"Another game?"

This air of blending in with the crowd yet transcending it was something neither Xu Xiaoshou nor Xiao Kongdong could imitate. It was Ba Zun An!

How could he refuse such an invitation? They sat down on the spot, using the tree stump as their board. Sword energy quickly outlined a miniaturized Void Island chess layout. Ba Zun An unceremoniously took the black pieces, while Mei Yiren glanced toward the distance, set his mind at ease, and took the white ones.

"Why are you here?" Mei Yiren asked first.

With a click, Ba Zun An's first black piece landed on the tian yuan position, and he smiled without answering.

Mei Yiren raised an eyebrow, his focus drawn back to the board, sensing a challenge.

Who would play go like that? Most people placing their first move on such a prominent tian yuan spot would lose a piece for sure—unless they were extremely arrogant, thinking it didn't matter to give one away, or they had a plan to make it useful dozens of moves later.

"Is this Xu Xiaoshou?" Mei Yiren pointed at the black piece.

"Not at all, just a casual move—maybe it'll come in handy later?" Ba Zun An shook his head. "You can choose to surround and kill it."

Mei Yiren chuckled. His style wasn't aggressive, so he opted for a safe corner opening, securing territory first. Starting from the corners, linking up to enclose the center—that was the proper strategy.

What did Ba Zun An know about chess? He was just a kid, decades old at most. In experience, Mei Yiren had him beat by lifetimes! The salt he had eaten... Mei Yiren glanced at his opponent and held back his words, deciding to treat it seriously. Xiao Ba did have some talent, after all—he couldn't be careless.

Unaware of Mei Yiren's thoughts, Ba Zun An casually placed another black piece near the tian yuan—it was truly random!

Still letting me play...

Mei Yiren was starting to feel puzzled.

"This is Xu Xiaoshou." Ba Zun An looked up.

Mei Yiren fell silent, staring at the awkwardly placed black piece, deep in thought. He never believed Ba Zun An had kept him here just for a simple game—there had to be deeper meaning.

Using the tree stump as the board with nineteen lines each way, substituting Void Island and Xu Xiaoshou's initial appearance, even factoring in the nine great forbidden zones...

Mei Yiren saw it. Ba Zun An's second black piece was indeed on Miracle Forest in the layout. So, the tian yuan black piece should be in Giant Country, not far from Sin One Hall...

He reminded himself to keep an eye on that tian yuan piece—it might prove useful later. But the game had just begun, and he had no information yet, so he had to keep playing.

"Xu Xiaoshou is heading to Falling Abyss—I have a feeling he's in danger. Aren't you going to check on him?" Mei Yiren said, steadily building from the corners.

"If he doesn't get into trouble, he wouldn't be Xu Xiaoshou." Ba Zun An's play finally turned normal, as he started claiming territory.

"If you're not going, then I really should go. Anyway, I'm already trapped in this diagram and can't escape."

"No rush. Let's finish this game first."

Ba Zun An seemed unconcerned about Xu Xiaoshou's fate, placing pieces faster and faster. Mei Yiren set aside the small talk and focused on the board. Both played quickly, with few pauses for thought, the tree stump echoing with clicks as black and white deepened.

The opening phase ended, and the board heated up. Mei Yiren had the edge on the corners, but after waiting a while, Ba Zun An only made a few half-hearted attempts without mounting a strong offense.

Mei Yiren couldn't hold back anymore and targeted the tian yuan black piece.

"This piece must be captured!"

Immediately, a fierce battle erupted around the tian yuan piece.

"You're walking into my trap—I have Xu Xiaoshou." Ba Zun An smiled. The Xu Xiaoshou black piece, placed early to form a flanking position with the tian yuan one, was finally coming into play.

The fight quickly shifted from the tian yuan to another area, pulled along by the stubborn Xu Xiaoshou piece. The tree stump board clacked sharply, sword energy swirling and rustling the surrounding leaves. Time slipped away invisibly, and the battle in Falling Abyss began to erupt and intensify. Mei Yiren naturally noticed.

But since Ba Zun An wasn't moving, he stayed put and concentrated on the game. As they fought on, Mei Yiren realized his target had shifted—he was being drawn by the Xu Xiaoshou black piece's expanding territory, from wanting to swallow the tian yuan piece, to eating the Xu Xiaoshou one, and finally aiming for a large swath of land.

As for the original target, it was almost forgotten! Mei Yiren snapped to attention, slowing his pace and reevaluating the board. He saw that this intense spot corresponded to the recent brawl deep in Sin One Hall on Void Island. The mid-game clashes ended around the time he refocused.

Ba Zun An, aside from that initial tian yuan move, played steadily, focusing on defense and setup with almost no counterattacks—except for that Xu Xiaoshou piece. That one was beyond "reckless"—it darted everywhere, always pulling the rhythm away, fighting for survival and even threatening to collapse the white corner advantage.

Mei Yiren stopped pushing aggressively. He reclaimed his edge advantage and set up for a four-sided encirclement. The tree stump board erupted again like a storm, while the distant battle reached a fever pitch.

Suddenly, sword dao principles and array diagrams spread from Falling Abyss. The second world's sword light had slashed over... Mei Yiren looked up sharply. "Aren't you worried?"

"What do I have to worry about?" Ba Zun An glanced up indifferently and continued playing.

Mei Yiren couldn't maintain his calm anymore. Ba Zun An didn't care about Xu Xiaoshou or Xiao Kongdong's lives, but he did—they were the rising stars of ancient sword dao. How could they be treated as disposable pawns?

Yet, looking back at the board, the Xu Xiaoshou black piece not only survived but had seriously impacted his corner territory. Mei Yiren gave Ba Zun An a deep look before refocusing.

The second world could affect everyone on Void Island, but not the two ancient sword cultivators on either side of the tree stump. Soon, the corner battle escalated to influence the entire board.

At that moment, Ba Zun An's first tian yuan black piece and second Xu Xiaoshou black piece fully unleashed their potential! They always rallied to turn the tide when his side was about to lose. Mei Yiren was thoroughly annoyed.

He swore that if he played another game and someone dared to open with the tian yuan, he'd capture it first thing!

"You're getting flustered—probably having some absurd thoughts." Ba Zun An spoke up at the right time, his eyes teasing.

Mei Yiren glared at him. How could he not be? Xu Xiaoshou was in a life-or-death struggle, and as his teacher, here he was playing chess...

The game passed the midpoint. The tian yuan black piece was no longer isolated, its influence radiating outward and reaching everywhere to lend support. Mei Yiren's corner encirclement was completely cut off. His territory was divided into small fragments, no longer connecting.

The battle moved to the final corner. Mei Yiren knew he wasn't at his best and no longer aimed to win—he just wanted to avoid a humiliating loss. But after a few exchanges:

When the tian yuan and Xu Xiaoshou black pieces struck again, Mei Yiren held his white piece, his face twitching, unable to play for a long time. At that moment, the Falling Abyss battle was at its peak.

Ba Zun An crushed a black piece in his hand, flicked his finger, and a sword hum echoed from the east.

"An—"

Mei Yiren looked up, gently wiping sweat from his forehead, and sighed:

"I've lost."

He was unsatisfied, blaming it on his worry for his student affecting his focus. But gazing toward Falling Abyss and hearing that resounding dragon roar, he felt relieved.

"You've finally made your move."

"I can see that Xu Xiaoshou has been waiting for you to act."

In this game, Mei Yiren hadn't wanted to win in the end. After all, with Void Island as the board, his role was like Dao Qiong Cang's. In the contest between Dao Qiong Cang and Ba Zun An, Mei Yiren was already in the game and had chosen his side. He was essentially one of Ba Zun An's black pieces, so he naturally hoped Ba Zun An would win. The fact that this guy had held back until now to act put his mind at ease.

"I've already made my move."

Ba Zun An smiled. "As for this final step, it's just an ordinary piece. The game has reached this point—play when you should. Nothing remarkable about it."

Already made your move? What do you mean?

Mei Yiren was startled and looked at the board. In terms of the game, the move that defeated him wasn't clever—it was just the natural progression. But in the Void Island situation...

If even the Magic Emperor Black Dragon wasn't a clever move, what would be? Was it that earlier one he had already played?

Mei Yiren frowned and thought, overlaying the tree stump board with the Void Island layout again. He realized the final battle that beat him corresponded exactly to Falling Abyss. That meant the Void Island game had reached its end. But the Magic Emperor Black Dragon's emergence was just a forced play, without any real design?

Mei Yiren turned his gaze to the tian yuan black piece and the Xu Xiaoshou black piece that Ba Zun An had acknowledged. Indeed, looking back at the whole game, the Xu Xiaoshou piece had driven much of the early and mid-game with its stubborn nature. But what secured Ba Zun An's victory was the tian yuan piece—the most obvious yet overlooked variable from the start!

"Xu Xiaoshou can be considered a clever move." Mei Yiren deliberately skirted the main point, waiting for Ba Zun An to explain.

"He's always been one, and I've used him very effectively." Ba Zun An nodded with a faint smile.

That's it?

Mei Yiren was amused by this kid's evasiveness—still hiding things from an old man like me?

"But in my view, the tian yuan black piece is the real Xu Xiaoshou—it controls the whole board and turns defeat into victory." He pointed to the central black piece, regretting to the end that he hadn't captured it.

"Not at all."

"Then who is it?"

Seeing Ba Zun An shake his head, Mei Yiren was truly curious. A move more clever than Xu Xiaoshou's, Ba Zun An's first and so bold, prominent one... It had guided the entire tree stump game! From the moment Mei Yiren hadn't targeted it first, he'd already lost. At least in this game.

So, if Dao Qiong Cang were in his position, what would he have chosen? Start from the corners? Or immediately surround the tian yuan piece, kicking off a pointless, inferior struggle?

Recalling all that had happened on Void Island before, Mei Yiren felt he had an answer. He stared intently at Ba Zun An, not asking aloud but wanting an explanation.

"Heaven's secrets cannot be revealed." Ba Zun An shook his head mysteriously. Mei Yiren smacked him on the head with his fan on the spot. "Out with it!"

"Well..." Ba Zun An grimaced, stood up, and picked up the tian yuan black piece.

"Look."

He held it high, aligning it with a brief glimpse of light on Void Island, showing it to Mei Yiren.

Mei Yiren narrowed his eyes. It was clearly a black piece, but under the light, its surface seemed to shed its grime, emitting a translucent white glow.

Mei Yiren's scalp tingled, and his pupils shrank.

"It's a white piece?!"

"Shh..."