Chapter 1429: Evolution Provoked Abandons the Chess Game, Three Fingers Thick Stuns the Hall Master

“Shou Ye, the Kyoto Great Array covers an area beyond Kyoto itself!”

“I know.”

“Ah? You know? Then why didn’t you say so earlier?”

“I thought it was common knowledge… Forget it, I’m starting to understand Ba Zun An now.”

“What do we do now?”

“Don’t panic. Wait for this tower master to summon another wisp of spiritual thought, then send that showy old Daoist a big gift, so he knows my array disc isn’t so easy to take.”

“What kind of gift?”

“It’s not important. The important question is, will you choose to deliver it yourself, or have someone else do it?”

“This doesn’t seem like much of a question?”

Li Fugui certainly wouldn’t choose to deliver it himself and die.

He set down the gift, drove the Xiang Gui carriage away from the spot, changed his clothes, and destroyed the entire carriage.

Soon, another carriage approached from nearby. When it drew close, the coachman picked up the broken arm of the Tianji puppet from the Apricot Realm.

“Ga da ga da…”

The carriage drove out of the South City Gate. The coachman was excited, raising his arm as he shouted:

“Dao Dianzhu, your gift, from Xu Xiao Shou!”

Xu Xiao Shou?

After avoiding direct combat, Dao Qiong Cang glanced at it once, and the arm was tossed into the air by the coachman.

“Weng!”

Still the familiar sensation.

The special “Tianji Daoze,” rich with vitality and rhythmic energy, was activated.

The arm seemed to come alive, rapidly forming seals in midair, each one more complex than the last, fluttering like butterflies and weaving profound mysteries.

“What seal is this?”

“I’ve never seen anything like it…”

The more Dao Qiong Cang watched, the more alarmed he became.

The arm was only one, so the seals it formed were just half of the full set.

And they were vastly different from the Tianji hand seals he usually used for support, clearly from a different lineage.

Yet, some functions of these seals were even superior to the ones he was using, more aligned with the Great Dao!

If another Dao Bu member were here, without Zhuji Xing Tong, they would find the seals obscure and nearly impossible to decipher.

But Dao Qiong Cang was different.

He entered a state of sudden enlightenment almost instantly upon observing, with Dao Yun surging around him and achieving unity with heaven and earth.

Merely by visual observation, he quickly deduced from the changing functions of the seals opposite him the likely name in his own seal library:

“Tong, Yin, Kong, Huan…”

“Tou, Huo, Quan, Bian…”

By combining these names, Dao Qiong Cang reverse-engineered the arm’s purpose for forming the seals.

Moreover, he could predict the final seals it would form:

“Chuan, Po, Ling, Chi…”

“Da, Yuan, Jian, Gai…”

At this, Dao Qiong Cang’s pupils contracted, his expression slightly surprised.

“Tianji Dao, linked to space Dao and even array Dao… What is it trying to do?”

“Oh no, it wants to forcibly open my space ring?”

“Impossible! My space ring has 30,000 prohibitions…”

“No! It’s possible! If it skips the direct cracking of the Tianji technique…”

Dao Qiong Cang suddenly realized.

Xu Xiao Shou has an incomplete space insight!

He must have located the coordinates of my space ring and is attempting to decipher and open it.

And the locator has to be that array disc I only roughly sealed earlier!

“His Tianji mastery is this advanced?”

Sure enough, the last few seals the arm formed in the air were ones Dao Qiong Cang couldn’t fully understand, but from the surrounding Dao Yun, their function was likely similar to his prediction.

“Go!”

How could he let Xu Xiao Shou succeed?

Dao Qiong Cang had a sudden inspiration and threw the broken array disc out of his space ring.

With no time for a gradual transfer, he used the Great Teleportation Technique to move the remaining items in the ring to another one.

“Beng!”

At that moment, the space ring on his middle finger hadn’t even been removed when it exploded.

A small black hole erupted with suction, trying to drag this Semi-Sage avatar of the Sheng Shen Hall’s chief into the spatial turbulence to kill it—a ridiculous notion.

Dao Qiong Cang simply lit up a Tianji rune on his fingertip, manifesting a holy force shield around him, rendering the space ring’s explosion harmless.

“I fell for it.”

“His real goal wasn’t to detonate the space ring but to force out the broken array disc…”

Dao Qiong Cang looked up and saw the arm in the air pinch a seal, instantly breaking the Tianji prohibition he had placed on the broken array disc.

He knew he’d been outmaneuvered but was powerless to stop it.

He could have spent more time sealing the broken array disc back then, or dissected and studied it on the spot…

Once it was left vulnerable, it created an opening!

But the situation was urgent at the time—if he’d done that, Xiang Yi and the others might have escaped.

A Yang scheme!

Xu Xiao Shou wasn’t even on site but was masterminding from behind the scenes.

This little brat had evolved again, different from the “variable” on Void Island; this time, he was evolving into a true chess player!

“Good, good, good.”

Dao Qiong Cang was so furious he laughed, repeating it three times.

He had already held Xu Xiao Shou in high regard many times over.

Yet, he still hadn’t placed that junior on the opposite side of the chessboard.

Now, he finally realized that in this game, his focus had been on Ba Zun An all along…

But Ba Zun An had withdrawn early!

The only player from start to finish was Xu Xiao Shou!

“So, you want to play it that way?”

“This hall will see it through to the end!”

Dao Qiong Cang couldn’t afford to repeat the loss from entering the game on Void Island, especially against a junior.

He was afraid of losing Xiang Yi due to carelessness and didn’t dare toy with them anymore.

“Hong Long!”

As the Nine Heavens Saint Tribulation poured down.

Quan San Qing’s forward charge was halted, and without a Semi-Sage position to convert the Saint Tribulation’s power, he was blasted into the spatial turbulence in one strike.

Gui Mian Ying, under several Great Teleportation Techniques, was like a headless fly—fast, but its combat awareness couldn’t keep up, not even brushing Dao Qiong Cang’s clothes.

Dao Qiong Cang flipped the board entirely!

He glared fiercely, fully unleashing his Semi-Sage aura.

“Tianji Thirty-Six Styles…”

The Cang Qiong Scroll unfurled like tidal waves, sweeping across the sky, with a saint-like phantom manifesting behind Dao Qiong Cang.

It was still Dao Qiong Cang!

But different.

This saint-like figure was ten thousand zhang tall, crowned with a golden headdress, holding billions of stars, stepping on Gui Zhe Sheng Mountain, his eyes cold and ancient.

Not just in Jade Capital City, but in the surrounding areas as well, anyone who looked up could see this saint image and hear the saint sound:

“Great Suppression Technique!”

With that shout, the Cang Qiong Scroll transformed into a saint domain.

The saint-like Dao Qiong Cang gently tossed the stars in his hand.

The terrifying saint pressure shattered space layer by layer.

The fear mortals should feel when facing a saint was fully unleashed after Dao Qiong Cang dropped the veil!

The tribulation clouds “Hong” and were forced down into the low sky.

Quan San Qing used the Kuihua Saint Body’s traits to shed most of the Saint Tribulation’s malignant energy with his smoothest skin.

After enduring the first thunder tribulation, he still slumped into exhaustion.

And when he looked up from the ground to see Dao Qiong Cang’s saint image, Quan San Qing “pu” spurted blood, his body flew back, his soul shattered, and he fell into a coma.

“This is…”

Gui Mian Ying also glanced up.

Just one look, and he felt the previously reserved Dao Dianzhu image shatter.

Like beholding an ancient giant god, Gui Mian Ying’s seven orifices bled, his knee bones shattered, his wings broke, and he collapsed to the ground.

The Ancient Martial Six Paths had altered his human form.

But a beast was still a beast; without becoming a saint, it remained a slave. At that moment, he couldn’t even lift his head.

“Run—”

Xiang Yi let out a wail.

She was the one who understood the situation best, or rather, she knew Dao Qiong Cang.

She realized that Gui Mian and Quan San Qing had held out against Dao Qiong Cang for so long not because they were strong enough…

Yes! Compared to ordinary people, they were indeed far superior.

But Dao Qiong Cang compared to typical Semi-Sages was on another level entirely!

The real reason for the stalemate was that Dao Qiong Cang hadn’t wanted to end it yet—he was fishing for bigger prey.

When he saw that arm appear and the Tianji technique it displayed had a slim chance of altering the situation.

He was done playing.

How could that Taixu fight a Semi-Sage?

How could mortals stalemate against a Ten Venerable Seat?

“Pu!”

Dong Dong, holding A Yao on her left and Xiang Yi on her right, had been fleeing wildly.

Under Gui Mian Ying and Quan San Qing’s cover, she was nearly out of the Pan Fu Array’s range.

But with the Great Suppression Technique’s appearance, it was as if she’d been kicked hard from behind; she flew forward and spat blood as she hit the ground.

“I…”

Dong Dong’s vision blurred, feeling as if half her life flashed before her eyes; she was on the brink of death.

“Pa.”

The space ring Xiang Yi had given her before leaving You Gui Ge shattered under the pressure, and inside, a jade talisman burst open.

The jade talisman transformed into a light cover, enveloping Dong Dong.

In an instant, the Great Suppression Technique’s saint pressure seemed to vanish, and Dong Dong felt like she was soaking in a hot spring, her injuries being repaired.

This is…

“Holy Protection Talisman!”

In that moment, Dong Dong’s eyes reflected an incredibly complex expression.

A treasure of this caliber, which could withstand even Dao Dianzhu’s powerful strike, might not be granted to the most talented disciples of Semi-Sage families by their elders.

And Xiang Yi had given out three Holy Protection Talismans before departing?

Glancing sideways.

A Yao was the same.

With her mortal body, after the Great Suppression Technique’s strike, she should have been utterly destroyed.

But the ring broke, and the Holy Protection Talisman emerged.

A Yao’s back was rapidly repairing, though her consciousness seemed irretrievable, plunging her into a coma.

Xiang Yi bit her lip, feeling no saint pressure at all.

That showy old Daoist had even controlled the saint pressure with such precision, clearly holding back against her and the mortal A Yao.

But she knew the agony those around her were enduring—ordinary people facing a saint would tremble with every step, let alone fight.

“Run…”

Xiang Yi sobbed, “Use me as a shield. Don’t look back.”

Dong Dong struggled to rise from the ground, not daring to sweep her spiritual sense backward, afraid that seeing Dao Dianzhu already upon them, holding the two, would sap any motivation to move forward.

She hoisted Xiang Yi onto her back and cradled A Yao.

The dignified Taixu was merely six steps from the last Golden Osmanthus, yet it felt like an insurmountable chasm, forever out of reach.

But she’d take one step at a time.

Dong Dong trudged onward, persisting with trembling steps.

“Hong Long Long.”

“Zi Zi, Zi Zi Zi—”

The tribulation clouds were pressed to low altitude and finally dissipated under the saint image of Dao Qiong Cang’s gaze.

Thus, Quan San Qing’s path to sainthood was forcibly cut short.

When the experiment might become a variable and shift the current situation, Dao Qiong Cang’s choice was to terminate it early.

Quan San Qing lay on his back in the deep pit on the ground, watching the void electric snakes slither, briefly outlining a human figure before shattering again.

He laughed.

His Kuihua Saint Body was essentially ruined, violently wrecked inside by the Burst Saint Pill and bombarded outside by the Saint Tribulation.

Yet on his fleshy face, a smile of extreme weakness and satisfaction emerged.

He murmured, then finally trembled as he closed his eyes, letting the world sink into the absolute darkness it should have thirty years ago.

“Li Daren, if there is a next life, this dog will repay you…”

On the other side, Gui Mian was still burning his lifespan to sustain the Beast Path Gui Mian Ying’s power.

The stubbornness of the ancient warrior meant that even when pressed to the ground, his proud spirit remained unbroken.

The saint pressure swept down wildly, space exploding with booms.

On Gui Mian’s body, the acupoints corresponding to the Eight Gates and Seven Mansions suddenly lit up with starlight.

“Ah ah ah—”

He roared in fury and finally, under that divine might, raised the proud head of the ancient warrior.

One foot stamped down.

Gui Mian Ying’s roar cut off abruptly, his head planted into the mud and stones, and he saw no more of the world.

Dao Qiong Cang strode forward slowly, his gaze distant.

At this time, the sun set behind the western mountains, and under the afterglow, the dim shadows of the shattered carriage, the coachman, and the horse’s rotten corpses were scattered and faint.

But what Dao Qiong Cang watched was not Dong Dong and Xiang Yi, who couldn’t escape the Golden Osmanthus array.

He was focused on that arm in the air, still forming seals and shifting gestures.

The saint pressure not only failed to crush it but seemed to fuel it, allowing faster seal changes.

In mere moments, the broken array disc cracked with a snap, and countless small spiders burst forth.

“Chi chi chi…”

They rampaged wildly, wrapping up the Gui Mian Ying at his feet and Quan San Qing nearby like branches, while the Golden Osmanthus trying to sneak attack Dong Dong and the others stopped trembling.

They reverted from their frenzied state of dozens of zhang to their original unremarkable forms.

The entire Pan Fu Tree Great Array, like the previous Hundred Realms Spirit Severing Array, was instantly broken by the array disc.

That special Tianji Daoze, full of vitality, once again unfolded the mysteries of “Tianji” in Dao Qiong Cang’s eyes.

The Golden Osmanthus lining the path turned into harmless “little spider” arrays.

Only on Dong Dong and the group’s side, a small opening was breached, allowing passage to freedom.

“Truly mesmerizing…”

Dao Qiong Cang sighed, silently noting the changes of the broken array disc.

With the Hundred Realms Spirit Severing Array as a cautionary tale, how could he not be on guard?

Since he knew this broken array disc could shatter his Kyoto Great Array in an instant!

Dao Qiong Cang made a decisive move, suppressing Gui Mian and Quan San Qing.

What waves could the remaining trash—Dong Dong, the mortal A Yao, and the banned Xiang Yi—stir up?

The sky turned completely dark.

The saint pressure continued to bear down, grinding the Holy Protection Talisman’s power to nothing.

Dong Dong couldn’t take the final step out of the small spider array’s passage and collapsed just short of hope.

Dao Qiong Cang retracted his divine ability but didn’t move to seize them.

The unknown spying he’d been monitoring—from the ground’s shadow—faded into the world.

“Not daring to show up?”

Dao Qiong Cang chuckled, showing he understood.

After all, he had previously manifested as a saint image with full aura, imposing and overwhelming.

That sneaky figure had been watching from dawn to dusk without daring to emerge. Since he’d cultivated his breath-concealing technique to such a level, he must cherish his life.

In the end, retreating like a turtle was only natural.

“Great Teleportation Technique!”

Dao Qiong Cang stowed the Cang Qiong Scroll.

Though it was a pity he hadn’t lured out the breath-concealing fish.

He still extended his hand and flung three rays of starlight toward the exhausted Dong Dong.

“Weng.”

Tianji shifted.

The battle at the South City Gate reached its conclusion.

Dao Qiong Cang seized the three, lowered his head to look, and surprise flashed in his eyes.

What was teleported over wasn’t Xiang Yi, Dong Dong, and A Yao.

Instead, it was half a black knee-length sheer stocking, a somewhat smelly light pink cute rabbit men’s underwear, and a purple cotton soft bra that was three fingers thick.

Dao Qiong Cang was stunned for more than a moment.

He first tossed away the sheer stocking and the underwear, then hesitated and pinched the astonishingly thick bra.

It was very soft.

And on it, there was even a faint residual warmth…

Since the start of this battle, a relatively strong shock appeared in Dao Qiong Cang’s eyes for the first time.

“What is this?”

(The end of this chapter)