Chapter 304: The Two People Playing Chess

Rumble.

Wheels rolled, leaving marks on the muddy black ground.

The sky was pitch black, illuminated only by faint moonlight and dotted with sparse stars, making it incredibly dim.

“It's hard to imagine that the Demon Realm's world rules are so strange,” Hu Haihan murmured. “Fifty years of darkness like this is a lifetime for the ordinary people of this world.”

She said it to Baixiaosheng, but it sounded more like she was talking to herself.

Xu Zhi also looked up at the sky.

“Hmm... the Demon Realm's sky is so dark. This is our village's environmental pollution problem.”

The orchard was in the countryside. The sky there was clear enough to barely see scattered stars and a hazy moon, though it was still dim, being close to the city. It would be even worse in developed heavy industrial cities, where you might only see a single blurry moon.

The carriage continued its journey.

Mengmei was asleep, probably not waking for at least ten days.

Hu Haihan was a woman. Although she was a fox spirit, she had long integrated into human society under her teacher's guidance. She would inevitably need to dismount the carriage for things like using the restroom or bathing, and there was plenty of time for her to leave.

Xu Zhi waited quietly.

“Scholar, how do you explain this?” she asked, engaging in their usual discussions.

A few days later, as expected, the carriage stopped when it reached a lake nestled within a forest.

“It's been a long time since I've bathed,” she mused, then looked at her master, then at Baixiaosheng. She stopped the carriage and secretly slipped into the lake.

In an instant, only Xu Zhi and Mengmei remained.

Xu Zhi stood up, pinched Mengmei's sleeping face, and pulled both cheeks outwards. “Hmm?? You're quite cheeky with your words, even teasing me. If you can't get it up...”

Her face was stretched and deformed, like Crayon Shin-chan's.

After thoroughly tugging on her oval-shaped face, Xu Zhi found the texture quite nice. He merely smiled, glanced at the little fox bathing in the distance, and then, with a flash, vanished from the spot.

Online.

Mengmei, unaware of what had just happened, became even more excited. “Little Tiger Descending the Mountain, I knew you must have kept your true form, that 'chicken soup for the soul' book—the Holy Book of Light! When I get there, I'll dig up your grave and help you revive the Church of Light!”

Little Tiger Descending the Mountain: “......”

Indeed, before he transformed into human form to find Linda, he had buried his previous true form, intending to use it for a comeback. He never expected Mengmei to see through everything.

After chatting for a while, she successfully got the Holy Book's location. When she went online, she saw her disciple on the verge of tears, while Baixiaosheng was nowhere to be found.

“What!? Gone!?”

Suddenly, her face hurt terribly.

She quickly grabbed a mirror and saw that her face had swollen into a 'pig's head'.

What happened!?

She quickly checked her body. Her clothes were intact, and she quietly let out a sigh of relief. If she had been taken advantage of while unconscious, she would rather not live.

She turned her head, looking furiously at her disciple beside her.

The little fox bit her lip. “Teacher... that scholar, I didn't keep a good eye on him. While I was bathing, he probably just walked off while reading. Your face, Teacher, might have been used by that scholar to practice his punching techniques...”

Mengmei: ???

My face, for practicing punching techniques!??

She completely broke down, clutching her pretty face, which was terribly swollen and resembled a 'pig's head'.

Didn't he have any pity for a woman?

You scoundrel, is he such a rigid straight man!?

She, a dignified Heavenly Emperor, had her face turned into such a state! One could only imagine what brutal and malicious mischief she had endured. Any ordinary person would have been disfigured for life!

However, in a flash, she remembered the saintesses from those Jianghu sects who had also been beaten into 'pig's heads'...

This guy has a record!

The little fox shrank back, quickly explaining her theory: “That scholar, when he reads and learns, he occasionally comes across combat techniques and experiments with them himself. We often see him practicing moves on his own...”

“So, he used my face as a dummy to practice combat techniques?” Mengmei's self-esteem was shattered.

I, a dignified beauty, was lying there, and he remained completely unfazed, even laying hands on my face!?

Mengmei stamped her foot in anger, gritting her teeth. “He truly is a foolish, mindless bookworm!”

This was a lifelong disgrace, a super black mark on her history. She couldn't help but take a deep breath. “But he ran off on his own, and we don't know what might happen. We have to find him... and we also need to go somewhere to find the Holy Book of Light and become this generation's Saintess of Light!”

In a verdant green garden.

This was a small realm, surrounded by a vast whiteness.

Two exquisite women were playing chess. One wore a Taoist robe and a golden crown, her oval-shaped face as refined as jade. The other was a deity with a beautiful and gentle countenance, yet exuding a faint aura of majesty and power.

These were two deities.

They possessed infinite power; a mere gesture could destroy countless beings.

Through countless changing eras and the rise and fall of nations, innumerable heroes and prodigies were born. They crafted the epic poems of history, only to fall back into its vastness, like splashes of water that rise and then return to the river.

Throughout the long annals of history, only these two, in their respective eras, truly transformed into the free-swimming fish of history, leaping forth, spreading their mighty wings, and soaring into the boundless sky.

In the entirety of history, only these two achieved transcendence.

“Go, indeed, contains infinite mysteries,” Aier Min smiled. “The Void is real, the world is illusion; the boundless Void is the board, and all beings in the world are the pieces. And perhaps, we are the ones making the moves.”

Daojun picked up a black piece and slowly placed it. “Over these countless years, how many matches have we played against each other?”

She had not appeared in the Barren Ancient World because, according to their previous plan, she would continually grow stronger through rebirth by fire and repeatedly seek out Aier Min for battle.

“We've already fought four matches,” Aier Min said calmly, placing a white piece. “Each one was a life-or-death struggle, wishing to destroy the other... Our two small worlds are too barren; we had no opponents before. After fighting each other, we both improved rapidly. Every time you return, you are stronger than before. As early as your third return, I was no longer your match; you had entered the Mid-Tier Deity realm, with unimaginable combat power... If it weren't for Baixiaosheng, who enlightened Medusa, allowing one-hundred-twenty-nine-thousand-six-hundredth of Medusa's body to break through to deity status, we two combined would have likely been defeated long ago.”

Medusa's main body had already broken through to deity status.

Though it was the weakest form of deity.

This was because each part of a Cthulhu Evil God's body tissue was the weakest form of life. Therefore, when a part achieved godhood, it was naturally the weakest god. Only when combined did they form a truly complete life.

“Baixiaosheng is truly a peculiar existence,” Phoenix chuckled softly. Her gentle and natural demeanor, like a spring breeze, made people instinctively drawn to her. Her gaze held a touch of wonder. “If it weren't for him, Medusa wouldn't have achieved godhood, and I would have already defeated you, with the Wizard World falling into my hands...”

At this moment, while the Wizard World appeared powerful and overwhelmingly superior to outsiders, invading the weaker Barren Ancient World, only Aier Min and Medusa knew that they were, in fact, the weaker side, on the brink of despair.

Aier Min spoke, “I've heard of your historical era. You truly live up to your reputation as the Dao Monarch who created Di Qi, that primordial ancient god. Like him, you become astonishingly strong with each return.”

If one were to rank their strengths:

Di Qi, Phoenix... these two would undoubtedly be in the first tier of deities. They are the kind who grow stronger with every battle, returning each time with terrifying power, especially Phoenix, given her four-gene talent.

Aier Min... is in the second tier. Although her talent is already very strong, she is ultimately an ordinary deity who ascended step by step.

Medusa... is in the third tier. In reality, Medusa's combat power, as a Cthulhu Evil God at the deity level, would not be weaker than Di Qi or Phoenix, and might even surpass them, also possessing four genes. It's just that she finds it extremely difficult to break through to deity status. Currently, only one of her evil god tissues has become a god, and she is still very far from her complete form.

Dao Changsheng... is in the fourth tier. Although his combat power defies the heavens, he is not a deity.

Phoenix Dao Monarch spoke, “You clearly understand that if I continue to grow stronger a few more times, you and Medusa together will no longer be my match. You'll have no choice but to hastily start a war, invading the Barren Ancient World as the Demon Realm... You intend to use this great calamity to birth a deity on your side, thereby changing the tides of battle and working together to kill me. This is your only path.”

Aier Min smiled, gently placing a white chess piece. In an instant, the entire chessboard's layout was reversed, shifting to her advantage. “Indeed, this war is one we are compelled to launch... But in terms of overall strength, you are far inferior to us; you will be at an extreme disadvantage. Which side's world will birth a deity? Will it be your Heavenly Dao Dao Changsheng and Green Vine Earth Mother taking their final step, or our Medusa taking her second step? Or perhaps another monarch or great emperor?”

“Who knows?”

Their voices were calm.

As they played chess, they chatted idly, discussing the geniuses from their respective sides, speculating who might ultimately achieve a breakthrough. Perhaps even unforeseen geniuses might emerge and take that crucial step amidst the chaotic era of war and great calamity.

The invasion of two worlds, the death and lamentation, seemed to be viewed with detachment by them at this moment.

Yet, only they clearly understood that they were deciding the victory or defeat, and the very survival, of their respective worlds.

In this struggle, whoever produces the next deity first will tip the scales of the entire world and determine the outcome of their battle.