Volume 3 - Chapter 405: The Chess Realm — All Things Are Soldiers, Heaven and Earth a Chessboard (Part 2)
By now, Su Muqing had regained her composure, but a trace of alarm lingered in her heart. She had deliberately tried to shake off Li Hao—yet failed.
Though he hadn't fully caught up to her, his aura had locked onto her without wavering. She simply couldn’t shake him. It was... unsettling.
“This guy…”
A flicker of gravity crossed Su Muqing’s frosty gaze. As she paused briefly in the courtyard, a figure instantly blinked into view—it was Li Hao.
“Why are you still following me? Go to Wanqing’s Qinghu Courtyard.”
Su Muqing’s face was cold as she spoke.
Li Hao, hearing the thorns in her words, simply seated himself on a carved chair outside the main hall and said, “I came to the Su Clan for you.”
“For me?”
Su Muqing let out a cold laugh. She wanted to say, If you're here for me, why give the Immortal Aura Purple Osmanthus to Wanqing? But just as the words reached her lips, she paused.
Wouldn’t saying that mean she cared about the flower?
Hmph. That kind of trash—there’s no way she cared. Besides, her bond with Wanqing was so deep. Now that Wanqing had received it, she ought to feel happy for her. Even if that flower came from a shameless scoundrel, a treasure was still a treasure.
“Stop playing these petty tricks. Pathetic.”
With a cold snort, Su Muqing left behind those words and stepped into the hall. Bang! The doors slammed shut behind her.
The nearby maids, including Wu Ma, witnessed the scene and remained unfazed. Their young lady had never once shown this Young Master Haotian a pleasant expression.
What puzzled them was: why was this Young Master Haotian so persistent? Was it just for the Su Clan’s power and resources? Wasn’t he afraid of the Lin Clan’s imperial heir?
They shook their heads. That wasn’t something servants like them should dwell on.
The courtyard returned to its usual quiet. Only the breeze blew gently through, rustling fallen leaves to the ground. Occasionally, the soft swish of maidservants activating immortal techniques could be heard as they swept away the dead foliage.
The leaves were dried, their moisture gone, crisp as parchment—crackling underfoot.
Li Hao withdrew his wandering thoughts. He knew that unless Su Wanqing came, Su Muqing wouldn’t open the door. So he quietly set about playing a game of chess, meditating on a spark of insight he’d grasped earlier.
Unknowingly, it had already been six years since he came to the Northern Region.
He didn’t know what things were like in the Southern Region now—how Gu Yan, Yuexi, and the Great Dream Master were doing. Nor did he know how Feng Lao and the others who followed him into the True Realm had fared.
In that battle in the South, he had risen to prominence with the Dao-Origin Immortal Seal, standing at the peak of the True Immortal Realm. Yet it was also in that moment he had felt a weakness like never before.
He was still far too weak. His strength was nowhere near enough.
“Life is like a game of chess. All beings are but pieces.”
Li Hao gazed at the chessboard, a rare trace of weariness surfacing in his eyes—like the weight of time engraved itself in that boy’s once-clear gaze.
On the board, black and white stones clashed in intricate formations—killing arrays locked in a deadly dance.
Each array devoured the other—attack and defense at once.
What, then, was the true essence of the Chess Dao?
Calculation. Strategy. Manipulation. Hidden moves…
But all strategy leaves a trace.
All calculations follow a path.
“The true meaning of the Chess Dao…”
Li Hao murmured, immersed in deep contemplation.
…
At the same time, after the Sword Pool Osmanthus Gathering ended, news of Li Hao spread like wildfire across the entire Gusu Imperial Star.
In a flash, all thirty-six thousand immortal cities of the Gusu Imperial Star were abuzz. A peerless prodigy had emerged from the Northern Region’s human race—a young man known as Haotian, with a soul lifespan of merely a hundred years, yet already at the first level of the Immortal Lord Realm. He had even defeated all others in the same realm without equal!
The name “Haotian” spread like wings on a bird, flying swiftly across the star—and even beyond.
The Northern Region was starved for talent. Its brutal environment made the rise of any prodigy a treasured event. Moreover, the immortals and gods who lived there long-term were stronger and more ferocious than their counterparts elsewhere.
“A hundred-year soul lifespan, and already at Immortal Lord Realm? What kind of story is that?”
“You believe this nonsense?”
“Shh! Are you crazy? This came straight from within the Kong Clan. How could it be fake?”
“That’s right. I heard plenty of people saw it for themselves. That youth defeated scions from all the noble clans with a single sword strike. And it seems he has ties with Su Muqing, the true phoenix of the Su Clan.”
“I’ve heard about that! Word is he’s living at the Su Clan now—like a live-in son-in-law!”
“No way! Is the Su Clan really going to break off their engagement with the Lin Clan? Would the Lin Clan’s imperial heir tolerate that?”
“Who knows? But I’ve got friends who swear they saw Haotian entering and exiting the Su residence.”
As the rumors ran rampant, they naturally reached the Lin Clan.
In a courtyard deep within the Lin Clan...
“The Young Master isn’t cultivating here?”
It was a Lin Clan prodigy who had come, intending to deliver the news personally to his cousin.
But the courtyard was empty. Only the steward who had served Lin Zhexuan since childhood remained.
“Young Master has gone to the Ancestral Grounds for cultivation,” the steward said respectfully.
“The Ancestral Grounds?”
The Lin prodigy was momentarily stunned, then his eyes lit up. “Could it be... Brother Zhe is preparing for a breakthrough?”
In a flash, he vanished from the courtyard. Soon after, he arrived outside the Lin Clan’s Ancestral Grounds.
His status wasn’t enough to enter freely, so he waited outside, asking for permission.
Before long, the old Lin Clan guardian gave his approval, and the youth stepped inside.
Not far into the Ancestral Grounds, he saw a small mound, like a grave. Atop it sat a youth with an extraordinary aura, stars from the heavens faintly drawn to his brow.
The youth sat cross-legged, unmoving.
“Brother Zhexuan!” the Lin prodigy called softly as he approached.
Lin Zhexuan slowly opened his eyes. Upon seeing it was his cousin, his brows furrowed.
“What is it?”
“Brother Zhexuan, there’s a rumor going wild outside. Some guy with a soul lifespan of just a hundred years has already reached the Immortal Lord Realm—and he’s proposing marriage to Su Muqing! I looked into it… and it’s actually true!”
The Lin prodigy spoke urgently.
Lin Zhexuan frowned. He suddenly recalled hearing some similar gossip just before entering closed-door cultivation a few years ago. And now, after all this time, it still hadn’t died down?
“A hundred-year soul lifespan, and already Immortal Lord Realm?”
Lin Zhexuan raised an eyebrow, a sharp light flickering in his eyes.
“It’s true. Someone used a Soulspan Mirror in secret to confirm it,” his cousin quickly added.
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