Chapter 2687: Chess Refines the Heart

Chapter 2687: Qi Lian Xin

Daozu had left, and Ye Chen's face was extremely grim.

The battles in Zhutian were so brutal, who could have the heart to play chess? It wasn't your people dying, so of course you wouldn't feel the pain!

"Ye Xiong, how about a game?" Hun Dun Ti said with a smile.

"No time."

Ye Chen's response was as straightforward as before on Huashan, simple and direct. He only gazed quietly at the vast sky.

The barrier of Tianjie had not yet dissipated, so if someone in Renjie borrowed power, he could still return to Zhutian. However, that seemed unlikely. In countering the borrowed power, he had suffered backlash, and Renwang was probably in no better shape, having endured backlash as well. Who knows, he might still be lying in bed, groaning in pain right now?

That's why they say he's a descendant of Zhoutian—he truly understands Zhoutian's founder, that weak fighter who was indeed in bed, though not groaning. One backlash had directly plunged him into deep sleep. In a certain sense, his act of defying heaven and altering the dao had caused even more severe backlash than what Ye Chen endured.

"Causing trouble." Fu Ya's face was darkly stern.

Along with him, many Zhun Di from Tianxuan Sect were casting spells to help Renwang resist the backlash.

Taishang Xianyu welcomed a profound night in the midst of tranquility.

Ye Chen stood still as a statue, still gazing at the firmament.

Hun Dun Ti didn't urge him, simply holding an ancient book and reading it with great absorption.

It was unclear when, but someone arrived.

It was Tai Shang Laojun. He glanced at Ye Chen with a dark expression, then took out the Feng Shen Bang and suspended it beside Ye Chen. Within it appeared the ongoing great war in Zhutian Renjie, still raging on, brutal and bloody.

Crack! Crack!

Ye Chen's fists clenched with cracking sounds.

The roars, howls, shouts of battle, and cries of agony intertwined into mournful funeral songs, filled with demonic energy, repeatedly overwhelming his heart. His eyes, fixed on the Feng Shen Bang, were instantly covered in bloodshot veins. He had never felt so useless before—Zhutian was in peril, yet he couldn't return, forced to be a pathetic onlooker.

"Shizun's personal order: the Feng Shen Bang stays here, so you can see the Renjie war every day."

Tai Shang Laojun stroked his beard, saying this not to Hun Dun Ti, but to Ye Chen.

Ye Chen said nothing, his eyes filled with a deep red hue, as if dripping with blood.

"Shixiong, Shizun is being too cruel." Hun Dun Ti glanced at the Feng Shen Bang and sent a message to Tai Shang Laojun. "His state of mind is already chaotic. Playing against me, he has no chance of winning."

"This is a trial." Tai Shang Laojun replied leisurely. "With his mind in such turmoil, how can he ascend to the Nine Heavens? If he can watch the bloody battles in Zhutian and still play chess calmly against you, that would be true nirvana. It's cruel, yes, but it's the most direct and effective way. If he can't even pass this trial, how will he brave the Chaos Sea?"

"I understand."

Hun Dun Ti took a deep breath, finally realizing his ancestor's intention—this was to refine Ye Chen's state of mind. It seemed simple, but it was dangerously perilous. One misstep could lead to demonic obsession. To truly ignore the wars in Zhutian was incredibly difficult.

"Win against him, and Shizun will force open the Chaos Sea for you."

Tai Shang Laojun slowly faded away, his ethereal words lingering.

At these words, a flash of surprise appeared in Ye Chen's eyes. He took one last look at the Feng Shen Bang, then abruptly lifted his robe and sat opposite Hun Dun Ti. He raised his hand to pick up a piece and placed it on the board.

Hun Dun Ti smiled, put away his ancient book, and also took a piece.

As soon as one piece was placed, Ye Chen followed with his move, quite hastily, as if trying to defeat his opponent in the shortest time possible.

Hun Dun Ti remained calm, fully aware of Ye Chen's intentions.

But he would not go easy. Since this was to refine Ye Chen's state of mind, he couldn't hold back. He needed to give his all, playing the role of the villain, the tiger blocking the path.

Only by driving Ye Chen to the brink could he achieve true nirvana.

"Kill! Fight!"

Boom! Bang! Boom!

This game was not as quiet as imagined.

In the Emperor Artifact Feng Shen Bang, not only the scenes of battle were reflected, but also the sounds—every boom, every roar, like sharp knives carving into Ye Chen's soul.

Ye Chen pretended to be composed, but his expression was pained, his face pale. He forced himself not to listen, suppressed himself not to look, yet the images and sounds were like a nightmare, entangling him tightly and repeatedly disturbing his mind.

To the point where his hand holding the piece was trembling.

The Tenth Emperor of Da Chu, his life had truly been full of hardship.

And history's scenes were shockingly similar.

Back in the Mingjie, Di Huang had created a trial of love to temper him, nearly shattering his mind.

Now in Tianjie, another trial had come, one to refine his heart, no less intense than the trial of love.

What was the same was that both trials were incredibly cruel—one required him to lose his loved one, the other to abandon his homeland. He had to watch the war with open eyes while playing chess; he had to listen to the cries of the common people while defeating a Hun Dun Ti who was in no way inferior to him.

This trial was even more severe than the one of love.

One was Di Huang, the other Hong Jun; one a Dacheng Shengti, the other a Peak Dadi. These two supreme figures were indeed ruthless, treating Ye Chen as if he were not human, setting one trial after another to torment him to the point of utter exhaustion.

In the misty heights, Daozu stood gracefully, quietly overlooking the scene below, quietly watching Ye Chen.

"Hong Jun, you're being too harsh."

Xuan Di said leisurely, his vision exceptionally sharp, piercing through the vast sky to see clearly. He could see Ye Chen's pallor and understand his turbulent state of mind.

"He needs this nirvana." Daozu replied indifferently.

Ah!

Xuan Di sighed, unable to bear watching any longer. He understood the reasoning, but the process was too cruel.

Slap!

In the small bamboo grove, Hun Dun Ti placed another piece, the sound crisp as it settled on the board.

"Ye Xiong, you've lost." Hun Dun Ti said lightly.

Opposite him, Ye Chen held a piece frozen in mid-air, staring at the board with its orderly lines and pieces. He didn't know where to place it—unaware that his momentum in the game had already run out.

"Again."

Ye Chen swept his hand, clearing all the pieces from the board.

Hun Dun Ti obliged, picking up a piece and placing it without holding back. His chess, like his dao, was perfectly natural, each piece representing all things.

In contrast, Ye Chen's dao now carried a trace of chaos.

The game didn't form properly, and his intent faltered.

From the start, he was suppressed by Hun Dun Ti. Even as he desperately tried to turn the tide, his chaotic state of mind made it impossible.

This time, he lost even faster.

"Again."

Ye Chen glanced at the Feng Shen Bang, his eyes gaining another layer of crimson.

Hun Dun Ti said nothing, only picked up a piece and placed it.

This night was quite long, with game after game, each with a winner and loser. The loser was always Ye Chen, his mind growing more chaotic with each defeat, and each loss more devastating than the last.

Xianyu suddenly reflected the first rays of sunlight.

But Ye Chen's once cascading black hair had turned a sheet of snow white. His eyes were slightly bulging, filled with bloodshot veins, and his face was still pale, looking quite sickly.

One night of games, one night of torment, as if awakening the latent demonic nature within him. Not only could he not play chess steadily, but he could barely sit still, yearning to soar into the sky and let out a hysterical roar at the heavens. This impulse was almost uncontrollable. What trembled was no longer just his hand, but his entire Shengti, as if freezing in ice, making him want to curl up.

Hun Dun Ti frowned slightly, feeling a twinge of pity. This trial was too difficult.

Yet, he still placed his piece, cutting off the last bit of momentum in Ye Chen's game.

Defeated again, the Shengti had lost once more.

"Again."

Ye Chen was quite agitated, pushing the board away with one hand and grabbing a piece. His hand trembled in the air, unsure where to place it, as if placing it wrong would lead to eternal doom.

"How about taking a break?"

Hun Dun Ti took a deep breath, looking at Ye Chen now, his eyes filled with a touch of sorrow.

The mighty Shengti should not be in such a state.

But the more it was like this, the more he pitied him, almost wanting to go easy.

To drive Ye Chen to such a fall, his state of mind must be in utter turmoil.

"Continue."

Ye Chen's eyes were blood-red as he finally placed his piece.

During this, he glanced again at the Feng Shen Bang, at the war in Renjie.

Ah!

Hun Dun Ti sighed inwardly and then picked up a piece.

"This approach might backfire."

Xuan Di appeared again, seeing Ye Chen's condition, which was indeed terrible.

Daozu remained silent, his expression unchanging.

An emperor's heart was still quite ruthless. For someone like Ye Chen, only by truly pushing him to the edge of collapse could he undergo a heavenly transformation.

Withdrawing his gaze from below, he looked toward Renjie.

The blood-red smoke of war enveloped all of Zhutian, with living beings fighting and countless lives perishing.

When emperors felt compassion, a cold light flashed in their eyes—that was directed at Honghuang, and at the damned Zhuxian Jian. It was Zhuxian Jian that enhanced the Honghuang people's combat power, and it was Zhuxian Jian that fueled the flames of war.

His state of mind was the same as Mingdi's, observing the battle from beginning to end, searching for Zhuxian Jian's location. If he found it, he wouldn't mind forcibly breaking the barrier and unleashing an emperor's peak strike.

Alas, he hadn't found it; Zhuxian Jian was hidden too well.

If anyone suffered the most, it was the emperors of Tianming and Liangjie. Through endless ages, they had witnessed Zhutian's repeated invasions by Tianmo, and the repeated scenes of mountains of corpses and seas of blood in the human world.

Yet, they could only be onlookers.

Emperors were not heartless; it was duty that bound them. Bearing a certain mission meant they were destined not to join the fight.

"Even if Renjie falls, even if all living beings perish, we must guard Tianming and Liangjie."

This was the supreme imperial order left by the ancient Tianting Nüdi.

Whenever Zhutian faced a great calamity, these ancient words echoed in their ears.

Through endless cycles of sea and mulberry changes, spring and autumn passing, flowers blooming and fading, they had unconditionally upheld this order, day after day, year after year, guarding Tianming and Liangjie. They had seen too many mountains of corpses and seas of blood, witnessed countless human calamities—each a brutal war, each a knife carving tragic marks into their memories.

They didn't know how much longer they had to guard, nor when that ray of dawn would appear in the human world. They only knew they had to continue guarding, even until the end of time, holding out until Nüdi returned against the heavens.

In this moment, Mingdi and Daozu's actions were strikingly similar, both raising their wine flasks and gulping it down.

Emperor's might shook the universe, but from some point on, they felt more like turtles hiding in their shells, peeking at the world's prosperity from Tianming and Liangjie, helplessly watching the suffering of living beings.

Ye Chen was refining his heart, and so were they.

That Zhutian was their homeland too.