Chapter 2627: The Court Opens

Ju Kui was no stranger to the "History Graveyard." It was an absolute forbidden zone in the long river of time. Even those powerful enough to traverse the past and future freely avoided it at all costs. Even if they were merely tracing history and accidentally discovered a projection of the "History Graveyard," they had to keep a safe distance – this was a taboo outlined in heavy strokes in the top-tier intelligence available at Tian Xing Cliff.

If he had previously only been six-tenths sure, he was now eight-tenths certain that the chess player behind this black piece was none other than Si Ma Heng.

He paused and said, "You are inside the decaying 'History Graveyard' of time, and you can still keep track of time?"

"This is my foundation. A person with no concept of time is unqualified to describe history," the voice from inside the black chess piece replied. "Time doesn't exist without me; it exists because of me."

"Time exists because of you, but not only because of you," Ju Kui said.

The voice from inside the black chess piece agreed. "Yes, heroes are the banners of history, and history is the mark of time!"

He spoke with emotion. "The reason the long river of time flows endlessly is because there are endless heroes on this land."

"I wonder, in your estimation, does Zuo Qiu Wu count as a banner of history?" Ju Kui asked.

"Merely exiling me is not enough for him to be engraved in history," the voice from inside the black chess piece said. "Because my story will ultimately be lost in the 'Confused Chapter' and buried by the History Graveyard. Only by writing a new story can he be forever engraved in time, or... transcend time."

Ju Kui slowly said, "Since you understand Zuo Qiu Wu so well, you shouldn't have lost to him in chess, much less been trapped here for so long... You just said, thirty years?"

The voice from inside the black chess piece was silent for a moment. "...He understands me too. Or rather, he understands me better."

The chess piece hovered virtually above the chessboard, carrying an indescribable bitterness. "Look at this game again. Many of the illogical moves are ones he was certain to play, and I had to respond to."

"The story is very clear up to this point," Ju Kui said upright. "A just passerby passing through this place should defeat the evil Zuo Qiu Wu, stabilize this chessboard, and as a projection of a historical window, find a way to guide you and save you from the History Graveyard."

"But?" the voice from inside the chess piece asked.

"But who defines 'justice'?" Ju Kui said. "We, these people, rashly intruded into the sealed Diligent Academy, regardless of resisting and forcefully breaking in, even though we said it was to search for our colleague... How do we know that He Zhong Xuan is not the root cause of this disaster? The truth is still unclear. Can our self-righteous actions really lead to a better outcome?"

The voice inside the black chess piece seemed slightly bewildered. "Xuan...?"

Ju Kui continued, "Furthermore, Mr. Zuo Qiu Wu blocking you here and turning the Diligent Academy into a history book, is it to harm you or to save the academy? That's not certain. The information we currently have is enough for those hot-blooded young people to defeat him once, but not to the extent of fixing his life and death."

"As expected of a Legalist master, very rule-bound," the voice inside the black chess piece said. "It seems today is a court session here."

Ju Kui didn't respond to his words, but said to himself, "Finally, regarding your identity as 'Si Ma Heng,' I am eight-tenths certain, but there are still two-tenths uncertain."

Tai Xu Pavilion was currently taking over this history book. Qin Zhi Zhen walked in the void, currently helping him solidify space. Within many history pages, he would solidify this page as an "Iron Book," and after that, help him carve the black and white law boundary.

Looking at the situation now, Jiang Wang and Li Yi's side had no problem blocking Zuo Qiu Wu.

He didn't need a quick answer. With all members dispatched today, they had enough confidence. He could sit down, hold this history book, and slowly flip through it.

"How can these two-tenths uncertainty become certain?" the voice inside the black chess piece asked.

Ju Kui said, "I regret to say, until I truly see you, you will never get those two-tenths certainty from me."

"I understand this is not against me; it is the rigor of the law, the caution in punishment," the voice inside the black chess piece calmly accepted the answer and then said, "Then, where did Zuo Qiu Wu go? Is Your Excellency convenient to inform me?"

He didn't know if it was an illusion, but Ju Kui actually heard some concern in that voice.

"Where he should be," Ju Kui said.

"You all certainly didn't have a proper chat with Zuo Qiu Wu," the voice inside the black chess piece said.

"Before I answer you, I want to know first, how you made that judgment," Ju Kui cautiously began. "If my observation is not mistaken, your perception of this world should be limited to this game of chess and my voice on the chessboard."

He had already seen that this game of chess was a history window opened in the depths of space-time, or rather, it was a projection of a certain history window. The current information was that it was used to establish cross-time-space communication, specifically to the "History Graveyard" and "this page inside the Diligent Academy history book" – but it was unknown whether Zuo Qiu Wu created it, or the person in the black chess piece, suspected to be Si Ma Heng, completed it.

This was a terrifying method.

No wonder its owner claimed to travel through history and occasionally use the "History Graveyard" as a shelter to avoid historical dangers – this alone had already begun to subvert Ju Kui's understanding.

"Your sensitivity to rules is commendable! I do exist because of this game and can take a breath. I am also confined to this game and cannot see more," the voice inside the black chess piece said slowly and methodically. "As for where my judgment comes from... Connecting playing chess with speaking, the time you have been in contact with me has already exceeded a quarter hour."

Ju Kui suddenly grasped that white chess piece. He sat still as a rock, his ancient well-like demeanor showing no ripples as he asked, "A quarter hour?"

The voice inside the black chess piece said, "This game between me and Zuo Qiu Wu has been played for many years. It has been intermittent; he only comes back to place a move after a separate period of time. If you all had a serious chat with Zuo Qiu Wu, you wouldn't have left this quarter hour for me."

"It sounds like a quarter hour is just enough time for you to find a way to leave the History Graveyard and descend to this place."

Ju Kui was just making a joke, or rather, a probe.

Because the "History Graveyard" was the grave of all wonderful stories. Even legendary chapters that fell into it would ultimately be forgotten by time.

If Wan Jie Huang Mu was the old grave mountain of space, the "History Graveyard" was the disordered burial ground of time.

From ancient times to the present, countless strong individuals who unfortunately passed through the History Graveyard were buried there, becoming part of the decaying time. The possibility of them escaping unharmed was almost non-existent. It couldn't be that simple!

But the voice inside the black chess piece actually said, "...Yes."

The voice echoed within the chess piece, a faint sigh. "I have already... seen the road."

This was simply shocking!

This seemingly simple stone chess table at this moment actually held the mystery of the universe. Every chess piece on the table was a universe's star, embodied as different worlds in the vast void.

"Is that so?" Ju Kui suddenly pressed down on that white chess piece! Suddenly, electric light shot through the sky, temporarily penetrating the pavilion, dancing wildly in the high sky. In this dazzling bright light, the piece he pressed onto the chessboard was also like pressing roaring, non-stop thunder light into the space-time connected to the chessboard!

Zizi zizi—

The electric light danced wildly like mad snakes. The entire lake-heart pavilion was like a bright moon that suddenly shone brightly and suddenly dimmed.

The finger with which Ju Kui pressed the chess piece was an indestructible law stele.

At this moment, electric light flashed, and indeed, the law was embodied on his finger, with law texts—

"Heaven can punish, earth receives law, people must be within rules!"

With his finger like a law stele, pressing down on heavenly punishment thunder, Ju Kui truly showed the might and majesty of a Legalist true monarch here.

He was a representative figure of the younger generation of Legalists in this era, although he was no longer young.

He was an old acquaintance of Ming Zhan Jue Chang Yu Bei Dou. Not a friend, because true Legalist cultivators have no friends.

His path was only about setting rules and making judgments.

A dogmatic life, lived stiffly, as he himself said – "Guarding some stupid rules."

But this was precisely the path of a Legalist cultivator. Or rather, it was the path of a "Rule Law Faction" cultivator like him.

Looking at the entire Diligent Academy event, the truth of the matter had not yet fully surfaced.

The known information was – Diligent Academy had indeed turned into a history book, Zuo Qiu Wu existed on every page of this history book, and Cui Yi was sealed by Zuo Qiu Wu. One person was obstructed on the opposite side of the chessboard, suspected to be Si Ma Heng.

And Dou Zhao, with a single knife, circled away Zuo Qiu Wu. Several people had a great battle, almost tearing through the entire history book.

In the situation where Zuo Qiu Wu was stopped from interfering, Cang Ming, with the image of a destruction god, descended upon various worlds, but still did not find any trace of Zhong Xuan!

Zhong Xuan might already be dead; the letter he wrote to Ju Kui was just his last letter in life.

But if he was still alive...

In a situation where the truth was unclear, helping either Zuo Qiu Wu or Si Ma Heng could lead to Zhong Xuan's death.

Not to mention this game before their eyes still had the shadow of Book Mountain.

All members of Tai Xu Pavilion present did not need to choose sides. They themselves were a side.

What Ju Kui was doing now was the tacit understanding reached within Tai Xu Pavilion—

No matter which side was good, the change had already happened, and no further changes were allowed.

They would show no favoritism to anyone. Unless the six great hegemonic countries issued a national decree, or a master from the Three Punishment Palaces came.

Every side in this event, they wanted to suppress. They wanted a trial in the three halls, they wanted to dissect the cause and effect, they wanted to open this history book named Diligent Academy and air it out repeatedly. To see clearly the shades of history, to understand clearly where Zhong Xuan was exactly.

If he was dead, why did he die?

If he was alive, then where was he?

As long as there was still a glimmer of possibility that Zhong Xuan was alive, this possibility must be grasped in the hands of Tai Xu Pavilion. At least in this matter, no matter Book Mountain, Zuo Qiu Wu, or Si Ma Heng, even the Saint Demon, and whatever other existences, none were trustworthy.

So when this black chess piece wanted to reverse the change, Ju Kui suppressed it without hesitation.

The law stele fell irrevocably. Ju Kui's press on that white chess piece was precisely to nail down this history window—

This book was updated most recently at!! Update!

A sound of chess pieces hitting each other.

That hovering, unsettled black chess piece actually stuck close below the white chess piece, lifting up the heavenly punishment thunder and the law stele finger together.

At this moment, this chess piece was like a mysterious eye. Amidst the faint light disturbing, there was indeed the depth of history.

Under the destruction of violent electric light, there was still a piece of order on its own.

"Now is my turn to place a piece..." The voice from inside the black chess piece said, "Doesn't this move of yours violate the rules of chess?"

With just one collision, the white chess piece had already collapsed into thousands of fragments, but between the fragments, electric threads flashed... The electric light sewed this chess piece back together.

Ju Kui's face was expressionless. "Mister is a senior; please don't mind letting me go first."

The two chess pieces collided, carrying the momentum of destroying heaven and extinguishing earth.

Waves of annihilation expanded from the lake-heart pavilion as the starting point—

Whether it was the stone bridge or the small lake, they all disappeared, foot by foot. The entire Diligent Academy was leveled in an instant.

Only this small pavilion, having already been forged and its black and white law boundary instantly shrunk, became an immortal space at this moment.

"Since you know I am a senior, you should know to respect the old!" The voice of the black chess piece at this moment actually embodied Legalist grandeur.

This was the voice of Xue Gui, a great achiever in Legalism from the Middle Ancient era, summoned by a history master at this moment, used to shake this black and white law boundary that had just been cast for a long time.

But the reason this black and white law boundary was indestructible was not only because Ju Kui had thoroughly understood heaven and earth and set up rules, but also because there was a person named Qin Zhi Zhen who repeatedly refined the void with horizontal and vertical knives, casting it into an iron wall!

So when the words "respect the old" echoed, a black-clothed man with a suspended knife appeared beside them. He brought his hands together and hugged the chessboard... In the hazy, endless void, an infinitely tall Yan Luo Heavenly Son hugged the universe.

At that instant, infinite cracking sounds echoed.

Qin Zhi Zhen, however, didn't utter a sound. He was a silent reef, an immortal iron wall, an unbreakable warrior!

Iron arms surrounded, space was forever solid.

Ju Kui still sat on the rule stool, lowering his head to gaze at the chess game, pressing the piece with his finger. "I am your junior, but in Tai Xu Pavilion, I am the most senior one."

The voice inside the black chess piece asked, "Do you want to say you can be responsible for your decisions, that you want to replace them – your so-called colleagues – and bear everything?"

"I really want to say this. Having foolishly grown up for so many years, I should indeed bear some responsibility, sheltering these respectable colleagues from wind and rain... But the fact is not."

The lightning pattern between Ju Kui's eyebrows, which seemed alive, actually cracked open at this moment. Inside was a blazing white electric light interwoven vertical pupil!

Throughout the entire Diligent Academy history book, all the thunder from ancient times to the present was controlled by him.

The sound of thunder was abnormally piercing at this moment. The vital energy between heaven and earth seemed to tremble.

And Ju Kui's voice still didn't have many ripples. "I am saying – I am the one with the poorest talent among this group of people."

He declared flatly, "If I lose, you don't count as winning either. Instead of struggling hard, it's better to quietly wait for the result."

Hong long long!

The blazing white electric light turned into a long spear that seemed both virtual and real, passing through the law stele finger, the heavenly punishment thunder, the electric light-sewn white chess piece... and piercing the exact center of the black chess piece!

Ka ka ka—

The black chess piece finally cracked open.

But then there was a rustling sound.

Years flipped through the book, and the black chess piece mended like new.

That voice was finally unable to remain calm. "Thirty years of time not flowing, eight thousand years of sun and moon torment! Someone who knows the bitterness of this place actually presumes to say the word 'wait' – who are you all, relying on what to block my return home!?"

Every breath inside the History Graveyard was the constant extension of time's torment. Thirty years... was indeed too long.

Power seeped out from inside the black chess piece, baring teeth and claws on the universe-like chessboard. Grid after grid of the chessboard was like cage after cage of historical prisons. Inside every chessboard grid, there was a trapped beast-like roar.

Crossing space-time, pain was written upon the history window, projecting at this moment into Diligent Academy.

That kind of pain, even Ju Kui felt it!

But the vertical and horizontal lines on the chessboard at this moment all emitted a faint, cold iron color. Name it as lines, establish it as an iron wall.

Qin Zhi Zhen's power also spread towards this chessboard.

Ka ka ka!

The black chess piece, just mended, cracked again.

Yet it was Li Yi, always seeming virtual and illusory on top of the pavilion, who solidified at this moment, his gaze falling like a sword.

"I can understand your feelings, but what if it wasn't me sitting opposite you?" Ju Kui slowly said. "Just like we waited for you to come."

His electric light vertical pupil was truly like the sun and moon hanging high, making him appear more majestic, severe, like the incorruptible official in that play who saw through the autumn harvest and came to solve this historical mystery case.

However, no matter what kind of play it was, it couldn't possibly write out the two characters "Ju Kui," write out his life.

The voice inside the black chess piece finally sank down, as if falling into the deep sea. "...Wait for what?"

Ju Kui raised his head, gazing at the sky outside the pavilion, gazing, gazing, until a black dot suddenly appeared in the depths of the high sky, coming closer and closer, becoming clearer and clearer, clearly embodying a human form...

A Confucian scholar wearing a ritual crown and ritual clothes, gentle and refined, with a cyan jade hanging at his waist, descended from the sky and landed in the middle of the pavilion.

His voice was clear and high, actually like singing. "Guest from Book Mountain, old man of Learning Sea, a person who comes with time, a person who goes with time. There has been no ritual in the world for a long time! Greetings and safety!"