Cheng Yue: What kind of thing did I just pick up?

The area outside Purple Cloud Palace was bustling with activity.

The small island in the South Sea was no different at this moment.

Nuwa looked at Cheng Yue with a face on the verge of tears.

"Master, Master, just let me go out this once. I really feel a destined opportunity descending for me."

"Master, this is a destined opportunity descending—just let me go, let me take a look, okay?"

"Master, please, Master, am I not your favorite disciple anymore?"

Watching Nuwa cling to him, chattering endlessly.

The feeling was truly bittersweet.

Having a beauty by his side was naturally pleasant, but she was his disciple.

And a disciple who chirped like a sparrow at that.

Cheng Yue couldn't help but speak up at this point.

"Didn't you say last time that you wouldn't leave seclusion until you reached Golden Immortal?"

"And my favorite disciple right now is your brother. Look at your brother—how steady he is. He never brings up going out, just quietly cultivates in the dojo."

Hearing this, Nuwa's expression shifted, and then two teardrops instantly spilled from her eyes.

"Master doesn't love me anymore. I'm a disciple who's lost favor. Sigh, I might as well leave."

Cheng Yue was at a loss, completely speechless, before finally replying.

"Look at you. You've been at the dojo for so many years now. Back in the day, I thought my own talent was bad enough—it took me a thousand years to go from mortal to Golden Immortal. And you? Thousands of years, and you're still at True Immortal, yet you want to run off and play."

"And stop pretending. That trick is old, it won't work anymore. You've used it several times already."

"A hundred years ago, when you asked me for Wooden Tokens, you used the same trick."

"Now I see why you asked for so many Wooden Tokens back then—you were planning to run out and play today."

"Xiao Wa, I didn't expect your scheming to be this sharp."

Hearing this, Nuwa's tears stopped. It was only a hundred years ago that she had remembered the lectures at Purple Cloud Palace were about to begin.

And then she thought back to last time at Purple Cloud Palace, when she had been wronged.

It wasn't really a grievance—she just hadn't followed her master's survival rules.

Thinking about Purple Cloud Palace, the more she thought, the angrier she got. So a hundred years ago, she asked for plenty of Wooden Tokens.

Today, with the lectures at Purple Cloud Palace about to start.

Whether or not she listened to that Hongjun's Dao didn't matter.

What she cared about was going there to block the door.

Yuanshi and that Zhunti—karma had been set. They were doomed this time.

And that old man Hongjun—if she had enough strength, she might even take a swing at him too.

Her mind wandered through a mess of thoughts, but then Nuwa suddenly remembered something.

She looked at her master before her, her eyes carrying a hint of reproach.

"Master, you're talented yourself, so don't just casually humble-brag, alright?"

"If we had that kind of talent, why would we have become your disciples? Back then, I'd have been your master."

Cheng Yue was about to retort, but hearing that, he froze on the spot.

Then the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

"You rebellious disciple, you want to be my master? Are you planning to ride over your teacher and trample your ancestor!"

With that, he gave Nuwa a flick on the forehead.

Nuwa felt the sting of it and looked at Cheng Yue with a pitiful expression.

"Master, just tell me—will you let me go out or not!"

Cheng Yue naturally shook his head, then sat there and closed his eyes.

"Not until you reach Golden Immortal. Don't even think about going out. Last time, you couldn't even beat that old man. If you go out now and run into trouble, what then?"

Thinking of this, he sat there and continued.

"Disciple, don't think I'm blocking your destined opportunity."

"As for opportunities, you received a sign from the Heavenly Dao. But is the Heavenly Dao really that kind?"

"Let me put it this way—if you go out this time and run into trouble, what will you do?"

"Opportunities are fine, but you need to live to use them. Right now, it's better to focus on cultivation."

Nuwa was resigned. She had pestered him for so long, and it seemed her master really wouldn't let her out this time.

So she let out a cold snort, turned around, and ran straight toward the side hall.

"Master, I'm not talking to you anymore. I'm leaving. If it's cultivation, then cultivation it is."

"Once my cultivation surpasses yours, I'll hang you on Mount Buzhou."

Cheng Yue's brow twitched at the words.

What kind of creature had he taken in?

No, maybe he should just return this disciple.

Was this any way to talk to a master?

And hanging him on Mount Buzhou, no less.

His face darkened.

"Xiao Wa, would you like me to hang you on Mount Buzhou right now?"

But the moment he finished speaking, Nuwa, who had been walking obediently, shot off straight into her own side hall.

Cheng Yue was utterly speechless. How had he ended up with such a rebellious disciple?

Usually, she was quite pleasant to look at, occasionally bumping into him with a ball—foul play, sure, but still comfortable.

Today, though, she left him at a loss for words.

"I've spoiled this little girl too much. From now on, I need to be stricter, show some masterly authority."

Yet a moment later, he felt bored again.

Cheng Yue hadn't actually been cultivating lately; he'd been pondering some things.

It had taken him only a thousand years to go from mortal to Golden Immortal.

By that logic, breaking through to Grand Unity Immortal should take another thousand years at most, even going slow.

But several thousand years had passed, and he was still stuck at mid-stage Golden Immortal.

Slowly inching toward the late stage.

The pace was too slow, so he'd recently decided to relax.

No cultivation, just coasting through the days, calling it "contemplating life."

Feeling a bit dull, Cheng Yue waved his hand casually. Outside the Great Hall, in the thick of the forest, a massive tree crashed down. Its shape shifted, and it turned into a neat, square wooden board.

The board flew back into the Great Hall, and lines began to slowly appear on its surface.

Nineteen horizontal lines, nineteen vertical lines.

They wove together into three hundred and sixty-one intersections.

Then, gazing toward the side hall, he called out.

"Fuxi, come here."

After speaking, he closed his eyes and released his mind, selecting countless black and white pebbles from across the Island.

Black stones, one hundred and eighty-one; white stones, one hundred and eighty.

Exactly matching the three hundred and sixty-one intersections on the board.

The stones slowly transformed, becoming smooth and round.

They too flew into Cheng Yue's Great Hall.

As they entered, they landed before Cheng Yue.

Fuxi walked out at that moment.

He bowed respectfully.

"Master, what business do you have with your disciple today?"

Cheng Yue looked at the items before him, arranged them, and beckoned to Fuxi.

"Come, play a game of chess with your master."

After speaking, Fuxi approached.

He came before Cheng Yue.

Then, looking at the setup, he began to ask.

"Master, what is this chess?"

Cheng Yue answered directly.

"This is Go."

The moment the words fell, a stream of Profound Yellow Merit Qi descended from the sky.

It poured into Cheng Yue, the board, and the stones. Even the fallen tree in the mountains that had made the board received a share of the merit, sprouting new shoots.

Then, looking at the scene before him, Fuxi's eyes flickered with surprise.