A Game of Chess

The Earth Rhinoceroses had vanished.

After that earth-shaking battle, not a trace of a single Earth Rhinoceros could be found in any Spirit Field throughout the Yunyang Sect outer sect. It was as though they had all gone extinct.

But the price had been exceedingly brutal.

Several hundred cultivators had been killed or wounded, and over a thousand mu of Spirit Fields had suffered damage to varying degrees.

Some of those Spirit Fields would yield nothing at all.

And a large portion of the cultivators who had died were spirit farmers.

Yet to the Yunyang Sect, with its hundred thousand outer sect disciples, such losses amounted to nothing.

Very soon, cultivators became new spirit farmers, joyfully taking over the estates left behind by unmarried victims.

The families of spirit farmers who had lost loved ones hurriedly wiped away their tears and began preparing for the coming Summer Harvest.

As for compensation, there was absolutely none!

"Senior Brothers, I'm begging you on my knees!"

That morning, on his way back after collecting Mountain Spring Water, Wang Chen saw several Guard Hall disciples blocking the entrance of a household with fierce, menacing expressions.

A sturdy middle-aged man knelt before them and pleaded, "My family truly can't produce that many Spirit Stones. When we accepted the flags, we didn't know we would have to pay Spirit Stones."

Beside him, a woman with a grief-stricken expression shielded two children behind her.

Her eyes were brimming with tears.

"Don't try that on me!"

A Guard Hall disciple roared, "Your family received a Formation Flag. The inner sect dispatched Flying Ships and senior cultivators to eliminate the pests, and in the end, it took the Supreme Elder making a move to deal with the Evil Creature and save your whole family!"

"And now you won't even offer up a mere twenty-five Spirit Stones? Where does that leave the senior cultivators and True Persons?"

The kneeling man was stunned senseless by the shouting.

The Guard Hall disciple's expression turned even more savage. "You ungrateful thing! Fine if you don't want to pay the Spirit Stones—get out of the sect at once! Farm whatever fields you want outside; you won't have to offer up even a single Shattered Spirit!"

Purple Mansion cultivators, Supreme Elders!

Forget Golden Core True Persons—even the title of a Purple Mansion cultivator weighed upon minor outer sect cultivators like a mountain.

How could they possibly resist?

The man could only empty out his Storage Bag, then shamelessly borrow from the neighboring villagers watching on.

He barely managed to scrape together twenty Spirit Stones for the Guard Hall disciples.

Many of them were Shattered Spirits.

Then the Guard Hall disciples headed for the next household.

Before long, crying could be heard from that home as well.

From the conversations of passersby, Wang Chen learned what had happened.

A few days earlier, the Village Chief here had collected Formation Flags refined by the Main Hall and distributed them among the farmers under his jurisdiction. Any spirit farmer struck by the Insect Plague could receive one.

Now that the matter had been resolved, the Guard Hall had sent people to collect Spirit Stones as offerings for the inner sect.

One mu of Spirit Field required one Lower Spirit!

Only farmers who had never received a Formation Flag, as well as households that had lost someone, were exempt.

With the Guard Hall sending people to their doors, backed by the names of senior cultivators and True Persons, who would dare refuse?

Of the ten or so households nearby, at least seven or eight would have to bleed!

Wang Chen was not particularly surprised by this turn of events.

When Old Sun had smugly shown off to Wang Chen earlier, he had already felt that something was off.

His premonition had indeed been right!

There was nothing Wang Chen could do now. After listening, he continued toward his own home.

"Heavens!"

Yet before he even reached his front door, he saw Old Sun sitting by the roadside, wailing to the heavens and the earth, sobbing as he wiped away his tears.

At the sight of Wang Chen, the old man seemed to have found a lifeline and immediately pounced over.

"Doggy, this old man can't go on living!"

Wang Chen, whose legs had been clutched tightly, was utterly speechless: "..."

Even when Old Sun had come to him drunk and weeping his grievances the night before last, he had not been this heartbroken!

"Doggy."

Old Sun wiped away his tears and said through sobs, "Do you know..."

"I know!"

Wang Chen cut him off directly. "The Guard Hall sent people to collect thirty Lower Spirits from you."

Old Sun rented thirty mu of Spirit Fields all by himself.

And he'd collected a Formation Flag.

Wouldn't that mean coughing up thirty Lower Spirit stones?

"So you knew already."

Old Sun scrambled up awkwardly and pleaded again, "Doggy, help your old man out. Lend me..."

"See for yourself."

Wang Chen took the Storage Bag hanging at his waist and handed it over. "Take a look at how many Spirit Stones I have!"

This was the Storage Bag he had originally owned, containing only a dozen or so Shattered Spirit stones.

Along with some everyday necessities.

As for the large Storage Bag taken from the traveling merchant, he had hidden it securely against his chest.

That way, even if the Storage Bag on the outside was stolen or snatched away, he would not lose much.

The truly valuable things were all inside the bag within his clothes!

Old Sun was probably truly desperate. He actually accepted it and checked.

Wang Chen's Storage Bag had no restriction placed on it; it could be opened simply by channeling Mana into it.

The result naturally left Old Sun dumbfounded.

"No, Doggy, where did all those Spirit Stones you earned go?"

Wang Chen could not help rolling his eyes. "Can't you see that I'm already at the middle Qi Condensation stage?"

"I rented a Cave Mansion in the city to advance!"

That reason was simply too powerful.

So powerful that Old Sun was rendered speechless. He could only return the Storage Bag to Wang Chen in frustration.

Wang Chen could not be bothered dealing with the wretched old man any longer and left on his own.

He had no intention of worrying about Old Sun.

An old leek.

Childless and alone, Old Sun had rented so many Spirit Fields and spent decades in the Outer Sect.

Though he often went to the courtesan houses in Yunyang City to scatter Spirit Stones, given his character, there was no way he did not have some savings tucked away for a rainy day.

Even if Wang Chen truly had Spirit Stones, he would never lend the old man even half of one!

After returning home, he took out the vat already filled with Mountain Spring Water from the large Storage Bag and placed it back in the kitchen.

Then he went into the quiet room.

Sitting on the meditation cushion, he fell into thought.

Earth Rhinoceros, Formation Flag, Flying Ship, Evil Creature, Purple Mansion cultivator, Supreme Elder...

And the Yunyang Sect's baffling response when the Insect Plague had first erupted.

All of it made Wang Chen feel as though an invisible giant hand was arranging things behind the scenes.

Playing a game of chess!

Of course, Wang Chen did not believe his intuition had to be right.

Perhaps it was merely his imagination, or perhaps he had simply run into a series of coincidences.

He did not continue dwelling on the matter.

If someone truly was playing some grand game of chess, then he was not even qualified to be a chess piece.

Why bother troubling himself for nothing!

His most urgent task was to gain entry into the Heavenly Dragon Vajra Righteous Dharma.

Over the past two days, aside from Tending to Spirit Fields, Wang Chen had spent most of his time at home comprehending this body-tempering technique.

The set of formulas he had obtained included a Great Majestic Heavenly Dragon True Form Diagram.

As long as he comprehended this diagram and awakened Qi and Blood Power, he would have entered the path.

It sounded simple, yet Wang Chen's Low Comprehension had once again left him trapped in a difficult situation.

No matter what he did, he could not comprehend even the slightest trace of the true meaning contained within the Heavenly Dragon Diagram.

He remained unable to cross that threshold.

If the technique could not be initiated, then even possessing the Cultivation Panel would be useless to Wang Chen.

So he wanted to try once more.

"Squeak, squeak!"

Two white shadows suddenly darted into the quiet room, one after the other.

Wang Chen focused his gaze.

It was actually the Big White Rat, bringing along her husband.

The Brocade Mouse that had seemingly gone missing earlier!

He immediately laughed. "You two got back together?"

The second update is here. Please support with votes, everyone—thank you!