All Are Chess Pieces

Sunken Chime Mountain, at midnight, the night was cool as water.

Clad in black that radiated killing intent, Xie Xuanyi sat cross-legged atop a great boulder, his eyes closed as he rested, a longsword laid across his knees.

With a crisp "clang."

A clear striking sound rang out in the distance.

Sunken Chime Mountain was blanketed in purple bamboo, and the sound came from a sharp weapon colliding with the stalks.

Xie Xuanyi slowly opened his eyes.

A faint mist filled the bamboo forest deep in the night. This meeting was much like their soul encounter within the demon artifact three days ago.

The two stood ten zhang apart, each visible only as a rough silhouette.

Neither could see the other's true face.

The figure ten zhang away stood tall and straight as a mountain, largely matching the soul image from the demon artifact.

"Did you bring it?"

Yet Rank Six's voice now seemed to come from every direction.

If one closed one's eyes, one could not tell where the speaker truly was.

"Of course I brought it."

Xie Xuanyi looked toward Rank Six and slowly said, "Sir, the Venerable repeatedly stressed that there could be no mistake in this mission... You arrived in Carp Tide City three days ago. Why not make contact earlier?"

"Azure Prefecture has been under an eight-hundred-li lockdown, and Fly Eyes are everywhere in Carp Tide City. Once I entered the city, I naturally had to make some preparations."

Rank Six said faintly, "...Where is it?"

Xie Xuanyi smiled and asked in return, "Where is mine?"

"Yours..."

Rank Six paused for a moment before realizing what Xie Xuanyi meant. He spoke coldly, "The Violet Origin Pill is naturally here. Once I verify the authenticity of the token, report to the Venerable, and complete the mission, I will give it to you."

"You're in quite a hurry, sir?"

Xie Xuanyi smiled again. "Aren't you going to verify my identity first?"

Rank Six's tone did not fluctuate in the slightest. "Verify the token first, then the person."

With that said.

That enormous body began striding forward, heading straight for Xie Xuanyi. Dense purple bamboo in the mist was squeezed aside and tilted, some stalks nearly bent to the ground.

Xie Xuanyi let out a soft sigh.

The moment he saw Rank Six's reaction, he knew... the Demon Kingdom's arrangement was indeed exactly as he had expected.

The spy network the Demon Kingdom had laid throughout Northern Prefecture and Azure Prefecture could not be called a particularly sophisticated organization.

The spies lurking shallowly within this great web actually answered only to a single direct superior.

Under such circumstances.

Whether A, B, C, or D, all were merely chess pieces.

From the vantage point of the chess player overlooking the board, one would discover that these pieces... had but one greatest use: burn themselves out, and then "die."

That was why the Demon Race had never given Shen Yan a specific codename.

In the Demon Race's eyes.

Shen Yan was not a "living" person at all.

If he had not intervened in the Taian City incident... would Xu You have honored that so-called promise? Xie Xuanyi believed he most likely would not have. Once the extermination of Lingluo Mountain drew a thorough Imperial City Bureau investigation, Xu You would have treated Shen Yan as a discarded piece. He might even have acted to preserve himself before the Imperial City Bureau became involved in the case.

Because Shen Yan had already fulfilled the duty expected of a chess piece.

The mission completed, she had died where she ought to die.

Under such circumstances... not dying would instead be somewhat wasteful, and would even drag others down.

Following this logic.

A careful look made it easy to realize.

In this top-secret mission to transport Great Sage Bai Ze's Finger Bone, Xu You, codenamed "Rank Three," was no different from Shen Yan in essence.

All he needed to do was cross the Azure Prefecture blockade and use the convenience of his identity and position to successfully deliver the item into Rank Six's hands.

In this case.

Only one person would receive the Venerable's absolute trust.

That was "Rank Six," who would ultimately obtain the Finger Bone and report upward.

Then, if the Demon Kingdom wanted this mission kept absolutely secret, the best measure Rank Six could take against Rank Three...

Was murder, followed by silencing the witness.

Xie Xuanyi heaved a long sigh. "So identity never really mattered... did it?"

Those words made Rank Six's body stiffen slightly.

Xie Xuanyi lightly tapped the ground with the tip of his foot. The black sword was kicked into the air, shooting forth like a swift arrow and tearing through the wind, its sheath slamming heavily into Rank Six's chest.

Bang—

Rank Six's vision blurred. The next instant, a black shadow appeared before him.

Xie Xuanyi had already closed in. He was even faster than the sword he had just kicked away, and a knee strike smashed directly into Rank Six's jaw!

A dull boom thundered out!

Rank Six's mountainlike body flew high into the air. He stared at Rank Three before him in disbelief.

The Rank Three described in the intelligence...

Did not seem to be like this...

Xie Xuanyi, who had caught his sword again, was practically "riding" atop the enormous giant. He looked down impassively at the Demon Kingdom spy whose rank exceeded his by one level. He had found it strange from the moment their souls met—how could someone so tall be assigned the crucial task of transporting the Finger Bone?

Azure Prefecture was under strict lockdown now. In Carp Tide City, even a mosquito flying in would be noticed by Fly Eyes!

So broad and burly.

The instant Rank Six entered Carp Tide City, he would be watched!

Forget carrying out the mission—even protecting himself under Fly Eyes' surveillance would be difficult!

Xie Xuanyi swept his gaze over the burly giant. The skin covering his entire body was as hard as jade carved and stone chiseled, utterly devoid of fleshly texture. At this moment, streak after streak of azure patterns erupted across him!

Especially at the jaw that had just been struck by Xie Xuanyi's knee—crackling arcs of lightning and fire burst forth and flickered there!

"Southern Li mechanism arts?"

Xie Xuanyi sneered. "I knew it... Rank Six was someone else."

With a boom!

The burly giant roared and suddenly brought both hands together, smashing them toward Xie Xuanyi as though swatting a mosquito.

Wind howled from both sides! Killing intent erupted!

Xie Xuanyi vanished in an instant. The giant's heavy, powerful palms struck nothing, and the force of that clap was terrifying, sending surging waves of air blasting outward!

The next instant, Xie Xuanyi, who had vanished into thin air, returned to his original position and mercilessly drove down the sword sheath!

Though the sword remained sheathed, its killing intent was still brimming!

Boom!!

The sheath pierced through the gap between the giant's palms, plunged into his chest, and burst out through his back. Carrying an immensely fierce force of wind and thunder, it nailed the burly giant into the ground!

"Roar—"

The burly giant controlled by mechanism arts actually opened his mouth and let out a pained, furious howl.

"Hm?"

Xie Xuanyi raised an eyebrow.

Mechanism arts were an unorthodox path that had declined for many years. Within Great Chu, most believed that only cultivators lacking sufficient talent would waste time studying such a useless art...

Thus, the number of Grand Mechanism Masters was even smaller than that of Grand Array Pattern Masters.

Southern Li Kingdom, however, was different.

Within Southern Li, mechanism arts held a lofty position and were deeply revered. Several generations of State Preceptors had cultivated the art of mechanisms, and nearly every Grand Mechanism Master in Southern Li had personally been granted the title "Pillar of the Nation" by the sovereign. It was Southern Li Kingdom's highest honor.

Xie Xuanyi had initially believed that this "Rank Six" before him was a creation of mechanism arts, a pure lifeless object.

But after driving that sword down, he realized something was wrong.

This Rank Six had actually cried out in pain?

A mechanical dummy could not feel pain...

Looking more closely, although Rank Six's skin was rigid, one could faintly see blood flowing beneath it!

This was a living person!

A living person... refined into a dead object!