Time rewound to a dozen breaths earlier.
Deep within the East Sea.
Inside the Dragon Tomb.
Cangyuan was drinking tea and playing chess with an old man on the verge of death, his face gaunt and withered, dressed in a black-and-red daoist robe and bearing winding dragon horns.
The chessboard they used was, astonishingly, a Supreme Innate Spiritual Treasure—the Star Chessboard!
It had once belonged to a Great Supernatural Being who rose to prominence during the Dragon-Han Era.
Later, he was slain by Ancestor Dragon, and it fell into the hands of the Dragon Clan.
"Alas, fellow cultivator, you have won."
Zhu Rong set down his chess piece, his expression numb and helpless.
He had lost the game, and more than just the game.
Cangyuan smiled faintly, set down his white piece, and looked at Zhu Rong across from him. "Fellow cultivator, are you convinced now?"
Zhu Rong nodded. "I am convinced. Fellow cultivator, please wait a moment. Once I handle the matter outside, I will return and speak with you in detail."
"Very well."
Zhu Rong's figure flickered as though frames had been skipped, then vanished after a tremor.
It was as though he had never existed in this stretch of time and space.
"As expected of an old monster left behind from the era before last. Though his cultivation has not improved much, his command of laws is likely unmatched in the entire Prehistoric World aside from Saints."
Cangyuan took a sip from his teacup and smiled faintly.
Zhu Rong's use of the Time Law had already surpassed Taiyi, who wielded the Chaos Bell, and Zhu Jiuyin, the ancestral witch of time.
Had he not been entangled in terrifying karmic consequences, Zhu Rong might already have attained the Dao of Hunyuan Great Luo through his comprehension of the