Chess Match

Qin Tian nodded. "Senior Xu, shall we play chess?"

He was already obsessed with chess, practically addicted. After returning to Tianren Sect, he often dragged people into playing with him.

He was already unbeatable at chess in Tianren Sect. Only when facing Senior Xu was he completely powerless to fight back.

"All right."

Xu Yan didn't refuse. Qin Yudie hadn't come to play chess with him lately, so Qin Tian would do just fine as a substitute.

Playing against Qin Tian was even more relaxing. At least he didn't have to think about how to hold back.

After five games, Qin Tian left with a hearty laugh.

Every time he played chess with Xu Yan, his cultivation improved a little. If things continued like this, he'd break through to the Sea of Consciousness Triple Heaven in just a few months.

Under normal circumstances, it would take at least a decade for someone at the Sea of Consciousness Second Heaven to break through to the third. Some people would never manage it in their entire lives.

"That man's chess skills are unbelievably awful. Even this great one can't stand to watch."

After Qin Tian left, the Golden Emperor Ant spoke mockingly.

Xu Yan asked, "Do you know how to play chess?"

Asking an ant whether it knew how to play chess made him feel ridiculous.

The Golden Emperor Ant nodded, as if it were only natural. "Master, Little Gold can do anything. Chess is nothing difficult."

It usually acted like it ruled the world. Only when facing Xu Yan did it rein itself in a little.

Xu Yan asked with interest, "But you're so small. Can you even move the pieces?"

He'd never seen an ant play chess. Even if it knew how, with a body that size, it probably couldn't budge a single piece.

The Golden Emperor Ant said proudly, "Moving mere chess pieces is easy."

As it spoke, it climbed onto the board and actually pushed a piece several squares with its head.

It patted the piece and showed off. "Master, how about that? Little Gold is impressive, right?"

"Impressive!" Xu Yan praised it, then had an idea. "Since you know how to play and can move the pieces, why don't we play a few rounds?"

He didn't expect an ant to be especially good at chess. He just wanted to experience what it was like to play against one.

After all, an ant playing chess was a rare sight. Not many people got the chance to experience it.

The Golden Emperor Ant wasn't intimidated at all. "Sure. If I win, how about you buy me a roast chicken tonight?"

It had roamed all over the world and eaten many kinds of roast chicken. But the half chicken Xu Yan had given it before tasted better than any it had ever had, and it couldn't stop thinking about it.

"Deal. But what happens if you lose?" Xu Yan readily agreed, then asked the Golden Emperor Ant in return.

Of course, he was only joking with it. What kind of surprise could he expect from an ant, especially his own pet?

Unexpectedly, the Golden Emperor Ant thought it over seriously for a moment, then said with utmost solemnity, "If I lose, I'll protect you from now on and make sure no one hurts you."

It called Xu Yan master because it was his pet, but it didn't truly acknowledge him. It only acknowledged his roast chicken.

But if someone could beat it at chess, it was willing to truly acknowledge Xu Yan and take him as its master.

Still, it was confident in itself. It didn't believe it would lose to Xu Yan.

Xu Yan hadn't expected the Golden Emperor Ant to say that. Smiling, he said, "Then it's a deal."

He set up the pieces again, and the contest between him and the Golden Emperor Ant began.

One move... three moves... five moves... ten moves... thirty moves...

Xu Yan was astonished. At first, he'd planned to hold back, but the Golden Emperor Ant's chess skills were so superb that he had no choice but to take it seriously.

Even after he began playing in earnest, the two of them reached thirty moves without a winner.

The entire board and all the pieces radiated endless Dao intent, enveloping the shop's front hall. Gradually, their Dao intent surpassed that in the calligraphy and painting.

Even so, Xu Yan and the Golden Emperor Ant remained evenly matched. They had reached fifty moves.

Every move was accompanied by the Supreme Great Dao and the laws of all phenomena. This was already a contest between the laws of the Great Dao. An ordinary chess master wouldn't last more than a few moves here.

Su Jiuer, watching from the side, was completely stunned. Seeing Xu Yan and the Golden Emperor Ant face off was like watching endless laws clash.

As a spectator to this contest between the laws of the Great Dao, she benefited enormously, witnessing the evolution, birth, and extinction of different laws and Great Daos.

Boom!

Suddenly, Spiritual Power erupted from Su Jiuer, shattering a barrier.

She had broken through and become a cultivator in the early stage of the Spiritual Roaming Realm.

But at that moment, she had no time to pay attention to any of it. She watched Xu Yan and the Golden Emperor Ant play chess with rapt concentration.

Bang!

Suddenly, the Dao intent shattered and the laws were annihilated.

On the ninety-ninth move, Xu Yan won.

The Golden Emperor Ant stared at the board before it, unable to believe what had happened.

It had actually lost?

It had roamed everywhere and lived for endless ages, leaving its footprints across all the worlds of the heavens.

It had once inadvertently cultivated a Chess Saint and had also taught a Great Emperor. Through the endless ages, it had witnessed one era after another rise and fall, and had long since stopped being moved by anything in the world.

So it had set up a wondrous array of heaven and earth and wandered the world in the guise of an ordinary ant.

But it had never imagined that it would lose at chess to any living being. It had always believed itself to be the Invincible Being of this path.

Xu Yan was almost as shocked as the Golden Emperor Ant. Today, he'd played ninety-nine moves against an ant before winning—and he hadn't held back.

It sounded like a dream. An ant had actually been able to compete with him for so long, and it was far stronger than Qin Tian and the others.

The Golden Emperor Ant stared at Xu Yan for several seconds. The aura around it deflated, and it said, "I lost, Master. From now on, I really am your pet."

It had originally planned to stay here for a while and then leave. Now it had changed its mind and decided to stay, devoting itself to being Xu Yan's pet.

"Don't worry. You'll still get roast chicken even if you lose," Xu Yan said. He didn't know what was going through the Golden Emperor Ant's mind and assumed it was sad because it thought losing meant no roast chicken.

He was very happy today. This had been the most satisfying game of chess he'd ever played. They had actually battled for ninety-nine moves.

Of all the beings Xu Yan had encountered, the Golden Emperor Ant had the strongest chess skills after himself.

"Good!"

The Golden Emperor Ant shook off its unease and returned to its usual arrogance.

It glanced at Su Jiuer. "Watch closely and learn. If you can master even a tenth of my and my master's chess skills, you'll benefit from it for the rest of your life."

It wasn't bragging. That Chess Saint from back then had learned only a tenth of its chess skills, yet had already proven the Dao through chess and earned the title of Chess Saint.