A Pawn Crosses the River: Forward Without Retreat!

"Where's Zhang Caicai?" Ma Feifei asked, looking at the people surrounding him in the nine-square grid.

Now, standing before Ma Feifei are Yun Qingyang, Luan Feng, Ba Jiu...

And that was it.

There are only four in total.

In fact, apart from Mu Qingyi, who couldn't get in from the outside, all six members of Ma Feifei's group entered the Great Desolation Relic.

In other words, two people in their group were still missing.

Lian Yi, whose identity as 'Che' is known, has gone to the other side to cause trouble, so now there is only one left, and that is Zhang Caicai, whose identity is unknown.

"We didn't meet him." Luan Feng shook her head and replied. She and Ma Feifei searched separately, one in the west and one in the east, and they had already searched most of the chessboard.

Upon hearing this, Ma Feifei frowned slightly, staring at the blue dots on the virtual chessboard, and muttered to himself, "Could it be that Zhang Caicai has been eliminated?"

"I didn't do it," Yun Qingyang immediately chimed in.

"Probably not. Caicai Cai is incredibly cunning. I'd believe he could kill someone else, but the chances of him being killed are slim," Ba Jiu interjected, clearly implying that he didn't agree with the idea.

Upon hearing this, Ma Feifei felt that what Ba Jiu said made a lot of sense. Someone like Zhang Caicai was indeed unlikely to gain any advantage over others.

It's a bit strange that no one can be found. The chessboard is only so big, and the lone blue dot on the opposite side has been identified as Lian Yi. If Zhang Caicai wasn't eliminated, then where could she be?

"Thump! Our 'Pawn 1' has defeated the enemy's 'Pawn 2', and we have obtained a treasure chest."

The voice of the Qi Xie came from above again. Ma Feifei was stunned for a moment, then his eyes lit up as he looked at his own 'pawn 1' on the virtual chessboard, which had already entered the enemy's territory.

"We haven't seen this last remaining 'pawn' yet," Ma Feifei said meaningfully. Indeed, our five pawns on the board have fought each other to eliminate one, and three others have been eliminated by the invading enemy, leaving only this 'Pawn 1'.

However, this 'Pawn 1' not only did not follow in the footsteps of its four brothers and get eliminated, but now it has actually crossed the Chu River and killed one of the opponent's 'Pawns'!

Exceptionally fierce.

Ma Feifei himself wouldn't believe it if he said it wasn't Zhang Caicai.

"Shopkeeper, shall we go over there?" Luan Feng asked.

The repeated announcements of players obtaining treasure chests by defeating enemy pieces have already excited many players. On the board, many blue dots have begun to move towards the red dots, seemingly intending to hunt down enemy pieces and obtain treasure chests.

"You don't even understand the rules? Aren't you afraid of getting captured?" Ma Feifei looked at the virtual chessboard, tilted his head and thought for a moment, then glanced at the book "Dream into Divine Machine" in his hand and said, "You stay here and make sure Qingyang isn't stolen. I'll go deal with these invading pieces first."

After saying that, Ma Feifei didn't even take the treasure chest and ran straight ahead.

"Hey, shopkeeper, aren't you taking us with you?" Ba Jiu called out from behind.

"What's there to bring? You guys are responsible for protecting me. Let's exchange treasure chests first..."

"..."

The reason Ma Feifei decided to leave and act alone was because he suddenly remembered something: this group of people seemed to only know his own identity and some basic operations and rules of his identity.

However, they knew nothing about the rules of chess or how many pieces had different roles.

They didn't know, but Ma Feifei did!

He could have seized the initiative by relying on his understanding of the game's elements, obtained more treasure chests, and even eliminated the opponent's 'general' to win the game directly.

"It seems that Miss Lian Yi has grasped some of the rules. I wonder how she knows so much." Ma Feifei thought to himself as he ran, watching Lian Yi still running around in the enemy camp.

"Kakaka~"

Suddenly, the sound of clashing armor and heavy footsteps came from ahead.

Ma Feifei quickly stopped, leaned against the wall, and slowly peeked out.

A taxi driver, clad entirely in red armor, was wielding a greatsword and shield, and was approaching them step by step.

Ma Feifei noticed that a large character for "soldier" was printed on the soldier's chest armor.

This is the enemy's 'pawn', which has crossed the Chu River and arrived on their side, searching for the white side's pieces.

"The soldier's attack range is one grid. I'd better create some distance to take it down." Ma Feifei thought to himself, and was about to navigate the maze to deal with the enemy's 'soldier' when he suddenly remembered something else.

"In chess, pawns cannot retreat, so it's safe for me to go around behind them."

"Yes! That's what we'll do." Ma Feifei made the decision immediately, held his breath, and quietly waited for the 'soldier' to brush past him.

"Crack~ Crack~ Crack"

Step by step, getting closer and closer, Ma Feifei had already pulled her head back and pressed herself against the wall, trying her best to hide herself, while also preparing for a fight if it discovered her.

"Click!"

The soldier brushed past Ma Feifei without stopping, clearly not noticing Ma Feifei.

"Cut, cut~"

The soldier walked straight over, Ma Feifei immediately went out as well. At the same time, an attack command appeared in Ma Feifei's mind and in his vision.

Without hesitation, Ma Feifei immediately issued the attack order.

"Thump! Congratulations on successfully defeating the enemy 'soldier' and obtaining a treasure chest*1."

"Thump! Our 'chariot' has killed an enemy 'soldier', and we have obtained a treasure chest *1."

Two voice prompts indicated that the soldier had vanished, leaving only a treasure chest lying there.

Unlike the treasure chests Ma Feifei had seen before, this one was red and had the word "prize" on it.

"Could the treasure chest obtained by defeating the enemy contain even higher-level treasures?" Thinking this, Ma Feifei walked up to the treasure chest, grabbed the ring, and pulled it outwards.

"Crunch~"

A blinding light flashed, and inside the box lay a pristine white bottle.

"What is this?" Ma Feifei picked it up and turned it around, discovering that there were a few words engraved on it.

"Innate Primordial Qi... what are its effects?" Ma Feifei curiously opened the bottle, and a faint fragrance wafted out.

"Boom!"

Ma Feifei felt his cultivation level surge rapidly at that moment, and he actually broke through to the Spirit Saint realm.

"Holy crap! Is it that bad?" Ma Feifei exclaimed in surprise, squeezing his nose into the bottle and sniffing, but there was no smell left.

"What a pity, I wish there were more," Ma Feifei said greedily.

This is a magical gas that can directly allow him to step into the Spirit Saint realm. Its effect is similar to that of the Book Spirit Stone, and it is much gentler than the Book Spirit Stone. At least, apart from Yun Qingyang, no one else would dare to swallow the Book Spirit Stone directly.

Unfortunately, there was only a tiny bit of gas in the bottle; otherwise, Ma Feifei might have been able to break through to the Peak of the Ninth Stage of Spirit Saint realm.

Although Ma Feifei doesn't value realms too much right now, having them is better than not having them, right?

Put the cork back in, put the bottle back in the treasure chest, and close the chest.

Ma Feifei had sucked all the gas out of the bottle, so there was no need to drag the box away. Ma Feifei closed the box and prepared to continue searching for the next enemy piece.

Suddenly, Ma Feifei stopped, ran back to the red box, picked it up, and threw it against the wall.

"Get out of here!"

"Bang~"

It wasn't very high up; Ma Feifei reached it easily with his strength. Ma Feifei even made sure that a third of the treasure chest was sticking out, making it particularly eye-catching against the white wall.

Then Ma Feifei walked to the red box and wrote a few words on the white wall above it with his fingernail.

"A priceless treasure, given to a destined person; kneel three times and kowtow nine times, and the treasure chest will fall."

"That's a wrap!" Ma Feifei looked at the few words she had written, clapped her hands happily, and then left satisfied.