Three Women Play Chess, Three Different Formations

Three golden chessboards were lined up in the open space behind the mountain. The morning light filtered through the treetops, casting dappled spots of light across the boards and making the exquisite little figurines appear as if they were gilded with gold.

Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing each sat before a board, their gazes fixed intently on the unfolding battle.

Unlike a true eight-player match, they were currently engaged in a simplified training mode. The system would periodically distribute a fixed amount of gold coins and random chess pieces, requiring them to assemble the strongest possible lineup with limited resources before engaging in combat.

This was the "Twilight Trial" mode that Yi Chen had specifically designed for them.

Yi Chen stood to the side with his hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping back and forth between the three boards with a hint of intrigued amusement on his lips.

"Begin," he said calmly.

The three of them took a deep breath simultaneously, their fingers dancing rapidly across the boards.

Ning Rongrong made the first move.

Her style was very distinct. After the start, she did not rush to pursue high-star core pieces; instead, she steadily purchased two front-row defensive pieces and one back-row damage dealer, quickly forming a basic "tank front, damage back" formation.

The two Spirit Master pieces in the front row held shields, standing firm at the very front, while the archer in the back row hid in a safe position.

She also carefully adjusted their positioning, spacing the two shield guards slightly apart to avoid being hit by the opponent's area-of-effect skills simultaneously.

Rongrong's logic is very clear, Yi Chen commented to himself. Ensure the stability of the lineup first, then gradually perfect the damage system.

This steady, step-by-step style is quite consistent with the usual approach of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

His gaze shifted to Zhu Zhuqing.

Zhu Zhuqing's playstyle was completely different from Ning Rongrong's.

She abandoned front-row defense entirely at the start, concentrating all her resources on three agility-based assassin pieces.

Her positioning was also extreme, placing them all in the corners of the last two rows, as if deliberately hiding her edge.

She even specifically placed her strongest assassin piece on the very edge, clearly intending for it to flank and cut into the enemy's back row.

But Yi Chen saw through her intentions at a glance.

Waiting for the right moment to strike a fatal blow. This girl, Zhuqing, has completely integrated the combat philosophy of an assassin into the Golden Spatula.

However, this pure assassin lineup is prone to being wiped out early on. If she encounters an opponent with a solid front row, she might suffer a heavy loss.

Finally, his gaze landed on Xiao Wu.

Xiao Wu's playstyle was... how to put it, very unique.

She didn't build a complete front-and-back system like Ning Rongrong, nor did she pursue the extreme burst damage of an assassin like Zhu Zhuqing.

She made only one choice: dumping all her resources into a single warrior piece, forcing it up to two stars, and equipping it with an attack item.

The other two pieces were merely lowest-level one-star cannon fodder, which she tossed into the corners at random.

The warrior piece stood at the very front of the board, lonely yet radiating the aura of a lone warrior capable of holding off ten thousand foes.

A single-core warrior... Yi Chen's mouth twitched. Is this girl treating the Golden Spatula like a Spirit Master duel?

However, he had to admit that while this playstyle was simple and brutal, it often produced unexpected results in the early stages before everyone else's lineups had fully formed.

A high-star core piece, combined with the right equipment, was indeed capable of taking on multiple enemies at once.

"Alright, since you are all ready, let's begin the first round of combat," Yi Chen announced. "Rongrong versus Zhuqing. Xiao Wu, you have a bye and will observe."

Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing nodded simultaneously, their focus sharpening.

"Start!"

At Yi Chen's command, the pieces on both boards began to move at once.

Ning Rongrong's front-row shield guards raised their shields and advanced steadily, while the archer in the back began to draw its bow. Arrows of spirit power tore through the air, streaking toward Zhu Zhuqing's position.

However, Zhu Zhuqing's assassins were faster than the arrows.

The moment the battle began, the three assassin pieces turned into afterimages, bypassing Ning Rongrong's front-line defense from the flank and lunging straight for the archer in the back!

Ning Rongrong's expression changed, but she could not control the pieces to retreat and defend; she could only watch helplessly as the assassins charged her back row. Fortunately, her two shield guards were spaced out, and one of them turned back in time to block the path of one of the assassins.

But the other two assassins had already reached the archer!

A cold light flashed, and the archer's health plummeted instantly. Although the shield guard arrived in time to force the assassins back, the archer's health was nearly depleted, and its damage output was severely crippled.

In the end, relying on the tenacious defense of her shield guards and the archer's low-health output, Ning Rongrong narrowly defeated Zhu Zhuqing. Her shield guards performed brilliantly at the last moment, blocking two fatal attacks in succession to secure the victory.

"Phew... that scared me to death!" Ning Rongrong wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and looked at Zhu Zhuqing. "Zhuqing, you're too fierce! I was almost turned around there!"

Zhu Zhuqing looked at the wiped-out assassins on the board with an expressionless face and said calmly, "The assassin's burst wasn't enough. If I had one more attack item, your shield guards wouldn't have been able to stop me."

Ning Rongrong shivered, thinking it was fortunate she had won this time; otherwise, she feared she would have been sliced to ribbons by Zhuqing next time.

"Next round, Xiao Wu versus Rongrong," Yi Chen announced.

Xiao Wu had been eager to try for a while. Hearing it was her turn, she immediately rubbed her hands together excitedly. "Come on, come on! Rongrong, I won't go easy on you!"

Ning Rongrong snorted. "Who's afraid of who! Bring it on!"

The second round of combat began.

Ning Rongrong maintained her steady front-and-back lineup—shield guards in front, damage in the back—playing it safe. Xiao Wu, as always, stuck stubbornly to her single-core warrior, pouring all her resources into that one piece to upgrade it to three stars and equipping it with lifesteal and attack gear.

As soon as the battle began, Xiao Wu's three-star warrior charged into Ning Rongrong's position like a god of war, cutting down the shield guards one by one as if slicing through vegetables.

Ning Rongrong's expression changed drastically. The archers in the back row fired desperately, their arrows raining down upon the warrior, but the warrior's lifesteal equipment allowed him to recover a massive amount of health with every strike, making it impossible for the back-row damage dealers to suppress him.

In the end, Xiao Wu's three-star warrior tanked the entire firepower of Ning Rongrong's team and hacked down every back-row unit, securing the victory.

"Yay! I won!" Xiao Wu jumped for joy, waving her little fists.

Ning Rongrong, however, slumped over the chessboard with a dejected look on her face. "It's not fair! Your pieces are too high-starred! Plus, my luck today is terrible; the pieces I'm getting are all bad!"

"Hehe, that's called strategy!" Xiao Wu said triumphantly.

Yi Chen watched his three disciples' playstyles and had already formed a judgment in his mind.

Rongrong excelled at management and positioning, maintaining a strong grasp on the integrity of her lineup, but she lacked effective countermeasures when facing opponents with overwhelming individual combat power. Zhuqing was proficient in the burst-damage philosophy of assassin systems, but her lineup was too extreme; once the front line failed to hold or her burst damage fell short, her entire formation was prone to collapse. Xiao Wu possessed an excellent sense for cultivating a single core, but she relied too heavily on the performance of one piece; once that core was targeted, she had no backup plan.

However, these were all things that could be remedied through training.

"Alright, everyone stop," Yi Chen clapped his hands. The three girls immediately ceased their playful antics and looked at him attentively.

Yi Chen's gaze swept across the three of them as he spoke slowly, "I have already understood the styles of all three of you. Rongrong is steady, Zhuqing is sharp, and Xiao Wu is bold. Each has their own merits, but each also has their own shortcomings."

The three girls listened earnestly, not daring to show the slightest bit of slack.

"Starting tomorrow, I will formulate specialized training plans tailored to each of your characteristics," Yi Chen said.

"Rongrong needs to strengthen her ability to handle unexpected situations and learn to find turning points in unfavorable positions; Zhuqing needs to learn to balance her lineup instead of blindly pursuing extreme burst damage; and Xiao Wu needs to cultivate the awareness of multi-core management—don't put all your eggs in one basket."

"Yes, Master!" the three girls replied in unison.

Yi Chen nodded with satisfaction, a hint of a smile appearing at the corners of his mouth. "Very well, today's training ends here. Go back and get some good rest; starting tomorrow, the real training will just be beginning."

The three girls exchanged glances, their eyes filled with anticipation and fighting spirit.