The instant the vast, ancient voice descended, the air throughout the world froze completely.
That voice belonged neither to the Heavens nor to Chaos, nor even to any of the laws of this universe. It came from the origin of countless chess games, crossed endless dimensional barriers, and carried the absolute authority to rule over Myriad Chess and decree the final outcome—cold, domineering, and beyond question.
Buzz—!
Above the void, the gray curtain of light that had originally covered only this world suddenly trembled violently.
Countless fine gray threads of light emerged from the cracks between dimensions, spreading densely across the entire sky. These threads were distant and boundless, each carrying the same source aura as the chess games of the Outer Realm. They were the power of the Chess Dao, projected across the eternal ages by countless Black and White Jade Discs.
The gray laws of a single game had already been able to withstand the combined attacks of the Supreme of the Heavens and Chaos at its full strength.
Now, the power of Myriad Chess, all from the same source, had converged across worlds. Its overwhelming force was enough to annihilate all resistance.
At the center of the formation, Lin Chen's entire body shuddered, and tearing pain surged from the depths of his soul.
The chains of Gray Runes, which his heart and Dao heart had firmly suppressed, surged in power under the resonance of Myriad Chess Convergence. The strange force that had lain dormant for countless ages counterattacked furiously, invading his limbs, his sea of consciousness, and the very foundation of his being, trying to crush his Anti-Dao Heart and strip him of all independent thought.
Before, it had been a struggle between him and the Single-Game Chess Master.
Now, he faced the accumulated power of countless chess games, built up over ages—and the true trump card of this being behind the scenes, who had ranged across the primordial void.
"So this is your ultimate reliance."
Lin Chen clenched his teeth. Blood kept spilling from the corner of his mouth, and his vision blurred slightly, but the stubborn resolve in his eyes did not waver in the least.
At last, he had fully seen through the other party's scheme.
Countless chess games were scattered throughout the void, each cycling through birth and destruction, normally having nothing to do with one another as they silently cultivated the Dao and gathered strength. No matter how the Heavens harvested them, how Chaos devoured them, or how the common people were sacrificed, it was all for the sake of slowly accumulating the purest source of the Chess Dao.
Once a game was complete and a perfect Chess Core was born, all that accumulated power would be unleashed. Myriad Chess would converge, forcibly bringing the game to its conclusion.
This world was the mature piece that would close the game.
And Lin Chen was the perfect Chess Core chosen to either submit and pave the way, or be forcibly erased.
Whether he defied fate or not, his end had long been fixed by Myriad Chess Reincarnation.
If he submitted, he would become a puppet, slay the Heavens and Chaos, crush the old order, and help the other party attain the supreme Dao fruit.
If he resisted, the power of Myriad Chess would bear down on him, shattering his soul and heart. The game would still end as planned, and all his struggles would be in vain.
A plan laid over countless ages, every link joined to the next, calculating every heart, every heavenly law, and every possible change in the cycles of reincarnation.
Beyond the firmament, the Heavens and Chaos, which had been furiously attacking the gray barrier, abruptly halted their assault.
The bodies of the Seven Supremes, hidden within the depths of divine light, tensed in unison. For the first time, genuine fear welled in their supreme eyes.
They had ranged across the multiverse and seen universes perish, dimensions collapse, and eras end, but never had they witnessed such a bizarre sight.
Countless forces of the same origin, crossing time and space to lock onto a single world; countless chess games resonating as one. This power had long since surpassed the bounds of "playing a game." It was truly an unparalleled might from the Outer Realm.
"Countless chess games... So the countless universes that have fallen since time immemorial were all nourishment for this strange Dao."
A Supreme's low murmur, filled with unprecedented gravity, echoed across the heavens.
The countless shattered universes they had harvested and the countless eras of civilization they had ended had not perished naturally. All of them had fallen into the cycle of chess games controlled by this Gray Existence. For generations, they had waged war and slaughtered across worlds, believing they controlled all things. In the end, they had merely helped the other party clear away decaying chess games time and again, hastening the turn of the cycle.
The Supremes of countless ages had all been chess slaves.
On the other side, the Chaos King's enormous shadow contracted violently, and the black torrents of destruction filling the sky instinctively began to retreat.
A fear rooted in the very source of its being seized it. Even Chaos Power at full strength, unsealed after countless ages, seemed small and insignificant before the terrifying might of Myriad Chess Convergence.
Chaos was born from disorder and should have feared nothing. But the power before it was the ultimate Chess Dao, capable of containing, imprisoning, and refining all disorder—a force that naturally countered the source of Chaos.
"It does not belong to the Heavens... nor is it an aberration born of Chaos."
The Chaos King's hoarse voice carried rare wariness and alarm. "It transcends duality and commands the chess games of reincarnation. It is the true player!"
At that moment, the Heavens ceased their attacks, and Chaos drew back its power.
The two mortal enemies tacitly stopped fighting. No longer attacking each other, they both looked up, staring fixedly at the gathering power of gray Myriad Chess.
They knew very well that once Myriad Chess Convergence fully took shape, this world would be completely refined in an instant—and it would not be the only thing destroyed.
The order of the Heavens and the foundation of Chaos's disorder would both be devoured and reshaped by this ultimate Chess Dao.
Every order of things established over countless ages would be rewritten today.
On the ground, Kallen, Frieza, and Golden Super Saiyan were pale, their bodies icy cold.
Watching the gray light above grow brighter and feeling the suffocating pressure that bore down on all things, they were swept by a helplessness that reached to the marrow of their bones.
The world they had fought to protect was as fragile as paper before the Grand Trend of Myriad Chess.
Their struggle to defy fate with everything they had was insignificant amid the cycle of the chess games spanning countless ages.
"Is there still a chance?" Kallen's voice was dry. His purple battle aura had fallen completely silent. Even the fierce fighting spirit innate to the Saiyan Clan had been nearly snuffed out by this despairing tide.
Golden Super Saiyan gazed at the figure struggling at the center of the formation, then slowly shook his head, his voice unbearably heavy.
"Myriad Chess Convergence is the other party's move to close the game, plotted over countless ages. Outside forces are useless. The Heavens and Chaos can't stop it, and neither can we. The only deciding factor is Lin Chen's heart."
He understood with utter clarity.
The battle was no longer a clash of arms in the world, but the ultimate confrontation between the heart and soul and the Chess Dao forged over countless ages.
If Lin Chen won, the game would collapse, the plot spanning countless ages would be shattered, and the world would still have a sliver of hope.
If Lin Chen lost, his heart would be extinguished and he would become a puppet. The old world would perish, Myriad Chess would reach completion, and there would be no chance of turning the tide.
At the center of the formation, the collision between the golden source and the gray Chess Dao had reached its most brutal point.
Gray runes coiled around him like countless chains, invading and assimilating his soul. The cold will of countless chess games from the Outer Realm poured into his sea of consciousness, continually washing over and erasing his memories, obsessions, and Dao heart.
If he submitted, he could live, wield supreme power, and transcend the ages when the game was completed.
If he resisted, he would die, his soul annihilated, his obsessions scattered, reduced to the dust of time.
Countless cold thoughts kept tempting and crushing his will.
Throughout the ages, countless Chess Cores, living beings, and Fate Defiers had all been forced to submit in such an utterly desperate situation, returning to the cycle of the Chess Dao.
This was an unsolvable dead end, an absolute inevitability spanning countless ages.
Yet Lin Chen's eyes had not wavered in the slightest.
Countless scenes flashed through his sea of consciousness.
A child starving to death on a desolate road in a time of chaos, helpless; a cultivator who had exhausted his entire life only to become nourishment, unwilling; a civilization flourishing in all its glory before suddenly perishing, tragic; the solemn yet selfish choices of ancient sages; and generation after generation of Fate Defiers pressing forward and sacrificing themselves to the Dao.
Countless living beings, generation after generation, had never been masters of their own fate.
For countless ages, every step had been part of a game.
If he submitted today, there would never again be anyone to defy fate.
Every sacrifice, every hardship, every struggle would become a complete joke.
"I refuse!"
A low roar that shattered his soul burst forth from the depths of his heart.
The bloodline power remaining in Lin Chen's body surged to a boil, and the Ancient Universe Origin burned in its entirety!
He held nothing back. Taking his own soul as kindling and his Anti-Dao Heart as a blade, he launched a counterattack against the countless chains of gray Chess Dao.
Golden light blazed, tearing a brilliant patch of radiance through the deathly gray of his soul.
"You laid out Myriad Chess Reincarnation, stole the vitality of heaven and earth, and enslaved all living beings for countless ages, treating all life as grass and dogs and time as a plaything!"
"Others may fear your Grand Trend of Myriad Chess and submit to your ordained cycle of reincarnation, but I, Lin Chen, do not!"
"My Dao is governed by my heart, not by the game! By life, not death! By all living beings, not heavenly law!"
Rumble—
Within his soul, the golden and gray forces collided with the greatest violence.
Countless gray runes shattered one after another, and countless chains of the Outer Realm's Chess Dao were forcibly broken. The ultimate will that sought to erase his heart was shaken violently for the first time.
The crushing force of Myriad Chess Convergence had been held back for one instant by a tiny yet unyielding human heart!
Above the firmament, the gray curtain of light pressing downward abruptly stopped. The power of Myriad Chess converging across dimensions faltered for a moment.
The Seven Supremes and the Chaos King, who had been waiting for an opportunity to act, all froze, their eyes filled with disbelief.
Could a single person's heart resist Myriad Chess Reincarnation?
This was an upheaval against heaven, one that had never occurred in the history of the chess games spanning countless ages!
Deep within his soul, the indifferent, deathly gray will finally stirred with genuine anger.
"An ant trying to stop a chariot. You overestimate yourself."
"I thought you were the most perfect Chess Core in all the ages. I intended to use your Dao heart to achieve the supreme Chess Dao, and leave your source intact. Since you insist on seeking death and defying the ordained course of Myriad Chess, I shall shatter your heart, rip out your Dao foundation, and force the game to its conclusion!"
Cold killing intent instantly flooded his entire sea of consciousness.
The gray power, which had been eroding him gently, turned ferocious and bloodthirsty in an instant. The power of countless chess games from the Outer Realm no longer seeped in slowly. Instead, it became a torrent of destruction and crushed Lin Chen's Dao foundation with savage force.
Shatter, invade, erase, annihilate!
No more taming, no more temptation—only utter destruction!
Cracks spread through Lin Chen's flesh, inch by inch. His golden source rapidly dwindled, nearing exhaustion, and the walls of his soul trembled on the verge of collapse.
He could clearly feel his will being worn away, his obsessions fading bit by bit. The Anti-Dao Heart he had defended until now had reached the brink of shattering.
Yet he still gritted his teeth and held on, refusing to yield even a fraction.
Even if his soul were annihilated and his Dao destroyed, he would bring down the force closing this game that had lasted countless ages, winning one last, faint sliver of hope for this world and its countless living beings.
Just as his heart was about to reach its limit and the power of Myriad Chess was about to devour his soul completely—
Deep within the source in his chest, the Fate-Defying Ancestral Seal, which had been silent ever since it first appeared and had accompanied him through countless desperate trials, suddenly released a wisp of light—dark, ancient beyond measure, boundless, and transcending every Chess Dao and heavenly law.
The light was faint, so weak it was almost impossible to notice. Yet in an instant, it held back all the erosion of the gray Chess Dao.
Even stranger, the moment this wisp of light appeared, countless Black and White Jade Discs revolving endlessly throughout the countless voids of the Outer Realm trembled violently in unison, as if they had encountered their natural bane. Utter fear, aversion, and retreat welled up from all of them!
The power of Myriad Chess Convergence, once domineering and unstoppable, showed signs of scattering and retreating at that very moment!
And in Lin Chen's mind, a strange murmur—older than the ages of Myriad Chess and more primordial than the birth of Chaos—sounded softly:
"The chess games steal the Dao, False Heaven commands reincarnation... At last, someone has brought the Ancestral Seal and returned after breaking free of the cage."
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