Life-and-Death Chessboard

Although he had comprehended the Four Symbols Illusion Formation, one of the Sixty-Four Heavenly Evolution Formations.

The Life-and-Death Chessboard before him was clearly a formation of an even higher level.

For the moment, he could not quite fathom it.

Moreover, the formation was called the Life-and-Death Chessboard. It was very likely a formation capable of killing people.

Thus, Su Fang did not dare try it rashly.

He could only wait until the system's comprehension attempts refreshed tomorrow before challenging the chessboard.

Having made his decision, Su Fang began cultivating where he stood.

Meanwhile, Jiang Chen, who was still trapped within the Four Symbols Illusion Formation, had long since been exhausted. As though resigned to his fate, he lay atop a glacier and no longer struggled.

Another day soon passed.

Su Fang's comprehension attempts refreshed once more.

With the system's aid, he naturally had the confidence.

He walked straight toward the giant chessboard and stepped onto it.

In an instant, the skies darkened and the winds howled.

Cries of battle erupted from all directions!

By the time Su Fang came back to his senses, he was already standing on a blood-soaked, horrifying ancient battlefield.

"Fated one, I admire your courage. Welcome to the Gods-and-Devils Battlefield!"

"The rules of the challenge are simple. You will fight the Outer Heavenly Demons as the commander of the human race."

"Kill the commander of the Heavenly Demons, and you win!"

"Conversely, if you are defeated by the Heavenly Demons, you die!"

An aged voice echoed throughout the entire space...

After hearing the rules clearly, Su Fang realized the gravity of the situation.

This Life-and-Death Chessboard truly used one's life as the wager!

Fortunately, he had been cautious enough to wait until his comprehension attempts refreshed before entering.

Otherwise, he might truly have died atop this chessboard.

"Heh, heh, heh, human, die..."

While Su Fang was lost in thought, a pitch-black, shapeless demonic shadow suddenly descended from the sky and charged straight at him...

"Damn! It's starting already?!"

Su Fang cursed in frustration.

He had only just entered the chessboard when a Heavenly Demon came attacking him directly. It did not even give him time to understand the situation, catching him completely off guard.

"Creation Flame!"

After hurling a ball of flame at the Heavenly Demon, Su Fang immediately turned and ran without looking back.

With no understanding of the situation yet, he was truly not suited to fight a Heavenly Demon right from the start.

Boom!

The Creation Flame struck the Heavenly Demon, but it seemed to have little effect. It only delayed it briefly before dissipating.

Still, it had at least bought Su Fang some time to escape.

"Heh, heh, heh, human, you can't run..."

The Heavenly Demon mocked him without restraint.

Then it charged at him once again.

"Damn it!"

"Am I going to meet my end the moment I enter?" Su Fang said unwillingly.

Watching the black shadow draw closer and closer, he clenched the Soul-Slaying Sword in his hand and decided to fight to the death.

However, just then, a figure suddenly appeared and blocked the Heavenly Demon's path.

"Heavenly Demon! You deserve death!"

The figure barked coldly in fury.

Then he slashed out with his sword, instantly cutting the Heavenly Demon apart and turning it directly into black mist.

Only after finishing all this did the figure slowly walk toward Su Fang.

He was a cold, stern man dressed in a blood-red robe.

"You should not be here," the blood-robed man said.

At the same time, he cast Su Fang a cold glance.

"This is the front line of the battlefield. You should be directing things from the rear."

After speaking, the cold blood-robed man pointed Su Fang in a direction.

Clearly, that was the "rear" he had mentioned.

Having received the guidance, Su Fang wanted to ask for more information, but the blood-robed man sped away without lingering for even a moment.

Seeing this, Su Fang could only give up helplessly.

He could only head toward the "rear" indicated by the blood-robed man.

Before long, Su Fang saw people again.

This time, he had learned his lesson and went straight up to ask.

"Fellow Daoist, where are you headed?" Su Fang asked politely.

The middle-aged man he stopped was startled when he saw Su Fang's face. Then he immediately answered Su Fang's question with utmost respect.

"Reporting to the commander, I am preparing to reinforce the front-line battlefield."

Upon hearing the middle-aged man's answer.

Su Fang was puzzled at first.

Commander?

What commander?

Could he be referring to me?

Then he recalled the challenge rules that had sounded in his ears when he first entered the Life-and-Death Chessboard.

"It seems this Life-and-Death Chessboard has directly replaced my identity with that of the human race's commander."

Su Fang thought, feeling that he was gradually beginning to understand how the Life-and-Death Chessboard worked.

At that thought, Su Fang asked the man again, "Where is the command center?"

"Ah?"

The middle-aged man was stunned upon hearing the question, but then he understood.

"Commander, you mean the central army camp. It's not far from here."

As he spoke, the middle-aged man pointed Su Fang in another direction.

After obtaining the information he wanted, Su Fang said nothing further. After thanking him, he hurried toward the central army camp.

Before long, he saw a gigantic tent shrouded in the radiance of all manner of formations. That should be the central army camp.

He immediately walked toward the gigantic tent.

Along the way, he encountered many cultivators in all shapes and sizes, dressed in the uniforms of various sects.

Su Fang even spotted the attire of elders from the Violet Star Palace among them.

"It seems this demon-slaying war reflects some major event that once happened in reality..." Su Fang guessed inwardly.

Soon, he arrived before the central army camp, where the various defensive formations immediately opened a passage upon seeing him.

Su Fang did not hesitate and walked straight inside.

What greeted his eyes was a massive sand table that displayed every scene from the battlefield in real time.

At the center of the sand table, a battle of tremendous scale was currently unfolding.

Countless Heavenly Demons were surrounding and attacking a group of human cultivators.

The human side had been beaten back step by step and could only defend passively.

Seeing this, Su Fang understood just how dire the situation on the Gods-and-Devils Battlefield was.

The Heavenly Demons outnumbered the human cultivators by dozens of times.

If not for several powerful human cultivators holding the line at the front, the human race would likely have collapsed the moment the battle began.

Even so, the current situation was not much better.

Though those powerful cultivators were strong, there would always come a time when their strength ran dry.

Once that happened and the Heavenly Demons swarmed forward, the human cultivators would undoubtedly suffer a crushing defeat.

After understanding the urgency of the situation.

Su Fang's mind began racing at breakneck speed.

However, he was not particularly skilled in military strategy, and the gap in raw strength made it difficult for him to turn the tide through strategy alone.

What should I do? Su Fang thought anxiously.

The battle at the front was dire. If he still could not provide support, then once the main force was wiped out, this game of chess would truly be over.