"I promised you before that if you could fuse the nine formations, you could directly enter the final test. Are you ready?" Li Yang asked with a smile.
"May I ask, senior, how many levels should there be?" Lin An asked.
There are nine levels in total.
Upon hearing that there were nine levels, Lin An couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. The Land of Inheritance would only be open for half a year in total, which meant that each level would take a maximum of twenty days.
He has now jumped directly to level nine, which saves him a lot of time.
"Please, senior, begin the final test," Lin An said. Once he passed this final test, he would be able to directly obtain the Immortal inheritance.
"Good!"
As soon as Li Yang finished speaking, the entire void began to distort, and in the next instant, beams of starlight swept in.
Amidst the interplay of starlight, a colossal chessboard appeared before us, with 361 lines on each side, corresponding to the number of days in the celestial sphere.
"Young friend, this final challenge is to play chess with me, using formations as pieces to deduce countless variations," Li Yang said, standing on the other side of the chessboard.
Looking at the chessboard, Lin An understood the rules. "I wonder what constitutes passing the level?"
If he absolutely had to win, Lin An didn't think he had a chance, after all, his opponent was Immortal Rank being.
"Young friend, you only need to withstand my attacks for a hundred moves without being defeated to pass the test and receive my inheritance," Li Yang said with a smile, stroking his beard.
"Then please show mercy, senior," Lin An said, cupping his hands in greeting.
Li Yang smiled but didn't say anything. Then he saw a black piece fly out and land directly on the center position.
boom...
As the black piece fell, it instantly transformed into a Nine Nether Spirit Devouring Formation. The dark array patterns spread rapidly like blood vessels, turning into a vortex with a diameter of ten feet, enveloping everything within three squares around it. Any white pieces of power type would be directly devoured.
Lin An frowned as he saw that his opponent's first move landed on the center of the board.
From the very beginning, the other side made it clear that they would not hold back and would launch a relentless attack on him.
Upon seeing this, Lin An immediately thought of three possible solutions.
The first is the conventional approach, which involves using the Seven Stars Spirit Locking Formation to lock the vortex with the seven stars, thus slowing down the opponent's devouring speed.
Option two is quite radical, using the White Piece Heart Burning Flame Explosion Formation to directly strike the center of the vortex. Although it can temporarily disable the opponent's Black Piece, the explosion will also contaminate the landing points of the two adjacent White Pieces in the future.
The third option is to use the White Piece Empty Valley Echo Formation, placing it in a seemingly unrelated corner. Although the formation has no substantial effect, it can record the movement patterns of the Black Pieces. If the formation pattern reflection is triggered on the tenth move, it can weaken the opponent's formation by 30%.
But Li Yang is Immortal Rank being, so he definitely won't give him that chance.
"Let's play it safe, after all, this is just the beginning."
Lin An immediately chose the first option. The white piece fell and transformed into the Seven Stars Spirit Locking Formation, sealing off the devouring vortex.
Li Yang smiled and picked up the black piece again, this time transforming it into Blood Baleful Misdirection Formation, which landed on the small right corner.
As the black piece was placed, a dark red haze rose up, which could interfere with Lin An's observation of the chessboard.
Lin An immediately used the White Piece Transformation Clear Breeze and Bright Moon Formation to neutralize it.
The two sides exchanged blows, and in the blink of an eye, ten moves had been made.
At this moment, Li Yang suddenly changed his move, and the black pieces evolved into the Thousand-Jun Mountain Suppression Formation, directly pressing down on the dense area of white pieces. Instantly, three white pieces could not withstand the pressure, and cracks appeared on them.
Lin An, however, did not panic. Instead, he activated the Gentle Water Force Dissolving Formation he had set up, directing the pressure to an empty space on the chessboard.
At the same time, he took the opportunity to unleash the Heaven-Splitting Sword Formation, slashing towards Hei Zi's energy veins.
Li Yang ignored him and continued to place his pieces, and the two sides made another ten moves.
At this moment, Li Yang unleashed the Heavenly Net Strangulation Formation, forming a pincer movement with the Thousand-Jun Mountain Suppression Formation. Chains immediately appeared on the chessboard, compressing the white pieces' movement area to a quarter of the lower left corner of the board.
Lin An frowned and could only use the Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell Formation to crush the three edge pieces.
However, hidden within these fragments were Tribulation Substitution Rune, which reconstructed a Teleportation Formation in the northwest corner.
At that moment, the chessboard suddenly shone with golden light.
A brilliant touch!
The three shredded white pieces were actually bait; their true forms had already infiltrated the black pieces' territory through the Teleportation Formation.
This also triggers the "Secretly Crossing to Chencang" effect on the chessboard, allowing three pieces to be placed consecutively.
Lin An naturally did not let this opportunity pass, and immediately placed three white pieces to turn the disadvantage into an advantage.
But just then, Li Yang suddenly looked up at him.
Then Lin An appeared dazed, and three white pieces fell to the ground, landing in a remote corner.
Lin An's expression changed.
Off-the-books tactics!
Holy crap, this old guy has no sportsmanship, he can't take a joke, he resorts to sneak attacks!
"Young friend, would you like to take a rest?" Li Yang asked with a smile.
Lin An's lips twitched. As expected of the old monster, his skin was thick.
"Thank you for your concern, senior. I'm fine," Lin An said helplessly.
Li Yang chuckled and placed a black piece, transforming it into Blood Moon Tide Drawing Formation. A blood moon rose above the chessboard, and under its illumination, Lin An immediately felt that the spiritual energy he consumed when placing a piece had increased by 30% compared to before.
Lin An frowned, placed a piece, and transformed it into the Reverse Tide Sea Stabilizing Formation, which finally eliminated the Blood Moon effect.
However, Li Yang did not stop there. He directly used the Uninterrupted Puppet Formation to replicate the ten optimal moves that Lin An had made earlier, forming a mirror image to encircle and annihilate the white pieces.
Lin An remained silent, but instead cast the Karma Severing Formation, severing the cause-and-effect relationship between the puppet array and the chessboard, thus freeing the other white pieces.
Time passed slowly, and as each piece was placed, the two players slowed down their moves more and more.
Even Li Yang's expression became serious, and sometimes he needed to think for a long time before making a move.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
By this time, the two had played 84 moves, and the pieces on the board were displaying formations, attacking and killing each other in a fierce battle.
Rumble...
Suddenly, Li Yang placed a piece, and all nine black pieces on the chessboard exploded simultaneously, transforming into nine giant skeletal dragons that coiled around the chessboard.
The Star-Burying Great Dragon Formation sacrifices nine chess pieces to condense a giant skeletal dragon, with each dragon carrying a different curse power.
Upon seeing this, Lin An pondered for a moment, his gaze sweeping across the chessboard before suddenly landing on a white piece in the lower right corner.
The Empty Valley Echo Formation was something he set up when he was at the thirty-first move. Originally, it was meant to defend against the opponent's Nine Nether Spirit Devouring Formation, but now it has taken on another wonderful use.
boom!
Lin An directly detonated the Empty Valley Echo Formation, causing the curse power to backfire and imprison the nine skeletal dragons.
Immediately afterwards, Lin An placed a white piece, which transformed into the Dragon-Slaying Tribulation-Cutting Formation, directly merging with the Seven Stars Spirit Locking Formation and the Heaven-Splitting Sword Formation.
Seven blood-red sword lights rose from the direction of the Big Dipper and pierced directly through the dragon's head.
Where the sword light passed, all the black stones temporarily regressed into primordial array patterns for one round.
Seeing this, Li Yang was slightly taken aback, but then stroked his beard and nodded with a smile, "The younger generation is truly formidable."