Chapter 143
The 'Priest' class's deer-head chess piece is a crane-head chess piece with a long, slender neck, wearing a feathered robe, and holding a jade cong or carving knife.
"So those are the more powerful versions of their respective professions?"
Wen Jing sensed the width of the space around her. Although she had arrived in a new room, her range of movement had not increased; she could only move along one square of the chessboard.
Whether by coincidence or not, the three chess moves she now faces—left, right, and up—correspond to the gathering places of three different professions.
After a moment's thought, Wen Jing made his choice.
She moved to the left, choosing 'Warrior' instead of the more profitable 'Craftsman' or 'Priest'.
Who knows what new changes might occur in this deeper palace? Compared to the previous two, the least profitable battle seems to be the safest option—at least Wen Jing isn't at risk of being trapped in the small world and unable to escape.
The instant she made her move, she saw the tiger-headed chess piece's eye glow with an ominous red light as it appeared where the wolf-headed pieces were clustered on the opposite side.
"Whoosh--"
The tiger-headed chess piece moved towards Wen Jing's direction.
But it wasn't the only one taking action.
"Whoosh--whoosh--whoosh--"
At the same time, one, two, three... as if a switch had been triggered, more than a dozen wolf-headed chess pieces next to him moved toward Wen Jing all at once.
Moreover, unlike the previous palace where there was a two-square restriction on movement, the pieces that were further away kept moving along the lines of the board and would even speed up to catch up with the pieces in front of them.
"No? You're cheating! This is unsportsmanlike conduct!"
Wen Jing was dumbfounded. He never expected such a turn of events; no game of chess was played like that!
However shocked she was, she could only move one square, and could not move forward until the enemy piece arrived.
"Da! Da! Da! Da!"
Soon, more than a dozen chess pieces arrived one by one, and then, as if they had lost their volume, they swarmed together and landed at Wen Jing's landing point.
The world changes, on an endless, flat stone platform.
"Roar!"
"Roar!!"
The tiger-headed man wielding a long spear roared, and the sixteen wolf-headed men beside him, armed with shields, short swords, and daggers, echoed his roar, charging menacingly towards the pale, alien insect before them.
This scene suddenly gave Wen Jing a flash of inspiration, and he instantly understood.
The relics of Ancient Wilderness civilizations must be viewed in conjunction with the historical evolution of previous generations.
In this world manifested as a palace, there are chime bells and chessboards.
The chime bells represent tangible 'music,' while the key rules existing on the chessboard represent intangible 'rites.'
The emergence of the ritual and music system can be considered one of the hallmarks of the Bronze Age.
The rules of 'rites' emphasize 'order': pieces can only move along the lines of the board, different pieces move different numbers of squares, and the competition is completed according to different professions.
The original purpose of 'rites' was to maintain the superior status and privileges of a certain group of people.
The first palace contains only the lowest-ranking chess pieces, which can be called 'commoners'.
The chess piece in the palace, including Wen Jing, is a commoner. Since there is no higher-ranking person, they all follow the 'etiquette' of commoners and win by strength.
But in this second palace, there are higher-ranking pieces within the professions.
Under the rule of a superior, the subordinate's obedience to the superior's will is called 'rites'.
Therefore, when the tiger-headed piece attacks Wen Jing, the wolf-headed piece next to it also obeys and follows, breaking through the previous limitation of only being able to move two squares.
As for why Wen Jing entered this place directly after encountering the Deer Head Chess Piece, she now understands...
The sacrificial act of cutting off the deer-headed man's head was probably an inadvertent fulfillment of a recognized rule of advancement here—the exploitation of others.
Therefore, the true way to play this game of chess in this world is not the beast-fighting contest that Wen Jing initially thought.
Rather... it's upward mobility!
Chapter 143
Once you realize the correct way to play this game, things become simple.
"Whoosh!"
Wen Jing darted diagonally forward, nimbly dodging three attacks from the wolf-headed men coming from the front, side, and rear respectively.
Her consciousness, contained within the Spacetime Amber, could detach itself to contemplate the rules of the game, without distracting her from battles in this world. Instead, it allowed her to make new, more adaptable decisions simultaneously.
The next moment, Wen Jing broke through the encirclement of the wolf-headed men, but instead of killing them, he went straight for the tiger-headed man who was a step behind.
The opponent thrust at her head, but she dodged it with a bounce.
Seeing that his spear missed its mark, the tiger-headed man immediately switched to a horizontal sweep.
"When!"
The spear struck Wen Jing's exoskeleton, producing a metallic clang.
The bronze spear was forged to a higher standard than the one made by the wolf-headed man, but it still couldn't match the quality of the one she forged during the craftsman's challenge.
However, in this world, bronze weapons possess extraordinary power, and the power they can unleash surpasses that of various advanced alloys in the material universe.
After withstanding the blow, Wen Jing used the momentum to advance, and suddenly a cold light shone from the pair of forelimbs at the top.
Energy Amplification Method, twelve times stronger!
"Whoosh!"
Blood splattered everywhere as the tiger's head fell to the ground.
Ignoring the other wolf-headed men, Wen Jing charged into the formation and took the head of their leader, the tiger-headed man.
Upon seeing this, the wolf-headed men who had surrounded them all paused in their movements.
"Roar!"
Immediately afterwards, five wolf-headed men charged forward in a rage.
But the remaining eleven slowed down. Although they continued to roar and hiss, their ears tucked back, revealing their fear and timidity.
Upon Wen Jing, Wen Jing knew that his thinking was correct.
They continued their lightning-fast attack, quickly killing the five wolf-headed men who still dared to resist.
At this, the wolf-headed man behind him lowered his ears even further, hesitated in his steps, and dared not move forward.
Wen Jing kicked aside the wolf carcass and tiger head, and took a step forward.
The wolf-headed men immediately took a step back.
"Not considered subdued yet? Are we supposed to fight them one by one?"
Now that everyone understood that the essence of this game was class advancement, Wen Jing changed his tactics in this battle.
Even if she were strong enough to wipe out the entire team, the second palace clearly wouldn't work that way.
Otherwise, even if you rise in social class, without any troops under your command, you'll just be a commander without troops, no different from the commoners before.
So even though she had wide-range attack options, she still chose the most primitive close combat, deliberately avoiding killing the other wolf-headed people and instead choosing to capture the leader first.
Just like a contest of craftsmanship, to win over subordinates, one must naturally demonstrate greater strength.
Following this line of thought, Wen Jing realized that in the first palace, she might not need to kill those wolf-headed people; perhaps she could subdue them instead.
"And once they're subdued, how do you command them?"
Thinking of this, Wen Jing had an idea and then used Mental Link with the wolf-headed people who were locked in a stalemate in front of him.
Because of her [Basic Hive Mind] characteristics, her mental power differs from that of other Awakened, possessing a unique 'command' effect.
"Surrender."
At this point, not understanding is a secondary issue. If these wolf-headed people are not on the same mental energy broadcasting frequency and cannot hear it at all, then it's all for nothing.
When she was learning about Mental Link, Song Zhi explained that low-level Wilderness Beast cannot detect Mental Link, while some high-level Wilderness Beast can, but they also seem unable to understand the content conveyed by Mental Link.
It's just that the rules of this world are special, and Wen Jing's mental strength is also special, which is why she decided to give it a try.
Wen Jing continued, using different words to express similar meanings.
"Submission."
"... Kneel down."
Unexpectedly, the group of wolf-headed men in front of them trembled.
"Clang, clang, clang..."
The bronze weapons in their hands fell onto the stone platform with a crisp sound.
One by one, the wolf-headed men knelt down before Wen Jing.
"It actually worked..."
The moment the wolf-headed people knelt before Wen Jing, the small world vanished, and she returned to the chessboard.
At this moment, eleven wolf-headed chess pieces surrounded Wen Jing in layers, their heads facing outwards.
She felt a special, subtle connection between herself and these chess pieces.
Most importantly, the space she can move in has expanded; it's no longer just one square, but eight squares in total.
It was precisely the range within which the surrounding pieces could move.
"I see. In other words, the more 'retinues' I have, the greater my range of movement."
Wen Jing suddenly realized what was happening, then floated up and looked around.
Then she traversed the furthest distance and arrived at the gathering place of many craftsmen's chess pieces.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh--"
The sound of chess pieces scraping against the ground rang out, and the remaining eleven wolf-headed chess pieces followed under her control.
However, although some pieces can move beyond the basic two squares, they cannot exceed the maximum distance Wen Jing can move, which is eight squares.
At the same time, when Wen Jing does not collide with other pieces, these pieces that belong to her will occupy the squares around her and cannot overlap as they do when the tiger-headed man attacks her.
However, this is not the biggest change.
The moment Wen Jing led the team to complete all the moves, the sound of friction echoed throughout the palace, and numerous chess pieces moved about everywhere.
Except for the pieces on the far edge where she was, all the pieces around her started moving.
Unlike the previous palace, Wen Jing's target, the 'artisan group,' did not come forward to greet her. Instead, they retreated in unison, and two legions led by tiger-headed men moved from both sides, deploying their troops to block her way.