I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, So I’ll Max Out My Defense

Chapter 942: Chapter 943: Starting with the Heavenly Origin, I Feel Like the World is Mine

The atmosphere on the stone platform became somewhat ambiguous.

A group of cultivators stared at Li Xiaobai and Liu Jinshui with strangely questioning looks, disbelief written all over their faces. Could this crappy thing really be the little Chess Saint? What a joke!

“Can you play chess?”

Wu Chengjue also asked with an odd expression, not believing that the other could possess such a skill.

“Chess Saint, national master, I never joke. Beneath my handsome exterior hides incredible talent, sadly no one has ever seen through my disguise to enter my heart.”

Li Xiaobai stood with his hands behind his back, assuming the lonely pose of a master.

“Pretend, keep pretending. If you truly are the little Chess Saint, play a game on the board and let’s see?”

Blood Soul sneered, not believing a word of this time-delaying rhetoric.

“Since the senior has spoken, I shall humbly showcase a game of chess, please judge, everyone!”

With a calm expression, Li Xiaobai led Liu Jinshui with his head held high to sit on the stone stump.

The crowd’s eyes filled with doubt and suspicion—they actually seemed ready to play chess? Could it be that Li Xiaobai was really the little Chess Saint?

What they didn’t know was that at this moment Li Xiaobai, though outwardly calm, was panicking inside. He didn’t know how to play chess; it was merely a temporary measure to buy time for an escape.

“Cough cough, brother, do you know how to play chess?”

Li Xiaobai whispered.

“Does playing connect-five count? I’m a small prodigy at connect-five,”

Liu Jinshui rubbed his head, equally clueless about the profound game of Go.

Li Xiaobai: “With our tiny bit of skill, how should we face off against the tomb’s master? We should at least play a few moves.”

“Brother, whether we win or lose isn’t the point, the key is we need to run!”

“Do you still have that giant beast and talisman? Let’s surprise them and make a clean break; fleeing is the best strategy!”

Liu Jinshui spoke with a serious expression.

“Absolutely. If we lose, we’ll take the chance to escape under the cover of that silver hook, relying on your Five Elements Earth Escape Talisman.”

Li Xiaobai nodded and replied.

“Can we start now? Stop dawdling. Are you planning your getaway?”

Watching the two mutter, Blood Soul spoke with some dissatisfaction.

“I need to cultivate the right mood and emotion for chess playing, please don’t make noise, seniors.” Li Xiaobai said indifferently.

“Nonsense, the worse you are at chess, the more you dawdle. The Chess Saint just now played two games without even blinking, only resting on the third level. Not like your dawdling, I advise you not to entertain any funny ideas, or you will die miserably!”

Blood Soul threatened with a grave tone, the blood-colored heart in the void still pulsing, and countless blood-colored tendrils swirling at any moment.

“As the previous Chess Saint also said, the first move is crucial—it directly determines the outcome of the entire game. We need to discuss this academic and professional issue thoroughly; it’s normal that you seniors don’t understand.”

Li Xiaobai said lightly, leaving Blood Soul speechless, his face turning from blue to red. He had been despised by a junior, but due to the circumstances, he couldn’t say much, already resolved to make the opponent pay a severe price, regardless of the outcome.

Seeing the increasingly impatient expressions of the crowd, Li Xiaobai knew he couldn’t delay any longer. He stood up and, imitating the previous Chess Saint, bowed to the chessboard and said, “Humility has always been a traditional virtue in our Central Origin Realm. Tonight, this junior boldly seeks to learn from the seniors. Surely, the seniors wouldn’t bully the younger.”

“Swoosh!”

Two small characters appeared on the chessboard: “You first!”

Li Xiaobai breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Liu Jinshui: “Brother, where do you think is good to place the first move?”

“The Chess Saint mentioned earlier that if you don’t play on the star point as the first move, you win. It’s clear this game can’t be judged by usual standards. We need to play somewhere stylish,”

Liu Jinshui rubbed his chin, looking like an old scholar.

Li Xiaobai was at a loss for words. This guy had talked a lot without saying anything useful, all of it pointless. According to the Chess Saint’s hint, he shouldn’t seize the star position as he usually did at the beginning of a game, but if not the star position, where then should he place his piece?

“Place it at Tianyuan!”

An elderly voice suddenly came from beside him, light in tone yet close in proximity.

“Who!”

Liu Jinshui shivered with fright, frantically looking around. The voice had come from beside him, but the surroundings were completely empty. @@novelbin@@

“Do not panic, listen to this old man’s words, you can’t go wrong. With the opening move at Tianyuan, you will feel like the whole world is yours,” the elderly voice continued without awaiting a response.

“Damn, this is really freaky, there’s nothing here.”

Liu Jinshui reached out and groped around beside him, but found nothing. Even if there was a large person who had turned invisible, he should have been able to touch them. However, the current feeling was as if he had merged into the void itself.

Seeing this scene, Li Xiaobai’s pupils constricted. The voice sounded familiar; he thought of a possibility — it’s a characteristic of a Saint Realm powerhouse to have their body merge into the void. There was a Saint Realm powerhouse standing quietly beside him.

Xiao Lao Di!

This was Xiao Lao Di!

By this moment, Liu Jinshui had also realized what was happening and sweated profusely, finding it hard to believe that he was in the presence of such formidable figures.

“Really, Tianyuan?”

Li Xiaobai asked uncertainly. Tianyuan was the very central point of the chessboard. In the game of Go, it seemed that only complete novices unaware of strategy would consider making such a move there. Was it really a good idea in this high-stakes King’s game?

“Place it, trust this old man, for immortality!” the elderly voice declared.

“Then I’ll trust the elder this time.”

“Place it at Tianyuan!”

Li Xiaobai said to the chessboard.

As he said this, the crowd burst into an uproar. The cultivators could no longer hold back and burst out, “Damn, who starts a chess game with Tianyuan? Do you even know how to play?”

Blood Soul spoke angrily, “I knew he didn’t know how to play chess, trying to bluff and deceive us, let’s take him down!”

“Amitabha, esteemed hosts, please calm your hearts. There’s something unusual about this chessboard.”

Monk Pudu had been paying close attention to the moves on the chessboard. When Li Xiaobai made his move to Tianyuan, no mark appeared on the board— the tomb’s owner hesitated. It was unprecedented since the game had started. Could the chessboard be thinking too?

The others also noticed this secret and shut their mouths, staring with wide eyes at Li Xiaobai. It seemed he had intentionally made the Tianyuan move; was there an underlying principle to it?

At this moment, Li Xiaobai was also confused, not understanding what was happening. There was no reaction from the chessboard after placing his piece at Tianyuan?

Suddenly, he saw a thin line flash across the center of the chessboard.

The entire chessboard split in two, transforming into a flow of Yin and Yang Qi, creating a chaotic scene.

A few breaths later, the chaotic atmosphere faded, and the patterns on the board reassembled to reveal three large characters: “You’ve won!”

“Damn, I won just like that?”

Liu Jinshui watched in bafflement; not a single piece had been played, and the board surrendered. Was the first move at Tianyuan really that powerful?

At this moment, the surrounding spectators were also in a state of shock, completely unable to comprehend the game anymore.

“Amitabha, may I ask the host, what is the rationale behind this opening move at Tianyuan?”

Monk Pudu humbly sought advice.

Li Xiaobai stood up proudly: “With the opening move at Tianyuan, the whole world is mine, what significance is a mere chess game!”