Young Noble Be Monster Slaying

Chapter 708: The Chessboard

Baize?

Chu Liang really didn't expect to hear this.

The Baize of Mount Shu was a pureblooded ancient celestial beast. It was connected to the heavens and earth and knew all things yin and yang. It possessed supreme divine wisdom and had served as Mount Shu Sect's guardian celestial beast since the era of Hallowed Yang.

It would be easier to believe that the leader of the Mount Shu Sect had done things that harmed the sect than to suspect Baize.

Chu Liang's first reaction was that Caiyi was lying to him. After all, a certain renowned foot massage therapist's mother once said, "The prettier the woman, the better the liar.[1]"

However, as he pondered over it, there didn't seem to be any reason for her to lie in this situation.

But why would Baize do such a thing?

Chu Liang immediately thought of a possibility.

Baize had an incredibly long lifespan, spanning thousands of years. It was likely Baize was not much younger than the Golden Dragon that used to suppress the fate of the Yu Dynasty, and that Golden Dragon had already passed away. This meant that Baize was likely nearing the end of its lifespan.

As an eighth-realm existence being on the brink of ascension, it would have to wait for the fall of the ninth-realm existence. Yet, even after being suppressed within the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda for nearly three thousand years, the Demon God had only lost half of its life essence.

The Baize might not have the time to wait another three thousand years...

Chu Liang couldn't help but recall a conversation that had been dismissed as a joke. Someone had suggested that the Mount Shu Sect should release the Demon God, giving all the Eminent Ones of human lineage a chance to ascend to the ninth realm.

Could it be that this wasn't just a joke?

Then Caiyi continued, "After I advanced to the eighth realm, I felt as though the entire world was mine to explore, but in that moment, I realized just how insignificant I was..."

As she spoke, her eyes seemed to reflect those terrifying scenes once more.

Inside an iron cell within the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, the Demon God's remaining life essence started fighting back against the confines of the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda. Even though she tried to use all her power to assist the Demon God, her help barely made a difference. Only when the white radiance behind her took action did the Demon God's remaining life essence gain the opportunity to move, its fangs reaching out toward the barriers.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the pagoda, Yan Renjie was desperately trying to save his mother, but nothing seemed to work. After expressing his grief to her through the iron bars, he noticed what was happening deep within the prison and was shocked.

As he looked at Caiyi, his gaze was filled with disappointment and shock. Before she could offer an explanation, the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda suddenly erupted with a deafening roar.

This ancient legendary artifact emitted a dazzling white light amidst the combined internal and external destruction. With a thunderous roar, it rose into the air, seemingly on the verge of exploding at any moment!

If it exploded, the blast would surely be powerful enough to shatter both heaven and earth!

They quickly realized this was likely the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda's self-destruct mechanism. If a demonic entity it contained was about to break free, the pagoda would rather explode, perishing alongside it!

Baize was the first to retreat, with Caiyi close behind. As she fled, her fox tail flashed with white light, trying to pull Yan Renjie along. But he broke free.

In that very moment, Caiyi caught a glimpse of despair in his eyes.

All his efforts to save his mother had been in vain, and the person he loved most turned out to be a greater demon who deceived him. His heart must have shattered, and he likely began to feel as though death was the only escape.

The Demon God's remaining life essence continued to struggle against the iron cell, seemingly on the brink of escape. However, at that moment, the white light erupted.

As a deafening explosion rang out, Mount Shu and the surrounding lands shook that night. The tremor was so powerful that everything within thousands of li felt the earth quaking beneath them.

From that day onward, the Mount Shu Sect was left without the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda.

After recounting this hidden past, Caiyi turned back to Chu Liang. "Are you done with your questions?"

"Yes," Chu Liang replied.

Caiyi asked, "You don't want to know how to retrieve the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda?"

"If you knew how, you would have retrieved it yourself by now. Why wait until now to tell me? And even if you did know, you wouldn't share it for free. You would want me to hand over the Heaven-Devouring Bug in exchange for the information. By then, even if the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda and the Demon God both return, the situation wouldn't change," Chu Liang said with certainty. "So you are clearly baiting me with this information. I won't take it."

Seeing that her long preamble had no effect, Caiyi chuckled in mock annoyance. "So, you never intended to hand over the Heaven-Devouring Bug at all?"

"Absolutely not."

If they truly used Tuntun as a vessel to resurrect the Demon God, not only would Tuntun perish but countless innocent lives would be lost. Other divine beings might show mercy to the innocent, but the Demon God would inevitably devour everything in its path to regain its strength.

Even if Chu Liang were to die here, he would never let that happen.

Of course, Caiyi might not dare to kill him either.

After all, even he didn't know where the things in the White Pagoda would go if he died. And these demonic entities had no idea the White Pagoda even existed.

"I had hoped to negotiate with you, but it seems I'll have to resort to other means," Caiyi said, shaking her head.

As she spoke, a cacophony of thunderous wind and booming explosions erupted from outside!

Rumble!

...

After Chu Liang was taken by the two Demon Kings, the Mount Shu Sect immediately mobilized everyone.

Venerable Wen Yuan followed closely behind. As the master of the Great Dao of Primordial Chaos, he had profound insight into the spatial Dao of Distancelessness. With a single step, he crossed the howling winds and even reached the Far West ahead of the two Demon Kings. However, in the vast wilderness, it was impossible for him to track them down, hence why he failed to intercept them.

With another step, he reached the skies above the dwelling of the demons in the Far West, where he saw a steep mountain range that resembled black iron.

This was the Mountain Range of the Seven Kings.

Before this, he had already sent word to the higher-ups of the Mount Shu Sect, urging them to reach out to powerful cultivators from other immortal sects to come and assist him in the Far West.

After all, this was the stronghold of the demon race, home to the seven Demon Kings at the eighth realm, most of whom were ancient greater demons from three thousand years ago. This was not a place he could conquer alone. To rescue Chu Liang, the first thing he needed to do was... call for reinforcements!

But even before the reinforcements arrived, Venerable Wen Yuan did not remain idle.

He sat cross-legged in midair, and beneath him, black-and-white chessboard lines appeared, faintly spreading to cover half the sky. With his eyes slightly closed, his aura dispersed into the heavens and the sea.

This was the Chessboard of the World, an artifact ranked thirty-fourth in the Catalog of the Mortal World's Ten Thousand Treasures.

Faint gridlines spread downward, silently enveloping a range of hundreds of li around the Mountain Range of the Seven Kings. In the unseen depths, a heavy force descended, pulling everything toward him.

However, he didn't rush to act.

After a while, a streak of white swordlight shot through the sky like a shooting star in broad daylight. Close behind it, a burst of fiery light erupted explosively.

"You're here," Venerable Wen Yuan muttered, hovering in midair.

"We came as soon as we got the message," Daoist Yan said as she appeared.

"These filthy demons must have a death wish," Di Nufeng declared fiercely, her phoenix eyes blazing with killing intent. She asked in a very straightforward manner, "How should I attack?"

"Guard me first. I'll set the stage," Venerable Wen Yuan replied calmly as he started forming seals with his hands.

When an eighth-realm master of Heavenly Origin began forming hand seals, it was clear that things were now serious. Even when Daoist Cangsheng activated the East Sea Chrono Wheel earlier, he had done so in an instant.

As his hands formed different seals, the wilderness below began to quake. The earth suddenly split apart, the cracks unnervingly precise, as though they had been measured with a ruler.

The land within several hundred li was carved into a crisscrossing chessboard pattern, with Venerable Wen Yuan hovering in midair, the sole chessmaster overseeing the grand design.

He gently raised his hand and began placing pieces.

Boom!

With a light press of his palm, dozens of barren mountain ranges in the distance and the nearby ground collapsed, leaving only the Mountain Range of the Seven Kings untouched. His power was concentrated entirely there.

With just a slight lift of his hand, this sacred mountain that belonged to the demons would be obliterated, along with the surrounding land within several hundred li.

At this moment, he finally spoke, his thunderous voice booming across the Far West as he shouted at all the demons, "Come out!"

1. He's referencing the character Zhang Wuji in The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber. As for why Zhang Wuji is nicknamed foot massage therapist, it is because...I will not tell you. You can try searching YouTube for vids. Refer to Link. ☜@@novelbin@@