Chapter 1784 - 1380: The Game of Chess! Attempting a Breakthrough!
"The cycles of worldly affairs, the convergence of fate, cannot be expressed in words.
You accidentally witnessed the creation of the mystical item [Dharma’s Heart] entrusted by the Shaolin Ancestral Court’s founder Dharma to his disciple Hui Ke. You’ve obtained a cryptic Sanskrit code, which you believe likely points to the specific location of the apocalyptic weapon hidden within [Dharma’s Heart].
You have triggered the main quest [Source of Chaos]!
Quest Description: The specific location of the apocalypse weapon has been revealed between heaven and earth with the opening of [Dharma’s Heart].
An imminent calamity of heaven and earth may be inevitable and is likely about to occur.
Under the looming calamity of heaven and earth, none can remain untouched, nor can you remain uninvolved.
Quest Content: [Locking the Source]: No matter how you proceed, you need to be one step ahead to find the hiding place of the apocalyptic weapon;
[Destroy the Calamity]: By any means necessary, hope you can find the source of the calamity and achieve what Dharma and many divine monks of Shaolin hoped for but could not accomplish—destroy the calamity!
[Locking the Source Again]: If unable to destroy the calamity, find a way to reseal the land of catastrophe, so it cannot reappear and be exploited by those with nefarious intentions, and this would not be less than a great merit.
Quest Rewards: Completing the task [Locking the Source] will award you with the blessing and support of Dharma Venerable’s great vow, granting you a direct chance of enlightenment akin to Buddha under the Bodhi Tree for seven days, with effects varying in personal circumstances;
Completing the task [Destroy the Calamity] grants the full power of Dharma Venerable’s great vow upon you, allowing you to directly gain insight into the Five Great Divine Abilities comprehended by Dharma upon achieving Breakthrough Realm in his later years, receive a reward raising Shaolin Reputation to Worship, receive a reward raising reputation in the martial world by 1,000,000 points, and receive the exclusive mythical title [Savior].
Completing the task [Locking the Source Again] grants partial power of Dharma Venerable’s great vow upon you, allowing you to gain insight into one of the Five Great Divine Abilities comprehended by Dharma upon achieving Breakthrough Realm in his later years, receive a reward raising Shaolin Reputation to Supreme Reverence, receive a reward raising reputation in the martial world by 200,000 points, and receive the exclusive legendary title [Peacekeeper].
Note: (After witnessing the source of calamity, Dharma Venerable ended his life in madness and nirvana, with great reasons including self-blame and guilt breaking his Buddha Heart, and a significant chance that the source of calamity bizarrely polluted or impacted the spirit and mind, please be sure to guard against this diligently!)"
When Dharma’s Heart returned to peace, appearing on Jiang Dali’s panel was a new message regarding the apocalyptic main quest.
All those supposedly fulfilling Dharma’s desires, great merits, and other lofty yet impractical platitudes were filtered by Jiang Dali’s mind, leaving behind the substantial quest rewards and the difficulty and risks of the quest.
It’s not to blame him for being pragmatic; rather, it’s the reality of the situation.
After all, the quest prompts have specially marked reminders that even Dharma, a figure stepping into Breakthrough Realm and comprehending five divine powers, was frightened to madness and ultimately met his end. Who would dare to get involved?
Moreover, he is not only skilled but also brave, with the resurrection divine skill hidden at the bottom for players. Considering the myriad factors of inevitable calamity, he had to face the challenge head-on.
However, things should proceed step by step; food is eaten bite by bite, the road is walked step by step, and to destroy the calamity, one must first find it. This necessitates finding the monks of Shaolin to decrypt the Sanskrit revealed within Dharma’s Heart.
In the meantime, Jiang Dali has planned to urgently return to the mountain village’s old headquarters, starting to set up multiple resurrection points at various secluded locations, and then attempting to breakthrough the Breakthrough Realm.
If indeed unable to step into the Breakthrough Realm, he would have to settle for less and attempt to comprehend the Dharma of Shattering Void, first achieving half-step Breakthrough.
At this moment, the direct connection to the sky emanating from Dharma’s Heart has gradually appeared in the Jianghu Forums among players, sparking heated discussions citing examples like the confrontation between Black Wind Village Chief and mysterious experts.
However, players are entirely unaware of the ancient secret involving Dharma’s Heart, and they cannot surmise anything from their discussions.
Only the higher-ups of the Four Great Families suddenly showed extreme concern over the matter.
Even a few initially sent to Han Country’s Ten Thousand Great Mountains, ready for a high-profile debut, suddenly halted their advance, being urgently summoned offline to convene the Supreme Alliance’s highest meeting, seemingly knowing some inner reasons regarding Dharma’s Heart enlightenment.
It is unknown.
At this moment near the Sky, as the Holy Dynasty Regent King intervened, a catastrophe in the Sky’s Calamity is surprisingly averted.
Yet the bizarrely-statused Guang Chengzi was forcibly sealed within the Sky. His previous reckless breakthrough succeeded in re-manifesting the Qi Mechanism to this world, allowing a trace of unnoticed Primordial Spirit Fragment to escape, shrouded by ancient techniques and intense battles, silently fleeing from the Sky, destination unknown.
Originally under the situation which should have shocked the Regent King into action, this kind of elementary mistake absolutely should not have happened.
But the cleverness lay in when the Regent King’s fragment arrived, a streak of white light appeared ’just in time’ at the base of the twisted honeycombed space deep within the Sky.
The white light seemed to pierce through the base of the space, as if suddenly poking Heaven’s backside, abruptly alerting the ’Heaven’ at the central to awaken from unconsciousness, causing the Qi Mechanism to wildly surge, resulting in chain reaction with the Qi Mechanism of the Holy Dynasty Emperor.
This shock caused both the Regent King and Dugu Qiubai to be distracted, while Guang Chengzi seemed to have long anticipated this scenario, easily shrouded his trace of fragment to escape from the tightly sealed Sky.
It turns out this was Guang Chengzi’s so-called ’walking out of the Sky’!
Regardless of the Regent King or Dugu Qiubai seemingly resealing Guang Chengzi within the Sky.
In reality, it was Guang Chengzi, whose ancient chess moves prevailed in this game.
...
Chess.
Chess game.
Pieces and board constitute one complex chessboard after another.
Some chess games are puzzles that elude solution throughout one’s life, while others are lost from the very first move.
Experts seem to enjoy the game of chess!
Jiang Dali considers himself not an expert, merely a coarse man.
When faced with incomprehensible chess games or difficult moves, he only makes two simple choices: elegantly crush the chess pieces or rudely overturn the board.
Yet, whether he crushes the pieces or overturns the board, it requires sufficient power.
Now he continues to accumulate strength.
It is already the fourth day since the opening of Dharma’s Heart.
After bidding farewell to Dongfang Bubai in Ying Country, he immediately rushed back to his lair.
In recent days, he traveled between Song, Ming, and Tang Countries, setting multiple resurrection points at the Ming Country Palace, Tang Country Yin Gui Sect Secret Room, and Song Country West Lake Leifeng Tower Base.
Actually, there are other regions fit for setting resurrection points.
For example, the intricate depths of Lingyun Cave or the top of Heaven Mountain in Divine Martial Country and Snow God Mountain in Qin State.
However, while these areas are sufficiently hidden and high atop cold peaks, they each hold some latent risk of secrets being exposed.
Lingyun Cave contains Emperor Huang’s Tomb, relics of past masters like Nie Ying, the Ten Strongest Martial Artists, Da Fantian, and other powerful figures. If some old monster suddenly revived upon his resurrection, it would be a shocking surprise. Similarly, Divine Martial Country with numerous formidable figures and Qin State overseen by Qin Shi Huang are akin.
Though Jiang Dali appears coarse and careless, he is as meticulous as possible, pondering thoroughly and ensuring all safety measures before heading to Divine Martial Country’s Unrivaled City on this day, preparing for the last phase of attempting to break into the Breaking Realm.
He chose Unrivaled City because beneath it lies Guan Gong’s First-class Divine Weapon Azure Dragon Crescent Moon Saber, a formidable Qi Mechanism safeguarding it, a peerless site for breakthrough.
Additionally, Nie Feng and Bu Jingyun with Fengyun’s Fate were summoned to his side, using their Fate for protection.
Moreover, residing in Unrivaled City is Sword Master Dugu Jian, whose Primordial Spirit rests inside Guang Chengzi’s body...
In case any emergency occurs, assistance is within reach.
Then dusk approached.
Jiang Dali stood immovable as a mountain, seated atop the ancient walls of Unrivaled City, facing a roughly three feet wide, over one and a half yards tall giant iron pillar connecting to the underground.
The pillar, incapable of being chopped down or melted, remains from the time of the city’s construction, engraved with two square feet large characters—Martial Saint!
"Martial Saint... come to think of it, is City Toppling Love essentially a Martial Arts Divine Power of Shattering Void, or another seemingly unrelated Martial Arts?"
Jiang Dali pondered softly, gazing towards the distant eastern sky and the merging point with far-off mountains, nurturing an ochre sphere, awaiting the right moment.
He guarded his Spirit Platform, his spirit gradually silent, entering a state of Primordial Heart Realm.
Between heaven and earth, the breeze stopped, filling distant mountains like a milky mist that slowly, slowly settled with the twilight.
The sky dimmed blue, Earth’s Qi Mechanism remained tranquil.
Just then, Jiang Dali began naturally attempting a breakthrough.
On his interface, during these days, billions of Cultivation Points accumulated and instantly consumed, causing the progress bar representing the Martial Arts Realm to leap forward, nearly breaching the boundary of the Breaking Realm.
In that moment, a fierce, oppressive aura suddenly condensed on Jiang Dali’s daunting body like a Demon God.
His disheveled black hair shot up as if drawn by static electricity, eerily levitating, suspending in mid-air, his body’s aura yet to erupt, compressing the surrounding air into chaos.
Simultaneously, his Qi-Blood and Inner Strength began crazily fluctuating, as if recklessly probing the edge of danger.
Buzz!!—
The once peaceful Earth’s Qi Mechanism suddenly turned chaotic like a boiling pot.
—Wow!!
In the distant forest, a large flock of just-returned birds suddenly took flight, scrambling skyward, their wings cutting through the sky, numerous branches and wild wind stirred between the forests, harmonizing with discordant waves...
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(Drank some wine! Just finished writing this extra update late at night! Not easy, begging for a monthly ticket!)
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