Nameless Domain Arc Chapter 76: Master of the Chessboard (Part One)

Zhou Xuanhong entered the small world, landing upon a stretch of grass. He then mounted his flying sword and sped toward the core of the realm, intent on breaking the formation. Meanwhile, hundreds of Soul-Devouring Insects rose from various corners of the small world, swarming toward Zhou Xuanhong’s location.

“Xu Yuqi, come then, attempt to possess me. Let me witness the prowess of a Void Spirit cultivator—let me taste despair!”

Outside, atop the Supreme Peak, within the ancestral hall of the Xu family, on the altar’s portrait, Xu Yuqi’s divine soul opened its eyes, a smile of enigmatic meaning upon his lips:

“Zhou Xuanhong, I am curious to see what surprises you have for me. Do not disappoint me, or all these years of waiting will have been in vain!”

Beyond the sect, the battle intensified. Large swathes of cultivators fell, even Golden Core masters perished from time to time. A dense aura of murderous intent brewed, far stronger than the miasma that once permeated the small world. It began to affect the Qi Refining disciples, driving them mad with bloodlust, lost in the frenzy of slaughter.

Xuan Qizi and the Old Ghoul from the Corpse Mountain of the Yin Corpse Sect tacitly agreed to halt hostilities for now. Both sides began to withdraw. The Golden Core and Foundation Establishment cultivators managed without much trouble, but the Qi Refining disciples were too numerous and densely positioned; casualties soared during the retreat, adding dozens more corpses to the battlefield.

This was already the third ceasefire since the start of the war. Cultivators possessed extraordinary stamina, but there was no need to decide victory in a single bout. Many tactical arrangements and accumulated experience required honing, so that greater strength could be unleashed in the next conflict.

Within the Form and Transformation Sect, the auxiliary halls sent out batches of pills and distributed them below, while slabs of spirit stones were used to restore strength. On the Martial Arena, Gu Tianyun, master of the Immortal Medicine Hall, together with his apprentice Yao Yao and thirteen other newly recruited immortal physicians, began treating the wounded cultivators.

These cultivators suffered from invasion by corpse and ghost qi, or needed limbs reattached. The fifteen healers could barely keep up. Most crucially, the supply of pills was lagging. Sect wars consumed vast resources, and this one had already lasted six days; the Yin Corpse Sect was waging a war of attrition, hoping to minimize losses.

As for the Yin Corpse Sect, while the Five Spirits Pill Valley could not send people to fight, it could provide immense quantities of pills. No one objected; this was not warfare, but business.

Within Mandarin Duck Peak, Luo Tuan and Xu Yuan recuperated from their wounds and restored their spiritual energy. Thanks to their tacit cooperation, they had not suffered serious harm, and soon returned to peak condition.

Luo Tuan remarked, “Zhou Xuanhong has returned, and immediately the sect master sent him into the small world. What do you make of it?”

Xu Yuan shook her head. “I don’t know. Since I broke through to the mid Golden Core stage, I’ve sensed something unusual about the Divine Transformation Seal. Coupled with what he said to us, it seems he long knew there was something strange about it.”

“Master, Ran Ziyu requests an audience!”

Soon, Ran Ziyu entered the hall, handing Xu Yuan a jade slip. “Senior Brother Zhou asked me to deliver this to you.”

After Chen Yan escorted Ran Ziyu away, Xu Yuan’s divine sense probed the jade slip, discovering a restriction within that required a specific aura to unlock.

“Could it be the Divine Transformation Seal?”

Xu Yuan’s divine mind moved, and the seal in her sea of consciousness emitted a breath; the restriction retreated, revealing the contents of the jade slip.

“Senior Sister Xu, if you are reading this, I have already entered the small world and am preparing to break through to the Golden Core stage. Once I succeed, Ancestor Xu Yuqi will attempt to possess me. If he succeeds, using the Great Evolution Technique in your sea of consciousness, you will become his slave, doomed for eternity. If he fails, I will destroy my soul, and his next target will be you. If you still wish to accompany Senior Brother Luo to the Left-Hand Domain and assist him, then at the critical moment, help me and aid my plan!

As for whether I speak the truth, there is a complete Great Evolution Technique in the jade slip for your comprehension—then you will know what you must do.”

Having absorbed Zhou Xuanhong’s message, Xu Yuan fell into silence, her eyes suffused with disbelief and sudden understanding.

Beside her, Luo Tuan, through divine sense, also learned of Zhou Xuanhong’s words, his gaze filled with astonishment. “How did he know Xu Yuqi wasn’t dead? And how did he know my identity? So that’s why he used the Joyful Great Evolution Technique on me before?”

Xu Yuan composed herself. “Let me study the Great Evolution Technique first. If it is true, I fear I am in real danger.”

Luo Tuan embraced Xu Yuan, whispering, “Don’t worry. You have me!”

“Mm.”

...

Outside the Library Pavilion, Old Mountain Wraith seemed indifferent to the ongoing war, carrying on as always, ignoring the comings and goings of cultivators. He reclined with eyes closed on his rocking chair, content and carefree.

Mao Yishan entered the Library Pavilion. Before entering, he sent a message via divine sense to Old Mountain Wraith: “Senior, Zhou Xuanhong asked me to tell you: lend me your strength, and once the matter is done, I will break the Divine Transformation Seal for you and grant you the opportunity to advance to the Nascent Soul stage!”

Only after Mao Yishan left to brew wine did Old Mountain Wraith open his eyes, a look of resolve flashing within.

“If the future holds no hope, then I might as well fight to the death—what’s the worst that can happen? Death? So ten years ago, that’s what he meant by his words, wanting me to stand with him. Even if it means dying, I will shine with one final radiance. ‘May you live to two thousand years’—he didn’t mean hoping I would reach two thousand, but congratulating me for surviving this long.”

Old Mountain Wraith shook his head, inwardly sighing: This youth’s mind is the deepest I’ve ever seen. This old life, I entrust to you!

...

Within the small world, Zhou Xuanhong spent half a day reaching the outer perimeter of the world’s core. Here lay a natural formation—a guardian barrier, composed entirely of spiritual power, capable of repelling any force below the Nascent Soul stage.

Zhou Xuanhong raised his palm, drawing a circle, and sent his divine sense into it, communing with the rules of the realm. A resonance arose, and the circle grew until it could accommodate a person’s passage.

“Wang Hu, you must be about to succeed. Forgive me, my good friend.”

Zhou Xuanhong stepped through the circular opening, passing the guardian barrier effortlessly, as if he had rehearsed the maneuver countless times.

Indeed, over the past decade, Zhou Xuanhong had used the Soul-Devouring Insects to traverse the guardian barrier many times, mastering the process of entering the first layer of the world’s core barrier.

Not every formation master could accomplish this; it required the prowess of a fourth-rank formation grandmaster. Zhou Xuanhong was precisely such a master, and a unique one at that. While he could not lay out basic fourth-rank formations, his expertise in formations involving space and world laws was unmatched.

For example, the teleportation array he had previously constructed in the Yin Corpse Sect was among the most complex fourth-rank formations, for it involved the laws of space—something only Nascent Soul cultivators could touch upon.

His achievements were inseparable from a decade spent studying the guardian barrier. As a natural formation composed of the world’s rules, it embodied the principle of ultimate simplicity.

With his innate talent in the soul, Zhou Xuanhong constantly used the guardian barrier as a foundation, deducing and calculating, ultimately comprehending the law of space and becoming a unique fourth-rank formation grandmaster.

Beyond the natural barrier lay countless restrictions and formations, obscuring the path ahead. Divine sense could not spread, and a single misstep risked triggering the restrictions, plunging the space into a tide of destruction.

Zhou Xuanhong began to draw circles to break the formations, advancing from the outermost layer inward. One restriction after another was unraveled, but each gave rise to an endless stream of others.

He remained calm and composed, with no sign of panic or unease. His hands moved swiftly, dispelling swathes of restrictions, only for more to appear behind him, engulfing the path.

Restrictions were derivatives of formations, or rather, their foundation. A full formation was composed of restrictions, but a multitude of restrictions did not necessarily comprise a formation.

Here, every restriction was a distinct entity—whether elemental annihilation, spatial rending, or myriad illusions—all mixed together to form a tide of restrictions. If one’s mind faltered, a chain reaction would trigger, unleashing terrifying energy.

These restrictions were linked to the small world itself; as long as its spiritual energy endured, the restrictions would regenerate, continuing to shield the world core.

Rather than a mere tide of restrictions, it was more accurate to call this a terrifying formation with the world core as its source.

Zhou Xuanhong pressed forward slowly, while outside, the sect war erupted again, each clash fiercer and more tragic, though numbers dwindled.

It was evident that the cultivators of the Yin Corpse Sect were in better shape and their wounds healed more thoroughly, thanks to the constant supply of pills from the Five Spirits Pill Valley in the rear.

Thus, plans targeting the Five Spirits Pill Valley began to emerge, and the battlefield was rife with intrigue.

After the fifth sect war, both sides called in various allied forces to assist, swelling numbers once more. Most came to aid the Yin Corpse Sect; everyone saw that the Form and Transformation Sect could not hold out much longer and that the guardian array would soon be breached—they all sought to profit.

Meanwhile, outside the battlefield, the Black Ghost Daoist arrived covertly, joining the fray. With his perfected Golden Core cultivation and the crisis at hand, even the Old Ghoul of Corpse Mountain could not expel him, tacitly accepting his presence.

Yet he contributed little, instead harvesting the souls of fallen cultivators, vexing the Old Ghoul to no end, though he dared not say much.

On Mandarin Duck Peak, Xu Yuan said to Luo Tuan, “I grew up in the Form and Transformation Sect. I owe the sect for my upbringing and cannot forget its kindness. But I will not become Xu Yuqi’s servant. After this battle, I will have done my utmost and repaid the sect’s debt, but I refuse to die at the hands of my own people!”