Library of Heaven’s Path - Chapter 2139

“God King?”

Zhang Xuan suddenly understood.

After reading countless books, Xiao Chen had gained a certain understanding of this level of strength. Sovereign Emperors rarely appeared, and no one had ever seen them.

It was the Conferred God Kings who wielded absolute power in the world.

There were no more than thirty experts of this level in the Nine Heavens. On average, each faction had about three.

Next was the God King Stage, with more than a hundred points.

In total, each region had about ten people. Therefore, this kind of strength could be said to be standing at the peak of the God World!

Even a high-tier Celestial God would be powerless against such a powerful expert, let alone a low-tier Celestial God!

With just a thought, he would probably be reduced to ashes.

With such a person backing them up, no one would really dare to cause trouble for some middle-grade Divine Essence Pills.

“No one knows his name. All we know is that he has three snow-white beards. That’s why he’s called the Three Bearded Daoist! He lives in a place not far from the west of the city. If you want to find him, I can take you there! ”

Qi Ling-er replied.

Even though Dusklight City was not under her management, she was very familiar with the information she gathered.

“Bring me there!” Zhang Xuan nodded.

If the contenders for the position of the City Lord were only at the low-tier Celestial God realm, given his current cultivation, he would still be able to put up a fight. However, Zhang Xuan was only at high-tier God realm primary stage at the moment. He was still a distance away from reaching pinnacle. If he were to encounter an expert of that caliber, he would not have much confidence in his chances.

Previously, he had stopped cultivating because the Inferior Grade Divine Essence Pills were no longer effective. Now that he was here, he naturally had to find suitable medicinal herbs to raise his cultivation.

The Three Bearded Daoist’s residence wasn’t too far away. After walking for an hour, the group saw a thatched hut with a small courtyard. It stood out from the surrounding tall buildings.

In a city where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold, such a large courtyard wasn’t demolished, just like some courtyard houses in the capital. Just this point alone was enough to deter countless hungry people who came looking for trouble.

Before he could reach it, a voice sounded in the courtyard.

“Senior, your chess skills are brilliant. I’m far from being your match!”

“Even though there are a few moves that you made poorly, overall, you are still not too bad. If you work hard in the future, you should have a chance to surpass me …”

An old voice rang out.

“Thank you for your guidance, Senior …”

Creak!

The doors to the courtyard opened and a young man with a jade-like face walked out. His face was filled with vexation and frustration, and his attendant followed behind him. With a flicker, he walked past Zhang Xuan and the others before disappearing into the long alleys of Dusklight City.

“Due to Senior Sanxu’s incredible chess skills, there are quite a few people who come to challenge him every day. He should be one of them!”

She walked up to the door and said, “Qi Ling-er of the Qi Clan of Royal City is here to pay a visit to Elder Sanxu. I hope that you can meet me!”

“What seven or eight clans? It has nothing to do with me. I don’t want to see him either. Let’s go back! ”

The old man’s voice sounded again.

“Senior, please don’t decline. I’m not using the Qi Clan to oppress you. I’m just here to pay a visit. I have a request to make! Elder, I hope that you can meet me … “Qi Ling-er was stunned for a moment before she hurriedly replied.

If it had been anyone else, they would have rushed over immediately for fear of offending the Qi Clan. Yet, the young man before them rejected the offer directly, not afraid of offending anyone at all. His temper sure was weird.

However, as powerful as the Qi Clan was, they were not in Royal City. On top of that, they could not possibly blame the Qi Clan over such a small matter. Even if the young man had rejected the offer, there was nothing he could have done.

“I’m just an idle person. I don’t have much capability, so there’s no way I’ll be of any help to you.

I’ll pass … “The old man in the courtyard seemed to be unwilling to offend the Qi Clan.

Qi Ling-er frowned in displeasure.

Just as he was about to continue speaking, Zhang Xuan suddenly waved his hands and said, “Elder, I am Zhang Xuan. I am an unaffiliated cultivator, and I am quite knowledgeable in chess. I would like to have a match with you, and may I know if that’s possible?”

“You are skilled in chess as well?” The old man seemed to be tempted by Zhang Xuan’s words, but he still said, “I have already played three rounds for the day. Come back tomorrow.”

“Three rounds?”

“I am a chess fanatic, but in order to prevent any delays, I will only play three rounds a day. That young man from earlier is the last round of the day. If you wish to play another round with me, come back tomorrow!”

The old man said.

“It’s too late tomorrow. I might have to leave Dusklight City today …” Zhang Xuan shook his head.

There was no way he would be willing to wait for an entire day to get here.

“What does that have to do with me?” the old man harrumphed coldly, as if he couldn’t be bothered to meet Zhang Xuan.

“Elder, there’s no need to be in such a hurry to speak. Since it’s a game of chess, there’s bound to be a winner and a loser. Why don’t we make a bet?”

Zhang Xuan was not in a hurry. With a smile, he said, “I am confident in my chess skills, and there aren’t many people in the world who can defeat me. How about this? As long as you can defeat me, I’ll agree to a single request of yours. As long as it doesn’t go against the rules, I’ll agree to any request of yours. Of course, if I can defeat you, I’ll make a request of yours as well. What do you say? ”

“Any request?” The old man frowned, not expecting Zhang Xuan to be so haughty.

“That’s right!” Zhang Xuan nodded.

“I want the tamed beast behind you,” the old man said.

Even though the other party hadn’t come out yet, he had already seen Zhang Jia standing behind Zhang Xuan and recognized him.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have chatted with a young man for so long.

“My apologies, but even though he’s my pet, he’s also my brother and friend. I can’t use him as a wager, so I’ll have to trouble you to change your request!” Zhang Xuan waved his hand.

“Master …” Zhang Jia’s eyes reddened.

It had thought that its master would use it as a wager, and that the other party was just a tamed beast … Who could have thought that the other party would actually say such words?

To think that its master would treat it as a friend and brother instead of a pet …

In the future, it would be willing to go through fire and water for the other party.

“Oh?” The old man didn’t expect Zhang Xuan to respond in such a manner, and he was taken aback for a moment before replying, “Then you don’t have anything that I want on you, so there’s no need for us to make a wager!”

“You don’t have anything that you want? That might not be the case! ”

Zhang Xuan chuckled softly. With a flick of his finger, an illusory image appeared before him. In the illusory image, a figure was standing beside a cauldron, forging pills. His fingers were moving swiftly, and his movements were extremely profound.

With a hook of his finger, the illusory image vanished, as if it had never appeared in the first place. “Elder, since you specialize in pill forging, may I know if you are interested in my pill forging technique?”

“Your pill forging technique …”

The old man’s voice was filled with astonishment.

While others might not have been able to tell much about the illusory image, as someone who was proficient in pill forging, he could tell with a single glance that it harnessed an extremely profound pill forging technique, one that was many times more profound than his own.

“Come in!”

A moment later, ‘jiya!’, the doors to the courtyard opened.

An old servant walked up and gestured for Zhang Xuan to enter.

With a smile, Zhang Xuan led the way in, and Qi Ling-er and the others followed closely behind him.

Through the books he had read, he knew that the pill forging technique of the Firmament was similar to that of the Master Teacher Continent. With his vast knowledge, even in the Master Teacher Continent, his pill forging technique had reached the pinnacle.

The courtyard wasn’t too big, and there was an old man seated before a stone table at the very center of the courtyard. His beard fluttered in the wind, giving him the air of a sage.

“Let’s begin!”

Without bothering with words, the old man picked up a chess piece and stared at the chessboard without raising his head.

He didn’t mention anything about the wager or the pill forging technique anymore.

With a smile, Zhang Xuan walked up to the table, but just as he was about to sit down, he suddenly froze for a moment, and a frown formed on his forehead.

When he heard that it was a game of chess, he had thought that it would be the same as the one on the Master Teacher Continent.

He had read countless books on chess on the Master Teacher Continent, and there was no doubt that it was one of the top chess techniques there. However, the way he played the game was different as well. If he did not know the rules, how was he supposed to win?

“What’s wrong?”

Seeing that Zhang Xuan had stopped, the old man frowned.

“Elder, please wait a moment. Not only do I love chess, I love it as much as my life. Playing chess with an expert is a sacred matter, so I can’t afford to be careless. I need to calm my heart and pray to the gods first!”

With a smile, Zhang Xuan’s face remained calm, and his breathing remained steady.

Hearing those words, the nonchalant expression on the old man’s face suddenly turned grave, and a hint of approval surfaced in his eyes.

The more skilled one was in chess, the more respectful one would be toward one’s opponent.

It was truly rare for the young man to possess such a state of mind at such a young age.

With a smile, Zhang Xuan closed his eyes and pretended to be praying. However, he was actually sending a telepathic message to Qi Ling-er and Zhang Jia.

“Do any of you know the rules of chess?”

“???” Qi Ling-er and Zhang Jia.

It was just a moment ago that the other party was confident in his chess skills, but in the end, he did not even know the rules?

Even if he knew the rules now, it was already too late!

This was especially so for Zhang Jia. At this moment, he felt as if he was on the verge of collapsing.

He had rushed over to make a bet with the other party, thinking that there was nothing that his master was incapable of doing, but in the end … he actually asked the other party what the rules were?

Do you really think that you can beat the chess master in front of you after asking the question and having not played a single game?

As a celestial beast, it rarely dabbled in the art of chess that humans used. However, when it was bored on the mountain, it would still study the game a little.

The game that the Three Bearded Daoist was playing was the Luoshen Chess, which was commonly used in the Firmament. It was many times more complicated than ordinary chess.

While the way of playing the game was simple, one’s technique was very important. It was a huge test of one’s intelligence and talent.

There were some people who only possessed average chess skills throughout their entire lives.

In fact, there were even some God Kings who possessed average chess skills.

Considering how the old man was able to render all of the experts in the city helpless, it was not hard to imagine just how skilled he was.

To challenge the other party without even knowing the rules, not to mention placing such a huge bet …

Can you not be so agitated?

After a moment of speechlessness, Qi Ling-er sent a telepathic message over to Zhang Xuan. “The rules of this game are …”

It did not take long for Zhang Xuan to explain the rules.

The rules were simple, but the variations were endless. A skilled chess player would be able to see through dozens of moves, and every single move would be followed up with an endless back-up.

If one did not understand the rules, even if they knew the rules, they would still be crushed easily.

“I see.”

Paying no heed to the Three Bearded Daoist’s frustration, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief.

It was fortunate that the rules were easy to understand, or else he would really be at a loss if he had to learn it on the spot.

“Can we begin now?”

A moment later, the Three Bearded Daoist saw that the young man before him was done praying, so he turned to look at Zhang Xuan of the Three Bearded Daoist.