Chapter 10: Reincarnated as a Chess Piece, Both Beasts Perish

Beneath her feet lay a crisscrossing chessboard, with black and white mists churning all around.

As far as the eye could see, the white pieces had transformed into snow-colored demonic wolves, their bodies crystalline like ice, stirring up gusts of frost.

The black pieces had turned into green-faced, savage beasts, wreathed in black smoke, their sharp claws gleaming with a cold, eerie luster, their roars capable of unsettling one’s mind.

As Jiang Youling entered the game, the fierce struggle between the black and white beasts slowed. Both beasts tilted their heads, eyeing her—the intruder—with hostile gazes.

A sense of foreboding rose in Jiang Youling’s heart. Instinctively, she took a step to the right, intending to avoid the two beasts.

Yet, with that single step, the chessboard trembled, the heavens and earth collapsed, and the battlefield suddenly shrank by a circle!

The distance between her and the black and white beasts grew even smaller; Jiang Youling could even feel the biting frost radiating from the snow-colored demonic wolves!

Once she had entered the game, acting as a piece, she could not move at will!

As this thought took hold, Jiang Youling suddenly realized that although the two beasts had been eyeing her with hostility the entire time, they had not moved a single inch from their spots from start to finish.

That was it. This place was a chessboard. Since the black and white beasts were manifestations of the pieces, they were bound by the rules and could not move freely!

With this realization, Jiang Youling calmed her mind and began to survey the situation.

Most of the positions on the board were occupied by the black and white beasts, leaving very few places to step.

But since these two beasts could not actively attack her, it meant that a path to survival must exist within the game itself.

Jiang Youling observed carefully, recalling that fleeting glance she had caught before being sucked into the board, constantly pondering where the path to survival lay.

Finally, facing the fierce and icy glares of the two beasts, she stepped forward without flinching!

In an instant, the chessboard changed again. The formation of the two beasts shifted, creating a posture of intersection and mutual slaughter.

A flash of pleasant surprise crossed Jiang Youling’s eyes; she had made the right move!

The savage beast roared, the snow wolf howled, both casting hateful glares at her.

Jiang Youling merely chuckled softly. As she shifted her feet, the formation intertwined, and the two beasts began to fight even more violently!

A large portion of the savage beast’s body was torn away by the snow wolf, while the snow wolf’s ice-like crystalline body was stained with wisps of black smoke.

Jiang Youling ignored the two beasts, focusing only on her own steps—one, two, three!

In the end, she moved faster and faster!

She heard the savage beast roar and the snow wolf howl; the two fought until both were left battered and broken.

As her final step landed, Jiang Youling finally reached the edge of the chessboard.

Looking back, the savage beast had been decapitated, and the snow wolf lay gasping, on the verge of death.

Jiang Youling smiled, stepping gracefully off the chessboard.

In the blink of an eye, she felt the world around her rapidly shrinking. After escaping the chessboard, she found herself transported back to the very hilltop where the Immortal Elder had first announced the examination!

The peak, the pavilion, the chessboard... all were gone.

Only the Immortal Elder, holding an immortal scroll, smiled at her with a kind expression. "Congratulations on passing the third stage of the examination and successfully joining my Taixuan Sect!"

Jiang Youling was dazed for a moment before realizing what had happened.

She had passed the examination set by the Taixuan Sect!

Even with her steady temperament, she couldn't help but show some joy, bowing deeply to the Immortal Elder.

"Greetings, Immortal Master!"

"Good child, rise."

The Immortal Elder smiled and made a lifting gesture, and Jiang Youling was raised by a gentle force.

"The others have not yet finished the examination; please wait patiently for a moment."

"Yes."

Jiang Youling suppressed the excitement in her heart, unable to stop herself from recalling that marvelous experience.

Grandma Cui once said that the immortals possessed a method called "Illusion."

Illusion is ever-changing; with a single thought, vast seas can turn to mist, and with a single thought, grand towers can crumble to ash.

The false becomes real, the real becomes false; like dew, like lightning, like shadows, like phantoms.

It can condense ten thousand miles of mountains and rivers into a single grain of millet, or contain the entire universe within a mustard seed.

What all living beings see is but a reflection of flowers in a mirror or the moon in the water; only what the Great Dao conceals is the true mystery within the illusion.

Perhaps everything she had experienced was indeed an immortal’s illusion.

At this thought, Jiang Youling’s heart surged.

She was amazed by the incredible methods of the immortals, yet also rejoiced that she had passed this great trial, feeling full of anticipation for the immortal path that was about to begin.

Thinking that her father, mother, grandmother, and the others were still waiting for her at the foot of the mountain, she felt that if she could share this good news with them, they would surely smile.

As Jiang Youling pondered, the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.

Just then, ripples appeared not far away, and a youth in black stepped out slowly.

This person was the cold, arrogant youth with whom Jiang Youling had had a brief encounter.

After leaving the illusion, he first looked bewildered, but upon learning that he had passed the examination, his expression cleared, revealing a hint of joy.

Following the youth in black, the third person to pass was Xu Ke.

"Hahaha! This time I should have taken first place... Wait, no way? You two beat me to it again?"

Xu Ke laughed three times, but upon seeing the youth in black and Jiang Youling, the smile on his face collapsed completely.

In the literary exam, he had lost to Jiang Youling.

In the martial exam, he had lost to this youth in black.

He hadn't expected to lose to both of them in the third round as well!

So much for his boasting about being skilled in both literature and martial arts; he was inferior in every way. How infuriating!

The youth in black glanced at him but said nothing, instead收敛 (withdrawing) the smile on his face and turning away.

Xu Ke snorted, too lazy to bother with him, and walked up to Jiang Youling, his tone slightly sour. "Tell me, how did you pass this third stage?"

As if to show his sincerity, he took the initiative to describe his own experience during the exam.

"When I was choosing a path on the lonely peak, I thought, since I’m cultivating immortality and going against the heavens, I should do what ordinary people dare not. So, I chose the dead end to the north."

Hearing this, the smile on Jiang Youling’s face froze; she looked at Xu Ke as if he were some strange creature.

Facing such a gaze, the thick-skinned youth smiled triumphantly.

"You think my choice required a lot of courage, right?"

Jiang Youling gave a thumbs-up without hesitation. "Impressive!"

The youth became even more smug, his tail practically wagging in the sky, though he feigned modesty with a cough and continued.

"After I chose the northern dead end, I started down the cliff, but I was careless, lost my footing, and fell straight into the abyss!"

Jiang Youling couldn't help but widen her eyes, her heart rising slightly. "And then?"

The youth’s face turned slightly red, and his eyes drifted.

"Well... I was so scared that I started babbling nonsense, saying things like, 'I am a naturally gifted talent, my life is not meant to end here, and if the Taixuan Sect misses out on me, it’s the sect’s loss,' and so on...

Later, a crane appeared from nowhere and carried me up."

Jiang Youling gave him the courtesy of two exclamations of wonder and pressed for the rest. "And then? Did that crane send you back?"

"Of course it wasn't that simple. The crane carried me and spoke in human language, saying, 'Since you claim to be a naturally gifted talent, I want to see if your words are true or false.'

After that, I was sent into a maze of flowers, and it took quite a bit of effort to walk out of that sea of blossoms."

(End of chapter)