Venerable Supreme of Myriad Dragons

Instantly, Luo An's eyes widened in disbelief. "Yang, you don't know how to play chess?! Our lives are in your hands right now!"

He struggled desperately, trying to flee.

'Luo An is a pawn now, meant to charge the enemy lines. He'll be the first one to die!'

Facing the ferocious, six-armed stone statue, Luo An tried to run for it, but his feet were bound tight. There was no escape.

Chu Guifeng froze for a moment before blurting out, "Wait, I think we can talk this over!"

Beside him, Ma Wan nodded hurriedly. "That's right! That's right!"

Tao Ying chimed in as well, "Exactly. We may not be able to move, but we can still discuss the strategy and play together."

But as they spoke, Shen Daoxing had already slowly raised his hand.

Seeing this, Luo An jumped in fright and exclaimed, "Yang, our lives are depending on you! You can't do something reckless!"

Hearing this, Shen Daoxing didn't pause.

However, his hand didn't fall upon the chessboard. Instead, he simply pointed forward.

"ZZZZT!"

All of a sudden, the Great Ming Demon Sparrow rose into the air and shot forward with lightning speed, too fast for the eye to follow.

All the others saw was a black arc of electricity flashing through the stone chamber, seemingly warping space itself.

"BOOM!"

A massive crash echoed.

The Celestial Demon Stone Statue on the other side had been sliced in two, cut straight from its shoulder down to its abdomen. It then crashed to the ground with a thunderous roar, shattering into fragments.

After the Celestial Demon Stone Statue collapsed, the light from the chessboard on the floor flickered and vanished. The stone chess pieces on it instantly crumbled to dust.

Everyone felt the force binding their feet suddenly disappear, and their freedom of movement was restored.

"!!!"

Chu Guifeng.

"!!!"

Ma Wan.

"!!!"

Luo An.

"!!!"

Tao Ying.

Shen Daoxing glanced calmly at the shattered Celestial Demon Stone Statue.

'Since it was the king piece, and the opposing king is now dead, I've won the game.' Shen Daoxing never bothered with convoluted methods. If a problem could be solved with absolute power, he wouldn't waste time on anything else.

"It was that simple!"

Luo An stood there stunned, his eyes on the shattered Celestial Demon Stone Statue, unable to process what had just happened. Then, remembering the ferocious statue from moments before, he heaved a sigh of relief. 'It's great to be alive.'

Tao Ying was also dumbfounded. 'I was too constrained by conventional logic,' she suddenly realized. 'Since this is a Celestial Demon chess game, why would it follow ordinary rules?'

Tao Ying couldn't help but smile, her admiration for Shen Daoxing growing even deeper.

"RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!"

At that moment, the sound of a moving stone wall echoed through the chamber.

Shen Daoxing and the others looked ahead to see one of the chamber's walls slowly sliding open. It revealed a massive stone door, identical to the one they had entered through. The word "Trial" was still carved upon it, indicating they had passed the test.

Seeing this, Luo An was overjoyed and rushed forward.

But just as he was about to push the door, he stopped. He remembered how he had just rushed ahead, becoming a sacrificial pawn and nearly getting killed.

Luo An quickly backed away and didn't dare move forward again.

Shen Daoxing smiled faintly, stepped forward, and placed his hands on the stone door to push.

"RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!"

The massive door scraped against the ground as it opened.

The stone door opened.

Immediately, Shen Daoxing felt an incomparably scorching heat wash over him.

He looked up to see a vast sea of fire stretching out before him.

Before anyone could react, a powerful suction force erupted from the doorway, pulling all of them inside in an instant.

Shen Daoxing's surroundings blurred. When his vision cleared, he found himself standing on scorched, black earth, a searing pain prickling his skin.

Shen Daoxing looked ahead and saw a massive, blazing volcano. The landscape had changed completely; now there was only a seemingly endless expanse of scorched black earth.

The massive stone door they had come through was nowhere to be seen.

The entire space felt like a giant steamer, scorching hot. Even though Shen Daoxing's body had been tempered multiple times and could withstand temperatures far beyond what an ordinary person could endure, he still began to sweat profusely.

"Big brother, it's hot!"

A small, childish voice suddenly cried out.

Shen Daoxing followed the sound and saw Xin in Elder Mu's arms. The child was dazed, his face flushed bright red, and heat seemed to be radiating from his small body.

Shen Daoxing quickly touched the boy's forehead. It was scorching hot, like a burning piece of coal.

Shen Daoxing hastily circulated the Spiritual Power within him, slowly infusing it into Xin's body to help him resist the intense heat.

Xin's complexion improved slightly, but his face remained red.

Shen Daoxing didn't dare channel too much Spiritual Power into him, because Xin was, after all, just an ordinary child.

Although Elder Mu had taught him some basic cultivation techniques, Xin had focused more on the art of Artifact Refining. His cultivation was only at the second level of the Enlightenment stage; one might as well say he had no cultivation at all.

If Shen Daoxing sent too much Spiritual Power, the boy's body would simply burst.

It was then that Shen Daoxing realized just how hard it must have been for Xin. 'He's just an ordinary child, following me on the run into one dangerous place after another. It's really too much for him.'

Yet, Xin hadn't uttered a single word of complaint the entire time, a testament to how well-behaved he was.

'Looks like after we get out of here, I'll have to teach him some skills,' Shen Daoxing thought. 'At the very least, enough for him to protect himself.'

"SQUEAK SQUEAK!"

Suddenly, the Golden-Eyed Treasure-Seeking Rat poked its head out from inside Shen Daoxing's robes. It saw Xin's face, flushed red and contorted in discomfort.

Throughout their journey, the Golden-Eyed Treasure-Seeking Rat and Xin were always bickering and squabbling. The boy and the beast never seemed to get along, but it was thanks to Xin that the rat hadn't been so bored.

The Golden-Eyed Treasure-Seeking Rat was naturally playful and hated being cooped up and idle in Shen Daoxing's robes. Without Xin, the rat would be bored to death. It couldn't possibly let the little fellow die.

With that, the Golden-Eyed Treasure-Seeking Rat darted out of Shen Daoxing's robes and scurried over to Xin's side.

It slowly opened its mouth, and a small ice orb flew out. The orb was pure white, radiating waves of frigid air and shimmering with an iridescent light. It was clearly an extraordinary treasure.

The ice orb flew up, spun once in the air, and dropped neatly into Xin's mouth.

Instantly, the heat radiating from Xin's body began to dissipate. He stopped groaning, and the color slowly returned to his face. He looked much better.

As a Fierce Beast that had lived for nearly a thousand years and spent so many of those in the Celestial Lake Swamp, of course the Golden-Eyed Treasure-Seeking Rat would have its own private stash of treasures.

At this, Shen Daoxing looked over at the Golden-Eyed Treasure-Seeking Rat.

When the Golden-Eyed Treasure-Seeking Rat saw its master's gaze, it flashed a bashful smile, revealing two large white teeth, as if embarrassed to have been caught with a private stash.

It then shook its head vigorously and waved its little paws, as if to say, 'That's all I have! I'm not hiding anything else!'

Shen Daoxing rolled his eyes. He didn't believe it for a second, but he said nothing.

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