Later, the other battles continued. However, just like the previous round, where many people avoided the mysterious and powerful cultivator, many who truly wanted to enter the Eastern Deity Island chose to avoid Ye Futian.
Ye Futian was too strong. Among the 36 chess pieces, the mysterious and powerful cultivator from the previous round lost one piece in his battles.
However, Ye Futian kept all 36 of his chess pieces. If they had encountered him, they would clearly fail to win. As such, they had no choice but to continue waiting. That way, their chances would be higher.
Of course, there were still some strong individuals who chose not to wait and stepped on the chessboard to battle.
Ye Futian did not pay attention to the battlefield. The appearance of the mysterious and powerful cultivator in the Penglai Continent was already a rare event; it was highly unlikely for another person who could threaten him to appear.
After some time, all nine victors had been decided.
All nine cultivators above the chessboard traded glances with one another. Then, the other eight focused their gazes on Ye Futian.
It was as if it was undeniable that Ye Futian would become the protagonist of the upcoming battle.
“Let’s have the fighters enter the chessboard then,” announced the Eastern Deity Island’s deity. Then, in an instant, the silhouettes of the nine cultivators drifted down toward the chessboard. After they landed on the chessboard, chess pieces instantly surrounded them. Eight pairs of eyes remained glued to a single location.
In that location, a white outfit fluttered in the air as the white-haired Renhuang’s body slowly descended. As he landed, 36 chess pieces appeared and emitted bright and beautiful lights.
Vuong… The moment Ye Futian landed on the chessboard, the other eight cultivators actually initiated their attacks at the same time. There was no hesitation. It was as if they had already come to some agreement, and it was to target Ye Futian.
This made many onlookers show a surprised expression. It looked like the other cultivators had already communicated via voice transmission earlier. All eight cultivators attacking one person at the same time and as soon as the opponent landed was shameful behavior. After all, they were all Renhuangs.
However, it was understandable. Faced against Ye Futian’s overwhelming strength, if they did not employ extreme and unusual measures, they would have no chance of winning.
Attacks of the Great Path transformed from chess pieces came at Ye Futian from eight directions. High-pitched and frightening sounds came from multiple directions around Ye Futian. However, at the same time, Ye Futian’s 36 chess pieces began to spin and hovered around Ye Futian’s body before transforming into multiple blades of the intimidating Sword Wills.
The 36 chess pieces turned into 36 Sword Wills. The 36 Sword Wills generated an endless amount of sword silhouettes. As they circled and flew around Ye Futian’s body, a sword screen was created. With Ye Futian’s body as the center, the sword screen surrounded him and emitted a frightening tearing noise.
Intense sounds of crashing and clashing ensued. When the attacks of the Great Path transformed from chess pieces arrived and hit the sword screen, they were instantly torn apart and disintegrated into nothingness.
The attacking chess pieces were crushed into bits and pieces instead.
The scene made many feel despair. The huge gap in their powers of the Great Path made the might of their path contained in the chess pieces far weaker than Ye Futian’s, which meant that it was impossible for them to defeat Ye Futian. Their chess pieces would initiate the attack. However, they were still obliterated by their opponent’s defense. How were they supposed to fight?
The difference in quality was something that could never be fixed by an increase in quantity. It was just like having many low-plane Renhuangs fight against a high-plane Renhuang. The conclusion of the battle would never be in doubt.
As such, this battle also had no suspense. Seeing their chess pieces crushed to dust, the cultivators recalled their chess pieces. Ye Futian waved his hand, and his 36 chess pieces drew multiple beautiful curves, creating multiple blades of light that flew across the sky and crushed all the remaining Great Path chess pieces of the other cultivators.
When Ye Futian destroyed all the chess pieces of the other participants, the chess pieces around him remained the same, all 36 pieces of them. He did not lose a single one.
Not a single loss. Even stronger than the mysterious cultivator from before.
Earlier, everyone had thought that the mysterious cultivator’s result of losing only one chess piece would be a record for this session of Eastern Deity Island’s opening. No one would have thought it possible that that record would be broken so quickly. Ye Futian easily surpassed him and defeated all of his opponents with a perfect performance.
For two amazingly exceptional people to pop up at the same time, it truly expanded the horizons of many people. The people of Eastern Deity Island would probably rejoice at this.
Shangguan Qiuye watched as Ye Futian walked toward the high platform beside the Eastern Deity Gate. She wondered if Ye Futian would be the brightest individual for Eastern Deity Island’s opening this time. In that case, the Eastern Deity Island would most certainly try to court him.
If Ye Futian could borrow Eastern Deity Island’s strength, he would no longer have to be afraid of the Jun clan.
While Eastern Deity Island had avoided secular world affairs and cultivation in recent years, they had actually continued to accumulate and build their strength. Now, their actual strength was a mystery. No one knew just how strong they were. However, based on Shangguan Qiuye’s guess, it was definitely not weaker than some of those major factions on the Penglai Continent.
Even though the Eastern Deity Island suffered a major disaster in the past, its background was something that should not be ignored. Even after many years had passed, inherited Great Path Opportunities and medicinal pills within the Eastern Deity Island’s territory were things that countless practitioners coveted, as evidenced by every opening of the Eastern Deity Island once every decade.
With such a strong background, Shangguan Qiuye inferred that Eastern Deity Island’s actual strength at the moment might actually surpass some of the more common major factions in the Penglai Continent. However, just how strong? That was harder to predict. Even the titans of the Penglai Continent could not determine it.
As such, if the Eastern Deity Island was willing to help Ye Futian, the threat of the Jun clan would no longer be that huge.
With that thought, Shangguan Qiuye raised her eyebrows and looked at Ye Futian high up above. Did he display such overwhelming strength because this was his objective in the first place?
After all, everyone knew that once they left Eastern Deity Island, the cultivators of the Jun clan would most definitely target Ye Futian.
First, he pulled her into the fray and locked her Shangguan clan in. After that, he set up the Eastern Deity Island. It looked like Ye Futian had already planned for everything since a long time ago.
After glancing at Jun Qiuyan behind her. Shangguan Qiuye decided in her mind that, no matter what, regardless of whether she could befriend Ye Futian, at the very least, she would not become Ye Futian’s enemy. Otherwise, even if they could suppress Ye Futian for a while, if an opportunity was found by Ye Futian, they could be eradicated like Jun Qiuyan and the other cultivators from the Jun clan.
Also, she wanted to get a chance to step across the Eastern Deity Gate. After seeing Ye Futian and witnessing his strength, Shangguan Qiuye felt as if all her previous assets and strengths that she was proud of were not even worth mentioning. She needed to become a lot stronger.
The Divine Prefecture was too big. There were many hidden dragons and crouching tigers. While Penglai Continent was still a relatively large continent, at the very least, it was situated in a central area among thousands of continents, compared to the entire Divine Prefecture, it was still too small. She wanted to see things that were even further away.
Ye Futian reached the high platform beside the Eastern Deity Gate. He sat down silently. On his side was the mysterious cultivator.
“Jiang Jiuming,” said the youngster to Ye Futian. It seemed like that was his name. Ever since stepping on Eastern Deity Island, he had never revealed his name once. This was the first time.
Perhaps it was because he recognized Ye Futian’s strength. He did not expect someone to do better than him, to arrive with all 36 chess pieces still intact—a perfect performance.
Of course, he did not pay too much attention to the difference of one chess piece. After all, he was not all that serious back then. Otherwise, he would have been able to replicate Ye Futian’s result and not lose a single chess piece.
“Ye Liunian,” replied Ye Futian. Before he gained the strength to face the most powerful people, he did not plan on using his real name. As such, he kept using the name of Ye Liunian.
While the Divine Prefecture was large, the factions standing at the peak could still be in touch, and as a result, hear about events occurring in the Original Realm. So, he still needed to be careful.
Jiang Jiuming did not say anything else after saying his name. He kept his eyes closed as he continued to cultivate. It was as if he did not care about what would happen outside in the world.
Ye Futian also sat there in silence. He cultivated quietly.
Time ticked away slowly. Battles on the chessboard continued. However, no one as powerful as Ye Futian or Jiang Jiuming, who could directly crush the other opponents, appeared. Competition and schemes between participants continued to take place, and alliances and betrayals also kept occurring. Apart from raw strength, one’s luck and intelligence were also tested.
After all, one would most definitely lose when targeted by a group and was also surrounded, unless there was an absolute strength advantage.
Earlier, an honest-looking Renhuang displayed great intelligence and planning. He took part in the battle with a very narrow victory. He only had nine chess pieces left when he entered the second round nine-way battle. The other participants did not seem to even notice his existence; however, at the last moment, this person actually showed an incredibly powerful strength that was not any weaker than the other fighters. In the end, with just one chess piece remaining, he managed to defeat his opponent after an intense battle. This forced everyone to become even more cautious. They no longer dared to simply focus on the strong players. They also had to be wary of those who may seem weak.
Shangguan Qiuye ultimately made it through using her strength and a little bit of luck and arrived on the high platform.
As time passed, more and more cultivators took part in the battles. By then, the high platform had seven people.
However, the number of people outside the chessboard did not go down. Instead, the crowd got larger. Many cultivators from the Illusory Sky Domain had gathered there. Eastern Deity Island was not going to keep waiting. When it was a certain time, they would directly shut down the chessboard. Otherwise, some people would continue to stay on the sidelines forever until the number of strong people had significantly reduced. However, in such a situation, the event itself would lose its meaning.
Several people gazed at the people sitting on the platforms high above. These people won the right to access the island’s center and receive one of Eastern Deity Island’s divine pill of the Great Path.
Finally, after two more won their rounds, an Eastern Deity Island deity announced that the chessboard matrix matches would end. Those who had failed to join had missed their chances.
Up until that point, nine practitioners gained the right to access Eastern Deity Island’s central area. Every single one of them was an exceptional character.
Of course, the two people who shone the brightest were Jiang Jiuming and Ye Futian, both of whom left a strong impression on everyone!
