Xu Xian's gaze was solemn. He looked at the stone stele, then at the stalemate, his thoughts rapidly churning in his mind.
Lin Qianqian and Zhang Yang, who had left, returned and stood on either side of him. Watching Xu Xian, who was occasionally muttering to himself and seemed somewhat bewitched, Lin Qianqian softly asked, "What are you mumbling about?"
"Brother Xian, are you... are you alright? Don't scare me, I'm timid."
Xu Xian paid them no mind, turning a deaf ear, and continued to murmur to himself:
"No breaking, no standing. Break first, then stand. Like a phoenix's nirvana, reborn from fire..."
"Since the chessboard is here, there must be an answer."
"The chess pieces are in the game, I am outside the game..."
"Stalemate..."
"Dead end..."
"Breaking the deadlock..."
"Risky move..."
"Does 'unconventional' mean telling others not to play by the rules?"
"Destroy to rebuild, signifying rebirth..."
While mumbling, Xu Xian reached out and touched the chessboard. He bent his index and middle fingers and lightly tapped an empty spot.
"Thump-thump!"
"It's hollow... just as I thought!"
The stone stele and its base were left by the Sword Ancestor, yet the chessboard was actually made of wood. If it weren't kept in this immortal land, it would have surely rotted away by now.
Xu Xian now had the answer in his heart.
Lin Qianqian and Zhang Yang looked worried, anxiously asking, "Xu Xian, don't scare us! What's wrong with you? Why are you talking nonsense?"
Xu Xian pulled back his wandering thoughts, looked at them both in turn, and a slight smile curved his lips as he said, "I think I've found a way to break the deadlock."
Zhang Yang froze, a bewildered look on his face...
Lin Qianqian paused, her large eyes blinking. She confirmed it: Xu Xian was truly bewitched.
"It's over, this kid's lost his mind."
Xu Xian smiled calmly, offering no reply. Instead, amidst their bewilderment, he flipped onto the stone platform, his eyes sparkling with spirit.
"There is only one truth."
"Tear it all down and start over. If you won't let me win, I'll smash it for you..."
With that, he leaped up, his legs hanging in the air, slightly bent. He gathered strength in his waist, then stomped down fiercely, using the force of his descent to crush the chessboard.
"Bang!"
"Crack! Crack!"
The chessboard shattered in response, pieces scattering and rolling.
Countless gazes converged in an instant. The world froze at that moment, the vast square as silent as a winter cicada.
Zhang Yang was dumbfounded.
Lin Qianqian was stunned.
The surrounding disciples were all paralyzed.
Even the elders in the distance were completely flustered.
One by one, they stood frozen, as if petrified on the spot, mouths slightly agape, pupils dilated.
They stared incredulously at the young man on the shattered chessboard.
It took a good while.
Before they dazedly recovered their senses.
Xu Xian, a sword spirit root... directly stomped and ruined the stalemate left by the Sword Ancestor?
Who would believe it?
They would sooner believe in true love than what they were seeing.
"Hiss!"
"Gulp!"
Gasps of cold air.
Gulping sounds.
Silently overshadowed the sound of the wind.
Li Qingshan was truly enraged. He flashed before the stone stele, incredulously glanced at the already shattered chessboard, then stiffly raised his head, his gaze moving upwards, eyes wide and round.
"What are you doing?"
Xu Xian righteously declared, "I'm breaking the deadlock!"
Li Qingshan stared fixedly at Xu Xian, his stern face twisting and deforming at a visible pace.
Around him,
the temperature plummeted.
Zhang Yang and Lin Qianqian silently retreated backward.
Zhang Yang knew Xu Xian was bold, but he hadn't expected him to be so ruthless, daring to smash something left by the Sword Ancestor in broad daylight.
Lin Qianqian, on the other hand, retracted what she had just said.
'This kid isn't foolish; he's completely insane.'
All around, whether new disciples, old disciples, or elders observing from afar, everyone watched silently, not daring to utter a sound.
For them, Xu Xian's actions were utterly insane.
'You were told to break the stalemate.'
'Not to smash the board itself....'
It defied logic, utterly absurd. Could a human even do such a thing?
Especially the elders; they could only conclude that Xu Xian was relentlessly courting death.
They dared not imagine what fate awaited Xu Xian.
The atmosphere was terrifyingly silent, and Xu Xian also panicked. Feeling the murderous gaze from Li Qingshan's eyes, as if plunged into an icy abyss, especially with the stone stele behind him showing no reaction at all, his heart couldn't help but waver.
'Could I have guessed wrong?'
'This wasn't a brain teaser.'
He swallowed hard, his gaze darting away from Li Qingshan as he stammered, "Um... what if I said I was possessed by something unclean just now? Would you believe me?"
Li Qingshan's words gritted through his teeth, menacingly stating, "Die standing, or die lying down? Choose one."
Xu Xian sheepishly said, "I want to cultivate!"
Again and again, Li Qingshan truly couldn't tolerate it anymore. He knew Xu Xian was doing this on purpose, that he didn't want to cultivate, which was why he acted this way.
Anyone with half a brain would know: were ancestral relics something to be stomped on and destroyed at will?
He had tolerated it before, after all, he was the one who had brought Xu Xian back.
He had originally thought that Xu Xian was just young and a bit mischievous; a genius having some personality was nothing unusual, and he could slowly guide him.
But who could have imagined...
...that he would be so reckless?
After completing the Third Inquiry of the Heart,
he then turned around and stomped on the chessboard left by the Sword Ancestor, smashing it to pieces.
In all his years at Wendao Sword Sect, he had never seen anyone cause such immense trouble.
He could not escape blame.
And he could not tolerate it any longer.
He absolutely had to teach Xu Xian a lesson, otherwise, if he stayed, the Wendao Sword Sect would inevitably be torn apart by him.
And then.
Just as he was about to step forward and properly deal with Xu Xian.
A clamor of voices erupted in his ears.
"Look, what's that?"
"Why is the sword stele glowing?"
The elders in the distance soared into the air, their jaws dropping in astonishment.
"This aura... could it be that the sword stele has awakened? Could it be that...."
Everyone's gaze was instantly drawn to the sword stele. Li Qingshan also looked up, bewildered.
They saw that the ancient sword stele, usually unadorned, was now glowing with milky-white mist, like primordial chaos. Around the sword stele, ripples spread through space, like wind over a calm lake.
The sudden scene momentarily stunned him, and the hand gripping Xu Xian's collar unconsciously loosened.
He numbly said, "This is..."
Xu Xian was overjoyed, laughing excitedly, "Hahaha, old geezer, see that? I told you I was breaking the deadlock, but you didn't believe me, you blind fool!"
Before Li Qingshan could recover from his shock.
From atop the sword stele, a sword intent, like a rainbow, suddenly erupted, as if a great flood was reversing its flow upwards.
A massive pillar of light instantly pierced the sky, and torrents of sword intent rippled outwards.
Instantly, fierce winds rose.
Everyone within a thousand meters, except Xu Xian, was flung away by this power, Li Qingshan included.
A blinding white radiance annihilated the area, eclipsing daylight.
The fierce wind was devastating, sweeping away all in its path.
At Wendao Sword Sect, across thousands of miles of green mountains, in the Seven Peaks and Thirteen Halls, countless disciples all stopped in their tracks at this moment, gazing up at the sky, towards the direction of Sword Inquiry Peak.
"What is that?"
"Such domineering sword intent!"
"It seems to be coming from Wendao Square!"
Ye Xianyu stood alone on a mountain peak, ripples of light flowing in her eyes.
"The sword stele can truly be broken!"
Just as everyone was still unaware of what was happening, at the peak of Sword Inquiry Peak, layers of clouds suddenly appeared from nowhere, dark mist surged, and thunder rumbled within it. Several terrifying figures arrived from Ancestral Peak.
An oppressive aura swept forth, the mountains and rivers quaked, and heaven and earth trembled.
A long sword was seen descending from the void, landing in the center of the square.
In the void, a voice, deep yet ethereal, resonated deafeningly in their ears, like rolling thunder echoing through their hearts, each word devoid of emotion.
"A ten-li radius shall become a forbidden zone."
"Retreat!"
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