On the chessboard, the contest was about skill, but it was more than just about skill.

After the Immortal placed his piece, he examined Lu Ding.

He was very curious why this young man before him only glanced at him once before looking away, showing no emotional reaction whatsoever.

Normally, an Immortal, even if not the real entity but merely a projection in form, should inevitably draw gazes, and those gazes should contain longing.

Yet, Lu Ding simply wasn't looking at him much.

What was there to see?

Couldn't see clearly anyway.

If he could see clearly, Lu Ding would have looked long ago.

All this pointless nonsense.

Better to study the chess game.

Watching the Immortal place his piece on the board.

Lu Ding held a black piece.

"I might not be able to beat you at chess, but if you want to compare spells... well, you've come to the right person."

Thinking this.

Lu Ding lifted his piece and directly pressed it onto Tianyuan (the central point of the board).

Beneath the Immortal's blurred visage, a myriad of emotions instantly swirled?

Don't you know how to play chess?

Placing on Tianyuan right from the start, who do you look down on?!

You move first, and you place on Tianyuan, how is this any different from giving me a handicap?

Damn it, you rotten chess player!!!

This is too much!!

If not for the medicinal properties here, the Immortal would have turned and left right then.

Placing on Tianyuan, the damage isn't great, but the insult is extreme, it's far too disrespectful.

Today, I must make you taste my power!!

The thought had just settled.

*Tap!!*

Lu Ding fixed his piece in place.

With Tianyuan placed, Heaven and Earth achieved Great Unity. Let's not talk about anything else, it's just so cool!!!!!

In an instant, though heaven and earth clearly hadn't changed, one could feel something was off with the world.

It was as if the all-encompassing heavens and earth instantly had a center, and that center was precisely where Lu Ding sat!

This move was called **[Heaven-Man Unity]**!!!

The Immortal froze stiff on the spot.

The white piece in his hand was clenched and unclenched repeatedly.

He simply couldn't place it down.

Without any exaggeration, so what if he was an Immortal?!

Do Immortals possess **[Heaven-Man Unity]**?!

With the very first move, Immortal Qi was drawn from the Immortal's body, channeled into Lu Ding's. The blood lotus with two blooming petals reappeared behind Lu Ding.

It was at this moment that Lu Ding spoke his first words: "What are you standing there for? Make your move."

The Immortal instantly felt pressure.

Gritting his teeth, he placed a piece.

Sword energy crisscrossed for thirty thousand miles, a single sword's light chilled nineteen provinces.

The Way of Attack, impressive!!!

Without hesitation, Lu Ding placed a piece horizontally next to the Tianyuan position.

*Tap!!!*

**[Way of the Jinche]**

If I don't speak first when spring arrives, what worm dares to make a sound?!

Comparing attack methods?! The Way of the Jinche, nothing it cannot sever!

*Crack!* The ornamental crown atop the Immortal's head instantly fell off, transforming into spiritual essence and Immortal Qi. As it poured into Lu Ding's body, a crown materialized upon his own head.

The Immortal instantly broke into a cold sweat.

To put it simply, he panicked.

*Tap!*

The next move: Golden light rises from the North Sea, righteous energy sweeps across the Nine Provinces.

Defense!?

Lu Ding placed a piece.

With Tianyuan placed, Heaven and Earth achieved Great Unity. Let's not talk about anything else, it's just so cool!!!!!

*Boom!!!*

The chessboard itself trembled several times.

Just that one move.

It left the Immortal stripped of all his visual effects. Where did they go?

Of course, they transferred to Lu Ding.

If the Immortal was panicked before, now he was frantic.

Placing the fourth piece.

A body ten thousand zhang tall, all methods grasped at will.

Even if a fierce gale rises from flat ground, I shall ride the wind and break through ten thousand miles!

Dharma! Form! Heaven! Earth!!!

Lu Ding's expression turned serious. Isn't this where the real work begins!?

You really have come to the right place!

I do not regret not seeing the ancients; I regret the ancients not seeing my wildness!

Placing a piece to stabilize the Central Plains, one piece to secure the realm!

Dharma! Heaven!! Image!!! Earth!!!!!

*Crack... crack crack crack crack crack...*

The chessboard split, heaven and earth changed color. Twin pupils hung in the sky like sun and moon—a black sun, a blood moon.

The Immortal seemed to suffer a heavy blow, his entire figure instantly blasted backward and sent flying. The glorious light and immortal aura surrounding him instantly dimmed, all pouring into Lu Ding's embrace.

Without even drinking the tea, the Immortal turned and fled. He feared that if he stayed a moment longer, he would be stripped bare.

Embarrassing!

Utterly humiliating!!!

According to the normal procedure, when ordinary Qi Refiners played against him, after he won the game and they drank the tea, he would grant them Immortal Qi based on their performance to aid their growth.

But today!!

He ran into a cheater. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

The chess, he couldn't understand.

The spells, he also couldn't understand.

Lu Ding sat in place, looking at the four black pieces lined up on the cracked board.

He still had **[Mountain-Shaking Earth-Quaking]**, one of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Methods, left to play. He still had **[Rivers and Mountains, Society and Millet Painting]** left to play. He still had **[Black Prison of Death's Body]** left to play. He still had...

Why did he run away?

But putting that aside, the cost-performance of this Invite Immortal Tea was truly high. The Immortal Qi obtained from the Immortal directly pushed Lu Ding's realm from God Ascension Second Layer with two blooming petals to God Ascension Third Layer and a half with three blooming petals.

Not much more, and he'd reach the fourth layer.

He still hadn't eaten his Ascending Mist White. If he ate that, reaching the fifth layer shouldn't be a problem.

"It seems in the future when I have money, I should buy more Invite Immortal Tea."

"This stuff is good. Small investment, big returns. Cost-performance is maxed out, only twenty-seven thousand."

The illusion faded.

Before Lu Ding was placed the cold-brewed immortal tea with its dark red liquid.

"Luckily he didn't examine me closely and just started playing chess with me."

Picking up the teacup.

Since the Immortal had no fortune to enjoy it, he'd enjoy it himself.

He drank it down in one gulp.

Comforting, cool, delicious!!

Actually, the Invite Immortal Tea itself wasn't that potent; it was merely capable of summoning an Immortal's projection.

To put it in easy-to-understand terms, it was more like a medicinal catalyst.

Rinsing his mouth with the Invite Immortal Tea.

He grabbed the large radish and started chomping, just eating it.

*Crunch, crunch*, chewing and swallowing in big bites.

It transformed into the sweetest juice, moistening his internal organs.

The medicinal potency was so rich that when Lu Ding exhaled, he spurted medicinal mist. His apertures automatically opened wide, overwhelmed. Medicinal mist mixed with black smoke gushed forth from them, enveloping Lu Ding entirely.

It made him instantly feel somewhat light-headed, as if floating.

His whole person seemed to be flying, wandering among the stars in the celestial river.

Until he saw the Celestial Path. Lu Ding drifted upward along it, feeling very much like he was ascending with the mist.

But!!!

Whose ascending with the mist comes with black smoke?!

And upon closer look, within that black smoke, miniature illusory shadows of Sin Dragons swam about. Together with the main body's illusory shadow of the Sin Dragon Bone Seal, they circled around Lu Ding's body, causing the rolling black smoke to blanket the Celestial Path.

The higher he went.

The brighter the myriad stars became.

Shedding stellar energy, all of which was fully received by Lu Ding. His realm began to loosen and rise at this moment.

Breaking through to God Ascension Fourth Layer, Four Petals Bloom, was only a matter of an instant.

Pressing forward without stopping, simply wouldn't stop.

Lu Ding walked upward on the Celestial Path, not stopping.

His realm rising upward, also not stopping.

Until he stepped among the myriad stars, watching the northern and southern stars embrace him, showering him with starlight without restraint.

Polaris hung above his head, blooming with its own extraordinary brilliance, burning out!!

Eat eat eat, the child eats eats eats.

**[Sin Dragon Bone Seal]** operated at its utmost limit, madly devouring the stellar energy together with Lu Ding.

Gradually, Lu Ding's Spiritual Energy began to carry flecks of shattered starlight.

Since his Spiritual Energy manifested as black.

Once the shattered starlight appeared, it was as if the myriad stars, the boundless starry river, flowed within Lu Ding's meridians and apertures, coursing through his entire body.