Reborn as a Hatrack in the Mystical Land-Chapter 785 - 35: The Mysterious Elder
Outside Four Symbols City, the wilderness spread out like a chessboard, and after a fierce battle, the loose soil had been trampled flat by the Beast Chess pieces.
The bloodstains of the members of the Second Team were not yet dry, as the battle by Yue Jinghua and others from the Third Team had just begun.
The contestants in the Xuyang Trial were unaware that their every move was being reflected and projected somewhere within Four Symbols City.
This was an ancient tower that looked like an old windmill from the outside.
The tower was painted in monochrome gray, appearing to be made with asphalt paint, and an old man with white facial hair, wearing a pointed hat and a gray robe, was watching the Chess Formation with great interest.
"Old Man Bai, you are experimenting with your chess array again, using those unlucky kids as your guinea pigs. Aren’t you afraid that the City Lord will find out and reprimand you?" another old man, likewise dressed in a gray robe but without facial hair, strolled over and remarked.
As it turned out, not every contestant entering Four Symbols City through the Xuyang Trial would encounter the Beast Formation.
Although contestants arriving from other Transmission Arrays would encounter the Chaotic Stone Hurricane Zone, they wouldn’t face the Beast Chess Formation.
Multiple Transmission Arrays in Four Symbols City had been guarded by old guardians with unfathomable cultivation for many years, and it was just bad luck for Yue Jinghua and the others, as the Transmission Array they chose—which was from the Kalan Cloud Sea’s Four Symbols Cloud Array—happened to be under the supervision of Old Man Bai.
The old man had no greater pleasure in life than to play a few games of chess, especially showing off his profound skills in Beast Fighting Chess.
Finding the task of guarding the Transmission Array dull, he devised a unique Beast Formation. Occasionally, when itching to play, he set up this Beast Chess Formation at the entrance of one of the Transmission Arrays, and only those who could solve the Beast Chess Formation would be allowed to enter Four Symbols City.
Old Man Bai hadn’t originally taken these young ones, fresh out of the Chaotic Stone Hurricane Zone, too seriously. However, the absolute crushing strategy employed earlier by Bo Xiyu and others, striking at the heart of his Chess Formation, had utterly infuriated him.
Inherently, those who enjoy playing chess all carry a bit of a bohemian spirit. Feeling that Bo Xiyu and his group had been too brutish and had insulted the art of his Chess Formation, Old Man Bai lost his temper and, in his wrath, unleashed the chaos upon the remaining contestants.
He unleashed four Beastman Chess pieces imbued with certain human characteristics, making them ferociously formidable in combat, leading directly to the complete annihilation of the Second Team.
Seeing his Beast Chess pieces victorious, Old Man Bai was so delighted that he stroked his beard with glee and clapped his hands, as joyous as a mischievous old child. He could care less about the beardless old man’s advice at this point, "Off with you, Mirror Sect, don’t you dare dampen my spirits. I’ve been trapped here in Four Symbols City for so many years, only playing theoretical chess; at last I have real Beast Chess to play—it’s a pleasure you wouldn’t understand."
"Better to stop while you’re ahead. Eight people have already died. If a few more die, and we can’t fill the ranks for the Beast God Temple’s ceremony, then what will you do?" the beardless old man said with a frown as he looked at the fresh blood on the wilderness that had yet to dry.
It wasn’t that he was kind-hearted; rather, these young mercenaries participating in the Xuyang Trial were indispensable resources for Four Symbols City at the moment, as losing even one was a setback.
"Stop nagging. While the City Lord needs these people, if they can’t even break my simple Beast Chess Formation, do you think they could survive three months in that damned place?" Old Man Bai waved his hand impatiently, his old eyes fixed on the Chess Formation on the wilderness.
Hearing this, the beardless old man could only shake his head.
Within the wilderness Chess Formation, Yue Jinghua and her team had taken the fight deep into the heart of the geometrical array.
"This team is indeed cleverer than the previous one, making use of divided forces. But they think that with just three people they can directly assail my ’Beast Nest’—such naive thinking," The old man with white facial hair, like a cat smelling fish, had his eyes gleaming with excitement. His hands waved through the air, conjuring something unseen.
Under his ten fingers appeared several fine lines of light, each tethered to a beast chess piece below.
Among them, four beast chess pieces shone the brightest—the Beastman Chess pieces.
"Go, teach those three clueless brats a lesson," said the white-bearded old man as his fingers played with the shimmering lines, as gracefully as if a beauty were strumming a zither. The four Beastman Chess pieces moved in unison, surrounding Yue, Ying, and Hu, who were charging towards them.
Ying Wuwang and Hu Li, both top-notch fighters, excelled in combat. Though their Dark Power was heavily suppressed upon arriving in the Otherworld, their movement technique remained first-class. Even while controlling unfamiliar beast chess pieces, they were as swift as shooting stars.
Yet, halfway through, they saw Yue Jinghua keeping pace with them, her speed in no way inferior.
She rode a stone leopard, as if riding the wind, her form outstanding, swiftly dodging several incoming beast chess pieces.
"Impressive skills, Captain Yue," Ying Wuwang complimented with a smile. In the midst of his laughter, a fierce lion-bodied Beastman Chess piece with a gaping mouth and sharp claws attempted to clap together its palms in mid-air, aiming for Ying Wuwang’s head.
The clap, carrying the force of Qian Jun, would’ve been fatal or at least severely injuring for Ying Wuwang if it had hit him.
Without so much as a furrow on his brow, Ying Wuwang subtly shifted his movement technique, lifting the beast he rode with one hand, and gently drifted to the left, skillfully evading the Beastman Chess piece’s lunge.
His other hand wasn’t idle either; from it, the Purple Jade Flute traced a beautiful arc, the tip aiming for the Beastman Chess piece’s chest.
What seemed like a gentle tap, at the last moment, transformed as the flute’s mouth shot out a sharp dagger—a Flute Dagger. The dagger, whose material was a mystery, broke a huge fissure in the stone-bodied Beastman Rider upon impact.
The Beastman Chess piece broke apart on cue.
Turning to Hu Li, she was seen riding an agile white fox, standing tall on its back, as a wolf-shaped Beastman Chess piece pounced toward her, its claws ready to strike.
A killing aura flickered in Hu Li’s enchanting eyes; with a twist of her waist, a cloud-like sleeve danced out of her hands. The sleeve wrapped around the wolf-shaped Beastman Chess, constricting it like a mighty python, crushing it into dust and debris.
"Giggle, better be careful Captain Yue, facing two at once," said Hu Li after her successful move, noticing the remaining two Beastman Chess pieces rushing towards Yue Jinghua. She made no move to intervene, instead smirking on the sidelines.
Her keen eyes had long discerned Yue Jinghua’s guise as a woman disguised as a man. The fact that Jile Crown Prince Ying Wuwang had chosen to team up with her, out of all people, suggested his interest in Yue Jinghua.
Hu Li was naturally on her guard.
"Thanks for the concern, Miss Hu, but you better watch your back. You may find yourself too busy," Yue Jinghua retorted, her brows lifting with a heroic flair. The Lianyun Great Sword in her hands glittered with sword light as she swiftly struck down a Beastman Rider.
With barely a pause, a flurry of arrows fell, as Feng Buhui, riding a gryphon and with his Crossbow in hand, took down another Beastman Rider without hesitation.
But soon enough, the four Beastman Riders that had been shattered let out a "gabengbeng" sound, and miraculously reassembled, returning to life as if resurrected.
