I gain ten years' worth of cultivation every day, and even geniuses will only see my doorstep!

The old man looked at him. "Do you know how to play chess?"

Qin Yuan said, "No."

The old man laughed. "That's right. This game of chess has been played for two hundred million years, and no one has ever won or lost. Because there are no chess pieces at all."

Qin Yuan stared at the blank chessboard. "So what are you playing?"

The old man said, "I will set the rules. The chessboard represents the myriad worlds, and the lines represent the laws. There are no chess pieces because nothing in the myriad worlds is predetermined. Everyone can become a chess piece, or everyone can become a chess player."

He looked up at Qin Yuan. "Do you see yourself as a pawn or a player?"

Qin Yuan thought for a moment. "Neither."

The old man raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

Qin Yuan said, "I am the one who overturned the chessboard."

The old man was stunned. Then he burst into laughter, the sound echoing through the hall and making the walls vibrate. "What a brilliant person to overturn the chessboard! I've waited two hundred million years, and finally, someone dares to say such a thing."

He stood up and pushed the chessboard aside. "The Holy Court of Myriad Realms is yours."

Qin Yuan neither agreed nor refused. He simply asked, "Where are you going?"

The old man walked out of the hall. "To become a chess piece. I've been a chess player my whole life, I want to try what it's like to be played."

His figure disappeared into the white light.

Chapter 196 Chaotic Sacred Domain - Cracks in the Rules

The sky above the Chaos Sacred Realm was gray, like a pot of boiling soup, constantly churning with chaotic energy. This was the intersection of the three major powers, and also the most chaotic place in the myriad realms.

Qin Yuan and Lin Qing'er landed on a desolate piece of land. In the distance, the sounds of fighting could be heard.

"Let's go take a look," Qin Yuan said.

They flew over and saw two groups locked in a fierce battle. One side was dressed in black, the other in white, and there were more than a dozen corpses lying on the ground, their blood soaking the gray soil.

Qin Yuan did not make a move. He stood on a boulder and watched quietly.

Lin Qing'er asked, "Aren't you going to stop it?"

Qin Yuan shook his head. "Let's see who's right and who's wrong first."

After observing for half an hour, he noticed a pattern—the man in black stole from the man in white, and the man in white chased after the man in black. But upon closer inspection, those items originally belonged to the man in black; the man in white had stolen them first, and only then did the man in black try to take them back. Tracing back further, it turned out the man in black had stolen from the man in white first…

"There is no right or wrong," Qin Yuan said. "There is only hatred."

He jumped off the boulder and walked between the two groups. Both sides saw him and simultaneously stopped fighting.

"Who are you?" the leader of the men in black demanded.

Qin Yuan didn't answer. He squatted down, looking at the corpse on the ground. It was a young man, his eyes still open, his face filled with terror and resentment. Qin Yuan reached out and gently closed his eyes.

"How long have you been fighting?" he asked.

The leaders of the men in black and white exchanged a glance. The leader of the men in white said, "Thirty thousand years."

"Why are you hitting me?"

Both fell silent. Thirty thousand years had passed; they had long forgotten the original reason. They only knew each other as enemies, ready to kill on sight.

Qin Yuan stood up. "Then from today onwards, stop fighting."

The leader of the men in black sneered. "Who do you think you are?"

Qin Yuan raised his hand and slammed his palm into the ground. Boom—! The earth split open, creating a bottomless abyss, the gray soil churning like waves, separating the two groups of people. The palm strike was so precise that it only cracked the ground, without harming anyone.

Both groups turned pale. If that palm strike had landed on them, none of them would have survived.

Qin Yuan said, "From now on, whoever makes the first move, I will kill them."

He turned and left with Lin Qing'er. Behind them, two groups of people stood on either side of the crevice, looking at each other in bewilderment.

The leaders of the three major powers—the Chaos Holy Court, the Eternal Temple, and the Origin God Cult—had different reactions upon hearing about Qin Yuan's deeds.

The Chaos Emperor, enraged, mustered an army of 100,000 to annihilate Qin Yuan. The Eternal Emperor sneered, telling the Chaos Emperor to go and die first, while he would clean up the mess. The leader of the Origin God Cult sent a letter to Qin Yuan containing only four words: "Let's talk."

Qin Yuan has left.

The headquarters of the Origin God Cult was built on a suspended mountain peak, which hung upside down, with the palace built at its base like an inverted bowl. The cult leader was a woman, dressed in a gray robe, with an ordinary face but bright eyes.

She poured Qin Yuan a cup of tea. "The rule of the Chaos Sacred Realm is that the strong are respected. You are very strong, so you can change the rules. But how do you intend to change them?"

Qin Yuan picked up his teacup but didn't drink. "Rules aren't made by people, they're forged through punishment."

The cult leader laughed. "So you're going to subdue everyone?"

Qin Yuan shook his head. "I want them to figure it out themselves."

The cult leader put down his teacup. "Comprehension? They've been fighting for billions of years, how could they possibly come to a realization?"

Qin Yuan said, "Give them a choice. A choice to survive without fighting."

The sect leader remained silent for a long time. Then she stood up and bowed deeply to Qin Yuan. "From this day forward, the Origin God Sect will withdraw from the struggle in the Chaos Sacred Domain."

Qin Yuan looked at her. "Why?"

The cult leader raised his head, a hint of weariness in his eyes. "Because I'm tired of fighting. I want to go home and see my family."

She left. The Origin God Cult disbanded; some disciples returned to their hometowns, some joined the Guardian Hall, and some continued to wander in the Chaos Sacred Realm. But no matter where they went, they all shared the same consensus—no more fighting for hatred.

The Chaos Emperor's army of 100,000 stopped halfway. They had heard that the Origin God Cult had disbanded, the Eternal Temple had fallen silent, and that a man named Qin Yuan was standing in their only path.

The Chaos Emperor stood at the front of the army, looking at that lone figure in the distance.

"Just one person?" he asked.

The scout nodded. "Just one person. And a woman, standing behind him."

The Chaos Emperor hesitated. He recalled the legends about Qin Yuan—the Lord of the Origin Holy Court was injured by him, the Lord of the Eternal Holy Court was persuaded to disband his Holy Court with a single sentence from him, and the old monster of the Myriad Realms Holy Court ceded his position to him. Now, he had also caused the Origin God Cult to disband.

"Lord, shall we continue?" the lieutenant asked.

The Chaos Emperor looked at Qin Yuan in the distance. Qin Yuan also looked at him, his gaze calm, as if he were looking at an old friend.

The Chaos Emperor suddenly laughed. "Let's stop fighting. Let's go back."

The lieutenant was taken aback. "Go back? That 100,000 troops..."

"Dismissed," said the Chaos Emperor. "Go home. Go back to what you were doing."

He turned and flew deeper into the Chaos Sacred Domain. The 100,000-strong army stood frozen in place, then dispersed like a tide.

Qin Yuan stood at a distance, watching all of this. Lin Qing'er walked to his side and whispered, "They're gone."

Qin Yuan nodded. "Let's go, we should head back too."

"Go back where?"

Qin Yuan thought for a moment. "Return to the Xuan Yuan Sect. By the stream. Under the old plum tree."

Lin Qing'er smiled. "Okay."

Hand in hand, the two flew towards the depths of the myriad realms. Behind them, the gray sky of the Chaos Sacred Domain gradually receded, replaced by the familiar starry sky.