He has been reincarnated through countless worlds, adorned with billions of mythological terms!

Yun Yi did not stop him.

The old man didn't pay any attention.

Kurosawa plopped down opposite the old man, picked up a black stone, and without thinking, slammed it into the center of the board.

Tian Yuan.

He looked up at the old man with a smug expression.

The old man glanced at the chess piece, said nothing, and simply picked up a white piece and casually placed it down.

Kurosawa followed.

Next.

Next.

After Jitsu, Kurosawa's smile disappeared.

After 20 moves, Kurosawa frowned.

After thirty moves, sweat began to bead on Kurosawa's forehead.

Every time he placed a piece, the old man seemed to have been waiting there all along. With a gentle placement of his white piece, he completely blocked the path the old man had just devised.

No matter how he moves, changes his strategy, or struggles, the situation on the chessboard keeps tilting in the same direction.

He had never seen a chess game like this before.

They pressed closer and closer, setting traps at every turn, each step a dead end. Every step seemed to have been planned in advance, and their every thought had been seen through before he even made a decision.

This feeling is terrifying.

Kurosawa gritted his teeth, desperately trying to find a chance to turn the tide.

Can't find it.

He couldn't find a single flaw.

The game is over.

Kurosawa lost.

They lost completely and utterly, without even saving a shred of dignity.

He stared blankly at the chessboard, as if he hadn't reacted.

That shouldn't be the case.

He was, after all, an authority holder, and in terms of talent, he believed he was no less than the natives of this world. He had also studied chess with Yun Yi for three years.

Even if this native is a hidden master, shouldn't he be completely powerless to fight back?

"Again."

He is not satisfied.

The old man didn't say anything, but silently put away the chess pieces and put them back on the chessboard.

Kurosawa played another game.

We lost again.

The third round.

Still a loss.

The fourth game.

lose.

Fifth game.

lose.

I played several rounds in a row, and each round ended the same way.

No matter how Kurosawa changes his tactics, how he struggles, or how meticulously he plans and schemes, he can't win.

There wasn't even a hint of a comeback in sight.

Kurosawa put down the chess piece, leaned back in his chair, and looked somewhat lost.

He wasn't shocked that he would lose.

If your opponent is very strong, and you immediately play the center point (tengen), the probability of losing is indeed high.

What he couldn't accept was that he hadn't even seen the slightest chance of winning.

After several rounds, he hadn't caught even the slightest hope.

The feeling was like playing chess with a machine that never makes mistakes.

"Shall we continue?"

The old man asked.

Kurosawa quickly shook his head.

"I'm not coming, I'm not coming."

He stepped aside, his dark golden vertical pupils still holding a lingering sense of confusion.

Yun Yi stepped forward and sat down opposite the old man.

The old man looked at him, and a glimmer of light finally appeared in his cloudy eyes.

"Come here."

Yun Yi remained silent.

He simply looked down at the chessboard.

Black and white lines, within a small space.

It was the same as countless previous games, yet it was also different from countless previous games.

He picked up a black piece.

It landed right in the center of the chessboard.

Tian Yuan.

The old man looked at the piece and his lips twitched slightly.

Then he picked up a white piece and gently placed it down.

The game of chess has begun.

As expected, Yunyi lost.

The old man asked, "Shall we continue?"

Yun Yi nodded.

He picked up a black piece, and his first move was still in the very center of the board.

Tian Yuan.

The old man raised an eyebrow, said nothing, picked up a white piece, and placed it down.

The game resumed.

As expected, Yun Yi lost again.

"continue?"

"Um."

It's Tengen again.

Another loss.

"continue?"

"Um."

Then Tianyuan.

Lose again.

And so it goes.

Every game begins with the exact same move: the center point, the eternal center point, never changing.

The old man's brows furrowed more and more deeply with each move, and his pace slowed as he placed his pieces. His already cloudy eyes gradually revealed something indescribable.

By the fiftieth game, Yunyi once again picked up a black piece and steadily placed it in the center of the board.

Snapped.

The sound echoed in the quiet courtyard.

The old man finally couldn't take it anymore.

He didn't take the chess piece, but instead looked up at Yun Yi, his brows furrowed.

"If you insist on doing this, you will ultimately not win."

Yun Yi nodded.

"Indeed, if you keep betting, you can't win."

The old man stared at him.

"Then why did you still play?"

"Who says winning can only be achieved on the chessboard?"

The old man was taken aback.

A genuine flicker of emotion finally appeared in his cloudy eyes, like a pebble being thrown into two deep pools.

He stared at Yun Yi for a long time.

Then he shook his head and slowly spoke.

"Do you still want to change the ending?"

His voice was deeper than before, carrying a weariness that seemed to be etched into the heavens and earth.

"There's no need to waste any more effort; the outcome is already decided and cannot be changed."

"Since you helped push things along, you can use the Return Crystal; I won't touch you."

Yun Yi did not speak.

He just sat there quietly, his fingers gently twirling the chess piece the old man had set aside, as if he hadn't heard anything.

Kurosawa stood to the side, his tail no longer wagging.

Although he hadn't fully understood what the two people were saying, judging from their conversation, the old man was definitely someone important.

The outcome is already decided.

What helped to push things along?

What is a return crystal?

An old man who only plays chess in the endgame actually knows the term "Return Crystal".

Kurosawa's pupils slowly contracted.

He swallowed hard, his dark golden vertical pupils fixed on the old man's back, a thought flashing through his mind.

Could this old man be...?

The mastermind behind this world, right?

But Kurosawa quickly dismissed the idea.

Because if this old man really is the mastermind behind everything, then what was that war against the heavens in the sky?

What is that Calamity Heaven Path that is being besieged by Chen Ya, Chen Dou, and the Heavenly Emperor?

Surely this old man can't be greater than the Heavenly Dao, right?

Just as Kurosawa was lost in thought, Yunyi spoke up.

I don't like the ending you've chosen.

He said.

"So I want to change it."

The old man didn't continue to persuade him; instead, he smiled.

The smile was faint, like a withered leaf blown by the wind.

"In that case..."

As he spoke, he rolled up his sleeves and sat up straight.

"Yunyi, the Reincarnator, let's continue."

"This time, I want to play a proper game."

"How is it?"

As he spoke, his gaze was fixed directly into Yun Yi's eyes.

Those cloudy old eyes no longer held any trace of age or weariness.

Instead, there is a sharp, penetrating gaze.

He was looking into Yun Yi's eyes.

To be precise, he was looking into the depths of Yun Yi's cyan-gold pupils.

The Eye of Truth.

Yun Yi did not avoid his gaze.

He wasn't surprised that the other party had noticed.

After all, he had once obtained the other party's destined body.

Even if it were given to Chen Ya again, it's not impossible that she would have noticed everything in such a short time.

Yun Yi didn't pay any attention.

He sat up straight again, placing his hands on the edge of the chess box.

The Eye of Truth.

Fully open.

In that instant, the world completely changed in his eyes.

It wasn't the first time, but every time I go all out, it feels like I'm getting to know the world all over again.

Cause and effect are like silk threads, destiny is like a river, time is like a line, and space is like a net.

Past, present, and future—all possibilities, all inevitabilities, all coincidences—were transformed into visible lines in his eyes.

He gently moved the lines and placed them on the chessboard in front of him.

The chessboard was no longer a chessboard.

It is the whole world.

Each chess piece carries the weight of an era, and each move represents a fork in the road of destiny.

Past, present, and future.

Cause and effect, fate, destiny, possibility.

Everything is on this network.

Yun Yi saw the old man pick up the white piece, and at the same time saw where he placed the piece, the next place to place it, and the overall direction of the game.

He saw countless timelines, countless possibilities, and countless endings.

Yun Yi looked at the old man opposite him.

"Then let's go."

"Let me see just how capable you really are."

"The evil heaven that absorbed the calamity of the previous era and the transcendence of the old destiny, and has completed its transcendence in the new era."

Yun Yi spoke.

The old man smiled too.

"Then let me see Yun Yi, a true genius from the Paradise of Reincarnation."

Kurosawa stood to the side, completely frozen in place.