Douluo Continent: Long Live the Spirit Hall

Of course, the rules for moving pieces here are different from those in Chinese chess. Except for the cannon, the other pieces can only move one square at a time. The order of the pieces from largest to smallest is: General, Advisor, Elephant, Chariot, Horse, Cannon, and Soldier.

The rules of the game are that larger pieces can capture smaller pieces, but the general (king) cannot capture the pawn (soldier); instead, the general (king) can be captured by the pawn (soldier).

Among these, the cannon is quite special. It cannot capture pieces by moving one square at a time according to the conventional rules. Although it is larger than the pawn, it still cannot capture pieces. The cannon can only capture by skipping a piece, meaning it must skip one piece in the middle to capture any piece.

Apart from the cannon, other pieces can only move one square horizontally or vertically. If two pieces are of the same size, the player who moves first captures the opponent's piece. For example, if the elephant and the minister are next to each other, the red player moves first and can capture the elephant with the minister, and vice versa.

The final victory condition in this game is, of course, to capture all of the opponent's pieces. If both players are left with only one piece and cannot catch up with each other, then the winner is determined by comparing the size of their pieces.

This chess game is very interesting. The rules are simple and easy to learn. It is very addictive and highly dependent on luck. When you are lucky, you can flip the blind cannon and it will be the opponent's king or general. You can directly take down the opponent's largest piece at the start of the game and gain an advantage.

When luck is against you, you might randomly pick a general or marshal, and the four soldiers or pawns next to him are just pawns or soldiers. You can imagine the despair you feel at that moment. Or you might have a perfect start with two advisors, and then run into the enemy's general or marshal. That would be a truly tragic situation.

Generally speaking, unless you cheat by seeing through cards or specifically manipulate the game, even a chess master couldn't guarantee a consistent winning streak. This is because there's virtually no skill involved; it's purely based on luck.

However, it seems that Miss Ning Rongrong's luck wasn't very good today, which can be seen from the notes on her face.

"Rongrong, have you made your choice yet? It's been almost thirty seconds. If you don't start now, I'll flip it first."

Across from Ning Rongrong, Yan stared with interest at her smooth forehead, thinking that leaving a red mark on it would be a very interesting experience. While he was daydreaming, he urged Ning Rongrong on, and the latter, with a serious expression, finally made a decision at the last moment.

"You are the one."

Ning Rongrong finally flipped over a piece in the third position to the right of the seventh position, and a bright red cannon appeared. The little girl's face immediately filled with a smile.

"This time it's my turn to beat you up. You're going to be in big trouble."

Ning Rongrong couldn't wait to make a declaration. In the last game, Yan opened with a red cannon and flipped his black general on the third move. Her poor black general was surrounded by unflipped pieces on all four sides and had no way to escape. In the end, he died before he could even make a move.

Then the scene became extremely intense. Her five black pawns were flipped out one by one and eliminated. Just when she finally flipped out a black knight, she casually flipped the piece next to the knight, ready to unleash the tiger and wreak havoc. Who knew that it was a red piece, and a bright red king at that.

Then some petty guy ignored her desperate pleas and directly eliminated the black pieces that she hadn't played any role in. Then he went on to wipe them out. When the last black piece was eliminated, the red side had ten pieces left. This petty guy was simply inhuman.

"You're celebrating too soon."

Yan calmly flipped over a piece to the right of the red cannon, and Ning Rongrong laughed even more wildly. It turned out to be a red pawn.

"Alright, you're finished. This time I'm going to get my revenge."

As Miss Ning Rongrong swore an oath, she flipped over a piece that was separated from the red cannon. A dark cannon appeared in her sight, and Ning Rongrong's smile froze on the spot. Before she could make any move to back out, Yan directly flew the cannon to capture it.

"This...how is this possible..."

Ning Rongrong was devastated, her whole being seemed to have lost its color and become much darker. Then Yan flipped the page again, and it wasn't a Red General, but it made Ning Rongrong even more desperate. It was a Red Warrior.

It's important to understand that in this game of Flip Chess, the role of the advisor is even more significant than that of the general. If the general accidentally encounters a pawn, he's doomed, and once he appears, he'll be closely monitored by the opponent, potentially losing his role before he can even make a move.

However, the situation is different for the advisor pieces. Basically, each advisor piece can play a significant role. Now, one of her advisor pieces is about to be destroyed, and she has fallen into a disadvantageous position right from the start. This is a blow to her morale. More importantly, the fact that she is like this at the beginning shows that she is not having a good hand.

As expected, Ning Rongrong's premonition was correct. Just as her red general was flipped out, Yan flipped it over again. The black pawn was right next to the red general and had no way to dodge, so it was directly killed.

Having lost both her king and pawn, no matter how much Ning Rongrong struggled, the final outcome was already predetermined. Towards the end, she essentially gave up, repeatedly flipping over pieces instead of making a move, allowing Yan to capture her pieces step by step. Finally, when all the pieces were flipped over, hers were all gone.

After losing again, Ning Rongrong angrily pushed the chessboard away, feeling very frustrated. "I'm not playing anymore. What a stupid game. It's not fun at all."

Yan chuckled and pulled out another slip of paper. "Rongrong, this is not right of you. How can you blame others when you can't do it yourself? A bet is a bet. Come here quickly so I can stick on another one."

Ning Rongrong looked conflicted. If she stuck another one on her face, there wouldn't be any space left. Wouldn't she be bullied to death by this lecherous man in front of her?

This guy is such a jerk. He doesn't know how to give in to her at all. He even said he would pamper her after he married her. Sure enough, men's words are deceiving. Only his own father was bewitched by him and actually considered such a thing.

Ning Rongrong was feeling very frustrated. At this moment, after gesturing for a while, Wei Yan suddenly put down the note and looked outside the pavilion. Ning Rongrong also heard footsteps outside and quickly turned around to cover her face.

She, the Seven Treasure Glazed Glass Little Witch, has only suffered a temporary setback today. She will get her revenge sooner or later, but only if this matter is not leaked. If it gets out, she will be utterly ruined and will have no face left.

"Mr. Yan."

This is a steward of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, surnamed Ning. He possesses the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul and is one of the direct descendants of the Ning family. These days, he has been sent by Ning Fengzhi to serve Yan.

However, Yan usually doesn't have anything to ask him, and he would never be so tactless as to bother him. Now that he's come over, he probably has something important to discuss.

"what's up."

Yan asked casually, and the steward surnamed Ning presented a letter.

"This is a letter from the Spirit Temple."

Yan casually accepted the letter from the man and then waved for him to leave. There had been quite a few letters arriving from the Martial Soul Temple these past few days, mostly feedback on matters Yan had instructed him to handle and reports on various issues. Unless marked with a red "urgent" designation, they were generally not considered major matters.

Yan glanced at the packaging casually; there were no markings, so it shouldn't be anything important. He usually dealt with his business in his spare time in the afternoon. Now was the perfect opportunity to win over Princess Ning, so he could postpone it.

So after the deacon surnamed Ning left, Yan casually put the letter aside and then glanced at Ning Rongrong, who was pretending to be a wooden figure.

"Rongrong, are you still going to play?"

He chuckled and said, "Don't say that Brother Yan didn't give you a chance. As long as you call me 'good brother,' I'll temporarily write this down. Let's play another round. If you lose again, you'll be penalized twice. How about it? Do you dare?"

Yan deliberately used reverse psychology because he knew very well that Ning Rongrong's competitive spirit had been ignited. Right now, she was just a novice who loved to play but was completely inexperienced, and she was already caught up in it. A few words from her could make her even more excited.

"Hmph. What do I have to be afraid of? Bring it on."

Ning Rongrong was indeed fooled. Just now she was complaining about her bad luck, but now she took the initiative to shuffle the chess pieces. After putting all thirty-two chess pieces face down, she casually washed them and placed them on half of the chessboard.

Yan grunted a couple of times to clear his throat, then continued, "Rongrong, before we start, did you forget something? If you call out nicely, I'll let you go first."

"You big pervert."

Ning Rongrong muttered something under her breath, not daring to speak too loudly, as if that would allow her to vent her dissatisfaction.

However, Princess Qibao Liuli was flexible and adaptable. After gathering her emotions, she looked up again with such sincerity and adorable cuteness as she called out, "Good brother, please give way to your little sister."

Yan was almost swooning over the cute "good brother" from her. As expected of a mischievous witch, she was a multifaceted drama queen. With such a wonderful younger sister, his cohabitation life at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School was sure to be full of fun.

"Ugh, you pervert, you're disgusting."

Seeing Yan standing there in a daze, Ning Rongrong quickly reached out and flipped over a chess piece. This time it was a dark horse, and after getting the first move, she immediately turned on him, dry heaving as she expressed her contempt for this small-minded man.

"Young lady, you can't just say things like that."

This time, Yan did not flip the card next to the dark horse. The horse piece is not too big but not too small either. It is still useful against the pawn and cannon. The situation in the early stage is unclear, so let's divide the battlefield first.

"Hmph, you've never been a good person to begin with. I'm only ten years old, and you're already saying you want to marry me. What is this if not disgusting?"

Ning Rongrong snorted to express her dissatisfaction, then picked out a red soldier next to the black horse, her smile almost overflowing.

Yan casually explained, "Uh, Rongrong, you misunderstood me. What I meant was, we can develop feelings for each other first..."

He casually gave an example, and Ning Rongrong didn't refute it, but just looked at him with disdain, as if she was protesting silently.

In this era of Douluo Continent, early marriage and early romance are simply not a problem. Ma Hongjun was already a veteran of countless battles when he was only twelve years old. Later, he even gave up and stopped looking for a girlfriend, going directly to brothels to find a phoenix. It's just...

Yan and Ning Rongrong chatted casually. He hadn't been paying much attention to the game this time, while Ning Rongrong seemed to have good luck. So, in the end...

"Yay! We finally won. Stickers, stickers, you can't escape now."

Ning Rongrong jumped up with joy, her face full of happiness. Her liveliness and cuteness were very endearing. Although Yan lost, he also smiled brightly. However, when Ning Rongrong picked up the note to stick on him, he resisted and dodged.

Yan struggled, unwilling to give in, "Rongrong, didn't we agree before that if both sides lose once, it can cancel each other out? You haven't lost once before and haven't paid anything..."

"Hmph, there is such a rule, but both sides have to agree to it. I finally won once, so I can't let you dodge it. Anyway, I've been stuck with it so many times, one more time won't make a difference..."

Ning Rongrong ran to his side with a smile, cupped Yan's cheeks with her two delicate white hands, and finally successfully stuck the note on.

In the end, Yan could only helplessly pick up another piece of paper, then lower his head, glance at the little girl's smooth forehead, and snort.

"What are you doing? Waaah..."

Princess Ning was tricked into lowering her guard and ran right up to someone. It was like sending a lamb to the slaughter. After being easily kissed and kissed, her little mouth was sealed shut again.

"You pervert, it's all saliva, it's disgusting."

After a long while, Ning Rongrong pushed Yan away. Several pieces of the paper on her face had fallen off due to her excitement, and her face was faintly visible as red.

Yan smiled smugly, stroked the 'white beard' that Ning Rongrong had stuck to his chin, then put away the chessboard and pieces. The game was basically over, and it was time to get down to business.

He took out the letter that had been delivered, opened it, and looked inside. There was another envelope and a note that explained the origin of the letter.

Just then, a small head popped up next to Yan, and a dissatisfied voice rang out, "Dugu Yan, I think I've heard that name before. It's a girl's name, right? What's your relationship with her?"

"She is an acquaintance, the granddaughter of Poison Douluo Dugu Bo. I often correspond with her, and I heard that she went to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy a few days ago."

Yan answered casually, glanced at the note and seeing that there wasn't much else of importance on it, then put away Dugu Yan's letter.

If this were just trivial matters concerning the Spirit Hall, Ning Rongrong could have simply read them. But it's highly likely that it was a love letter from another girl, so why would he open it and read it in front of her?

Chapter 223 Observations at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy

"A brand new generation of the Heaven Dou Royal Team... Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul... Ye Lingling... Interesting. Perfect timing to go out for a walk."

Deep within the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School's courtyard, Ning Rongrong was weaving a flower wreath in the small garden. At this moment, Yan, who was sitting in the pavilion, also stepped off the stone bench, sat on a recliner, and opened Dugu Yan's letter.

Besides the snake beauty's heartfelt confession, there was something else that greatly interested Yan. The new generation of the Heavenly Dou Team had begun forming in the past two days, and the Heavenly Dou Royal Academy was taking this matter very seriously, with three faculty members personally overseeing it.

The training coach for this generation of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy team is still Qin Ming, a graduate of Shrek Academy, and then there's the selection of the main players. The Heaven Dou team invited Dugu Yan, and as far as she knows, Yu Tianheng, one of the newly rising genius twins of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Sect, is also there.

There was another person who interested Yan the most: Ye Lingling, the owner of the top-tier healing plant martial soul, Nine-Heart Begonia.

"Ye Lingling, interesting. It doesn't seem like it will take long for you to go to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy."

Yan stood up with the letter in his hand, smiling as he prepared to leave the pavilion. Just as he finished packing up the letter and some other things and was about to leave, Ning Rongrong, who was weaving a flower wreath, blocked him at the exit.

Ning Rongrong, with a flower wreath on her little head, exuded a lively aura. Her two slender white hands blocked Yan's path. "You're going out? Where are you going? You've never been out these days, why are you thinking of going out today?"

Ning Rongrong asked four questions in a row, but Yan just smiled and replied, "I didn't go out the past two days because I wasn't in the mood or focused. It's not like I was hiding from anyone. What's so strange about going out now?"

Ning Rongrong stared at him with disdain. "You're going to the Heavenly Dou Royal Academy, aren't you? Dugu Yan is obviously your old flame. As soon as you got the letter, you ran off to fool around with her. She really is a womanizer."

Yan just smiled and lowered his head, "Rongrong, are you jealous?"

"Hmph! I won't be jealous of you, you big pervert."

Ning Rongrong snorted coldly. She would never admit that she was interested in this big pervert's affairs. However, the little witch was clever after all. Her eyes darted around, and she turned her head and said, "But the Tiandou Royal Academy is a rather remote place. Do you know the way?"

Yan saw through her thoughts but didn't say anything. He just smiled and said, "Now that you mention it, I don't think I really know her. You know Rongrong, though."

Ning Rongrong stared at Yan and said, "Of course I know it. I go there often. I can take you there, but you have to show me that letter."

Ning Rongrong glanced at Yan; she was naturally very curious about the letter from earlier. However, Yan simply smiled when he heard her request, then stepped aside and walked out of the courtyard.

"Hey, don't go! We can talk about the terms... Hey, what are you doing? Let me go..."

Seeing Yan's uncooperative attitude, Ning Rongrong got a little angry and hurriedly tried to block his way, but Yan casually grabbed her and dragged her out of the courtyard. Then the two of them headed towards the outside of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School's castle.

……

The Heaven Dou Royal Academy was one of the most famous and high-quality advanced soul master academies in the Heaven Dou Empire. Because it was an academy invested in and directly controlled by the royal family, it was given the name "Royal".