Wei Yunshu listened to Luo Lingfeng describe her own death without changing her expression. It would be best to blame the evil cultivators and use this matter to deal with the disobedient noble families of Cloud City. She never revealed her true capabilities; her cultivation had long reached that realm, yet no one knew. It seemed those noble families were caught off guard by her. This matter was likely planned for a long time. How had she hidden her inner killing intent to play the zither for her? She probably also felt that being Dao companions with someone from a beggar’s background was extremely demeaning, didn’t she? After all, her former fiancé was the young master of the Dustless Sea, a naturally noble dragon offspring.
Sensing her thoughts drifting off track, Wei Yunshu came back to her senses, brushed away the chaotic emotions. She looked up to meet Luo Lingfeng’s gaze and smiled calmly, “It seems the True Monarch is determined to obtain the Taiyi Sword.”
Luo Lingfeng glanced at the fleeting emotions in Wei Yunshu’s eyes, feeling a bit curious. Her long eyelashes drooped, casting a small shadow. She replied with a smile, “How can my Dao Companion’s Dharma sword fall into the hands of others?” She spoke the word “Dao Companion” with a gentleness like flowing water, full of deep affection. Yet, the expression in her eyes was not so. Her eyes seemed to hold a trace of eerie beauty and suppressed gloom. Wei Yunshu, let alone, even Xie Zhichao found it strange.
Xie Zhichao sighed softly. “If the Taiyi Sword is truly there, the situation will become even more complicated.”
Luo Lingfeng let out a cold laugh. “If there are any who are blind and foolish, I will deal with them all.”
Wei Yunshu reminded her, “That is, after all, the territory of the Luoshui Divine Palace.” Cultivators who reached the Cavern Heaven realm generally resided in Cavern Heaven blessed lands for their cultivation. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth was limited. Once they engaged in combat and depleted their spiritual power, they would likely need decades or even centuries to recover. However, sitting on a meditation cushion all day would be too monotonous. Therefore, they would also have incarnations traveling outside, with varying levels of cultivation. Luo Lingfeng’s current incarnation was at the Nascent Soul realm. But in the Luoshui Divine Palace, Luo Hengjun was a genuine Cavern Heaven cultivator. If they were to confront him directly, this Nascent Soul incarnation would definitely be dispersed, and once it collapsed, this essence of Cavern Heaven energy would not return.
Luo Lingfeng did not pick up on that thread and instead changed the subject. “Since we have leisure, how about a game of chess?” Life was like chess, and living beings were like chess pieces. Therefore, the chess games between cultivators also contained Daoist thoughts. For lower-level cultivators to play chess with higher-level cultivators was equivalent to receiving their guidance, yielding great benefits. This was clearly Luo Lingfeng’s attempt to curry favor with them. Wei Yunshu didn’t know what made her so special in the other’s eyes. It certainly wasn’t “mutual fondness.”
Xie Zhichao understood Luo Lingfeng’s intention. Without a second thought, she waved her hand. “Daoist Friend Bo, you play.” She cultivated the saber, focusing on unity. She had no interest in learning other things. If she were to play chess with Luo Lingfeng, she might be utterly defeated before even coming into contact with the other’s Daoist thoughts.
Wei Yunshu glanced at Xie Zhichao helplessly, then turned to Luo Lingfeng and sighed softly, “This humble Daoist is a person of the mountains. My chess skills are rusty, and I fear I am no match for the True Monarch.”
Luo Lingfeng let out a light laugh, got up, moved her feet, and leisurely took out a chessboard and a set of chess pieces. The chessboard was quite old, but the lines of the grid were still relatively clear. However, there were faint traces of spiritual energy leaking outwards, clearly indicating it had been used many times by its owner. As for the chess pieces… they were imperfectly refined spiritual artifacts. Among the black and white pieces, there was one incomplete piece in each color, which the owner had inexplicably not discarded.
Wei Yunshu was very familiar with this chessboard. It was a Dharma artifact Luo Lingfeng had refined during her idle moments, but it had never been completed due to the disciples’ abruptness. She had also suggested refining these chess pieces again in the furnace at the time, but Luo Lingfeng had only said, “If you painstakingly obtain something, and then discover it does not suit your heart’s desire, do you discard it like worn-out shoes?” At that time, she had sensed Luo Lingfeng’s displeasure and questioned her a few times, but the other party was unwilling to speak further. Looking at it now, it seemed she truly cherished old objects, but she hated this old acquaintance.
A ripple stirred in her heart, but Wei Yunshu quickly suppressed it. She raised her left hand and gently nudged a slightly incomplete piece in the chess box with her index finger. However, before she could make a move, a sharp gaze, as if to pierce through her, was cast upon her. Wei Yunshu’s eyelids twitched, and a sense of unease arose in her heart. She looked up to meet Luo Lingfeng’s deep gaze, feigning ignorance, “True Monarch?” Seeing that Luo Lingfeng still hadn’t retracted her gaze, but was staring directly at her left hand, she then pretended to relax and laughed, “You are too kind.” Saying this, she switched the chess piece to her right hand.
Luo Lingfeng did not speak, as if her thoughts had shifted to the chess game.
But in her heart, a storm surged in an instant.
The actions of the person before her were too similar to Wei Yunshu. When she played chess with Wei Yunshu, she also held the pieces with her left hand. Perhaps something she herself was unaware of was that the first move she made in every chess game was always with that incomplete, defective piece. Was it a coincidence? But that defective piece was not on top of the chessboard; it had been deliberately picked out. Luo Lingfeng secretly observed the person’s chess moves. After two quarters of an hour, the outcome of this game was decided.
“Daoist friend, you are too modest,” Luo Lingfeng smiled slightly. “Shall we play another game?”
Wei Yunshu glanced at Yun Dan, who was looking bored on the side, and politely declined, “We have been troubling the True Monarch for too long. We should take our leave.”
Luo Lingfeng had originally wanted to observe the other party further through chess, but the person before her was unwilling. She followed Wei Yunshu’s gaze and glanced at Yun Dan, feeling somewhat displeased. But she quickly hid her emotions and said softly, “Since the two Daoist friends have no intention, I shall not impose any further.”
Yun Dan, already having something to hide, was startled and frightened by Luo Lingfeng’s glance. Only after Wei Yunshu and the two of them left did she anxiously speak, “Master?” After a period of interaction, she realized that Luo Lingfeng was not as she had initially imagined. After experiencing her unpredictability, she had long abandoned the idea of imitating the Cloud Sovereign’s demeanor.
Luo Lingfeng said with a blank expression, “You may withdraw.” Her current thoughts were consumed by Bo Fengliu. Seeing Yun Dan’s face, so similar to Wei Yunshu’s, she no longer felt much emotion.
Yun Dan dared not ask further. After offering a salute, she respectfully retreated. Only after she had gone far away did she breathe a sigh of relief, a sinister and malevolent glint appearing in her eyes.
In the room.
Luo Lingfeng sat on the couch.
She reached out and picked up a flying crane.
She had ordered people to investigate Bo Fengliu’s background. All she knew was that she and Xie Zhichao had appeared in Funeral Heaven Pass together. As for her original hometown, her master, or the divine path she cultivated, there wasn’t a single clue. This person seemed to have appeared out of thin air. Could it be a disciple that a certain sect had been hiding all along? But her words and actions bore no resemblance to the customs of Buzhou. As for the Dustless Sea, that was even more impossible.
“True Monarch, should we continue to investigate?” the flying crane spoke humanly.
Luo Lingfeng raised her eyelids and said calmly, “We can try to test her Dao techniques and divine abilities.” A moment later, she narrowed her eyes and said, “The waterway to the Southern Continent may not be peaceful. Isn’t White Dragon Ravine not far ahead? That old snake demon hasn’t stretched its muscles in a long time, has it?”
