Chapter 814: An Unfavorable Situation in the Chess Game

It took eight years for Su Che and his two companions to visit three coordinate locations, but they found no traces of the demons’ lairs, let alone their corpses. Could it be that these three demons were destroyed by the forces of heaven’s punishment, leaving no trace at all?
Only one coordinate remained on the map. Ling Xuan explained that this demon, named “Chongguang,” had an extremely strong control over the primal power of time, second only to Zu Wu Zhuo Jiuyin. Before setting off, Su Che pointed at the last coordinate and asked, “Dragon Emperor, do you know which Immortal Emperor’s territory this is?”
“I’ll take a look…”
With a lifespan of hundreds of billions of years, the Dragon Emperor was certainly very familiar with the power structures in the Earthly Immortal Realm. However, since the map wasn’t very detailed, he needed some time to figure it out before concluding, “It should be Yu Ying’s territory. A Fifth Heaven Immortal Emperor famous for his Great Illusion Art.”
“Yu Ying? Great Illusion Art?”
Su Che raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t hard to guess that this Fifth Heaven Immortal Emperor might very well be the Saint Ancestor of the Shadow Path.
“If that’s the case, it’s quite coincidental.”
Su Che was certain that the list of applicants for the Immortal Lord Treasury definitely didn’t include the name “Yu Ying.” This meant that Yu Ying and the Shadow God had no interest in the Immortal Lord Treasury; otherwise, they would have contacted him long ago.
Back then, when the Shadow God took on the form of “Meng Luo” and left the Immortal-Demon Battlefield, he had exchanged communication methods with Su Che. No matter how vast the Earthly Immortal Realm was or how far away it was, a message sent would take at most two or three years to arrive.
Given their status, they must have known that the judge of the Immortal Lord Treasury was Su Che. If they wanted to contact him, they should have received a message from the Shadow God by now.
Su Che thought to himself, “In that case, I might as well reach out to them first. If this place really is the territory of the Saint Ancestor of the Shadow Path, perhaps he or the Shadow God might know something about the ‘Chongguang remains’.”
It only took seven days for Su Che and his companions to arrive at Yu Ying’s territory using the Nine Dragon Imperial Chariot. As soon as they arrived, Su Che sent a message to the Shadow God: “Wait in front of Mo Li Mountain for ten days.”
But they didn’t even need ten days. That very evening, a dark figure suddenly appeared in front of Su Che and his companions in front of Mo Li Mountain—the Shadow God had arrived!
“Judge?” The Shadow God took on the appearance of Meng Luo, his tone somewhat strange.
Su Che shook his head and smiled, “Since you have no interest in the Immortal Lord Treasury, why call me that?”

To this day, in front of him, the Shadow God was no longer that unfathomable powerhouse. Su Che could clearly determine that the Shadow God, Meng Luo, possessed the cultivation level of a Fourth Heaven Immortal Emperor.
“Master, you’re already stronger than him,” Old He said in a peculiar tone.
The Shadow God glanced indifferently at the Dragon Emperor and transmitted a message, “For us, growing too fast is actually seeking our own doom. You should understand this.”
Su Che nodded silently.
As a Divided Soul entity, once reaching the Ninth Heaven realm, it meant being swallowed and fused by the original spirit of the Jade Radiant Immortal Lord, thus ending its tragic life. To date, the Jade Radiant Immortal Lord had already fused over a hundred such Divided Soul entities, as he had retrieved more than a hundred Wish Fruits with innate attributes.
Hundreds of years ago, Feng Lin contributed another Wish Fruit to the Jade Radiant Immortal Lord, marking the end of another Divided Soul entity at the Ninth Heaven realm.
Still, Su Che was curious and asked, “With someone like the Jade Shadow Immortal Emperor deliberately suppressing their own growth rate, would the Jade Radiant Immortal Lord just sit idly by?”
“Actually, that’s just self-deception; it has no real meaning,” the Shadow God Meng Luo sneered coldly. “Like domestic pigs, once the Jade Radiant Immortal Lord selects one, he has ways to make it fatten up quickly. By then, it can’t lose weight or die… My master is relatively lucky—he hasn’t been chosen yet. But it’s almost his turn, after all, there are only about forty Divided Soul entities at the Immortal Emperor level at this stage.”
“That’s already quite extreme,” Su Che shook his head slowly and sighed, “In the Immortal Realm, the total number of Immortal Emperors is limited, yet over forty of them are the Jade Radiant Immortal Lord’s Divided Souls. His methods are truly remarkable.”
The Shadow God’s gaze flickered; he was speechless for a moment.
Su Che still had questions: “With the Jade Radiant Immortal Lord being so ambitious, don’t the other Immortal Lords have any objections?”
“How do you know the other Immortal Lords don’t have similar tactics?” Meng Luo snorted coldly. “At their level, who are we to judge right from wrong?”
“That’s true,” Su Che nodded in agreement.
Everyone was trying their best to enhance their strength, including the Immortal Lords. Whether by using Divided Souls or clones, it was their own business and didn’t bother others; no one could say they were doing something wrong.
If it weren’t to save Senior Brother Yu Qing’s fate, Su Che wouldn’t have any reason to oppose the Jade Radiant Immortal Lord.

Although Shadow God couldn’t see exactly how strong Su Che was, he could still tell that Su Che’s changes were unimaginable—likely, he was no longer his opponent. However, this was of course good news for his master, Jade Shadow. The stronger the allies, the better. He asked, “Why have you called me?” This guy was always straightforward, with a completely emotionless tone and expression—something Su Che had long gotten used to. He replied, “I’m searching for the remains of an ancient demon god named Chongguang. In ancient times, this place was his private territory.” “Remains of a demon god?” Shadow God thought carefully before answering, “Can I help?” “It’s certain,” Su Che replied firmly. The information provided by Ling Xuan and Ao Jun matched up pretty well; there couldn’t be any mistakes. “I can send my subordinates to investigate. I really haven’t paid much attention to such things before,” Shadow God said indifferently. “I guess you’ll have to wait a few years.” “It doesn’t matter. A few years is nothing. I can wait,” Su Che nodded. “And then…” Shadow God continued, “You must know someone named Yu Qing, right?” “I do!” Su Che’s expression changed as he quickly asked, “Could it be that he’s already ascended to the immortal realm?” “Yes.” Shadow God nodded. “Over a hundred years ago, he came to Jade Shadow’s territory on his own, saying he was your fellow disciple and asking us to keep an eye on your movements and news.” “That’s great! I’ll go see him right now,” Su Che said happily, then asked, “What’s his current cultivation level?” “Early stage of Heavenly Immortal,” Shadow God replied. “As for the exact date of his ascension to the immortal realm, he’s not much later than you. But by now, his cultivation level is far inferior to yours.” “It’s better for him to have a lower cultivation level—so he won’t be forced by Yu Huang Tian to improve faster,” Su Che smiled. “How could Yu Huang Tian not anticipate our petty concerns? He has plenty of ways to push you forward,” Shadow God said gravely. “You can’t rush, nor can you slow down. These things can’t be explained in just a few words…” Su Che nodded silently. He had the Dragon Emperor drive the Nine Dragon Imperial Chariot, carrying them all to fly in the direction indicated by Shadow God. A few hours later, in an unremarkable courtyard of a city in the immortal realm, Su Che met Yu Qing after a long separation. Although Yu Qing’s facial features had changed, and he no longer had Yu Huang Tian’s physique and appearance, Su Che still recognized him at a glance through his personal aura and life energy field. He was sitting alone in the courtyard, drinking tea and playing chess, looking quite relaxed.

“Is it my turn to leave?” Su Che sat across from him, holding black pieces, in a disadvantageous position.
Yu Qing nodded slightly, leaned back, and rested against the chair back.
Su Che’s chess skills were already at a mythical level—he could turn dead ends into victories with almost no thought, placing a piece within three breaths.
“You’ve changed a lot,” Yu Qing smiled. “I’ve long heard about the Immortal Lord’s treasure trove. Your role as an arbiter really surprised me.”
“Changes are inevitable,” Su Che shook his head with a sigh. “When we last parted, I was still at the Yuan Ying stage. Now, we’ve both ended up in the Immortal Realm.”
Yu Qing stared at the chessboard and spoke metaphorically, “This is already a losing game. I don’t want you involved anymore. I’ll just play it for fun by myself.”
“Maybe I can still save it,” Su Che said softly. “I still think there’s hope.”
“There’s no need,” Yu Qing replied. “Anyway, I won’t die in the next three to five hundred million years. As a being who has lived so long, I have no regrets. There’s no need to drag others into this. Honestly, the person I played chess with is too powerful to resist.”
Su Che knew that Senior Brother Yu Qing didn’t want to burden him, nor did he want Su Che to stand against an immortal lord like Yu Huangtian because of him.
So he said, “Actually, I’ve always had a feeling that even without you, I and Yu Huangtian would eventually cross paths, and it’s highly likely we wouldn’t get along.”
Yu Qing gazed into the distance and replied solemnly, “Yu Huangtian is countless times more terrifying than you imagine. As one of his divided selves, I also feel that he might be the most hidden and the most fearsome among all immortal lords.”
“I’ve never underestimated him,” Su Che nodded in agreement.
In fact, Su Che had also thought that by locking Yu Qing in the Immortal Prison, he could completely sever the fate connection between him and Yu Huangtian. But now wasn’t the time.
If he did that now, Yu Huangtian would definitely track him down. It would give him the best reason and excuse to deal with Su Che. Even immortal lords like the Holy Mother, the Evil Emperor, or the Witch God wouldn’t be able to intervene in his defense.
At the very least, he had to wait until he reached the level of Immortal Emperor, with thousands of times greater power and abilities like predicting fate, before he could possibly confront him.
Maybe even that wouldn’t be enough—he would have to wait until the ninth layer of the Immortal Prison Pagoda was opened. That is, the last layer…
“Senior Brother, you said it yourself—three to five hundred million years won’t come around for you yet. So there’s no need to worry.”

Su Che smiled and said, “In 300 to 500 million years, who knows what I’ll become? Besides, there’s no need to wait that long. I guess, at most in a million years, I’ll be able to…”
Just as he spoke, both of them changed expression.
Boom!
A formless and invisible yet immense force descended violently from the sky, pressing down on them…