Inconceivable.

If not for witnessing it with his own eyes at this moment, and with Yueying present beside him, Daoist Diandao would hardly dare believe that there was actually a fourth person here at this time and place, who had followed them all the way without them having the slightest awareness of it!

A cultivator of the same realm could absolutely not achieve this!

Who was this female cultivator?

Sitting behind that chess board, beside the willow qin, Daoist Diandao’s face rarely showed a few traces of bewilderment.

Meanwhile, Fujiansheng’s brow furrowed even tighter.

His gaze fell upon Jian Chou.

Through the mist that was made hazy by the moonlight, he could clearly discern her figure. Though they could be said to have never met before, this aura of cold elegance and detachment made a flash of inspiration suddenly occur in his mind, and he abruptly understood.

So it was the female cultivator from beneath the city wall earlier.

Standing here at this moment, she hadn’t concealed her true cultivation level in the slightest, so that trace of meager immortal power became exceptionally obvious.

And not long ago, when Fujiansheng’s divine sense had swept past, he had also discovered such a person.

But at that time, that female cultivator had not possessed this appearance.

After Fujiansheng understood in his heart, those two slightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed. He bore no ill will toward people, and since Yueying had invited this female cultivator to sit, he naturally had no objection.

But just as he lowered his brow, another detail surfaced.

Sinister!

Better not to think about it – once he did, it truly made one break out in a cold sweat!

Setting aside how strange this female cultivator’s cultivation was, she had clearly still been beneath the city wall earlier, and when they left, Li Xieyang had already sealed off the entire Haotian Star Domain! Even someone at the Sacred Immortal realm couldn’t possibly break through the blockade without anyone knowing – how could she appear here alongside them?

Fujiansheng and Daoist Diandao still didn’t know what had happened beneath that city wall. If they had known, they wouldn’t merely find it sinister – they would probably break out in a cold sweat upon seeing Jian Chou at this moment!

The most composed was naturally Yueying.

When the person flew down from the moon-lit high mountain, one could only see he wore all white. Only when he stood quietly on the mountain at this moment could one discover that this white garment was all woven from snow-white swan feathers.

If Fujiansheng embodied a return to simplicity and truth, then he embodied graceful transcendence.

His features also gave people a dreamlike feeling. At first glance, they seemed clearly seen, with dark pupils that faintly held subtle purple light. But when one looked away, everything was forgotten, leaving only that kind of imprecise haziness, like walking through an all-encompassing fog, having drunk three to five catties of good wine. The only thing one could remember clearly was a mole at the tip of his right eyebrow.

Jian Chou had naturally followed Fujiansheng and Daoist Diandao all the way here, and knew they were coming to visit a friend called “Yueying,” but she hadn’t expected to be immediately seen through.

At this moment, after observing the three of them briefly, she didn’t hide her intentions.

She slightly bowed and said, “Earlier at the city wall by the Jiangnan shore, I overheard two Daoist friends mention the ‘Desolate Domain’ and found it quite interesting, so I presumptuously followed along. I hope you can forgive me.”

Desolate Domain?

This was fine not to mention, but once mentioned, Daoist Diandao’s gaze already showed complete surprise and suspicion: one should know that when Fujiansheng spoke at that time, he hadn’t let those below the city wall hear, yet this female cultivator had heard everything clearly!

The truly formidable one had been sitting below all along!

Had he been out of worldly affairs so long that he didn’t know the Upper Void had produced such a formidable figure?

Daoist Diandao couldn’t help but direct his gaze toward Fujiansheng.

Fujiansheng roughly understood his meaning and only shook his head slightly.

Though the vast Upper Void was broad, the cultivators’ abilities were not small either. Powerful cultivators, even if they didn’t concern themselves with worldly matters, wouldn’t remain completely unknown. Whenever mentioned, at least some people would remember them.

Moreover, Fujiansheng was a Sacred Immortal.

In his memory, the Upper Void had never had such a formidable female cultivator – she seemed more like someone who had just emerged.

Yueying smiled and said, “I am Yueying, an idle person of this Upper Void immortal realm. These two are friends I made several hundred years ago – the one holding the qin is called Daoist Diandao, and the one not carrying a sword is called Fujiansheng.”

This was introducing everyone.

Since Jian Chou had come to this place and revealed herself after Yueying exposed her, she had no intention of hiding her tracks anymore, so she spoke frankly: “I am Jian Chou, from the Primordial Realm.”

Jian Chou!

She was actually that female cultivator on the Ten Death Decree!

This introduction was truly extraordinary, practically overturning their original understanding in an instant!

The matter of the Ten Death Decree, due to Yashan’s explicit orders and intervention, had caused quite a stir several years ago. Both Daoist Diandao and Fujiansheng were well aware of it.

But no one had ever doubted the authenticity of that Ten Death Decree.

That is to say, after seeing the Ten Death Decree, absolutely no one would think that the female cultivator it sought to kill would be a terrifyingly powerful expert!

After all, she had just ascended.

However, at this moment, this female cultivator who appeared to have low cultivation stood before them, having followed them all the way without anyone knowing, then frankly stated her origins and name…

Not showing the slightest concern.

But thinking about it again, it made sense – they were all Sacred Immortals, and this so-called Ten Death Decree held no attraction for them whatsoever. Her admitting to being Jian Chou had no disadvantages.

Each of them harbored their own speculations to varying degrees, but they also felt this female cultivator’s actions were quite extraordinary. Appearing boldly in the open, having earlier sat beneath the city wall alongside that group who wanted to kill her – whether in terms of courage or strength, she commanded their admiration.

It was just casual drinking and conversation anyway, so they didn’t mind having one more person.

They thus invited Jian Chou to sit down together on that solitary boat. Daoist Diandao sat at the bow, facing Yueying, while Jian Chou and Fujiansheng sat on either side, also facing each other. To her left was Daoist Diandao, to her right was Yueying.

As the host, Yueying first moved the wine jar that had been pressing down on the chess board, then raised his finger to divide the board along its diagonal lines into four sections, saying, “Meeting is fate itself. Today we have four people – why don’t we play a game of four-person chess?”

The chess board was deep black, with very smooth grid lines.

Jian Chou glanced at it and had no objection, but when she turned to look at the two chess containers, she saw no pieces, so she asked, “What shall we use as pieces?”

Yueying smiled.

He lowered his eyes, seeming to contemplate for a moment, then said, “This is simple.”

With that, he raised his sleeve and hand, actually reaching toward the night sky!

Crash!

In the deep night sky, stars formed lines and spread into rivers, but at this moment they all fell like meteors, dropping into the chess containers.

In no time, they were already full.

Looking up again at the firmament, a corner of the brilliant star river had already dimmed, empty without a single star visible.

“Haha, heaven as chess board, stars as pieces! Marvelous indeed.”

Daoist Diandao watched with brightening eyes, couldn’t help but clap in praise, though at the end he felt somewhat regretful.

“What a pity this old Daoist plays the willow qin, not the pipa!”

Saying this, he picked up a star piece between his fingers, examined it for a long while, then was first to place it in a corner of the board, asking Jian Chou, “The Primordial Realm produces extraordinary people. In earlier years there was Ancestor Luye, and now comes Daoist friend Jian Chou – truly puzzling. The matter of Pangu’s Desolate Domain is considered classified even in the Great Luo Heaven, completely unknown to anyone below Sacred Immortal level. Yet Daoist friend Jian Chou is particularly interested in it, which makes this poor Daoist rather curious.”

At this time, Fujiansheng also picked up a star piece and placed it on the board.

After hearing Daoist Diandao’s words, he looked up toward Jian Chou across from him.

His gaze carried scrutiny, but was very measured.

No matter what, it didn’t make one feel presumptuous.

Jian Chou looked up at him, then glanced at where he had placed his piece, but replied to Daoist Diandao, “In earlier years in the Primordial Realm, I saw some records left from ancient times and had some knowledge of it.”

“Bullshit!”

Daoist Diandao wasn’t polite in the slightest as he gave a cold laugh, completely disbelieving the answer Jian Chou had just given. He just snorted and curled his lips.

The third move was Yueying’s turn. He picked up a chess piece and couldn’t help but laugh out loud, sighing, “Haven’t seen you for many years, and I hadn’t heard this verbal habit of yours for a while. I thought you’d changed your nature, but didn’t expect a leopard can’t change its spots. In my view, you shouldn’t be called ‘Daoist Diandao’ – calling you ‘Daoist Fangpi’ would be more fitting.”

“Bullshit!”

Daoist Diandao gave a cold sneer, not even giving Yueying face.

He paid no attention to the teasing, returning his gaze to Jian Chou, but didn’t continue pursuing the previous answer. He only said, “Since you know of Pangu’s Desolate Domain, you should naturally know how it was formed. The Primordial Age was the era of deities, the Ancient Era was when humans and gods coexisted, but the great war led to the Eternal Night, and Great Sovereign Pangu fell into eternal slumber in this long night. After the long night, hundreds of races rose together, the Upper Void was established, and only then came the era when we cultivators reached the pinnacle of this realm. You call it the ‘Ancient Times.’ Now we’ve reached the present age. Though Great Sovereign Pangu perished, he was the ancestor of the human race, the pinnacle of cultivators. His massive shell was so vast its borders couldn’t be found, transforming only into mountains and rivers, drifting at the edge of the universe in the form of a giant. But four hundred years ago, several Immortal Sovereigns discovered its traces and prepared to combine the power of the Great Luo Heaven, Free Heaven, and Non-Evil Heaven to open the Desolate Domain. Calculating the time, it should be in forty-four years.”

Pangu’s shell was the so-called “Desolate Domain.”

It drifted in the universe, influenced by the power of cosmic stars, so it had a fixed trajectory, making one circuit every sixty thousand years, approaching the Upper Void immortal realm once.

And the next closest approach would be in forty-four years.

Daoist Diandao’s answer didn’t differ much from what Jian Chou had previously known and calculated. The Nine Curves River Chart recorded enough information that this news, which might shock all Sacred Immortals if released, didn’t cause much surprise to appear on her face.

What she was curious about wasn’t just the Desolate Domain, but opening the Desolate Domain.

Yueying had already made his move. She was fourth to reach into the chess container, grabbed a piece, and placed it casually, saying, “So when the time comes, can anyone enter this Desolate Domain?”

“Bullshit.” Daoist Diandao cursed again, shaking his head, “Great Sovereign Pangu created heaven and earth – what kind of person was he? Just the pressure when the Desolate Domain approaches the Upper Void could cause the immortal realm to shake, and if one isn’t careful, it could collapse. Though we cultivators have ascended and are called ‘immortals,’ it would still be very difficult to enter the Desolate Domain by one’s own power alone. So unless you’re as formidable as the Immortal Sovereigns, you must rely on Long Ye Scrolls to avoid the danger of complete destruction of spirit and soul.”

The Long Ye Scrolls naturally had their own origins as well.

In the Ancient Era, the human race fought a great war with the deities, leading to the Eternal Night when stars bore no bright light, causing countless human cultivators to die in the cold darkness.

Pangu thus created the Long Ye Scrolls.

Originally there were three volumes, made from the light of stars before they died, capable of illuminating the four directions and protecting the human race. At the end of the long night, Pangu finally fell in the last great battle, and two of the original three Long Ye Scrolls disappeared, with only the third volume falling into the depths of the universe.

Tens of thousands of years later, when the Upper Void was established, Emperor Baihe discovered the remaining scroll by chance.

So it was divided into thirty-seven pieces.

The scrolls contained Great Sovereign Pangu’s former power, and cultivators who possessed them could enter the Desolate Domain without being rejected.

“So apart from Immortal Sovereigns, only thirty-seven people can enter the Desolate Domain in forty-four years. For idle people like this poor Daoist, who don’t even attend council meetings, naturally I wouldn’t be considered for something like going to the Desolate Domain.”

Of course, more importantly, he didn’t want to go either.

Daoist Diandao had a kind of drunken wild aura about him. He took a star piece and tapped it on the chess board, asking Jian Chou, “You want to go to the Desolate Domain?”

Jian Chou replied honestly, “I have some interest.”

Fujiansheng and Yueying both looked at her.

Daoist Diandao then gave a sly laugh, “That’s simple. Among us four, look at this boy and this old Yueying – they’re both people who received Long Ye Scrolls just a month ago. You could challenge them right now, ascend the Dueling Platform, fight it out, and make them give you their scrolls when they lose!”

In the Upper Void immortal realm, the cultivators’ power was too great. Moreover, grudges between people often weren’t easy to resolve, so there were Dueling Platforms.

Whenever cultivators engaged in honorable combat, swearing to duel, a Dueling Platform would rise.

One platform was one world.

No matter how fiercely cultivators fought on the Dueling Platform, it wouldn’t cause too much damage to the Upper Void immortal realm.

For example, Ancestor Luye had once defeated Immortal Lord Bixi on a Dueling Platform.

Though Jian Chou didn’t know exactly how Dueling Platforms worked, she could guess the general idea. Looking at Fujiansheng and Yueying, several thoughts flashed through her mind.

But she certainly wouldn’t take action like this.

This Daoist Diandao had met her by chance, yet answered her questions and cleared her doubts, which could be considered a great favor. How could she be so presumptuous as to not know when to stop?

So she smiled and treated it as if she hadn’t heard Daoist Diandao’s words, only saying something that seemed completely unrelated: “The Daoist’s title ‘Diandao’ is quite fitting indeed.”

Daoist Diandao placed a piece on the chess board, his face finally showing some smugness, but when he looked down at the board, he also revealed some listlessness.

He stretched out his hand and pointed at the chess board.

Then he said, “Look at this chess game we’re playing. The pieces have no black or white – we can only play because you remember where you placed your pieces. This shows that originally there is no black and white in this world – it’s all just people troubling themselves needlessly. This poor Daoist only treats black as white and white as black, considering both mediocre and brilliant people as common folk, both good and bad people as dead people. People say I live in an upside-down way, but I think they’re the ones living upside-down!”

Jian Chou carefully pondered this, only feeling these words contained a “the whole world is drunk while I alone am sober” kind of loneliness, and for a moment forgot to speak.

Fujiansheng’s gentle young face remained calm as before.

Yueying then pointed at him and laughed, “So you see, Daoist friend Jian Chou, upside-down people like upside-down people. This Fujiansheng is named ‘Fujiansheng’ yet doesn’t carry a sword on his back, and he’s a first-rate sword cultivator of the Upper Void. Fujiansheng doesn’t carry a sword – isn’t that interesting?”

Fujiansheng doesn’t carry a sword.

Jian Chou couldn’t help but look up at the person across from her.

That plainly dressed youth showed some bashfulness, and wasn’t annoyed by Yueying’s teasing. He only corrected him, “Not a sword cultivator, but a swordsman.”

Yueying shook his head without speaking.

Fujiansheng then looked toward Jian Chou, his eyes like dark jade containing the cold emerald of distant mountains, yet also like warm jade producing smoke. He asked quite directly, “Does Daoist friend Jian Chou also use a sword?”

Between those who use swords, there exists a strange resonance.

Though he hadn’t seen Jian Chou’s sword, he always felt she was someone who used a sword.

Jian Chou was amazed by his perceptiveness and didn’t deny it, saying, “I also use a sword.”

But having spoken, she thought of Qu Zhengfeng, who also used a sword.

Though she hadn’t seen Fujiansheng’s sword either, she always felt that her sword and his sword were not the same kind of sword.

So she curved her lips in a faint smile, and after considering for a moment said, “It’s just that sword differs from sword, and those who use swords differ from those who use swords. You are a guest, I am a master.”

You are a guest, I am a master.

Swordsman, sword master!

These mere six words seemed like sword light crisscrossing over this moonless lake, stirring up tremendous waves in the previously still, deep waters!

At first hearing, they seemed somewhat domineering.

But Fujiansheng was only stunned for that moment, then understood, grasping Jian Chou’s meaning: A swordsman treats the sword as self, cherishes the sword as life, emphasizing the “sword”; a sword master treats the self as sword, with all swords returning to self, emphasizing the “self.”

These master and guest concepts had no distinction of superiority, only expressing difference.

The youth hadn’t been drinking, yet felt somewhat intoxicated.

He let the cool breeze blow past his ears, yet felt warmth in his heart.

On the solitary boat on the lake surface, all was quiet for a moment.

Yueying suddenly looked toward the distant night sky, his pupils contracting slightly, then turned back to ask, “We three all have stories behind our names. Just now hearing that Daoist friend uses ‘Jian Chou’ as her title reminds me of a Buddhist verse: ‘With Buddha in the heart, the spiritual platform grieves.’ Is this the correct interpretation?”

“Originally it was interpreted thus.”

Jian Chou didn’t deny that this was the origin of her name.

Daoist Diandao heard that she still had hidden meanings and pressed, “Originally interpreted thus – then there are other interpretations?”

Jian Chou then smiled, “When ignorant, there are ignorant interpretations; when enlightened, there are enlightened interpretations. There’s a saying ‘the ignorant fear nothing.’ After cultivating bitterly for four hundred years in the Primordial Realm, Jian Chou gained a new understanding. Regarding worldly matters and worldly people: having sight, knowledge, and worry; lacking sight, knowledge, and worry; the more one sees and knows, the more one worries; extreme sight and knowledge bring extreme worry. Wherever there is sight, there must be worry, hence the name ‘Jian Chou.’ How is this interpretation?”

“Brilliantly interpreted!”

Upon hearing this, Daoist Diandao couldn’t help but clap in admiration.

Fujiansheng frowned in thought, feeling a strange bitterness.

Yueying had originally only found these two characters “Jian Chou” quite strange, but hadn’t expected her to interpret them thus, actually extracting a profound Chan meaning of worrying about the world and seeing through worldly people.

He immediately repeated these two characters three times, then burst into laughter.

He directly embraced the wine jar that had been set aside earlier, saying, “The interpretation is too wonderful, too apt! I should regard you as a kindred spirit and drink three cups boldly!”

“But you prepared a wine jar without wine cups.”

Daoist Diandao had actually been craving that wine for a long time, but sitting here just now, he had only seen the wine jar without seeing wine cups, so he now teased.

“I’m afraid you don’t want to invite us to drink?”

All being Sacred Immortals standing at the pinnacle of the Upper Void, how could a few wine cups possibly stump Yueying? He raised his hand to produce wine cups, but just at this moment, light and shadow suddenly flickered across the lake surface!

It was the night sky reflected in the lake!

Dozens of brilliant lights rushed toward this realm, in an instant already falling toward this lake surface!

The brows of Yueying, Daoist Diandao, and Fujiansheng all furrowed in that instant, clearly displeased by the appearance of these uninvited guests.

Only Jian Chou remained unmoved.

She first placed the star piece she held between her fingers onto the chess board, then took Yi Xian Tian in hand, stood up and said, “Those seeking death have come. On such a night with such a moon, how can we have wine without cups? A mere few wine cups – please sit for a moment, let me fetch the cups. I’ll go and return shortly.”