Chapter 107 - 103: Chess Ghost Sect!

Chapter 107: Chapter 103: Chess Ghost Sect!

Qin Half-Immortal.

Ma Rulong.

When Peacock pushed Young Master Qing and heard the hall members announce that these two people were waiting outside, her expression turned slightly unusual.

"Ma Rulong?"

She had not heard the name Qin Half-Immortal much, but she had a strong impression of the name Ma Rulong. That was assuming this Ma Rulong was truly the person she knew of.

Young Master Qing pondered and asked, "Ma Rulong? Did he say which Ma Rulong he is?"

Evidently, he was also somewhat familiar with the name. However, since the man had come with Qin Half-Immortal, he said in a deep voice, "Invite the guests to the reception hall first. I will be there shortly."

With that, he had Peacock push him to change into a set of clothes suitable for meeting guests.

Meanwhile, an old man and a young man waited at the entrance.

The old man held a white cloth fortune-telling banner. The younger man appeared to be around twenty-five or twenty-six years old. Dressed in a purple robe, he carried an air of nobility between his brows, looking down upon his peers. His eyes, in particular, resembled those of a latent Dragon Monarch ruling over the world. They exuded an indescribable, intimidating brilliance, gleaming like cold stars in the night sky.

"Dao Yi Mountain..." The purple-robed young man named Ma Rulong walked into the First-Grade Hall with his hands clasped behind his back. Looking at the sparse number of hall members around him, he muttered to himself, "That son of Chen Canxuan is truly formidable. To think he actually managed to keep ninety percent of the First-Grade Hall’s experts on Dao Yi Mountain.

"I hear he is only twenty years old, right? A First-Grade Great Innate at such an age... is truly a rarity in this world."

Hearing these words, Qin Half-Immortal, who was holding the cloth banner, couldn’t help but recall the scene from that rainy night a year ago. His heart palpitated spontaneously as he thought, "At that time, it’s a good thing I didn’t go forward to court death, otherwise I probably wouldn’t be standing here today."

Listening to the young man’s murmurs beside him, he felt a belated sense of fear. He realized that the "Chen Sha" he had encountered that night was likely already at the Great Innate Level, or very close to it.

As they spoke, the two were invited into the reception hall.

"Please sit for a moment. Our young master will be here shortly."

The two sat down and tasted the tea on the table in silence.

A short while later, the CREAK of rolling wheelchair wheels echoed from the side room of the hall.

Peacock pushed Young Master Qing into the room. He had changed into a golden robe and wore a Purple Gold Crown on his head. Although he was still sitting in a wheelchair and wearing a mask, this outfit added significantly to his imposing aura.

Young Master Qing immediately looked at the purple-robed Ma Rulong, surprise welling up in his eyes. "I thought it was merely a shared name. I didn’t expect it to actually be the Little Demon Saint..."

Even Peacock looked at the purple-robed young man in astonishment. This Ma Rulong was truly the Ma Rulong she knew of—the Direct Disciple of Long Zaitian, the Holy Son of the Demon Saint Sect, known in the Jianghu as the "Little Demon Saint."

Within the Demon Sect, he was collectively known as one of the "Six Children of the Demon Sect," alongside the Celestial Demon Sect’s Yun Feifei, the Fire Worship Path’s Xiao Huo’Er, the Emotionless Dao’s Muu Youlong, and other next-generation figures. However, it seemed he had never referred to himself by that title. The reason was quite simple: others speculated it was because the Little Demon Saint felt the other five were not on his level at all.

It was understandable. After all, at the age of twenty-four, he had created his own peerless Superior Martial Arts called the Demon Spirit Group Phenomenon Book. It was said that after the Demon Saint Long Zaitian reviewed it, even he was astonished, highly praising him. "My achievements are already unmatched within the Demon Sect. In the future, the only one with any hope of surpassing me is none other than you, Long’Er."

Because of this, the title "Little Demon Saint" later emerged in the Jianghu.

Unfortunately... no experts had yet witnessed this Martial Arts with their own eyes. Whenever anyone fought him, his Power in the Demon Heaven Tribulation alone was enough to suppress anyone in the same Realm. No one was entirely sure what kind of skill the Demon Spirit Group Phenomenon Book was. They only knew that this Little Demon Saint possessed unparalleled talent and was expected to fully inherit Long Zaitian’s entire legacy.

Young Master Qing looked at the Little Demon Saint, his thoughts surging. He knew that Qin Half-Immortal was someone by the Chess Master’s side. But for Ma Rulong to have followed him here...

Inevitably forming some conjectures, Young Master Qing looked at Qin Half-Immortal and spoke in a tone that was half-questioning, half-answering, "Could it be... the leader of the Chess Ghost Sect, our Chess Master, is actually the Demon Saint, Mr. Long Zaitian?"

Although he had received guidance from this mysterious Chess Master, he had obviously never seen the man’s true form, much less known his identity. Could it be that the Chess Master was finally willing to reveal his identity to him today? Was he truly the Demon Saint Long Zaitian?

Hearing this.

"HAHAHAHA!" The old man and the young man sitting in the hall drinking tea couldn’t help but exchange glances as they both burst out laughing.

"They say Young Master Qing is inherently suspicious and loves to guess, and it’s truly not false. To think you could come up with such a conjecture."

Seeing their smiles, Young Master Qing said, "It seems I guessed wrong." Though he had guessed incorrectly, his emotions did not fluctuate.

Ma Rulong half-shook his head and smiled. "Wrong, but not entirely wrong. You didn’t guess it completely, but you’re heading in the right direction."

Young Master Qing’s eyes flashed. "What do you mean?"

"My master is not the Chess Master," Ma Rulong said slowly, "but he has a cooperative relationship with the Chess Master!"

Young Master Qing’s pupils shrank fiercely. "...The Demon Saint is also one of the Chess Master’s chess pieces?"

He was genuinely shocked by Ma Rulong’s words. Long Zaitian, the fifth best in the world, was actually a piece-holder of the Chess Ghost Sect? The strength of that mysterious Chess Master intangibly magnified several times over in his heart.

However, Ma Rulong half-rejected his statement. "You’re wrong again. My master is not a piece-holder."

Young Master Qing was taken aback. "Then what is this so-called cooperative relationship?"

Ma Rulong smiled profoundly. "Just the literal meaning."

Gaining some understanding, Young Master Qing thought, "An equal status, not the dependent kind?"

Upon learning that the world’s fifth, Long Zaitian, was not a chess piece, Young Master Qing actually breathed a sigh of relief. Otherwise, the power of that Chess Master would be simply inconceivable.

He turned to look at the two and asked, "Then what is the purpose of your visit today?"

Ma Rulong gave a faint smile and gestured to Qin Half-Immortal.

Qin Half-Immortal coughed half-heartedly and said, "Young Master Gu, the Chess Master already knows of your situation. He is deeply regretful and finds it a pity regarding your encounter on Dao Yi Mountain. According to the path he envisioned for you, your First-Grade Hall should have smoothly and without hindrance become a Major Sect force capable of being passed down for hundreds, or even thousands of years, standing as equals with the top legacies of the Black and White Paths. Unfortunately... you not only failed to live up to the Chess Master’s expectations of you, but you also ruined the vast foundation you worked so hard to build over the past five years."

Young Master Qing’s expression darkened as he said, "If you’ve only come to mock me, then there’s no need to say any more."

Ma Rulong spoke up from the side with a faint smile, "Actually, I can understand your feelings, Brother Gu. If it were me, commanding two First Grade combatants, bringing along seven Grandmasters, dozens of other Grandmasters, and mobilizing my entire force, I would also undoubtedly believe that Dao Yi Mountain, having lost Chen Canxuan, would be annihilated by me without any surprises."

He slowly set his teacup down and continued, "But the most impossible thing happened. The root cause is something no one could have anticipated... that son of Chen Canxuan actually possesses such capabilities!"

Ma Rulong prided himself as the Little Demon Saint, and he didn’t even put the Holy Sons and successors of the other sects within the Demon Sect in his eyes. Even looking at the entire world, he could barely find anyone of his age, Cultivation, and talent whom he could call a rival.

Who would have thought... the ’Chen Sha’ who had inherited the position of Sect Leader on Dao Yi Mountain seemed to be four or five years younger than him... yet was an entire Realm higher! He had already stepped into the First-Grade Great Innate!

Young Master Qing faintly mocked himself, "Brother Ma, you don’t need to say these comforting words to me. No matter how much I try to shirk the blame, I ultimately overestimated myself and underestimated Dao Yi Mountain. Now that my foundation is completely ruined, I fully deserve it."

"Are you just going to give up like this, Brother Gu?" Ma Rulong said. "As far as I know, although you acquired that batch of treasure because you received the Chess Master’s guidance, establishing the once-renowned First-Grade Hall was entirely achieved through your own capabilities."

Closing his eyes, Young Master Qing said, "Just state your intentions."

Ma Rulong smiled slightly. "Brother Gu is a straightforward person, so I won’t beat around the bush. I’ve come to invite you to join my Demon Saint Sect and lend a helping hand to my master’s great cause."

Young Master Qing raised an eyebrow. "Hmm? Join the Demon Saint Sect?"

"COUGH, COUGH..." Qin Half-Immortal coughed from the side. "This is also the Chess Master’s suggestion for you. Sect Leader Long now has the ambition to sweep across the Demon Sect and unify the great religion, and the Chess Master is also assisting him in accomplishing this. If you can join the Demon Saint Sect and exert your efforts for Sect Leader Long, the very first target he will attack to establish his dominance once he unifies the Demon Sect will be the former number one sect of the Righteous Path, Dao Yi Mountain. By then, the First-Grade Hall’s grudge will be avenged."

A trace of mockery appeared in Young Master Qing’s eyes. "Asking me to submit myself to others? Please forgive me—"

"Hold your refusal, Brother Gu. It’s not submitting yourself to others..." Ma Rulong interrupted. "My master has already spoken. As long as you are willing to join the Demon Saint Sect, you can take the position of Vice Sect Leader. In the entire Demon Saint Sect, apart from my master alone, you will be above tens of thousands of people. Even I will have to follow your orders..."

Young Master Qing looked at Ma Rulong in disbelief.

Vice Sect Leader?!

He hadn’t expected the Demon Saint Sect to offer him such a high position.

Drinking his tea, Ma Rulong merely smiled. "In the royal courts of the Dynasty, there is a position that assists the Son of Heaven above, ensures the prosperity of all things below, pacifies the foreign tribes and vassal lords externally, and wins the hearts of the common people internally, ensuring that all officials can perform their duties properly. It is called the Prime Minister.

"The role of a good Prime Minister is sometimes even more important than that of the Emperor, because the entire country requires his assistance to govern."

He looked at Young Master Qing and continued, "The fact that you were able to build a massive force from scratch within five years, Brother Gu, is enough to show that your talents lie not in practicing Martial Arts, but in governance and employing people.

"If our Demon Saint Sect wishes to unify the Demon Sect, what we lack the most is a Prime Minister like you, Brother Gu, to share the burden of the sect’s many internal affairs for my master."

Inside the hall, Young Master Qing fell into a long silence upon hearing this.

On Dao Yi Mountain.

Chen Sha did not know that his two invisible formidable enemies had actually formed an alliance and were preparing to cooperate with each other. He was merely in secluded cultivation in his room, refining those forty years of Innate Power.

Two months passed in the blink of an eye.

During this period, he only occasionally opened the door to eat the meals delivered to him before continuing his seclusion. However, in order to successfully cultivate the final two layers of the Celestial Demon Strategy, even with forty years of Innate Power, Chen Sha still felt that it would not be an ordinary or easy accomplishment.

Fortunately, he had also obtained a treasure capable of increasing Inner Strength within the Dugu Qiubai Chapter—the Pusique Snake Gallbladder. Moreover, one of them was a Pusique Snake King’s Gallbladder. Previously, he had only given one ordinary snake gallbladder to his second senior sister to cultivate the Qi Stealing Technique and nourish her stomach Qi Points. Therefore, he still had nine snake gallbladders and one king gallbladder left in his hands.

After completely refining the forty years of Innate Power, Chen Sha consumed these ten snake gallbladders one after another, feeling the surging medicinal power being rapidly digested and absorbed by his power from the Celestial Demon Strategy.

Thus, another month passed.

On this day.

Chen Sha slowly exhaled a breath and muttered to himself, "It’s done!"

Along with this exhalation, Chen Sha’s appearance had undergone a transformation that could not be described with words. He was already handsome to begin with. Now that he had cultivated the Celestial Demon Strategy, he had completely activated the abilities corresponding to the four Great Yellow Court Divine Spirits within it. As a result, over the course of three months, his skin had become incomparably translucent, his nose bridge stood tall and straight, and his eyes had become as profound as Gemstones. The changes in these features added an even more intimidating masculine charm to his aura!

However, compared to these enhancements in his physical appearance and shifts in his aura, the internal changes were even more significant.

"The Great Success of the six gods of the Great Yellow Court has added another fifty years of Innate Power to my body, bringing it to a total of one hundred and fifty years of power..."

Although it was only one hundred and fifty years of power, Chen Sha felt that if he wanted to suppress Ancient Transformation Dragon now, it would become much easier. He would no longer need to suppress him by breaking his moves; instead, he could take the path of a grand and overbearing crushing momentum!

This was the transformation and harvest of his three months of secluded cultivation!