Chapter 281 - 278: Double-Standard Domain and Splitting the Battlefield

Chapter 281: Chapter 278: Double-Standard Domain and Splitting the Battlefield

Inside Ji Donglai’s internal space.

As the perspective of the Celestial Chronicler’s recap stream shifted, Fang Can’s placid face appeared before the world.

The shock was immense, setting off tidal waves of public furor.

"Fang Can!" Xiang Ziyu’s eyes went wide. She never imagined that Fang Can would be one of the people fighting a Fourth Turn.

Within the Tiger Slaughter Sect, Yang Duan and Li Fengtian exchanged a look, each seeing the astonishment in the other’s eyes.

On Great Derivation’s Jiejian Mountain, Jiang Ning’an watched the man she thought of day and night appear on the broadcast, a hint of worry and panic disturbing her usually placid expression.

Inside the Pure Heart Nunnery, upon seeing Fang Can, the female cultivators subconsciously began twisting their slender, pale fingers.

At that moment, a tsunami-like uproar swept across the nations.

If before they were merely shocked that someone dared to challenge a Fourth Turn...

...then now they felt as if they were living in a dream.

Fang Can! Who was this person?

In the minds of the Martial Artists of the various nations, he had just finished the international tournament a mere ten days ago.

Five days ago, during his certification for the Celestial Chronicler’s Celestial Secret List, he was still in the Transcendent Body Realm.

Just a day ago, a trivial rumor was circulating that Fang Can had been captured by a Fourth Turn from another country, who found him to be someone they "couldn’t afford to offend."

And now, this pawn who was merely at the Transcendent Body Realm five days ago...

...had suddenly leaped up to become a player, engaging a Fourth Turn in a game of life and death!

Looking at the young, baby-faced boy sitting cross-legged, everyone was reminded of a terrifying fact.

’This guy is only eighteen years old. Could he really be the reincarnation of some ancient monster?’

...

While the outside world was in an uproar, time on the battlefield continued to tick by, second by second.

Looking at the composed and unruffled Yi Tianxing, Fang Can’s brow furrowed. Winning the game was now the bare minimum.

The real problem was how to kill all the surrounding Martial Artists *before* he won.

"Hey, this old codger has the first move with black. Why hasn’t he played yet? A whole second has passed," the King of Sloppy Plays complained, looking at the unhurried Yi Tianxing. "Does he really need this long for the first move?"

"Because he’s... stalling for time," Fang Can said slowly.

"What do you mean?"

"We’re in the Martial World right now, with the Celestial Chronicler’s broadcast bearing witness. Countless Martial Artists must be rushing here as we speak."

"Time is on their side. If he stalls long enough for the remaining Fourth Turns from the various nations to arrive as reinforcements, the danger will increase with every person who shows up."

Fang Can lowered his gaze. "In the real world, a single game of Go takes dozens of minutes at a minimum."

"Even if we win all seven games, if it takes longer than ten minutes, we’ll be faced with a siege from more and more arriving Fourth Turn masters."

"So, to be safe, these seven games must conclude within three minutes. And before they do, we have to defeat every single Fourth Turn on site."

"That... That’s too hard!"

The expressions on the faces of the King of Sloppy Plays and the others changed. "Forget the time for a second. During the match, people on the outside can’t attack us, but that also means we can’t attack them."

"Who says?" Fang Can said, doing his best to keep his expression neutral.

"The rules only state that during the initial determination of who goes first and while placing a stone, we cannot leave a one-hundred-kilometer radius and cannot be harmed by outside forces."

"They also state that after an opponent makes a move, you must make your move within twice the time they took."

"In other words, as long as I play fast enough, I can force him to play blitz Go with me."

"If I compress my total time per game to one minute, this old geezer can stall for two minutes at most."

"And in the gap while he’s thinking and making his move, we can attack the other Martial Artists."

Fang Can closed his eyes, emptying his mind. "This is what I meant by a turn-based battle."

"In the next three minutes, I must win all seven games by playing at a blistering pace, and in the gaps between moves, I also have to take care of these Fourth Turn masters."

Ji Donglai nodded grimly. "You just focus on the game. Leave the fighting to us."

"No... I’ve said it many times. Playing Go is the easy part."

As he spoke, Fang Can’s eyes snapped open. "Boss Ji," he said seriously, "as per our prior agreement—Plan B—leave the fight against the Fourth Turns to me, too."

"Even in this situation, you’re still going to...?"

Ji Donglai hesitated for only a moment before nodding seriously, choosing to place his trust in him.

"King of Willpower, do it," Ji Donglai said slowly over their mental link, completely emptying his mind.

In the next instant, Ji Donglai’s expression froze. His rugged features grew still, as placid as water.

With Ji Donglai having completely lowered his body’s defenses, Fang Can successfully took control of the vessel through the King of Willpower’s mental link.

This was Plan B, which Fang Can and Ji Donglai had arranged beforehand.

Should the situation take an unexpected turn, Fang Can would take control of the battle.

’Now then, let the battle continue!’

A smile touched Fang Can’s lips as he looked at Ji Donglai’s "GDP" deposit amount. He’d never fought such a well-funded battle before.

During the few moments of their exchange, Yi Tianxing was bound by the rule that the first move must be played within three seconds.

After dragging it out to the 2.9-second mark, Yi Tianxing finally made his move, grabbing seven stones from the air and placing them down!

17-4, komoku... 4-4, star point... 4-4, star point...

In an instant, a black stone landed on each of the seven virtual Go boards before them.

The seven stones landed with a single, thunderous CLACK, reflecting a glint of killing intent in the eyes of everyone watching across the nations.

This signaled the official start of the turn-based battle!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

To Yi Tianxing’s astonishment, white stones descended like a shower of jade stars!

Within a tenth of a second of his opponent’s stones landing, Fang Can responded, his white stones pressing forward with reckless abandon.

Each time a white stone landed, its board erupted in a blinding white light.

Yi Tianxing gripped a stone formed of black qi, his knuckles turning white. A competitive fire ignited in his eyes.

"You want to play blitz Go with me? Your spirit is impressive. This old man would like to see just how you plan to win!"

Yi Tianxing’s eyes, fixed on the board, gleamed with excitement. But when he looked up, his expression went slack.

Because Ji Donglai, along with the numerous superhumans within his internal space, had vanished from before him.

"Where... did they go?"

Outside the game, almost at the exact moment he placed his stones, Fang Can, piloting "Ji Donglai Unit-01," teleported away from the board.

His own seven-stone play had taken 0.1 seconds, which meant his opponent now had only 0.2 seconds to make his move.

And he, in turn, would have to get back and make his next move within twice the time his opponent took!

The time pressure was unprecedented, but with Ji Donglai’s teleportation ability, it wasn’t impossible!

At that moment, the attention of all the Martial Artists from the various nations, including Xiang Hongtu, was fixed upon the Go match.

Aside from the female cultivators of the Pure Heart Nunnery, who were using the broadcast of Fang Can as... ’inspiration’, almost no one noticed the superhumans’ disappearance.

And that gave Fang Can the opening he needed.

In an instant, Ji Donglai’s form flickered, appearing behind Yan Chqing. His right fist shot out like a bolt of lightning.

’Can you block this punch, worth one hundred billion New National Currency?’

Having already suffered at Yi Tianxing’s hands, Fang Can had no intention of showing mercy just because she was a woman. He chose to shatter everything with maximum speed!

Meanwhile, as Fang Can focused on his assault against Yan Chqing...

...a mass of antimatter weighing several kilograms materialized behind Xiang Hongtu’s neck.

Instantly, Xiang Hongtu felt the chilling threat of death, his pupils contracting to pinpricks.

「Perspective Shift」

After burning through a hundred billion in GDP to barely maintain his strength at the peak of the Fourth Turn Realm for one second...

...Fang Can found Ji Donglai’s body unexpectedly difficult to control.

He knew this wasn’t because he was incapable of perfectly wielding Ji Donglai’s power.

It was because Yan Chqing’s inherited ability, the [Equality Domain], was taking effect!

According to the intel Fang Can had painstakingly gathered during his undercover stint at the Pure Heart Nunnery, Yan Chqing’s Fourth Turn inheritance was called the [Equality Domain].

[Equality Domain]: Within a hundred-zhang radius of the user, no one’s power, speed, or damage output can exceed that of the user’s own maximum.

This was the secret he had managed to extract over those three days from the women of the Pure Heart Nunnery—their eyes rolling back in their heads—while taking advantage of the moments when Yan Chqing, dripping wet, went to bathe.

According to them, this so-called [Equality Domain] should have been named the [Double-Standard Domain]!

Its version of "equality" meant everyone above the user was dragged down to their level, while everyone below them remained distinctly inferior.

Any Martial Artist weaker or slower than Yan Chqing who entered the domain would receive no boost whatsoever; they remained exactly as they were.

And now, as Fang Can piloted Ji Donglai into Yan Chqing’s so-called aura of equality, he experienced that terrifying sense of sluggishness for the first time.

It was as if ninety-five percent of his power had been sealed away. He could unleash less than a tenth of his peak Fourth Turn strength.

’Damn it... Yan Chqing’s own power is... pathetically weak!’

Fang Can cursed inwardly, looking at the unsuspecting woman before him.

Based on the damage output of others he had observed, he was almost certain her strength was in the weakest tier among all Fourth Turns.

But this abysmal strength, when combined with her [Equality Domain] inheritance, transformed a weakness into an overwhelming advantage!

No matter how strong her opponents were, once they entered her Equality Domain, they would all be dragged down to her level.

Without further hesitation, Fang Can slammed Ji Donglai’s fist into the back of Yan Chqing’s neck.

CLANG—

The next moment, Fang Can felt as if his fist had struck a block of ten-thousand-year-old glacial ice.

At the moment of impact, the ground within a thousand-meter radius collapsed under the force of the blow, emitting a mournful groan as if the very mountains and rivers were shattering.

Yet Fang Can only felt a numbing reverberation travel up Ji Donglai’s right arm.

Meanwhile, Yan Chqing’s body was merely sent flying, completely unharmed.

’Damn... This woman’s physical toughness is the complete opposite of her strength. No wonder she chose an inheritance like that!’

As Fang Can cursed inwardly, Yan Chqing spun around in a rage, ready to retaliate.

But in the time it took her to turn, she was stunned to find herself in the middle of a boundless ocean.

’This is... the Endless Sea!’ The woman’s characteristic languor was gone, replaced by shock as she stared at the shimmering water below.

That’s right!

The true purpose of teleportation.

Its greatest function in a team fight wasn’t to dodge enemy attacks!

It was to use high mobility to split the battlefield!

After displacing Yan Chqing, Fang Can, controlling Ji Donglai’s body, returned to the center of the game area, his expression placid.

It was as if nothing had happened at all. He calmly waited for Yi Tianxing to make his move.

"Old codger? Still haven’t figured out your next move?"