Chapter 1765: Breaking the Cocoon to Become a Butterfly

"Digging your own grave? If you have the skill, go ahead and bury me."

Ye Yuan gazed into the sky, a faint sneer curling at the corners of his mouth.

The opponent was merely a remnant wisp of Dao resonance; he had no idea where such confidence came from.

"Hmph! Ignorant junior, since you insist on seeking death, I'll see you off!"

The Medicine Ancestor's voice carried a thick undercurrent of anger.

Slap!

A white stone fell, and the entire chessboard shifted once more!

The white stones transformed into countless warriors charging forward with overwhelming momentum.

On Ye Yuan's side, the black stones also turned into countless black-clad warriors.

The two sides engaged in a fierce and brutal battle.

But the Medicine Ancestor, true to his name, had already gained the upper hand with his white stones.

With this move, he immediately began to encircle Ye Yuan's tengen, showing a trend of turning advantage into victory.

Slap!

Ye Yuan did not hesitate; another stone fell, as if without any thought.

Yet this move did not revolve around the tengen; instead, it landed ten thousand miles away.

It had no connection whatsoever to the previous tengen move.

"Foolish! Now do you see how stupid that last move was? But you have no regrets to swallow. Once the stone is placed, the game begins!"

The Medicine Ancestor's words were full of mockery and disdain.

As he spoke, another stone fell.

The white-clad warriors' momentum surged even higher, covering the sky and earth with their figures, a truly terrifying spectacle.

Slap!

Ye Yuan dropped another stone and said with a faint smile, "In my dictionary, there is no such word as 'regret'! Wait until you defeat me before you brag!"

...

High above, the two were locked in a game.

The white stones' chances of winning grew larger, while the black stones, already at a disadvantage, were being slowly devoured.

The priests of the temple watched this scene, each revealing a look of contempt.

"This Ye Yuan is too weak! His Dao is nothing before the Medicine Ancestor!"

"Indeed, this is what they call overreaching! What kind of existence is the Medicine Ancestor? Even the Saint Ancestor is no match for him. What right does he have!"

The Medicine Ancestor, even among the demon race, was a pinnacle figure of this world.

Unless one reached the realm of the Saint Ancestor High Priest, anyone challenging him was overreaching.

This game was not about strength, but solely about the Dao of alchemy.

But who in this world could match the Medicine Ancestor's mastery of the Dao of alchemy?

Thus, Ye Yuan was utterly overreaching.

Ni Kun watched the gradually losing black stones and sneered, "This game is a duel of Dao; the more stones lost, the greater the impact of the Medicine Ancestor's Dao resonance on him. At this rate, it's a one-sided affair! This kid is dead for sure!"

"If you don't court death, you won't die! The Saint Ancestor's deduced game path—who in this world can surpass it? But he had to add superfluous touches and insist on playing the Medicine Ancestor himself. This is truly seeking death. Look at his moves—not only are they thoughtless, but they also lack any pattern; it's pure chaos." Elder Li said disdainfully.

Ni Kun laughed, "Geniuses are always proud. But he didn't weigh his opponent!"

On the board, Ye Yuan placed stones extremely quickly, without any deliberation.

In a black-and-white game, every move must be made with utmost caution.

Back then, the game between the Saint Ancestor High Priest and the Medicine Ancestor lasted a hundred years.

And for the final move, the Saint Ancestor High Priest sat in meditation for a hundred thousand years!

That was longer than a mortal's lifespan.

Xiu watched the game and couldn't help but shake his head slightly, sighing, "This child is proud and refuses to yield to anyone. What is too rigid easily breaks; alas, alas!"

Xiu, old and shrewd, had already discerned much even though Ye Yuan was immersed in the game.

Ye Yuan was unwilling to be a pawn, so he seized control of the black stones.

Now, facing a supreme expert like the Medicine Ancestor, how could he not lose?

Slap!

Just then, Ye Yuan dropped another stone!

Xiu shuddered, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"Hmm? This... what's happening? That tengen move... it's... it's alive!"

Xiu looked at the board, utterly incredulous.

He suddenly realized that Ye Yuan's initial bad move had somehow connected all the dead positions into one!

A move that had seemed self-defeating had unknowingly become a brilliant stroke.

After dozens of moves, the Medicine Ancestor had already routed Ye Yuan's forces, scattering them in disarray.

On the board, the black stones were lifeless everywhere.

But after Ye Yuan's latest move,

everything came alive!

Pools of stagnant water finally converged at the tengen, merging into a vast ocean!

The situation changed abruptly!

The Medicine Ancestor stopped!

A stone gathered at the Medicine Ancestor's fingertip, but it did not fall for a long time.

"Huh? What's going on? Why did the Medicine Ancestor stop?"

"A few more moves, and Ye Yuan would have lost completely, right?"

"The white stones have absolute control; there's nothing to think about, is there?"

...

Many priests and apprentices with insufficient skill in the game did not see the brilliance of that tengen move.

But Di Qiu and the other elders all changed expression drastically, staring at that black stone at the center of the board, their eyes filled with shock.

At that moment, the black stone at the tengen shone like a blazing sun in the night, dazzlingly bright.

No one had expected that move, which had seemed like a wasted move, would now revive all the declining positions!

Ni Kun's face turned ashen, and he said in shock, "How... how did he do it?"

Everyone had the same question: how did Ye Yuan do it?

...

"You... how did you do it?"

Within the chessboard, the Medicine Ancestor voiced everyone's question.

From the Medicine Ancestor's tone, one could tell that his shock was no less than that of those outside.

He considered his Dao to be all-encompassing; every move was an evolution of the Dao.

With his achievements in the Dao, he had fallen into Ye Yuan's trap without realizing it.

With such skill, how could he not be shocked?

This was a game of chess, but also a duel of Dao.

The player comprehends heaven and earth, evolving the great Dao.

Every move contains heavenly secrets.

He was the Medicine Ancestor; it was no surprise that he could do these things.

But Ye Yuan was merely a junior at the Divine Lord realm, still a million miles away from the great Dao.

How could he achieve this?

No, Ye Yuan's Dao was even deeper than his, with more far-reaching insight.

Thinking back, Ye Yuan had probably seen through the entire game before making his move.

That was why he had unhesitatingly placed the stone at the tengen.

And it was this tengen move that destroyed his painstakingly built position in an instant!

This move was too brilliant!

From a wasted move to the key that revived the entire game, this tengen move had completed a transformation like breaking the cocoon to become a butterfly.

He could only concede!

Because Ye Yuan saw what he could not see!

Ye Yuan looked at the Medicine Ancestor and said calmly, "This is a duel of Dao. I can do it because I stand higher and see farther than you! To be honest, you disappoint me."