Chapter 2313: A Perilous Battle!

On the cloud platform atop the mountain, two old men were casually drinking tea.

Fragrant aromas swirled around.

One of them, a gaunt old man, kept his eyes closed, appearing as if he were asleep.

“The two words ‘Ask Not’—can you unravel them?” the gaunt old man said in a dry voice.

The blue-robed middle-aged man beside him said indifferently, “Old fellow, after all these years, you still won’t let me go?”

“The path of the Dao has always been fraught with hardship. If you cannot even pass this hurdle, how can you seek the Dao?” said the gaunt old man.

The blue-robed middle-aged man wore a look of disdain. Those two words had held him back for far too long, wasting his prime years.

By the time he came to his senses, everything was already too late.

Having missed the best time for cultivation, one’s cultivation speed would grow slower and slower.

Take Ye Yuan, for example. He was indeed unstoppable now, but once he was delayed, it would be thousands, tens of thousands, or even millions of years.

Of course, this could not be blamed solely on the Medicine Ancestor. The Holy Ancestor Grand Priest’s own Dao heart had flaws, only that the Medicine Ancestor had seized upon them.

“I cannot unravel the words ‘Ask Not,’ but Ye Yuan has. Otherwise, you old fellow would not have taken the notion to host this Ten Thousand Domain Alchemy Grand Assembly, would you?”

“Such a stunning rising star—how could I not be stirred? Between this half-saint and you, who is stronger?”

The Holy Ancestor Grand Priest gave the gaunt old man a meaningful look and said, “Weigh it yourself, and you’ll know, won’t you?”

As he spoke, dozens of figures landed on the cloud platform. The two at the front were none other than Ye Yuan and the Heavenly Joy Celestial Emperor.

When he saw the gaunt old man, Ye Yuan’s gaze never left him.

The old man kept his eyes closed, his aura extremely faint, as if he might die at any moment.

But for some reason, he gave Ye Yuan a feeling of unfathomable depth.

This feeling was indescribable—in short, it was power, an ineffable power!

Ye Yuan had a strange sensation: the old man before him was not a person but a pill, a pill that led to the Great Dao.

Even the Holy Ancestor Grand Priest had not given Ye Yuan such a terrifying feeling.

This old man seemed born for alchemy, as if he… were the Dao of Alchemy.

“Young Friend Ye, please sit,” the gaunt old man said in a dry voice.

Ye Yuan did not decline and sat down beside the Holy Ancestor Grand Priest. The other ancestors also took their seats.

“Young Friend Ye, we have met before.”

Ye Yuan nodded slightly and said, “Yes, in ‘Ask Not.’”

At that time, the Medicine Ancestor was extremely powerful, with a robust build, as if a celestial god had descended.

Ye Yuan had not expected the Medicine Ancestor’s true form to be such a withered, gaunt old man.

Suddenly, without any visible movement from the Medicine Ancestor, his entire person had vanished from the spot.

In the void above, an enormous chessboard suddenly appeared, with the entire Cloud Heart Realm clearly visible.

A projection of the gaunt old man appeared at one end of the chessboard.

Ye Yuan smiled faintly and was about to step forward when he heard the Holy Ancestor Grand Priest suddenly say, “Be careful.”

Ye Yuan turned back and laughed, “Holy Ancestor, you seem afraid!”

Yi actually nodded and said, “Yes, I thought I could no longer fear him. But meeting him again, I still flinched. More importantly, he has grown even stronger!”

The Medicine Ancestor and the Holy Ancestor Grand Priest were clearly not truly leisurely chatting.

Every move, every word between them was a clash.

Yet the Holy Ancestor Grand Priest had gained no advantage.

He had thought that after so many years, his heart knot had been untied.

But upon seeing the Medicine Ancestor again, he realized that before him, his Dao heart still could not face him calmly.

Yi was not worried about Ye Yuan losing; he was worried that Ye Yuan’s Dao heart, like his own, would develop cracks.

Ye Yuan's talent surpassed his own; he believed the Medicine Ancestor would strike even harder.

Ye Yuan, however, beamed and said, "I'm not afraid of him being strong; I'm afraid he's not strong enough!"

With that, his figure vanished from the spot.

Above the void, a huge projection of Ye Yuan appeared before the crowd.

Everyone held their breath, clearly not expecting the two to exchange no further words and confront each other so decisively.

The Heavenly Emperor of Eternal Joy grinned and said to the Holy Ancestor High Priest, "Holy Ancestor, time shifts and stars move; your master's opponent has changed to a sub-sage. What are your thoughts?"

Yi smiled and said, "He is stronger than me."

Eternal Joy laughed, "He is not stronger than you."

Yi said, "Your master understands; he is stronger than me."

Eternal Joy laughed, "I see. But the Holy Ancestor seems lacking in confidence."

Yi said, "He always exceeds expectations."

Amid their verbal sparring, Ye Yuan had already made his move!

He pointed into the void and directly placed a piece.

Slap!

A crisp sound, as if a piece had fallen between heaven and earth, the Dao's resonance permeating the mortal realm.

A massive Taiji diagram directly occupied a large area.

Slap!

The Medicine Ancestor followed with a piece, and Ye Yuan's Taiji diagram shattered instantly.

A violent aura spread from the chessboard, diffusing throughout the Cloud Heart Realm.

Powerful!

Suffocatingly powerful!

Ye Yuan's Dao could only occupy a part of the board.

But the Medicine Ancestor's Dao could extend beyond the board.

The superiority was immediately apparent!

Across the board, Ye Yuan frowned deeply, feeling unprecedented pressure.

This was the most difficult alchemy duel of his life, bar none!

With just one move, he was already at a loss.

The world he had meticulously constructed—the Medicine Ancestor discerned its entire structure with a single glance and then completely occupied it!

The Medicine Ancestor across from him was on an entirely different level of strength from the one in Mo Wen's memory.

This was the true strength of the foremost figure in alchemy!

One day, two days... one month!

Ye Yuan's second piece took over a month to consider!

Outside Cloud Heart Mountain, Yun Yi frowned deeply and said solemnly, "The Medicine Ancestor truly deserves to be the foremost in alchemy; I have never seen Master wear such an expression during an alchemy duel."

Ning Siyu said gloomily, "This old man clearly has ill intentions."

Yun Yi sighed, "This is a world of Dao, too profound! To trouble Master so much, I wonder what realm the Medicine Ancestor has reached."

Ning Siyu's expression turned grim, "Master won't lose, will he?"

Yun Yi shook his head, "This time, I'm afraid he really might lose. But the most terrifying thing is not losing!"

Ning Siyu was startled, "What could be more terrifying than losing?"

Yun Yi said gravely, "Naturally, it's the Dao heart! Everyone's Dao is different. Whose Dao is correct and whose is wrong becomes even more apparent in battles of this level. If one loses, they may very well lose their Dao heart! Master defeated the Heavenly Emperor of Distant Books and later destroyed his Dao heart; for countless millennia to come, his strength will likely never advance. And the Holy Ancestor High Priest, because he lost to the Medicine Ancestor back then and lost his Dao heart, has been stagnant ever since."

Ning Siyu's mouth fell open, her face full of shock.

She had originally thought this was just an alchemy duel, with no real danger.

But now, she couldn't help worrying about her master.