Chapter 744: The Dominator
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“What did you just say?” Uncle Zhang touched his beard and narrowed his eyes. “Tsk, look at you lad. You are rather good-looking, and you’re in your prime. How could you be not interested in women? Listen to me. You should live your life while you’re still young. Don’t be like me. I’m old.”
w.a.n.g Zhong smiled and replied, “Let things take their own course.”
“Young rascal, I’ll give you this one!” Lao Zhang laughed. “Where’s the wine. My goal today is four fishes, two for each of us!”
“I brought the wine, but can we change the program?” w.a.n.g Zhong wore a distressed expression; he was a little nauseated with fish recently. “I’ve been eating fish recently… Urgh…”
“Hmm, by your reaction… You boarded the pirate s.h.i.+p to help people taste-test dishes?” Uncle Zhang seemed clear about the many intricacies of the Holy City, and he guessed the reason correctly without thinking. “Okay, okay. For the sake of the wine, I’ll be considerate. I will not fish today!” said Uncle Zhang, laughing.
He put the fis.h.i.+ng basket aside and grabbed several things out of nowhere. It was no surprise that he had taken things from the storage s.p.a.ce in the Holy City’s communications system.
It seemed like Uncle Zhang had just stepped into the last stage of his life. Just by seeing that he had the free time to go fis.h.i.+ng and barbecue every weekend, it should be obvious that he had a leisurely life in the Holy City. At this age and with such idleness, he probably was not that powerful, but he was certainly not weak as well. His qualifications might be very old, but w.a.n.g Zhong did not think of asking him to do anything.
Uncle Zhang grabbed a circular chessboard and three to four small plates along the way. They were filled with side dishes such as peanuts. He had prepared these side dishes due to having made an appointment with w.a.n.g Zhong the last time.
Uncle Zhang pushed the chessboard in front of w.a.n.g Zhong and asked, “Have you played Battle Stars Chess before? Since we will not be fis.h.i.+ng, play two rounds with me!”
w.a.n.g Zhong had no idea what that was. Upon coming to the Holy City, other than reading up on Cellular Cosmology, he had been attending alchemy lectures or testing different poisons at Lan Daier’s place. Occasionally he would have some free time, but it was all used for his ‘diarrhea.’ How would he know anything about Battle Stars Chess…
Uncle Zhang explained the rules to him. Battle Stars Chess was the most popular and enduring strategy game in the Holy City. It could also be considered a game of the natural order!
In fact, it had been evolved from board games on earth; the difference was that the pieces had changed.
The five soldiers: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth
The two generals: Light and Darkness
The four heavenly kings: s.p.a.ce, Order, Chaos, and Destiny
The dominator: Inner Self
Uncle Zhang explained the rules as he pointed at the chessboard. “The five soldiers represent the understanding of the first level. Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth mutually reinforce each other and cover all the phenomena of the universe. At the same time, Darkness and Light const.i.tute the basis of the universe, allowing humans to ascend and expand. The four heavenly kings are the four most important forces that make up the world. What do you think?”
w.a.n.g Zhong pondered for a while before he replied. “Time can be derived from s.p.a.ce, const.i.tuting the existence of everything in the world. Order represents stability while Chaos represents destruction. This is a symbiotic relations.h.i.+p. Destiny represents the unknown, but at the same time is established, containing cause and effect.”
Uncle Zhang smiled. “Not bad, it seems like you have a little understanding of this aspect. On the surface, this is the case. The dominator is the chess player. The dominator can be infinitely powerful or be the weakest of all. The key lies in the level of the player.”
After explaining the rules, they played a round. w.a.n.g Zhong was unexpectedly rather talented in this regard. Other than being totally thrashed in the first round, he grew better as they played on, making Uncle Zhang grow excited. After all, winning all the time was meaningless.
Battle Stars Chess was an entertainment in nature, but one could also reflect during the game, especially about the 12 essential elements which affected the world. Simply speaking, it was 12 ordinary concepts. However, to truly understand the meaning of them would be like trying to understand the vast ocean of stars.
w.a.n.g Zhong got the hang of it rather quickly. Battle Stars Chess was most likely just an entertainment for the old man, but for young, energetic people, it could still inspire and enhance the logical deduction abilities. After a few games of chess, w.a.n.g Zhong felt that his own cognition and vision had also been enhanced by a lot. As he read up on Cellular Cosmology previously, he had met several dead ends. But now, he felt as though he was about to break through the dead ends. He secretly sighed, reeling in the fact that even a game in the Holy Land could be so extraordinary.
“This is a mini-game pa.s.sed down by Adalia. It’s good for rudimentary enlightenment or killing time. It is just right for someone with a Great 5 Elements Const.i.tution to play this game.” Uncle Zhang laughed, and every time he clicked a chess piece, there would be a corresponding elemental reaction.
w.a.n.g Zhong was not surprised. He knew that Uncle Zhang would definitely not be an ordinary old man, and his own matters were definitely no secret.
“The Great 5 Elements Const.i.tution does not seem to be recognized by the Holy Land System. Everyone is pursuing the laws of the natural order,” said w.a.n.g Zhong.
Uncle Zhang smiled. “There’s nothing wrong with that. The laws of the natural order represent the future of humanity. Therefore, many people are not wrong to think so, but this does not mean that physical fitness is not important. It’s a pity that many people don’t understand.”
w.a.n.g Zhong nodded. “Human beings can’t just abandon the body to pursue the soul. They will eventually lose their own way.”
“Is this why you chose the Tyrants’ Tempering methods?” asked Uncle Zhang with a smile.
“Yes, especially after reading up on Cellular Cosmology. Let’s not talk about whether the methods are feasible, but the parallelism of soul and body is the only way. I believe this theory.”
Uncle Zhang grew a little emotional. “Haiz, if only I had this awareness when I was young, then I would not fail to evolve to a higher power and wait for my death here. Oh, one will really become useless as he gets old. I’m going off-topic. Your ideas are good, but ideas are just ideas. Your choice may make you worse off than others.”
w.a.n.g Zhong shrugged. “I’m not in a hurry.”
“Lad, if you have any problems, feel free to look for me, but don’t take the Cellular Cosmology too seriously. Although you are still young, sometimes the detours in spiritual cultivation can be very scary.”
w.a.n.g Zhong nodded, knowing that Uncle Zhang had good intentions. “Anyway, Uncle Zhang, can you tell me more about the relations.h.i.+p between the Holy City and the Federation? To be precise, how much can the Holy City affect the Federation?”
w.a.n.g Zhong had always been unclear about the relations.h.i.+p between the Holy City and the Federation. During his time in the Holy City, he found out quite a bit about their relations.h.i.+p. The 10 Great Families appeared far less powerful in the Holy City compared to back on Earth; but in some aspects, a certain amount of influence was clearly present, at least as far as freshmen were concerned. There was also the Parliament; Dicaprio and the others were originally fully backed by them, but after arriving in the Holy City, they became complete pa.s.sersby. w.a.n.g Zhong did not even hear much about them as they were extremely low-key. It was very strange as the Parliament was not weaker than the 10 Great Families back on Earth.
Of course, these might merely be facades. w.a.n.g Zhong could not jump to conclusions based on this. Otherwise, he would just be a frog at the bottom of the well. He was clear that a senior figure like Uncle Zhang would have a much clearer field of vision as compared to him. In fact, after the last time, w.a.n.g Zhong had guessed that Uncle Zhang was already at the Heavenly Soul Stage. It was just that he had not broken through his physical bottleneck; thus, he did not leave the Holy Land.
“Earth’s Federation?” Lao Zhang smiled slightly. “This is no secret. The overall structure is determined by the Holy Land. The smaller changes are often ignored. In fact, those old guys won’t really get involved. Many of them don’t even care much about their so-called blood ties. After all, their goals and levels are now completely different, and they are no longer of the same world.”
“That is to say, the Holy Land has enough influence?”