Chapter 200 - The Unpredictability of the Black and White
Shen Lian clapped his hands and said, "I look forward to your good news."
A dash of greenish white Qi essence came out from his sleeve and landed in front of Gu Caiwei. The Dao Qi concentrated and it transformed into a piece of talisman order. The Dao words on the talisman order were simple, there were barely a few strokes but it had a deep meaning.
This was the Qing Xuan"s talisman order and it could only be produced by the chief as it was something that represents Qing Xuan. Back then, Chen Jianmei was said to have one too but Shen Lian had yet to see it.
Shen Lian has learned many secrets and benefited from it after he took over as the Chief of Qing Xuan.
Gu Caiwei took the talisman order and kept it in her sleeve, she smiled and asked, "Anything else?"
Shen Lian had a serious face, he got up from the stone couch and politely said, "Take care." He was very respectful and polite.
Gu Caiwei giggled, she felt that Shen Lian was still the same old Shen Lian who was simple and warm and yet he would do something strange or funny once in a while. He was still such a cheerful kid.
He personally sent Gu Caiwei out of the hall as she took out a jade flute. The melody of the flute traveled far away and very soon, a celestial crane flew by. Its feather was pure white, smooth and delicate and it had a long neck. It made a slight sound and it sounded clean and warm, oozing celestial vibes.
Inspired by Shen Lian who adopted Qianmo, Gu Caiwei felt that it was not a bad idea to raise a spiritual creature as her mode of transportation and she went and look for one.
Although its flying skills were not as polished as Qianmo, it was definitely as stylish as it was.
Gu Caiwei summoned her crane as she wanted to use it as her mode of transportation and not to show off. Considering that she was tasked to set up a new school in the East Sea, it would look more convincing traveling on a crane than walking on foot. She lightly rode on the back of the crane and it soared up to the sky and very soon disappeared somewhere beneath the clouds.
Shen Lian watched Gu Caiwei leave and thought to himself, "Our school has been overly modest and plain for the past few years." He did some calculations and intend to attain an instrument that could transform into a magnificent pull cart powered by exotic or rare beasts. He would gift that to Gu Caiwei as a token of appreciation.
As for himself, he once read a sentence that said "riding six dragons to heaven". One day in the future after achieving immortality, he would love to look for a real dragon and he would look so cool.
He thinks it was not wrong to indulge in luxury and he would like to experience many more different things in life.
Such intentions came with many consequences and he would never expect that this would stir drama for him.
A month later, Shen Lian had yet to interrogate Meng Xunzhen and his disciple, as if he had forgotten that he had taken them in captive. Even when Jing Qing Tongzhi made his trip to the back mountain, he would not engage in conversations with them and only brought them some acorns and water to prevent them from starvation.
Shen Lian did not ask about them while the other two were living with anxiety. After all, a person who was stripped up their mana would return to a normal being and their desires and l.u.s.t would be more intense. Furthermore, Meng Xunzhen has attempted several times to break free from the restraining spell by summoning the True Wandering Light Sword but to no avail.
Shen Lian made a trip to the Tianyuan Peak. The peak housed a peaceful forest of old pine trees and was indeed a natural shelter against the sun.
He was with a white game stone while being engaged in a deadly duel with Ge Yuan who was with the black.
The Game of Go consisted of one hundred and eighty-one pieces of black stones and one hundred and eighty pieces of white stones. It spans across nineteen grids to form three hundred sixty-one intersection points. After making the first move, there would be three hundred and sixty-one options to the second move and the third move would have three hundred and fifty-nine directions to take, and so forth...until the very last option left.
Every game of Go would come to a point where it ran out of chess pieces. But the possibilities of a game of Go could bring was astonis.h.i.+ng. Even an immortal Zhenren who had achieved the Dao of celestials would be amazed by the unpredictability exchange between the black and white.
Ge Yuan had entered the state of nothingness and was not far away from Pow.a.n.g. His Yin spirit was strong and showed the tendency of evolving into Yang spirit. In other words, he was a lot stronger compared to the time when Shen Lian just entered Qing Xuan.
But he had never gained the upper hand against Shen Lian. Every time he thought he was able to trap Shen Lian, Shen Lian could turn the tables around within the next five to six steps.
Shen Lian remained calm and composed as he gently placed his white stone. His robe swayed in the wind and he looked elegantly out of the world.
Ge Yuan eventually lost interest, he put down the stone and said, "Wuji, have you been busy the affairs of the Discipline Hall lately?"
He had a solemn face and it seemed like he the affairs of the Discipline Hall really mattered to him.
Zhao Wuji stood one side. His cultivation of the Figureless Holy Script had reached an impressive level where even wise Huandan cultivators would not be able to notice him at a close distance.
Just like an eagle who could break the sky, even if a person had sharp eyesight, he would not pay attention to the random rocks and gra.s.s on the ground.
It was just that Zhao Wuji was not a random rock or gra.s.s. He was a Daoist who cultivates.
He timidly answered, "Nothing much lately."
Ge Yuan coughed and asked, "Really?"
Zhao Wuji nodded his head.
Shen Lian brushed across the game board and the black and white stone scattered all over. He casually said, "It"s hard to conclude this round of chess. Let"s leave it as it is a victory or defeat doesn"t matter too much to us."
Ge Yuan looked at the scrawny and timid Zhao Wuji and sighed, "That is why he"s the chief now and you, you"ve been cultivating for so many years and yet you"ve not entered Dao."
Zhao Wuji responded, "Senior Apprentice-Brother Shen makes a good chief. If it wasn"t for him, I would have been killed by the True Wandering Light Sword."
Ge Yuan groaned lightly and continued the conversation, "Chief, what do you intend to do with Meng Xunzhen and his disciple?"
Shen Lian said, "It"s about time for the Qingjiang Sword sect to pay us a visit."
Ge Yuan knew that Shen Lian had planned in advance. Although Shen Lian did not take any action after capturing the two he had informed every disciple of the school about the capture. The two disciples who were dismembered from their limbs managed to rejuvenate their limbs thanks to the Life-regenerating Elixir but their form was not as good as before. The meridian points of their hands and legs would need to be reopened and that would take a whole lot of effort to the extent that it could possibly delay their progress in Huandan in the future.
The two disciples were considered to be quite reputed in the upper house. Although they were grateful for Shen Lian"s kindness, some disciples felt that Shen Lian was weak for not taking actions against Meng Xunzhen and his disciple after capturing them.
The upper house was filled disciples who wanted the quick way to gain power. Most of them were somehow related to the Doyens of Qing Xuan and that was why news travels fast when they start gossiping.
Ge Yuan had a strong personality and yet he was curious about Shen Lian"s plan. That was the main reason why he invited Shen Lian over for a round of game.
The game was also to test Shen Lian. He played aggressively and tried pus.h.i.+ng Shen Lian to the edge but Shen Lian turned the tables around effortlessly.
He had the upper hand when they started the round but halfway through, he has lost all his advantages without him realizing it.
So he looked for an excuse and interrupted the game and at the same time used his disciple"s words to probe into Shen Lian"s plan. Within a few moves, Ge Yuan had a new found understanding of Shen Lian. Although he was extremely charismatic at that duel with Bai Suhuan that factor was certainly not enough to hold the position of the chief.
Shen Lian had definitely outdone the expectations of Ge Yuan.