“We can talk, you… let me go.” Xu Jie steadied herself; she was now ice-cold and frozen in place, unable to move.
"There's nothing to talk about. Since this is something you're so proud of, then I'll break your most prized charm and see if you feel uncomfortable." Ye Xingchen smiled slightly, then suddenly, his eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he glared at her with a fierce look.
"Ah..." Xu Jie screamed and staggered backward, blood gushing from both her eyes. She huddled in a corner in agony, her vision blurring in waves.
"You go back and tell Bai Tianze that I happen to have a score to settle with him. I'll make sure he's got his neck clean and is waiting for me." Ye Xingchen said with a smile, "Ideally, we should also invite his senior brother Ding Yulong down the mountain. Or, if he doesn't come down the mountain, I'll take his creditors and personally go to Qingxianju."
"Ye Xingchen, you wait, I will make sure you die a horrible death." Watching Ye Xingchen leave, Xu Jie struggled to her feet, roaring weakly to vent her resentment.
In the pavilion in front of the artificial hill at Xia Mansion.
Ye Xingchen was playing chess, but this time his opponent was not his maternal grandfather, but Su Ruochu.
Su Ruochu is a rare talented woman in Yanjing. She is an eighth-dan Go player, which would make her a national-level player in the Go world.
However, even when she played chess with Ye Xingchen at full strength, she still seemed to struggle.
Holding a black piece, she struggled to find a place to place it. After a long while, she looked up at Ye Xingchen, her eyes filled with confusion.
"Is there anything you want to ask?" Ye Xingchen smiled slightly.
“I don’t want to play chess with you. I’ve been your student for a while now, and apart from giving me a few lessons, you haven’t taught me anything substantial,” Su Ruochu said calmly. “My skill level has remained stagnant.”
"Is that what you're worried about?" Ye Xingchen said with a smile, "You read extensively in my grandfather's study and comprehended Confucianism and Taoism. Since ancient times, there have been very few sages who entered Taoism through Confucianism."
"The last time a sage who attained sainthood through Confucianism and single-handedly resisted celestial beings was to transcend reincarnation was a thousand years ago. Since then, Confucianism and Taoism have weakened, so you should know how difficult it is."
“I know what I’m doing, but I want revenge.” Su Ruochu stared at Ye Xingchen.
“If you’re so eager for revenge, I can break their legs, and you can kill them one by one with a knife,” Ye Xingchen said frankly.
“I want to defeat them and kill them with my own hands.” Su Ruochu shook her head. “Moreover, I want to ask Ding Yulong face to face why he ruthlessly attacked my Su family.”
"Then try your best to finish this game. Right now, your black pieces are trapped. If you can break the deadlock, you will find the answer," Ye Xingchen said calmly.
Without further hesitation, Su Ruochu picked up the black pieces again and engaged in a fierce battle with Ye Xingchen.
However, after playing chess with Ye Xingchen for so long, her black pieces were already in a losing position. She gritted her teeth, focused intently on the board, and sought a way to break the deadlock.
Because she believed that if Ye Xingchen had asked her to do this, then there must be a reason behind it.
However, despite her best efforts, she was outnumbered and outmatched. With Ye Xingchen's move, the game was already a dead end.
She stared intently at the chessboard before her, holding a chess piece tightly in her hand, hesitant to make a move.
"The way of the sage is to act without striving."
Just then, Xia Xueming walked over slowly and a single sentence awakened Su Ruochu. A glint of light flashed in her eyes, and in an instant, the whole game of chess seemed to come alive.
The chessboard suddenly enlarged, while her figure shrank continuously until she found herself in the middle of the game, where every piece was as large as a rock.
She looked at the chess pieces around her, each as large as a rock, and murmured to herself, "The way of the sage is the way of Heaven. To act without striving, to act in accordance with the way of Heaven in the world, to not see what is desirable, to not see what is obtainable, to not contend with the Way for fame, to not contend with Heaven for merit... to assist all things in their natural course without daring to interfere, this is called acting without striving."
"I understand now, this situation is a secret revealed by heaven..."
She slowly opened her eyes, a glint of light flashing in the depths of her gaze, and the powerful aura emanating from her body gradually dissipated.
After this match, her strength improved by leaps and bounds, and she was already in the late stage of the Heavenly Realm, ready to step into the Celestial Phenomenon Realm at any time.
"Thank you, teacher." Su Ruochu stood up and bowed gracefully to Ye Xingchen.
"You should thank my grandfather for reminding you at the crucial moment." Ye Xingchen wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
"Not bad." Xia Xueming looked at Ye Xingchen approvingly: "The secret of heaven is only thought, and one enters the game in a dream. This is the Heavenly Secret Game. It uses the vast energy of heaven and earth to nourish the purple mansion and dantian of the player, so that the vast energy of heaven and earth is in the chest, and life is endless."
"Thank you for the reminder, Elder Xia." Su Ruochu took a deep breath, and her demeanor changed, reaching a state of composure and tranquility where her inner radiance remained hidden.
"It's also thanks to your good comprehension. Ruochu, you are a beautiful piece of jade, but I have nothing better to teach you. The path of Confucianism and Taoism is extremely difficult, but you have encountered Xingchen. Even if it is just a chance, if you seize the opportunity, it is not impossible to become a saint in one step," Xia Xueming said.
"Thank you, Professor Xia, I will." Su Ruochu remembered Xia Xueming's words.
“You don’t need to come here recently. If I use the Heavenly Secrets Bureau to help you improve your cultivation, it will be like pulling up seedlings to help them grow faster. Go to your maternal grandmother’s place and consolidate your foundation properly.” Ye Xingchen pondered for a moment: “That will also be good... Spend more time with her. She is your only family.”
"My grandmother... what happened to her?" Su Ruochu was startled, she understood the meaning behind Ye Xingchen's words.
“A life-or-death ordeal, difficult to overcome.” Ye Xingchen hesitated for a moment, but still decided to tell her the truth: “When I saw her last time, I could already tell that the old lady was devoted to Buddhism and had cultivated a Buddhist mind. I think she also knew the ordeal she was facing.”
"Is there really no other way?" Su Ruochu's eyes welled up with tears. Her grandmother was her only remaining relative.
“Fate is hard to defy.” Ye Xingchen slowly shook his head: “Spend more time with her. Don’t be too sad. Maybe something will change.”
Su Ruochu nodded and bowed deeply to Ye Xingchen: "Thank you for telling me all this."
"The variables you mentioned, were you just trying to comfort her?" Xia Xueming said, watching Su Ruochu leave.
"Yes." Ye Xingchen nodded: "Fate is hard to defy, and the old lady should know that herself."
"At fifty, one should know one's destiny. That old lady is almost 80, and she is devoted to Buddhism, so she should know her fate." Xia Xueming sighed slightly: "It's just a pity that the Su family was wiped out twenty years ago, and the old lady is this girl's only relative."
"If she goes, I don't know how heartbroken Ruochu will be."
"Maybe I can try and change all of this," Ye Xingchen said thoughtfully.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com