by Fang Xiang
“Xiao Mo Ge!”
“He’s over there!”
These voices were filled with excitement and joy. The bounties every large yao market had on Xiao Mo Ge had been continuously rising. If they could use yao arts to record the process of defeating Xiao Mo Ge, they would receive a great reward. Money did not just move the hearts of people, they also moved the hearts of yao. Even more, the one that defeated Xiao Mo Ge would not just receive wealth; any person that defeated Xiao Mo Ge would become famous. In any case, this was the Ten Finger Prison and no one would die. At most, it would just be wounds to the consciousness. Compared to the rewards, this bit of risk was easy to dismiss. Where else could they find a matter where they could get fame and wealth together?
Zuo Mo was like a powerful magnet continuously attracting other yao.
Seeing the figures approaching, Zuo Mo’s clear and indifferent pupils suddenly shot out several cold and intimidating lights.
Without any warning, these people gave sharp wails.
The figures seemed to be split in half by something. Body parts that were cleaved off flew out a few zhang before they disappeared.
“Careful! There are ice blades!”
“It’s an illusory formation!”
Exclamations rang out. No one had expected that Xiao Mo Ge had set out ice blades illusory formations so far away from his position without leaving any traces! Hiss, many people couldn’t help but inhale sharply. Ice blade illusory formations, these were not high level yao arts. Ice blade was a little yao art, the illusory formations had been composed of two kinds of low level water yao arts.
What made all the yao inhale in shock that these people had been struck by the blades least one hundred and fifty zhang away from Xiao Mo Ge.
Without changing expression, he had set down traps one hundred and fifty zhang away. His tactics and power were all essential to this. Many people that had vulturous ideas previously seemed to have a bucket of cold water poured over their heads. The chilling fear struck their hearts.
The bounty was not so easy to get.
Pia pia.
Another few lights flashed. Another few people had been thrown out of the Wasteland Beast Chessboard. Many yao were not even able to make out what trick these people had fallen for. The mood suddenly became tense. Some yao even had thoughts of retreat. Their steps slowed down as they looked uncertainly at Xiao Mo Ge.
The other seemed too calm. Did he have something to rely on? If he did not have support, how could he not be nervous at all?
The troop quickly spread out. Those with nimble minds seemed to feel the danger. It was good to let other people test the waters. Only those that could remain until the end could reap the benefits.
Zuo Mo calmly stood there as though he did not see the enemies coming at him from all directions.
He was not pretending to be calm. His heart was as serene as water, his consciousness was unprecedentedly lively. Every action in the surroundings seemed to be seen in the palm of his hand. The comfortability he felt was like being a fish in the water made every nerve in his body feel pleasure. He could clearly feel the surrounding environment was filled with closeness.
Suddenly, he understood.
This was the Wasteland Beast Chessboard, this was his territory!
Boom!
His mind seemed to suddenly exploded. The barely discernable bond with the surroundings became blinding like oil poured onto fire.
Wasteland Beast Chessboard!
He seemed to see a wasteland beast shrouded in the smoke that looked at him. That pair of vicious lantern-sized red eyes did not hold viciousness and savagery. It only stared deeply at him.
In the sea of consciousness, Pu Yao’s sigh sounded out.
Zuo Mo heard this sigh filled with the burden of age, but at this time, he did not have the time to study the meaning behind this sigh. His eyes did not move away from the wasteland beast at all. His face was raised. The wasteland beast was half crouched in front of him. Zuo Mo was not short, but he was just able to reach the toe of the wasteland beast. The wasteland beast looked down at Zuo Mo. The deep red eyes were as deep as the ocean and were unable to be understood.
It stared at Zuo Mo for a while as its body slowly disappeared from in front of him.
Zuo Mo suddenly shook. The shouts and roars suddenly entered his ears like a tide. He seemed to be in a different world. Had it been a delusion just now? Zuo Mo shook his head hard. Where was the wasteland beast in front of him?
There was no time to think. The closest enemy was already within one hundred zhang of him.
———
Ice blades illusory formations were not high level illusory formations, and if the other had even the slightest awareness, they were ineffective. All of the ice blade formations were completely swept away. The crowd of yao’s morale rose!
Even if Xiao Mo Ge had some great ability, he could not defend against so many people! There were more than forty yao that were charging and many of the yao that had been watching could not resist charging as well. Maybe they could get some benefits in this mess? Then they would really profit!
The yao arts on the hands of many yao started to flash. The crowds became excited. In the next second, hundreds of yao arts flew towards Xiao Mo Ge like rain!
No matter how strong Xiao Mo Ge was, he could not dodge all of them.
Victory was right in front of their eyes, the crowd of yao was excited, and the spectators continuously casted recording yao arts in the fear they would fail. Xiao Mo Ge was being ganged up on, this was great news that would shake the yao world. Those that were experienced always warned their students this was the outcome of offending great personages. So what if you could break the prison? People could torment you however they want!
In the battlefield, Xiao Mo Ge was still motionless. He seemed to not see the lights of the yao spells in the hands of the yao. He lightly raised his right hand.
A right hand that was extremely normal!
A light that was not blinding lit up on the fingers of his right hand.
He slowly breathed out, “[Wasteland Beast Chessboard—Match]!”
The voice was not loud and was as soft as the wind, but it blew into every corner of the Wasteland Beast Chessboard. All of the yao in the Wasteland Beast Chessboard were disturbed and raised their heads in shock.
Silently, the black and white tiles within one hundred and fifty zhang of Zuo Mo seemed to become alive and slowly turned.
Time seemed to have stopped in this second. All the yao that had charged into this area of a radius of one hundred and fifty zhang froze where they stood.
Many strange statues stood next to Zuo Mo. They maintained their running posture. Some still had lights on their hands, others were slanted forward as though they could fall at any moment.
All the noise disappeared. It was deathly silently within one hundred and fifty zhang of Zuo Mo. The yao watching from a distance looked at this strange and fantastical scene. What had happened? No one understood. Under their puzzled eyes, Zuo Mo slowly sat down cross-legged.
Among the spectators, one person’s body suddenly shook fiercely.
His shock-filled face suddenly became as snowy white as paper, his eyes filled with astonishment.
Was it … …
Chapter 375: [Yao Art Cage]
Was it … … that he was able to control the Wasteland Beast Chessboard?
Ming Jue Zi’s heart beat wildly. In his eyes, the process of Xiao Mo Ge folding his legs as he sat was occurring in slow motion. He looked with disbelief at Xiao Mo Ge.
He had vast knowledge, and he knew that the battle now had reached another level. It seemed that those yao that had charged towards Xiao Mo Ge were being controlled but that was not true.
Another battle had just started. Xiao Mo Ge’s focused expression caused Ming Jue Zi to believe his speculation even more.
It was just … … he hadn’t really expected there were people able to control a prison … …
Ming Jue Zi looked dazedly at Xiao Mo Ge and his thoughts wandered. He was suddenly full of curiosity about what Xiao Mo Ge’s last move in the prison-breaking battle was. Breaking the prison did not mean controlling a prison. For example, Qian Liu Daren had set down Vast Water Clear Skies, but he was not able to control Vast Water Clear Skies, it just provided a slight advantage for him.
Throughout history, successful prison breakers were mostly like Qian Liu Daren but there were exceptions. Throughout history, there had been three prison-breaker yao that could control a prison.
This kind of secret information was only usually known by family with long histories. Supposedly, to control a prison, the crux was in the last attack of the prison-breaking battle. In a prison-breaking battle, the further it proceeded, the more ferocious it was. The last attack was usually the strongest and most vicious attack. The formation of the new prison had a large connection to the last attack, and the ability to control a prison was connected to the last attack as well.
Of course, these were all speculations, ones that circulated in a certain group.
Because it could not be proven, no one knew what the last move of the three daren in the past had been. Up until their death, they had not revealed the secret. This speculation had been formed by some concerned people from all kinds of hints and clues. Everyone had found to their shock that, through different channels, that all three daren had mentioned the last move to a certain degree. However, many people also did not believe this because these hints could not prove anything.
But Ming Jue Zi believed it.
Because he coincidentally knew a bit more than other people.
Ming Jue Zi was not interested in the matter of Xiao Mo Ge and the Genius Alliance to start with. This matter might have made a fuss but not many of Ming Jue Zi’s peers paid much attention to it. High level yao family had their own high level groups. They were only interested in matters of their circle. Ming Jue Zi was not too interested, but just curious what the Wasteland Beast Chessboard looked like so he came to see. He had not expected to see such an amazing scene.
———
The one hundred and fifty zhang radius around Zuo Mo was like a grey and white territory of death. Everyone seemed to be unmoving and silent.
There was a circle of yao surrounding it but no one dared to step into the area. The scene in front of them surpassed their limits. Countless recording yao arts flashed.
The scenery in front of Zuo Mo changed. An enormous chessboard appeared in front of him.
On this chessboard, there was only him, and his opponents that had been pulled in. However, the number of opponents was very high. All seventy one yao that had been drawn in were his opponents. In other words, he needed to fight against seventy one opponents simultaneously.
There was not one thread of fear in Zuo Mo’s heart. This was his territory.
Hiss hiss hiss!
Countless lights suddenly flew out of the black and white chessboard and grabbed onto the yao.
Wasteland Beast Chessboard!
Everyone felt their vision blur and they lost sight of Zuo Mo. When they could see the surroundings clearly again, they found to their shock they were inside cages of light. The arm-thick pillars of light flashed with complex and eerie lights.
[Yao Art Cage]!
The match had begun.
Some yao that thought highly of themselves snorted coldly and cast yao arts towards the cage. Yet no matter how they released their yao arts, the could not move the light pillars at all. Smarter yao did not move rashly and carefully examined the surroundings.
There were those with power among the seventy one yao. Jin Zhen was one of them. He was from a branch family of one of the five Great Clans, the Gold Clan. He was young and smart, his power unordinary.
In this length of time, there were no yao arts that attacked him. He instantly understood that the way to exit was on this light cage. He calmed his mind and inspected the pillars of light. The lights that flashed on each arm-thick pillar were different. Through the light, he was able to see layers of interwoven little yao arts. Hm, he suddenly felt they were familiar to his eyes.
He suddenly recalled what the yao art lights that glowed on the pillar of light seemed like—the prison-breaking six problems!
Yes, it was the prison breaking six problems!
The construction of yao arts on the light pillars were the same as the prison breaking six problems.
Sweat poured off Jin Zhen. He opened his mouth but could not produce a sound. How could he not be familiar with the prison-breaking six problems that had been so popular in the recent past? He was even able to recite every problem, including their answer.
But when he faced yao art problems that were similar to the prison-breaking six problems, there was only hopelessness in his heart. Based on his own power, he could only solve three of the prison-breaking six problems. Even when the answer to the sixth problem had come out, it had taken him six whole days to understand.
Please … … please don’t be too difficult … …
Jin Zhen grabbed the last thread of hope and prayed inside. He trembled and suppressed the wild beating of his heart as he looked closely.
Upon closer inspection, he almost fainted away.
Little yao arts were packed together and connected with abnormally complex ways. Looking over, it made one have a big head.
He really had been possessed to come running into this matter. Jin Zhen was very dispirited. He probably could not avoid being wounded this time. This was great. He needed to pay a fee for healing. It was really unprofitable!
His heart suddenly moved. He definitely had not hopes of solving, but he could record what he was seeing. He might even make a sum. The more he thought, the more excited he was. He hurriedly cast a recording yao art.
When the light of the recording yao art rose, he couldn’t help but laugh. It was useable! A door closed, but a window had opened. He had some ideas, and knew what was the most important. He did not spare his spiritual power and carefully recorded the yao arts on every pillar of light completely.
Ha ha, this was all money!
Just as he finished recording, the pillars of light lit up to a blinding degree, and suddenly were like thorns piercing his body. An excruciating pain came. With a wail, his vision darkened.
Woosh woosh woosh!
The yao that maintained their strange position around Zuo Mo continuously turned to balls of light and disappeared.
———
Ming Jue Zi knew these people definitely were thrown out of the Wasteland Beast Chessboard. Amazement flashed through his eyes. From beginning to now, Xiao Mo Ge was sitting at his original spot and had not moved at all. What was that battle which was unable to be seen like? How did so many people get defeated?
He was filled with curiosity and his gaze was bright.
Zuo Mo slowly opened his eyes. A smear of exhaustion flashed through his eyes. Seventy one [Yao Art Cages]. Even with the advantage of being on his home territory, this was not an easy matter for him.
The entire battle did not look to be very fierce, but at many places, it was as though he was walking on wire with dangers all around. This was the first time that he used the Wasteland Beast Chessboard. Fortunately, what he encountered were not experts. Otherwise, if they entered battle, he would probably be unable to attend to all of them and could not escape defeat.
If he lost, the backlash would heavily injure his consciousness. The wasteland beast was behind him as it looked down. It was like a blade on his back.
Suddenly, several figures charged out of the yao crowd lightning fast towards Zuo Mo.
Zuo Mo’s eyes narrowed. His heart felt grave. These people that were charging over had timed it perfectly. They were not average! His consciousness had been greatly expended in the [Match] just now, and this was the time he was most exhausted. If they gave him two breaths of time, no, even one breath, he would be able to resolve these attacks.
It seemed he sti
ll was inexperienced in fighting with yao. He silently made note of the mistakes he made this time.
He did not care too much about being killed and thrown out of the Wasteland Beast Chessboard. In any case, it was just wounding of his consciousness. If he could learn something from it, it was a profitable transaction because this could save his little life.
So Zuo Mo was not panicked. He was even slightly curious what it would feel like to be thrown out of the Ten Finger Prison.
Zzt!
A sound like a copper wire being plucked sounded from behind him. A purple arrow of light flashed past Zuo Mo’s face.
The purple arrows of light were so fast that people were hard pressed to dodge them. It passed through a yao moving forward at fast speed. This yao didn’t even have the time to make a wail before turning into a ball of light and disappearing.
Crash, the yao at the very front suddenly tripped without any signs. Two grey green chains of mist were wrapped on his feet.
This yao was of considerable power. He reacted very quickly. In the instant he fell, the light blade on his hand sliced towards the green mist chains on his feet.
Pew!
The tip of grey green sword suddenly came out of his chest.
The sword tip dissipated into mist. His eyes were full of disbelief as he turned to a ball of light and disappeared.
Zzt zzt zzt!
The sound of a copper wire being plucked continued. A vine bow had appeared in Nan Yue’s hands at some unknown time. Every time the bow was stretched, a purple light would flash and a vine arrow would be on the string.
Cang Ze’s appearance had changed greatly at this time. His hair was grey green and waved like water grass at a strange rhythm. His eyes were covered in a layer of faint green mist. His body was shaking like dice. Every time he shook, ripples that were hard to discern would spread, and an icily murderous energy spread.
The spectators all changed expression.
“High level yao arts!” Ming Jue Zi was unable to control himself any longer and exclaimed.
Nan Yue had coincidentally woken up from her meditation. Seeing Zuo Mo was being attacked, she did not hesitate in attacking. What she used was the [South Sky Arrow Art] that she had learned. Today was the first time she had cultivated it, but [South Sky Arrow Art] was truly the inherited yao art of the South Sky Wisteria Clan. Nan Yue learned it with ease. There was none of the difficulty she encountered with normal yao arts. At many places, it seemed like instinct.