A Gentle Breeze.
This is the seventh millennium since Chen Xia returned to the Boundary Realm, during which many things have happened. It's hard to say whether the outcome can be described as "good" or not. At this stage of life, it seems that he has become more accepting of many things.
The saying goes that as people grow older, their hearts become kinder, and they become less concerned about many things. The arrogance of youth is no longer present.
Chen Xia is now an old man, completely different from the young boy he once was in Weixi Town.
As the old saying goes, one should act according to one's age. When one's hair turns white, it is impossible to be as reckless as in one's youth. Only by respecting oneself can one earn a venerable reputation in old age.
Fortunately, Chen Xia never cared about these things. That's why he used his time manipulation ability to secretly take Wang Yangzi's car.
"Where's my car?" Wang Yangzi frowned and asked.
"Did you lose it while driving?" Chen Xia speculated in confusion, continuously turning his head to help Wang Yangzi find the so-called car.
Wu Saint stood aside with his arms crossed, teasing Wang Yangzi, "If you're not good at driving, then don't drive. How can you even lose a car? It's embarrassing."
Wang Yangzi glanced at him deeply and nodded, "You're just helping the strong and not the right."
"You flatter me," Wu Saint smirked, quite proud of himself.
Wang Yangzi sighed, feeling helpless against these shameless two individuals, so he could only continue.
Losing a car was no big deal because Chen Xia had only left Wang Yangzi with a king and a bishop, so victory was still within his grasp.
But Wang Yangzi clearly underestimated Chen Xia's audacity.
Chen Xia's strength and audacity were always well-matched, without any difference.
Therefore, he directly stopped Wang Yangzi's next move and firmly stated, "I have the power of the Four Great Holy Beings. I have comprehended the Great Path of Time. You have to let me take two steps first."
"That's right, that's right," Wu Saint chimed in.
Wang Yangzi couldn't hold back anymore and pointed at the chessboard, puzzled, "You only have one king and a bishop left. Even if I let you take two more steps, you still can't win against me. What's the point of moving two more steps?!"
"Good question." Chen Xia nodded and then began moving the chess pieces.
He moved the first bishop diagonally up to the king, and then moved the second bishop diagonally down to the king, forming a diagonal line. Then he nodded, extended his hand, and connected the three chess pieces in an imaginary line. With a light laugh, he said, "A line is formed, so I win."
"Reasonable," Wu Saint said, although he didn't understand it. He just went along with it.
Wang Yangzi was dumbfounded, and then he looked at Chen Xia and couldn't help but curse, "Damn it, even if you played Go, I wouldn't say anything. How did you manage to pull out a game of tic-tac-toe? Damn it, this is f***ing unbelievable!"
Chen Xia looked at Wang Yangzi and nodded gently.
Who said that in old age, one can't be reckless like in one's youth? Wang Yangzi was quite reckless.
The main thing was that Chen Xia's move had completely dumbfounded Wang Yangzi. It wasn't just a matter of the king and bishop of the Four Great Holy Beings anymore; they had switched to a different game altogether.
Seeing Wang Yangzi like this, Wu Saint couldn't help but advise, "It's okay, Old Wang. You're already a grown man. Be more mature. If you can't win, you can't win. It's not a shameful thing."
Wang Yangzi took a deep breath and calmed down. Then he raised his thumb to Wu Saint and praised, "You're also a top-notch yes-man."
Wu Saint's face lit up with excitement and joy as he asked, "Really?"
He had a clear understanding of himself.
After that, another game of chess started, but Wang Yangzi wasn't as honest anymore. He and Chen Xia agreed that chess would be chess, without any cultivation or switching to games like Gomoku or Tic-Tac-Toe midway.
The same tactics couldn't be applied to the same person.
Chen Xia could only nod in agreement, but he was defeated miserably. In one game, Wang Yangzi captured two of his horses at the beginning, which could be considered a small victory.
Wu Saint sighed and said, "It's a pity that you weren't in good shape. It's a regrettable defeat."
Chen Xia agreed, "My touch was off, and I didn't play the cannon well."
Wang Yangzi became happy again, with a joyful expression on his face.
The chess game continued until late evening.
Wu Saint said he had some business to attend to and had to return to the Saint Hall. He was now the leader of the Saint Hall, the only second-rank saint in terms of cultivation.
There were still some saints outside, but they hadn't joined the Saint Hall. The current Saint Hall was just an empty shell without any authority.
Perhaps the only one worth mentioning was Chen Xia, who hadn't visited the Saint Hall in a thousand years.
But anyone with eyes could see that Chen Xia had no connection to the Saint Hall.
The causal entanglement between the two sides was weak, so weak that it was almost imperceptible.
This meant that Chen Xia didn't owe any favors to the Saint Hall and didn't gain any benefits from being called the Chen Chief.
The only causal connection was Chen Xia killing the Armor Saint.
In today's view, it was an old matter. In other words, even if the Armor Saint hadn't been killed by Chen Xia, the Boundary Realm would still be unable to resist.
Even the Great Saint had lost one member and retreated two members. What difference could one Armor Saint make?
And Chen Xia killing the Armor Saint was related to his own cause and effect with Ma Xiaohong. It was Wang Yangzi's idea to avoid trouble by becoming the Chief.
If we talk about cause and effect, then Chen Xia only has some causal connection with Wang Yangzi.
So, he would do his best to save Wang Yangzi afterwards. Considering their relationship of several thousand years, they were indeed rare old friends.
Wang Yangzi picked up his teacup, took a sip, tapped the chessboard with his hand, and suddenly sighed.
"It's really profound."
"Indeed," Chen Xia nodded.
"I'm referring to this Boundary Realm chessboard," Wang Yangzi smiled again and leaned back in his chair, saying, "How long have we known each other?"
"Not even ten thousand years," Chen Xia replied, leaning forward and propping his head with his hand.
Wang Yangzi chuckled and nodded, "That's not short. You are the most extraordinary cultivator I've ever met, both in terms of talent and temperament. You will reach the peak of the mountain, the highest point. That's to be expected."
"Of course," Chen Xia replied. Considering his eternal lifespan, it was indeed not a difficult task.
"Then why don't you go to the Immortal Realm? This mess in the Boundary Realm isn't worth your lingering. At least you have better places to go instead of staying here," Wang Yangzi said for the third time, urging Chen Xia to go to the Immortal Realm.
Chen Xia squinted his eyes, remained silent for a moment, and replied softly.
"If I were a thousand years old, I would have rushed to the highest level of the Boundary Realm without hesitation and declared in front of all the Lords of the Forbidden Zones that I would protect you, even if I knew it might not make much of a difference."
"If it were when I was three thousand years old, I would have ascended to the Immortal Realm long ago and returned only when I was truly invincible, hoping it wouldn't be too late to come back."
"At ten thousand years old, I would start gathering forces or unite with the Heavenly Rain Realm to resist the boundaries."
"But things are different now..."
Chen Xia stood up, his hands behind his back, his green robe gently swaying as he smiled.
"Now I have learned to adapt to changes. As they say, a barking dog doesn't bite. The Golden Lotus Great Sage, the Shanshui Quasi-Emperor, and even the subsequent deaths that led to the siege of the four Great Sages, they were all testing my strength."
"When I was only a few thousand years old, I might have fallen for it and insisted on killing those four Great Sages. I might have even used my trump card to slay the Shanshui Quasi-Emperor. But from my current perspective, it's completely unnecessary."
"Because it has never been the Heavenly Rain Realm that wants you dead."
"I don't need to reveal my ultimate trump card, and naturally, they become wary, reluctant to show their true fangs."
Chen Xia grinned confidently.
"And when they can no longer bear it and dare to reveal their true fangs, I will completely break and crush their fangs, turning them into dust. I will then seek out the broken fangs and slay the barking dog!"
This is his method, and he has the qualifications to speak like this.
Wang Yangzi sighed, "You have indeed grown."
In his eyes, the current Chen Xia could be described as terrifying.
This is what a true cultivator at the peak needs.
Chen Xia pointed to his own head and smiled again.
"I feel filled with wisdom."
"Except when playing chess," Wang Yangzi added.
...
"If you don't want to speak, you don't have to," Chen Xia replied.
"Fair enough." Wang Yangzi chuckled twice, said no more, and turned to leave in the darkness. As a fake saint who had died once, he didn't want to get involved in the mess of the boundaries anymore.
The night hung low.
Chen Xia suddenly looked up and saw a meteor streaking across the sky, cutting through the half-slashed firmament.
Like the current state of the boundary, densely falling.
He stood beneath the meteor, his green robe the only source of light.
As a single person...
Illuminating the stars.