The ferry accelerated, the wind whistling loudly as it filled the sails in the open waters.
The youth named Bai Lu looked at Chen Xia, and after a moment, asked curiously:
"Do you play chess too?"
"I know a bit of Chinese chess and Go, and I can play tic-tac-toe as well," Chen Xia replied with a light chuckle, then asked, "Would you like to play a game?"
He really enjoyed the vigor of these young people. Perhaps it was because he had truly grown old, but he always found himself drawn to the company of the youth.
Though he himself looked quite young.
Chen Xia chuckled softly as he rubbed the tip of his nose, waiting for the young man's response.
"I haven't been learning chess for long either. Let's have a friendly match then," Bai Lu responded calmly, giving a slight wave of his sleeve.
There was no youthful arrogance, only steadiness in his demeanor.
But soon he would lose that composure, and regret agreeing to play chess with Chen Xia.
Mainly because he had never seen the opening move of attacking with the horse, making Chen Xia seem less like he was there to play chess and more like he was there to fight.
Bai Lu held a chess piece, his expression somewhat heavy, hesitating to make a move.
Perhaps he was considering whether or not to take action.
If he did, he might be accused of making a big deal out of nothing. If he didn't, he'd have both his horses taken in the opening.
Chen Xia, on the other hand, was already quite satisfied, having given the young man a good lesson. He lightly tapped the chessboard and said with a smile:
"It's just a game of chess, don't take it too seriously."
"Alright," Bai Lu replied stiffly, continuing to make his move.
The young cultivators watching around them could see that Chen Xia didn't seem to be playing chess properly.
Because apart from attacking the horses in the opening, Chen Xia hadn't taken any of Bai Lu's other pieces afterward.
But Chen Xia's expression was very serious, as if he was thinking hard about his next move, not looking like he was throwing the game at all.
Could it be that he was actually playing seriously?
The young cultivators watching couldn't quite figure it out, wondering if Chen Xia's chess skills were just that poor, completely overwhelmed by Bai Lu.
"Alright, alright, I give up," Chen Xia said, his disadvantage too great, so he simply decided to stop playing.
"Haha, Bai Lu is no ordinary person. Even the elders in our sect couldn't beat him before. They said Bai Lu has an extraordinary talent for chess," the petite girl Yu Jun laughed from the side.
"I'm also extraordinary when it comes to chess," Chen Xia replied.
Though in his case, "extraordinary" might be more of a negative term.
Yu Jun blinked her eyes, then asked curiously, "Where are you from? Which sect on the Ancestral Star are you joining?"
Chen Xia smiled lightly and replied, "I come from a remote, rundown star. I'm not joining any sect, just coming to the Ancestral Star to find someone and broaden my horizons along the way."
"Oh, I see. That's good too. There are many opportunities on the Ancestral Star. Who knows, you might just find your own destiny," the girl replied with a smile, filled with the kindness and beautiful hopes for the future unique to youth.
The ferry sailed at a moderate pace.
Yu Jun's gaze remained fixed on Bai Lu, a faint smile on her face. She didn't speak, just watching him contentedly.
"Yu Jun, once I enter the sect and find a master, gaining recognition from the sect, when I return to our hometown in the future, those elders won't dare look down on me anymore!" Another young man nearby declared proudly, his face beaming with arrogance.
Yu Jun turned her gaze back, the faint smile replaced by an encouraging one as she nodded and said,
"You can do it. After all, you had the highest aptitude when we were in the sect. Among the three of us, Hao Lin, you should be the fastest to break through and achieve the most."
From this conversation, it seemed the three were not only from the same hometown but had also been in the same sect before.
At this moment, all three young people wore excited smiles, feeling that their future was boundless and bright ahead.
This is how youth should be full of expectations.
It's quite nice.
Chen Xia nodded slightly, not saying much more, just sitting quietly at the bow of the boat.
After a while, the young Bai Lu took the initiative to strike up a conversation with him.
"Hey, I still don't know your name."
"Chen Xia."
Chen Xia wrote out his name on the chessboard.
Bai Lu also wrote out his own name, then asked with a smile, "Do you really like playing chess?"
"I quite enjoy it. I've been playing for a long time. It's one of my few hobbies," Chen Xia replied, then asked curiously,
"What do you think of my chess skills?"
"Uh..." Bai Lu hesitated for a moment, then forced a smile and said, "You play quite well, it's just..."
"You have a discerning eye," Chen Xia interrupted, giving a thumbs up in praise, then added with a sigh,
"Everyone who's played chess with me says my technique is superb and my skills are exquisite!"
"Pfft." Yu Jun finally couldn't hold back her laughter and said, "The people who've played chess with you must all be terrible players, right?"
"I don't know if they're terrible, but they're all old fogies," Chen Xia shook his head in response, not minding the girl's blunt honesty.
Hao Lin, standing to the side, wore a look of disdain, thinking Chen Xia was just another incompetent person not worth talking to.
Young Bai Lu, on the other hand, showed an apologetic smile and said to Chen Xia,
"Yu Jun likes to speak carelessly. Don't be angry. Actually, your chess skills are quite good. You just need a bit more polishing."
Chen Xia nodded, thinking Bai Lu was quite polite, much like himself when he was young.
When he was young, he would apologize after hitting someone and pay compensation after killing someone.
In any case, he was quite polite back then.
But now he wasn't as polite as in his youth. Now, if he killed someone, he might not necessarily pay compensation. He might even have to eliminate those seeking compensation.
Perhaps this is what growing up means.
Young people always have a lot to talk about, and the atmosphere was lively.
Chen Xia quite enjoyed this atmosphere now, feeling a sense of vibrant energy that made him feel he was still trendy.
Although he wasn't really old now, just a young man of thirty thousand years or so.
The ferry continued on its journey.
Chen Xia also became familiar with them, often playing chess with Bai Lu.
After playing for a long time and many games, Bai Lu realized that Chen Xia wasn't actually a terrible chess player. He was deliberately playing this way.
This man seemed to have an obsession, always attacking the horses in the opening, determined to take both of them.
When Bai Lu asked Chen Xia why he was so adamant about this, Chen Xia calmly replied,
"Just to make a pair for your horses."
Bai Lu was left speechless, feeling that Chen Xia was no longer a proper person in his mind. After all, no proper person would do such a low-quality thing.
Fortunately, Bai Lu always won the chess games, so he could maintain his composure. Otherwise, having his horses taken and losing the game would be enough to shake most people's Dao Heart.
During this time, Bai Lu curiously asked Chen Xia who exactly he was going to find on the Ancestral Star.
Chen Xia smiled lightly and replied, "An old friend."
"How old are you to have an old friend?" Bai Lu asked curiously.
"Indeed, not very old. But the one I'm looking for is an old friend from even younger days," Chen Xia nodded in response.
Bai Lu understood, his expression hesitant. He felt it wasn't right to ask, but emotionally, he couldn't help but inquire,
"Have you contacted him in advance? Does he still remember you?"
"Good question," Chen Xia chuckled and nodded, pausing for a moment before saying,
"He should remember."
"Mm, I'm sure he remembers," Bai Lu encouraged and comforted, then asked, "Is this old friend of yours doing well now?"
"I suppose so," Chen Xia answered.
Bai Lu's expression became worried again. Though young, he understood the principle that wealth and status are not easily shared.
Let alone just an old friend.
The unique melancholy of youth appeared on his face again. After hesitating for a while, he softly said,
"If you can't find your old friend, you can come find me. I might be able to help you enter a sect."
"Can you enter a sect yourself?" Chen Xia leaned back in his chair and asked in return.
"I should be able to. I've investigated all those tests, and there shouldn't be any problems," Bai Lu nodded confidently.
"Then I wish you a bright future," Chen Xia turned his head, gazing out at the vast starry universe.
"I wish you success in finding your old friend too," Bai Lu returned with a smile.
"It's alright, I'm not in a hurry. Since it's an old friend, we should take it slow," Chen Xia said with a slight smile, sitting under the dim starry sky, then muttered,
"Besides, I haven't thought of an opening line yet."
The starlight was dim.
Everything was not yet ready.
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
ng to die together with you." Lin Xuan is dead, his body thrown into the river by his scumbag lover and her accomplice. She, the president of the Su Group, is decisive, ruthless, and ice-cold. For three days and three nights, she had his body fished out of the river, and without hesitation, she kissed the bloated corpse of Lin Xuan. She laid down beside him in a cold coffin, their fingers intertwined, a smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes. The noble and cold-hearted woman, only bending for one man—Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan, with his golden finger, is reborn and returns to the day of his wedding to the treacherous woman. Su Qiang comes to steal the bride. Lin Xuan's eyes light up, eager to pledge his loyalty on the spot, but instead, her kiss transfers a glass of drugged wine into his mouth, causing him to pass out... 【Male Protagonist with Single Female Lead】【Yandere Tycoon】【Action-Packed】【True vs. Fake Heir】
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
