Be Passive In The High Martial World

Chapter 15: Using the Sky as a Chessboard

The smell of gunpowder mixed with the damp earth reminded Chen Kuang of his childhood in the countryside during the Lunar New Year, when the scent of cheap firecrackers would seep out from half-melted snowdrifts and blend into the morning air.

His gaze became focused as he wiped the oil off his hands.

The oil mixed in this water must have been intentional. One can speculate that someone poured oil behind the wall, and due to the dampness, it seeped out through the large cracks in the wall.

And with the gunpowder...

It's not hard to imagine what arrangements Li Hongling has made—

There may be secret passages underground and within the walls of this dungeon, and she intends to destroy this place with a large amount of gunpowder.

The only question is how extensive the gunpowder is spread.

Chen Kuang's expression remained unchanged.

No wonder...

Even though Li Hongling knows he is a cultivator, she didn't seal his cultivation, only broke his legs, and the supervision of this dungeon is not strict.

It's not that she didn't anticipate the possibility of other means, nor that she despises his cultivation level, but rather, she is more ruthless than he imagined.

From the beginning, the information he heard from the jailer was fake.

Li Hongling never intended to spare the remaining ordinary palace residents. Never!

On the contrary, she wants to leave no one behind.

And it seems that she not only wants to kill people, but also destroy the palace.

However, whether this secret passage originally existed or was specifically dug out for this matter is crucial.

This question is very important.

Chen Kuang didn't hesitate to ask, looking at the dozing Huo Hengxuan and lowering his voice.

"General Huo, did this dungeon originally have a secret passage?"

This matter of the secret passage, even he was able to discover it, so it must be easy for Huo Hengxuan.

Huo Hengxuan opened his eyes, his expression calmly as expected.

"For 1,600 years since the founding of Great Liang, the layout of the imperial city has not changed in the slightest."

Oh, so it was originally there.

But why would there be a secret passage in the dungeon?

Thinking about it... it seems to be related to the Monster Suppressing Prison.

"Do you know the purpose of this secret passage? Where are the entrances and exits?"

"It serves no purpose. The secret passage is not deep, almost flush with the wall, and the entrance and exit are right at the entrance of the dungeon, not difficult to find."

"Having this secret passage here poses many risks, and some officials from the Ministry of Justice have proposed repairing it."

"And then?"

"And then it was rejected."

Huo Hengxuan shook his head. "It is said that the Su family has ancestral instructions that the layout of the imperial city must not be changed in any way."

The Su family naturally refers to the royal family.

This is getting interesting...

Chen Kuang dug deeper:

"Why?"

Huo Hengxuan glanced at him, becoming impatient.

"Why so many questions?"

But Chen Kuang's expression was serious. "It concerns life and death."

Huo Hengxuan fell silent for a moment and said, "There was once an emperor who planned to make changes, but a Daoist descended from the heavens and told him that the layout of the imperial city suppresses the fate of the nation. If it is changed, it would be tampering with the foundation of the country."

He sneered. "It's really superstitious."

The fate of the nation...

Chen Kuang pondered over these words.

If he hadn't heard the story told by Liang Kingdom Queen, these two words would be ethereal and elusive.

But now, he already knows that the foundation of Great Liang's establishment is none other than the two great powers that suppress the Great Monsters and benefit all beings!

This secret passage is indeed related to the Monster Suppressing Prison!

So, could this strange and seemingly useless secret passage be the key to suppressing the Great Monsters?

He must find a way to gather more clues.

If his plan is useless, this point may become crucial.

By cultivating "Descension from Tushita Heaven" further, he can cultivate his divine consciousness. Although it is not as powerful as Primordial Spirit Astral Projection, it can perceive all obstacles as if they were nothing.

Chen Kuang made up his mind and prepared to meditate again.

"Boom..."

The ground began to tremble again, and the starlight outside the window seemed to go out for a moment, plunging the world into darkness.

Chen Kuang stabilized himself and looked out the window, squinting his eyes.

Is the battle between the Liang Kingdom's old ancestor and the "Eastern Emperor" of the Great Zhou about to end?

"Defeated."

Huo Hengxuan sighed.

Chen Kuang was puzzled. "How did General Huo know?"

From the hesitation at the beginning, it seemed that Huo Hengxuan knew from the start that the Liang Kingdom's old ancestor was destined to lose, but with his realm, he seemed unable to reach the so-called Saint Realm.

Among Huo Hengxuan's experiences, it also included the realms of cultivators today.

Ninth Grade Aperture Opening Realm, Eighth Grade Innate Realm, Seventh Grade Ascending Tower Realm—these are the lower three grades.

Even the most outstanding martial artists in the world can only reach the peak of the Ascending Tower Realm.

Climbing the tower, climbing to the top of the twelve-story tower, is the threshold between mortals and immortals.

Sixth Grade Sea Opening Realm, Fifth Grade Embracing Moon Realm, Fourth Grade Grandmaster Realm, these are the middle three grades, with various methods of Soul Formation, immortal techniques.

Third Grade Profound Realm, Second Grade Dao Shore Realm, First Grade Irregular Silence Realm, these are the upper three grades, beyond ordinary comprehension, capable of anything, immortal and indestructible, not bound by the Five Elements.

Only by stepping into the Second Grade Dao Shore Realm, crossing the Sea of Bitterness, and reaching the other shore, can one be called a "Saint".

Huo Hengxuan was in the Grandmaster Realm before being disabled.

He was powerful enough to protect Great Liang for decades without falling, but with this level of strength, he was like an ant to the upper three grades.

According to reason, it should be impossible to reach this realm.

Just like Chen Kuang at this moment, he couldn't even imagine how those two Saints were fighting, causing such earth-shattering battles.

But Huo Hengxuan was ultimately a half-step into the upper three grades of the Grandmaster.

He pursed his lips and gestured to the sky.

"The two Saints are using the starry sky as a chessboard, and they have now reached the middle game, with the outcome gradually becoming clear."

Chen Kuang was stunned and felt a shiver run through his body.

He looked up at the dim starry sky, squinting his eyes, observing carefully.

The strange and dazzling starry sky was not as motionless as he had seen before, in just an instant, a star went out.

No... not just one, but countless!

Those were not stars, but... complete nebulae!

What a terrifying sight.

Chen Kuang focused his mind like he was possessed, instinctively assuming the first posture, wanting to observe more carefully.

The originally chaotic galaxy turned into a massive chessboard in his eyes.

A giant hand that covered the sky suddenly fell, picking up a cluster of nebulae and moving it to a different place, merging it with several star clusters.

The brilliant nebulae surrounded within it instantly exploded, collapsing rapidly and turning into a pitch-black abyss.

And his mind was irresistibly drawn to it, wanting to fly into it.

"Hold on!"

Huo Hengxuan suddenly shouted loudly, like a resounding bell, striking Chen Kuang's mind.

He snapped back to his senses, already sweating profusely.

When he looked up again, the situation on the chessboard was narrow and perilous, with life and death hanging in the balance, already clear at a glance.

Chen Kuang muttered absentmindedly, "This is fucking outrageous..."

Is this how you play chess in your martial world?

No wonder he always felt like he couldn't sense where the battlefield was, because the battlefield wasn't on land at all!

And the reason for the earthquakes might not be because the Saints were fighting, but because as they fought, they accidentally affected the surrounding asteroids, causing a few meteorites to crash down...

Truly outrageous, truly terrifying!

Chen Kuang suddenly felt that his chances of escaping were becoming faint and pessimistic.

The Old Ancestor of the Liang Kingdom was indeed going to lose...

If there was no one to restrain the other Saint, when he came down from the sky, it would truly be a dead end!

...

"The victory of the Eastern Emperor Saint is certain, it seems that this time he will return triumphantly."

Li Hongling ascended the Eastern Corner Tower, standing with hands behind her back, gazing at the starry sky from afar.

Behind her was the black-armored guard named Qingcuo.

Outside the imperial city, the battle was still intense, but Li Hongling already knew the outcome of these remnants of the Liang Kingdom.

Wei Su shook his fan and frowned.

"General, have you forgotten that there is still one important thing that has not been found? How can we call it a triumph?"

Li Hongling narrowed her eyes.

"Important? How come I remember that person's goal was not this thing, even if it can't be found, everything is already arranged, what does it matter?"

Wei Su paused in his actions and said, "Then when does the General plan to make a move?"

Li Hongling remained unchanged in expression. "Wait another seven days, the war is not over, the Saint has not returned, there is no need for the Immortal Master to be so anxious."

Wei Su fell silent for a moment and asked, "I heard that the General personally interrogated that musician during the day? He is just an ordinary person, why is the General interested in him?"

"Life in the military is boring, just wanted to vent some anger, how about it, is the Immortal Master also interested?"

"...No, I have some other matters to attend to."

...

Wei Su left the Eastern Corner Tower, pondered for a moment, and then went to find Shen Xingzhu.

"Fellow Daoist, what's the matter?"

The woman sat alone, cross-legged on the edge of the roof, with the starry sky as her backdrop. Her eyes behind the green veil looked down from above.

As calm as an ancient well, colder than the moon.

Wei Su bowed with clasped fists, his gaze flickering, and whispered, "Did Fellow Daoist Shen show interest in that mortal musician before?"

"Yes, but I didn't see him at the Secret Punishment Division."

Shen Xingzhu had spent the whole day observing the interrogation at the Secret Punishment Division, making the interrogators feel helpless, afraid of displeasing this compassionate Immortal Master, and it was unbearable.

Wei Su's face turned serious.

"That's because Li Hongling didn't send him to the Secret Punishment Division... I heard that Li Hongling used torture on him."

Shen Xingzhu's calm and beautiful eyes suddenly rippled, like a colorful carp leaping up from the depths of a gloomy lake, suddenly lively.

She blinked, "Torture? Is he still alive?"

(End of this chapter)