Given the Fifth Mainland’s strength, as long as they did not have to contend with a Progenitor, they should have no trouble dealing with Semi-Progenitors.
Lu Yin let out a sigh. He could not afford to think about the Perennial World at this moment.
However…
He quickly checked his cosmic ring to see how much star essence his Possession had burned through. He had spent a lot of time in that mountain valley, and he had even forced Long Quan’s body to kill itself.
20 billion.
Lu Yin’s face started twitching, and a terrible expression covered his face. There were not 20 billion star essence remaining in his cosmic ring; rather, he had used up 20 billion in his Possession.
20 billion! All gone in an instant! Lu Yin closed his eyes from the agony of being broke once again.
The only comfort that he could feel was that the money had been well spent. In fact, he had absolutely gained more than the value of those funds.
He lowered his cosmic ring again as he did not feel like he had lost out at all this time. He then lifted his hand and brought his die back out to roll it again. It was very important that he continue training.
This roll was perfect, as the die landed on four pips: Timestop.
After entering the Timestop Space, Lu Yin immediately extended his time there to almost a year before he sat down cross-legged. He then began to recite the Origin Progenitor’s Sutra as he tried to remember what he had felt when he saw Ce Wangtian performing Board Manipulation during his game of chess, and Lu Yin tried to resume understanding what he had felt.
One month. Two months. Three months. Eventually, half a year passed, and Lu Yin suddenly opened his eyes. There was a nagging feeling that he was falling just a bit short from succeeding even though the Origin Sutra had given him a bit more context. It was clear that if he wanted to fully comprehend what he had sensed, then it would take a good deal more time, but he did not have that luxury at this moment.
Realizing his situation, Lu Yin painfully pulled out the Root of Intelligence. In the end, this was his only option.
He simulated some boiling water with his stellular energy, and the Root of Intelligence was used to make a cup of tea. Even a full-sized true Root of Intelligence could only produce three sips of tea.
After taking the first sip, Lu Yin returned to the sensation that had surrounded him in the vision, and everything felt much clearer than before. It was as though he had returned to the moment of the vision itself and was reexperiencing it. The Ce Secret Art’s Board Manipulation was indeed connected to time, but it was not a direct connection. Instead, it was related to space.
After drinking the tea made from the Root of Intelligence, Lu Yin felt as though he had truly entered a moment of enlightenment. Even as he experienced this sensation, he continued to recite the Origin Sutra, which caused the sound of ancient chants to be heard in the area.
Finally, Lu Yin had grabbed hold of a glimpse of the path forward, but it was still not enough. He took another sip of tea, rose to his feet, and then stretched out a hand. Space warped, and an astral chessboard appeared beneath his feet. “Ce Secret Art: Astral Chessboard—Board Manipulation.”
He stared at the twisting space above the astral chessboard, and a thread of space returned to its previous state. The regression occurred in an instant.
Lu Yin had been the one to warp that portion of space, but then he had used the Ce Secret Art to perfectly restore it to its original state. This was the Ce Secret Art’s Board Manipulation.
Board Manipulation allowed space to perfectly revert to a previous state by influencing space itself.
Any move made by anyone at all would impact space, and even the weakest of ordinary humans would affect space around them with their movements. Board Manipulation could undo these changes, and this was the “taking back a move” that Ce Wangtian had referred to.
Lu Yin had to admit that Ce Wangtian had been a true genius. He had managed to create a terribly powerful secret technique, but he had only used it to take back a move in a game…
Lu Yin suddenly became very interested in Ce Wangtian.
Lu Yin had succeeded in comprehending the Ce Secret Art’s Board Manipulation, but he still had one last sip of the tea from the Root of Intelligence. After downing the last bit, resumed reciting the Origin Sutra, and then began training with the Cosmic Art.
The Cosmic Art was an inherited cultivation art that had been left behind by Progenitor Chen, and Lu Yin wanted to fully master the technique as soon as possible so that he could unlock the secret of the pattern that was on the sole of his foot.
Before Lu Yin became an Envoy, the Origin Sutra had allowed him to simulate 10,000 stars with the Cosmic Art. With the assistance of the tea brewed from the Root of Intelligence, Lu Yin had no idea just how many stars he would be able to simulate.
…
As the scenery reverted in front of Lu Yin’s eyes, he returned to Ce family’s ancestral home. Excitement was clear on his face.
With the assistance of the Root of Intelligence, he had managed to simulate 35,000 stars with the Cosmic Art. This was an increase of more than 20,000 stars! The combination of the Root of Intelligence and the Origin Sutra had qualitatively transformed his comprehending speed in the cultivation art.
With two more true Roots of Intelligence, Lu Yin was confident that he could almost immediately completely comprehend the fifth level of the Cosmic Art and even possibly move onto the sixth level.
He had spent just a bit more than twenty years cultivating. Progenitor Chen had been the one to create the Cosmic Art, but it was a mystery as to how long the man had taken to simulate more than 30,000 stars. Just how long had the man taken?
While the predecessors planted trees, their descendants were able to take advantage of the resulting shade. It could be seen that Lu Yin was taking advantage of Progenitor Chen’s efforts.
He opened the door and left the small hut.
Ce Yue and Ce Laoyan had stayed just outside the ancestral home this entire time, and they stared at Lu Yin when they saw him emerge.
“You’re both here? Is something wrong?” Lu Yin wondered.
Ce Laoyan nervously nervously asked, “Alliance Leader Lu, did you just manage to comprehend something?”
Lu Yin did not hide anything. “It seems like it.”
“What did you achieve?” Ce Laoyan quickly asked. He felt both nervous and excited.
Lu Yin raised a hand, and a stone appeared above his palm. He threw it away as an astral chessboard appeared beneath his feet. He then simply said, “Ce Secret Art: Board Manipulation,” causing the stone to return to his hand by passing through the space that it had already traveled through.
While it did not look too special, both Ce Yue and Ce Laoyan were completely shocked. This was because the stone had not returned, but rather been restored. This was just like the words that Lu Yin had spoken: Board Manipulation.
Being able to take back a move that had already been made and restoring something to a previous state: this was the essence of Board Manipulation.
Ce Yue was shocked. “I never expected to see someone reach the Board Manipulation level in my entire lifetime.”
Lu Yin had to ask, “You haven’t comprehended Board Manipulation?”
He had assumed that at least some of the people from the Ce family had mastered Board Manipulation. After all, they had possessed the Immovable Chessboard for eons, and people like Ce Yue were able to study the chessboard every day, so why would they not be able to comprehend this level of the secret technique?
Ce Yue shook his head. “My talent cannot compare to yours, Alliance Leader Lu. I have not comprehended Board Manipulation, and I am unaware of how to even go about reaching that level.”
“Alliance Leader Lu, how did you comprehend Board Manipulation?” Ce Laoyan asked eagerly.
These two hadn’t mastered Board Manipulation? The Ce family did not even know how to attempt it? Lu Yin blinked, as this was an interesting development. “Ce Wangtian taught me.”
Ce Yue and Ce Laoyan were momentarily stunned to the point where they had to take a moment to process Lu Yin’s words.
“Alliance Leader Lu, what did you just say?” Ce Laoyan asked.
Lu Yin shrugged. “When I was looking at the chessboard, I heard a man named Ce Wangtian say that he regretted making a move in a game of chess. He was playing against someone named Yu De.”