The childish game was over.
For Qiu Siruo, that was the reality of the situation.
She had finally returned to the mortal world once more, in the form of an Immortal Ascension Realm cultivator.
Qiu Siruo had undergone reincarnation a total of seventeen times. From her own perspective, these seventeen reincarnations were akin to having seventeen dreams.
This was true for both Qin Yue and Si Youyou.
However, these seventeen dreams themselves were also a part of her.
Whether it was Qin Yue or Si Youyou, they were all insignificant fragments of her past that she had experienced.
Xiao Bo'an, who had been maintaining a bowing posture, slowly straightened his body upon hearing her words. He smiled as he looked in Qiu Siruo's direction and bowed once more.
"I beseech Pure Dust True Person to grant me death!"
Then, Xiao Bo'an watched as his hands, still held in the bowing gesture, began to display numerous fine cuts starting from his fingers.
Immediately after, every inch of skin on his entire body developed at least a thousand such cuts. From these cuts, blood began to slowly seep out.
He watched helplessly as his hands turned into minced meat, falling onto the bluestone bricks beneath his feet, which were stained a dark brownish-red by the blood.
Next were his forearms, upper arms, feet, legs...
In the end, only a puddle of meat paste remained on the ground.
Qiu Siruo's expression remained impassive. She slowly turned her head, her gaze shifting toward a North Pass Sect disciple standing to the side, whose eyes were vacant and who held a sword at his side.
Immediately after, that North Pass Sect disciple dropped the sword in his hand. The muscles and features of his face began to twist and convulse in a deeply unsettling manner.
When they finally smoothed out again, it was completely the face of another person.
Xiao Bo'an.
"Seventy thousand years ago, I already deeply despised cockroaches like you from the Mirage Palace. Impossible to drive away, impossible to exterminate completely."
Qiu Siruo said indifferently.
"If that is the case, True Person, why did you spare this junior's life?"
Xiao Bo'an asked.
"The one who wanted to kill you was Si Youyou."
Qiu Siruo's tone was cold, laced with sarcasm.
"What does that have to do with me?"
"This junior will definitely prove his worth."
Xiao Bo'an said respectfully.
"With your level of insignificance, you are not qualified to speak such words."
Qiu Siruo stated.
Xiao Bo'an fell silent. He bowed once more. Then, the face of the North Pass Sect disciple began to twist again, the bones of his face emitting faint, grating sounds.
Soon, it reverted to the original appearance of that North Pass Sect disciple.
His originally vacant, lifeless eyes gradually began to regain their spark.
"Huh? What am I..."
The North Pass Sect disciple mumbled in confusion, his gaze somewhat dazed as he looked at the mountain of corpses before him and the blood at his feet, some congealed, some still fresh.
"HELP!!!"
His legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground, screaming with a heart-rending intensity. The other disciples in the courtyard also gradually came back to their senses. Soon, the North Pass Sect descended into chaos.
As for Qiu Siruo, she had long since disappeared, no one knew when.
...
"Fellow Daoist, this way please."
Kongshan Sect, Qingchan Peak.
Leading the way for Chen Yan was a Qi Sea Realm cultivator from Qingchan Peak.
He had once been a Protector in the Administration Hall of Qingchan Peak. Due to his relatively close relationship with Fu Qian, after Fu Qian stepped down from the position of Martial Elder of Qingchan Peak, he was transferred to serve as an administrator in the General Affairs Office of Qingchan Peak.
This was not merely an ordinary demotion. One must understand that the Administration Hall dealt with the crucial affairs of Qingchan Peak, while the General Affairs Office only handled routine miscellaneous tasks. Their status within the sect could be described as worlds apart.
After all, the head of the Administration Hall was the Administration Hall Elder, whose authority on the peak was arguably second only to the four Peak Elders.
Soon, under the guidance of this administrator from the General Affairs Office, Chen Yan arrived before a familiar courtyard.
Cangwu Residence.
Truth be told, even if no one had guided him, he could have found this place with his eyes closed.
"Fellow Daoist, please proceed. I shall take my leave here."
The Qingchan Peak administrator from the General Affairs Office said this, then turned and departed.
Chen Yan looked up at the inscription carved with sword energy above the gate of Cangwu Residence: "Enlighten Oneself, Also Enlighten All Living Beings." He smiled slightly and stepped into the courtyard of Cangwu Residence.
In the center of the cold pond within the courtyard was a circular platform.
An old man with completely white hair sat upon that platform, a Go board placed before him.
"It's been a long time, Elder Fu. You look much more aged."
Chen Yan raised his hand and removed the mask from his face, revealing his original features.
"Long time no see, Chief Disciple Chen."
Fu Qian, sitting in the center of the cold pond, spoke in a calm tone.
"I ceased to be a chief disciple long ago."
Chen Yan said with a laugh.
"Indeed. What chief disciple would be at the Myriad Transformations Realm?"
Fu Qian said this while raising his hand to gesture toward the seat opposite the Go board.
"Please."
Chen Yan remained silent. He took a few steps, his feet lightly touching the surface of the cold pond's water, then arrived opposite Fu Qian and slowly took his seat.
He did not use the Hidden Immortal Art to conceal his true cultivation level before Fu Qian.
"Before today, I never once imagined that you, Chief Disciple Chen, were still alive."
Fu Qian held a black stone and placed it on the board before him.
"Compared to the living, the dead are much lighter burdens."
Chen Yan said indifferently, placing the white stone in his hand onto the board.
"But if one can live, who would choose death?"
Fu Qian smiled and placed another black stone.
After several exchanges, Fu Qian's expression grew slightly more solemn. He rotated a stone between his fingertips, then suddenly pinched it.
"Observing Chief Disciple Chen's playing style... it seems Chief Disciple Chen is not very proficient at Go."
"That's correct."
Chen Yan said.
"Then, how does Chief Disciple Chen intend to set up the game board?"
Fu Qian asked.
"Whether being a player or setting up the board, neither interests me."
Chen Yan dropped the white stone in his hand and said to Fu Qian:
"Elder Fu, you spent several hundred years laying out your game on Qingchan Peak, only to have True Person Kong kick over the board with one foot, didn't you?"
"Patriarch Kong has his own plans."
Fu Qian said indifferently.
"That is for the best."
Chen Yan said:
"It's just that if I didn't speak of 'players' to Elder Fu, you probably wouldn't have been willing to see me."
"Even though your time as chief disciple on Kongyuan Mountain was over a decade ago, there are still many within the sect who recognize you."
Fu Qian said this.
"I did not wish to make a big scene and alert too many people. Currently, within Kongshan Sect, the only one who knows of my return is you, Elder Fu."
Chen Yan replied.
"So, Chief Disciple Chen, what is the true purpose of your visit to my Cangwu Residence to seek out this old man who is nearly in the grave?"
Fu Qian asked.
"I merely wish to inquire about something from Elder Fu."
"What matter?"
"I wish to inquire about some matters concerning my Great Master."
Chen Yan said.
Chen Yan's Great Master, meaning the master of the current Kongshan Sect Leader Yun Yichen, that elder of the Supreme Pivot Court who perished several decades ago—
At the same time, he was also the reincarnated body of True Person Kongmiao, Yan Yunhe.