CHAPTER 472: CHAPTER 472: ENDGAME!_1

Jin Wuwen felt helpless and desperate.

If we fight, we definitely can’t defeat The Supreme Emperor. If we don’t, the Star Origin Sect truly won’t see tomorrow’s sun, and its name might not even be left behind in the long river of time.

While he was caught in this dilemma, Xu Lai said lazily, "Isn’t this supposed to be the greatest formation of all time? Let me see if it’s worthy of the title."

!!!

Jin Wuwen gritted his teeth. "Fine!"

To hell with tomorrow!

Even if the Star Origin Sect’s lineage were to be severed today, it wouldn’t be a loss. Throughout history, which sect’s Tao Lineage or Holy Land could boast of being annihilated by two Emperor Realm experts after nineteen eons? Only our Star Origin Sect!

Although this honor comes with a bitter taste...

Besides, dying at the hands of a Great Emperor was an honor in Jin Wuwen’s eyes. After all, he was merely a remnant soul who had died long ago. To be able to cross hands with an Emperor Realm expert meant he had not lived this life in vain.

Risking the collapse of the Formation and the destruction of his Tao Lineage, Jin Wuwen activated it. The terrifying killing machine whirred to life instantly.

In the next second, the Zhoutian Star Fighting Formation and the Starlight Array collided in their most perfect state. Starlight scattered and space itself collapsed. Xu Lai had even created a temporary Barrier to serve as a battlefield; otherwise, he feared Earth wouldn’t be able to withstand the fallout.

In a clash between two supreme formations, a single stray wisp of energy could annihilate an Immortal Venerable Realm expert beyond recovery, to say nothing of the fragile Earth.

Xu Lai watched the two Great Arrays, his expression shifting between a frown, deep thought, and quiet contemplation. At the same time, his right hand continuously traced different Array Patterns in the void, as if he were modifying and correcting the deficiencies of his Zhoutian Star Fighting Formation.

Jin Wuwen was shocked to the core. Although he knew The Supreme Emperor was using the Starlight Array to temper his own creation, he was still shaken beyond measure.

What kind of heaven-defying prodigy is this?

In such a short time, he not only found a way to enhance the strength of his Formation, but he also shored up its weaknesses, increasing its might by a further third! Jin Wuwen even saw a miniature model of a formation materialize before Xu Lai. The Supreme Emperor was actually multitasking, simulating the operation of the Starlight Array.

The more he simulated, the more solemn Xu Lai’s expression became.

He had indeed noticed many flaws in the Star Origin Sect’s guardian formation before. But in terms of "lethality," this array was by no means inferior to the Zhoutian Star Fighting Formation; it might even surpass it.

Xu Lai learned a great deal. There was a good reason the Starlight Array was so highly praised by the formation experts in ancient texts.

"The lack of Array Patterns is a weakness, but it’s also a strength. To destroy a typical formation, you must destroy its Array Patterns, but the Starlight Array doesn’t have this vulnerability," Xu Lai mused. "To break this array, one would have to instantly destroy that walking stick—the Quasi-Emperor Artifact. Otherwise, the array will remain active forever."

But how difficult is it to instantly destroy a Quasi-Emperor Artifact?

Aside from a true Great Emperor like Xu Lai, there was likely no one else in the entire Universe who could accomplish such a feat. That was the truly terrifying aspect of the Starlight Array!

The two formations had many similarities, and Xu Lai benefited immensely. The most surprising thing he discovered through his deductions was a single conclusion: the two formations were not in conflict. In fact, because they both used starlight, if they were superimposed, their terrifying power would multiply exponentially.

Xu Lai pinched his chin, his eyes growing brighter the more he thought about it.

An hour later, the collision between the two Great Arrays shattered the small, temporary Barrier Xu Lai had constructed. This was already the third time it had collapsed. Xu Lai did not reinforce it again, instead saying, "That’s about enough."

It was indeed enough. A look of despair crossed Jin Wuwen’s face. The Star Origin Sect’s Starlight Array... had been defeated.

Xu Lai sounded slightly regretful. "A pity. The core is only a Quasi-Emperor Artifact. If it were an Emperor Artifact..."

Jin Wuwen’s scalp tingled. An Emperor Artifact? That’s a lifebound weapon that only a Great Emperor can refine!

Across the one hundred eons of the Immortal Domain’s history, with its one hundred emperors, fewer than twenty true Emperor Artifacts had been passed down to the present day. There might not even be ten. Emperor Artifacts possess a spirit of their own. When a Great Emperor died, most Emperor Artifacts would choose to be buried alongside their master, slowly decaying through the ages.

The fact that the Star Origin Sect managed to refine a perfect Quasi-Emperor Artifact was a blessing from the heavens. Did he think Emperor Artifacts were as common as cabbages, available to everyone?

Jin Wuwen suddenly felt a pang of jealousy. No, wait... The Supreme Emperor actually has one.

The remnant soul was decisive. He dropped to one knee and said through gritted teeth, "The Supreme Emperor, I am willing to offer the Starlight Array to you! I only ask... that you leave behind a spark of hope for the Star Origin Sect’s lineage to continue!"

"Alright," Xu Lai nodded.

"Huh...? What?" Jin Wuwen was stunned. The Supreme Emperor agreed just like that?

He had assumed The Supreme Emperor would refuse. After all, the Star Origin Sect was once a supreme great sect, but now it was just a lost cause.

"I learned quite a bit today," Xu Lai said, explaining his reason for agreeing. The formation battle had been immensely beneficial to him.

If he could obtain the Starlight Array, he could increase its strength by more than threefold! After all, the Star Origin Sect used a Quasi-Emperor Artifact as its core, but he, Xu Lai... possessed a genuine Emperor Artifact!

With the two great formations superimposed, Xu Lai suspected it might actually be possible to slay an emperor.

...

With his final wish fulfilled, Jin Wuwen’s figure suddenly stooped. He handed a chessboard that radiated a flowing light, along with the walking stick in his hand, to Xu Lai.

"The Founding Ancestor of the Star Origin Sect loved to play Go, so he left the inheritance within this chessboard. Regrettably, generations of Sect Leaders have failed to decipher it."

Jin Wuwen said with a shared sense of sorrow, "Our ancestor’s mastery of the Game of Go Path had reached an otherworldly level. We... simply could not comprehend it."

In truth, the Star Origin Sect possessed another Defensive Array as renowned as the Starlight Array, but it was sealed within the chessboard, never having seen the light of day.

"Oh?" Xu Lai’s interest was piqued.

After all, his own skill at Go was on par with the Chess Saint Baize in the Immortal Domain.

"Thank you, The Supreme Emperor." Jin Wuwen bowed deeply once more.

Without the Quasi-Emperor Artifact in his hand, the remnant soul was no longer protected. The Heavenly Dao Laws caused him to rapidly disintegrate, dissipating into the night.

Xu Lai had witnessed countless cycles of life and death. At this moment, he felt no great emotional turmoil as he silently turned and left.

「Back at Haitang Court.」

Yiyi and Yun Jin were already asleep, and Ruan Tang was reading in her room. The only person in the living room was Ruan Lan, who was busy playing a game.

Xu Lai raised an eyebrow. "You didn’t go to the lantern festival? You’re just at home playing games?"

"Yup," his sister-in-law replied without turning her head. "I didn’t want to be a third wheel. I even told Yiyi and Yun Jin to give you and my sister some space. Were they good?"

Xu Lai patted Ruan Lan on the shoulder. "That’s you, alright."

Although his little sister-in-law was occasionally unreliable, her ’awareness’ in these matters was top-notch.

Ruan Lan didn’t reply, her focus still entirely on her game.

Meanwhile, Xu Lai tossed the Quasi-Emperor Artifact aside, placed the chessboard on the table, and prepared to crack its secrets.

Soon, however, Xu Lai frowned. He realized things were not that simple.

The endgame puzzle on the board didn’t seem difficult. In a mere instant, Xu Lai conceived of six hundred different ways to solve it. But the first method failed. The second method failed as well. The third, the tenth, the one-hundredth, the three-hundredth, the six-hundredth... all of them failed!

Xu Lai was plunged into deep self-doubt. Have my Go skills regressed? Or were the rules of Go nineteen eons ago different from today’s?

"The Star Origin Sect’s Founding Ancestor must have had extraordinary skill in Go," Xu Lai lamented internally. It was giving even him a headache, so it was no wonder that generations of Star Origin Sect Leaders had failed to solve this endgame.

After several more failed attempts, Xu Lai’s frown deepened.

Just then, a clear voice sounded by his ear. "Brother-in-law, you’re playing that wrong. You should move here."