As Ao Wushuang finished speaking, she maneuvered a passed pawn, advancing it relentlessly and with great menace towards Liu Ye's stronghold, step by determined step.

Liu Ye spared the advancing pawn only a fleeting glance. He offered a slight smile and remarked, "The double chariot maneuver to seize the general isn't enough? Very well, then what about that concealed Knight jump?" With that, he sharply placed a Knight that had been lying in wait, suddenly springing it forth to create a perilous situation of chained checks.

Ao Wushuang's face was like frost. While calmly responding to his move, she continued to push her passed pawn forward intermittently.

From the side, Mei Niang watched the two play, their pieces falling with sharp pats. Although they were old acquaintances, their words were laced with veiled challenges, and the chessboard itself was thrumming with murderous intent, a clash of blades and swords.

Mei Niang’s gaze swept over them both. When her eyes settled on the board, she suddenly exclaimed, "Oh my goodness, this passed pawn is about to check the general!"

Ao Wushuang lifted her eyes, gave a cold smile, and said, "A true gentleman observes the game without speaking, don't you know that?" With that, she raised her hand and pushed the pawn forward with a crisp pat, bringing it within a single square of Liu Ye's King.

Ao Wushuang stated coldly, "You were so focused on your own board that you failed to notice this pawn has already pierced your vital defenses, heading straight for the Dragon's lair! How do you know that Li Yundong won't be forced into the position of this pawn by your machinations in the end?"

Liu Ye burst into laughter. He picked up his hidden Knight and slammed it down with a snap, declaring, "What if I checkmate you first! Check!!"

Ao Wushuang looked and saw that the board had reached a dead-end scenario. Her own King had no escape, whereas her passed pawn still needed one more move to reach Liu Ye's King.

Ignoring her own precarious situation, she stubbornly pushed the pawn forward one last time, closing in on Liu Ye's King.

Liu Ye chuckled and shook his head with a smile, "You are still the same as you always were, stubborn and obstinate, choosing this path even when you know there is no favorable outcome!"

Saying this, he moved his Knight, capturing Ao Wushuang's King with a snap, and announced, "You lose."

Ao Wushuang remained silent for a long time. She rose to her feet and walked towards the door without a word. When she reached the threshold, she suddenly turned back and said, "The only reason you won is that the rules of Chinese Chess restrict the passed pawn to moving only one step forward! While in your eyes all living beings are mere chess pieces, and you can use your calculations to force others into the moves you've plotted for them, however..."

Ao Wushuang sneered, "Don't forget, the pieces are dead, but people are alive! Even if Li Yundong is this passed pawn, he is one of those strong individuals capable of changing the rules and shifting the situation. He is no longer the timid novice we once knew! When you think he can only move one step, he very well might take two and checkmate you instantly! Furthermore... Li Yundong possesses Wang Yuanshan's talent and aptitude, but lacks his pedantry and stubbornness. If you intend to use him, be careful that he doesn't turn the tables on you!"

As she spoke, Ao Wushuang seemed overwhelmingly reflective. She looked up at the vast, boundless starry sky and sighed deeply, "People like this usually remain unknown, but give them a single opportunity, and they immediately transform into dragons soaring on the wind and clouds! Though he may be lying low in this world for now, occupied with mundane chores and transient pleasures, one day when he suddenly rises to the heavens, be wary—he might shake the entire sky, and all your so-called calculated situations will be overturned!"

Ao Wushuang lowered her head and said with a look of utter scorn, "By that day... you will realize that the situation was never truly in your hands! Moreover, think carefully—has he ever truly moved or acted exactly as you predetermined?"

Liu Ye smiled faintly and replied, "We'll wait and see, like watching a play while riding a donkey!"

Ao Wushuang snorted, and a sharp, piercing light suddenly shot from her eyes: "I don't care what you are planning, nor whether you intend to resurrect the Celestial Fox of Profound Mystery, but if you dare drag my disciple into this, I will kill you!"

Liu Ye remained impassive. After watching Ao Wushuang's figure vanish into the night, his brow began to furrow slowly. Her words echoed incessantly in his ears like the tolling of a great bell.

Liu Ye muttered softly to himself, "Will the situation... truly evolve exactly as I intend?"

Liu Ye recalled the terrifying potential and unbelievable fighting talent Li Yundong had displayed since he began his cultivation. In that instant, even his heart, usually as still as calm water, felt a tremor of doubt. But just then, a middle-aged man with a goatee emerged from the inner room. This man was Wan Zhenyuan. He looked in the direction Ao Wushuang had left and said gravely, "What, are you still pressing on? Even your own disciple is opposing you now!"

Liu Ye's wavering lasted only a moment. His gaze quickly refocused. He said quietly, "I have labored painstakingly for fifteen years, and success is almost within reach. I absolutely cannot stop halfway! Having initiated such a momentous event at Qingcheng Mountain, how could I cease now? An arrow shot from a drawn bow has no turning back!!"

Saying this, Liu Ye turned his head, fixing a chilling gaze on Wan Zhenyuan, and instructed, "Contact the Six Great Sects and the Zhengyi Sect. Additionally, release the news to Qingcheng Mountain! Next month is the succession ceremony for the Linggong Sect. Ziyuan will assume the position of Sect Master, and Zhengyi Sect certainly won't let her take over easily. Given Li Yundong's close relationship with Ziyuan, he definitely won't stand idly by. Ha! Zhengyi Sect views this ceremony as a trial run for their long-planned unification of the cultivation world. The Ten Golden Bodies will surely gather there—this will be our best opportunity!"

Wan Zhenyuan let out a cold, dismissive laugh: "Unifying the cultivation world... they dream!" With that, he turned and retreated back into the shadows.

Meanwhile, at the Linggong Sect's dojo on a lesser peak of Longhu Mountain in Jiangxi, Ziyuan stood quietly beside an ancient, gnarled pine tree. This pine strained its crooked trunk outward towards the cliff edge. Beneath the lush canopy of the pine lay a piece of raw stone, smooth as a polished mirror, upon which several large characters were carved: Wind Dust Stone.

Ziyuan stood silently under the moonlight, leaning against the stone beside the pine, her figure ethereal and graceful, her robes fluttering—like a celestial being.

As she quietly gazed at the sea of clouds outside the cliff, she suddenly heard footsteps approaching from behind. Ziyuan did not turn her head and asked faintly, "Did you find it?"

Ruan Hongling shook her head with evident disappointment, "No, Senior Sister Ziyuan, are you sure you remembered correctly?"

Ziyuan abruptly spun around, her expression tinged with surprise. "Nothing? That’s impossible. Master told me this magic treasure was hidden behind the Wind Dust Stone, beneath the spring in the Linggong Temple's rear courtyard!"

Ruan Hongling frowned, "I searched everywhere, even transforming into an Yin spirit to tunnel through the earth once. If I search again, the local Earth God will probably come looking for trouble with me. Senior Sister Ziyuan, why did you drag me out here in the middle of the night, what exactly are you looking for?"

Ziyuan's delicate eyebrows knitted slightly, and she pondered, her features etched with worry.

Ruan Hongling stepped forward, grasping her arm, and pleaded, "Senior Sister, you must tell me! I am your sworn junior sister, after all!"

Ziyuan's brow relaxed, and she gave a gentle smile. "Is there such a thing as sworn sisterhood when it comes to this? Silly girl! I need you to find a magic treasure that Master secretly left behind."

Ruan Hongling immediately brightened with joy and laughed, "Really? Master left something up his sleeve before ascending? Wonderful, wonderful! Two of our Linggong Sect's three great guardian treasures are destroyed—the Sky-Piercing Glazed Mirror and the Purple Gold Luo Jade Plate. Only the Eight Desolations and Six Harmonies Sword remains, but even that is currently in the hands of Li Yundong and Ao Wushuang. Our sect’s three great treasures exist in name only; it's utterly shameful! If the Zhengyi Sect demands we present these three ancestral artifacts during the succession ceremony, and we can't produce them, we’ll be in serious trouble!"

Ziyuan nodded slightly, saying, "It’s not 'if'; the Zhengyi Sect will certainly demand those three artifacts. If we cannot produce them, they will use it as an excuse to interfere in our sect’s internal affairs, thereby revoking my qualification to inherit the position of Sect Master and subsequently annexing the Linggong Sect."

Ruan Hongling's face changed drastically: "Ah? Then what should we do?"

Ziyuan explained, "That is why I must find this magic treasure left by Master. He instructed me that if I ever encountered terrifying danger or insurmountable difficulty, I should bring out this artifact. But he explicitly warned me never to let others know of its existence, or it would invite catastrophic disaster."

Ruan Hongling grew increasingly curious, "What kind of magic treasure is it?"

Ziyuan spoke each word deliberately, with immense solemnity: "The Mirror of Heaven and Earth!"

Ruan Hongling instantly turned pale, drawing a sharp intake of breath, and stammered in horror, "What? Does such a treasure truly exist? Isn't... isn't this said to be the artifact used by the Primordial Heavenly Venerable?"

Ziyuan sighed softly, "I once thought the Immortal's Brush was just a legendary item that didn't exist, but what about now? Hasn't it appeared?"

Ruan Hongling couldn't help but ask, "Then why isn't this treasure here now? Is it because I couldn't find it? I’ll search again!"

Ruan Hongling was impatient by nature and immediately turned to run as soon as she finished speaking.

However, after quite some time, she returned, her head drooping dejectedly. Seeing her demeanor, Ziyuan knew she hadn't found it. She sighed faintly, "Forget it, if we can't find it, then we can't. More than nine years have passed; perhaps some destined person has already claimed it. I can only hope... alas!"

Ruan Hongling asked listlessly, "Hope for what?"

Ziyuan sighed softly, "I only hope that whoever obtained the Mirror of Heaven and Earth maintains an extremely low profile, otherwise... it is bound to attract immense disaster!"

Ruan Hongling casually asked, "Why? Isn't such a powerful artifact a good thing?"

Ziyuan shook her head, "The Mirror of Heaven and Earth is heralded as the Supreme Daoist Artifact, the foremost spiritual tool in cultivation. Although no one has ever used it, the mere reputation of its name is enough to attract countless cultivators eager to seize it. A common man is innocent, yet possessing great treasure is a crime!"

Ruan Hongling began to understand, but she quickly asked with renewed curiosity, "But, Senior Sister Ziyuan, why are you trying to find this artifact now?"

Ziyuan sighed quietly, worry clouding her features, "In a month, the Sect Master succession ceremony will take place. It will undoubtedly trigger a new wave of hidden struggles and open conflict; sparring and contests of power are inevitable. After suffering such a heavy loss, how can the Zhengyi Sect, the Qingcheng Sect, and the other factions simply accept it? Next time, they will certainly dispatch Golden Body masters from within their ranks; even the world-famous Ten Golden Bodies might appear! Furthermore, the world is vast, full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers—besides the Ten Golden Bodies, how many other Golden Bodies are concealed among the common people? Golden Body is only the peak of the Seventh Heaven. What about the experts of the Eighth Heaven who face the Thunder Tribulation? And the Ninth Heaven experts, the Golden Immortals, who transcend the Tribulation?"

"At that time, with our Linggong Sect facing internal erosion and lacking strong external allies, how can the two of us possibly cope?"

Ruan Hongling couldn't help but interject, "But won't Li Yundong help us?"

Ziyuan shook her head slightly, "That is precisely what worries me! Although Li Yundong’s disposition changed after emerging from the Small Thousand World—transforming from the eager youth he was into a master figure radiating composure and immovable presence—his deeply affectionate nature has not changed. Given his character, he will certainly offer his full support, but if he steps in, can he defeat a Golden Body master?"

Ruan Hongling was momentarily silenced. She herself was a cultivator of no small skill and knew that while Li Yundong's cultivation was monstrously strong, he currently faced a bottleneck: the watershed between the Yang God realm and the Golden Body realm. Crossing this hurdle would make Li Yundong an undeniable Grand Cultivator, Grand Master, and supreme expert!

Failing to cross it, if he encountered a Golden Body master, even the most powerful Yang God would suffer greatly! In the cultivation world, there is even a saying: "Ten Yang Gods cannot defeat one Golden Body."

Ruan Hongling tentatively asked Ziyuan, "So... you intend to find the Mirror of Heaven and Earth for Li Yundong to use?"

Ziyuan sighed faintly, "Yes. I believe that with such a magic treasure, Li Yundong might be able to overcome this bottleneck... It's a pity, man's desires often oppose fate!"

Ruan Hongling wondered aloud, "But, Senior Sister Ziyuan, why didn't you use this artifact yourself before?"

Ziyuan smiled faintly and replied, "Master said I could not use this treasure because I am not a person blessed with great fortune. Only those who possess a divine spiritual body, or a rare spiritual clarity endowed with heavenly fortune, can wield it; otherwise, it invites immense calamity."

Ruan Hongling exclaimed with feeling, "Isn't that just setting Master up to harm people? It’s a good thing Master never told me this, or I would have gone mad knowing I possessed such a powerful artifact and refused to use it! Senior Sister Ziyuan, you are truly formidable, to be able to endure not wanting and not using it!"

Ziyuan smiled faintly. She instinctively stroked the Wind Dust Stone beside her and said, "Since we couldn't find it, let's go back."

Ruan Hongling couldn't help but cry out in alarm, "Then what about the Sect Master succession ceremony in a month?"

Ziyuan's delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly, "I don't know... If it truly comes to that, the Linggong Sect will have no choice but to perish under my leadership!"

Ruan Hongling jumped up immediately: "How can that be allowed to happen!"

Ziyuan let out a helpless sigh and smiled wryly at Ruan Hongling, "Even the sun, moon, mountains, and rivers will one day become extinct, let alone a sect. If Heaven decrees the destruction of our Linggong Sect, no one can stop it."

Ruan Hongling said without thinking, "Li Yundong will surely have a way!"

Ziyuan asked curiously, "What way could he possibly have?"

Ruan Hongling paused, her confidence slightly wavering, "I don't know either, but I feel like he should have a solution."

Ziyuan shook her head, amused, "Don't be silly. How can we possibly burden him with our sect's affairs? Come on, let's go back!"

With that, she took Ruan Hongling's arm, and the two transformed into a streak of cyan light, soaring into the sky.

In mid-air, Ziyuan couldn't help but look down at the Wind Dust Stone below, which had shrunk to the size of a grain of sand. She thought to herself: Li Yundong, does he really have a way out?

Another update coming soon.