Ye Futian's words were like a jolt of lightning, causing Yang Xiao and the others to feel confused.
Their master wanted to use them as a sacrifice?
Presently, the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty and Xihua Sacred Mountain had experts standing in the matrix where the Chess Saint was trapped in. Their expressions all paled, and they looked towards the Chess Saint. Even though they were prejudiced against Ye Futian, they still took his words in and were cautious.
"Master," Yang Xiao's wife, the Chess Saint's third disciple, called out. She looked towards the Chess Saint with a pale expression. In reality, she had been practicing the art of the matrix with her master since young. Although her master had never taught them these kinds of sacrificial matrices, she had felt that the location that their group was standing was ominous.
The people from the various holy lands looked towards the Chess Saint. At that moment, it was like time had stopped.
Ye Futian's expression was extremely piercing. It turned out that from the start, the Chess Saint had never trusted that anyone could help him break free from this extraordinary sword matrix, even if they could solve the Celestial Dragon Chess Game. How could someone do what he could not? So, the Chess Saint had created a setup in the Chess Saint Villa to select a suitable candidate.
Under those circumstances, he did not even need to consider who he should pick between him and Liu Zong.
Liu Zong was someone with ambition, and he could bring Xihua Sacred Mountain's experts into the sacrificial matrix.
From Liu Zong's current position, Ye Futian knew that the Chess Saint and Liu Zong must have had come to an agreement. Otherwise, he would not sacrifice the Xihua Sacred Mountain and Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty's experts.
Of course, just like when they were solving the matrix previously, the most crucial few like Zhou Du and Zhou Ya were all in safe locations. Evidently, Liu Zong did not dare to make too reckless moves.
Ye Futian even wondered if Saint Xihua knew about this setup. If he did not, how was Liu Zong to account for the death of the Xihua Sacred Mountain's experts after the Chess Saint was released?
Ye Futian knew that once he said those words, he had offended the Chess Saint completely. However, how could he agree to letting the Chess Saint use the Barren State as a sacrifice?
Since that was the case, he could only fall out with the Chess Saint and make Yang Xiao and the rest escape, not allowing the Chess Saint's plan to come to fruition.
"Nonsense. Look clearly, what is this matrix?" A terrifying light shot out of the Chess Saint's eyes, and instantly, the surrounding people felt a formless force, as though a strong magnetic force was pulling them in. A frightening force flowed from the Chess Saint onto their bodies.
"Why are you not retreating, do you want to die?" Ye Futian shouted.
"Retreat." The people from the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty were the most decisive and retreated immediately. Regardless of whether it was a sacrificial matrix, they had no obligation to help the Chess Saint escape.
The people from Xihua Sacred Mountain also started to retreat. However, just as they were about to leave, the Sword Matrix of the Void surrounded them. All of them were trapped in the matrix.
The giant chess board descended from the skies. At that moment, they were like pieces on the board. The sword diagram's force that had targeted the Chess Saint all rushed towards them.
"Master, why?" Yang Xiao's expression was pale as he stared at his master. How could he not understand what he had been caught up in?
The nine of them had always been proud of their master. Even after their master had been trapped, they continued to follow his orders and follow Liu Zong into the Forbidden Land to save him despite the danger.
The holy lands had come for the secret of the Nether Sword Mound while they had come to save the Chess Saint.
However, their master had set up a ploy to use them as a sacrifice.
"The heavens are the chessboard and the masses are its pieces. I am willing to become a chess player, this is the way of Chess." The Chess Saint's voice was solemn and there was no trace of hesitation in his eyes. He had cultivated for many years to become a Saint that was revered by the masses. He entered the Forbidden Land of the Nether Sword Mound for the Nine States' number one matrix, but he was not willing to be trapped in the Nether Sword Mound.
"I do not understand," Yang Xiao replied.
"That is why you cannot become a Saint," the Chess Saint said coolly. "Yang Xiao, master has always had high expectations for you, but your disposition is weak. If you enter the Saint Plane, you could have lent me a hand without me having to do this. Cultivation is to plunder, plundering the Dao of the heavens."
Many experts from holy lands reeled at the Chess Saint's words. Was cultivation really to plunder?
If the Chess Saint felt that cultivation was plundering the Dao of the heavens, what else would he not plunder?
The heavens were the chess board, but he wanted to be the player.
"What is the point of cultivating in such a heartless Dao?" Ye Futian had an ashen expression as he asked. He was slower in the end. He did not expect the Chess Saint to be so decisive and activate the matrix immediately, causing those who tried to retreat to be trapped. Evidently, the Chess Saint had made adequate preparations.
"The Path of Dao is originally heartless. Do you even know cultivation?" The Chess Saint glanced at Ye Futian with a frigid expression. This b*stard could actually see through the sacrificial matrix. It was no wonder that he did not end up as his chess piece. Without the people of the Barren State, the strength of the sacrificial matrix would weaken significantly and he was much less confident. Moreover, he had no choice but to activate it prematurely because of Ye Futian.
At that moment, through his icy stare, Ye Futian was like a dead man to him.
Seeing the Chess Saint's stare full of killing intent, Ye Futian casually turned around and did not look at the Chess Saint. He knew what he had to do. If the Chess Saint really broke loose, he would die a terrible death. He needed to find a way to break through the matrix in order to have a chance at survival.
"Yang Xiao, for all of you to die for me, you have nothing to regret." The Chess Saint's voice sounded throughout the area, causing many people from the various holy lands to feel chills down their spine. If it had not been for the Chess Saint's order to not attack the Barren State's people, or perhaps he had done it to borrow their strength for the sacrificial matrix, his threats and temptation towards Ye Futian was to make the people from the Barren State enter the sacrificial matrix.
Rumbling sounds could be heard as the Chess Saint moved. He wanted to rush out of the matrix diagram, but the sword diagram's force crushed down with terrifying swordsmanship towards a direction. Over there, one of the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty's experts shouted in agony as he was crushed to smithereens and a chess piece replaced him to withstand the attack for the Chess Saint.
"Chess Saint, you dare kill the people from the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty? Even if you escape today, the Sacred King will not let you off," another person from the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty said coldly. As his voice landed, a terrifying force rushed towards him, killing him off. At the same time, more pressure was lifted off the Chess Saint.
To the Chess Saint, his number one priority now was to get out; everything else was secondary. Moreover, he had tried his best to keep the sacrifices to a minimum. However, if it came down to it, he could kill everyone.
If he did not, he would end up dead in the matrix.
"He really has the chance to destroy the matrix." The people from the various holy lands stared at the Chess Saint. His mastery in matrices was originally already unrivaled in the Nine States. Even though he was trapped in the sword matrix, he did not die and was able to confront the sword matrix. Now that many experts had entered the sacrificial matrix, he could divert the sword matrix's force towards them and break the balance, allowing him a chance to escape.
What would happen if the Chess Saint managed to escape?
Would he be able to destroy the sword matrix?
Their gazes turned towards Ye Futian. They saw Ye Futian also attempting to destroy the matrix, but he did not borrow Sage Wanxiang's strength any longer. There was no more time; he could not afford to use divination for every step he took.
His speed was fast, but he had repeatedly returned to the starting point with a grim expression.
He could not destroy it, there were no weak points in the matrix. There was no flaw in the matrix. It was even more terrifying than the Celestial Dragon Chess Game.
Although he had the sword diagram, he had not completely comprehended the tenth sword diagram. Otherwise, he would have entered the forbidden land a long time ago and not waited so long. However, the arrival of the people from the various holy lands forced his hand and he could only enter.
In his head, he advanced the movements of the chess board at a terrifying pace, but it was pointless.
At that moment, he turned around.
Yi. A heart-wrenching sound was heard as a terrifying Sword Will impaled Yang Xiao's wife's body. The number one beauty of Yujing City gradually became ethereal. She looked at the figure in the air that was emitting boundless light with a vengeance. That was the person that she respected the most, but he had ended her life in such a way.
Tears trickled down her face as she took one final look at Yang Xiao before disappearing.
"Sister!" the other shouted, but in the next moment, Sword Wills descended one after the other, and the Chess Saint's disciples all died and crumbled to dust.
Soon, there were only three people left among the nine disciples. They were Yang Xiao, Li Kaishan, and Jiu Gongzi.
Yang Xiao was an expert on the Sage and Saint Ranking, so his resilience was the strongest. Jiu Gongzi was the weakest, so he could not provide much strength, even if he was sacrificed. As such, the Chess Saint could not be bothered to sacrifice him, so he was spared. Conversely, Li Kaishan actually retreated from the matrix.
"You knew!" Yang Xiao shouted at Li Kaishan with a cold tone.
"Big Brother, for master, die with no regrets," Li Kaishan looked at Yang Xiao and said.
"Why don't you die instead!" Jiu Gongzi shouted out. With his personality, seeing his brothers and sisters die in front of him was enough to send him into a frenzy. When he looked at his imposing master, it was like looking at a demon.
How awful. The people from the various holy lands saw the scene and thought, incredulous. Those who entered the matrix had died with the exception of Liu Zong and a few others. The vast majority had not died in attempting to destroy the matrix, but to the sacrificial matrix.
The Chess Saint was really ruthless. He could kill his own disciples without a shred of hesitation, he was decisive, strong-willed and could not be moved.
Crackle. Cracks appeared in the terrifying sword diagram as the Chess Saint flew higher and higher. All of a sudden, countless chess pieces flew forward and a fearsome shadow passed through the matrix, escaping from it and flying forward.
"Materialization of Spiritual Will." Everyone was stunned. The Chess Saint had not escaped, as his physical body was still trapped in the matrix, but another Chess Saint had rushed out and was heading towards the giant sword.
The giant sword howled and a cold gaze looked towards the Chess Saint. In the skies, under the blood-colored sword eyes, flowed a terrifying Sword Will. The sword diagram in the skies rolled around in a frenzy, then descended from the sky onto the Chess Saint like blades from another dimension.
"The Path as a Chessboard." A cold voice sounded, and countless chess pieces appeared in the area and flew towards the heavens, turning it into a chessboard.
Crash. With a thunderous sound, a blade that was slashing down was blocked by a chess piece in the sky.
Crash, crash, crash… The violent clashes continued, causing the air to quiver and the earth to shake. In the skies, countless black chess pieces turned into a chess board. The Great Path Chessboard managed to block all the falling swords.
Even so, cracks appeared on the Great Path Chessboard. The pieces looked as though they were about to fall apart, but they had created enough time for the Chess Saint. His body was already landing where the giant sword was and his hand stretching out to grab it.
Liu Zong looked towards his direction with a gleam in his eyes. That sword was the key to the Nether Sword Mound and was likely to be able to control all the Sword Wills.
Just as the Chess Saint's palm landed, an extremely sharp force that could slice through everything emerged from the sword. In the next moment, a towering killing light burst forth from the giant sword. The sword then disappeared and was replaced by a human figure. The human figure felt as though it had been forged by countless swords. His gaze was like swords, his arms were like swords, his body was like a sword, and even his silver hairs were swords.
"It's really him?" The experts from the Xia Clan gasped. Could it be that his conjecture was correct? The giant sword was a sword slave that followed the Sword Saint of the Void back then and had sacrificed himself to his sword to protect the Sword Saint of the Void.
Could it be that the Sword Saint of the Void was really buried here?
At that moment, the sword matrix in the air suddenly rampaged, and countless Sword Qi rushed downwards with even more force. However, the Chess Saint turned around and looked coldly in Ye Futian's direction. Immediately, one of the chess pieces in the air was destroyed and a Sword Qi descended from the sky.
"Watch out!" Ye Futian shouted. However, in front of him, a person from Tombkeeper Village was killed on the spot, causing Ye Futian's expression to become pale.
The rustling sword currents were unbelievably wild as the Chess Saint and the sword figure were at a stalemate. Around the two of them, an alarming whirlpool appeared and the chess pieces cut off the earth while the sword veil blocked off the air. The destructive air current rampaged in the area, but even so, the Chess Saint still wanted to kill Ye Futian and his friends.
"Uncle Fang!" Yaya's expression was pale as she shouted
"If you enter the sacrificial matrix, perhaps you might not die," the Chess Saint said in a cold voice.
Yaya's gaze turned icy as her eyes turned crimson, like blood, and it was as though there was a sword in her eyes. Around her body, a terrifying Sword Will flowed and her body gradually rose into the air with an ancient aura.
At that moment, the Sword Will in the air seemed to resonate with the one around her body.
The sense of familiarity was becoming even stronger.
Yaya raised her head and looked at the blood-colored sword in the air. The same scene also appeared in her eyes, and at that moment, her blood-colored eyes let out a gleaming light that was extremely brilliant. Behind her eyes, countless Sword Wills appeared in the air and turned into a horrifying storm that moved towards Yaya.
Not just that, but the sword matrix in the air seemed to have formed a resonance with her. The matrix let out a brilliant light as though it had been activated.
"Yaya." Ye Futian raised his head and looked towards Yaya. He was not too shocked as he had his conjectures previously.
The Chess Saint looked towards Yaya, and an extremely sharp glint appeared in his eyes.
The matrix had been activated.
So that was why. No wonder he could not destroy the matrix, as the matrix in this area was a dead matrix.
"Liu Zong, she's a spiritual body. Take her down and stand in her position to destroy the matrix!" the Chess Saint shouted. Yaya was likely to be the sword spiritual body or the matrix spiritual body, so she was the crux of the matrix.
The Nether Sword Mound actually had two foundations—the main sword matrix and this lass, who was the core of the matrix!