The Prodigies War

In the beginning, Xiao Qinghe and A’lu didn’t notice anything wrong.

As they ventured deeper into the Star Chess Sea, however, they discovered that the starlight falling from the sky was surging toward Lin Xun, bathing his figure in a silvery and dreamy glow.

Only then did they realize that something was wrong.

The dazzling, illusory starlight seemed to overflow, adding an ethereal sensation to Lin Xun’s presence.

His body was akin to a bottomless black hole that swallowed all of the starlight no matter how much there was.

After some time passed, even the stars in the sky seemed to tremble with each breath Lin Xun took. Starlight descended from all directions like a mighty river, causing the surrounding space to become turbulent and dyed in bright, glimmering silver.

It was a scene that could be rightfully described as heaven-shaking!

Unfortunately, however, this also meant that the path they traveled on was covered by starlight. Even with the secret map, they would no longer be able to recognize the route.

In their helplessness, Xiao Qinghe had no choice but to speak out and interrupt Lin Xun’s marvelous encounter.

Lin Xun returned to his senses. When he opened his eyes, he saw starlight surging around him like a thick fog and instantly understood what was going on.

He recalled the Zhoutian Star Dipper Diagram in his mind-sea and subconsciously waved his sleeve.

Crash~

The starlight returned from where it had come from and swiftly disappeared without a trace.

From afar, he resembled an immortal sending starlight rushing into the sky with a wave of his sleeve. The grand and magnificent scene made Xiao Qinghe's eyes pop from their sockets.

That worked?

A’lu's reaction was much more straightforward. He clicked his tongue and said, ''So damn beautiful. One day, I'm going to climb above the nine heavens and grab a handful of stars to play with as stones. "

"Grab a handful of stars to play? Sure thing, keep boasting." Xiao Qinghe snorted.

"What a pitiful frog who can only see the tiny sky from its well." A’lu rolled his eyes, appearing as if he couldn’t be bothered to argue.

Xiao Qinghe was immediately triggered. He absolutely couldn't stand A’lu's eye-rolling.

It was simply unbearable that such a coarse, brutish person who resembled a barbarian god liked to roll his eyes so much!

Xiao Qinghe angrily said, "I'm warning you, don't think you can do whatever you want just because you saved us once!"

"Only the weak make vocal threats. The strong show through action."

A’lu crossed his thick, boulder-like arms in front of his chest. He was a full head taller than Xiao Qinghe, which naturally made him seem as if he was always looking down on others.

"You..." Xiao Qinghe felt a strong urge to attack A’lu. His mouth was definitely a powerful aggro-drawing weapon that could piss people to death.

"Alright, let’s hurry up and leave," Lin Xun hastily attempted to mediate.

"Hmph, if not for Lin Xun, I would disregard everything and fight you." Xiao Qinghe coldly snorted.

"Talk is cheap. Real men only need one word: do!" A’lu's bright eyes provocatively stared at Xiao Qinghe.

Lin Xun felt a headache. Only now did he realize that Xiao Qinghe and this A’lu were akin to fated enemies who would never stop fighting.

He had no choice but to take the lead and started moving.

This immediately alarmed Xiao Qinghe, who rushed forward and called out, ''This is the Star Chess Sea, you can't carelessly move about!"

With this, the little strife finally passed, allowing the trio to continue on their way.

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However, Lin Xun displayed a somewhat odd look.

As they advanced, all the mysteries and secrets of the nearby areas appeared in his mind-sea, allowing him to instantly determine what route to take.

He could clearly see every danger and obstacle.

"As expected, Star Chess Sea is a Zhoutian Star Dipper Array!"

Lin Xun's heart shook, feeling a sense of enlightenment akin to the clouds parting to reveal the sun.

He could even tell that the area they were heading toward was located in the eastern palace heaven gate corner of the array.

It was one of the 360 zones of the Star Dipper Array which contained 360 smaller arrays. The core of each array corresponded to one of the islands on the sea.

As the great array operated, each island was covered in a different type of power such as the mist barrier restriction, the illusion restriction, the killing restriction, and so on.

Anyone who recklessly trespassed would trigger these restrictions!

It must be known that this was a Saint array that covered heaven and earth. A single wrong step was all it would take to trigger a butterfly effect that would result in inestimable danger no matter how capable or powerful the individual!

Lin Xun carefully analyzed the path Xiao Qinghe led them on and found that it was indeed one of the few ‘life’ paths in the area.

At this point, a smile rose from the corners of Lin Xun’s lips.

Star Chess Sea might be an insurmountable danger zone to the world's cultivators.

However, for someone like him, who possessed the Zhoutian Star Dipper Array inheritance, entering this sea was akin to walking on flat land!

Moreover, he could borrow the array’s power if he wished to.

The Zhoutian Star Dipper Diagram silently floated in his mind-sea. Lin Xun knew that he had unintentionally come across an amazing treasure this time!

The array inheritance alone had the potential to bring him endless benefits!

Along the way, Lin Xun continued to contrast and refer to the Zhoutian Star Dipper Diagram to figure out its secrets.

The more he understood, the more he was amazed by the array’s power. It was completely beyond his imagination.

At maximum capacity, it could deploy the power of 14,800 stars in the sky. This was enough to destroy an entire land and all of its population!

Unfortunately for Lin Xun, it was also a Saint array that required the use of Saint Dao Laws to establish restrictions and view its secrets. Hence, it was not something the current Lin Xun could operate.

"Could the Saint expert who flew above the Complete Void have used some kind of supreme techniques to establish the Zhoutian Star Dipper Array which was subsequently transformed into the Star Chess Sea?" Lin Xun wondered.

"If I encounter an unresolvable danger in the future, I could escape here and hide. That way, even a Saint expert wouldn’t be able to do much to me... "

Of course, being passive wasn’t Lin Xun's style. Star Chess Sea was an unimaginable large-scale Saint array. If he could somehow utilize 0.001% of its power, it would only be more than enough to deal with King stage old monsters!

While they traveled, Lin Xun also occasionally conversed with A’lu.

Hence, he soon learned that A’lu's origins weren’t simple!

He had walked out from a secret realm from the ancient era and had overcome many challenges before ultimately arriving at the East Victory World.

Before coming to the East Victory World, A’lu lived in a village deep within the mountains of the secret realm and cultivated with an old man he called ‘old bastard’ since young.

At the mention of the ‘old bastard,’ A’lu appeared to have a bellyful of grievances. He poured out everything to Lin Xun, saying that since he was three years old, he had been forced to compete in strength with the cubs of the Six-Armed Demon Ape Clan, compete in speed with the descendants of the Star Luo Bird, compete in loudness with the True Roar Clan descendants, and compare who had a sturdier body with the descendants of the Dragon Elephant Clan...

At the age of thirteen, he finally managed to best all the other descendants of the various clans. A’lu thought he was finally free, only for the ‘old bastard’ to make even more outrageous demands.

Mountain moving!

Every day, he had to run while carrying a huge mountain that was at least a thousand feet tall. He ran and ran from morning to sunset and from sunset to the next morning.

When A’lu was able to play with thousand-foot mountains as if they were mere stones, the ‘old bastard’ came up with even crazier demands.

Overflow the sea!

When A’lu was able to raise waves ten thousand feet tall like a weather dragon, it was no surprise that an even more insane demand arrived...

Right before he arrived at the East Victory World, he had been sparring against descendants of exceedingly terrifying existences. Each time, he would have to fight until he was completely exhausted before it ended.

"The old bastard promised that he would no longer make any demands of me when I reach the Supreme King stage in the East Victory World. When that time comes, I will finally achieve freedom."

The longing and desire on A’lu's rugged face as he said this showed just how much darkness he had experienced in his life.

After hearing the entire story, Lin Xun was unable to remain calm.

He was already certain that the A’lu was walking one of the most difficult and arduous paths since the beginning of time - becoming a Saint through body cultivation!

The ‘old bastard’ mentioned by A’lu was most definitely an extraordinary individual.

Moreover, Lin Xun also realized through A’lu's story that the small village he once lived in was no simple village.

After all, it was home to descendants of the Six-Armed Demon Ape Clan, the Star Luo Bird Clan, the True Roar Clan, and the Dragon Elephant Clan...

Rather than a village, it felt more apt to call it a community of clans from the ancient era!

Moreover, wasn’t A’lu’s Dragon Bone Club a Saint treasure that easily swatted away an old monster like Su Kong? This alone was sufficient evidence of how extraordinary the secret realm he grew up in was.

Xiao Qinghe was also speechless for a while after hearing of this and inwardly swore about what an abnormality A’lu was.

He already felt that Demon God Lin was a freakish monster and never imagined A’lu wasn’t the least bit inferior either.

……

"We’re here."

After half a day of travel, the trio arrived on an island. A strange fluctuation spread as Lin Xun and the others were moved to an empty world.

The sky was blue, the flora was fragrant, and pure, peaceful aeth power surged in the air.

It was a magical land where even the grass, vines, and beautiful flowers were clean and flawless while possessing a certain spiritual nature.

Lin Xun and the others felt as if they had entered a holy land from legend. Pure, clean qi filled their noses, causing them to feel refreshed and relaxed.

This was undoubtedly the Immortal Forbidden Land, which was regarded as one of the five forbidden lands in the East Victory World!

A sacred mountain stood far away in the distance. It was ink-black and had thirty-six peaks that resembled blooming lotuses opening up the heavens.

"That’s the Immortal Sacred Mountain. It was born from the blessing of heaven and earth and possesses the characteristic of immortality. Since ancient times, it has remained eternal and indestructible."

"Rumor has it that it is also one of the earliest origins of the dao in the Ancient Wasteland Domain and was where the first gods were born from and resided..."

There was a hint of fervor on Xiao Qinghe's face as he continued, ''There are many legends about it, but no one has ever been able to discover all of its secrets since ancient times."

"However, none of this is important to us. What’s important is that the Little Giants List Competition will kick off atop the Immortal Sacred Mountain!"