The wind carried a bloody stench.
Dilapidated ruins, no signs of life.
Tiger Cuihua stared blankly at everything before him.
He still couldn't accept that the young girl before him could actually fight someone in the Chess Player Realm and emerge unscathed.
But looking at the surroundings, everything before him was so real.
Wuxiang Mountain, which clearly had an immortal aura, had now become a basin... Could it be that the people of Wuxiang Mountain would just sit idly by? Allowing someone to run wild in Wuxiang Mountain like this?
Tiger Cuihua swallowed hard, suddenly realizing a terrifying fact.
This Jinx was telling the truth!
The tiger demon's name was Tiger Cuihua.
It wasn't that this burly tiger demon had any special eccentricities; it was purely because his mother had devoured a passing down-and-out scholar by the roadside back then.
Before dying, the scholar cried out, "Cuihua has failed me!"
The tiger mother didn't understand and thought 'Cuihua' was some powerful title, so she gave the name to her newborn cub.
Tiger Cuihua's life as a demon could be described as both bitter and bizarre.
In a hellish place like Lingshan where demons ran rampant and the weak were prey to the strong, a low-level demon wanting to survive had to be either ruthless enough or sycophantic enough.
Coincidentally, Tiger Cuihua had been a bit of a slacker since he was young.
He didn't like fighting and killing, but instead had a special fondness for the books found in the Storage Pouches left behind by Human Race Cultivators.
While others fought over Heaven And Earth Treasures and Medicinal Pills, he fought for books.
Whether it was "Travels of the Eastern Region," "Unofficial History of Dao Lineages," "Introduction to Formations," or even "Tales of Talented Scholars and Fair Ladies," he read them all with great interest.
Due to the strict rules of Lingshan, human flesh was a delicacy reserved only for Great Demon Emperors and Demon Kings.
Low-level demons like Tiger Cuihua usually only gnawed on wild boars and deer from the deep mountains; he hadn't even tasted what human flesh was like.
But to be honest, even if he had the chance, he wasn't actually that interested in eating humans.
Having read so many books and seen so many moving stories of scholars and ladies, he naturally held a complex feeling toward the Human Race.
Sometimes, looking at the Human Race Cultivators captured and brought up the mountain by great demons, he would even feel a strange sense of sympathy...
This was also why a mere low-level demon like him could now spout sophisticated phrases one after another, and even know a thing or two about the secrets of Dao Lineages and the Chess Player Realm.
However.
It was precisely because he had read so many books and knew the terror of the Chess Player Realm.
Right now.
He felt increasingly at a loss.
The books clearly stated... that for a Denglou Realm, the Chess Player Realm was a complete dimensional strike.
Throughout history, when has there ever been an instance of a Denglou fighting upward to slay a Zhiji...
But now didn't seem to be the time to dwell on that.
He quickly snapped back to his senses and carefully weighed his words: "Se... Senior..."
"This Chess Player Realm... emphasizes sitting in the central palace, but this central palace, to put it simply, is a mysterious and profound thing... It isn't just laid out openly on the table..."
Hearing the phrase "mysterious and profound," Jiang Yuechu felt a slight headache.
She waved her hand with a hint of impatience.
"Get to the point."
"Yes, yes, yes!" The tiger demon shrunk his neck in fear. "Anyone who can reach the Chess Player Realm is an old turtle... an old immortal who has lived for thousands or tens of thousands of years. The older they get, the more they fear death. So they often strip away their true Central Palace life-gate and hide it in an extremely secret place. The ones who show their faces daily, even if they look majestic and have terrifying auras, are ultimately just clever Incarnations they've condensed."
"As long as that hidden central palace remains intact, even if the external Incarnation is smashed to pieces and the dao chess pieces are completely destroyed, the Zhiji Practitioner will at most suffer a great loss of Origin Qi. After recovering for a thousand years or so, they can still make a comeback."
After hearing this, the young girl remained expressionless on the outside, but she couldn't help cursing in her heart.
What a load of crap, Chess Playing Great Power.
After all that, that condescending, world-commanding pretentious act earlier was just a holographic projection?
No wonder the System didn't even let out a squeak after she crushed that Old Taoist with one punch.
So after spending over two million years of Dao Cultivation, all I got was a loud noise?
The young girl pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a surge of nameless rage rushing to her head.
These old fogies in the cultivation world are truly more cowardly than the last.
If you're going to fight, just fight; why play these Russian nesting doll tricks?
"Then where do you think... this old geezer's central palace would be?"
The tiger demon was slightly stunned upon hearing this.
But he was cursing in his heart.
How should I know?!
I'm just a damn low-level demon. Having flipped through a few ragged books left by Human Race Cultivators and knowing the bare surface of the Chess Player Realm is already a stroke of immense luck.
The core secrets and life-gate of a Dao Lineage The Main Seat, and you're asking me?
Do you really think I know everything?!
No matter how fiercely he cursed inside, even if he were given ten thousand times the courage, he wouldn't dare show even a hint of it on his face.
"Senior... you're really putting this little demon on the spot."
The tiger demon said, a bitter expression appearing on his face.
"However... if we go by what the ancient texts say and try to guess the thoughts of these old immortals, it's not entirely without a trace."
"In this cultivation world, the longer an old monster lives, the deeper their thoughts become, and the more cautious they act... As the saying goes, a wily rabbit has three burrows, let alone a Chess Playing Great Power who commands a Dao Lineage."
"Although Wuxiang Mountain is a Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands, and for the Wuxiang Sect Master, it should theoretically be the safest place in the world."
"But if Senior thinks about it... Wuxiang Mountain is humbly listed among the Twenty-Five Lineages in this Eastern Region. It seems glorious, but aren't the other twenty-four Dao Lineages watching like hawks? There are only so many resources in this world; if you take them, others have less. Over the years, when have the overt and covert struggles between Dao Lineages ever ceased?"
Tiger Cuihua spoke more and more fluently, even forgetting his fear as he gradually became immersed in his own deduction.
"If that old immortal had hidden his life-dependent central palace openly within the territory of Wuxiang Mountain, once an enemy came knocking, or like today... if he provoked a figure with heaven-reaching abilities like you, Senior."
He skillfully threw in a bit of flattery and continued.
"Once the Sect Formation is broken and the mountain gate destroyed, wouldn't the central palace hidden in the mountain become a turtle in a jar? They wouldn't even have a place to run and would be wiped out in one go. Such a foolish act as putting all one's eggs in one basket is something those Old Foxes who have lived for thousands of years would definitely never do."
Jiang Yuechu raised an eyebrow and didn't speak, just listening quietly.
"Therefore!"
The tiger demon slapped his thigh, his tone certain.
"This little demon dares to assert that this old geezer's central palace is definitely not within the territory of Wuxiang Mountain! It's not even in any territory connected to Wuxiang Mountain."
"A great recluse hides in the city, while a minor one hides in the wild. Such calculating individuals would most likely strip away their central palace and hide it in a place no one would ever expect. Perhaps it's under the base of an inconspicuous ruined temple in the mortal world, or in some remote mountain gully, or even in some abandoned place where Spiritual Qi is exhausted and even a dog wouldn't want to stay."