Chapter 411 - 170: Perishing as a Chess Piece, Sacrificing Toad Wrath

He spoke calmly, and Su Bai agreed just as readily.

"Good!"

The Celestial Secret Sect Master flicked his sleeve, and a black and white game board materialized before them.

Black and white stones, each set to one side.

CLACK!

Playing black, the Celestial Secret Sect Master went first. He placed a stone and began to speak softly:

"I once had a chance at Ascension to Immortality... Unfortunately, I was born in the wrong era."

CLACK!

Su Bai, playing white, placed his stone in a corner. He remained silent, listening to the Celestial Secret Sect Master’s story.

"After the Netherworld Venerable Master’s battle with Him, the Netherworld could never again emerge, and the Celestial Secret has been in disarray ever since. Even though my art of Divination and Deduction has surpassed that of countless past sages, reaching the peak of perfection, my path forward was completely severed because of it..."

The Celestial Secret Sect Master continued to place his stones, his gaze growing distant as he seemed to recall times long past:

"The source of the art of Divination and Deduction lies with this world’s Celestial Dao. With the Celestial Secret in disarray, the path forward was severed at its very source."

"I went into seclusion in the deep mountains for hundreds, even thousands of years. I entered the Netherworld, suffered tribulations among mortals, vanquished monsters and Demons, and brought salvation to the world..."

"But alas, for over ten thousand years, ever since my Cultivation reached the Ninth Layer of the Feather Transformation Realm, I have been unable to advance even a single step further."

"For more than ten thousand years, my Cultivation and my power have not advanced in the slightest!"

His words were level, but everyone on the Cloud Ship couldn’t help but be moved.

They were all Cultivators, so they understood better than anyone the feeling of one’s Cultivation stagnating.

For a luminary who had reached the Feather Transformation Realm tens of thousands of years ago to lose all possibility of progress due to a Celestial Transformation—this was an unbearable sorrow for any Cultivator.

"Finally, I gave up on my own Cultivation and began to roam the world, recruiting countless beings to serve as my eyes and ears, and began to pay closer attention to the changes in all living beings, the Earth Veins, and the vegetation..."

"Following one legend after another, I searched for clues in ancient texts, pursuing the trail of the Seven Heroes and Three Li..."

"And finally, I did manage to discover something..."

As he placed another stone, the Celestial Secret Sect Master paused before continuing:

"The Seven Heroes and Three Li originate from the heavens. They are born of the heavens. However, while their bodies are born of the heavens,"

"Their Divine Spirits are not!"

"Huh!?"

Upon hearing this, Cui Yanliang, Chen Shaoyou, Ye Xiaoyu, Jin Yunfeng, and the others all felt their hearts jolt.

"Anyone can become one of the Seven Heroes and Three Li!"

Su Bai stated slowly.

The Celestial Secret Sect Master looked surprised, but he nodded nonetheless:

"That is correct."

"In that case, did you also tell this secret to the Leader of the Gui Chen Sect?"

Su Bai asked.

"I did."

The Celestial Secret Sect Master admitted it without reservation.

"More than that, I was the one secretly pulling the strings on many matters, enabling his repeated successes."

"But in the end, he failed all the same..."

At this, the Celestial Secret Sect Master placed another stone.

His original plan was to wait for the opportune moment, then force the Leader of the Gui Chen Sect to hold the Incense and Candle Grand Assembly. Then, before everyone’s eyes, he would either kill him or force his retreat.

Afterward, using his own true form as a catalyst, he would seize complete control of the corrupted Destiny Divine Dragon, and from there, make his move on the Seven Heroes and Three Li.

However, Su Bai’s appearance completely derailed his plan.

"You’ve lost..."

As another stone landed, Su Bai slowly raised his head:

"Why are you telling me these things?"

CLACK!

The Celestial Secret Sect Master dropped his stone and conceded.

"I suspect you have a method for gleaning intelligence by fighting others. I, however, have no desire to fight you now, so it is better that I simply tell you these things myself..."

He tilted his head back, looked to the heavens, and laughed.

"Furthermore, I want to see if, when faced with this world-ending calamity, you will choose to walk my path,"

"Or die along with all other beings!"

"The affairs of this world are not so black and white, not so right and wrong. And there are certainly more than just these two choices..."

Su Bai’s expression remained unchanged. His voice, like wisps of smoke, drifted away.

"A pity that whichever path is chosen, you won’t be here to see it..."

The Celestial Secret Sect Master’s long laugh came to an abrupt halt.

"Indeed. I will not be here to see it..."

The Celestial Secret Sect Master’s figure trembled.

At a speed visible to the naked eye, his body rapidly hunched over. His silver hair and beard immediately lost their sheen.

A thick miasma of decay billowed out from his body.

Like the smell of rotting wooden beams and furniture in a house left vacant for years, the scent instantly filled the entire Cloud Ship.

The Celestial Secret Sect Master’s eyes were now clouded, his skin desiccated, his face haggard. The once vast and potent Vitality within him dwindled rapidly, until it vanished entirely.

He was dead.

"He’s dead?"

Sensing that all-too-familiar, profound aura of death, Jin Yunfeng was stunned, finding it hard to believe.

Yet the aura of death made it impossible to deny.

This legendary Feathered Monster, a being who had shaken the world for tens of thousands of years, had just died so silently?

Even before he began his own path of cultivation, he had heard of the Celestial Secret Sect Master’s reputation. He knew the man held an unimaginable status in the Dayu Cultivation World.

A master of a sect, a peak Feather Transformation Realm expert for tens of thousands of years—how could such a figure not inspire reverence?

"Even a Golden Body will wear away, and even a Feathered one will decay..."

Cui Yanliang, for his part, simply shook his head.

After five years of ceaseless slaughter, he had long since grown accustomed to matters of life and death.

And yet, the death of a master of the Feather Transformation Realm still stirred something within him.

Of course, it was not the life or death of the Celestial Secret Sect Master that moved him.

It was the arduous path that lay ahead.

The Seven Heroes and Three Li, the Era Calamity, and...

The inexorable boundary between life and death!

With a flick of his sleeve, Su Bai scattered the Celestial Secret Sect Master’s body to the wind. The last specks of dust settled onto the game board.