Chapter Twenty-Three: Life from Decay

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Liang Yan had repeatedly failed to break through his bottleneck. He had placed great hopes on the Barrier-Breaking Pill, only to find himself defeated at the final hurdle. After the successive blows, his state of mind nearly collapsed.

Letting out a long breath, he walked out of his cave dwelling. It was already deep into the night; the mountain paths were deserted. Liang Yan looked up at the sky, seeing the night as black as ink, a waning moon half veiled behind clouds, and only scant stars scattered above—just like the gloom and bitterness clouding his heart.

The Great Dao of Heaven and Earth seemed infinitely distant. For a moment, Liang Yan did not know where he should go or what he ought to do.

He wandered aimlessly, his soul adrift, meandering through the valleys without a destination. When he finally regained his senses, he realized he had, without knowing it, once again arrived at the foot of Azurewood Peak.

Liang Yan sighed, a wry smile tugging at his lips. “It seems I still cannot forget the chess games played on this mountain.”

Though he knew that “Senior Sister Tang” would never come again, he could not help but follow the mountain path upward. When he reached the summit and looked beneath the tree, it was indeed empty—no one in sight.

He mocked himself inwardly for his muddled state. Not only had Senior Sister Tang said she would not return, but even in the past, he had never played chess with her at such a late hour.

He strolled beneath the great tree. On the massive stone, a chessboard was set with black and white pieces.

“Hm?” Liang Yan was puzzled. Could someone else be here playing chess at this hour?

He focused his gaze on the board and suddenly froze. Wasn’t this the same unfinished game he’d seen the first day he came to Azurewood Peak?

On the board, the black stones spread aggressively, domineering and unyielding. The white pieces were beset on all sides, fighting like a trapped dragon, without the slightest sign of life.

Liang Yan stared intently at the chessboard, suddenly feeling that the white pieces resembled the true qi and spiritual power within his own body, constrained everywhere by his limited aptitude. The black stones, meanwhile, were like the bottleneck suppressing him, seemingly insurmountable.

He gazed for a long while, and then a strange attraction seemed to draw his entire mind into the board. He became that white dragon, black clouds rolling above, pressing down on him with a thunderous roar.

The stars and constellations of the heavens transformed into the nineteen lines of the board. Within them, every step seemed to brim with opportunity, yet at the same time, each step was fraught with peril.

A roar of unwillingness sounded from deep within him. He swept his eyes slowly around, but gradually, his mind grew calm. Since meeting the girl in white, he had devoted himself day and night to the study of chess, his skill advancing by leaps and bounds—he was no longer the novice who had once gazed helplessly at this very puzzle.

Now, as the white dragon, immersed in the scene, Liang Yan realized that although the black clouds were overwhelming, they were not impenetrable. They seemed invincible, but in truth, their strength was hollow.

“If I am willing to abandon my own territory and strike deep into the heart of the black stones, perhaps a new world will open before me.”

With this thought, Liang Yan picked up a white piece and, with a crisp snap, placed it on the board.

As the piece settled, it was like seeing the sun break through the clouds, the hidden dragon soaring to the heavens—Liang Yan’s heart, too, suddenly cleared. On the board, the white dragon roared, rising into the sky, free at last beneath the vast firmament.

He gazed at the chessboard for a long time before letting out a gentle sigh. The white pieces had found new life, but what of himself? At this thought, he could only shake his head and smile bitterly once more.

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Just as he withdrew from the world of the chessboard, a warning instinct rose within him. He looked to the other side of the tree and saw an old man standing there—dressed in blue, with white hair and a ruddy complexion, gazing at him with a smile that was not quite a smile.

Liang Yan was deeply startled. He had been here for so long without noticing another’s arrival. When had this man appeared? He had sensed nothing at all.

Before he could dwell on it, the white-haired elder spoke. “Who are you, and how did you find your way to Azurewood Peak?”

Liang Yan bowed respectfully and replied, “This junior was brought here by a senior sister.”

“Oh? And what does this senior sister of yours look like?” the old man asked.

Liang Yan gave a brief description based on his memory. The elder nodded secretly to himself, thinking, “So it was that Butterfly Fairy—mischievous as always. This is just the sort of thing she’d do.”

Turning his gaze to the chessboard beneath the tree, the old man asked with a curious look, “Whose disciple are you in the Path of Chess?”

“Uh... I am not a disciple of the Path of Chess,” Liang Yan replied awkwardly. “In fact, I am just a menial disciple from the Array Branch.”

To his surprise, the old man burst out laughing. “A menial disciple? Ha! Ha ha ha! A menial disciple from the Array Branch—how marvelous, how marvelous!”

After a while, the old man’s mood seemed greatly improved. He looked at Liang Yan and said, “Boy, would you like to play a couple of games with this old man?”

By now, Liang Yan was no longer the ignorant youth he once was. He knew that the elder before him was surely someone of unfathomable depth, and so he cupped his hands and said, “My chess skills are humble, and I fear I might spoil your pleasure.”

“No matter. We have met here by fate. Age means nothing at the chessboard; the past is but fleeting clouds, and the affairs of the world are all contained within these nineteen lines.”

“In that case, I would not dare refuse.”

They sat together on the ground beneath the tree and began to play. Both were fully absorbed, and after three rounds, dawn was breaking on the horizon. As expected, Liang Yan lost every game in crushing defeat.

With a wry smile, Liang Yan said, “My skills are so poor that I am not even fit to be your opponent. I fear I have only disturbed your enjoyment.”

But the old man stroked his beard, eyes fixed on the board, and said with satisfaction, “Not so. In the final game, your two hundred and thirty-third move was full of hidden intent. Pity you looked forward without looking back and wasted a promising situation.”

Reviewing the game, Liang Yan found it was indeed as the old man said. It was not that he had ignored the beginning or the end, but that he simply could not manage it all. The old man’s play was meticulous, each move echoing the last, and he anticipated every ploy, always a step ahead. No matter how Liang Yan tried to change tactics, he was always outmaneuvered and lost the initiative.

“With your talent and third-layer Qi Refinement, you would actually be eligible to participate in the Path of Chess’s outer disciple trials. Why not give it a try?”

Liang Yan’s heart skipped a beat—this was the first time anyone had seen through his cultivation at a glance, a testament to the old man’s unfathomable abilities. He dared not be careless and answered truthfully, “It’s not that I won’t, but that I can’t. My aptitude is too poor. I’ve been stuck at the peak of Qi Refinement’s third layer for a long time. Even with the Barrier-Breaking Pill, I cannot advance. I fear I will never make further progress in this life.”

The old man fell silent for a moment before speaking slowly, “Boy, do you know my name?”

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Liang Yan was taken aback, not knowing what the elder meant. He could only answer, “I do not know.”

“My name is Withered Wood Sheng.”

“Withered Wood Sheng…” Liang Yan had spent over three years in the Pavilion of Chess Heart and had heard of many famous elders in the sect, but no matter how he racked his brains, he could not recall anyone by that name.

“You must be wondering who this Withered Wood Sheng is,” the old man said with a knowing smile. “When I first set foot on the Immortal Path, I apprenticed under a renowned chess master, but remained stuck at the third layer of Qi Refinement for ten years. Every brother and sister surpassed me, and I was too ashamed to face my teacher. So I took the name ‘Withered Wood,’ meaning a dead tree that cannot be carved—not my master’s failing, but my own.”

Liang Yan had not expected such a story. Yet the elder before him now had a presence as deep as the sea—clearly he had transformed himself utterly.

“Later, I achieved the Golden Core, and my master added the word ‘Sheng’—renewal—to my name. Thus I became Withered Wood Sheng, meaning even a dead tree can be reborn, a diseased tree can meet the spring.”

Having finished, the old man said nothing more, but looked at Liang Yan with piercing eyes.

Liang Yan took a deep breath. It was as though a great weight had been lifted from his heart; the clouds and shadows within him swept away. He rose and bowed deeply to the old man.

“Thank you for your guidance, senior!”

Withered Wood Sheng smiled and waved his hand. “I only told you a story. Cultivation is still up to you. Especially when breaking through bottlenecks, one must proceed step by step. Otherwise, your foundation may be unstable, and disaster may follow.”

He reached into his sleeve and casually handed Liang Yan a bamboo scroll. “This is a technique I created myself. As a menial disciple, you’re not allowed to borrow techniques from the Transmission Pavilion, so you must have been practicing haphazardly. Take a look at this one instead.”

Liang Yan accepted it. On the scroll, five crooked characters read: “The Method of Unsettled Mind.”

Delight rose in his heart. “I’ve practiced that old monk’s muddled technique for so long without breaking through the third layer. As the saying goes, ‘stones from other hills may polish jade.’ Perhaps this ‘Method of Unsettled Mind’ will help me make a breakthrough!”

Thinking thus, Liang Yan took a deep breath and bowed respectfully to Withered Wood Sheng. The old man looked quite pleased and said with a laugh, “From now on, if you wish to study the Path of Chess, come find me here at midnight on the eighth of every month. The two of us can be chess companions across the generations.”

Liang Yan smiled as well. “I will certainly obey, sir!”