Chapter 53: Extending Life and Repairing Heaven

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Click, click, click.

The sound of intersecting Go stones echoed against the wall, leaving this single noise to fill the entire chamber.

Luo Mingxian stood rigidly by the wall, not daring to draw a full breath, let alone rashly inquire about the cause of it all. His legs had grown somewhat numb from standing, yet he could not move a fraction of an inch, keeping his eyes fixed solely on the board game within the room.

To a practitioner of divination arts, the path of Go was not merely a method of cultivation, but also a vital means of exchanging each other's "intent." It was a form of communication far more precise and concise than mere language. As an outsider, observing others play a game of Go was likewise an essential way to attain enlightenment.

He had observed others play matches many times before, and every single time he had gained insights—yet before the chessboard in front of him, he found himself utterly unable to comprehend a single thing.

At first glance, it looked just like two elderly men playing a casual game on a street corner, without a shred of internal energy leaking outward. But considering that one of the participants was none other than the Grandmaster of Divination Arts, Yuan Tiangang, the inability to perceive anything was the greatest anomaly of all.

As for the other person, the one capable of creating such a scenario... who on earth were they?

With a soft click, another placement of a stone interrupted his train of thought. He raised his gaze toward the Go table, and his mind reeled once more.

That newly placed stone was the decisive, fatal move, and the one who had been defeated... was actually the Celestial Master!

To Luo Mingxian, witnessing this scene was no less shocking than foreseeing the explosion of the entire nation of Huaxia tomorrow on the spot.

What manner of existence was the Celestial Master? The absolute peak of the realm of divination arts, an unfathomable figure renowned across ancient and modern times. A game of Go should have been as natural as breathing to him, with zero possibility of making a mistake.

Yet right before his eyes, he had lost!

Luo Mingxian stood dumbfounded, while across the Go table, Yuan Tiangang was likewise staring intently at the remaining formation on the board. The astonishment in his eyes had vanished, replaced by profound and deep contemplation.

Having known each other for thirteen hundred years, he and the person before him had played no less than a thousand matches, involving all manner of Go variations. Backed by the advantage of his divination arts, he had almost never tasted defeat. Yet this single match had completely shattered every memory spanning those thirteen hundred years.

As a divination practitioner at the Deity Transformation stage, he was virtually on par with the heavens when it came to observation and deduction. For someone to utterly crush a version of himself at this level meant there was only one possible explanation.

"To plunge oneself into the game as a piece, and snatch survival from the jaws of absolute despair." He slowly raised his eyes to look at his opponent across the board. "You... actually managed to surpass heaven by half a move?"

"Merely half a move," Zhou Qing said, resting his cheek in one hand while twirling a Go stone with the other. "At least for now, anyway."

Another silence descended. Yuan Tiangang pressed his hands down, his eyes half-closed in deep thought, as if fully savoring the profound meaning of those words.

"Man can conquer heaven... This realm, unprecedented in both ancient and modern times, you have truly attained it."

He slowly leaned back into his chair. "No wonder you were able to return; no wonder not even the Heavenly Dao could trace your aura... To think, I truly never imagined that there would come a day when someone in this world exists beyond my sight."

The corner of Luo Mingxian's mouth twitched slightly. Although divination practitioners mostly spoke in cryptic terms to avoid leaking heavenly secrets and incurring karmic retribution, hearing such profound statements now wrung a deep, heartfelt sigh from the bottom of his heart.

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Enigmatic riddlers, get out of Yizhou!

"I, on the other hand, have seen through quite a few things."

Zhou Qing pressed the stone he was twirling down onto the chessboard, his gaze falling upon Yuan Tiangang's completely white sideburns.

"You violated the taboos to deduce heavenly secrets, and consequently shaved off another portion of your lifespan," he remarked. "By now, you shouldn't have much time left."

His words struck like a flash of lightning, snapping Luo Mingxian back to his senses. Looking up, he saw that Yuan Tiangang's expression had already returned to normal, as if this matter was utterly inconsequential by comparison.

"I have already seen all of the Central Plains, and I have caught glimpses of the Heavenly Dao. Heaven and earth both rest within my heart; I have no regrets left to speak of."

Yuan Tiangang shook his head with a slight smile. "Since Brother Zhou happens to have returned, you can help me erect my gravestone when the time comes. If anyone else carves my deeds, they might miss some details."

"Is that so?" Zhou Qing said, supporting his chin. "I was actually planning to extend your life. Since you've put it this way, I shall grant your wish—find a plot of land and get yourself buried."

His voice was not loud, but to the two people in the room, it sounded like a thunderclap.

Before Yuan Tiangang could speak, Luo Mingxian cried out in shock first, "Senior, you... you can heal the Celestial Master?!"

If the passing of the Celestial Master was no different from the sky collapsing for the Heavenly Bureau, then Zhou Qing's words were nothing short of mending the firmament. For a moment, his fingers trembled with excitement, and he ultimately failed to restrain himself from speaking out.

He had already guessed the identity of someone capable of making the Celestial Master act in such a manner, but as a junior, it was improper for him to ask directly, so he could only use the general address of "Senior."

"I am not particularly skilled in medicine," Zhou Qing raised his eyes and said. "However, didn't his lifespan shorten due to the backlash of heavenly secrets? Since that is the case, one simply needs to replenish the aura that was devoured by the heavens."

Silence fell over the room once more. If the previous quietness stemmed from shock, this time it was due to sheer bewilderment.

Replenish the aura devoured by the heavens? Every single word made sense on its own, but why did they cease to make any sense when strung together?

"You..." Yuan Tiangang had barely uttered half a word when he saw Zhou Qing flip his palm over, causing an object to materialize in the center of his hand.

It was a walnut.

If any resident from the Jianguo Road residential area had been present, they would have recognized it instantly as the walnut he constantly twirled in his hands.

With a flick of Zhou Qing's fingertip, the walnut traced an arc through the air and landed precisely in Yuan Tiangang's palm.

"Eat it."

Yuan Tiangang lowered his gaze to look at the walnut resting in his palm. It appeared to have been fondled and polished for so long that its surface had developed a glossy sheen.

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At first glance, the walnut looked utterly unremarkable, completely indistinguishable from any ordinary nut. Yet as Yuan Tiangang gazed upon it, his pupils contracted ever so slightly.

All things in heaven and earth contain an inner aura. The heavier the aura, the greater the karma, and the more immense the worldly changes it could induce.

As a master of divination arts, he had met countless people throughout his life—from royalty and nobles blessed by destiny to heaven-shaking, earth-shattering cultivators and mighty figures—he had witnessed the absolute peaks of the mortal world.

Yet in front of this single walnut kernel, the karma carried by those supreme prodigies instantly became as insignificant as a drop in the ocean.

The aura of heaven and earth had been kneaded into this tiny fruit kernel, an act almost equivalent to condensing an entire ocean into a single droplet of water. That profound and majestic karma resembled a bottomless black hole whose edges could not be seen at a single glance.

How on earth had he managed to forge such an item?

No, to put it more accurately... how could such a thing even exist in this world?

Yuan Tiangang exchanged a gaze with Zhou Qing, who was casually toying with a Go stone, wearing a nonchalant expression as if he had truly just offered him an ordinary walnut to eat.

Yuan Tiangang pondered for a moment, then pinched the walnut between two fingers. It cracked open, revealing the kernel within, whereupon he swallowed the kernel down without the slightest hesitation.

All movement suddenly subsided. A violent yet silent transformation radiated outward from the tiny chamber.

Luo Mingxian, watching from the side, widened his eyes. His level of cultivation was insufficient to perceive the specific details of this change; he could only sense that the Celestial Master's aura was expanding rapidly at that very moment, swirling like a vortex as the energies of heaven and earth converged toward that single point.

This was neither resurrection from the dead, nor the healing of injuries, but rather the return of an aura that had been stripped away from the body back to its rightful place—much like pouring spilled water back into a cup.

Directing the forces of heaven and earth!

Within the span of just a few breaths, the decayed aura completely faded away, and his white sideburns were dyed black strand by strand. When all those transformations finally ceased, the figure sitting before the chessboard was once again a scholar with flowing black hair.

Under the nearly dazed gaze of the disciple standing beside him, Yuan Tiangang slowly raised his hand. The wrinkles on the back of his hand had vanished entirely, leaving his skin as smooth and delicate as an infant's.

"It's a bit too early to bury you now."

Opposite him, Zhou Qing lowered the hand that had been supporting his cheek and gave a casual wave.

"Go on and live for another thousand years."

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