Chapter 437: We Didn’t Lose Either

“Swords hidden in the soul! Swords hidden in the soul!”

“Mr. Gu!”

“You actually dared to hide such a mighty Hongchen Swords within your soul—weren’t you afraid of killing yourself first?”

In the sky full of ashes, came Heaven Arbiter Ashen’s horrified voice.

Only now did he finally understand why Mr. Gu had frequently wandered in spirit over the past twenty years, seemingly detached from the chessboard.

He had originally thought the other man was simply of a lofty state of mind. Who could have guessed he was suppressing sword intent the whole time, planning to shower him with a storm of blades!

With the shattering of the Dao of Chess, Heaven Arbiter Ashen lost its protection—yet also broke free from its constraints.

Unwilling to sit and await his doom, he launched a proactive strike, shrouding Gu Ning’an in the ashes filled with an aura of destruction.

Although Gu Ning’an’s soul was now extremely fragile, Heaven Arbiter Ashen didn’t actually think he could annihilate the man completely, body and soul.

After all, if he could have killed Gu Ning’an, he would’ve done it long ago—why wait until now and plan all of this?

The reason he turned from defense to offense was purely in hopes of disrupting Gu Ning’an’s rhythm before the man made his move. If he could shake Gu Ning’an’s stance and suppress the Hongchen Swords’ light within him, perhaps he’d gain a sliver of hope.

It happened in a flash. The storm formed from the Ashen Heavenly Dao surged like a harbinger of the apocalypse, bringing with it endless deathly silence and power of annihilation, crashing toward Gu Ning’an with terrifying force.

Within the ash, it felt as if all things in the world were coming to an end—causing utter despair.

Yet, that cracked and fractured soul merely pressed down lightly with one hand, and nearly a hundred crimson sword lights tore through the sky like the first light of dawn, searing hot and razor-sharp, rushing straight into the endless ash.

The crimson lights wove into a dense net of swords in midair. Each beam gleamed with brilliance, as if it could sever every shackle and obstacle in existence.

They pierced through the ash at lightning speed, instantly shredding the storm into countless fragments.

Under the glow of those sword lights, the fragmented ash seemed even more powerless and brittle.

Wherever the sword lights passed, the ash scattered like smoke, vanishing without a trace.

What caught Gu Ning’an’s attention was that hidden within the storm of the Ashen Dao was a light orb filled with cursed energy.

At first, he thought it was another hidden move by Heaven Arbiter Ashen, but when he found that the orb was even harder to destroy than the fractured Heavenly Dao itself, he couldn’t help but feel a tinge of suspicion.

Crack!

When the final speck of ash was shredded by the Hongchen Swords, all was finally settled.

A remnant of Heaven Arbiter Ashen’s consciousness slowly emerged, reforming into a human figure.

He stood where he was, watching Gu Ning’an reabsorb his fractured soul into his body, his eyes full of emotion.

“Mr. Gu, this round—you’ve won… but it doesn’t seem like we’ve lost either…”

With those final words, the last trace of Heaven Arbiter Ashen’s will shattered completely and vanished into the heavens.

Boom!

The jade tower once isolated by Heaven Arbiter Ashen—furthest to the right—let out a thunderous roar. The entire structure shook violently, groaning as though letting out a final lament to the world.

The next moment, the jade tower, once wreathed in celestial light and Dao resonance, collapsed into ruins.

This marked the complete fall of yet another wielder of the Heavenly Dao.

Yet Gu Ning’an cared little for the tower’s fall. What truly caught his attention was that at the spot where Heaven Arbiter Ashen dissipated, a book had appeared!

Even the Heavenly Dao itself could not remain under the light of the Hongchen Sword—how could a mere book have survived?

Could it be…?

With a strange thought rising in his heart, Gu Ning’an stepped forward and picked up the book to examine it.

The book still carried a trace of that same cursed aura seen within the ashen storm.

But whether it was the cover or the pages, the book was completely blank—no ink, no words.

Almost by instinct, Gu Ning’an retrieved the four Path of Dao books he had once bought from a vendor and an old cave.

Yet when he looked, all four books had lost their writing.

His brows furrowed.

Considering what Heaven Arbiter Ashen had said just before his death—“we didn’t lose either”—he began to suspect that the disappearance of the Path of Dao texts’ writing might have been the intent of the entire Heavenly Arbiters.

Path of Dao… curses… Worldly Qi…

The Path of Dao, once circulated among the people, was said to be a book that could be cultivated in the early years—but later, it was reduced to mere fiction.

Given the strange curse that enveloped it…

What if—it wasn’t that the Path of Dao was inherently uncultivable, but that someone cursed it, turning it into a story no one could cultivate?

If they had wanted to destroy this method completely, as Heaven Arbiters they could have simply wielded great power to obliterate it from the world.

So why go to such trouble to curse it?

Unless—the Path of Dao could not be destroyed. Then their only choice would be to curse it, making it inaccessible to nearly everyone.

The content recorded in the Path of Dao resembled a travel journal more than a formal text on techniques. There were no detailed spell descriptions, and yet—its breadth was vast. Even a single journey recorded within could allow Gu Ning’an to comprehend hundreds or thousands of spells.

“A journey… a travelogue…” Gu Ning’an murmured, “Traveling the world, beholding the mortal realm, writing this record, condensing techniques from its essence…”

“The techniques of the Path of Dao all stem from the mortal world!”

Worldly Qi could sever the Heavenly Dao—what did that mean?

It meant that even those so-called True Immortals from beyond the heavens—the Heaven Arbiters—could be killed.

It meant that in the eyes of mortals, the Heaven Arbiters were nothing more than overpowered cultivators.

If anyone could cultivate the Path of Dao, then everyone would have the chance to slay the ones who wielded the heavens.

Yet, if only Worldly Qi could erase the essence of the Path of Dao—did that not mean everything, starting with Shi Yi’s path, was designed to let him ascend to White Jade Capital and personally erase the Path of Dao?

And the price for doing so… was the fall of one Heaven Arbiter, and the destruction of three Heavenly Daos!

Could a Heaven Arbiter, such an exalted being, truly sacrifice his life just to achieve this?

Based on Heaven Arbiter Ashen’s behavior over the past twenty years, Gu Ning’an did not believe he was someone who would make that kind of noble sacrifice.

Which meant—it was very likely Heaven Arbiter Ashen himself didn’t even know that the cursed Path of Dao had been hidden inside the Ashen Heavenly Dao.

Only after it was destroyed did the book appear!

And recalling the expression on Heaven Arbiter Ashen’s face when he said “we didn’t lose,” it now seemed to imply that the destruction of the Path of Dao was their true goal all along.

“Heaven Arbiter Mou…”

“Heavenly Dao of Strategy (Scheme)…”

Gu Ning’an looked toward the remaining six jade towers.

From beginning to end, none of the six Heaven Arbiters had made an appearance. Perhaps they could not, or perhaps, alongside Heaven Arbiter Mou, they had sacrificed Heaven Arbiter Ashen—just to trick Gu Ning’an into destroying the Path of Dao.

He took one step forward, arriving before the six remaining towers. With a cupped fist and a smile, he said:

“Gentlemen, I shall return another day for a visit. When that time comes… you won’t be able to hide.”

With those parting words, Gu Ning’an once more stood before the gate of White Jade Capital. By now, the Heavenly Gate was closed. Daoist Ling Xi and the Illusory Heavenly Dao—were nowhere to be seen.

“Fellow Daoist Ling Xi, I hope you win… If you lose—then I’ll have to slay one more…”