Five Frozen Centuries

The Leviathan’s biological battleship had already entered the Star Path. They then started moving toward the next star system. The three-month journey was not considered long.

In the body of the Leviathan’s biological battleship was a medium-sized hole with land, bamboo forests, huts, stone tables, and artificial suns shining high above.

On either side of a stone table sat a man and an egg. On the stone table was a chessboard. The man and the egg were playing chess.

Little Xuanyue was sitting on Wei Huo’s shoulder. She was watching the two Mythical creatures play chess with each other with her eyes wide open. The Mythical snake had woken up as well. It was immortal, but it had turned into an egg. It had retained all its memories and it planned to start over.

“I plan to take another evolutionary path this time. I don’t plan on growing my body blindly.” A voice came from the egg.

After it said that, a black chess piece—a pawn—automatically took a step forward.

Wei Huo moved the red ‘Minister’ piece and said, “Mythical creatures sure live extravagantly. You can start over whenever you feel like it.”

As the two of them were talking, Chen Xuanyue walked over from afar. She approached Wei Huo and said, “Everything is done.”

Wei Huo had made her build a mechanical core and a robot-manufacturing factory in the Leviathan’s body. The Leviathan was huge, and they had too few people. It was impossible for them to do everything by themselves.

Wei Huo nodded and said, “Go.”

He had asked Chen Xuanyue to watch the chess game, but the level of chess between the man and the egg was not high. One of them had just started playing, while the other was a beginner.

“Are you confused?” the egg asked Chen Xuanyue.

Little Xuanyue swayed her legs and looked at Chen Xuanyue. At that moment, Chen Xuanyue said, “I don’t understand… Mythical creatures can absorb spiritual power indefinitely to get stronger. They can even cut themselves off from everything and start over. Is this considered going against the heavens? Will the heavens punish you and stop you?”

The snake egg said, “Wei Huo, how do you think we should explain this to her?”

Wei Huo said, “The universe doesn’t care.”

The snake egg agreed and said, “Yes, the universe doesn’t care.”

Chen Xuanyue could not understand. She had always believed that cultivation was heaven-defying, especially at the Mythical stage. Mythical creatures had an unlimited lifespan and could obtain unlimited cosmic resources. If they were so heaven-defying, the heavens should be punishing them.

The snake egg said, “Wei Huo has been sitting there for 13,000 years. He has never cared what those Atlanteans will do.”

Wei Huo replied, “Yes.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Xuanyue understood that the universe did not matter, nor did the Mythical stage. It was impossible for them to be killed by existences below the Mythical stage, so they did not care.

The man and the egg continued playing chess. Although their standards were not high at all and they even made many childish mistakes, Chen Xuanyue watched them carefully. These were two Mythical creatures playing chess, so she believed that there was something special about the two of them. However, she could not tell what.

Then, she heard Little Xuanyue ask, “Why is Chinese Chess called Xiangqi?”

The snake egg said, “The word ‘Xiang’ sounds like the word ‘similar’. It means that this is something akin to a chess game. Since there’s no name to use, it’s called ‘Xiangqi’.”

Wei Huo nodded and said, “That makes sense.”

Chen Xuanyue was speechless.

Although she was not older than the man and the egg, she was more familiar with the origins of chess than the two of them. Her chess skills were even higher than theirs. However, at that moment, she wondered if this was some other kind of representation of the Mythical stage. Perhaps it was referring to the way one could enter the Mythical stage?

Then, she heard the snake egg say, “I was just guessing. After all, I’ve only been learning Chinese Chess for two days.”

However, naive Little Xuanyue asked, “Then why is Go called ‘Go’ and not ‘Black and White’?”

The snake egg thought about it for a moment and said, “Indeed, Go is divided into black and white pieces. Black and white are intertwined and mixed together. It’s like the Dao of Yin and Yang. I think it should be called Dao Chess.”

Wei Huo said, “I think it should be called Life and Death Chess.”

Chen Xuanyue was silent. She had been trying to figure out their conversation, but she could not understand the logic behind it.

Wei Huo asked her, “Why aren’t you talking?”

Chen Xuanyue was a little stunned. Moments later, she said, “What should I say?”

The snake egg said, “Say whatever you want. Tell me your opinion.”

Chen Xuanyue was stunned. My opinion? Does my opinion matter?

Moments later, Chen Xuanyue said, “Isn’t a wall famous because it can surround the enemy and thus destroy them?”

The snake egg said, “That’s a limited viewpoint.”

Wei Huo said, “That’s not your opinion. That’s someone else’s opinion.”

Chen Xuanyue felt a little wronged. You are the ones who asked me to say it.

The snake egg said, “Mythical creatures aren’t that terrifying. You can treat me as an ordinary egg.”

Chen Xuanyue was speechless.

Can normal eggs speak?

Wei Huo said, “There’s no need to be too restrained. A real Mythical creature might not be able to escape the seven emotions and six desires. Immortals who don’t seem to have any emotions are most likely faking it.”

Chen Xuanyue, who was emboldened, said, “Since we’re going to let our thoughts run wild, there’s no name for Go. This is because we learned the words black and white, Dao, and life and death in our later years. In my opinion, this is called ‘Smack Chess’ because a chess piece will make a ‘smacking’ sound when it lands.”

Wei Huo and the snake egg looked at each other. The snake egg then said, “You have the potential to enter the Mythical stage.”

Wei Huo said, “Didn’t you choose to follow me to find out how to enter the Mythical stage? We told you today that the Mythical stage is nothing but that. There’s nothing mysterious about it.”

Little Xuanyue scratched her head. “These words sound familiar. I think I’ve heard them before.”

Wei Huo asked curiously, “Where did you hear them?”

Little Xuanyue widened her eyes and said, “Back in the Soaring Cloud City, in a place called a classroom, a person called a math teacher once said, ‘This is linear algebra. It’s nothing but that. It’s not difficult.'”

Wei Huo and the snake egg laughed. The snake egg said, “Little Xuanyue, I think you have a higher chance of becoming a Mythical creature. I remember that you brought me up from the bottom of the volcano. Why aren’t you afraid? After all, everyone who plans to enter the volcano ends up dying.”

Little Xuanyue said, “I know Wei Huo. He definitely won’t kill me. Why should I be afraid?”

The snake egg laughed and said, “It turns out that the way to enter the volcano is very simple. You only need to build a good relationship with Wei Huo, who is guarding the gate. The Atlanteans have been waiting for this for 13,000 years.”

Wei Huo told Chen Xuanyue, “Some things in this world are that simple. You just think too highly of them. The same applies to Mythical creatures.”