The Prodigies War

In the seventh round, the array deployed by Lin Xun caused the expressions of the old monsters present to transform into a mix of graveness and bewilderment.

Although they were quasi-Emperors who possessed a wealth of experience and extraordinary discernment ability, none of them were scholars of the rune arts.

When they gazed upon the formation, they could only feel it shrouded in fog, making it difficult to discern. They were unable to glimpse into the mysteries contained within.

The only way to learn more was to walk into the array and inspect it for themselves. However, this was a game of Go, and the array was an illusory construct derived from the Go stones. Hence, it was impossible for them to enter.

"To think that this young kid is already a true-blue dao rune founder!"

In this moment, the old monsters were certain that Lin Xun's attainment in the rune arts had reached the dao rune founder level!

It was a shocking realization.

Dao rune masters were further separated into the grandmaster and founder levels.

In the Ancient Wasteland Domain, a dao rune master would receive excellent treatment even from the ancient orthodoxies.

On the other hand, a dao rune grandmaster was an existence that might not appear even among a thousand dao rune masters. More often than not, the status of a dao rune grandmaster was high enough that even a sect master would have to show them respect.

As for a dao rune founder...they could only be said to be rarer than a unicorn horn or a phoenix feather.

In fact, it was difficult to find even a handful of them in the entire Ancient Wasteland Domain!

Ling Xiaozi, who had been stationed at the Great Emperor Pass for thousands of years, had helped repair innumerable large-scale arrays and defended against countless invasions.

Although his combat power might not be as high as some quasi-Emperors, he was an irreplaceable existence!

Therefore, the old monsters found it ridiculous when Lin Xun said he wanted to compete with Ling Xiaozi in Go. They felt that he was an ignorant fool who didn’t understand the immensity of heaven and earth.

Now, however, they were rendered speechless and shocked.

Regardless of his True Saint cultivation or his status as a junior, the singular fact that he was a dao rune founder was enough to command their respect!

Shun Ji’s eyes glowed at this realization. He would have already yelled out in excitement if it weren't for the unspoken rule of keeping silent while watching a Go match.

It felt like he had suddenly uncovered a rare and precious treasure!

"Where did this little one pop out from? Which clan is he from?"

The beautiful lady in purple couldn't help but transmit, "Such a young dao rune founder is far too rare. I want to make him my grandson-in-law..."

Shun Ji immediately returned to his senses. He awkwardly scratched his head and said, "Uh, I don't know either. I only know that he borrowed the Divine Apparatus Pavilion's power to come here in order to find Mister Shen."

The purple-clothed lady rolled her eyes and said, "You are too careless. A talent like him is almost impossible to find even in the entire Ancient Wasteland Domain. It isn’t right that you know nothing about him."

After a pause, she thoughtfully said, "However, from how the Divine Apparatus Pavilion willingly spent that much effort to send this child to the Great Emperor Pass, his identity can’t be ordinary."

Shun Ji was taken aback as realization dawned upon him.

It wasn’t easy to get to the Great Emperor Pass, and it was only possible to safely arrive here during certain special windows.

If it were any other time, even a quasi-Emperor would only survive the trip here one out of ten times!

Hence, it was certainly unusual for the Divine Apparatus Pavilion to go to such great lengths to send the kid here at this time.

"Regardless of who wins the match, I will be having a good talk with this boy later. I feel that he is a good match for my granddaughter."

The beautiful woman in purple smiled from ear to ear. Her eyes were full of kindness when she looked at Lin Xun, making her resemble a mother-in-law growing increasingly fond of her son-in-law the more she looked at him.

Of course, given the status of the purple-clothed lady, she could only match-make him as her grandson-in-law due to her overwhelming seniority.

Time steadily flowed past.

Ling Xiaozi found himself unable to make a move. His expression grew increasingly grave, and his back became straighter and straighter. There was no longer any trace of the calm and relaxed attitude he had at the beginning.

Instead, he looked as if he was facing a formidable enemy!

Everyone could see that Ling Xiaozi had encountered a great difficulty, which made the crowd of old monsters look at each other in surprise.

Was the kid really so formidable?

Even a rune founder wouldn’t be able to trap Ling Xiaozi in such a tight spot!

None of them knew that Zhu Yingkong, who was from the famous number one rune faction in the nine domains, the Torch Dragon Clan, had suffered a miserable defeat at Lin Xun’s hands.

None of them knew that the rune arts Lin Xun practiced had no relation to the various rune inheritances in the Ancient Wasteland Domain.

Because, the rune arts were imparted to him by Mister Lu Boya, who had originated from the other side of the cosmos!

In short, it wasn’t that Lin Xun had surpassed Ling Xiaozi in the rune arts, but that his rune arts were far too unusual.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

To the old monsters, watching Go for three days was nothing.

The eyes of Ling Xiaozi, who had been deep in thought with a frown on his face, suddenly brightened and he said with a smile, "So that's how it is!"

There was an exhilarated look on his face as if he had suddenly seen the light.

Then, he twirled a Go stone, placed it, and broke the array...

All of this was done in one swift motion!

With a bang, the large array on the Kun Palace position disappeared into thin air.

Lin Xun couldn't help but feel admiration for Ling Xiaozi. He was absolutely the most talented and adept rune founder Lin Xun had met to date.

The ingenious means utilized to break the array also left Lin Xun inwardly amazed.

The group of old monsters felt relieved at this moment.

The seventh round had ended in their victory!

The older one was, the wiser they became. Ling Xiaozi was indeed Ling Xiaozi!

Shun Ji’s heart rose in his chest due to worry. There were only two rounds left and Ling Xiaozi had gained the upper hand with this victory, achieving a total of four wins.

Lin Xun had to win the next round. Otherwise, there would be no need to play the ninth round.

If he lost the eighth round, it would mean that Ling Xiaozi won another round, making his total victories five. At that point, there would no longer be any way for Lin Xun to surpass his opponent even if he won the ninth round.

Therefore, the eighth round was undoubtedly the most crucial one for him.

"Young friend, please!"

Ling Xiaozi took a deep breath and deployed the rune array he had created that he was most proud of.

It was the first time he had used this array in the Nine Palaces Go Game!

In other words, Lin Xun had pressured Ling Xiaozi so much that he was forced to bring out his trump card.

Omm!

As Ling Xiaozi made his move, a magnificent and boundless array emerged at the Dui Palace position.

A burst of exclamations quickly followed as the originally quiet atmosphere began to grow tense.

The old monsters could see that this array was akin to a miraculous work of nature!

Shun Ji was furious, and he inwardly cursed, "Ling Xiaozi, you old bastard, why are you being so overbearing in a Go match against a junior?! Do you no longer care about the demeanor of an elder?"

The beautiful lady in purple pursed her lips into a smile and transmitted, "You should be happy for the boy. To have made Ling Xiaozi go all out, even if the boy loses, his reputation won’t be hurt."

Shun Ji was stunned before he sighed.

He naturally understood that the old monsters present would change their attitudes and views even if Lin Xun lost.

However, now that things had reached this point, how could Shun Ji bear to watch Lin Xun lose?

It wasn’t because Shun Ji cared about the treasure but because he just didn’t wish to see Lin Xun defeated.

Lin Xun was unaware of all this. In such a competition, the biggest taboo was to be distracted, especially at such a critical moment.

At the moment, his heart was engulfed by an indescribable thrill as if his fighting spirit had been completely ignited. Despite this, his mind was clear and focused like never before, with all of his thoughts concentrated on the eighth round.

Ling Xiaozi’s array was truly powerful!

It was definitely the most obscure and marvelous array Lin Xun had ever encountered. It appeared to be naturally formed and impossible to breach.

However, the more this was the case, the greater his desire to overcome it.

As time passed, Lin Xun remained motionless like a statue; sometimes frowning, sometimes pondering, but never showing any dejection or panic.

Ling Xiaozi couldn’t help but inwardly sigh at this sight. The younger generation would indeed surpass the older generation in time. At first, he had wanted to give the other party some guidance and even thought about teaching him a lesson so that he would know he should back down.

Now, however, Ling Xiaozi felt that his original thoughts had been a little too arrogant.

The methods displayed by Lin Xun had astonished Ling Xiaozi, and he no longer dared to treat the former as a junior.

However…the array he had deployed for the eighth round wasn’t that easy to break!

With this thought, Ling Xiaozi's lips curled slightly to form an almost imperceptible smug smile.

Three days later.

Lin Xun's brows were tightly knitted together.

Five days later.

Lin Xun appeared to be lost in a trance.

The group of old monsters silently observed, gradually realizing that Lin Xun had encountered genuine difficulty.

Many old monsters sighed. "That oldy Ling Xiaozi’s mastery of the rune arts truly makes one sigh in admiration."

Of course, Lin Xun was no slouch either. Moreover, he was still very young and had astounding potential. As such, he would undoubtedly surpass Ling Xiaozi in the future!

Shun Ji couldn't bear to watch any further. It was incredibly taxing to study an array and if one became too absorbed, one’s state of heart might become damaged which would easily lead to qi deviation.

He felt that Lin Xun had already proven himself and demonstrated outstanding abilities. Hence, he shouldn’t care about a short-term loss.

"You should give up if you can’t manage. There’s no shame in that..."

Just as Shun Ji was about to say this, he saw Lin Xun, who had been sitting still for many days like a statue, suddenly pick up a Go stone.

In an instant, the old monsters’ pupils focused as tension filled their hearts.

Ling Xiaozi was also taken aback. Could the boy have deduced a solution?

Meanwhile, Lin Xun’s movements didn’t pause for even a second. After picking up the Go stone, he placed it down without any hesitation.

A move with no regrets!

Pah!

A crisp sound rang out.

To the old monsters, however, the move was akin to a bolt out of the blue and caused them to tremble.

They soon saw the array deployed by Ling Xiaozi at the Dui Palace position pop layer by layer like bubbles, before finally disappearing amidst a flash of colorful brilliance.

He...he had succeeded in breaking the array?

Total silence dominated the area, and everyone was shocked!