Chapter 1939: Starpiece Region

It was impossible for the Ce family to willingly allow Lu Yin to observe their Immovable Chessboard, so would he need to follow his senior brother’s example? However, it was also impossible for Lu Yin to imitate the Chief Justice’s achievement at the moment.

Yōu Kexin left, and Yōu Lao continued to paddle the boat along the Great Abyss while Lu Yin sat alone and stared out at the river drifting by.

The Starpiece Region was a rather unique place. The Ce family had controlled this place for countless years, and they had arranged the stars in the region like chess pieces, which made the entire Starpiece Region look like a chessboard. No matter from which angle one looked at it, the Starpiece Region looked like a neatly arranged chess game.

The further back one observed the Seven Courts’ territory from, the more amazingly bizarre the Seven Courts appeared.

The Yōu clan’s Great Abyss looked like a giant mirror hanging in space that brilliantly reflected all light. The Ku family’s Voidsoul Region glimmered with lightning, and the Ce family’s Starpiece Region looked like a chessboard that had been set up for giants to play with. The Hui family’s Nature’s Manifestation was a mountain range that held countless golden meteors that flashed through the area. The Xia family’s mainland looked like a sword dominating space, completely untouchable. As for the Xie family’s Bone Plains, they were covered with bones and filled with a dark energy.

The Seven Courts surrounded Progenitor Chen's Mausoleum, and together, they were the most terrifying power in the southern region of the Neoverse.

***

On a planet within the Starpiece Region, Zhu San was drinking while feeling depressed. By now, his vision had already gone blurry from the alcohol. He was in a brothel, and there were beautiful women everywhere, but not a single one of them paid any attention to Zhu San.

At this time, sounds of excitement could be heard throughout the entire brothel. In a courtyard in the rear, beautiful women flooded into a room and then filled the area outside the room as well. All of them gazed into the room with bright eyes.

Several young gentlemen with humble expressions had entered that room, though it was impossible for them to hide the arrogance that filled their eyes. After entering the brothel, they each put their arms around two beautiful women and began to laugh and play around, inciting the envy of the other clients nearby.

"That's Qian Ye, the leader of the Fantasy Traders Co. He's a very impressive person who is considered a genius as he was able to help the Ce family establish the Illusionary Business Alliance. Eventually, he managed to gain total control of the Fantasy Traders Co.," someone commented without any attempt to keep their voice quiet.

When one of the young men with his arms around two beautiful women heard this comment, a triumphant smile appeared on his face, and he started acting more and more entitled. It was coupled with the lovely sweet nothings that were whispered into his ears by the ladies.

"There’s Qian Ye, who heads the Fantasy Traders Co., Zi Shu, the director of the Yonderlight Finance, and Ming Tai, who married the Sealed Qi World’s princess. Those three men are some of the most outstanding geniuses in the entire Ce family. My Ce family focuses primarily on one’s mastery of Combat Doctrine rather than overwhelming strength. Obtaining the greatest advantage for the least effort is what’s appreciated, and those three have taken total control of the Fantasy Traders Co., the Yonderlight Finance, and the Sealed Qi World for the family. They also regard each other as true brothers, so even young master Ce Jiu needs to be respectful to them if he sees them."

"It’s true. Even though the Ce family has hundreds of thousands of outside surnames, too few people can compare to these three’s accomplishments. However, I’ve heard that there are other people from families with even more impressive histories who are planning big things."

"That’s nothing more than a rumor. Who’d believe that? Those three have accomplished everything without using any of the Ce family’s resources, which is the best that anyone can possibly achieve. They were also only able to do that much because all three of them supported each other. But look at that drunk! Zhu San’s another person with an outside surname, as he’s from the Zhu family. He was also supposed to improve the family, but he failed to grab some city in the Outerverse before he came running back here.”

"That’s Zhu San? I’ve heard that the Ce family had high expectations for him and that they even allowed him to learn Combat Doctrine, but despite that, he still failed? It was even in some trash heap like the Outerverse, which is really embarrassing."

"I heard that he went into Burial Garden but fled almost immediately! He’s as timid as a mouse! In comparison, Mr. Qian Ye and the others are too impressive."

Qian Ye, who had been walking into the room with two beautiful women in his arms, suddenly froze and turned around. He saw the already drunk Zhu San sitting at a table, and something flickered through Qian Ye’s eyes. Then, he turned back, the two women still in his arms, and walked towards Zhu San.

His two friends glanced at each other but followed behind Qian Ye.

In just a moment, the air around Zhu San had a heavy lingering scent of perfume.

"Brother Zhu, it's depressing to drink all alone. Why don’t we join you?" Qian Ye sat down across from Zhu San, looking at the drunk young man with a great deal of interest.

Zhu San's eyes were hazy, and he couldn’t even see clearly. "Who are you?"

"Brother Zhu’s so drunk that he can’t even recognize the three of us!" Zi Shu laughed loudly as he walked behind Zhu San, grabbed him by the hair, and lifted his head up.

Pain erupted in the back of Zhu San’s neck, and he reflexively slapped out at Zi Shu. The young man’s eyes grew fierce, and he moved to dodge the attack while throwing out a kick in response. Although they were both Explorers and Zhu San was quite drunk, he was able to easily deflect Zi Shu's kick by utilizing Combat Doctrine.

Zhu San turned around and raised a finger. He moved his finger in an odd pattern before thrusting it at Zi Shu.

The young man’s pupils shrank sharply, as he did not know where to even begin to evade this attack. It felt as though it covered every path he could take, and no matter what he did, he could not dodge.

At that moment, Ming Tai pulled out a strange, gun-like weapon and shot it at Zhu San. Zhu San's body froze, and his fingertips stopped just before they touched Zi Shu's forehead as they were unable to move any closer.

"I’ve locked down his movements! Zi Shu, are you okay?" Ming Tai asked.

There was an ugly expression on Zi Shu's face as he had been almost instantly taken out of the fight. He stared at Zhu San, who was still drunk, and Zi Shu could not contain his rage. He kicked Zhu San and sent him flying.

Zhu San violently slammed into a wall and spat out a mouthful of blood. He then continued vomiting after that, which caused everyone nearby to step back in disgust.

After purging all the alcohol from his stomach, Zhu San leaned against the wall, finally sober. At the same time, he was overcome by an incredible pain from his abdomen.

He held his belly as he looked forward.

Qian Ye, Zi Shu, and Mister Ming Tai were also staring down at Zhu San on the floor.

"Brother Zhu, are you finally awake?" Qian Ye asked as he stared at Zhu San with cold eyes.

Zhu San could not understand what was happening.

Zi Shu sneered. "It looks like I’ll need to kick you again."

These words instantly snapped Zhu San out of his daze. He wiped the blood away from the corner of his mouth and struggled to his feet. He then stared straight at Zi Shu. "Did you kick me?"

Zi Shu remained completely unfazed.

Ming Tai casually replied, "Brother Zhu, you’re drunk and have been causing trouble in this brothel. We didn't want your Zhu family's reputation ruined, so we made sure to stop you."

He then loudly asked the nearby people, "Isn’t that so?"

Nearly everyone quickly responded, "That’s right! Zhu San, you should be thanking these three young masters, as without them, your Zhu family would have been humiliated."

"That's right! Thank these three young masters, and then stop making trouble."

"What an embarrassment."

"He’s still not thanking them…"

…

Despite being drunk, Zhu San had never fallen unconscious, and hearing the people around him talking had jogged the young man’s memory of exactly what had just happened. A cold light flickered in the depths of his eyes as he glanced at the three young men in front of him, but then he simply turned around and walked out of the room.

The trio glanced at each other, indicating that they did not want to just let Zhu San off.

The truth was that the three of them had been very optimistic when they returned to the Ce family from the outside world as they had believed themselves to be the most outstanding members of their generation.

But then, they had met Zhu San.

Even though Zhu San had failed to capture Millions City and was considered a loser, his personal strength was quite impressive. At least to them. His mastery of Combat Doctrine, and more importantly, the first moves of the Yinyang Trisage Technique was not something that the other three could stand up to. It also had to be mentioned that the first portion of the Yinyang Trisage Technique that Zhu San had acquired was considered important enough to compensate for his failure to take control of Millions City. In fact, Zhu San had even been rewarded for his contribution.

This was something that all three of them had always held a grudge about.

The three of them were from side branches of the Ce family that possessed outside surnames, but their families still far surpassed Zhu San’s. However, Zhu San was the only surviving member of his family, which meant that they were not allowed to do anything to him. As time passed, Zhu San had remained a low profile.

Still, regardless of how low a profile Zhu San maintained, it was undeniable that he surpassed the three young masters. Combat Doctrine was a battle technique that was restricted to those with the Ce surname, and yet Zhu San had learned it, which drove the other three crazy with jealousy.

The trio raced out of the brothel and moved to block Zhu San’s path.

"Zhu San, we just helped you out, so why are you leaving like this?" Zi Shu asked angrily.

Zhu San stared back with cold eyes. "What do you want?"

The three young masters glanced at each other, but before they were able to say anything, Zhu San continued, saying, "How about I share Combat Doctrine with you?"

The three were momentarily startled, but then they almost instantly became ecstatic.

Zhu San mockingly asked, "I’m willing to teach it to you, but do you dare to try to learn it?"

These words caused the trio’s faces to all change, and they started struggling internally. Did they dare learn Combat Doctrine? Of course not! Only members of the actual Ce family were allowed to learn it. But in that case, why had Zhu San been allowed to learn it? All three of them were eager to learn Combat Doctrine as only those who had received the technique could be considered true members of the Ce family. The three of them would be able to use Combat Doctrine to imitate others’ battle techniques, which would allow them to rise as high as they could possibly wish.

"If you don’t have the guts to learn it, then just get out of my way." Zhu San shoved through the three men, clearly intending to leave.

"This bastard’s just messing with us!" Zi Shu realized. Zhu San had publicly offered to teach them Combat Doctrine, but how could they ever agree? Doing so would be just asking to die! Clearly, Zhu San had never actually intended to teach them a thing.

Qian Ye and Ming Tai also finally reacted, and all three of the young masters became furious at Zhu San’s trickery.

"Let’s go!" Even as they spoke, all three attacked Zhu San.

Zhu San could defeat any one of the three in a one on one, but when they teamed up, he was doomed. After all, the three saw each other as brothers, and they cooperated very well together. On top of that, Zhu San had already been injured, and not even Combat Doctrine and the Yinyang Trisage Technique could compensate for the difference in the two sides’ strength.

The three young masters had been operating in the Neoverse for their entire lives, which meant that their base level started at a much higher level than Zhu San’s.

"You piece of trash! So what if you picked up Combat Doctrine? I heard that you were tricked into wearing women's clothing while you were in the Outerverse. How humiliating for my Ce family!" Zhu San was blown away by a kick.

Zi Shu then stepped forward and viciously stomped down on Zhu San with a foot. "Trash! Let me see you wear women's clothing again! Put it on! I want you to act as a woman in this brothel!"

"That sounds good! You struggled and fought to complete your task, but unfortunately, you’re too stupid," Ming Tai mocked as he slapped Zhu San’s face.

Everyone in the street watched, but no one moved to help Zhu San.

Given its location in the Starpiece Region, a large number of people with outside surnames lived on this planet. Of them, Qian Ye’s little trio were considered the most outstanding youths among those with outside surnames, and they even had their families’ elders supporting them. On the other hand, Zhu San had no one aside from himself, so how could he ever be considered the three young masters’ opponent? This was why no one dared to intervene.

Zhu San coughed up blood as anger and hatred built up within his heart. He had not cared about being cast aside after he had outlived his usefulness to the Ce family. He had entered Burial Garden in an attempt to open a new future, but he had been chased down and nearly killed before running into Lu Yin. He had been left with no choice but to leave Burial Garden in terror. Looking back at that moment, Zhu San felt that it would have been better for him to have remained in Burial Garden than return to be bullied in the Starpiece Region.

As the beating continued, a massive ruler1 fell from the sky, knocking Qian Ye and the other two back. The weapon released a powerful aura that instantly suppressed the trio to the point where they nearly spat out blood.

"Who?" The three looked up, only to realize that a young man had appeared at some point in time, and he was standing in the sky above them while looking down at them all with cold eyes.

The three were stunned when they saw who it was in the sky, and they quickly bowed. “We greet the young master."

Everyone on the entire street quickly followed suit and bowed as well. “We greet the young master."

"We greet the young master."

…

Ce Jiu had shown up. No one had ever imagined that he would ever appear in this place, as no one from the Ce family usually visited this planet, not to mention Ce Jiu, who was the Ce family’s inheritor.

[1] This is referring to a Chinese ruler, which is basically a bladeless sword like this. ☜