Chapter 3279: Fisherman

To Lu Yin’s words, Progenitor Xi replied, "I never planned on leaving. Dao Monarch Lu, regardless of your decision, I will remain here in the Heavens Sect."

"Take our guest somewhere to rest," Lu Yin ordered.

The Second Nightking stepped forward and offered a respectful bow. "Yes."

He gestured for Progenitor Xi to follow him.

The woman said nothing more and followed the Second Nightking.

She genuinely had no intention of leaving the Heavens Sect.

Lu Yin lowered his fishing rod. Progenitor Xi’s past was truly unexpected. He had assumed that she was an ancient powerhouse from his own megaverse and that she was someone of a similar age to the Three Realms and Six Daos. Instead, it turned out that she was from another megaverse entirely. She had wanted to implement a grand scheme where she deliberately exposed the Spirit Nidus’s location in order to instigate the Tianyuan Megaverse into a war against the Spirit Nidus and create some sort of three-way balance. Such individuals, who appeared calm and indifferent to things, were often the most cunning of all.

"Wang Wen, come play a game of chess with me."

Wang Wen looked up from a mountain inside the Heavens Sect and smiled. "Chess? Dao Monarch, you’ve never beaten me."

A short time later, Wang Wen arrived at the mountain behind the Heavens Sect. He and Lu Yin were sitting across from each other with a chessboard between them. They were about to play a game.

"Haha, all of these pieces are mine now! Dao Monarch, even after all these years, your chess skills still haven’t improved very much."

"I’m certainly far behind you, but that doesn’t mean that it will be easy for you to win. My pieces may be scattered, fighting on their own, and will lose eventually, but they won’t be defeated quickly. The countdown to defeat only slows the more one struggles."

"I don’t see it that way. The countdown to defeat never actually slows down. There’s just an invisible timer."

"One that I can’t see?"

"You may not be able to see it, but I can. Your pieces might each be fighting independently, but as soon as I capture and expose one of them, my own pieces will be exposed and vulnerable to yours, leading to a stalemate. In the end, not only will I fail to destroy you quickly, but you might also be able to drag things out even longer. You might even be able to capture some of my pieces. It’s not worth it."

"You want to drag things out?"

"I’ll still eventually win, won’t I? Still, Dao Monarch, you’re using a rather clever strategy. Where did you learn this? Mutual support and an overall balance—if one of your pieces is exposed, all of them are equally exposed."

"The world is a dangerous place. Anyone who is exposed will suffer because no one knows just how strong the hidden enemy might be. Look, I’ve already captured some of your pieces."

"But if you look at the entire board, the general direction to your defeat has never changed, whether you can see it or not. Dao Monarch, how long do you think you can drag this game out for?"

"So, do you think that I should keep playing this way?"

"Of course you should. If not, you would have already lost. If I get careless, you might even be able to turn the tables. Your strategy is well conceived. The ultimate outcome depends on how many pieces you’ve managed to keep hidden and how many of mine you are able to capture. Chess is unpredictable. All of a person’s thoughts can be revealed in a game. It’s an all-out confrontation that tests a player’s patience and resilience."

Lu Yin’s hand hovered over the board, but he did not make a move. His focus was fixed on a certain corner of the board, where a good number of his pieces were located. At first glance, Wang Wen’s pieces had clearly surrounded Lu Yin’s, but by capturing those pieces, Wang Wen would expose his own and open himself up to Lu Yin’s counterattack.

This hidden threat was the key to determining the game’s victor.

Had Wang Wen not seen this? That was impossible. He had to have seen it, which was why he had not yet moved in on Lu Yin’s pieces. However, Wang Wen would eventually have to move, but when and where? As Lu Yin observed the overall layout of the game, threats could be seen everywhere; where was the threat that Wang Wen’s had kept hidden?

"Dao Monarch, there are times when thinking too much can create a disadvantage. You could miss the greatest opportunity," Wang Wen said with a smirk. He looked quite satisfied as he observed Lu Yin.

Lu Yin glanced up at his opponent, but he said nothing. Instead, he made his move.

Lu Yin’s pieces were intentionally exposed. Wang Wen was forced to either capture a piece, which would expose Wang Wen’s own forces, or hold back, which would allow Lu Yin to determine where Wang Wen had hidden his threats.

Wang Wen stared at the chessboard, silently contemplating his next move.

During all the games the two men had played, Wang Wen had never needed more than five seconds to consider his move. The man was that confident in himself. However, at this moment, he fell deep into thought.

Lu Yin frowned. Could Wang Wen have no backup plans?

Wang Wen let out a breath as he fiddled with a chess piece. His eyes were bright as he looked at Lu Yin. "Dao Monarch, you’ve won this game."

Lu Yin was puzzled. "Did you really not see this?"

"I didn’t."

Lu Yin did not believe it for a moment.

Wang Wen said, "Honest, I didn’t. I genuinely underestimated you. Not in this game, but as a person.

"You’ve led humanity to victory over the Aeternals and are now the master of the entire megaverse. You should be proud of such an accomplishment and even arrogant, but instead, you restrain yourself and act as if you’ve enjoyed no such victory. Not only that, but you're also acting even more cautiously than ever before your victory. That's the reason for my loss.

"May I ask what happened?"

Wang Wen, as the Heavens Sect’s strategist, had helped Lu Yin countless times over the years, and was privy to a great deal of secret information. However, he had not been informed of True God’s goal of resetting the universe, the Spirit Nidus, or the secret individual that Lu Yin and others referred to as the Fated One. Such matters were connected to the deepest mysteries of the megaverse.

Lu Yin had asked Wang Wen to play a game of chess because he wanted to share this information.

The Origin Progenitor and Mister Mu were too far above the rest of the megaverse, and their perspectives were skewed. Lu Yin had now reached that same level. While he had started as a normal cultivator, he was no longer the same person.

Lu Yin needed Wang Wen to provide the perspective of a normal person on the situation. Although there were countless such people, Wang Wen was the one most suited for this particular task. He was exceptional at creating grand strategies and chasing after distant goals, which was the complete opposite of Wei Rong.

With the game of chess concluded, Lu Yin explained everything that had happened to Wang Wen.

The man grew increasingly stunned as he listened. "I always knew that humanity must have been keeping some kind of secret from the Heavens Sect era to the present, but I never thought that it would be so big. True God wants to reset the megaverse in order to become an Immortal? And then there’s the Spirit Nidus and the Consciousness Megaverse? Wow... that’s fascinating. Really fascinating."

Lu Yin sighed. "You only think that this is fascinating because you aren’t at the same level as the Origin Progenitor and the others. At their level, every decision that they make can lead to the life or death of our entire megaverse. Do you know how many lives are at stake? Including yours and mine?"

Wang Wen smiled brightly. "I get it now. You received some inspiration from Progenitor Xi. When one of two sides is at a clear disadvantage, it’s best to introduce a third party in order to create balance. That can buy some time, which might eventually lead to reversing the situation."

Lu Yin nodded. "It’s simple logic. There’s nothing complicated about it, but at our level, it’s hard to see such things. This is precisely the strategy that the Consciousness Megaverse is looking to employ."

"It’s a smart move. Since the Consciousness Megaverse can’t beat the Spirit Nidus, their only choice is to drag a third party into the conflict, and we’re that third party. Unfortunately for Progenitor Xi, she happened to see the Origin Progenitor’s domineering side, and she hesitated. That ultimately led to him being ambushed and the Heavens Sect being destroyed. It’s all destined.

"Fortunately, you rose to power, Dao Monarch, which has given Progenitor Xi hope. Still, no matter how we look at things, her Consciousness Megaverse is also an enemy."

Lu Yin agreed with this particular detail. As long as there was a chance, the Consciousness Megaverse wanted nothing more than for the Spirit Nidus and the Tianyuan Megaverse to tear each other apart. Progenitor Xi herself understood that it was impossible to hide such desires from Lu Yin.

Everything had been laid bare.

"What do you think we should do?" Lu Yin asked.

Wang Wen smiled. "Go with the flow."

Lu Yin raised an eyebrow. "Do nothing?"

"It’s useless to try to interfere. Can you go to the Consciousness Megaverse, Dao Monarch? Or even find the Spirit Nidus?"

"Progenitor Xi should be able to return to the Consciousness Megaverse."

"For the sake of her own megaverse, she will do all that she can to incite war between us and the Spirit Nidus. What we need to do is wait. Wait for war and for the Consciousness Megaverse to run out of options. Progenitor Xi was right about one thing: we aren't saints." Wang Wen chuckled and leaned closer to Lu Yin. "Dao Monarch, if the threat of the Spirit Nidus is eliminated, then the next threat will be the Consciousness Megaverse, right? They also want to reset our Tianyuan Megaverse, so why shouldn’t we do the same?"

Lu Yin’s eyes flashed dangerously as he looked at Wang Wen.

Wang Wen spread his hands in a gesture of innocence. "Don’t blame me for being ruthless. The Spirit Nidus must be incredibly powerful. They’re eager to conquer the Consciousness Megaverse, and are also targeting our Tianyuan Megaverse for a reason. It’s never wrong to try to make ourselves stronger. Besides, that’s not our megaverse, and we can simply move the humans there to somewhere safe."

Lu Yin looked away. He had not considered such an angle before, but Wang Wen was thinking far in the future. The idea of resetting both the Consciousness Megaverse and the Spirit Nidus would allow many of the Heavens Sect’s powerhouses to enter the Origin realm, including Lu Yin himself. On top of that, it was even possible that the Origin Progenitor and Mister Mu might be able to take another step forward, possibly even into the Immortal realm. That would be an incredible boon for the Heavens Sect.

However, such benefits would come at the cost of two megaverses.

Wang Wen had managed to clarify the situation. The Consciousness Megaverse, the Spirit Nidus, and the Tianyuan Megaverse were like three tantalizing fruits, each with its own guardian. Whoever managed to eat a fruit first would obtain the strength needed to take everything. Even if one of the three guardians did not want to eat any of the fruit, they could not trust the other guardians to similarly restrain themselves. As soon as one started eating, the other two were doomed to starve and get absolutely nothing.

It was impossible that no one would eat any of the fruit. The very nature of life itself was survival of the fittest. This was beyond any creature’s wisdom or control.

Inevitably, a fruit would be eaten, and the two losing guardians would be forced to take action.

Lu Yin had become one of those three guardians.

No.

Lu Yin suddenly realized something as he glanced at Wang Wen. He would not be the one to eat the fruit. The one actually capable of devouring the fruit was that invincible being hiding behind the Boundary Guardians, the one whom the Origin Progenitor referred to as the Fated One. That was the only one with the right to eat the fruit.

"If—just hypothetically—there’s some invincible being above all of us, what should we do?"

Wang Wen’s expression shifted. "’If?’"

Lu Yin nodded seriously. "If."

Wang Wen’s eyes flickered. There was a brief silence, during which he stared at the calm lake. "If a fisherman is starving and there’s only a single fish in the lake, and another starving fisherman arrives, what do you think the two fishermen will do?"

Of course, both people would try to eliminate the other in order to keep the fish for themselves. Lu Yin instantly thought of this, but he stayed silent.

Wang Wen left. He needed some time to digest everything that he had just heard from Lu Yin.

Lu Yin calmly sat by the lake. He stared at his fishing rod, lost in his own thoughts.