I Truly Am The Villian

Chapter 1208: Chapter 1207: Playing Chess, Provocation, I’ll Practice with You

He let out a long breath.

The redness on his face gradually faded away.

The flames receded, and Xu Zimei’s eyes shone brightly like a blazing torch.

“This Zhurong Technique is truly domineering,” Xu Zimei murmured to himself.

As he exhaled, a stream of white mist followed the path of his Extraordinary Meridians and exited his mouth.

He looked up again, and the outside sky had already brightened.

Xu Zimei got out of bed and opened the door, the flaming tree outside still burning fiercely.

In the courtyard, at some unknown time, someone had taken a seat.

A young man sat beneath the pavilion, holding black chess pieces in his right hand and white chess pieces in his left, playing a game against himself.

“Good morning, brother,” the young man greeted with a smile.

“Morning,” Xu Zimei yawned and replied calmly.

“Brother, how about a match?” the young man extended his hand and asked.

Xu Zimei smiled and took a seat beside him.

“Chess is like life; you may take the first move,” the young man said leisurely.

“White pieces are like Jiao Dragons; dragons soar to the heavens, snakes crawl on the ground,” Xu Zimei moved his white piece forward, placing it within the grid.

“Black pieces sneak behind; snakes can also swallow dragons,” the young man countered, placing his black piece.

“The human heart is insatiable, like a snake swallowing an elephant; the elephant is unaware, let alone the dragon?”

“Snakes that cultivate for ten thousand years can transform into pythons, and even dragons—is that not possible?”

Their conversation grew progressively faster, as did the pace at which they placed their black and white pieces.

Soon, the entire chessboard was filled with pieces.

Xu Zimei picked up another piece and placed it squarely in the center of the board.

“Both dragons and snakes may roam the nine heavens, but I am the heavens itself; dragons and snakes are merely objects in the palm of my hand.”

As the piece landed, the menacing atmosphere of the chessboard shifted entirely.

The white pieces surrounded the black pieces, forming the image of a dragon swallowing a snake.

“You’ve lost,” Xu Zimei said calmly.

“Thank you for your guidance, brother.” The young man stood and cupped his fists with a smile.

“Did you come solely to play chess with me?” Xu Zimei asked.

“Originally, it was a challenge, but having lost this match, I find myself without words to further challenge you,” the young man replied with a smile.

“Thus, I shall take my leave.”

The young man left, his silhouette retreating halfway across the courtyard.

Suddenly, he paused and said, “Oh, by the way, just to remind you, your friend has already been challenged.

You might want to take a look.”

“Xie Changliu?” Xu Zimei asked.

“I don’t know his name,” the young man shrugged and spoke. “He’s at the academy’s battlefield.”

Watching the young man’s departing figure, Xu Zimei furrowed his brow slightly.

No matter where he went, there were always people trying to challenge his limits through ignorance.

Leaving the courtyard, he asked around as he made his way toward the battlefield.

The Seven Gods Academy’s battlefield wasn’t difficult to find. After walking for about ten minutes, Xu Zimei came upon a grand hall ahead.

Above the hall, a large plaque was prominently displayed.

On it were the bold characters: “Battle Intent.”

The plaque emanated an overwhelming aura of battle intent that seemed to pierce the heavens.

The large doors bore lion-headed handles.

A faint but ominous lion’s roar echoed from within.

Even before entering the battlefield, Xu Zimei could already hear the shouts booming from inside.

Grasping the lion-headed handles with both hands, he gave a strong pull, and the tightly shut doors were torn off and tossed to the side.

Xu Zimei raised his head and saw a passageway ahead.

On either side were rows of weapon racks, stocked with an assortment of swords, spears, staves, and other arms.

He strode directly down the passageway, and his view ahead opened up into a vast space.

The battlefield was true to its name, a genuine war zone.

It stretched endlessly, with no visible bounds.

Only endless yellow sands and the countless white bones buried beneath them.

Presumably, this place had once been an actual battlefield, later repurposed by the Seven Gods Academy.

………

“Fight! That’s it, fight well!”

“San Gui, don’t you dare lose to them; we can’t afford the embarrassment!”

Not far off, loud and rowdy voices could be heard.

The shouting and jeering reached Xu Zimei’s ears.

Following the noise, he walked forward and, from afar, saw a crowd of over a hundred students dressed in white robes gathered closely.

He quickened his pace, squeezing directly through the throng to open a path.

At the center of the circle formed by the students, two individuals were fiercely engaged in combat.

One was a stout and heavyset young man wielding a Meteor Hammer, his strikes backed by immense force.

The other was Xie Changliu.

Xie Changliu was clearly showing signs of exhaustion, with multiple wounds on his body, but his gaze was sharp as a sword, and the Sword Intent around him grew even more intense with each passing moment.

Xu Zimei glanced at the surroundings and noticed several students heavily injured, lying in pools of blood.

He understood immediately that these people had likely been using a series of relay battles to wear down Xie Changliu.

At this rate, Xie Changliu wouldn’t last more than a few rounds before succumbing to exhaustion.

After all, everyone present was a prodigy of the Seven Gods Academy.

Though Xie Changliu was strong, he had yet to ascend to the level of a Great Emperor. Figures like Hong Yu from before were already beyond his ability to contend with.

On the battlefield, the young man called San Gui was swinging his Meteor Hammer with overwhelming momentum.

Though Xie Changliu lacked the strength to match him, he continued to fight while retreating, his gaze locked firmly onto the young man’s movements like an unsheathed sword.

“What’s the matter? Are you only capable of being a cowardly turtle?” San Gui mocked with loud laughter.

“If you ask me, you might as well admit defeat.”

Just as his words fell, Xie Changliu’s gaze sharpened, and he shouted fiercely, “Now!”

His Longsword slithered like a venomous snake, bypassing the swing of the Meteor Hammer and stabbing forcefully into the young man’s abdomen.

“You…,” the young man gazed at Xie Changliu in disbelief.

“You were too careless, distracted by talk during a fight,” Xie Changliu remarked coolly.

“I refuse to accept this; let me fight another round,” San Gui shouted, unable to come to terms with his loss.

“Had this not been a mere duel, you’d already be a corpse,” Xie Changliu replied, gathering his sword and standing upright.

“You…,” San Gui wanted to retort further but was silenced by a voice from the crowd.

“Step back. A man keeps his word and accepts defeat,” a young man said as he stepped forward.

This youth wore a rustic azure robe, with a sun-shaped mark on his forehead.

His eyes carried an aura of natural authority and strength.

It was evident that he commanded significant respect among the group; with just a word, he made San Gui retreat obediently.

“The title of Sword God truly lives up to its reputation. My junior brothers are indeed no match for you,” the young man said with a smile.

“I am Tian Yiqing. Might you grant me the honor of a duel?”

As the youth spoke, the surrounding crowd fell silent.

Perhaps they, too, realized that such relay battles were far from honorable victories.

But they couldn’t afford to lose either.

Xie Changliu’s grip tightened on his sword, knowing full well his current condition.

He had no strength left to fight another duel; defeat was inevitable.

But his pride as a swordsman and the principles of Sword Dao forbade retreat.

“Fight,” Xie Changliu said firmly.

His tone was severe, resonating with a powerful and unyielding echo.

“Rest for a while, Changliu,” Xu Zimei’s voice suddenly rang through the crowd.

Everyone turned to look, only to see Xu Zimei walking out with a smile on his face.

“If you’re looking for someone to spar with, I’d be happy to oblige. What do you say?”