Chapter 1577: Old Man Black Chess

Old Man Black Chess was an elderly man with long silver-white hair, a black beard, black clothes, with a white overflowing robe, one black and one white shoe. He sat cross-legged before a chessboard in which all the pieces are black, but the board is divided into black and white squares.

Old Man Black Chess was in a meeting to establish the operation of the Scout Division, but the room was eerily quiet as Old Man Black Chess stared at his chessboard. ’I’ve been hesitating for a long time, but it’s time to decide.’

Old Man Black Chess moved one of the pieces. He was known for his chess ability. After all, this was part of his Dao, and he had cultivated it to the pinnacle. However, he only used this chessboard for two things: battle and strategizing. Most people did not even know the rules of this chess game, and that’s assuming there were any rules.

’The path of the loose cultivator is no longer viable,’ Old Man Black Chess concluded. He has been wrestling with this thought for eons. His journey started as a young scholar of a long-fallen mortal kingdom. His family was relatively well off, which allowed him to learn many skills, including chess.s

Old Man Black Chess made a name for himself at a very young age due to his chess skills. His family eventually used their connection to acquire a job for him as a teacher to nobles, and by the age of 32, he was summoned to the palace to teach the crown prince.

Old Man Black Chess spent most of his life in the mortal world improving his chess skills. He would travel around the dynasty when he was young, and in his later years, he accepted challenges from all neighboring dynasties. Old Man Black Chess has even met a few cultivators who wanted to play with him.

Some of them even offered him cultivation techniques in exchange for teaching them. Unfortunately, Old Man Black Chess’s talent was extremely poor, so these techniques only served as a Qi nourishing technique that extended his life.

Then, when he was 95 years old, Old Man Black Chess became enlightened. He entered the Dao through chess. As his chess skill reached such a level, it resonated with Heaven and Earth, which led to the creation of a small vision. The vision then entered his body, cleansing his body and soul, and granted him excellent talent for cultivation.

After the cleansing, Old Man Black Chess started his cultivation journey. He wanted to join a sect to ensure a smooth path. Unfortunately, most factions found him too old, meaning he was not brainwashed at a young age to be loyal to the sect.

Old Man Black Chess eventually joined a faction, but he suffered tremendous suppression because of his status as a foreigner, which forced him to leave after reaching Tier 4. The old man spent the rest of his time as a loose cultivator, fighting for scraps for resources.

Old Man Black Chess spent most of his life joining small cultivation organizations catering to loose cultivators by offering missions and rewards. Sadly, most of them did not survive long, forcing Old Man Black Chess to struggle to find the resources to reach higher levels.

However, fate was on his side. No, it would be better to say he took control of his destiny by risking his life. The Devil Race’s Conquest was a brutal war, but it was also an opportunity. The top lineages needed soldiers or mercenaries to reduce their casualties. Old Man Black Chess took this opportunity to gather the necessary resources to become a Paragon.

By that time, Old Man Black Chess was well-known in the loose cultivator community. His strategic mind has saved the lives of many people, creating numerous friends and allies. One day, Black Chess was screwed over after taking a mission for a Taoist Sect. The latter used a terrible excuse to reduce the reward. Fed up with how he was treated, Old Man Black Chess fought back.

He used his connection to gather allies and formed what Wang Wei called the cultivation world’s first union. Under Old Man Black Chess’s leadership, all the loose cultivators refused to take any missions unless these lineages paid them fairly. The top lineages — including the Dao Opening Sect — refused, but Old Man Black Chess was not about to back down.

The top lineages’ first reaction was to use violence to solve the problem. They figured if they killed the leaders responsible for this nonsense, they could scare the others into falling in line. However, Old Man Black Chess was ahead of them. Loose cultivators know how to survive — it’s something they had to learn.

Old Man Black Chess and his allies prepared underground hideouts and other ways to survive these attacks. Additionally, Black Chess would record these attacks — especially the ones where the people in the sect talked to loose cultivators like they were dogs — and spread them among his peers, showing them how these lineages truly saw them.

By ruining the top lineages’ reputation, fewer people were willing to risk their lives for them, especially with so little pay. So, these factions opted for another approach: division. The loose cultivator base was large, meaning even if Old Man Black Chess’s group did not want these missions, someone else would.

However, Old Man Black Chess would not allow this. He organized an assassination group to eliminate anyone who tried to bypass them. He showed no mercy to anyone who crossed the line. The top lineages were furious and quickly labelled Old Man Black Chess and his group as traitors. The mission those loose cultivators took was targeting the Devil Race, which was currently the enemy of the world.

These lineages thought they could pressure Old Man Black Chess and his group, or at the very least, ruin their luck. However, Old Man Black Chess bore the pressure and did not fold. He then sent a letter to all these lineages with a single sentence: "How about we become true traitors?"

These lineages immediately freaked out. If those loose cultivators sided with the Devil race, this war would end in less than 5000 Yuan Epoch. With their hands twisted, these sects met with Old Man Black Chess to discuss a standard and fair price for the loose cultivator’s services.

The sect’s concession was the first step in the creation of the Limitless Exchange Hall. After the devil race was dealt with, Old Man Black Chess thought about creating the hall. However, these top lineages had realized his power and watched him like a hawk. Any move he tried to make was suppressed with extreme prejudice.

It also did not help that Old Man Black Chess had no access to some basic resources to start the exchange hall. Luckily, he was a patient man and waited. His opportunity arrived during the First Origin War. This civil war between all these top lineages was the perfect opportunity.

While these sects were busy fighting, Old Man Black Chess took advantage of the reduced surveillance to build the foundation for the Limitless Exchange Hall, which was then called the Loose Cultivator Exchange Hall. Old Man Black Chess did not pick a side in the war; he only cared about which side paid him the most.

Of course, such an approach was not easy. At one point, both sides stopped fighting and banded together to eradicate the hall that was profiting from their fight. However, Old Man Black Chess was prepared and survived this cleanup by hiding for a while in the Source Qi Space.

Then, when things started heating up again, he returned and continued his profiteering from both sides. Old Man Black Chess kept this tactic until Dugu Baitian’s grand betrayal. Black Chess knew then that Qiyuan and the people from the lower dimension would win this war, so he supported them.

Old Man Black Chess did not care that he was betraying his people. When destiny favored the upper dimension, it only benefited the elites or sect individuals — not people like him. Additionally, if someone like Dugu Baitian can turn his back on his people, why couldn’t he?𝓯𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

After the war, the Loose Cultivator Exchange Hall was strong enough to stand alone. The top lineages also needed a time of recuperation, meaning they did not have time to focus on what he was doing. However, Old Man Black Chess did not start celebrating. He realized Dugu Baitian’s action had shifted something in Heaven and Earth.

He spent years searching for answers or calculating the secrets of Heaven and Earth before he learned about the future pattern of the Overlords. Old Man Black Chess knew this was the only chance for the exchange hall to reach the top and have enough power to preserve itself.

Old Man Black Chess tried desperately to gather the destiny of one of the Overlords, and he barely succeeded after risking countless lives to explore ancient ruins from the Tribulation Era. The exchange hall then became the Limitless Exchange Hall.

Since becoming one of the Overlords, Old Man Black Chess had one goal: to truly gather the power of loose cultivators. He knew if he could harness all loose cultivators’ power, they would be unstoppable. Just the number of Paragons will probably trump every Overlord. As for the lack of Primal, it did not matter. With so many destinies gathered together, it was only a matter of time before they gave birth to a few more.

’But I have failed,’ Old Man Black Chess sighed. Loose cultivators have that name because of their nature, similar to sand. Trying to organize sand into something whole or solid was pointless because it would no longer be sand by the end.

The inner members of the Limitless Exchange Hall are just another sect known as loose cultivators. Old Man Black Chess has also noticed that as time passed, fewer true loose cultivators have joined, and most of the members were born into it.

’Our very nature is to oppose strict rules or hierarchy,’ Old Man Black Chess thought. ’I’ve also tried to meld them together through the idea that the top lineages were our enemy, but the hall has become one of the top lineages. How ironic.’

Old Man Black Chess sighed as he moved his chess pieces. ’It’s time to move on. The hall will not allow me to walk the transcendent path.’ The assembly showed him how the other factions still see them as nothing but mercenaries. And once the disaster arrives, they will only be used as cannon fodder.

’If I move correctly, I can take the inner members with me and form my own sect.’ Old Man Black Chess knew it was time to start thinking about himself.

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