Through Princess Shile, Chen Jiuyang deduced that there was a game between the Dao Fruit and the inheritor.
Both sides had a chance of survival, a game, a calculation.
For the Dao Fruit to be reborn, it had to calculate the inheritor to death.
Chen Jiuyang pondered when he had fallen into Zhuang Wu's Dao Fruit trap.
It was when he stepped into this manor and sat at the chessboard.
The Dao Fruit could not change the rules of the chessboard; these were the rules of the Nine Nether Universal Tomb.
No matter how powerful the Dao Fruit was, it was still restricted by the rules of the Nine Nether Universal Tomb.
Therefore, if the chessboard could not be changed, the only thing that Zhuang Wu's Dao Fruit could tamper with were the pieces.
Several points made Chen Jiuyang realize that the pieces had been tampered with. 'Sheng Village' was the Three Lives Tomb, which was outside the Nine Nether Universal Tomb. However, even so, Chen Jiuyang was not yet certain.
Chen Jiuyang's guess was 'cause and effect'. The Dao Fruit was the 'cause', and Chen Jiuyang was the 'effect' inheritor.
Why was he playing chess, with him holding the white pieces first?
Was this not reversing cause and effect, acting against the natural order?
However, if the Dao Fruit was calculating 'Chen Jiuyang' and wanted to be reborn in his stead, then this made sense.
The colors of the pieces before him had been tampered with by Zhuang Wu's Dao Fruit, obscuring Chen Jiuyang's perception and sight.
That was why, as soon as Chen Jiuyang returned here, he had exchanged the chess box and made his move.
During this time, Zhuang Wu's Dao Fruit did not show any intention of stopping him.
After Chen Jiuyang made his move, the chessboard before him truly returned to its original appearance.
Damn it, if he hadn't been so quick-witted, combining the Dao Fruit's 'cause and effect', along with Sheng Village, Death Village, and Princess Shile's words, he would never have realized the extent of the calculation on this chessboard.
The more white pieces he played, the more he would be eroded by Zhuang Wu's Dao Fruit, until he was completely replaced and devoured by the Dao Fruit's power.
Zhuang Wu's Dao Fruit seemed to hesitate for a moment, picked up a piece from the white chess box by his hand, and then casually placed it on the chessboard.
The game now had three white pieces and two black pieces: "It's your turn again."
Black and white also symbolized cause and effect.
Chen Jiuyang picked up a black piece again and placed it down.
"Da..."
The next moment.
Chen Jiuyang's vision shifted.
"This is... Death Village..."
This time, Chen Jiuyang appeared in Death Village, no longer in the coffin.
Instead, a coffin was placed before him.
He sat in a Grand Tutor's chair, facing different versions of Chen Jiuyang.
There was the child 'Chen Jiuyang', the youth 'Chen Jiuyang', the young adult 'Chen Jiuyang', the middle-aged 'Chen Jiuyang', the doctor 'Chen Jiuyang', the father 'Chen Jiuyang', the elderly 'Chen Jiuyang', the martial artist 'Chen Jiuyang', and the skeletal remains of 'Chen Jiuyang'.
In total, there were nine people.
Chen Jiuyang took a deep breath. This was the true test of the first Origin Great Dao, 'I'.
He had already passed the trial of facing death to live. Now, it was the stage of breaking through the first Origin Great Dao.
The skeletal remains of 'Chen Jiuyang' stared at Chen Jiuyang and said, "I have a question."
Chen Jiuyang replied, "Please ask."
The skeletal remains of 'Chen Jiuyang' said, "What was my life's true pursuit? Why can I not rest in peace even after death?"
This question was very heavy, striking directly at Chen Jiuyang's heart.
This sentence also seemed like Zhuang Wu's Dao Fruit speaking.
Even a dignified Immortal Emperor could not rest in peace after death, and their 'Dao Fruit' could still be used by others.
This question was not as simple as it seemed. It was as if, in the depths of fate, Chen Jiuyang's connection with the Dao Fruit had become closer, and it was also slowly activating the inheritance power of the Dao Fruit.
Chen Jiuyang pondered, "It is precisely because you have unfinished matters that you cannot rest in peace, and thus I am here to take over and complete what you could not accomplish in the past."
"Thus, one generation passes to the next, endlessly, until completion. Only then can we all grow old and die peacefully, finding rest."
"Is this a vow?" the skeletal remains of 'Chen Jiuyang' stared at Chen Jiuyang.
Chen Jiuyang said solemnly, "This is a Dao Covenant. You do not fail me, and I do not fail you. We must seek transcendence."
"Good," the skeletal remains of 'Chen Jiuyang' said, "Then do you know my name?"
Chen Jiuyang said, "No."
The skeletal remains of 'Chen Jiuyang' said, "My name is 'I Come', and I am your future self."
"'I' am immortal in the river of time, existing as past, present, and future, a trinity."
"Are you truly prepared to become 'I'?"
Chen Jiuyang's heart sank, sensing something was amiss. He said:
"'I' is 'me'. It has always been so. Why must I become it?"
The skeletal remains of 'Chen Jiuyang' said, "Then 'I' will tell you a piece of news."
"In each epoch, only nine people can transcend to the Heavenly Realm."
"The final chess game has already begun eight times in this epoch, and 'I' am ascending for the ninth time."
"The final chess game is divided into the main piece and the chess pieces. All eighty-one chess pieces are bound to the cause of the main piece. You must find the ninth 'main piece' in this realm to become one of the transcendent beings, where one person's success benefits all."
"The Nine Nether Universal Tomb is not only a place to refine Dao Fruits but also a place to glimpse the path to transcendence."
"The Nine Paths of Transcendence can only be used once per epoch."
"You need to find the 'main piece', observe the paths taken by the previous eight transcendent beings, and then find the path of the ninth transcendent being. Only then can you transcend and be born amidst a sliver of hope."
"If you follow the path of the former, it will be your own destruction."
"Have you remembered?"
Chen Jiuyang nodded slowly with a solemn expression, then said, "I also have a question. If you are truly 'I Come', how can you prove it?"
"When you meet the Supreme Being in the future, you will know that today I am me."
Then, the skeletal remains of 'Chen Jiuyang' slowly lifted the coffin lid and lay down inside voluntarily.
The next instant, immense and boundless Dao power surged from Chen Jiuyang's body.
It was Dao power of absolute purity, and various divine abilities and mysteries related to 'I Come' emerged.
"This kind of Dao power... is equivalent to ten thousand years of arduous cultivation..."
Chen Jiuyang was shocked by this Dao power.
In an instant, Chen Jiuyang felt the shackles that bound him loosen, and he could see the path to becoming an Immortal Emperor.
Above the thirty-three layers of the Celestial Terrace.
There is the River of Martial Arts...
The vast River of Martial Arts flowed endlessly for hundreds of millions of miles, shining brilliantly like a star map, with eighty-one star maps waiting to be lit.
It seemed that by traversing all eighty-one star maps, one could transcend, reach the end and origin of the River of Martial Arts, glimpse the true mysteries of martial arts, and achieve transcendence.
As if in an instant, yet as long as an epoch, Chen Jiuyang's cultivation immediately advanced from the peak of Quasi-Emperor to an alternative path of attainment.
The Martial Arts Furnace was being baptized by the vast Dao power, undergoing a qualitative transformation.
Chen Jiuyang's aura continuously changed, with true qi, immortal power, and Dao power shifting back and forth.
Then.
The child 'Chen Jiuyang' looked at Chen Jiuyang: "My name is 'I See'."
"I have a question: what kind of 'I' should I become?"
Brilliant Dao sounds suddenly erupted, flowing and erupting before Chen Jiuyang.