Ch. 215
215: Beware the Losing Streak
That evening, Lianyue and Hua Yuanjing had probably gone hunting in deeper territories and didn't return. Yuyin rested well at home. In the middle of the night, she fought another battle. This time her opponent only had three pieces, so the victory was relatively easy. However, the Primordial Energy bestowal after winning was anything but easy...
"Where do these chess pieces that oppose me in the Chess World Battlefield actually come from?" Late at night, Yuyin lay alone in bed, lost in thought.
The next morning, after bathing and cultivating Primordial Energy for a while, Yuyin wanted to fight another battle. She entered the Chess World Battlefield, but this time she lost.
"Four battles, two wins and two losses? This win rate isn't great... Could my strength really be that mediocre?" Yuyin mocked herself with some hesitation.
At that moment, an incredible force seemed to come from the Chess World Battlefield, transmitted through the God-Devouring Chess space...
This time, the force struck Yuyin's bottom without mercy.
Though Yuyin had been prepared, she couldn't predict where the punishment would land, leaving her defenseless.
"So the punishment wave attacks a different location on me each time?" Yuyin's hair was disheveled as she lay face-down on the bed, temporarily unable to move, pondering in her heart. "And this... this punishment wave is clearly heavier than last time..."
About a quarter-hour later, Yuyin recovered. She checked where the punishment wave had struck but found nothing.
By now, Yuyin roughly understood.
"This punishment wave punishes me directly through the Chess World Battlefield... It's not an external force. Most likely, it acts directly on my conscious perception, making me feel as if my bottom or somewhere else is being attacked, rather than being a substantive external attack."
In other words, no matter how much punishment she endured, there would be no substantive harm to her body.
"It seems that as long as I can endure hardship and bear it, even if my win rate isn't high, I can continue Chess World Battle training long-term. After all, this Primordial Energy acquisition speed is too fast." Yuyin felt that winning one battle was at least equivalent to three to seven days of her usual Primordial Energy acquisition, depending on the battle. The stronger the opponent's piece team she defeated, the more she gained. Those she couldn't defeat probably offered even greater rewards, but unfortunately she couldn't win.
"I can strengthen my pieces in the two chessboard worlds of God-Devouring Chess while simultaneously conducting Chess World Battle training. From today, my piece cultivation should select some elites, focusing on battle rather than just pursuing quantity like before, focusing only on attacking the chessboard world."
As for what counted as more battle-advantageous, that would require Yuyin to slowly figure out through actual battles. There was no rush; there would be plenty of time in the future.
In the following days, her two Senior Sisters went out hunting while Yuyin stayed home for battles and post-battle rest. Naturally, she chose to train when her sisters weren't home.
Yuyin was most worried about her Senior Sisters returning while she was in a "defeated" state. However, she had a good grasp of their hunting schedules. When they went out, it was at least a day, sometimes two or three days. Since Yuyin's "defeated" state wasn't long, it was relatively easy to avoid.
More than a week of battles had passed. Yuyin felt her overall win rate was around forty percent... really not very high. If defeat meant losing cultivation, Yuyin would have suffered terrible losses.
Though she didn't lose cultivation, the pressure of battle training these days was growing heavier.
The first defeat was nothing. The second was a bit embarrassing, but still bearable.
But as defeats accumulated, the punishment Yuyin suffered grew increasingly severe and increasingly indescribable... For example, if her bottom was attacked, after accumulating several defeats, it wouldn't be just one strike but multiple consecutive strikes, even a storm of continuous attacks...
Yet at the same time, if she went long enough without battling or won consecutively, the punishment would slowly lessen.
In other words, as long as she rested enough after defeat and didn't participate in battles, the punishment intensity wouldn't accumulate. Conversely, if she forced consecutive battles, the punishment would stack up more severely.
But how could Yuyin stop?
"Just a little longer..." Yuyin's hair was disheveled, her wrinkled clothes supporting her against the windowsill, her long jade legs trembling. "At this rate, in another three to five days, I can reach the Perfection-Stage of Purple Domain Realm. That's only about ten days of cultivation! At my original speed, though still very fast compared to others, it would take at least three or four months to reach the Perfection-Stage of Purple Domain Realm. But now, only half a month!"
And this was with Yuyin's not-so-high win rate.
Cultivation was fast, but losing streaks were hard to endure.
Yuyin even felt a bit of disappointment. She had dominated Lingdu without ever tasting defeat. Geniuses from Huaxia and even the world could only look up to her. So why, in this Chess World Battlefield, was her win rate less than fifty percent?
If she encountered such opponents in real combat, Xia Yuyin would have been captured who knows how many times...
However, Yuyin's mindset remained excellent. With such a rapid cultivation path, what was there to complain about? She should properly absorb experience, analyze specific reasons for defeat, consider tactics, strengthen her pieces, fight again, and slowly improve her win rate.
Besides, even if her win rate didn't improve, she would just eat more bitterness. She would still profit greatly in cultivation. Why compete with those intangible Chess World opponents? They were probably just powerful opponents nurtured within the God-Devouring Chess world to temper her. Of course they were formidable.
After much thought, though she had already lost quite a bit these days, Yuyin decided to persist.
She wanted to train at the Perfection-Stage of Purple Domain Realm before heading to the sacred site.
"Keep going, Yuyin." Yuyin gazed at the mountains and sea in the rain, encouraging herself.
Then she sat back on the bed, even shifting slightly to the side, still haunted by fear.
Continue the battle!
This battle, Yuyin encountered a Chess World opponent with eight pieces...
Complete defeat. She didn't kill a single one of theirs.
Team battles were like this. Once the gap exceeded the critical point, the stronger side might not lose a single piece.
"Ah!"
Yuyin let out a resentful, slightly mature cry as the invisible punishment force from the Chess World Battlefield pressed her down onto her knees on the bed.
Wave after wave of punishment fell mercilessly, continuously.
Yuyin's long hair was disheveled, unable to move. She endured. This was the price of defeat, the necessary cost to obtain massive Spirit Source and increase cultivation speed.
Though somewhat unbearable, Yuyin was very strong. "Why is this punishment so intense..."
Yuyin's hair was disheveled, her face crimson, her cheek pillowed on the pillow, her eyes watery and slightly dazed as she gazed at the heavy stone door of the small house.
At that moment, the stone door opened.
At that instant, Yuyin's heart seemed ready to leap from her throat.
"The punishment... hasn't ended yet!"
There, Ghost King Jiang Yun, dressed in revealing armor, pushed open the stone door, twisting her exquisitely curvy waist and hips as one full, smooth leg stepped in.
Even the experienced Jiang Yun stopped there, stunned as she gazed at Yuyin's flushed face half-concealed by disheveled hair, her moist eyes.
And at this moment, Yuyin only felt the world spinning.
"Calm, calm." Yuyin fiercely encouraged herself inwardly, "Must stay calm, must find a way to explain... ah!"
But the punishment waves continued striking her. How could she stay calm?
"Xia Yuyin, what are you doing?" Jiang Yun looked at Yuyin in this state, surprised, her face also flushing slightly.
Now Yuyin couldn't move, still in this position. Her chest pressed against the stone bed bearing part of her weight, suppressing her panting as she leaked out a voice that tried to sound proper. "Y-Your Majesty... mm... I'm cultivating..."
Jiang Yun looked at Yuyin's resilient, watery expression, her proper demeanor and not-so-proper posture. Gradually, she seemed to grasp the situation, though what she grasped probably differed greatly from reality.
"Oh... I understand." Jiang Yun spoke in the tone of a mature older sister, like one who had been there before, looking at Yuyin meaningfully and nodding as if in understanding. "I heard these days your two Senior Sisters are obsessed with their Hunter status, going out to cultivate day and night without returning, leaving you alone at home. Hmm? Hehehe..."
Jiang Yun smiled warmly and intimately, her gaze seeming to discover Yuyin's secret as she strode to Yuyin's bedside with swaying hips.
"I understand. You... must be lonely?" Jiang Yun gazed at Yuyin with charming eyes, her gaze slowly sweeping backward to land where Yuyin couldn't see herself, understanding everything even as she blushed, showing gentle understanding. "We're all women. I understand..."
Yuyin panted heavily, her chest pressing against the bed. What... what did this woman understand?
"Mm... Your Majesty... the cultivation path is inherently long and lonely..." Yuyin suppressed her panting, but couldn't hide the crystal in her eyes.
"Yes, yes." Jiang Yun answered with an obviously perfunctory tone. "So, that's why you need a close companion along the way?"
Jiang Yun's hand gently landed behind Yuyin. "After we marry, Sister will dual cultivate with you. Then this cultivation path won't be lonely anymore, will it? We female cultivators have such long lives, yet unlike male cultivators, we retain a woman's softness. That's why we need to find our partner to accompany us. Even if we can preserve our youth forever, we still need someone to appreciate each other with, right?"
Jiang Yun bent down, lifting Yuyin's long hair. If she forcibly kissed Yuyin now, Yuyin would be helpless. And honestly, Yuyin didn't dislike Jiang Yun's pink, full lips.
But Jiang Yun only kissed Yuyin's cheek near her lips, her own face flushing slightly.
"Yuyin, Sister doesn't quite understand what kind of cultivation you're doing in this position?" Jiang Yun whispered in Yuyin's ear, her voice warm.
"Body... refinement." Yuyin blurted out. Rather than let the Ghost King misunderstand, better to steer her toward a direction that benefited Yuyin. In Yuyin's heart, that persistent desire to be strong instantly gave birth to this idea.