Lanke Chess Edge

Ji Yuan, far away in the Underwater Palace on Dragon Rock Island in the Northern Sea, frowned deeply. The lightning tribulation that Lu Shan Jun was facing was too exaggerated, many times worse than the lightning tribulations of the monsters he knew.

In particular, it was unheard of for the lightning to change color from red to blue. How could this be the kind of heavenly lightning that ordinary demons could avoid?

If every transformed monster had to face such heavenly lightning, it would be almost impossible for any of them to survive.

Why did Lu Shan Jun need to face such divine lightning? Was it because he was about to be reborn and transform into another kind of being?

Even dragons and flood dragons…

No! The Dragon Transformation Tribulation was equally extraordinary. The dragon races of this world had even gathered great wisdom and developed the supernatural technique of “Water Walking” in their long history to gradually resist the Dragon Transformation Tribulation.

But that wasn’t a transformation into a flood dragon, but rather into a True Dragon. No matter how powerful Lu Shan Jun’s previous body was, he was just a fierce tiger spirit that had refined his horizontal bones, far from reaching the level of an old flood dragon attempting a True Dragon transformation.

Ji Yuan’s mind raced as he rapidly considered the cause and effect, but now was clearly not the time to overthink it. He couldn’t grasp the key reasoning in an instant, nor could he continue to stand aside any longer.

‘Lu Shan Jun absolutely cannot die!’

This wasn’t just a matter of Ji Yuan’s chess strategy, but also because he was Ji Yuan’s only disciple; how could there not be emotional factors involved? Within the vast chessboard of his inner world, Ji Yuan’s towering figure materialized, reaching towards the sky to retrieve a dazzling black chess piece, from which the faint sound of wind and thunder could be heard.

With a wave of his hand, Ji Yuan drew in wisps of mysterious yellow energy around the alchemy furnace atop his inner world’s mountain peak, which gathered in thin yellow ribbons.

Then, at this moment, as he was connected to Lu Shan Jun, Ji Yuan’s massive dharma form closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment, holding the black chess piece that shone like a star.

The next moment, he abruptly opened his eyes, and at the same time, heaven and earth were reborn…

The world around him shifted and changed like smoke and mist, and the surrounding scenery of mountains and rivers taking on different shapes, somewhat resembling Niu Kui Mountain.

Ji Yuan held the chess piece in his sword-fingers. The mysterious yellow energy at his fingertips seemed to rotate with him, and he quickly pointed downwards. The flames of his alchemy furnace ignited, and the spiritual energy surged, nurturing heaven and earth. His thoughts were elusive, seemingly casual but in truth exerting all his strength. Although the fog and blurriness before his eyes was thick, the promontory seemed to materialize before him like something from a dream.

“Lu Shan Jun, let your master lend you a hand!”

…

On Niu Kui Mountain, atop the giant rock platform, a fierce tiger roared with unwavering resolve, its daring question echoing in the sky. Above, the clouds were brewing a new thunderbolt, this one a deadly strike.

At that very moment, a vast and boundless voice echoed in the ears of the fierce tiger spirit Lu Shanjun.

“Lu Shan Jun, let your master lend you a hand!”

The tiger looked around in surprise, but the voice seemed to have come out of nowhere.

“Master!?”

Immediately afterwards, wisps of faint, mysterious yellow energy, began to press down and swirl like a vortex, with a heavy yet non-threatening pressure.

The sky still crackled with lightning, but at this moment, Lu Shan Jun closed his eyes. The surrounding colors did not fade; instead, he “saw” a new scene.

A gigantic, illusory hand, enveloped in endless mist, pointed towards him with sword fingers extended, its arm radiating a mysterious aura, clad in a familiar long-sleeved blue robe.

Thump…

A dull thud struck his forehead, as if a giant finger had tapped it.

Swish…

Streams of primordial energy flowed into his forehead at the touch, permeating his limbs and bones, before ultimately settling into his bone marrow.

“Roar—”

Lu Shan Jun roared again. Although he did not feel any recovery in his physical strength or spiritual energy, a kind of power was rising within him, as if he had regained the confidence to fight against the lightning tribulation.

With another tiger roar, the image in his mind quickly faded, and a sudden realization dawned on him.

‘Master is not nearby; he is assisting from afar using some kind of supernatural power.’

“Crackle…crack, crackle…”

The bones in his body emitted strange noises. The parts that had already undergone transformation after being struck by several heavenly lightning bolts began to grow rapidly. His entire tiger body was trembling slightly, and subtle deformations appeared in his spine and head.

“Roar… Awoo… Roar…”

The roars grew deeper and deeper, but each roar contained a suppressed power, and a powerful aura swept across the entire platform.

‘Something’s missing, something’s still missing…’

Lu Shan Jun trembled uncontrollably, knowing in his heart that the moment of his true transformation was about to arrive, but something was still missing.

“Boom…”

Thunder rumbled overhead, causing Lu Shanjun to look up abruptly. From within the dark clouds, a bolt of lightning, glowing with a bluish-red light, had already materialized.

‘You’re the only thing missing!’

“Crack… Boom…”

A bluish-white light filled the sky, illuminating everything in Niu Kui Mountain and the surrounding counties and towns. Whether ghost, or god, or mortal, everyone heard the deafening final thunderclap.

The lightning struck that very moment, hitting Lu Shan Jun directly on the forehead, like a torrent of heavenly electricity, forcing the giant tiger down onto his knees on the promontory.

“Rumble rumble rumble rumble…”

Lightning crackled around them, igniting large swathes of forest, but before the fire could fully take hold, everything was charred in an instant.

Even more intense pain washed over Lu Shan Jun; the threat of death had never vanished, but it could no longer maintain an absolute advantage over him.

“Roar… Roar…!”

The tiger trembled as he rose amidst the lightning, his skin rapidly charring and turning black, his blood boiling and becoming even more viscous.

“Sizzle sizzle…”

“Crackle crackle crackle…”

The lightning and the sound of bones rubbing together continued for a long time before finally stopping—or rather, everything fell silent, leaving only the distant sound of rain.

Lu Shan Jun stood motionless on the platform, completely transformed into a charred tiger statue.

Whoooo… Whoooosh…

A mountain breeze blew.

Suddenly, all the black char on his body crumbled away. Lu Shan Jun seemed to have lost a lot of weight. His bones were exposed, and although some of his body was still wrapped inside the bones, he still stood on the giant stone platform like a terrifying skeleton, seemingly emaciated.

“Ba-dum… Ba-dum… ba-dum…”

A sound like a sledgehammer striking a drum emanated from inside the giant tiger’s skeleton; it was the sound of a powerful heartbeat.

With energy of the New Year all things are born anew.

From within the giant tiger’s heart, a surge of springtime energy, originally gathered with the help of the immortal sword, emanated and flowed throughout his entire body.

The giant tiger’s life force began to spread again with newly created blood.

Little by little, piece by piece, the tissue all over Lu Shanjun’s body began to regrow.

His form remained tiger-like, yet somewhat different.

New fur began to grow, a deep black and yellow, but the downy hair on the face became extremely short, and the area between the nose and muzzle became more slender. The eyes were no longer round and tiger-like, but narrow and long with a black striped eyebrow, resembling a pair of human eyes. His triangular ears became more rounded, and two long black and white intertwined hairs grew under each ear, with the ends puffing up into small tufts, like a pair of special long earrings.

His entire face resembled both a tiger and a human.

“Crackle…crackle…”

As his bones stretched and his flesh grew, Lu Shanjun’s body continued to grow, already far exceeding the size of his previous enormous tiger body.

A deep, mottled black and yellow tail swung behind him again, seemingly trailing wisps of smoke, like the phantom of many tails.

“Heh…heh heh heh…”

The pain in his body was gradually subsiding, replaced by a tingling, itchy, yet very comfortable feeling.

Beneath Dragon Rock Island in the Northern Sea, Ji Yuan, somewhat alarmed, held the chess piece and sensed Lu Shan Jun’s changes. He had a strange suspicion about this appearance, but he wasn’t quite certain.

As the tribulation ended, and with Ji Yuan’s mind still slightly shaken, the connection between him and the chess pieces at this crucial moment was rapidly weakening and was about to sever, which was something Ji Yuan couldn’t control.

Fortunately, everything that needed to be done had been done, and Lu Shan Jun had successfully overcome his tribulation. The next moment, the connection was finally broken, and Ji Yuan, somewhat exhausted, was finally able to get some sleep and rest.

However, on Niu Kui Mountain, Lu Shanjun’s transformation was far from over.

About half an hour later, a giant beast that resembled a tiger but was a tiger no longer appeared on the platform. Lu Shan Jun didn’t need any mirror to understand his new appearance.

‘Is this what Master meant by a complete transformation?’

As this thought crossed his mind, Lu Shan Jun stretched comfortably on the giant rock of the platform. His already enormous body appeared even more imposing and massive, and his long fur undulated like waves with each movement, faintly radiating a halo of light.

Then, Lu Shan Jun rose up on his hind legs, his two front paws clasped together in front of his face.

Whoosh…whoosh…whoosh…

The mountain wind picked up again, blowing away the black ash surrounding the giant beast. Suddenly, Lu Shan Jun separated his two giant paws.

In this instant, spiritual energy flowed through his body, and his entire body glowed with an unyielding light. A stream of light rose from his face and enveloped his entire body.

It seemed as if endless gold dust and light were scattered all over him, with most of his body was like powder flowing with the wind. The radiance, though increasing in intensity, did not spread, but instead contracted inward.

The entire behemoth seemed to transform into a faint light, shrinking smaller and smaller until it finally took on a human form.

A quarter of an hour after the thunder stopped, Hu Yun, who had been hiding in his cave, could no longer contain himself. Plus he had not heard Lu Shan Jun’s roar again, and in his anxiety the red fox had already run out of the cave and ran into the depths of Niu Kui Mountain, towards the platform where he had once listened to a lecture.

At that very moment, he happened to arrive at the platform and witnessed the transformation in the flowing light.

When the radiance faded, Hu Yun became the first witness to Lu Shan Jun’s human form.

The red fox stared, wide-eyed and gaping, gazing blankly at the “person” before him. His red fur stood on end, and one of his paws was raised, pointing at the promontory.

“You, are you Lu Shan Jun!?”

The person on the platform turned around, smiled at the red fox that stood not too far away, and cupped his hands in a gesture of respect towards him.

“I am indeed Lu!”

At this moment, Lu Shanjun had a jade-like face and black hair, a slender figure, and wore a pale yellow wide-sleeved robe adorned with black cloud patterns. He looked calm and handsome, as refined as a young scholar, and elegant and graceful as a gentleman.

“No! You must have transformed incorrectly; you shouldn’t look like this!”

Hu Yun now understood transformation quite well. It wasn’t an illusion, but rather a true human form. It was not something you could just choose to take on; it had to be something in harmony with one’s own heart and the Tao. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ noⅴelfire.net

Hu Yun found it absurd that Lu Shan Jun’s human form would be so “weak.” Shouldn’t he be a muscular giant with arms thicker than other people’s thighs, a waist as large as a millstone, and a head that could smash through a wall?

The man on the platform came out of his bow, waved his sleeve, and tucked his hands at his sides, ignoring Hu Yun’s astonishment. Instead, he looked up again at the dark clouds in the sky, which no longer showed any sign of lightning. The aura of the tribulation was dissipating.

“I ask Heaven once more, who commands the thunder?”

His voice was calm and even, yet extremely loud, echoing through the mountains for a long time, but again, there was no reply.

“Drip drip drip…”

The lightning tribulation had passed, and the dark clouds it left behind eventually turned into an ordinary thunderstorm. Originally, there had been no rain here, but now large raindrops began to fall, nourishing the mountains and earth that had been ravaged by lightning throughout the night.