Song of Adolescence

Chapter 212 A Smile Like a Lotus in Bloom

Ye San picked up a jade piece on the table. "I thought it was a waste of time to play this pseudo Liubo technique. But you kid, something’s not right with you. Have you also played the real Liubo before?"

Luo Mingxuan scratched his head, a little annoyed. "You old man, what the hell are you talking about? Can you say something I can understand?"

"Okay, let me ask you. If all six pieces can become Xiao, what will that be like?" Ye San asked suddenly.

Luo Mingxuan suddenly felt like he was struck by lightning. In the usual Liubo technique, only one of the six pieces of San can become a Xiao, and the remaining five become San, paving the way for the Xiao. If all six pieces can become Xiao, Luo Mingxuan muttered, "Then the variables on the chessboard will increase nearly ten times more than before…"

"Kid, I\'ll ask you again. In Liubo, only a Xiao can eat a San, but what if a San can also eat a Xiao?" Ye San asked again.

Luo Mingxuan frowned, thinking quickly in his mind. In the original Liubo technique, Xiao can eat San, but San cannot eat Xiao, nor can it eat another San. But, if the rules became a Xiao can eat a San, but a San can also eat a Xiao, and San cannot eat each other, then the variables will increase another several times. So, the Liubo technique wasn\'t as simple as he imagined. Just a small change in the rules would result in a gambling game with so many variables.

Pseudo Liubo? Luo Mingxuan suddenly regained his senses and understood the meaning of these three words. He looked at Ye San and said in a deep voice, "You learned the Liubo technique of the previous dynasty?"

"My family name is Ye, and one of my ancestors a few hundreds years ago was a famous general of the ancient Great Xuan Dynasty. I have a chess book left by my ancestors and I studied it for many years before I could fully understand the rules. However, that Liubo technique was extremely complex and no one around me wanted to learn it. So, I could only play against myself. However, after playing that Liubo, this Liubo that you and I have played is nothing but a child’s play in my opinion." Ye San smirked.

"Child\'s play, but you couldn’t win anyway?" Luo Mingxuan said.

"Which is why I was thinking earlier, that you may also have a prominent ancestor from the previous dynasty, so you also knew the true Liubo technique. But, now I see it was just a fluke." Ye San shook his head. "There’s something I wanted to ask you, but I’m afraid I can\'t ask anymore."

"What is it?" Luo Mingxuan asked in confusion.

"Back then, during the Great Xuan Dynasty, whenever a new Emperor ascended the throne, there would be a Shadow by his side. The Shadow was often a Prince born from one of the concubines, and was trained from childhood and imparted with the Great Xuan Emperor’s ultimate swordplay. This Shadow was responsible for guarding the safety of the Emperor. It was said that his swordsmanship was equivalent to a sword immortal of the martial world. But when the Great Xuan fell, the Shadow disappeared, and that swordplay also disappeared. If you, like me, were descended from someone prominent in the previous dynasty, I thought maybe you would know something," Ye San said.

Ye San was still sighing over there, but the thoughts floating in Luo Mingxuan\'s mind were becoming clearer and clearer.

The fall of the Great Xuan empire, the extinction of the imperial family, the loss of the ultimate swordplay. But, there was a Prince who escaped from death, hid himself among the commoners, and improvised the Liubo technique which spread through the world. In that distant mountain, two figurines playing Liubo against each other were mysteriously left behind, and became the poem, “Immortals seize six sticks to gamble against Taishan”. Under this so-called chess game was hidden an ultimate swordplay.

All the fragments of clues were finally linked together at this moment. It wasn’t because that Immortal Six Gambles chess was difficult to solve, but because the Liubo rules were not what he thought they were. The former Great Xuan dynasty’s Prince, who hid himself among the commoners, must have hidden his ultimate swordplay within the Liubo chess game. And, to solve this game, he had to first understand the proper Liubo rules. The more Luo Mingxuan thought about it, the more excited he became. Suddenly, he raised his head and looked at Yin Luoxia. Yin Luoxia also frowned and thought for a while before she nodded.

"Senior, may I please borrow the chess book to read?" Luo Mingxuan looked at Ye San.

Ye San coughed lightly. "Kid, you have talent. I was also thinking of lending it to you to read, so that in the future, I will have someone who can play the real Liubo with me. But, I have a request.” Ye San suddenly turned his head and glanced at Yin Luoxia, but Yin Luoxia glared back.

Luo Mingxuan didn’t get it. "What request?"

"Let your shifu give me a kiss." Ye San grinned.

There was a crisp tinkling sound, and a silver light flashed.

A sword had already reached Ye San\'s throat.

The heavy sword, Hopeless. Luo Mingxuan went straight for his most ferocious sword. The tip of the sword was bitingly cold, and Luo Mingxuan’s tone was even icier. "Say that again?"

"What are you doing!" The onlookers who were all Under Heaven Den people pulled out their weapons, and immediately surrounded Yin Luoxia and Luo Mingxuan.

Ye San squinted his eyes. "I didn\'t win this ninth round of the gambe, but you didn’t win either. We can’t give you the Unrivaled Order."

"Then I will kill you," Luo Mingxuan said viciously.

Ye San simply closed his eyes. "Okay, go ahead and kill."

Luo Mingxuan was taken aback. He was not some heinous demon head. How could he just kill somebody he didn’t agree with? So he could only feign his anger and growled, "Do you think I won’t?"

"All right, dear disciple. Enough of this boring game." Yin Luoxia suddenly waved her left hand, and a shining golden token appeared in her hand. On it was engraved in large and clear characters, "Unrivaled".

"The Unrivaled Order!" Everyone in Under Heaven Den was shocked.

Luo Mingxuan exclaimed with joy, "Then, the chess book?"

Yin Luoxia waved her right hand, and a torn book with an old cover and missing corners appeared right before everyone\'s sight. "Now, you don\'t have to worry about it."

"Shifu, you’re amazing, ah. When did you get those?" Luo Mingxuan said happily.

"Didn’t that old man under your sword say my cheating skills are number one under Heaven? Cheating and stealing are the same concept. I grabbed it in passing." Yin Luoxia turned to look at Ye San, and gave him a gentle smile. "Did you want me to kiss you?"

Ye San looked at that gentle smile, but a chill rose in his heart. This young and inexperienced youth wouldn’t kill him, but the same couldn’t be said of Luoxia Fairy. He shook his head hurriedly. "Fairy, I was just kidding…"

"Dear disciple, let\'s go." Yin Luoxia turned around with a flare, shaking her robes lightly, and the large “gamble” word on her back fluttered majestically.

"Yes, ma’am." Luo Mingxuan withdrew his sword and followed.

Ye San escaped from the sword, and quickly retreated a few steps. Then, he roared angrily, "What do you take my Under Heaven Den for? Stop them and take them down!" The Under Heaven Den people were all ready to go so when they heard this order, they couldn’t wait to rush forward.

"Dear disciple," Yin Luoxia spoke softly.

"As ordered." Luo Mingxuan once again drew out his heavy sword, Hopeless and stabbed forward. Yin Luoxia tipped her toes, swept up and lightly stepped onto the Hopeless sword, making use of the momentum to fly outside. She turned her head midair and smiled at Luo Mingxuan.

A beautiful face with a smile like a lotus in bloom, her beautiful hair falling from the clasp to frame her blushing cheeks, you could only guess what her gaze was saying.

The most beautiful scenery in the world was only just so.

Luo Mingxuan couldn\'t help but grin stupidly. With a violent wave of the heavy sword Hopeless, his power increased several times more than usual, and he knocked back all the people surrounding him. He tipped his toes and followed after. "Shifu, wait for me."

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