In the Azure Peak Sect's tournament arena, Yuan Zhen's physical body remained perfectly still. His legs were crossed beneath him in the lotus position, his back straight as a sword, and his breathing so shallow it was barely perceptible. To any observer, he might have appeared to be in deep meditation, but the reality was far more complex.

His consciousness wasn't here at all.

The real Yuan Zhen existed within his inner world, standing at the center of the infinite jade Go board that had defined his cultivation path for years.

The board stretched endlessly in all directions, its surface gleaming with that distinctive green-white luster that only the finest spiritual jade possessed. Each intersection point hummed with potential energy, ready to accept the placement of black or white stones that would determine the flow of balance.

But today, the board served a different purpose entirely.

Instead of the usual abstract patterns of territorial control and strategic positioning, the Go board had transformed into something unprecedented. At its center, a perfect circular area perhaps fifty meters in diameter had been designated as the "active zone." Within this space, every intersection point glowed with real-time information about the battle taking place in the Realm of the Chosen.

Yuan Zhen's spiritual form stood at the edge of this active zone, in his hands, he held not the traditional black and white stones of Go, but something far more sophisticated: crystallized calculations that represented pure strategic analysis.

Each stone contained compressed data about probability matrices, energy flow patterns, optimal response sequences, and predicted outcome trajectories. When he placed one on the board, it would instantly transmit strategic guidance to his spiritual manifestation fighting in Lu Wenjun's body.

Most cultivators participating in the tournament found themselves cut off from their inner worlds once their consciousness projected into the foreign realms. The spiritual link simply wasn't strong enough to maintain that level of connection across dimensional barriers. But Yuan Zhen had always been different. His Dao of Equilibrium specialized in managing multiple simultaneous processes, and his inner world had been specifically designed to support this kind of dual existence.

He could see everything happening in the Realm of the Chosen with perfect clarity. The board's intersection points lit up in different colors to represent various factors: red for immediate threats, blue for defensive opportunities, gold for potential advantages, silver for environmental variables. It was like having a god's-eye view of the battlefield, complete with predictive modeling for every possible action.

His spiritual manifestation, wearing Lu Wenjun's face, stood on the eastern plains outside Hope City. The setting sun painted the grasslands in shades of amber and crimson, creating long shadows that would soon provide tactical advantages for either combatant.

Across from him, stood Ke Yin. The young man's posture was relaxed but alert, his hands already moving to prepare the first technique scroll. Interesting. His opponent had clearly spent significant time mastering the calligraphy-based combat system of this realm.

Yuan Zhen's eyes narrowed as data flowed across his Go board. Ke Yin's energy signature displayed the familiar layered patterns he'd observed in previous tournament recordings: the mysterious red and blue energies.

"There they are," Yuan Zhen murmured, placing a black stone on the board to mark the foreign energy signatures. "Still no indication of what those energies actually are, but their presence confirms this won't be a standard Xuan Yi battle."

The answer to their true nature would have to wait. The battle was beginning.

Ke Yin moved first, his brush dancing across parchment.

Lightning Seeks Its Mark.

Golden Xuan Yi flowed into the calligraphy, and the completed technique launched itself toward Yuan Zhen as a crackling bolt of electrical energy.

Yuan Zhen's Go board immediately lit up with response options. Seventeen different defensive techniques were displayed across the intersection points, each with calculated success probabilities and energy costs. But Yuan Zhen had already prepared for this exact scenario.

His own brush was moving before Ke Yin's technique was fully formed.

E ∝ 1/r²

As the bolt approached, the energy it carried was divided by the square of the distance, reducing its impact exponentially, eventually fizzling out to be barely more than static electricity by the time it arrived.

Ke Yin's eyes widened slightly; the first sign of surprise Yuan Zhen had seen from his opponent. But he recovered quickly, his brush already moving to inscribe his next technique.

Roots Bind What Stands Above Ground.

The grassland beneath Yuan Zhen's feet erupted as massive plant roots burst upward, seeking to entangle his legs and limit his mobility.

Yuan Zhen consulted his Go board, noting how the environmental advantages were shifting. The emerging root system would provide Ke Yin with natural anchors for additional plant-based techniques, while simultaneously restricting Yuan Zhen's movement options.

A classic territorial control maneuver.

But Yuan Zhen had faced territorial control before, it was, after all, the fundamental concept underlying Go itself.

His brush moved in sharp, angular strokes: Optimal Resource Allocation Protocol.

The technique didn't attack the roots directly.

Instead, it used principles from graph theory, treating each root as an edge in a network and identifying critical nodes, cut vertices, that would collapse the system if removed.

But Ke Yin wasn't done, he followed up with more attacks.

Seeds of Rapid Expansion.

Growth Knows No Boundaries.

Nature Reclaims All Artificial Constructs.

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The three techniques flowed together into a combination attack that transformed the entire battlefield. Seeds scattered across the ground and immediately began sprouting into full-grown trees. Vines erupted from the earth to create natural barriers. Flowers bloomed with such aggressive growth that they pushed up through the soil in miniature explosions of color.

Within moments, the open grassland had become a dense forest, with Ke Yin standing at its heart like some nature deity commanding his domain.

Yuan Zhen found himself surrounded by hostile plant life, every tree and vine positioned to restrict his movement and provide cover for his opponent. This was territorial control on a massive scale, the kind of environmental manipulation that most cultivators could only achieve with Domain techniques.

His Go board showed the situation in stark detail. The forest provided Ke Yin with virtually unlimited ammunition for plant-based attacks, natural barriers to absorb defensive techniques, and elevated positions for tactical advantages. Meanwhile, Yuan Zhen was reduced to a small clearing barely ten meters in diameter.

Any normal cultivator would have been overwhelmed. But Yuan Zhen wasn't normal.

Exponential Resource Decay Function.

N(t) = N₀e^(-λt)

Where N(t) was the amount of living plant mass at time t, N₀ was the original growth, and λ was the decay rate.

By increasing λ, Yuan Zhen accelerated the aging process of natural material causing the plant-life that had been thriving moments before to age rapidly.

It was like watching a time-lapse film of seasonal change, compressed into mere moments.

Vines withered and cracked. Flowers bloomed, peaked, and died in the span of seconds.

But even as his immediate surroundings cleared, Yuan Zhen could see that Ke Yin was already adapting. New growth erupted from areas outside the decay field, and his opponent had begun moving through the forest, using the remaining vegetation to stay ahead of the technique's area of effect.

This was becoming genuinely challenging.

Yuan Zhen's Go board showed probability matrices that were shifting rapidly as both combatants adapted their strategies in real time. The calculated prediction models were having trouble keeping up with Ke Yin's apparently intuitive approach to combat.

Strangling Vine Seeking Throat.

Poison Flowers Spreading Spores.

Root System Underground Assault.

Ke Yin's next combination was more aggressive, designed to exploit the gaps in Yuan Zhen's area-denial technique. Vines dropped from overhead while flowers released clouds of debilitating pollen and underground roots sought to trip and ensnare.

Yuan Zhen's response was necessarily multi-layered.

Air Filtration Purification Matrix.

Kinetic Energy Deflection Barriers.

Seismic Vibration Nullification Field.

Three techniques activated simultaneously, creating overlapping zones of protection. The pollen clouds were neutralized before they could affect his breathing. The vine attacks were deflected by barriers that redirected their kinetic energy harmlessly skyward. The underground assault was countered by vibrations that disrupted root growth patterns.

But the energy cost was significant.

Yuan Zhen's Go board showed his Xuan Yi reserves dropping to approximately sixty percent of maximum capacity. At this rate, he would need to end the battle soon or risk being worn down through attrition.

Ke Yin seemed to sense this shift, because his attacks became more frequent and aggressive. Technique after technique flowed from his brush in rapid succession, each one designed to force Yuan Zhen to expend energy on defensive responses.

Explosive Seed Cluster Detonation.

Razor Grass Cutting Whirlwind.

Entangling Moss Paralysis Effect.

Yuan Zhen found himself constantly on the defensive, his Go board working overtime to calculate optimal responses to each incoming threat. But with every exchange, the tactical situation was becoming clearer. Ke Yin's techniques were powerful and creative, but they followed predictable patterns.

Plant-based attacks. Environmental manipulation. Terrain control through rapid growth.

It was time to test a hypothesis.

Statistical Probability Manipulation Protocol.

Energy Efficiency Optimization Matrix.

Yuan Zhen's counterattack didn't try to overpower Ke Yin's plant manipulation directly. Instead, it analyzed the energy flows underlying each technique and introduced small inefficiencies that compounded rapidly.

A vine that should have required one unit of Xuan Yi to control suddenly required two. Explosive seeds that normally detonated with perfect timing began going off early or late. Root systems lost their coordinated growth patterns and began working against each other.

Yuan Zhen could see the confusion in Ke Yin's posture as his reliable techniques started behaving unpredictably. This was the true power of the Dao of Equilibrium, not overwhelming force, but subtle manipulation of the underlying systems that governed all conflict.

But he wasn't finished yet.

Within his inner world, Yuan Zhen placed his hands flat against the Go board's surface, feeling the accumulated data from the entire battle flowing through the jade intersections beneath his palms.

Every technique Ke Yin had used, every surge of Xuan Yi that had been deflected or absorbed, every particle of spiritual energy that had been displaced during their conflict—all of it had been catalogued and stored within his surroundings.

And now, he was going to claim it all.

The characters he wrote this time were unlike anything he'd used before. These weren't mere techniques; they were complex equations. Mathematical formulas that described the fundamental nature of energy conversion and spiritual manifestation.

Universal Energy Consolidation Matrix.

Environmental Reservoir Activation Protocol.

Manifestation of True Self Through Accumulated Balance.

The effect was spectacular.

Every blade of grass for kilometers around began to glow as their stored spiritual energy was drawn upward. The air itself shimmered as atmospheric Xuan Yi condensed into visible streams of golden light.

Ke Yin looked up in obvious alarm as a colossal figure began to materialize in the sky above them. But this wasn't Lu Wenjun's face or form. This was Yuan Zhen himself, manifested as a spiritual avatar that stood over a hundred meters tall.

The avatar was perfect in its proportions, an idealized version of Yuan Zhen's true appearance rendered in condensed Xuan Yi. Its eyes held the same calculating intelligence, the same serene confidence that had made the original legendary among the outer disciples. When it moved, the air itself rippled with displaced energy.

The massive avatar looked down at Ke Yin with eyes that contained galaxies of swirling Xuan Yi. When it spoke, its voice resonated across the plains like distant thunder, carrying the weight of absolute authority.

"Ke Yin, you have fought well, but this battle is over."

The avatar's massive hand began to descend, fingers spread wide to encompass the area where Ke Yin stood.

"Surrender now," the avatar continued, "and we can end this as fellow disciples should, with mutual respect intact. You've already proven your strength. There's no shame in acknowledging when you've been outmaneuvered."

Yuan Zhen meant every word. Despite the competitive nature of the tournament, he genuinely respected Ke Yin's abilities. The plant-based techniques had been creative and well-executed. The tactical adaptations had been impressive. Any other opponent would have fallen to such an assault.

But Yuan Zhen's Dao of Equilibrium was specifically designed to counter exactly this kind of overwhelming environmental control. By its very nature, equilibrium sought to balance all forces, including those that seemed impossible to counter.

Through his Go board, Yuan Zhen watched as Ke Yin stared up at the descending hand.

The young man's expression was calculating rather than panicked, as if he were rapidly weighing his remaining options. But what options could there be? The avatar was drawing on energy reserves that dwarfed anything a single cultivator could produce, powered by the accumulated spiritual potential of the entire battlefield.

Yuan Zhen began to relax, already planning how he would help Du Yanze recover from the spiritual strain of hosting such an intense battle. His opponent's vessel had served admirably, and Yuan Zhen felt a responsibility to ensure—

Ke Yin's brush moved across a scroll with desperate speed, characters flowing onto the parchment in strokes that seemed to bypass conscious thought entirely.

Yuan Zhen's Go board immediately began analyzing the energy patterns flowing into the technique, but the readings were... wrong.

The spiritual signature wasn't the familiar golden glow of Xuan Yi that had characterized every previous technique in their battle. Instead, the calligraphy blazed with that strange blue light, the one that even Yuan Zhen's analytical systems couldn't categorize.

"What—" he began, but the words died in his throat as his Go board erupted with error messages and warning signals.

And then the world exploded into green.

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