Chapter Thirty-Two: Calculations of the Heart

Nine Dreams furrowed her delicate brows, staring intently at Wind Echo.

This fellow not only refused to let her speak, but also impersonated her voice. Merely losing a single round, he was so petty and narrow-minded.

It would be best if he lost again this time.

She thought silently, crystalline tears gathering at the corners of her eyes, then said nothing more, watching the game with stubborn focus as if sulking.

Though still a young girl, untouched by the world and pure as white paper, the boy’s actions stirred a faint negative emotion in her gentle, innocent heart.

Now, she ardently hoped Wind Echo would lose again.

The newly opened Primordial Starfield had the two sides switched in position.

Wind Echo took the Central South seat, while Little Broken Grass held the Vertical North. This round, Wind Echo was first to move. He struck with overwhelming force, leading the Divine Disaster stars to unleash thunder, smashing hundreds of opposing stars in a single blow.

"His style really hasn't changed," Little Broken Grass thought to herself.

She had suffered a heavy loss last game, but now, armed with experience, she adapted to Wind Echo’s tactics, laying out her pieces with greater caution. Finding a weakness wouldn’t be so easy this time.

"I actually quite enjoy strategizing," Wind Echo said as he placed his piece, his words obscure in meaning. A sharp blue gleam flashed at the corner of his eye, making Nine Dreams, whose brows were already knitted, frown even more deeply.

"You..."

Half an hour passed. Little Broken Grass stared, dumbfounded, at the drastically altered starfield.

Earlier, Wind Echo claimed to enjoy strategizing and had pretended to leave some medium and minor disasters on the map. At first, she paid him no mind, even shaking her head, thinking Wind Echo was trying to imitate her after losing last round. It was a poor move; it would be better for him to stick to his own style.

But then, something strange happened.

As the geography of the starfield shifted subtly, those medium and minor disasters Wind Echo had scattered like gentle lambs suddenly turned savage, threatening her with tremendous danger.

Little Broken Grass broke out in a cold sweat.

This couldn’t go on. She had to cut them off, or else the growth of these disasters would become unpredictable, forming a top-tier strategy aimed straight at her main force.

Tap, tap, tap.

Little Broken Grass steadied herself, and for several moves in succession, focused entirely on remedying the situation—either forcing or destroying the enemy, finally uprooting all the threats Wind Echo had laid down.

"Safe at last," she breathed out.

Wind Echo’s luck was uncanny. A few moves landed precisely in an area about to undergo transformation, which happened to become a battlefield of paramount importance.

"Four million five hundred and fifty thousand moves down, why does it feel like you’re weaker this round?" Wind Echo placed another piece, his Devouring Light Star energy slaughtering across the field, his star count far ahead.

To Little Broken Grass, it was unmistakably a taunt. She gritted her teeth and retorted, "Don’t be so smug. You’re just lucky, leading for now. Don’t forget last round—when you had a huge advantage late game, I turned the tables!"

Her final words were delivered with force and confidence.

"Heh, that’s true," Wind Echo smiled slightly. "I’m just reminding you to take it seriously. Look, the starfield is shifting again. Oh! I just laid a major disaster there—it might pay off."

Following his gaze, Little Broken Grass was stunned.

No way!

It was a barren region at the edge of two supergalaxies, plain and unremarkable, easy to overlook. Yet, just now, the supergalaxies began to exert gravitational pull on each other, a few stars spun chaotically, and then they started merging and swallowing one another!

Little Broken Grass was on the verge of despair.

Around these two massive supergalaxies were countless Vertical North stars—Wind Echo had planted a major disaster here!

If that disaster erupted...

Boom!

"Explosion," Wind Echo murmured, ignoring Little Broken Grass’s tingling scalp, leading the Divine Disaster stars straight into the supergalaxies, following the blazing radiance, making the spectacle even more dazzling.

The worst-case scenario had arrived.

Nine Dreams drew a deep breath, her refined oval face full of worry. These two supergalaxies held a total of forty-eight million stars, one of Vertical North’s main forces.

Such destruction, the consequences would be dire.

"He’s not acting on impulse or luck—he knew these supergalaxies would merge," Nine Dreams suddenly realized, shocked by the unusual depth in Wind Echo’s eyes; there, a heavy contemplation flickered with faint blue light, subtly perceiving the entire Primordial Starfield.

Was he cheating?

No, it was master-level strategizing!

By analyzing the faint flow of space, he calculated the future changes in the starfield’s geography.

Nine Dreams was deeply shaken.

Such skill was incredible and extremely hard to achieve; only those profoundly versed in spatial arts could manage it.

Among her seven divine elder sisters, perhaps only one could perform such calculations.

"Why didn’t he analyze earlier? Did he lose on purpose to make this high-stakes game more exciting?" Nine Dreams, ever clever, quickly understood—the boy’s ambition was immense.

This round, Listening Wind might not win.

Nine Dreams’ palm turned pale. Losing was secondary; what she dreaded most was seeing Listening Wind heartbroken and dejected. If she could, she would rather give the immortal stone freely to Wind Echo than watch Listening Wind lose so bitterly.

...

"Why is no one here?"

Bamboo Sky wore a flowing emerald dress, graceful and beautiful. Her vast divine sense swept the flower sea and the Divine Gate, searching every inch of land, but still couldn’t find Wind Echo.

This was the eastern flower sea, boundless and expansive. In just half a day, had he already left?

"Sister, actually that Young Lord Wind has already left the flower sea," Dance Divine Master said, twirling a strand of black hair between her fingers. Her dazzling eyes seemed to hold sun, moon, and stars, but now she looked slightly guilty, glancing aside.

"Do you know where he is?" Bamboo Sky asked.

"In... the Black Prison World," Dance Divine Master answered honestly.

"Why only tell me now?" Bamboo Sky’s gaze grew cold.

Dance Divine Master offered a conciliatory smile, saying, "Sister, that young lord wanted immortal blossoms and found the Undying Nether Flower. He was persistent, relying on a seventeen-seal god talisman, Azure Calamity Howl Cosmos, insisting on taking it. So I revealed the Black Prison World to him, hoping to send him away."

"Azure Calamity Howl Cosmos..."

Bamboo Sky murmured, a bit surprised that Wind Echo possessed a seventeen-seal god talisman—that was a supreme treasure.

"We’re going to the Black Prison."

Without hesitation, she drew a black rift in the void with a graceful wave. Her flowing robes billowed as she stepped forward, long and slender legs moving in elegant stride, vanishing instantly into the crack.

"Strange, why do I feel that if I don’t explain properly, Sister Bamboo will blame me for that child?" Dance Divine Master puzzled over it, unable to understand.

The immortal blossom was of utmost importance to the flower sea, not to be lost. Wind Echo was a guest; she couldn’t afford to offend him, so she sent him away. Her actions were reasonable.

All the Divine Masters of the flower sea should agree.

"Sister Bamboo has never acted so oddly—could it be she really has some connection to him?" Dance Divine Master’s beautiful face froze for a moment, uttering a thought even she couldn’t believe.