Duàn Chén's spiritual power, after accepting Wu Suo Wèi's white chess piece, increased at a terrifying speed.
If his original spiritual power content was only ten, then his current spiritual power content had already surpassed twenty, and was continuously advancing towards thirty.
And the speed hardly stopped.
According to Duàn Chén's estimation, after completely absorbing the white chess piece and achieving complete fusion, his spiritual power should be able to triple.
At that point, he could even use his ultimate moves a few times, and wouldn't have to worry about fighting difficult battles against black chess pieces in the future.
The blade form of Qiān Huàn Pānduōlā also changed, becoming sharper, as if it had been honed by a whetstone.
All the monsters he passed were cut down with a single strike, without any mercy, like a ruthless killing machine.
He headed straight for the boundary gate that Lǎo Zhāng was guarding.
"Aren't you leaving yet?"
A voice eagerly probed in Lǎo Zhāng's ear.
The confused voice seemed to come from the edge of the sky, with a faint enticement, as if luring, and also as if persuading.
"This place is about to fall. You've defended it for so long, and no one has commended you. All you've gained are friends leaving one by one and your body covered in scars."
"Do you really think you are indispensable here? They are just using you as a pawn."
"Leviathan has awakened. You cannot stop it. This place will be broken through by it sooner or later. If you escape now, there is still a chance."
"Sigh!"
Lǎo Zhāng suddenly sighed and opened his eyes.
The voice in the darkness, thinking it had persuaded him, did not have time to be happy before seeing Lǎo Zhāng take two steps, pick up a bottle from the corner, and smack his lips, sounding somewhat regretful.
"I told him long ago to take the Wuliangye bottle back. This bottle is still worth a couple of bucks."
Lǎo Zhāng shook his head, his tone laced with helplessness.
"Now it's no good, I can't take it back anymore."
He looked at the bottle with some heartache.
"A good bottle, broken just like that."
Then he put the bottle away, placing it somewhere unknown, and looked into the void with a gaze that held boundless desolation.
"I will not leave."
"It is my duty, and I should sacrifice everything for my duty, even my life. Since I am guarding this place, then before I die, nothing will ever be able to cross my body."
"You will never understand."
Lǎo Zhāng suddenly laughed.
"What a pity."
A trace of regret flashed in his eyes, as if he had already seen the figure desperately rushing towards here. He shook his head.
"I can't see him one last time."
Leviathan had arrived close by.
Getting closer and closer, Leviathan's figure swam rapidly, not even bothering with anything else.
The monsters and calamities it brought with it continuously fell from its body. Some were submerged in the sea, crushed into powder by its enormous form, and patches of thick, colored blood appeared in the water.
Others dodged the path Leviathan took and rushed towards the shore.
A scene of devastation.
But Leviathan's target was only the boundary gate.
"Come on!"
Lǎo Zhāng drew his weapon, a resolute sharpness flashing in his eyes, facing Leviathan directly. Behind him was the gate he was guarding.
He would fight to the death and not retreat.
He would rather die than retreat.
"Lǎo Zhāng!"
Duàn Chén suddenly stopped, standing still, a bad premonition flashing through his mind.
Then, disregarding everything else, he swung his weapon again. All the monsters he struck were annihilated into dust under the immense consumption of his spiritual power, leaving not a single trace behind.
But the sense of urgency in his heart grew stronger.
Duàn Chén didn't know where Wu Suo Wèi had gone, but he could no longer afford to worry about it.
He wielded his Qiān Huàn Pānduōlā, constantly switching between its various forms. The monsters he faced grew more powerful as he approached Leviathan.
Slowly, he approached a place that was very familiar to him, but by the time Duàn Chén arrived, he saw Lǎo Zhāng's staggering figure.
"Lǎo Zhāng!!"
He cried out, his eyes splitting with grief.
The figure's life force was rapidly draining away.
"Oh, Chén'er?"
Lǎo Zhāng turned around with a smile, his face smeared with blood, making his features unrecognizable. He called his name with a particularly intimate childlike tone.
"I didn't expect to see you one last time."
He smiled with a hint of satisfaction.
"It's good."
"I'll leave this place to you..."
"I'm going to find that fellow Gāo Tiānkǎi for a chat."
"Really... so impolite, rushing ahead first..."
"I'm going to sleep for a while, Chén'er, goodnight."
Duàn Chén's eyes became blurred, he didn't know if it was the sea water filling them or the torrential rain that had suddenly begun to fall from the sky.
Or perhaps something else?
He suddenly recalled a memory from the past.
"You don't say goodnight to me, Lǎo Zhāng?"
"...Where did you learn such corny phrases? I say Chén'er, have you been making any dangerous deals lately? Like wholesale "rich woman happiness balls" or something."
"Don't think that just because you're older, I won't dare to hit you."
"I didn't expect you, Lǎo Zhāng, to know about this stuff too."
"Haha... the trends of the younger generation, I have to learn them too, otherwise how can I have common ground with you guys?"
"But forget about goodnight, that phrase sounds a bit ominous, I'm not used to Western customs."
"Alright, alright, go to sleep early, don't talk nonsense..."
"Leviathan!!"
Duàn Chén roared, his eyes blood red.
He caught Lǎo Zhāng's body and handed it over to Wu Suo Wèi, who had reappeared, "Protect his corpse for me."
Wu Suo Wèi shook his head.
"Protection is one problem, and whether you can defeat Leviathan is another."
"Moreover... look."
Duàn Chén suddenly looked up.
Immediately after, a shriek was heard.
Leviathan's pained shriek was sharp and ear-piercing. If Duàn Chén hadn't enhanced his physical fitness after fusing with the white chess piece, his ears would have been deafened at such close range.
Its head collided with the boundary gate, and its body writhed wildly, like a fish on the verge of death.
As it thrashed about, the seawater was churned up into waves, turning into tsunamis that crashed onto the shore.
However, its actions also had an extremely powerful impact.
At the very least, the boundary gate, struck by its head, trembled.
Then.
The boundary gate, opened a crack!