The Divine Martial Stars

Chapter 975 The Seventh Brother?

“As a champion who could eat even Deity Realm enemies for breakfast, and who is burdened with a blood feud and is being chased a lineage of god-like figures, I should be training and meditating as best I can to get stronger! Yet here I am, using a phone app to cheat at chess while keeping someone entertained… And that someone seems to at least be an Emperor-class champion…

“What sort of topsy-turvy have I got myself into?!”

Li Mu wondered as he moved another chess piece to a new position on the board, according to the instructions on his phone.

Another two hours elapsed.

The Sword Savant had only just emptied the last drop of wine from his twenty-fourth flask and the look on his face was every bit the semblance of a science student being interviewed by Einstein himself.

“That’s incredible! Is this really how good you are?! You’re having fun on that phone but yet you could still play and even defeat me, the best chess player of the Brotherhood of Swords! You did not ever need time to think whenever you made your move! I can’t even find any weakness in the way you play!

“Where did you learn such skills, my friend? What’s the name of your teacher?”

Li Mu did not fail to notice that he had just been promoted from “brat” to “my friend”.

Li Mu quickly thought of an answer.

“Single Player Master,” he replied.

“Singeru Pulayeru Master?!” the Sword Savant muttered the name under his breath while he scratched his head quizzically. “Can’t say I’ve heard that name before. But the name’s impressive enough. Some recluse of hidden depth and talents, I don’t doubt. Where is he right now? Is there a way to arrange a meeting?”

“He’s already passed on.” Li Mu’s quick thinking gave him another answer.

“What a shame,” the Sword Savant muttered as he extracted another flask of wine. “For twenty-four straight games, you’ve defeated me. I’m sure you embody the entirety of your mentor’s teachings. That makes you the best chess player in all the domains of Man. We can go on for another hundred games and I’ll still lose. But a promise is a promise; I’ll teach you all seventy-two techniques of the Whitehair Swordsmanship, but I have only one request.”

“Oh?” Li Mu was surprised.

“It’s not a condition,” the Sword Savant added hastily. “I’ll still give you all seventy-two techniques of the Whitehair Swordsmanship. I might be a lover of wine, but I’m not a lover of broken promises. I’m nothing if not a man of his word.”

“This alcoholic here takes immense pride in four things,” quipped the Grand Master of the Sanctuary. “His ability to really drink, his manners even when he’s drunk, his expertise in brewing his own wine, and lastly, his dogged intransigence to never break a promise. Oh yeah, there’s a fifth! That’s his confidence in his skills in chess.”

“Huh?!

“Are you kidding me?! His confidence in his skills in chess?!”

Li Mu took another glance at the straight face staring back at him from the other side of the chess board. “Seriously, mate?! Confidence?! With that level of skill?” But he managed to stay impassive and not let any of his skepticism show. To forget that the one sitting opposite of him was one of the greatest and most feared swordsmen in the domains of Man and quite possibly the Battlefield of Chaos itself would be a most disastrous mistake. One wrong word and he could very well be dead.

“Very well then, sir. Let’s hear your request,” said Li Mu.

“Your skills in chess are marvelous, my friend. Your gambits and traps are the work of art itself. Have you ever thought of accepting students?”

“Ah?!” Li Mu gawked with disbelief.

Even the Grand Master of the Sanctuary himself was flabbergasted for a split-second before he burst into laughter.

“Fret not, my friend,” said the Sword Savant, “Accept me as a student, and I shall accord all forms of respect that befit a mentor of mine. My obedience and compliance are yours to command. In fact, I’d even make a declaration so that the whole world will know of this.”

Li Mu’s mouth could fit a watermelon.

“Good lord, is this for real?!”

“But that sounds fun though… No one in this world would dare to offend me… Even those bastards of Lightning… Heh… Wait a minute… What about the Brotherhood?! They’re known to be eccentric and reckless idiots! I could be turned into bloody strips of confetti when they hear that I’m the mentor of their boss!”

A drop of cold sweat nearly rolled down Li Mu’s chin.

The one-syllable “Yes” was only just a hair’s breadth of escaping his lips.

It was that last moment of rational thought that saved Li Mu, especially since it would be incredibly embarrassing if and when it’s discovered that his true mastery in chess was no better than the Sword Savant.

Li Mu stole a look at the Grand Master of the Sanctuary.

The latter merely flashed him a grin as if he was only just an innocent bystander.

Li Mu sheepishly rubbed his nose. He rose up and bowed to the Sword Savant deeply and said, “I thank you so much, good sir. You’ve been nothing but frank in your passion for chess but I can only plead guilty to perfidy. I cannot accept your gift, for my victory was not an honorable one.”

He had powered on an app in his phone that could be deemed as the miniaturized version of the AlphaGo AI that could now be installed into cell phones. Such were the technological advances of Earth in this current age, that the AI could read the chess board and come up with the best possible move in response.

Long ago when Li Mu was still a student in middle school, he had come across this story of a young boy who went back to his grandmother’s house in the countryside during his holidays where he stumbled upon an elderly man who was immensely skilled in chess. The boy had used this method and defeated the elderly man in all the twenty rounds they played together. The people in the village thought the boy was a genius back then.

Humans could never come close to matching computers in the speed of processing data.

Needless to say, Li Mu was tempted to win so that he could get his hands on the Whitehair Swordsmanship. Hubris and greed overtook him momentarily. But seeing how honest and generous the Sword Savant had been to him, he felt guilty.

“Oh?” Uttered the Sword Savant with surprising nonchalance. “So it’s all in that phone of yours?”

Li Mu gulped hard with a silent “Good Heavens” under his breath. More sweat was pouring down the side of his forehead. “So you’ve noticed, sir. Well, this phone contains an application. A function that is the conception of both impeccable ingenuity and diligent work. It could work like an amazing oracle, calculating the best possible move for every situation. Even an amateur could look like a master chess player with this tool at his fingertips.”

“So this application, that’s the Singeru Pulayeru Master you were telling me about?” The Sword Savant’s eyes lit up not with rage, but with curiosity and interest.

“Ah?

“Wait a minute, something’s not right.

“He’s not angry. Instead, he’s more enthusiastic?”

Li Mu bobbed his head in response, answering, “Yes, sir.”

“Hahahaha! That’s all right! How about this, my friend? I propose a trade. The Whitehair Swordsmanship for that phone application of yours. What do you think?” Suggested the Sword Savant with brimming exuberance.

“Seriously?!

“Are you sure about this?

“This is a phone app that’s downloadable for free, for crying out loud! And he’s willing to trade it with that Emperor-class combat discipline?!

“What on Earth is wrong with the people here?!

“Are they all as mad as this Sword Savant?!”

Li Mu could not quite believe that this was happening.

Quick to notice Li Mu’s hesitation, the Sword Savant added hastily, “I understand that you might feel that the trade seems unfair. Why don’t you tell me what you need? I will make sure that your wish comes true, plus the Whitehair Swordsmanship. I just want that chess application of yours, whatever the cost might be.”

“What the f—

“What the hell is wrong with you people?!”

...

Li Mu returned a glum and quizzical look.

He just could not comprehend if the Sword Savant was just messing with him.

Or was he just drunk after having too much to drink?

The offer was just too good to be true. But he wondered if this was just a disaster waiting to happen. What if the Sword Savant, in his sober rage after he woke up, decided to not only renege on his offer but kill him as well?

Li Mu did not know what to do.

“Are all Emperor-class elites so crazy?!”

He glanced at the Grand Master of the Sanctuary.

“The Sword Savant values his skills in chess above all else,” the Grand Master answered with a knowing smile. “His skills with the sword, he cares nothing of them. The Whitehair Swordsmanship is his own creation, so you won’t get into trouble if he decides to give it to you. It’s a fair trade, I’d say.”

“Hey, hey, hey, old man. Is that you trying to instigate sinning by me?”

Li Mu bit his lip. “Perhaps a leap of faith?” He thought as he said, “Very well then, sir. I’ll take you up on your offer.”

“One should never look a gift horse in the mouth, I guess.”

...

Li Mu handed the Sword Savant his phone. Next, he taught the Sword Savant the ways to use the phone, most especially the chess app.

“Heavens, this is marvelous. This is something crafted by the hands of the gods themselves,” the Sword Savant breathed emphatically, admiring the electronic device in his hands like a woman swooning over a piece of diamond.

That took almost the better parts of one hour before he could take his eyes off it.

“I’ll remember this huge favor, my friend. I owe you. The seventy-two techniques of Whitehair Swordsmanship? They’re yours.” The Sword Savant was ecstatic. “And since I can’t think of what else to give you, why don’t we swear as brothers? Both of us. Surely you won’t see it as an imposition?”

“Huh?!”

Li Mu’s deadpan bewilderment could barely reflect how shocked he was.

“What the—”

In fact, he could have sworn that he was going insane.

“We’re not even in the same rank of seniority!”

“Wait up, chugger. Are you certain of this?” Even the Grand Master of the Sanctuary was caught off guard by this.

“What? Becoming brothers with me is shameful?!”

“You both are not even in the same rank of seniority.” Pointed out the Grand Master. “What are your students going to do when they see Li Mu in the future? What about Green Ox?”

“Um…” the Sword Savant mumbled, still raking for ideas to justify himself, “Those are altogether different matters.”

The Grand Master of the Sanctuary peered at Li Mu.

“Why do I get the feeling that he’s doing this for me?” Li Mu wondered.

“What for? And what’s in it for him?”

Li Mu paused. “Well, if you’re really serious about this, sir,” he muttered, feeling slightly touched by the Sword Savant’s sincerity, “I shall, with great pride, call you brother.”

“Hahahahah! Good! I expect no less from a fellow warrior! We don’t care about what people think! We just do whatever we want so long as our conscience permits it! Old man!” The Sword Savant gestured to the Grand Master, “Administer the rites!”

With the Grand Master as a witness, Li Mu became sworn brothers with the first sword in the domains of Man and the Sword Savant of the Brotherhood of the Swords.

It was a simple ceremony.

Trees of Eternity were often seen as manifestations of Heaven’s will on earth.

Hence the two sworn brothers exchanged their vows under one of the Trees of Eternity.

Li Mu was about to utter the customary “…stand by your side through thick and thin, to fight at your side in battle, and to die beside you if need be” when he thought about how inauspicious that sounded, so he held himself back.

At the end of the ceremony, the Sword Savant patted his shoulder and addressed him as “Seventh Brother”. An incredulous Li Mu gasped with shock. “Wait a minute, brother. Did you just call me ‘Seventh’? Am I not just ‘brother’? There’s seven of us?!”