Chapter 24: A Dog in Cat’s Clothing…

Chapter 24: A Dog in Cat's Clothing...

The little junior brother was very cute.

This was the illusion most disciples of the Celestial Spirit Sect shared.

To put it bluntly, Xiang Rong and Xiang Yi had shared the same misconception when they first met Mo Xi. Later, as they got to know him, it wasn't that they found Junior Mo less cute—it was just that they sensed something else churning beneath that adorable exterior, something they didn't want to delve into.

If they had to compare him to something, it would be a cursed doll.

Especially since Mo Xi had a face that blurred the lines between male and female—cute at first glance, but once you got familiar with him, that uneasy feeling only grew stronger.

But the Mo Xi standing behind them now had shed that effeminate aura.

In just a few days, Mo Xi seemed to have grown a few centimeters. His delicate face was still cute, but he now clearly looked like a boy—no longer like before, when, if he deliberately stayed silent, you couldn't tell him apart from Mo Bei.

However, the most eye-catching thing about Mo Xi now was the golden-red dragon tattoo. You couldn't see where the head was—only its tail emerging from the nape of his neck, winding through his red-streaked sideburns, playfully poking out a tail fin near his right cheek. The whole thing radiated lively, positive spiritual energy.

Perhaps because of this, Mo Xi looked even more innocent and adorable—like a young master spoiled by a good family, radiating a sunny, cheerful, naive sense of justice.

Wearing that very expression, Mo Xi asked with a smile, "I'm Mo Xi, of course. Senior Brother Xiang Rong, do you find something wrong with me?"

"..." *His condition seems to have worsened.*

Xiang Rong concluded internally. He certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to say that out loud, so he only forced a dry laugh: "I was just wondering—where did you get that dragon tattoo, Junior Mo? It's really cool!"

"Pretty cool, right?" Mo Xi's eyes lit up as he touched the tail fin near his cheek, saying happily, "The Master gave it to me. No one else has one."

"..." *There's no continuing this conversation!*

Xiang Rong's mouth twitched.

Mo Xi couldn't care less about his underling's dissatisfaction. He looked toward the formation practice hall and asked, "Alright, so what's this about you two not being able to figure out how to make money?"

Xiang Rong and Xiang Yi's attention snapped back immediately.

—Did what happened to Junior Mo matter more than making money? Obviously not!

Xiang Yi described in detail everything that had happened during Mo Xi's absence, then looked regretfully at the chess (formation practice) room: "Most people have gotten their pieces by now. If it were a few days ago, the foot traffic was even crazier—you had to take a number just to get a turn."

Opportunities like that vanished in the blink of an eye, which was why Xiang Yi and Xiang Rong were so anxious.

"Is that chess game really that fun?" Mo Xi, however, couldn't quite understand.

His impression of chess was nothing more than Fourth Senior Brother and Fifth Senior Brother huddled over a Go board—anywhere from a few hours to a whole month. It was enough to make people yawn; even the Master complained they were wasting time.

Xiang Rong and Xiang Yi clearly weren't the "refined" type either, yet they were both excited when the topic of "chess" came up this time.

"Speaking of which, Junior Mo hasn't tried it yet, has he?" Xiang Rong asked eagerly. "Want me to teach you?"

By now, every disciple of the Celestial Spirit Sect had at least gotten their hands on it a couple of times—a true beginner was hard to come by!

And this was Mo Xi, after all! The Junior Mo who was always bullying him!

He definitely wouldn't dare fight him in real life, and couldn't win anyway, but wouldn't it be perfectly fine to openly slaughter him on the chessboard?

Xiang Rong swore he had no intention of getting revenge.

Mo Xi stared at Xiang Rong with a half-smile for a moment, then walked past him toward the center of the chess room:

"I don't need you. I'll find my Second Senior Brother."

Qu Qianxing stood in the middle of the formation practice hall.

*

Ever since losing to Ran Deng last time, Qu Qianxing had gained some insight and had been playing chess here day and night ever since. As a result, he had practically become a permanent NPC here—no matter the hour, anyone who came to the formation hall could challenge him.

The disciples of the Celestial Spirit Sect found it novel for a while.

Ran Deng's performance gave them the illusion:

They, too, could brutally dominate the Second Senior Brother of the Celestial Spirit Sect—an opportunity you didn't get every day.

But after countless disciples challenged him, they realized they had been overthinking it.

Qu Qianxing's loss had been due to his unfamiliarity with the rules. Once this Second Senior Brother understood the chessboard's mechanics, even Ran Deng would need considerable effort to deal with him again—as for Senior Brother Yu Wenxuan, after losing three games, he never set foot in the formation practice hall again.

The most terrifying thing was that Second Senior Brother wasn't just smart—he was diligent, too.

He didn't just put the game aside once he learned the rules; instead, he experimented with various formations and pieces, constantly. In that regard, Qu Qianxing was the student most like Zhou Hui among all his disciples.

A few days later, no disciple dared to challenge Qu Qianxing anymore. Only Ran Deng occasionally came by, offering new secret realm formations for Qu Qianxing to ponder.

At that moment, Qu Qianxing stood before the formation board, studying a newly formed secret realm map.

"Second Senior Brother? Second Senior Brother!"

He was so focused that Mo Xi had to call him several times before Qu Qianxing snapped out of it:

"What? You want to play chess... Mo Xi?"

Like Xiang Rong and Xiang Yi, Qu Qianxing was taken aback for a moment when he saw Mo Xi.

Anyone would pause when a junior brother they hadn't seen in days suddenly underwent a gender transformation (X).

Mo Xi didn't mind Qu Qianxing's gaze. He let the other man look freely, even showing off the dragon tattoo on his face: "The Master gave it to me. Pretty, right?"

"Very pretty." Qu Qianxing nodded indifferently, then asked with concern, "Your body should have recovered by now, right?"

This time, it was Mo Xi's turn to be taken aback.

He refused to believe Qu Qianxing didn't know what the dragon tattoo on his face meant—especially since Second Senior Brother helped manage the sect's accounts and should know better than anyone what was going on with the spiritual mine.

"...At least show some reaction? Doesn't this just make it seem like I'm the only one being swayed by external things?" Mo Xi said awkwardly.

In other sects, something like inheritance rights could turn brothers against each other, right? Let alone such a wealthy mine.

"?" Qu Qianxing thought for a moment before understanding what Mo Xi meant: "You mean the spiritual mine? I did oppose it! You're still young, your temperament is unsettled, and you're usually greedy for money. In my opinion, it'd be best not to give you your allowance at all—to temper your character. But since the Master thinks you need it, he must have his reasons."

At that, Qu Qianxing turned stern: "But even if it's given to you, it's for your better cultivation. You must not disappoint the Master's expectations! Work hard!"

Are you my dad or something?

Mo Xi complained internally, his face stiff as he said, "Second Senior Brother, let's just play chess, okay?"

"I see—so this is how my piece gets generated?"

*

Mo Xi looked curiously at the little figure on the "chessboard."

This step is actually pretty fun, way more interesting than those black-and-white pieces.

And Qu Qianxing is clearly way more diligent than Ran Deng. He doesn't try to take advantage of Mo Xi not knowing the rules at all, explaining everything one by one: "Yes, you can also choose four pieces, but whether it's us inner disciples or outer disciples, we're all at Foundation Establishment. But there are medicines on the map that can enhance cultivation, so don't just focus on the goal, you also need to..."

"Second Senior Brother, let's just start!" Mo Xi said with a smile.

He wasn't the type to sit through rule explanations.

No matter the game, playing a few rounds yourself beats any kind of research.

Qu Qianxing didn't like his learning attitude: "You'll learn when you take a loss."

"Well then, shall we start?" Mo Xi said cheerfully.

Since Mo Xi was a beginner, Qu Qianxing chose the most basic circular formation map—the same map where Ran Deng had handed him a crushing defeat—and Qu Qianxing planned to give Mo Xi a taste of the same medicine.

To do this, Qu Qianxing only used Mo Bei's piece, because she was the fastest among all the pieces; as long as she grabbed the buffs, she could secure victory.

But then Mo Xi complained: "Second Senior Brother, swap your piece! This way, even if I win, it's no fun!"

"Huh?" Qu Qianxing frowned.

He then realized Mo Xi hadn't paid any attention to the objective at all, heading straight for his piece. In one clash, Mo Bei's piece was reduced to ashes.

"That's not how you play this game," Qu Qianxing complained.

Luckily, he wasn't as cocky as Ran Deng, who'd just rely on the Sword Immortal rush strategy and nothing else. Qu Qianxing immediately sent his own piece and Guan Ye's piece to surround Mo Xi's.

But Mo Xi looked at Qu Qianxing's pieces and asked curiously: "Second Senior Brother, your skills don't seem to be your best moves!"

"Ah, indeed," Qu Qianxing recalled, "At the time, the master didn't tell us what to do, only telling us to use our most basic, natural moves."

"Hehe, well then, I won't hold back."

Hearing this, Mo Xi's eyes lit up, and he sent his piece charging in again, instantly one-shotting the pieces representing Qu Qianxing and Guan Ye.

"Whoa, impressive."

"But going head-on won't work, look—'Senior Brother' just showed up."

"Ah, we're totally screwed!"

The onlookers commented, and Mo Xi looked up to see a crowd had gathered to watch his match with Second Senior Brother.

And these onlookers clearly weren't rooting for Mo Xi. After all, during this time, everyone might not have their own pieces, but they'd all used the inner disciples' pieces. Even with cultivation levels locked, Yu Wenxuan, as Senior Brother, was still the strongest—even his basic attacks could beat any other piece in a straight fight.

"Well, normally I can't beat Senior Brother!" Mo Xi admitted, "But my piece here uses a special move I just got!"

As Mo Xi said this, "Mo Xi" and "Yu Wenxuan" clashed head-on on the board.

"Yu Wenxuan" threw out a basic attack, and "Mo Xi" lost most of his health, but "Mo Xi" flashed a sinister smile.

The next second, a little golden-red dragon burst out of him and charged straight at "Yu Wenxuan." The golden-red flames engulfed the whole area, burning not just "Yu Wenxuan" but the entire region to ashes.

"That's so cool!"

"Junior Mo, what move was that?"

"Can we use Junior Mo's piece too?"

The crowd around them praised him, and Mo Xi—the real one, of course—smiled at the expressionless Qu Qianxing.

Sorry about that, Second Senior Brother.

EXP +1.

*

Mo Xi knew when to quit and didn't keep provoking Qu Qianxing. After leaving the chess room with his piece, he saw Xiang Rong and Xiang Yi bounding over all excited:

"Junior Mo! We figured out how to make money!"

"How?" Mo Xi asked.

Xiang Rong grinned: "Just like you—make stronger pieces!"

"That's right, as expected of Junior Mo, you hit the nail on the head," Xiang Yi echoed flatteringly, "In this kind of chess game, piece strength is what really matters!"

This was a blind spot in everyone's thinking.

Even though everyone had initially noticed piece strength was key, Zhou Hui had led them astray, and they all went off track making their own pieces.

Later, when the Celestial Spirit Sect disciples started playing, aside from using their own pieces, they mostly used the five inner disciple pieces Zhou Hui had provided at the start—after all, these were known as the five strongest pieces, and few thought to compare them with pieces made by other disciples.

First, because the inner disciples were known as the sect's strongest; second, because these five pieces could be freely picked on the board, while using someone else's piece required asking permission, which felt awkward. So even if they were used, it was only among close friends.

But Mo Xi's actions reminded Xiang Rong and Xiang Yi of something.

"No matter how strong Senior Brother is, his skill is just a basic attack. We can find some inner disciples with higher cultivation, ask them to use their signature moves, and make a set of even stronger pieces!" Xiang Rong said excitedly.

He felt a big pile of spirit stones was already calling his name.

Mo Xi had been smiling at him, but now he suddenly dropped the smile: "No."

"Why?" Xiang Rong asked nervously, "Is there something off about my idea?"

"It's not about right or wrong," Mo Xi said coldly, "It's about messing up the balance! The master designed this game to train formations, but it'd just turn into a pure strength contest."

But didn't you just steamroll Second Senior Brother with pure strength?

Xiang Yi thought to herself.

She knew it was because Qu Qianxing probably hadn't thought about the strength issue either, and had let Mo Xi use his strongest move like he did with other disciples, but Mo Xi's refusal still felt weird to her.

Because this was Junior Mo, after all!

The Junior Mo who didn't care about rules as long as spirit stones were involved—he'd never have cared about something like this before!

Was this really Junior Mo?

Xiang Rong and Xiang Yi looked at Mo Xi again, confused.

But Mo Xi said, "Come on, let's go see the master! Stop thinking about doing things on the down low. If we're gonna cause trouble, let's do it out in the open!"

*

"An event, huh?"

Zhou Hui looked at his youngest disciple, intrigued.

"Yeah, we just discovered this," Mo Xi reported seriously, briefly mentioning what Xiang Rong found while hiding their money-making plan, "But this hidden problem will eventually get noticed by other disciples! Once the novelty of their own pieces wears off, everyone's gonna focus on strength—"

"True." Zhou Hui nodded.

He wasn't oblivious to this "hidden danger," but Zhou Hui was, after all, not a game designer. At best, he could only whip up a game framework based on what he knew from another world. As for internal balance and event planning, Zhou Hui hadn't bothered to think it through—mainly because there was no need. From where he stood as the Celestial Spirit Sect's Immortal Venerable, he just needed a game to fire up the disciples' enthusiasm for learning and, as a side bonus, train his second disciple's knack for handling secret realms. He had no plans to keep it going long-term.

But now, Mo Xi had taken the initiative to approach him. Zhou Hui encouraged him, saying, "Looks like you've got some ideas? Spill it."

Mo Xi said with confidence:

"Yes, Master."

"Since this problem's bound to come up anyway, why not hold a regular event to compare the strength of all disciples' chess pieces, and hand out rewards to the top few, then make their pieces public so anyone can pick them?"

"This way, first, we can control the strength of the pieces; second, we can boost everyone's enthusiasm—no matter how fun a game is, once the newness wears off, the hype always fizzles out. I've heard folks aren't as active as they were at the start! So having events won't just keep the enthusiasm up, it'll also push everyone to beef up their pieces, which means sharpening their skills!"

In short, it was all about daily active users.

Zhou Hui nodded slightly. Though he didn't play many games in the other world, he knew that much.

Seeing Zhou Hui's reaction, Mo Xi was encouraged and continued:

"Of course, we don't have to limit ourselves to pieces made by the disciples themselves. We can also customize some pieces to control strength. For example, have Second Senior Brother perform a few common spells, and have Fourth Senior Brother demonstrate some common magic tools—this can also set an example for everyone."

"Also, it's not fair to give without getting anything in return. If I'm not mistaken, these chessboards require spirit stones, right? Ah, I'm not saying we should make money, but on the basis of not breaking balance, recovering a bit of cost should be fine, right?"

"For instance, we could make some moves look more flashy, or dress some pieces in special outfits... Master?"

Mo Xi rambled on about his plans, and only after a long while did he realize his master was looking at him with an odd expression, which made him reflect uneasily: had he said too much?

Zhou Hui, though, wasn't about to scold Mo Xi. He just sized up this cat-suited disciple of his and smiled: "I never thought I'd have a dog-style game designer here."

"Woof?" Mo Xi stared with his round cat eyes, tilting his head in confusion.