The work of the Go master

It's like drawing a blade and threateningly gesturing at the other person's neck.

Although still somewhat confused, an indescribable sense of excitement was indeed surging through his blood.

A battle that transcends eras.

Not long ago, Ke Zhiguang and Ban Yexuan were joking about ancient people, but now they have actually encountered ancient people. It seems like fate is playing a cruel joke on them.

"Got it, as long as we get serious, right? That's my specialty." Ke Zhiguang lowered his gaze, cracked his knuckles, and the sound of his bones popping out of his fingertips rang out as he clenched his fist, which emitted scorching steam.

As usual, the secrets will be revealed once you win this game.

Moreover, this is the final game, and the last piece of the puzzle leading to the ultimate goal is this championship trophy.

Ke Zhiguang took a moment to glance at the Dream Paradise Trophy, which was placed high up. It was indeed made in the shape of a Famicom, with a particularly bizarre design.

The twilight, like the light of a church, fell upon the trophy, as if bathed in blood.

To be honest, the color is a bit ominous, but it is indeed the end point at this stage.

Ke Zhiguang breathed softly and placed the pieces on the board, occupying the four corners. After a flying attack and subsequent expansion, a disguised form of the "Light Flow" layout unfolded at the bottom of the board!

Eighth move! Jiang Yongqing barely hesitated before placing his finger on the lower side of Bianxing, igniting a local conflict with an extremely aggressive approach!

"Kosugi 7-dan's recent playing style has been very aggressive, like he likes to play aggressively right from the start," Naosaka analyzed.

“Although we don’t know who he is now, choosing to go head-to-head with Senior Ke Zhiguang from the start is not a wise choice,” Xingcai added.

"Huh? Who is he? What do you mean by that?" Naosaka asked, scratching his head, but Hoshino didn't react, making Naosaka feel like he was being ignored.

Fierce battles were a constant theme in medieval Go. Besides the unique rules, the main reason was that medieval Go was popular for betting, or gambling.

However, unlike modern chess betting, in ancient China, the stakes for Go were calculated in points.

In other words, the more points you win, the more money you win. Many players, even when they have already secured a winning position, still choose to finish off their opponents. From top-ranking chess players to ordinary chess players in teahouses, everyone believes in this principle, which has led to the generally strong fighting power of chess players in the Middle Ages.

The saying that winning a game without causing trouble, and that winning by half a point is equivalent to winning by a hundred points, is a professional system principle based on Japanese Go.

After all... if the prize money is calculated based on the number of points, the sponsors will inevitably find it difficult to manage.

Time seemed to flow at high speed on the chessboard!

Take off, spike the ball, and break free!

The chess pieces intertwined on the board like iron chains, sparks flying and a metallic buzzing sound as they struck!

The brilliant chess pieces, like a galaxy, swirled towards the center of the board. Both sides escaped with isolated pieces, each trying to escape by choking the other.

Suddenly, a short knife, along with a chain, was hurled at the black snake behind Jiang Yongqing. The tip of the knife pierced through the scales, and the barbs embedded themselves in the snake's body!

A pained expression spread across Jiang Yongqing's brows, followed by a relieved, bitter smile.

"Is this the strength of the greatest expert of this era?"

"I wouldn't call myself number one; I'm currently aiming for number two... The second one is that black dragon, it's my next target." Ke Zhiguang was still in the motion of throwing his knife.

That was a flying stab on the thirty-seventh move, like a dagger piercing the key point of the opponent's lone piece, and a solid scale was forcibly broken off.

In the previous Nova Wars, Kojiro was only able to break off Ghidorah's scales after activating the [Sacrifice Power], but given his current strength, such destructive power is merely a routine operation.

Although Jiang Yongqing is said to be the prototype of Jiang Liuer, he is only based on his personal experience, not his chess skills. There is no need to worry that he has any cheat codes.

Jiang Yongqing left no game records; his skill can only be gleaned from other evaluations.

Compared to the players of the medieval chess saint era, his strength was actually quite average.

But as a player who represents an era, his own strength is beyond doubt, otherwise... he wouldn't be able to occupy the body of a professional 7-dan, right?

On the fiftieth move, Jiang Yongqing forcefully rammed his piece into the black's worry-free corner in the lower right corner!

The black snake coiled its massive body, leaped into the sky, and thrust out its sword-like tailbone!

In his fifty-first move, after a brief moment of thought, Ke Zhiguang picked up the sword, struck the clock, and smoothly turned around, letting the sword glide past his back before crashing into the ground behind him.

This is a very annoying move, like a dragonfly floating up lightly, causing the opponent's all-out attack to miss.

"Is this the strategic thinking that Go advocates in this era? It's such an infuriating trick." Jiang Yongqing leaned back wearily, his posture becoming unconventional.

"Well, if you don't know how to play, then don't play. It's that simple. When you encounter a difficult situation, play a small trick, and when you encounter a difficult situation, leave the board open. These are also lines from modern Go." Ke Zhiguang spoke in the tone of an afternoon tea conversation. In this world, he had plenty of time to have a heart-to-heart talk with the other party.

To put it in red, it means fight if you can win, and retreat if you can't.

"As for you, your performance so far is basically the same as that of modern chess players. Whether it is the mastery of standard patterns or some common sense, apart from your playing style, there is no obvious trace of ancient chess."

"I did some intensive training in this area. After all, it's only been a little over ten days since I opened my eyes in this era and received the black dragon's orders. That's all I can train on," Jiang Yongqing said.

He pounded his knee, his tone tinged with sorrow: "What a pity. If I could have trained for a little longer... maybe I could have lasted longer in front of you."

As darkness fell, the setting sun, which had been shining on the trophy, gradually dimmed and was eventually replaced by the indoor incandescent lights.

The game has come to an end.

On move 257, Black finishes capturing the last single piece, closing the final gap in the puzzle.

"Black wins by one and a half points," the referee announced.

"Thank you for your guidance."

The Kezhiguang system operated safely until the very end.

One and a half points may sound like a small margin, but it is an unshakeable, insurmountable margin.

This is how the modern, aggressive style works: gaining a six- or seven-point advantage through mid-game fighting, and then turning that advantage into a stable one- or two-point victory during the endgame's countdown.

For example, at the very beginning, when Bai Meng was fighting against Ze Zi, she did just that, but her judgment of the situation was interfered with by Yi Mu Xiang.

This is called safe operation, a technique unique to modern Go.

As if he had tasted a wine he had never seen before, Jiang Yongqing revealed a look of intoxication: "Is this Go from hundreds of years in the future? It's really... too beautiful."

His time is running out.

Ke Zhiguang's blade had already materialized in his hand.

Although he harbored no hostility toward this ancient person, given the current situation, it would be better to ask him to leave this body.

"Hey, you're from the Ming Dynasty, right, Young Master Ke?" Jiang Yongqing suddenly asked.

"Brother, the Qing Dynasty is gone."

"Anyway, you know what I mean." Jiang Yongqing shrugged with a wry smile, then stood up and opened his arms to Ke Zhiguang.

"My final words: Take good care of our Great Ming!"

This sentence made Ke Zhiguang hesitate for a moment, feeling a strange mix of comedy and emotion.

"Understood, now you can set off with peace of mind."

The blade was drawn like cherry blossoms falling from the sheath, engulfing Jiang Yongqing like a beam of light, and also slicing the black snake behind him to pieces.

How should I put it?

Come to think of it, this is the first time in all my years in this world that I've played chess with people from my own country.

Although this fellow villager was a bit strange in many ways—the difference in their eras, their relationship with life and death, etc....

In short, it's about playing chess with everyday and strange things.

"Congratulations, Koji Hikaru has won the first Dream Paradise Tournament! He has become an unprecedented holder of all four titles!" Naosaka announced excitedly.

Cherry-colored fireworks ribbons flew down from the sky, the same color as the attack Ke Zhiguang had just unleashed.

Chapter Fourteen has appeared, and it really has dog ears!

At seven o'clock in the evening, the hustle and bustle of the day fell to the ground like dust, and the restless and extravagant night seeped into people's hearts.

In the top-floor room of the seaside resort hotel, the battle of the Sunny Island Deer had also come to an end.

"Congratulations to Princess Qingdao for winning the championship of this New Star Battle!" the referee announced.

Just like when Ke Zhiguang won the championship last time, fireworks rose not far from the hotel this time, and the seashells on the floating island shone with a fairytale-like brilliance.

"Phew—we finally won." Shika Harushima felt a surge of relief.

"Oh, congratulations!" Shizuru Fuchigami said, resting her cheek on her hand as she congratulated him from across the chessboard.

"Are you... alright?" Harujima Shika asked, somewhat puzzled.

Logically speaking, the other person should have shown some sadness and disappointment after suffering a crushing defeat in the runner-up position, but their expression seemed quite natural.

Fuchigami Shizuru understood what the other party meant and explained calmly, "I'm fine. I'm not a professional Go player in the strict sense. I don't really care that much about winning the championship or the runner-up. More than that, I'm more concerned about how much tax will be taken from my runner-up prize money."

After hearing this explanation, to be honest, Harushima Kashima was a little annoyed.

—Damn it! I didn't manage to install it!

As her opponent in the recent battle on the Ryugu, Harushima Shika naturally regarded Fuchigami Shizuru as the villain, and was prepared to firmly place the runner-up title on her head. After she was heartbroken and shed tears, she could then pretend to be magnanimous and comfort her in front of others.

Surprisingly, this person didn't care about this at all...

But Shireshima Deer's slight gloom was quickly dispelled.

Because Shizuru Fuchigami was smiling and clapping gracefully and naturally, giving no indication of hostility whatsoever.

"By the way, what time is it now?" Harushima Shika looked out the window, which was shrouded in darkness all night.

"It's 7:40, are you rushing to your date?" asked Shizuru Fuchigami.

"So we've been playing chess for quite a while now..."

Recently, playing chess after dark remains a risky time. After research, she and Ke Zhiguang set the dangerous time line at 7 o'clock. After this time, it becomes a deep water zone.

Unbeknownst to her, she had been lurking in the deep end of the game for over forty minutes.

Xingjia walked over with cheerful steps: "Congratulations, Long'er, on winning another championship. The good news is that Mr. Guang also won successfully."

"Really?"

"With two championships in our grasp, how should we celebrate?"

Harushima Kaoru felt much more relaxed. Before the competition, the entire industry was optimistic that she and Ke Zhiguang would win their respective championships, which made her feel somewhat pressured.

Ultimately, it's all Ke Zhiguang's fault! It's all because this guy keeps promoting Murphy's Law and the theory of jinxes, making Qingdaolu a bit superstitious too.

"If you're going to celebrate, include me too," said Shizuru Fuchigami.

"Hey, you're way too familiar with me!"