The Long Journey to Immortality

"Han Lu, have you been stuffing elixirs into your mouth every day all these years? You're almost at the late stage of the Golden Core realm, aren't you?"

Genseiko expressed his surprise directly.

Considering the need to keep the secret of "Huangji Dan application techniques," Han Lu did not deny it, but openly admitted that she had "6000 yuan a month of fatherly and motherly love," attributing her progress to the abundant wealth accumulated by the True Spirit and her own efforts.

The purpose of the visit was explained when the invitation was extended.

Therefore, Xuan Chengzi directly invited Han Lu to sit down in front of a chessboard.

"How many rounds?" Xuan Chengzi asked directly.

Han Lu said with a smile, "I'll stop when you lose so badly you don't want to play with me anymore."

The two were familiar with each other, which is why Han Lu used her wit and said a few jokes at this time.

Xuan Chengzi did not misunderstand; in fact, he even discerned the implied meaning in Han Lu's words.

"It seems your chess skills in the wilderness have improved significantly over the years?"

"Not bad," Han Lu said confidently.

Xuan Chengzi was not as serious as usual. "Then I want to see what kind of abilities my former defeated opponent has now."

Chapter 1083 A New Type of Avalanche

Back then, Xuan Chengzi was one move ahead in chess, probably two moves ahead of Han Lu.

Over the years, Han Lu's chess skills have improved, and Xuan Chengzi's chess skills have naturally not declined either.

If it weren't for his self-importance, he wouldn't have participated in the previous chess tournaments.

Otherwise, he would certainly have had a place at the table during the finals of several chess tournaments in the Zhengyi School.

Given his skill level, Xuan Chengzi didn't think Han Lu had the ability to utterly defeat him in this day and age.

Let's chat while we download.

As the "host," Xuan Chengzi was naturally responsible for presiding over the game.

Xuan Chengzi opened the ceramic jar containing the flags and wanted to guess first with Han Lu.

Unexpectedly, Han Lu took the initiative to speak, saying, "Wenshan, you play black."

They took the initiative to give way, and then launched a series of combined attacks.

Fortunately, Xuan Chengzi, whose real name is "Wenshan," was familiar with Han Lu; otherwise, he would probably be furious by now, wishing he could slaughter a few of Han Lu's dragons to vent his anger.

"So confident?" Xuan Chengzi became increasingly cautious, thinking to himself, "Could it be a feint?"

Without making a statement, Xuan Chengzi simply respected Han Lu's wishes and placed the black chessboard before him.

As a first step, Xuan Chengzi walked onto the star position according to his own habits.

Although there are 361 possible moves for the first move in Go, most cultivators in the Central Plains are still accustomed to placing it on the star point.

Placing the piece on the star point ensures both territory in the corner and influence in the center, making it a relatively stable starting move.

Back then, Han Lu also quite liked to place her pieces on the star position.

However, after attending the Wild Bird Gathering and receiving guidance from Que Jie, a Go master from the Peacock Clan, Han Lu changed her opening strategy.

They then adopted a more advanced opening technique, which was considered more advanced by Go masters in the wilderness.

Han Lu's second move landed at the three-three position in the other corner.

Without thinking, Xuan Chengzi's second move landed on the "34" small eye position in the empty corner.

Han Lu's fourth step was the same.

"Going to the third position? Isn't that a position only beginners would choose?" Xuan Chengzi muttered to himself.

Placing a piece at the 3-3 position means it is closer to the corner and farther from the center of the board.

This makes the changes in the corners and edges of the game simpler and more direct, and makes it easier for the pieces to live and securely control the corner territory.

But this also means that we are almost 100% at a disadvantage in terms of external control.

In a duel between experts, those skilled in calculation do not need the extra advantage brought by the three-three formation. Naturally, this move has become a "beginner's starting move" in the eyes of cultivators in the Central Plains.

"Could it be some kind of back-to-basics technique?" Xuan Chengzi asked, somewhat suspicious.

He pondered for a long time before touching the chess piece again and making his fifth move.

They moved along the side lanes instead of launching a direct attack on the corner controlled by Han Lu.

Xuan Chengzi is the kind of player with a steady and stable playing style.

They tend to focus on "land grabbing" during the planning phase, prioritizing control of the territory they can manage before seeking opportunities to attack the opponent's weak points.

Now, Han Lu has taken two "three-three" steps, and Xuan Chengzi can't find any loopholes. Naturally, he tries to make a move on the flanks by following the "gold corner, silver edge, grass belly" formula.

Seeing that Xuan Chengzi's playing style and tactics had not changed, Han Lu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Picking up a blank character, Han Lu launched an attack without hesitation.

In comparison, the angle controlled by the small eye is more difficult to attack than the angle controlled by the star position.

But Han Lu still chose to tackle that tough nut to crack.

With a simple hook, Han Lu launched her attack in a relatively mild manner.

This is a complex yet common opening move in Go.

The avalanche is named for its resemblance to a large snowfall sliding down a mountain.

Normally, Han Lu had practiced this move at least a hundred times, while Xuan Chengzi had practiced it at least three hundred times. Both of them were extremely familiar with this move.

What is a standard opening pattern? It is a pattern of pieces that unfolds in a way that is "tacitly agreed upon" by both sides and whose final result is acceptable to both.

Since they could both accept it in the end, Han Lu naturally started by "hanging" someone up, and Xuan Chengzi responded by "supporting" someone else, following the usual pattern.

Both sides quickly placed their pieces, and in no time they had made nearly fifteen moves in one corner.

The only sound in the study was the "clatter" of the chess pieces falling onto the bluestone chessboard.

However, this rhythmic "music" soon came to an abrupt end with Han Lu's unconventional inward turn.

Xuan Chengzi fell into deep thought.

Having finally found an opening, Han Lu spoke up, bringing up a topic she had originally wanted to discuss with Xuan Chengzi that was unrelated to Go.

Xuan Chengzi is a Golden Core cultivator, so it's not a problem for him to play chess and think while chatting with Han Lu.

At most, it just means that the thinking speed will be slightly slower.

However, the two were just playing a friendly match between friends, and there were no rules such as counting down, so being a little slow was not a big problem.

After exchanging seven or eight sentences, taking about thirty breaths, Xuan Chengzi finally roughly calculated the possible variations of the "Great Avalanche Variation," chose one of them, and made his move.

Seeing where Xuan Chengzi placed his piece, Han Lu smiled slightly, but did not speak about the game.

As she spoke with Xuan Chengzi about the things in the wilderness, she quickly responded with a white chess piece.

After a few more quick moves, when Han Lu placed a piece in a position that Xuan Chengzi hadn't expected, Xuan Chengzi finally realized the subtlety of Han Lu's two moves.

Shaking his head slightly, he knew things were going badly, but Xuan Chengzi, just as tacitly, didn't mention the game at all.

After a moment of contemplation, he took a few more steps.

In a local corner, Han Lu has already made a small group of pieces live, thus opening a path for advancing into the center.

Xuan Chengzi not only lost some of the points he originally controlled in the corners, but also faced a life-and-death problem that was obviously difficult to solve.

Faced with this unprecedented situation, Xuan Chengzi could only ponder deeply and rely more on computing power than experience to resolve it.

However, the variations in Go are countless, and it is impossible to calculate them all in a short period of time.

Having already mastered the new variations of avalanches, Gensei's attempt to save herself ended in failure.

Fortunately, he was no ordinary player either. Although Han Lu lost seven or eight more points, he managed to preserve some of the black stones, leaving room for a comeback in the game.

The first fierce battle on the chessboard ended with Han Lu winning the opening move.

Although he really wanted to praise Han Lu's new variation on the avalanche opening and ask him about the secrets behind it, Xuan Chengzi still remembered the rule of "not talking about chess while playing chess". He only talked about this unrelated topic in words, while discussing the actual chess game with Han Lu, who was playing chess with him.

Chapter 1084 A Move More Skillful Than Others

Playing chess and engaging in magical duels have many similarities.

This is one of the reasons why many monks are obsessed with it.

Wherever cultivators gather, whether it's the Great Yu Dynasty, the Central Plains, or the Wilderness, Go is the most popular form of entertainment among them.

Just like a battle of wits, the level of skill in chess depends on the player's daily study and practice.

The process of playing a game tests a player's "strategies" and ability to "adapt to changing circumstances".

The final result, like the contest itself, does not solely depend on the relative strength of the two players.

The scene of the weak defeating the strong not only happens on the fighting arena, but is also common on the chessboard.

While it may happen frequently, this word clearly has no place on the chessboard for Xuan Chengzi this time.

In half an hour, Xuan Chengzi and Han Lu each made about fifty moves, engaging in three close-quarters combat exchanges.

These three fierce battles determined the basic ownership of about one-third of the space on the chessboard.

All three battles ended with Han Lu winning by a narrow margin.

This allowed Han Lu to establish a certain advantage even in the very early stages of the game.

If we pause the game now, we can roughly calculate the points we already hold.

Han Lu will likely lead Xuan Chengzi by seven to ten points.

With these points plus the seven and a half points compensation from the second move, Han Lu's current advantage is quite obvious.

It was obvious that Xuan Chengzi could feel the pressure and sense the changing winds on the chessboard.

On the surface, Xuan Chengzi remained calm and composed, chatting casually with Han Lu.

But inwardly, Xuan Chengzi was already complaining, secretly lamenting, "This Han Lu, not only has her cultivation improved so much over the years, but her chess skills have also improved so rapidly."

"What kind of new tricks are these? I've never seen them before."