Southern Border, Wansong Mountain.
Wansong Mountain is a mountain, and also a small range, with the highest peak over a thousand zhang, spanning hundreds of li in total.
The mountain range is ho to various trees, such as pine, cypress, birch, willow, pagoda, banyan, and many others, keeping the mountains green all year round with flowers in perpetual bloom.
As for why it’s called Wansong Mountain, rather than Wansong Cypress Mountain or Wansong Birch Mountain, it’s because the main peak of this range hosts an ancient pine tree of unknown age.
Moreover, this ancient pine has gained sentience, refined its primordial spirit, turned into human form, and gave itself the Daoist na Wansong Daoist.
What else would you call this mountain if not Wansong Mountain?
If you dared to na it Wansong Cypress Mountain, all the cypress trees might disappear without a trace overnight.
So, Wansong Mountain it is.
...
A gentle breeze blew, causing the pine needles to rustle, interspersed with an inexplicable rhythm, as if reciting an indescribable scripture.
At the Wansong Mountain peak, beneath the ancient pine tree.
A stone platform, with several stone benches.
Sitting on one of the stone benches is an elderly man in a deep green robe.
His complexion carries a faint tinge of green, his hair a shimring gray-green.
Clearly, he is not human!
The old man has a placid expression, as if indifferent to the world, facing the thirty-eight horizontal and vertical lines engraved on the stone platform and the black and white stones on it, thinking silently.
A long pause...
He lifted his hand, took an ink jade piece from a side stone bowl, and placed it on the board.
Placing the piece, withdrawing his hand, he sat still.
A cool breeze blew, billowing his robe, yet the old man remained motionless.
If not for his earlier actions, he could be mistaken for a carved statue.
"Chirp chirp!"
A yellow bird, seemingly tired from flight, flapped its wings and landed on his shoulder with a flutter.
Looking around, it hopped from his shoulder onto the stone table before him.
The smooth stone table was not kind to bird claws, so the yellow bird hopped twice, seed uncomfortable, spread its wings with a strong flap, gripped tight, and flew away with a flutter.
"Hmm?"
The old man’s eyes, like still waters, suddenly flickered.
The next mont, two figures erged from the ground not far from the old man.
"Old Pine Tree, I’ve brought the young friend who unraveled your puzzle, Lu Xiaoyou."
"Junior Lu Zheng from the Outer Sect of White Cloud Temple greets Elder Wansong!"
The newcors are Song Kaichuan and Lu Zheng.
Song Kaichuan is not like Lu Zheng, anxious and cautious while traversing underground, careful about direction, wary of what’s ahead.
Song Kaichuan moves underground like the wind, swift as flight, without Lu Zheng’s typical issues in earth travel.
Moreover, he can detect situations from afar, turning smoothly underground.
And because of the imnse difference in strength, even if there were demons roadblocking them, they couldn’t detect Song Kaichuan’s probing.
Thus, on this journey south, they’ve been traveling underground, never once surfacing, leaving Lu Zheng unaware of Wansong Mountain’s precise location in the Southern Border.
The only advantage is that Song Kaichuan’s Earth Travel Technique is truly fast, reaching their destination in just a little over a day.
Upon reaching the surface, hearing Song Kaichuan’s words, seeing the veteran ancient pine tree, glancing at the old man with green-tinted skin and hair, Lu Zheng knew they had reached the destination and t the one in charge.
"Greetings, Lu Xiaoyou." Wansong Daoist nodded slightly, a serene smile on his face, "Thank you for traveling this far, young friend."
"Elder Wansong is too courteous!" Lu Zheng cupped his hands, "I enjoy playing chess as well, getting to witness the legendary dream chess ga is a shared fortune for this junior!"
Wansong Daoist chuckled, gesturing to the seat opposite, "Old Daoist is playing a ga with myself, please have a seat."
Wansong Daoist, having lived thousands of years, his Primordial Spirit having road the world, has seen many things. Such eloquent individuals like Lu Zheng, he’s encountered, numbering in the hundreds, not surprising.
What truly counts is skill!
"Alright!"
Lu Zheng nodded, knowing Wansong Daoist was about to test him.
It was a chance to witness Wansong Daoist’s chess skill, to gauge the fad dream chess ga’s quality.
Lu Zheng took his seat, focusing on the board.
The next mont, black stones and white jade pieces ca into view, storms shifting, as if two giant dragons intertwined in combat in the cloud sea.
Interwoven, inseparable.
Lu Zheng’s eyes flickered, grasping the overall situation of the ga in an instant.
The black and white stones are evenly matched.
Black attacks, advancing boldly, like breaking through bamboos, attacking from all sides, fierce like a flying tiger, solid like Mount Tai.
White defends, steady and secure, woven like brocade, layer upon layer, strong in front, unexpected in back, impenetrable, needles hidden within the silk.
A single person, embodying four distinct chess styles in one ga, maintaining balance, intertwining, and restraining one another into a unified whole.
Truly frightening!
Lu Zheng’s pupils contracted, resisting the urge to gasp, sitting on the stone stool with a calm deanor.
No backing down!
He’s soone standing on the shoulders of giants, blending countless chess strategies from two worlds, ancient and modern, refined by the Light of Fortune, innovating, achieving a high level of mastery in chess.
However...
He couldn’t help but glance at Song Kaichuan.
Honestly, Song Kaichuan’s chess skills are already exceptional. In this world, the only person Lu Zheng witnessed surpassing him in chess was the Sect Leader of the Jinhua Sect, Master Peng Yu.
Yet, upon a re glance at Wansong Daoist’s ga, Lu Zheng couldn’t help but think Song Kaichuan claiming to win occasionally against Wansong Daoist was just self-flattery.
Lu Zheng looked at the board and calmly remarked, "I am playing white, it’s my turn, correct?"
Wansong Daoist raised an eyebrow, showing a trace of approval, "Indeed, young friend, please go ahead."
Lu Zheng’s remark was already revealing an extraordinary skill level in chess.
At this mont, both sides were evenly matched, but with white primarily defending. If this turn was taken by black, white would imdiately fall behind, so naturally, it was white’s turn.
Able to discern such nuances at a glance, Wansong Daoist found a touch of anticipation for Lu Zheng’s chess skills.
Previously, Wansong Daoist hadn’t held any expectations for Lu Zheng.
He had innate talent on the path of chess, otherwise, he wouldn’t have been drawn into the dream ga by Upper Realm Immortals. Although the ga remained unsolved for a millennium, his chess skills over the past two thousand years had grown indescribably.
He was confident his chess mastery had reached the pinnacle of the world, unrivaled, and believed the dream chess ga could only be resolved by him.
As for Song Kaichuan inviting Lu Zheng, Wansong Daoist considered it re ntorship of the younger generation, actually paying it little mind.
However, seeing Lu Zheng handle his ga, maintaining a calm deanor, and imdiately grasping the situation.
Wansong Daoist nodded in approval, summing his evaluation of Lu Zheng as: not bad.
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