Chapter 1195: Three Ancient Sages In One Wing
Translator: Lordbluefire
“Black should play a keima[1] over here and then form a ko[2] over here!”
This voice was rough and aged, clearly sounding like an old monster who had lived for several hundred years.
Li Ziqi was surprised, but soon came to the realization that this should be the ancient sages’ consciousness that had entered her brain after she had gained enlightenment to the Ancient Sage Halo.
Their consciousness had died, but they didn’t dissipate because of the powerful and mysterious halo retaining part of their minds in the human world.
Right now, this consciousness showed a reaction after being stimulated by the Chess Sage’s disposition.
“What ko? There’s no saving this match. It’s definitely a loss after at most 16 moku!”
“Haven’t you guys heard of the saying that a gentleman watches a game of chess without saying a word?”
All sorts of voices fluctuated in Li Ziqi’s mind—a total of over 20 of them. They were so noisy that she couldn’t help but frown.
Most of them were just making useless arguments, but there’d be the occasional one to two comments that could give her great inspiration.
Li Ziqi sank into deep thought. It seemed that the situation was disadvantageous for her, but there was no longer the unwillingness to accept the loss and anxiety on her face. She was fully focused and her battle intent became increasingly stronger.
Pa!
Li Ziqi made her move.
“Hmmm?”
At the sight of this move, Qing Wuzi was a little surprised. He couldn’t help but raise his head and look at Li Ziqi.
Interesting!
This move felt like how one had executed extreme precision in picking out the end of a thread amidst a jumbled mess. There was a feeling of finding the critical point of breaking through the situation.
But this wasn’t enough!
Qing Wuzi made a move without showing any mercy.
Each step Li Ziqi made was done very slowly but steadily. She gradually saved the round which should have been a crushing defeat for her.
Xiang Zhao conceded his defeat and then walked over, standing by the side to watch the match. After he saw the match, he looked surprised.
This round was really amazing!
Qing Wuzi hadn’t expected to be able to encounter an opponent like Li Ziqi here. He was overjoyed at having found a prey and wanted to enjoy himself. Therefore, he no longer played a guiding role in the matches but made decisive moves, wanting to end everything quickly.
Suddenly, Wei Wu`an, Li Xuan, and Xia Taikang were all on the verge of losing.
“What is this guy up to?”
Xia Taikang felt displeased and let out two loud coughs. He then performed his spiritual control technique.
Boom!
Qing Wuzi, who was about to make his move, felt a tremor in his brain and his arm stiffened. With a plop, the chess piece fell onto the board.
Li Ziqi immediately became invigorated. Her chance was here!
“Oh! To think that Chess Sage Wuzi has made a mistake? Could it be that he isn’t feeling well? Or is he going easy on his opponent?”
The ceremonial officer immediately reported to hype up the atmosphere.
“I’m going to kill this guy!”
Li Xiu crushed her teacup.
What did he mean by going easy on his opponent?
Was he saying that the Great Tang had played some kind of trick?
The ceremonial officer clearly knew that he had misspoken and quickly added. “The Chess Sage must be thinking of playing the game longer with Princess Ziqi in admiration of her chess skills!”
Qing Wuzi didn’t look at Xia Taikang but let out a sigh in his heart.
After another ten or more moves, Wei Wu`an and Li Xuan lost in succession. Now, Xia Taikang and Li Ziqi were the only ones remaining.
Both of them were having a slight advantage in their match.
Xia Taikang’s countenance was grim. This situation was the one he didn’t wish to see the most.
With the advantage from the first round, it’d be his win if everyone were to lose here. However, if Li Ziqi were to get a tie in this match, the Great Tang would win.
If he also played a tie, although others wouldn’t say anything openly, they’d definitely have doubts behind their backs.
“No, I’m thinking too much into this. How can it be possible for Li Ziqi to win against a Chess Sage?”
Xia Taikang turned his head and observed, realizing that Qing Wuzi was taking the match very seriously, wearing great respect on his face as if he had met a rival.
“F*ck your mom, how come this Li Ziqi is so good in everything? She can’t have cheated, right?”
Xia Taikang felt very upset. He could only carry on with the plan and try to get a tie.
However, after a few more moves, he felt so angry that he had the urge to smash the chessboard. It was because Qing Wuzi had gotten up from his cushion, walked over to Li Ziqi, and then sat down cross-legged across her.
(What do you mean by this? Are you recognizing Li Ziqi as your rival?)
As expected, the spectators all turned their gazes toward Li Ziqi due to Qing Wuzi’s action. This made Xia Taikang appear like a clown.
“Hehe!”
Xiang Zhao mocked.
Although Xiang Zhao couldn’t see through what kind of tricks Xia Taikang was using, the latter must have done something to make Qing Wuzi go easy on him. It was because judging from his chessboard, it was impossible for him to persist till now.
As for Li Ziqi’s chessboard, its standard was very high. If there were no accidents, this would become a match that all professional chess players would study.
As time passed, Xia Taikang was caught in a predicament. Previously, he had thought of winning against Qing Wuzi and didn’t think that it was that big of a deal. However, when it was time to carry out the plan, he found it to be extremely embarrassing.
This would be blatantly cheating. Even if he were to win in the end, he’d look like an unscrupulous clown in other people’s hearts.
Damn it, did they say that this Li Ziqi was a piece of trash that even a secondary saint didn’t want?
Why was she this good?
Could it be that her personal teacher really had amazing means of turning trash into gold?
Xia Taikang’s mind was in a mess, and he was no longer in the mood to play chess. In the end, he chose his reputation over everything else, not wanting to leave a stain on his name. Therefore, he gave Qing Wuzi a signal to bring the match to a tie.
This was easy. He’d just have to turn the match into one in which neither of them could kill the other.
“Oh my, it’s such a pity for Prince Taikang. If he works a little harder, he might just be able to win.”
The ceremonial officer said with great pity.
“Hmph!”
Xia Taikang got up and walked over to Li Ziqi’s side to watch the match.
“A tie. That’s amazing!”
Xiang Zhao put up a big thumb.
Xia Taikang paid him no heed as it was clearly a mockery.
“Do you think that even if Li Ziqi were to tie in this match, you’d still be able to win? I’m telling you, you’re wrong. Li Ziqi will definitely win this match.”
Xiang Zhao said in contempt.
“How would she be able to do that? Even if she has immense luck, there’s no way that she’d be able to win against a Chess Sage!”
Xia Taikang said in disdain.
“Hehe, you’re wrong. Didn’t you cough just now? The Chess Sage might have been given a fright by you earlier and dropped his piece. This is an opportunity.”
As long as the chess piece landed on the board, it’d be considered a valid move and one wouldn’t be able to retract it. Therefore, Qing Wuzi’s wrong move gave Li Ziqi a chance.
Li Ziqi felt as if she was seeing life in a dead situation. She put a lot of thought into it, wanting to aim for a tie, but in her mind, the various sages’ voices got into a noisy quarrel.
Some of them said that it was possible to win, some said that it was more stable to aim for a tie. The rest were asking if they could stop wasting time on this match.
An ordinary person would definitely not be able to handle the noises, and their heads would be aching from this. However, Li Ziqi was different. She found accurate answers from all the arguments.
The situation was turning around.
“I can do it!” Li Ziqi was very spirited. “I can get a tie!”
At the Great Tang’s spectators’ stand, everyone was agitated.
“Eldest Martial Sister can win!”
Lu Zhiruo was very happy and she had a strong urge to cheer loudly for Li Ziqi.
Han Cangshui and Li Xuan’s countenances were looking extremely bad.
Sun Mo continued to watch the match. Just as Li Ziqi was about to make a move again, he spoke out.
“Ziqi, is it alright to just get a tie? When has your heart become so small?”
Sun Mo’s words caused Li Ziqi to freeze up.
“What did Great Teacher Sun mean by that?”
“Li Ziqi’s situation has turned around a little. It might be possible to seek a tie in the match, but there’s no hope in winning.”
“Sun Mo is too arrogant!”
The great teachers actively discussed amongst themselves.
Qing Wuzi was a Chess Sage, someone who stood at the very top of the Go domain. He wasn’t someone who could be beaten with just one or two words of encouragement.
“Ziqi, when doing something, either don’t do it at all or go all out, seeking for the best outcome!”
Sun Mo taught. “When you’re thinking of getting a tie, the level you can reach in life will just be that.”
Buzz!
Priceless Advice had erupted.
Golden light spots splattered around.
Li Ziqi felt a little embarrassed.
“Your teacher is right!”
Qing Wuzi spoke up, “For the first 72 moves in this match, you’ve made perfect moves. But thereafter, you were too conservative. To speak the truth, I’m a little disappointed!
“If no one dared to challenge a Chess Sage, then there would never be a new Chess Sage born in this world!”
Qing Wuzi’s words caused the arena to become quiet as everyone pondered over his words.
“I’m sorry, I was disrespectful!”
Li Ziqi closed her eyes and got her act together. When she opened her eyes once again, she went all out, aiming to win against Qing Wuzi.
In the end, after 256 moves, Li Ziqi won the match with a slight advantage of half a moku.
“Wow! Eldest Martial Sister has won!”
Lu Zhiruo cheered and jumped onto Sun Mo, hugging him and celebrating happily.
Xia Taikang stared at Qing Wuzi, having a strong urge to kill him.
“How is it? I told you that Li Ziqi will win, right?”
Xiang Zhao threw a sideward glance at Xia Taikang, mocking, “Does your heart ache a lot now that the first place in your hands has slipped away?”
With Li Ziqi winning against Qing Wuzi, it was considered three victories for them. With that, the Great Tang’s victory count would be on par with the Great Xia’s. However, she had won against the Chess Sage. Therefore, Xia Taikang’s victories became insignificant.
People would only remember that Li Ziqi had won against Qing Wuzi when thinking about this year’s chess battle.
“That’s not right. Li Ziqi, your chess style was unstable toward the end, very different from your earlier style. Can you explain why?”
Wei Wu`an, who had been keeping quiet all this while, suddenly spoke up.
“That’s right. The last few moves she made didn’t have any order to them at all. It’s as if there were many people helping her out!”
Some high star-level great teachers who were good at chess also had the same question.
Even in Fighting the Landlord, a person would develop a playing style, let alone in Go. The more one played in Go, the more obvious their style would be reflected.
Ordinary people might not be able to tell, but in the eyes of experts, Li Ziqi’s playstyle wasn’t right.
“There were some ancient sages arguing about this match in my brain.”
Li Ziqi didn’t conceal anything. “I’ve benefited a lot after listening to them!”
“Huh?”
Everyone gasped.
Ancient sages? What was that?
“I heard that when Great Teacher Sun was giving a lecture in the Ancient Sage Hall, one of his female students gained enlightenment to the Ancient Sage Halo. It must be you, right?”
The grand tutor of the Great Wei sized up Li Ziqi.
“You’re mistaken. That’s my second junior martial sister!”
Li Ziqi explained.
“What? To think that there are two!”
“My god, since when has the Ancient Sage Halo become so worthless?”
“Three ancient sages in one wing, isn’t that too unbelievable?”
All the great teachers present revealed astonished expressions, which then turned into envy.
It was too difficult for great teachers to gain enlightenment to the Ancient Sage Halo. It was because they’d have to convince those ancient sages. This was hard to do even for many high star-level great teachers.
“May I be so intrusive as to ask how you did it?”
Qi Country’s Grand Tutor Su also spoke up.
Previously, he had also thought that the student under Sun Mo’s wing who had gained enlightenment to the Ancient Sage Halo was Li Ziqi. He didn’t expect there to be a second one!
“Teacher brought me to the Ancient Sage Building and I gave a lecture for an entire week. I then gained enlightenment to the halo!”
Li Ziqi smiled like a blooming lily.
This was a training that Sun Mo had put her through in order to increase her chances of winning in the Five Empires War Discussion. She ended up succeeding in it.
The Ancient Sage Building was an important place and not everyone could be allowed entry. However, Sun Mo was a new uprising star and was also a great teacher who had gained enlightenment to the Ancient Sage Halo. No one could stop him from going there.
“Huh? This could work as well?”
The great teachers were stunned.
“My teacher is too good at teaching!”
Li Ziqi shrugged.
Having been through five rounds of the Black-White Game, Li Ziqi’s recognition of things had transcended that of this era.
“Teacher Sun, can you resolve everyone’s query?”
Wei Country’s grand tutor cupped his fists together.
“We’re in the midst of the chess battle now. Let’s not steal the limelight from them!”
Sun Mo shook his head.
“Teacher Sun, you’re wrong. This is the crux behind Ziqi winning the chess battle. Of course it has been exemplified!”
Grand Tutor Su interjected too.
Why were they so anxious?
It was because they wished to get their hands on the Ancient Sage Halo. They knew that if they were to ask about this in private, Sun Mo would definitely refuse them. After all, this was an invaluable great secret. But now, if he didn’t explain things, he’d get a reputation for being narrow-minded.
They were using the bigger picture to force Sun Mo to give an answer.
As expected, many high star-level great teachers also started to persuade Sun Mo.
In their perspective, it might be just luck for one to gain enlightenment to one or two Ancient Sage Halos. But for there to be a third, Sun Mo must have grasped some kind of trick.
“To gain those ancient sages’ recognition, you’ll have to talk about stuff that can interest them!”
Sun Mo said.
“They are well-learned and very experienced. What have they not seen before?”
The great teachers felt troubled, feeling that Sun Mo was being half-hearted in dealing with them.
“Don’t ask anymore. There are no shortcuts to a great teacher’s path! Your mentality right now isn’t right!”
Sun Mo’s tone turned solemn as well.
Buzz!
A great teacher halo erupted. It was Profound Words. Although he was unable to forcibly get these great teachers to shut up, he could let them understand his intention.
If they asked any further, then don’t blame him for not showing them any respect.
When Profound Words hit one great teacher, the power of the great teacher halo created a resonance, causing that great teacher to comprehend a lot of things.
“So it’s to talk about things that all of them don’t know about but are interested in!”
Buzz!
Golden light lit up on this great teacher.
“It’s Learning from Everyone!”
Someone let out a surprised gasp.
“Great Teacher Sun, thank you for your selfless sharing!”
The great teacher who had gained enlightenment to Learning from Everyone walked over to Sun Mo, giving him a deep bow.
“There’s no need to stand on ceremony!”
Sun Mo didn’t dare to claim credit for this.
Some teachers felt very envious. This halo had a great practical use.
“Since Li Ziqi relied on the Ancient Sage Halo to win the chess match, then this battle should be considered our Great Xia’s win, right?”
A princess from the Great Xia asked in a loud voice.
“Sigh, why did Eldest Martial Sister have to say that?”
Xianyu Wei felt upset.
“To other people, winning against a Chess Sage might be something they can boast about for life, but to Eldest Martial Sister, it’s nothing worth mentioning. It’s just an ordinary victory.”
Tantai Yutang understood Li Ziqi’s mentality very well. “Her glory is to become a Saint and an amazing absolute great teacher like our teacher!”
“Don’t worry, I feel that given Eldest Martial Sister’s intelligence, she must have other moves up her sleeves since she dares to admit this!”
Qin Yaoguang felt that there was going to be a good show to watch.
“It doesn’t matter if my match is considered a win or a loss, but aren’t you guys being too impudent to be cheating time after time?”
Li Ziqi lashed out.
[1] https://senseis.xmp.net/?KnightsMove
[2] https://senseis.xmp..net/?Ko#:~:text=Ko%20is%20a%20Japanese%20go,preventing%20the%20game%20from%20ending.