As the match ti approached, players gradually entered the playing room and took their seats.
Shortly after, the two referees arrived.
"Each player has two and a half hours, with a one-minute overti countdown."
A referee checked his watch before speaking in a deep voice.
"You may now determine turn order."
The sound of players grabbing stones from their Go bowls echoed through the room, followed by the polite exchange of bows.
At Table 22, Shi Hong played Black, and Yu Shao played White.
After the bowing ritual, Shi Hong imdiately reached into the Go bowl, picked up a stone, and placed his first move.
Click.
Small Point, Column 17, Row 4.
Without hesitation, Yu Shao followed suit.
Star Point, Column 4, Row 16.
Shi Hong, seemingly well-prepared, barely thought before making his next move.
Click.
Small Point, Column 16, Row 17!
After placing this move, Shi Hong suddenly looked up—his gaze locking onto Yu Shao.
Yu Shao blinked, puzzled.
"Why is he staring at ?"
Usually, players only study their opponents’ expressions when facing a tricky situation or a complex position, trying to gather information.
But the ga had only just begun.
Then, after a brief mont of realization—
"Ah… I see."
Shi Hong was waiting to see if Yu Shao would play the 3-3 invasion.
This was because of the Mixed Small Point opening.
Unlike the Double Star formation, where Yu Shao could easily play the 3-3 invasion, this particular move order made it much less viable.
"So that's why he's watching ."
"He deliberately chose an opening that prevents from playing 3-3."
Yu Shao almost laughed.
To be honest, the 3-3 invasion was just one of many choices.
It wasn’t so automatic winning move.
Even if the opponent had played Double Star, Yu Shao wasn't guaranteed to choose 3-3—he could just as easily enclose or approach the corner.
If the 3-3 invasion were always the best move, other corner strategies like Knight’s Approach and enclosures would have disappeared long ago.
But even AI continued to play a variety of opening choices, proving that no single move was objectively superior.
Even in his past life, after AI dominated the Go world, debate still raged on about the 3-3 invasion.
So of the strongest professionals still argued that it surrendered too much influence for imdiate territory.
Even though AI favored the move, it hadn’t definitively proven it was the best choice.
And AI couldn’t explain why it played certain moves—so human players still had their doubts.
Yu Shao didn’t choose the 3-3 invasion just because AI played it.
He played it because he personally believed in it.
If he thought it was worth 100 points and soone else thought it was worth 95, that was simply a matter of perspective.
With that in mind, Yu Shao shook off his thoughts, refocused on the board, and reached for a stone.
Click.
Small Point, Column 4, Row 3!
The ga continued.
Shi Hong’s expression slowly darkened as the match progressed, his moves slowing down noticeably.
Not long after—
Yu Shao stood up and walked toward the referee, reporting his result.
Then, he left the playing room.
At Table 22, Shi Hong remained seated, staring blankly at the board.
His face was pale, his breathing shallow.
"It's over already?"
"That fast?"
Other players, noticing Yu Shao leaving, began whispering among themselves.
"Shi Hong isn’t particularly strong, but he was thinking for a long ti. The ga shouldn’t have ended this quickly."
"That ans he lost without even using all his ti?"
"So he was completely crushed, forced to resign early?"
Even though none of them had seen the match, Shi Hong’s expression alone made it clear who had won.
Although they weren’t surprised that Yu Shao had won, they couldn’t help but feel a deep chill.
"He’s now on a four-ga winning streak in the National Master Tournant.
If you count his Yingjiao Cup match, that’s five consecutive wins!"
"With four straight wins in this tournant, his next opponents are going to be significantly stronger!"
At Table 5, Zheng Qin watched Yu Shao’s departing figure and took a deep breath.
Then, he reached into the Go bowl—
Click!
Inside the Go bowl, the sound of stones colliding echoed once again.
Zheng Qin slowly pulled out a stone, his gaze turning sharp and ice-cold as he placed his move decisively.
Click!
Two-Space Jump, Column 10, Row 13!
"A two-space jump here?!"
His opponent’s expression changed slightly.
"Is he ignoring his bad shape just to launch an all-out attack on my outer black stones?!"
For a mont, he felt a chilling pressure emanating from Zheng Qin—sothing dangerous lurking beneath his calm deanor.
It was as if a hidden killing intent had just been unleashed.
For professional Go players, tournant schedules were relentless.
After the latest round of the National Master Tournant preliminaries, just three days later, the Yingjiao Cup preliminaries were set to begin.
And on the day before Yu Shao’s second Yingjiao Cup match, the second ga of the Go Sage Title Match had also concluded.
Yu Shao arrived at the Go Academy early that morning.
As soon as he entered the playing room, he overheard several players discussing the match from the previous day.
"Jiang Changdong won again."
"The first ga was already a close match that lasted into the endga, but the second ga? Zhang Dongchen resigned in the midga. He lost even faster this ti."
"Could Jiang Changdong sweep the match 3-0 and take the title? I thought this would go to five gas."
"Maybe losing the first ga hit Zhang Dongchen’s confidence too hard?"
"If that’s the case, then this is bad. Now that Jiang Changdong is leading 2-0, the pressure on Zhang Dongchen in Ga 3 will only be worse!"
"Jiang Changdong is still just as strong as ever. The ga was decided in the center fight—he didn’t give Zhang Dongchen a single chance to turn things around."
"Yeah… No wonder he was able to compete with Zhuang Weisheng for so many years. They’ve been rivals since they were teenagers, and even now, their rivalry continues."
The group’s discussion was serious, filled with a mix of admiration and awe.
Yu Shao walked past them and took a seat at Table 2, going unnoticed.
Not long after—
A lively figure bounced into the room.
Wu Zhixuan entered, her energy radiating.
She wore a gray plaid shirt over a cropped T-shirt with a cute bear graphic, exposing a flat, toned waist without a trace of excess fat.
Her relaxed sports pants completed her effortlessly youthful and energetic look.
As soon as she spotted Yu Shao, her eyes lit up.
She waved cheerfully, a bright smile revealing two small dimples.
"Yu Shao, morning!"
"Morning."
Yu Shao raised an eyebrow slightly, noticing her good mood.
"You seem pretty happy today."
"That obvious?"
Wu Zhixuan grinned triumphantly.
"Because I got promoted to 3-dan two days ago!"
She tilted her head, flashing a proud expression.
"Surprised?"
"Congratulations. You’re already 3-dan now."
Yu Shao was genuinely surprised.
"Even Zheng Qin just reached 3-dan recently."
"Ehh…?"
Wu Zhixuan’s smile froze awkwardly.
She blinked, then squinted at Yu Shao in mock annoyance.
"Hey! You really don’t know how to talk to people!"
"Huh? What did I say?"
Yu Shao looked at her, puzzled.
"Think about it! He ranked up by beating high-dan players. I had to grind through endless preliminary tournants to rank up! Plus, he beca a pro later than !"
Wu Zhixuan pouted.
"You’re basically saying I’m slow!"
"That’s not what I ant…"
Yu Shao realized his words didn’t co out as intended.
To him, it was just a factual observation—but clearly, Wu Zhixuan took it personally.
Still, she didn’t dwell on it for long.
After a brief mont of pretending to be mad, her curiosity took over.
"By the way! How many wins are you at now?"
"Five in a row."
Yu Shao smiled.
"Ugh! Seriously?!"
Wu Zhixuan puffed up her cheeks, feeling slightly frustrated.
"When I first turned pro, I started with a five-ga losing streak. This is unfair!"
She crossed her arms and pouted.
"And you’re self-taught, too… Ugh."
She grumbled to herself for a few seconds.
Yu Shao found it amusing but said nothing.
Having known Wu Zhixuan for a while, he understood her "emo mode" never lasted more than five seconds.
And sure enough—
After about five seconds, she suddenly perked up again.
"Oh! Right!"
Wu Zhixuan’s eyes glead mischievously as she leaned in.
"Guess who I’m playing against today?"
"Who?"
Yu Shao asked.
"Xu Zijin!"
Wu Zhixuan’s expression turned serious.
"She’s also on a five-ga winning streak. She hasn’t lost a single match yet—not even against Chu Xiongdian, a 3-dan player!"
She clenched her fists, her determination evident.
"But this is my first match since reaching 3-dan!"
"I have to win and show her who's boss!
"Today, her streak ends here!"
Yu Shao tilted his head slightly.
He had never played against Wu Zhixuan before and had never reviewed her ga records either.
So he wasn’t exactly sure how strong she was.
But if she had climbed through the ranking tournants, her strength was probably typical of a 3-dan player.
As for Xu Zijin…
It had been a while since Yu Shao had last played her.
She was the type who kept everything to herself and just focused on improving silently.
The last ti they played, she had been around 2-dan level.
Back then, their gas had been fairly even—a difference of one or two ranks didn’t guarantee victory either way.
So, right now…
It was likely that the two of them were evenly matched.
Wait a minute.
Two beautiful won… fighting each other?
Who’s going to win?
...This is worth watching.
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