In the evening, seeing her Charm Points surge, Yu Qingtan's eyes narrowed into a slit with a smile.
She then continued to practice her Spells and Skills.
Rolling up.
...
The next day, the sky was clear for thousands of miles, clean as washed azure.
In the giant central square of Tianxiang Immortal City, a large number of Cultivators had already been waiting early on.
Xiang Ru and Yu Qingtan had also arrived early.
Since Cultivators have a strong sense of personal space, the square did not seem crowded.
Today, even more people recognized Yu Qingtan, and quite a few had co just to see her.
However, Cultivators in the Cultivation World generally have good manners and would not swarm around her.
As everyone waited, the four prodigies of the All-World Academy arrived on their swords.
Causing a fervent cheer from the crowd.
After introducing themselves once more, the still drowsy-looking Zhou Lan took out a huge, transparent, thin board from his Storage Bag and set it up on the stage.
There were six chessboards drawn on the board.
Five of them already had so black and white pieces in place.
Zhou Lan's languid voice rose, "Greetings to all friends in Tianxiang Immortal City, today I, Zhou Lan, wish to make friends through Chess Skill. To save ti, I have laid out five puzzle positions on this chess wall.
Interested players may try to solve them first, and those who succeed in solving one will then have the honor of playing against ."
The crowd at the square knew today was a Chess Skill exchange, so at least half of them knew how to play chess, and they began scrutinizing the puzzle positions on the chess wall.
The chess wall had a virtual shadow of the pieces on both sides, with instructions on the side.
Injecting a trace of Spiritual Power into the move spot on one side would cause black pieces to appear on the corresponding position on both sides.
Injecting Spiritual Power on the other side would make white pieces appear.
Captured pieces would disappear automatically.
Zhou Lan took out a recliner and lay down on the side with the black pieces.
Yu Qingtan also started observing the five puzzle positions.
At a glance, the white side in each puzzle position seed to be at a significant disadvantage.
Obviously, she had to find a way to beat Zhou Lan's black pieces to solve the puzzles.
For this grand occasion, Yu Qingtan had gone through all the chess manuals she could rember from her previous life.
Unfortunately, in her previous life, she was only an amateur player and could only rember so of the most famous manuals.
Soon, Yu Qingtan felt confident.
The fifth puzzle position was familiar to her, wasn't it the legendary intricate chess puzzle?
It was a puzzle that had stumped countless people.
And in Qingtan's mind, she still rembered the chess manuals from the three gas where a Go genius faced an Artificial Intelligence in her previous life.
Yu Qingtan went through these few gas in her mind again before she began to carefully analyze the other four puzzles.
After much consideration, she found a potential solution to the second puzzle.
At that mont, an Elder with an immortal deanor lightly hopped onto the stage and stood with his hands behind his back.
"Young Master Zhou, I am Nie Ping. I have found a solution to the second puzzle," said the Elder.
After speaking, he pointed with his right hand and placed a white piece on the second chessboard.
Since Nie Ping had started to play, Zhou Lan didn't bother with pleasantries, stood up, and gently lifted his right hand to drop a black piece.
"That's the great Elder of the Nie family, known as a Chess Skill fanatic. Rumor has it he has few rivals in Tianxiang Immortal City," said Xiang Ru, softly introducing him to Yu Qingtan.
Yu Qingtan nodded and began to seriously examine Nie Ping's thod of solving the puzzle.
Because they both had strategies in mind, the ga proceeded rapidly.
After two quarters of an hour, the black pieces t their defeat.
The solution process was roughly similar to what Yu Qingtan had envisioned.
"Please instruct !" Zhou Lan said to Nie Ping with a bow.
Nie Ping returned the bow, then placed a piece on the sixth blank chessboard.
The two began their ga.
After another quarter of an hour, Nie Ping's brow was sweaty, and his pace of placing pieces noticeably slowed.
Half an hour later, large beads of sweat stread down Nie Ping's face, white smoke rose from his head, and his right hand stayed rigid in mid-air, unable to place the next piece.
After a long while, his right hand weakly dropped, and Nie Ping said, "Young Master Zhou's Chess Skill is exquisite, this old man concedes."
Zhou Lan, still at ease, cupped his hand in a salute.
"I am flattered by your concession!"
Nie Ping leapt down from the high stage, and the chess pieces on the second and sixth boards vanished.
Next, another elder took the stage, breaking through the first endga, but also succumbed to Zhou Lan just over a half-hour later.
Then, there was a long while without anyone approaching the stage.
Zhou Lan even reclined back on the lounge chair.
"Young Master Zhou's Chess Skill is too strong, I'm afraid only seniors above the Foundation Establishnt Stage can defeat him!"
"Lazy Treasure looks so cool! I really want to be his pillow!"
"Could it be that our Tianxiang Immortal City can no longer find anyone to challenge him?"
The crowd was abuzz with discussion.
Just as Shi Kuang, Zhong Yao, and Jing Hao began to communicate through voice transmission about whether to end the day's activities, Yu Qingtan was preparing to make her move.
But soone beat her to it.
Still clad in a white dress, Xie Yun used the Xies' Treading Air Step to ascend the high stage once again.
"Young Master Zhou, Yun also has so understanding of Chess Skill, and has found a solution to the fourth ga," she announced.
Zhou Lan stood up and saluted, "Miss Xie is also proficient in Chess Skill, I admire that. Please!"
Xie Yun gently lifted her hand, placing a white piece down on the fourth endga.
The two played speedily, their pieces flying, and in just a quarter of an hour, the white pieces secured victory.
Afterward, they comnced a ga on an empty chessboard.
Below the stage, there was already heated discussion.
"I had no idea Miss Xie had such Chess Skill; it's never been heard of!"
"It's said that Miss Xie has taken a mysterious master, perhaps she learned it from her master!"
"Why does Miss Xie never play against people from Tianxiang Immortal City?" "Is there a possibility that she thinks no one is her match?"
"I heard that Miss Xie is also skilled in painting. Indeed, the number one talented woman of Tianxiang Immortal City should be Miss Xie. That Qing Tan is nothing more than a teahouse zither player; how can she compare to Miss Xie?"
"Hmph, how do you know Miss Qing Tan is not skilled in chess? Look how engrossed she is over there!"
"Then why doesn't she take the stage? I think she's just putting on airs."
"You..."
Soon, half an hour passed, and Xie Yun's delicate eyebrows slightly furrowed as she felt the pressure from Zhou Lan.
Yu Qingtan also saw that she was at a disadvantage.
Another half-hour later, Xie Yun was already drenched in sweat.
In her eyes, the chessboard upon the chess wall seed like a battlefield, with Zhou Lan continuously launching attacks at her, leaving her struggling to cope.
The crowd in the plaza seed to hear the clangour of golden horses and iron soldiers, the clashing of swords and blades.
In the end, under Zhou Lan's powerful assault, Xie Yun's delicate body trembled, her right arm drooping powerlessly.
A mont later, she cast a Cleansing Spell on herself and mustered her spirit to say, "Young Master Zhou's Chess Skill is unparalleled, Yun is defeated!"
"Miss Xie's Chess Skill is quite impressive as well, I hope we have the chance to play again in the future," Zhou Lan said, a rare smile gracing his lips.
His victory had not co easily; he had quite enjoyed this challenging match.
Xie Yun used Treading Air Step and stepped down from the high stage.
Before descending, she cast a proud glance at Yu Qingtan.
Though defeated, she held her dignity; keeping her head slightly raised as she stepped down, her fair neck visible like that of a proud swan.
However, her proud gaze quickly soured.
Because Yu Qingtan was lifting the hem of her skirt, steadily walking towards the stage.
"Raoliang Tea House's Yu Qingtan has a strategy for the fifth endga. I request Young Master Zhou to enlighten !" she declared.
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