559 The Interesting Gameplay on the Chessboard (2/2)

This was also why she had carefully asked the yellow-garbed old monk if there was a prize.

It was a habit.

After that, Sangsang cooked for Ning Que, the Headmaster and Ning Que's Senior Brothers and Sisters at the back of the mountain. Sometimes, she would be dragged into a few games by Fifth Brother and Eighth Brother, who were both obsessed with chess.

On their journey to Lanke Temple, she would read the chess manual given to her by the two Senior Brothers to pass the time whilst she was ill.

Fifth Brother had once said that Sangsang's talents in chess even surpassed Ning Que's. Not even she knew where her talents stretched to and how her skilled she was.

But she felt that playing chess was getting more and more interesting as time went by.

Even though she regretted a little that there was no bet, it was still enjoyable.

...

...

They stood under the large, green tree.

The chess master from South Jin Kingdom shook his head regretfully. He said, ”Even though it is interesting, this game cannot proceed any further.”

The last phase was called the ”messy phase” for a reason.

Sangsang had put down the second chess piece. It corresponded to her first move. She no longer picked the thickest piece of firewood from the pile. Instead, she used the hard firewood to pick apart all the firewood on top of the pile.

This was not removing a piece of firewood from beneath a cooking pot to allow the water to boil faster; it was even better than that.

It messed up the chess formation completely, and then turned into another strategy. This method of complete destruction and reconstruction brought together the theory of profit and loss in Haotian Taoism. It was also filled with bravery in searching for a way to live even in the face of death. It seemed to be working.

However, in this game of chess, the black pieces had a great advantage. They could completely annihilate the white pieces. How could the white pieces defend against the black, even if there was complete chaos? The crux of the matter was, even if the white pieces could hold up against the attack, how could they rebuild their formation?

The yellow-garbed old monk did not say anything. While he thought that the move was interesting, he knew that there was no way the White would emerge victorious once he understood the formation.

The white pieces had landed on the board like how firewood scattered on the ground messily. It was chaotic, and if one wanted to reorganize the pile, they would need to do in-depth calculations. This kind of calculation was not something that could be accomplished by humans. Even the Great Divine Priest of Revelation from West-Hill Divine Palace who was world-renowned for his math skills could not do it.

It had nothing to do with intelligence or one's talent in chess. This was nature's law.

This law stated that there was a limit to one's ability.

Even the most intelligent person had a limit to his brain's capacity.

Decades ago, the yellow-garbed old monk had tried this method. He did not sleep or rest and thought for three whole months. However, he had not managed the calculations and had not even come close to succeeding.

He had only understood then, that while this solution looked reasonable, in actuality it was not.

It was a solution that could not be completed by man.

Unless the person playing chess could ignore this law of the world.

...

...

All were silent under tree; only the crisp sounds of chess pieces landing on the stone chessboard could be heard.

In the black horse carriage, Sangsang would speak softly, and then, another white chess piece would enter the battle.

There were already seven or eight white pieces on the board by now.

The yellow-garbed old monk compared the board to the one he remembered and was shocked to discover that the girl in the carriage had come up with an extremely similar solution to the one he had thought of only after months of thinking.

Even though there were differences in the positioning of two of the pieces, it was indeed on the right path. However, it was a pity that this seemingly correct path was blocked.

The yellow-garbed old monk slowly nodded as he thought of how the girl had managed to accomplish this in such a short time. The expression on his face grew warmer and he thought that she must indeed be the Lady of Light from West-Hill Divine Palace. She was extremely intelligent.

Those that Lanke Temple selected to meet Master Qishan did not necessarily have to solve all three chess game. The three games on the mountain path were very difficult, and not even a national player could solve them, much fewer cultivators who were not skilled in chess.

They were meant to test what kind of intelligence and courage a cultivator could display, as well as their characteristics. Only those who were impressive may proceed.

The yellow-garbed old monk knew that White was walking to a dead end, but the girl in the horse carriage had displayed courage when solving the game. Her mental calculations were out of the world, and that represented her intelligence. She was outstanding enough, and it could be said that she was a genius.

Since Sangsang was a bigwig from the West-Hill Divine Palace and of noble status, the old monk would not allow her to continue walking on the wrong path that led to darkness and hopelessness. He could not let the Lady of Light lose too badly, lest the Haotian Taoism show her disrespect.

The yellow-garbed old monk stood up and looked toward the carriage with an affable expression and said, ”You are indeed the Lady of Light. And your intelligence is beyond compare. Even though your solution did not work, you have passed this round of the three rounds.”

Then, he looked at Ning Que and said, ”Mr. Thirteen, you were wrong on one point earlier. Rules of Lanke Temple are not dead. And I think that there are some rules that have to be respected.”

While Ning Que did not agree with the old monk, he only nodded since the old man had agreed to let them pass. He had even praised Sangsang, so Ning Que was satisfied.

The South Jin Kingdom chess master who had been watching the game on the sidelines ran his hand through his beard and said, ”You are right, master. Even though the girl's solution did not work against this enigmatic puzzle, her calculation skills put me to shame.”

The cultivators were satisfied with the results and all nodded and expressed their approval. It was not known whether they had really seen the intelligence of the Lady of Light through the game.

Naturally, while some were satisfied, there were those who were not.

Aunt Quni Madi was very dissatisfied; she harrumphed disappointedly.

There was also another dissatisfied person present.

Sangsang's confused voice floated out of the carriage.

”I was about to win. Why did we stop?”

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