Super Gene Hunting Ground

Long Hang looked at Yang Xiao with a bewildered expression; this kid doesn’t cede even an inch, not even giving up the first move.

Long Hang said helplessly:

”Alright, how about this, let’s guess the number of pieces.”

Yang Xiao smiled faintly,

”How do we guess?”

”Using our spiritual power, we’ll randomly toss some pieces into a bowl, and you guess how many there are. If you guess right, I lose; if you guess wrong, you lose. Whoever wins gets to play black first. How about that?”

Yang Xiao pretended to think for a moment and then said reluctantly:

”Fine!”

Long Hang smiled slightly and waved over a nearby staff member.

The staff member walked over to Long Hang, bowed, and said:

”Deputy Director Long, what can I do for you?”

”Bring over an extra empty chess bowl.”

”Sure.”

The staff member turned and left, returning shortly with a white chess bowl, which he placed on the board in front of Long Hang.

”Deputy Director Long, here’s the chess bowl you requested.”

Long Hang nodded and said to Yang Xiao:

”This is an empty chess bowl. In a moment, I’ll use spiritual power to float some pieces from another bowl into this one. Once the pieces land in this empty bowl, I’ll immediately cover it, and you’ll guess how many pieces there are.”

Yang Xiao nodded.

Long Hang said:

”Alright, I’ll begin now; watch closely.”

Long Hang’s Divine Sense moved slightly, and the white pieces in the bowl floated into the air with a clatter, quickly landing in the empty chess bowl.

With a ”clang,” Long Hang swiftly covered the bowl and smiled at Yang Xiao.

”You can guess now.”

The dispute between Long Hang and Yang Xiao over who would play first had already caught the attention of the surrounding players.

Yang Xiao had gained some reputation on Witch Star, especially as the leader of Purple Origin Star, having consecutively killed Long Kui and War God; many had heard of him but not seen him in person.

After Yang Xiao checked into the Royal Inn, the news of him entering the Go tournament spread, stirring many to want to see his prowess firsthand.

Long Hang, as the Deputy Director of the Great Dragon Empire Chess Institute, was widely recognized.

At this moment, participants at the surrounding ten or so Go tables paused their games to watch the two.

Long Hang’s move was extremely swift, making it difficult for onlookers to see clearly. Guessing the number of pieces precisely was indeed a challenging task.

All eyes were on Yang Xiao, eager to see if he could guess correctly.

Yang Xiao smiled slightly,

”28.”

”Are you sure?”

Long Hang asked, not even knowing himself how many pieces he had tossed. He merely used spiritual power to throw a bunch of pieces, much like grabbing them by hand, but he had no exact count.

That’s why he was certain Yang Xiao couldn’t possibly guess right.

Yang Xiao nodded and said:

”You can count them.”

”Alright.”

Long Hang poured out all the pieces from the bowl onto the board. With a slight move of his Divine Sense, all the pieces lined up in a long sequence.

Long Hang glanced over them and his face froze.

No more, no less, exactly 28 pieces.

The surrounding onlookers exclaimed in amazement,

”Damn, he could even guess that; it’s practically magic!”

”As expected of the leader of Purple Origin Star and the State Preceptor of the Flying Leopard Empire, truly impressive!”

...

Amidst the admiration of the crowd, Long Hang awkwardly forced a smile and said:

”Impressive, impressive! I never thought you could even guess that right. You win, you go first.”

With a slight move of his Divine Sense, all the white pieces on the board floated back into the chess bowl.

Yang Xiao laughed and said:

”I was just guessing blindly and ended up guessing right. It seems my luck is quite good today.”

With that, he took the black chess bowl, removed the lid, moved his Divine Sense, and a black piece floated in the air, landing on the board with a ”clang.”

Internally, Yang Xiao sneered, thinking, ”Playing the guessing game with me? You’re still a bit too green. I used to organize books every night at the Flying Leopard Academy and learned how to count leaves from Elder Ye; I’m well-versed in these games.”

Long Hang naturally hadn’t anticipated that the game he thought was clever happened to be Yang Xiao’s specialty.

Yang Xiao instantly figured out the number of pieces, his spiritual power being exceptionally strong, leaving Long Hang inwardly shocked.

But given the situation, he had no choice but to go through with it; whether he could use spiritual power in the chess game to kill Yang Xiao depended on fate.

Yang Xiao might be able to count pieces, but that doesn’t guarantee he can defeat me. What if he really was just guessing?

Long Hang regained his focus, moved his Divine Sense, and placed down a white piece.

The surrounding people, seeing the situation, returned to focus on their games, as their own boards were what mattered most.

Yang Xiao and Long Hang each placed down thirty pieces, and the board began to display fierce contention.

As the battle unfolded, their spiritual power attacks became increasingly perilous.

Spiritual power usage in Go changes with the game’s progress.

When both players are evenly matched, the threat level of spiritual power is the same; however, if one side starts to overwhelm the other, the threat level can suddenly increase multiple or even dozens of times.

Especially when the disadvantaged side is highly tense, they are more susceptible to being harmed by the opponent’s spiritual power attack.

Of course, if one concedes and withdraws from the spiritual battleground, they can avoid injury.

However, in Go, victory is rarely decided in a single move; one-sided games often lead to quick concessions and less spiritual damage.

The real danger is when an opponent gives you hope, drags you along step by step, and unexpectedly delivers a lethal blow when you’re exhausted, breaking through your defenses and causing severe damage.

Therefore, a true master aiming to heavily damage your spiritual power in a match will lead you step by step into a quagmire of struggle.

As Deputy Director of the Great Dragon Empire Chess Institute, Long Hang’s numerous opportunities to learn from the first Grandmaster Chen Rong had significantly improved his own skills.

No sign of defeat had yet appeared on the current board.

Yang Xiao even realized that Long Hang was purposefully leading him into a trap, often opting for suboptimal moves instead of the best ones.

Initially, Yang Xiao thought Long Hang was just not skilled enough, but when he tried to corner his pieces, Long Hang managed to quickly counter.

After several rounds of this, Yang Xiao found Long Hang’s methods somewhat mysterious.

”Since this guy wants to play games, I’ll play along and see what he’s up to.”

With that thought, Yang Xiao decided to follow Long Hang’s pace, refraining from lethal moves, and even pretending to make a few blunders, extending the game further.