The City’s Strongest Son-in-law

Chapter 331: Chapter 332 Unreasonable Competition Format

“Not at all. Given Huangfu Heibai’s current status, he hasn’t participated in domestic competitions for a long time and rarely attends international matches. He’s considered a Grandmaster in the domestic Go community. If he joined the competition, others might lose interest in competing, right?” Liu Chen smiled bitterly. If Huangfu Heibai decided to compete, there wouldn’t be any point in holding a tournament; it would just be a solo show for him.

“Then, is there a way to play a match against him? I’ve come here to West Mountain City with the aim of defeating him!” Su Changfeng replied.

He had already made an arrangement with Tang Qiulu: as long as he could defeat Huangfu Heibai, he would earn unlimited opportunities to taste the lipstick again. This was the true purpose of Su Changfeng’s journey to West Mountain City.

“You… you want to play against Huangfu Heibai?” Liu Chen looked at Su Changfeng with some surprise.

Even though he caused some trouble for Huangfu Heibai last time, he ultimately lost. Although he was unwilling to accept it, when facing a Grandmaster like Huangfu Heibai, anyone would endure for years and only seek revenge when they’ve improved their skills. Wanting to play him now is asking for trouble, isn’t it?

“That’s right, I have to match up against him; otherwise, my trip to West Mountain City would be for nothing.” Su Changfeng insisted.

“Why?” Liu Chen asked, puzzled. Coming to West Mountain City, it seemed it wasn’t just for the competition. Did Su Changfeng have another motive?

Su Changfeng offered a mysterious smile: “That relates to my privacy, which I can’t casually share with you. Just help me find a way to play against Huangfu Heibai?”

“This…” Liu Chen frowned. From his perspective, this was almost impossible to accomplish. Moreover, Huangfu Heibai had used the media to create hype around both Su Changfeng and Sima Chenguang, indicating he had great confidence in Sima Chenguang’s skills and possibly a strategy ready to counter Su Changfeng.

How can you challenge Huangfu Heibai without even securing the championship first?

“Changfeng, it’s not that I’m unwilling to help you, but I truly don’t have a method. Huangfu Heibai’s current status is unparalleled; no one can command him. If he doesn’t want to, no one can force him.” Liu Chen explained with difficulty.

Su Changfeng curled his lips: “So he has to be willing. Alright, I get it. No need to trouble you with this; I’ll think of another way.”

“Changfeng, I must remind you that while you’re quite good at Go, there are many experts in this competition. You absolutely must not underestimate them.” Liu Chen advised.

Su Changfeng waved his hand nonchalantly and said, “Don’t worry. My current state is unprecedentedly good.”

Thanks to the motivation from Tang Qiulu, Su Changfeng’s condition couldn’t be better. Whenever he recalled the taste of lipstick, his fighting spirit would instantly surge.

With two days left until the competition begins, both Su Changfeng and Yue Qingshan stayed in the hotel without leaving. Although he didn’t need to practice, considering Yue Qingshan’s skill level, she had to practice more and study games to achieve a decent result in the tournament.

Finally, on the day of the competition, Su Changfeng still appeared carefree, while Yue Qingshan wore a serious expression.

When the preliminary match roster was released, Yue Qingshan finally breathed a sigh of relief because she wasn’t in the same group as Su Changfeng, which meant she could go further in the tournament.

Even though Yue Qingshan didn’t care about this competition, it was a chance to test her strength. If she had faced Su Changfeng from the start, it would have meant an early exit for her.

“I’m glad we didn’t face each other. I hope we never do.” Yue Qingshan said with a smile to Su Changfeng.

“Absolutely, our fate is just to be friends at most.” Su Changfeng replied.

The tournament was scheduled to last four days. During the first three days, Su Changfeng dominated his matches with unrivaled force. In his eyes, those renowned figures in the Go community posed no obstacle at all.

However, during these three days, something peculiar occurred. While the matches on the first two days were quite effortless, on the third day, Su Changfeng had an unusually high number of matches, leaving him hardly any time to rest.

Yue Qingshan lost to Sima Chenguang, ending her tournament, but Su Changfeng, who was undertaking four consecutive matches, was still not finished.

“Why is this tournament format so strange? He still has two matches left; there’s hardly even time for a sip of water. For anyone else, such continuous play would be unbearable.” Yue Qingshan asked outside, puzzled.

Sima Chenguang had advanced to the finals the next day, but Su Changfeng, who was most likely to be Sima Chenguang’s opponent, still had two more matches to play.

“The matches in the first two days were easy, but the organizers have almost entirely scheduled Changfeng’s opponents for today. It’s clearly a deliberate attempt to exhaust him.” Liu Chen said angrily.

Liu Chen himself had participated in hundreds of Go competitions, but it was the first time he encountered such a peculiar schedule. Moreover, each of Su Changfeng’s opponents took an extraordinarily long time to make their moves, clearly trying to drag out the matches to drain his patience and strength.

“Are you saying Huangfu Heibai is behind this?” someone asked angrily.

Liu Chen nodded and said, “It can only be Huangfu Heibai. Who else would have a bone to pick with Su Changfeng?”

Yue Qingshan frowned, confused as to why Huangfu Heibai would do such a thing, and asked: “Why would Huangfu Heibai hype up the matches between Su Changfeng and Sima Chenguang if Su Changfeng can’t make it to the finals? Wouldn’t that be a waste of effort?”

“Even if he tries to make things difficult for Changfeng, the chances of him advancing are still high, at least given his current state and spiritual power. It seems the difficulties aren’t much of a challenge for him.” This was the only thing that gave Liu Chen a sense of reassurance.

Su Changfeng’s present condition was observable: no matter how his opponents tried to stall, he always wore a smile. This meant that his mental state remained unaffected, giving him confidence for the two remaining matches and likely securing a spot in the finals the next day without much issue.

As for what Liu Chen had just said, Yue Qingshan couldn’t refute it either. Su Changfeng’s condition was visible to the naked eye, making any of Huangfu Heibai’s schemes ineffective.

Even today, although Su Changfeng’s spiritual power might be worn down, he could simply sleep it off, and it wouldn’t affect his chances in the finals at all.