The World's Board

"I'll save you first."

Hearing Zhou De, Yu Shao glanced at him and said quietly, "I don't know whether she fell into the river, but your brain definitely did."

"Damn!"

Zhou De raised his middle finger at Yu Shao.

Not long afterward, the group of boys finally took their seats in Class Seven's section at the slowest possible pace. Then they each began chatting loudly, intentionally or otherwise, hoping to attract Wu Zhixuan's attention from the front row.

Spring had arrived, and so had mating season.

But for high school boys, as long as there was a beautiful girl in sight, every season was mating season. One after another, they spread their tails like peacocks, desperately trying to attract the opposite sex's attention.

"Why does even her back look so good?"

Zhou De stared at Wu Zhixuan's back in the front row and let out a lecherous laugh.

Yu Shao looked at Zhou De disdainfully and reminded him, "Wipe your drool."

"Brother, I've decided. I'm going to become a Professional Go Player."

Zhou De wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth and swore to Yu Shao, "Shen Yi of Jiangling, reconnect!"

Yu Shao wanted to laugh.

He felt that the only way Zhou De could become a Professional Go Player was by picking up the Go Board and smashing his opponent to death. In that case, Zhou De really would be invincible.

After all, as an athlete specially recruited into Jiangling First High School, Zhou De did possess some ability.

Soon, students from the other classes also began arriving at the multimedia classroom.

Just like the boys from Class Seven, the male students from the other classes froze when they saw Wu Zhixuan sitting in the front row, then all slowed their steps in unison.

Just then, Xu Ziqin also entered the multimedia classroom.

Xu Ziqin was still wearing her hair in a low ponytail today, dressed in her school uniform. She looked youthful and lovely, with such exquisite features that she was almost dazzling.

For a moment, the eyes of every male creature in the multimedia classroom began darting back and forth between Wu Zhixuan and Xu Ziqin, as if struggling over whom they should look at.

Ah, they couldn't choose. They really couldn't choose!

Why did they only have two eyes?

Even Yu Shao seriously compared the two girls' looks.

In the end, Yu Shao concluded that Xu Ziqin's features were somewhat more refined, but Wu Zhixuan's smile was simply too unfair.

Even he, an old man with a psychological age approaching thirty, had almost been unable to withstand it when he saw Wu Zhixuan's smile as she greeted them earlier.

Xu Ziqin was too cold, always giving people a distant feeling that kept them a thousand miles away.

Well, more importantly—

Xu Ziqin was a B, while Wu Zhixuan was a D.

Therefore, after a comprehensive evaluation, the two were evenly matched.

Not long afterward, the entire multimedia classroom was packed with people, and all the students had arrived.

When the class bell rang, it was time for the part everyone hated most: the principal's speech.

"Carrying on the culture of Go and promoting the spirit of Go..."

The bald principal stood onstage and spoke eloquently from his prepared speech for a full ten minutes before finally getting to the main point.

"Next, please welcome our school's outstanding graduate and current renowned Professional Go Player, Wu Shuheng 3-dan!"

The entire multimedia classroom erupted in thunderous applause. It was hard to say whether they were welcoming Wu Shuheng 3-dan or expressing their joy that the principal had finally finished speaking.

Immediately afterward, a young man around twenty years old, with neat short hair, walked onto the stage. He took the microphone from the principal and briefly introduced himself to the teachers and students below.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Wu Shuheng. I'm currently a Professional Go Player. It's an honor to be invited back to my alma mater to give this Go promotional lecture."

"Go is a sport with an extraordinarily long history. It has existed for several thousand years..."

Wu Shuheng spoke confidently onstage, beginning with the origins of Go and then moving on to its development in the present day.

"Damn it, I want to sit in the first row."

Below the stage, Zhou De whispered to Yu Shao beside him, "I can't hear a thing from here."

"Did you come here to listen to the lecture?"

Yu Shao shot Zhou De a sideways glance. "I'd be embarrassed to point out your real intentions."

"What? I'm an athlete, and Go is also a sport. I was born to play Go!" Zhou De argued. "Why can't I have come to the first row to listen to the lecture?"

"Go is a sport for the brain. Do you have one?"

Yu Shao ruthlessly exposed the flaw in Zhou De's words.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Zhou De flew into his usual rage.

Yu Shao could not be bothered with Zhou De anymore. He listened intently as Wu Shuheng explained the development of Go in this world.

He really did not know much about the development of Go in this world. If not for Zhou De, he would never have known about Shen Yi, much less that the komi system in this world had been created because of Shen Yi.

Through Wu Shuheng's speech, Yu Shao soon gained a general understanding of Go's development in this world.

This world had once used the Stone Placement System as well.

The Stone Placement System referred to both Black and White placing Go Stones on the four Star Points of the Go Board before beginning the game.

However, the Stone Placement System had been abolished very early on. For a long period afterward, people played Go without a komi rule.

During that time, countless master players had emerged, creating countless Go techniques and playing many famous games that had been passed down to the present day.

Then, more than a hundred years ago, Shen Yi appeared. Only then did the komi system come into existence, and the rule of seven and a half points of komi had continued to be used ever since.

Although this world did not have the players Yu Shao had known from his previous life, most of the Go techniques had still been discovered by the players of this world.

For example, the Great Avalanche Fuseki and the Chinese Flow Fuseki...

Overall, the development of Go in this world was not very different from that of his previous life. The players Yu Shao had originally known had simply been replaced by players from this world.

However, there was one major difference: Go in this world seemed to be more international, and was therefore more highly valued.

How should he put it?

If, in his previous life, someone watched a British period drama about the Middle Ages and saw two Westerners playing Go in the scene, everyone would probably find it jarringly out of place.

But in this world, it was perfectly normal. No one would find it strange. They might even think it made perfect sense and praise the director for the choice.

That was because, in this world, Go had spread across the globe at a very early stage.

Although Go had also attracted quite a few followers in the West in his previous life, its popularity remained relatively low. Most of the top players gathered in the countries of the East, and major tournaments were often essentially civil wars between players from Eastern countries.

But in this world, there were renowned Go players in both the East and the West. At international Go tournaments, it was common to see players of all different skin colors competing against one another.

This had led to one consequence—

There were more Go competitions in this world, and the prize money was more generous, but the competition was also far more intense!

"More than a hundred years ago, when the Go Sage Shen Yi was alive, our country's Go could be called the best in the world. But now, all the other countries have caught up, and quite a few have even surpassed us."

Wu Shuheng held the microphone onstage and continued, "Although our country's overall Go level is still among the world's best, we have never managed to reach the summit again."

"But I have always believed that one day, a player like Shen Yi back then will once again lead our country's Go to the pinnacle of the world!"

"That player might be me."

As soon as Wu Shuheng finished speaking, everyone below the stage burst into laughter.

"However!"

Wu Shuheng paused, then looked at the teachers and students below with a smile. "That player might also be one of you!"

"Do not hesitate in the face of a difficult road ahead, nor crawl and tremble before a powerful opponent. We keep moving forward, keep climbing. This is what it means to be a Go player!"

As soon as he finished speaking, thunderous applause surged from below the stage like a wave.

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