Chen Duan's expression did not change. He casually placed a stone in another spot with a crisp slap, faintly forming a new constraint, and replied calmly:
"Senior, you flatter me. Still, despite your advanced age, you've actually reached the Fifth Level. That is truly admirable. You must have suffered greatly, haven't you? You must have cultivated day and night, enduring hardship upon hardship, just to barely reach your current realm.
"To swallow this discarded stone of mine, those few moves of yours just now must have taken a great deal of painstaking effort."
"Not at all, not at all. This old man is merely of middling aptitude. When I was young, I indulged in pleasure, still carousing at forty or fifty. Then one day, I suddenly found it all rather meaningless, so I casually practiced a little. Who would've thought that, in my muddled way, I'd end up reaching the Fifth Level?
"Your move was mistaken, little friend. This old man captured your stone merely by going with the flow. How could you say I exhausted my heart and mind?"
Le Buxiu shook his head with a smug air and placed another stone, blocking one of Chen Duan's paths.
The crisp sound of stones being placed rang out without end.
Wu Sheng listened to the two men's exchange from the side, and the more he listened, the more something felt wrong. Why did it always seem as if sharp hidden barbs lurked beneath their words?
It was as though two invisible pressures were borrowing this tiny Go board to conduct a silent, life-and-death struggle.
What surprised him even more was the actual state of the board.
Between their words, the two seemed like peerless masters using the board to contend, treating heaven and earth as the board and all living beings as the pieces. The grandeur was as high as could be, exuding the bearing of true experts.
But when he focused on the positions and trajectories of the stones, he nearly coughed aloud.
What kind of dogshit is this?
He carefully observed Chen Duan's moves and found that the other man was not deliberately yielding at all. His play was raw and disorderly, without the slightest trace of structure—completely at a beginner's level, natural enough to show no sign of putting on an act.
However, both men were surrounded by an extraordinary air, making it difficult for Wu Sheng to interrupt them for the moment.
The scene felt strangely familiar, inexplicably reminding him of the time Chen Duan and his junior brother Shi Jie had discussed medical theory.
The difference was that, back then, he truly knew nothing about medicine and had been unable to offer an opinion. But what was the situation this time?
Did he not understand Go?
He glanced at the board.
Even if he didn't, he was still better than these two stinkers, wasn't he?
He had a feeling that the two men were not merely playing Go, but engaging in some kind of contest he could not understand.
But what exactly were they contending over?
Wu Sheng racked his brains, yet could not figure it out.
Just as his thoughts were in disarray, a crisp slap rang out. Le Buxiu planted the final white stone in a corner of the board.
Immediately afterward, Le Buxiu swept his hand through the air.
"Excellent work, little friend. This old man has lost! I suddenly feel somewhat unwell today. Someone, see our guests out!"
Wu Sheng was utterly dumbfounded, completely unable to react.
A moment later, Wu Sheng and Chen Duan were standing in the street outside the tower.
Wu Sheng's heart remained a blank, bewildered haze.
He truly could not understand why, the instant the game ended, Le Buxiu had immediately turned hostile and ordered them out.
Chen Duan acted as though nothing had happened. Instead, in high spirits, he patted Wu Sheng on the shoulder and said with a smile:
"Brother Wu, your friend's Go skills are quite good. That game was enjoyable. Come, I'll buy you a drink."
So what in the world was that all about?
Wu Sheng's belly was full of doubts, but Chen Duan dragged him along without allowing him to refuse, heading toward another tavern.
At that moment.
On the upper floor of Floating Fragrance Tower.
"Hmph! That damn little brat doesn't know the first thing about showing consideration for an old man!"
Le Buxiu cursed grumpily. He rested his head on a beauty's lap, letting her slender jade fingers massage his temples and ease the anger burning in his heart.
"Xiao Si, how was it? Can you handle that fellow?"
A young man sat beside the Go board. He was none other than Xiao Si, whom Hong Sanniang had sent over.
Xiao Si did not answer immediately. His expression was solemn as he stared at the disorderly black and white stones scattered across the board.
He picked up a black stone between two fingers and tried injecting a thread of true qi into it.
However, the instant the true qi entered the stone, it encountered fierce resistance and was immediately forced back out.
Xiao Si tried several more times, but the result was the same every time.
On his fifth attempt, when he slightly increased the flow of true qi—
With a burst, the stone abruptly exploded into a cloud of powder. Several wisps of faint red true qi drifted out from within it, then dispersed into the air.
"This true qi is astonishingly powerful." Xiao Si could not help praising it.
"Even you can't neutralize it?" Le Buxiu propped up half his body, his tone teasing. "Doesn't Sanniang always praise how formidable you are? How exactly have you been training, young man?"
Faced with Le Buxiu's doubts, Xiao Si merely shook his head. "I am inferior."
"Really? You're not joking?"
Le Buxiu sat up straight, and his expression became serious as well.
"He should have already sensed my presence just now."
Xiao Si's gaze was deep. "He's very strong. At least in terms of true qi cultivation, he surpasses me."
He picked up several more stones and tried again. The result remained unchanged as the stones exploded one after another.
"Hiss..."
Le Buxiu drew in a sharp breath. "This person must have an extraordinary background. He is not from Medicine Valley, while Little Wu treats him as a sworn brother, clearly sharing a deep relationship with him.
"If Little Wu already has such powerful aid, why did he still have to pay such a heavy price to seek this old man out...?"
He stroked his beard and sank into thought.
Beside him, Xiao Si mused, "Because some matters require the intelligence network of Floating Fragrance Tower. Besides... Senior Le, you are ultimately an outsider. Wu Sheng approached you from the beginning with a purpose."
"You mean Little Wu wants to scheme against me, an outsider?"
Le Buxiu knitted his brows tightly, then shook his head. "Huh... It doesn't seem that way. He looks completely sincere."
"It's hard to say. The human heart is difficult to gauge. You can maintain closer contact with both men and observe them slowly. Once you've uncovered their true backgrounds, make your decision."
Xiao Si's attitude was also vague. Recalling Wu Sheng's attitude toward Le Buxiu, along with the things he had said and certain promises he had made, he indeed seemed very sincere.
"Good. We'll do as you say! I'll arrange for several girls from the tower to be sent to Chen Duan."
"I'm afraid that won't work. Judging from his words and conduct, he doesn't seem like a man given to sensual pleasures."
"Then send him money?"
"A Fifth Level Grandmaster—how could he lack such things? Besides, this is Chuzhou."
"Hiss... He wants neither wealth nor beauty. Could it be that we're supposed to offer him authority? This old man doesn't have that ability. Being able to hold on to Floating Fragrance Tower is already difficult enough."
Xiao Si pondered for a moment before saying, "This man's martial arts are formidable, and he carries a strong Jianghu air. It would be better to temporarily treat him as a fellow Jianghu practitioner, neither servile nor overbearing, and observe the results."
"Sound reasoning! Another day, I'll personally bring several jars of fine wine and pay him a visit!"
Several days later.
Yingcheng, at night.
Moonlight like frost spilled across the silent courtyard.
Chen Duan's figure whirled beneath the moon as he practiced the moves of the Fuhu Fist again and again.
The wind of his fists howled with the force of a tiger's roar through the mountains, yet it was different from before.
With every punch, not only did Fuhu True Qi surge forth, but a thread of Righteous Qi also circulated with it, gathering where the force concentrated at his fist's edge.
This was the combined killing move he had created in a flash of inspiration some days ago and was currently trying to perfect—Vast Tiger Soul Divine.
His intention was to merge the Vast Qi Nourishing Spirit Technique with the Fuhu Fist, intertwining and resonating Righteous Qi with true qi to achieve overwhelming suppression and destructive power against Evil Spirits.
Whenever he had leisure, he repeatedly refined the move, striving to bring these two utterly different forces into perfect balance.
After completing another set of punches, the Righteous Qi flowed back into his dantian like a weary bird returning to the forest, and the layer of true qi around his fists receded with it.
Chen Duan ended his stance and stood upright, his breathing long and steady as his gaze swept across the residence he had purchased not long before.
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