A chess game beyond one's strength inevitably bred frustration. The game had been suspended for a long while, yet his hand still trembled.
Perhaps he should have had a drink. Unfortunately, his only drinking companion was absent, so Chen Suan merely took a sip of bitter tea. "What about the next Yellow River Assembly?"
"Chen Cuo can go. If it's still held once every fourteen years, he'll be exactly nineteen." Song Huai paused meaningfully. "A good age to claim first place."
"He's only five this year. Can you already determine his future?"
"Some people's futures can be seen from the moment they are born. You may not know exactly how high they will rise, but you know they will surely rise high."
"A talent born while I was in prison. Master, it sounds like you botched a batch of pills and started a new furnace."
"Alchemy? That's the Northern Heavenly Master's specialty."
"So you really are just changing the subject and tacitly admitting it?"
"My position as Eastern Celestial Master wasn't handed to me by anyone either, hahahaha." The old man's palm was exceedingly broad. He waved it before his eyes, as though brushing away the cloudy film of age. "I seized it with this hand."
"Since you're so formidable, if you don't want us fellow disciples to turn on each other... seize another one."
"Three legs make a cauldron, cooking venison and brewing wine. The cauldron bears the inscription Chronicle of Mountains and Rivers; positions have fixed quotas. Once the balance is broken, the result is often collapse. You're in such a hurry to send me off—so you can bully your five-year-old junior brother?"
"I thought I was your final disciple!"
"You were—that lock got smashed open, didn't it? You didn't shut the door properly."
"How can you blame