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Seeing Wang Qingyuan so eager to take Qin Yuan as his disciple, no one was surprised.
Qian Feng and Liu Yuan were unwilling to give up so easily; even knowing they were no match, they were prepared to fight to the bitter end.
They also stepped forward, stating their desire to take Qin Yuan as their disciple.
Seeing this, Wang Qingyuan cast a disdainful glance at the two of them, though he said nothing, merely looking at the stunned Qin Yuan with a beaming smile, not in the least worried that his precious disciple would be snatched away.
No one could snatch a disciple from the hands of the Chess Saint, Wang Qingyuan!
"I already have a teacher."
After his initial shock, Qin Yuan spoke.
The smile on Wang Qingyuan's face froze. Qian Feng and Liu Yuan were also taken aback.
That's right, to reach the sixth dan in the Way of Chess at only ten years old, how could he not have a teacher... the three of them thought to themselves.
Hmm? Ten years old... half a year...
The three of them felt these two timeframes were extremely familiar, as if they had heard them somewhere before.
Just as they were about to recall, Qin Yuan's voice reached their ears.
"My teacher in the Way of Chess is Zhang Kaiming."
BOOM—!!!
These words were like a thunderclap on a clear day, instantly exploding in the ears of the three men, leaving their heads buzzing.
They stood there like statues, frozen in place, as if they had been pulled out of the world, their ears ringing, unable to hear a single sound.
After a long while, they gradually regained their hearing, only to shriek like cats whose tails had been stepped on:
"Who? Your teacher is Zhang Kaiming?!!"
Qin Yuan did not know why their reaction was so intense; he blinked, then nodded.
"That is correct."
Receiving a definitive answer, Wang Qingyuan and the others no longer held any illusions.
"You are Qin Yuan?" Wang Qingyuan looked at Qin Yuan with an extremely complex expression.
Qian Feng and Liu Yuan, standing to the side, felt the same.
Their hearts were now filled with guilt and jealousy; guilt because they had misunderstood Zhang Kaiming, realizing he hadn't been merely flattering them.
The jealousy stemmed from the fact that Zhang Kaiming was actually Qin Yuan's teacher in the Way of Chess!
That bastard, hogging it all for himself! No wonder he hasn't come to meet us even once in half a year; he was deliberately hiding it from us!
"You know me?" Qin Yuan raised an eyebrow.
Behind him, Li Fu's calm, aged eyes instantly sharpened, his aura locking onto Wang Qingyuan like a beast ready to pounce, prepared to strike at any moment.
Qin Yuan's status was noble; throughout the entire Heavenly Dou Empire, only a very small number of nobles above the rank of marquis were aware of it, and Wang Qingyuan was definitely not among them.
Wang Qingyuan suddenly felt a lethal threat coming from the old man behind Qin Yuan.
He suddenly remembered Qin Yuan's noble status and hurriedly explained:
"I learned of it from Zhang Kaiming!"
He spoke at a rapid pace, fearing that if he were a second late, his life would be forfeit.
The sense of lethal threat vanished.
Li Fu returned to his calm state.
Wang Qingyuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, lamenting in his heart: Sigh! It seems I am fated to have no connection with such a peerless genius. What a pity!
Qian Feng and Liu Yuan sighed with the same regret.
"Chess Saint Wang, may I ask you a question?" Qin Yuan suddenly spoke.
"Please, go ahead," Wang Qingyuan said, not daring to be negligent.
"What is the Chess Heart?"
[Congratulations on comprehending the Chess Heart! Way of Chess advanced to the seventh dan, rewarded with seven evolution points]
Three days later, on a cool night, Qin Yuan, who was pondering the Way of Chess alone, opened his eyes as a line of information appeared before him.
Staring blankly at the text, a flash of joy crossed Qin Yuan's eyes.
He let out a long breath and sighed:
"It wasn't easy. Stuck for nearly half a month, I've finally broken through!"
With a thought, he summoned his panel.
[Name: Qin Yuan] [Age: 10 years old] [Martial Soul: Golden Flood Dragon] [Spirit Power: Level 6 (+)] [Skills: Chess Path 7th Dan (1854/10000)] [Evolution Points: 17] He cast a slightly disappointed glance at the Martial Soul column; there was no plus sign. As expected, the Evolution Points required for the third Martial Soul Evolution would far exceed those needed for the second. His gaze fell upon the Skills column. Looking at the 1854 experience points, a flash of surprise and confusion crossed Qin Yuan's eyes. He had only just broken through, so how could he have... Soon, he understood. This 1854 must have been the accumulation from being stuck for nearly half a month; it simply hadn't been displayed before he comprehended the Chess Heart and advanced to the 7th Dan of the Chess Path. Putting away the panel, Qin Yuan returned to his room with a beaming smile to rest. Time flew by, and another half a year passed. Qin Yuan was now eleven years old. Over the past six months, Qin Yuan had frequently visited the Chess Saint Pavilion to play against the Chess Saint and other grandmasters of the game, causing his Chess Path experience points to skyrocket. Advancing from the 7th Dan to the 8th Dan took two and a half months, while the 8th to the 9th Dan took three and a half months. This terrifying speed of progress left Wang Qingyuan and the others dumbfounded; the way they looked at Qin Yuan was as if they were staring at a monstrous freak! As for Zhang Kaiming, beyond his shock, he felt mostly pride and vanity. He boasted and gloated in front of Wang Qingyuan and the others almost every day, making them grit their teeth in frustration, yet they were helpless to do anything about it. There was no helping it; who could blame him for having such a monstrous disciple? Improving by two Dans in half a year, he had gained a total of seventeen Evolution Points. Added to his original seventeen, he now had thirty-four in total. But unsurprisingly, he still could not initiate the third Martial Soul Evolution. Qin Yuan was not disappointed, however; instead, he filled himself with anticipation as he hoarded his points, waiting for the third evolution. He believed that the next Martial Soul Evolution would surely result in an incredibly powerful and satisfying super Martial Soul! From his first contact with the Chess Path to reaching the 9th Dan—the pinnacle of the game—Qin Yuan had spent only one year, a feat that could be called unprecedented and likely never to be repeated. However, once at the 9th Dan, the experience points and time required to reach the 10th Dan were far too vast, making it not worth the effort. Thus, after reaching the 9th Dan, Qin Yuan ceased focusing on the Chess Path and decided to learn a new skill. As it happened, Qin Yuan knew that Qian Renxue had mastered a skill that had already reached the level of a grandmaster, so on the day after he reached the 9th Dan, he set off immediately. The journey was smooth and unobstructed as he entered the East Palace. In the entire Heavenly Dou Imperial Palace, who didn't know that Qin Yuan had been raised by the Crown Prince Xue Qinghe? Their bond was deep, and the guards of the East Palace dared not stop him, letting him pass directly. Walking into the East Palace, Qin Yuan headed straight for Qian Renxue's room and pushed the door open. A faint, elegant fragrance wafted into his nose, smelling quite pleasant. The room was decorated with extreme elegance, clean and tidy. As Qin Yuan entered, his gaze involuntarily fell upon a jade shelf crafted from fine stone. The shelf stood right next to and facing the soft couch, within easy reach of anyone lying on the bed. There were no books on it; the ten-tiered jade shelf was filled with jade carvings on every level. From bottom to top, the lowest carvings were of an infant lying in a cradle, delicate and cute. On the second tier from the bottom were carvings of a one-year-old child just learning to walk but still unsteady—some wobbling, some crawling on the ground, and some reaching out to be held. Their large eyes were so vivid they looked like those of a real person. The higher up one looked, the more the carved children grew, their chubby little faces becoming handsome, like works of art meticulously sculpted by nature. The top row of carvings had been made most recently, and even without a close look, one could clearly recognize that the faces of the jade figures were identical to Qin Yuan's. These ten tiers of jade carvings had all been sculpted by Qian Renxue's own hands, recording Qin Yuan's appearance from his infancy all the way to his current handsome self. Looking at the carvings modeled after his own likeness, the expression in Qin Yuan's eyes became exceptionally soft.
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