Gomoku

"Shall we talk here?" Xiao Huan asked, looking at the two people standing outside the maple forest.

"Uh..." Lin Yuanxi was taken aback and quickly said, "It's really inappropriate to receive guests like this. Xiao Huan, take Young Master Yang to the living room first, I'll go and clean up."

"Alright!" Xiao Huan nodded, then extended her hand. "Young Master Yang, please!"

Lin Yuanxi's bamboo house was simple not only on the outside but also on the inside. It didn't use Meso-Sumeru; its size was exactly the same as its appearance.

The room was simply furnished with a bamboo table and cushions instead of chairs.

However, there was a scroll hanging on the wall, which contained a calligraphy copybook.

After reading the contents, Yang Ning immediately sighed and rubbed his forehead, "Lou Shi Ming," written by Yang Ning!

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, young master!" Immortals naturally bathe quickly, and in no time at all, Lin Yuanxi had finished washing up and even changed his clothes.

Yang Ning turned his head and his eyes lit up immediately, because Lin Yuanxi had changed into an orange-red long dress embroidered with phoenix patterns. Combined with her long hair tied up and the elaborate accessories on Lin Yuanxi head, she looked gorgeous and elegant.

He quickly stood up, looking apologetic. "Miss Lin, there's no need for that. I'm dressed very casually..."

He came to see Li Yuan, so naturally he couldn't dress up. He came in a white coat, but the young lady was dressed up, making him seem disrespectful to the meeting.

"Does the young master not like it?" Lin Yuanxi asked.

"No, it's just that you're too solemn, young lady, making me feel quite uneasy," Yang Ning quickly replied.

If this bamboo house were replaced with a palace, it would truly feel like a subject paying homage to a princess.

"That's alright!" Lin Yuanxi turned around on the spot, and her clothes changed back to a simple blue dress, and her hairstyle also changed to a simple ponytail.

"This is good, this is good!" Yang Ning breathed a sigh of relief, "Your clothes just now reminded me of when I was an official. Once, when the Empress Dowager summoned me, all the concubines in the harem were dressed like this, and a group of people surrounded me to look at me like I was a monkey!"

"Is that so!" Lin Yuanxi blinked her charming eyes. She knew about this matter. The concubines had even given Yang Ning a topic for an essay, so Yang Ning wrote a poem called "Qing Ping Yue".

"However, your analogy is a bit inappropriate. I've never seen such a handsome monkey!" Lin Yuanxi laughed. "Besides, you are exceptionally talented, a rare find in the world. It's only natural that they are curious!"

"There's no such thing as extraordinary talent; I'm just standing on the shoulders of giants!" Yang Ning said with a wry smile, then pointed to the "Ode to Lou Shi Ming" on the wall. "You wouldn't be living in a bamboo house because of this, would you?"

"At first, yes, but after living here for a while, I've come to appreciate the charm of the bamboo house!" Lin Yuanxi laughed. "The environment is serene and elegant, and it gives you a very relaxing feeling. Just like you said, I also hate the palace gates; that kind of environment is just too oppressive."

"That's true!" Yang Ning nodded. "I also disliked those formalities, so after attending court a few times, I left the Wangcheng under the pretext of supervising the project. It wasn't until later that I discovered there were immortals in this world. Cultivating immortality is much easier and freer than being an official!"

"Yes, if I hadn't cultivated immortality, I wouldn't have the freedom I have now!" Lin Yuanxi nodded in deep agreement, then suddenly looked at Xiao Huan: "What are you standing there for? The guests have arrived, why haven't you served tea?"

"Tch, she's forgotten her best friend now that she has a lover!" Xiao Huan snorted and turned to leave.

Lin Yuanxi blushed instantly, then secretly glanced at Yang Ning. Fortunately, Xiao Huan's voice was soft, and Yang Ning didn't seem to hear her.

Little did she know that Xiao Huan had already exposed her completely on the way here.

"Oh right!" Yang Ning remembered something, quickly took out his Storage Bag, then pulled out a square wooden platform and two bowls.

Lin Yuanxi watched curiously as Yang Ning placed the wooden platform on the table and handed over a bowl.

She glanced at it and noticed that the bowl was filled with small white pebbles, but these pebbles were all perfectly round.

"I heard from Xiao Huan that you two live alone on the mountain and must be quite bored. I also want to thank you for your help, so I'll give you this chessboard and pieces."

"Didn't I already say my Divine Ability aren't of much help?" Lin Yuanxi quickly said, "How could I accept your things!"

"It's just wood and pebbles, worthless!" Yang Ning quickly said, "Aren't you curious how to play with this thing?"

"Hmm," Lin Yuanxi was genuinely curious, since Go didn't exist in this world.

"I'll teach you!" Yang Ning said with a smile, "Don't be fooled by the fact that there's only one chessboard and two colors of pieces. There are actually many ways to play. I'll start by teaching you the simplest Gomoku, Gomoku. You win by connecting five of your own pieces in a row. Let's play a game!"

"Oh," Lin Yuanxi nodded. This seemed quite interesting.

Yang Ning, playing black, made the first move, and Lin Yuanxi then placed a white stone next to the black one.

Yang Ning went down diagonally, and Lin Yuanxi followed suit, going up and down.

Yang Ning went up next, and Lin Yuanxi followed.

"Alright, I won!" Yang Ning placed the fourth chess piece.

"You've only managed four in a row?" Lin Yuanxi asked, then realized why she had lost.

Yeah, he's already got four in a row, it's too late for me to stop him!

Lin Yuanxi seemed to understand the rules of the game. Although it took five stones to win, once four stones were formed, the opponent would be unstoppable.

"Again!" Lin Yuanxi had become interested in Gomoku.

Yang Ning nodded and then asked, "Why don't you go first this time?"

"Then I'll go first!" Lin Yuanxi felt that going first definitely had an advantage; going second would only mean following behind and blocking.

Three minutes later, Lin Yuanxi looked at the four black stones that had been connected, looking completely bewildered.

Wait a minute, how did he manage to connect the blocks on his own?

"I'm getting serious!" Lin Yuanxi calmed herself down. "I didn't want to bully people just because I have higher cultivation, but you forced me to!"

The brain begins to develop at the eighth level of the Body Refinement Realm, and Divine Sense can be born at the Qi Refining Stage. At this point, there is a difference between immortals and mortals. The calculation ability of Qi Refining Stage cultivators is dozens or even hundreds of times that of mortals!

It's just a simple game of Gomoku!

Keep your eyes peeled and your ears open, paying attention to all the pieces. If there's any possibility of forming a four-in-a-row, block it immediately!

Ten minutes later, Lin Yuanxi looked at the five black stones that had been connected, her face blank.

How did I lose again?

"Miss, why don't you let me try?" Xiao Huan had been watching for a long time, and even her tea had gone cold.

Watching from the sidelines, she felt that the young lady was making mistakes everywhere. If it were her, she definitely wouldn't have lost so badly!

"Come on, you take a seat!" Before Lin Yuanxi could even get up, Yang Ning had already given up his place.

"Alright!" Xiao Huan and Lin Yuanxi were as close as sisters, so there was no need to be so polite in her own home. She sat down directly in front of Lin Yuanxi.

Lin Yuanxi only wanted to win one game; she didn't care who her opponent was.

So, a minute later, Xiao Huan looked at the white pieces that had become a continuous group, completely bewildered.

No, you were clearly terrible just now, how could you beat me so quickly?