Ao Tu was playing Go with Yuanshi Tianzun.
Black and white stones already covered much of the board. It was an unfinished game.
Yuanshi Tianzun said, "Please make your move."
At his words, Ao Tu dared not take this lightly. He picked up a black stone, carefully calculated the possibilities, and placed it after some thought.
Yuanshi Tianzun placed a white stone.
Ao Tu thought for a while longer, then placed a black stone.
Yuanshi Tianzun placed a white stone.
The two played some two hundred moves in this fashion before the outcome was decided.
Ao Tu stared blankly at the board.
He had won...
Although he had already calculated his own victory through the Congenital Eight Trigrams, he had thought a game against Yuanshi Tianzun surely could not be so simple. Yet, to his surprise, he really had won in the end.
Beside them, Bodhisattva Manjushri did not know the reason.
Yuanshi Tianzun smiled. "Do you have questions?"
Ao Tu naturally had questions, but as he looked at Yuanshi Tianzun, he did not quite know where to begin.
Yuanshi Tianzun said, "How about another game?"
Ao Tu dared not refuse.
Yuanshi Tianzun cleared away the white stones.
Ao Tu cleared away the black stones.
This time, they were no longer starting with an unfinished game.
Yuanshi Tianzun said, "Please make your move."
Ao Tu picked up a black stone and looked at the board before him, considering where to place it.
Go had endless variations, but for an immortal of his level, calculating all those variations was not difficult as long as he applied himself.
At least, it was far easier than divining the Jade Emperor.
Yet as he gazed at the board before him and its crisscrossing lines, Ao Tu seemed, in a daze, to see the veins