Chapter 1532: Play a game (1)
With how simple this hall was, it wasn’t hard to figure out what the test was.
After all, there was only one thing that was placed in this hall.
It was a board with pieces and a place to sit.
There weren’t any special illusions or anything else that was set up, there wasn’t even an opponent that was sitting there.
But when things were set up like this, it was hard to miss what this place was about.
Lin Fan turned to look at Xiao Mu, but he could see that the two of them were already looking at him as if they were waiting for him to step forward.
"You can go first and experience it. You can consider this training for the future."
Xiao Mu had a strange look on its face when it heard this, but it didn’t reject this proposal. After all, this certainly was considered a rare chance for Xiao Mu.
It was a chance to play a game with a peak master in the way of go, so it wasn’t as if there was anything to lose from this.
Not to mention that it wasn’t as if there were any penalties for failing these tests.
They had already seen it happen many times, so they knew that the ones that set up these pavilions weren’t aiming to actually hurt anyone. That was unless someone aimed to harm the pavilions.
As long as they had a heart that was willing to learn, then they would be fine.
So Xiao Mu stepped forward and sat down in front of the board.
There was nothing that happened after Xiao Mu sat down, but that was because the pieces in front of Xiao Mu were white. So it was up to Xiao Mu to make the first move in this game.
After a moment of deliberation, Xiao Mu placed the first piece down.
As soon as Xiao Mu did, the other side reacted with the lid on the container holding the black pieces opening up. There was a black piece that floated up into the air before falling down on the board.
Xiao Mu didn’t seem to react when this black piece fell down.
The moment that the black piece landed, it was as if there was something that had distracted Xiao Mu with the way that its eyes turned blank. It was almost as if Xiao Mu was seeing something that wasn’t there.
However, this state didn’t last long as Xiao Mu took out another piece to place on the board.
The strange thing was that from time to time, it seemed like Xiao Mu kept falling into a daze. It was whenever the black piece fell onto the board, it was as if there was something that appeared in front of Xiao Mu.
It was just that this didn’t seem to affect Xiao Mu’s playing ability.
Even though Xiao Mu did fall into a daze from time to time, it seemed like it was able to pull itself out of it quite easily.
"It seems to be giving Xiao Mu inspiration." Lin Fan couldn’t help thinking to himself as he observed this.
Even with his meagre knowledge, he was still capable of doing some analysis from the side. He could tell that as time passed, it was as if there was something that was inspiring Xiao Mu to make better moves.
So whatever was happening was helpful for Xiao Mu.
"I admit defeat."
When the board was half filled, that was when Xiao Mu said this.
It wasn’t that Xiao Mu didn’t want to keep playing, the pieces that it had put down before it admitted defeat was proof of that. After all, Xiao Mu had done all that it could to keep itself in the game, but the other side was just too overwhelming.
Even so, it didn’t seem like Xiao Mu was that upset about all of this.
After all, there was much that could be learned even from a crushing defeat and it wasn’t as if Xiao Mu was someone that gave up that easily.
After Xiao Mu admitted defeat, the board actually reset itself and this time the pieces that were in front of it had changed. This time, Xiao Mu was playing with the black pieces.
When the board finished resetting, the white pieces on the other side were the first to move this time.
It was only natural that the white pieces would be the first since that was how the game went.
"So it’s best two out of three? It seems like this trial is quite kind." Lin Fan muttered upon seeing this.
It wasn’t as if Xiao Mu didn’t recognize this as well and since the other side was willing to give it another chance, it wasn’t as if Xiao Mu wasn’t going to take it.
But the moment that this first piece fell down, it felt different.
For some reason, Xiao Mu seemed completely out of it. It was even stronger than what had happened to Xiao Mu previously.
It seemed like this time, the other side was taking this game even more seriously.
Once Xiao Mu came out of that daze, it suddenly started panting even though it didn’t actually need to breathe. It seemed like whatever Xiao Mu saw in the illusion formed by the pieces was actually so intense that it couldn’t help itself.
This was the exhaustion that came from experiencing something that was on a level that was higher than it. But it wasn’t as if Xiao Mu was discouraged because of what it had experienced.
Rather, it seemed like Xiao Mu was even excited because of this as it immediately picked up another piece and slammed it down on the board.
Lin Fan couldn’t help shaking his head with a smile when he saw this.
After all, the move that Xiao Mu made was already a sign that it had given up on winning the match. At this point, Xiao Mu was just treating this as a sort of learning game instead of doing all that it could to win.
It wasn’t as if Xiao Mu was wrong about this.
Since it could recognize that it couldn’t win, the best option was to treat this as a learning game since it would be able to gain the most from it.
Instead of doing all that it could to win, it was best to treat it as a learning game so that Xiao Mu would be able to gain as much knowledge as possible.
After all, trying to win did make one narrow minded sometimes.
So even if it was a bit disappointing that Xiao Mu gave up that easily, it wasn’t as if that really mattered. In the first place, this was something that was given to Xiao Mu so that it could learn more.
If it was willing to go this far to learn, then it was even something that they could appreciate.
Each move that Xiao Mu made was filled with desperation and exploration.
At this point, Xiao Mu just wanted to test out as many things as possible before it was defeated.
The other side even went along with this by making moves that weren’t considered conventional and were matching the moves that Xiao Mu made. It seemed like they were also touched by Xiao Mu’s passion, so they were going along with this to help Xiao Mu learn.
In the end, Xiao Mu still said, "It’s my defeat."
But this time, Xiao Mu also added, "Thank you for the lesson."
"Ha, ha, ha, it’s been a while since I’ve played a game that was this entertaining. The spirit of the young really is something to look out for, but I can tell that you’ll be able to carry on our legacy in the future."
The way that the voice said this was as if they were very satisfied with the way that Xiao Mu played.
In fact, it almost sounded like if there wasn’t someone else waiting, then they would have passed down their inheritance to Xiao Mu.
So in the end, it didn’t seem like talent alone was all that mattered in this test. It seemed like passion was also something that was important when looking for a successor.
Though this was most likely only for this pavilion alone.
Each of the pavilions did have their own criteria for what passed, so it wasn’t as if there was only one way to pass the trials that were posed.
Xiao Mu didn’t mind that the elder was saying this to it since it knew that this was just how it was. Instead of remaining there, Xiao Mu stood up and vacated the seat for the next challenger.
The way that Xiao Mu looked at Lin Fan, it was as if it was waiting to see what kind of game Lin Fan would have with the elder.
It was the same for the elder as they said, "Come, it’s time for the real game."
Lin Fan just shook his head with a bitter smile, but he still went forward to sit down in front of the board.
When he did, he realized that there was a problem.
The system wasn’t activating yet, so it wasn’t telling him what he should do.
So in the end, the only thing that he could do was place a piece at one of the stars on the board. This was one of the most common openings in the game, so naturally it provoked the elder.
"Humph." This snort from the elder showed that they were dissatisfied with this, but they still placed a piece on the board.