The Way of the Blind Girl Chess Saint

Finally free from the need to raise money, Ji Yingting lay on her brand-new bed and slept soundly.

at the same time……

In the semi-professional training center, Xiao Hongye waited helplessly in the hall.

There's still a long line of more than ten people in front of me, and it's already 9 pm! Don't be fooled by the fact that there are only a dozen or so people! These are all amateur 4-dan and amateur 5-dan players! There aren't many Go players in the whole city gathered here.

The recent Kisei and Meijin tournaments have once again amplified the reputation of the Go world. In addition, the amateur Go players of Eigetsu City have witnessed the strength of the semi-professional Go academy. People who originally had no intention of becoming professional Go players have changed their minds and want to try entering the academy.

The number of chess players taking the professional exam this year and next must be astonishing. I wonder if they will increase the number of slots? Xiao Hongye thought anxiously.

The semi-professional academy was conducting a one-time assessment of three Go players. It was nearly ten o'clock when Xiao Hongye finally entered the small door of the Go room. Sitting opposite the Go board was a woman with long black hair. She had heard of her... This was Lin Qing, the most famous amateur teacher at the semi-professional academy, who had been in charge of assessing many Go players.

Lin Qing was accompanied by two other teachers, and... Xiao Hongye was slightly taken aback when she saw the figures entering from both sides.

A gloomy boy with a green watermelon-shaped haircut and a scholarly boy with short black hair glanced at Xiao Hongye, seemingly not recognizing her, and silently sat down opposite the chessboard.

Zhou Hansheng and Luo Xinglu!? Seriously, Luo Xinglu has actually come to the semi-professional dojo.

His appearance caused Lin Qing's eyes to widen slightly. This was a chess player from the Luo family of Mingyue City... a professional ninth-dan player, the son of Saint Child Luo Youjun. Of course, Lin Qing was also well aware that before becoming a professional chess player, many people could not enjoy the resources of aristocratic families.

Lin Qing looked at Xiao Hongye and asked, "Excuse me, where is your destination?"

Her Go skills are not considered strong among amateur 5-dan teachers, but her teaching ability and insight are outstanding, which is why she was able to serve as the head coach of a semi-professional Go academy.

Luo Xinglu answered without hesitation, "Group A."

Zhou Hansheng rubbed his eyes. "Group B"

Xiao Hongye shook her head and looked around a few times, then swallowed and said, "I'm only an amateur fourth dan. I just need to qualify for Group C."

"Alright, the game can begin."

...............

"Yawn~"

Early in the morning, Ji Yingting rolled over and stretched, but when she straightened her chest, the weight almost twisted her waist.

After taking a shower, Ji Yingting put on a casual outfit, a light brown and black striped short dress that barely reached her upper thighs, and slipped on slippers before stepping out of the room.

With only one month left before the professional exam, those aiming to become professional Go players are undoubtedly making their final push. The difficulty of the White/Dark Go Championship is truly immense!

The two met in a small chess room on the second floor. Bai Chang'an's long black hair, still damp with water droplets, looked at Ji Yingting expectantly.

The chess room on the second floor is a small private room, and the chessboard is made of sapphire blue jade. Xiao An stroked the chessboard for a while, unable to put it down.

Now, she's not afraid to admit it... she does like Go. Recalling the embarrassing situation when she challenged Minghai Ji's Go Club on the first day, she actually denied Go because of the gap between her and her sister.

"Then let's start with a game of even-handed chess, and let me see your current skill level..."

"Um!!!"

Snap, snap, snap, snap, snap… Bai Chang'an was deep in thought, while Ji Yingting placed her piece as soon as it was her turn. Midway through the game, Bai Chang'an said helplessly, “I concede.”

"I didn't expect it to be even worse than I imagined. When facing a player stronger than you, you should avoid direct confrontation. That's common sense in Go! You've lost so many pieces and you can't even finish the game." *Snap!* Ji Yingting picked up a small fan and gently tapped Bai Chang'an's head.

"But this is a game of first place! If we keep retreating, won't we lose?" Bai Chang'an said, feeling a little aggrieved.

Ji Yingting nodded. "Indeed, many players, when facing stronger opponents, think about how to minimize their losses. But in reality... once you lose, half a point or a hundred points makes no difference. Remember that. Once you lose, there's no going back."

"........."

"Losing a game in a professional exam can trigger a chain reaction of mental collapse; there are many examples of players who went on a 20-game winning streak followed by a 10-game losing streak."

"I understand," the black-haired girl nodded obediently.

"Alright, let's start with life and death problems. Every morning, start by doing five [Uninterrupted Cherry Blossom] problems, which are among the most difficult life and death problems. In the afternoon, practice professional Go games."

Besides that, we play two games of Go every morning and evening, and after setting up the game records in the afternoon, we can take a proper rest. With systematic training, your Go skills will improve far more than you imagine.”

"Sakuraba-nee, why do we have to practice life-and-death problems? Is it really useful...?"

"........."

Ji Yingting shook her head. "You really should go to those official Go academies and experience the pain of getting slapped by the teacher for not finishing life-and-death problems. In Go, the calculation method for life-and-death problems is the purest and simplest. The most direct calculation can help anyone's Go skills improve by leaps and bounds without them even realizing it; this is already a theorem in the Go world."

"Huh!? Is that so?" Bai Chang'an said in surprise.

"Before the professional exam starts, I'll find other players to train you with, so you'd better work hard!" Ji Yingting tapped Xiao An's head with her fan again.

"Waaaaah, I know," the black-haired girl said, covering her head in a wronged tone. After washing away the dyed white hair, she looked much more innocent and cute. Ji Yingting smiled gently.

Thus began Bai Chang'an's month-long hellish training under the guidance of Ji Yingting.

I get up at eight o'clock and do five life-and-death problems. Since I can't use my hands to solve them, it's considered good if I can finish them before ten o'clock. Sometimes I can't even finish three of them...

After 10 o'clock, I played chess with Ji Yingting until 11 o'clock, then rested for a while before going out for lunch. During my lunch break, I would set up chess games, and the length of my lunch break depended entirely on Ji Yingting's wake-up time.

Surprisingly, setting up chess notches takes less time than solving life-and-death problems. After explaining the game, Ji Yingting would let Bai Chang'an rest, and then they would play another game in the evening. After that, they would review the game, and around 8 pm, after the review, Bai could lie in bed and play on his phone or watch TV.

In the early stages of learning, Bai Chang'an found the course surprisingly easy, and he had most of his afternoons and evenings to himself.

Until the end of the first week.

"What's wrong? My head hurts so much...it feels like it's going to split open, why?"

While working on life-and-death problems, Bai Chang'an suddenly held his forehead and muttered to himself, his vision blurring as the problems became more and more difficult to see.

Ji Yingting, who was lying on the sofa next to her, heard her voice but continued to play on her phone without saying a word.

Bai Chang'an's performance in the game seemed to be poor as well; he was severely reprimanded by Ji Yingting during the post-game review. This performance was even worse than a few days ago...

During the afternoon nap, Bai Chang'an woke up later than Ji Yingting for the first time. Fortunately, the afternoon's chess practice was relatively easy, so he could sleep a little longer to be in good spirits for the evening's game.

Bai Chang'an wondered what she was thinking, but unfortunately, the result was not as she wished. By evening, her head felt even heavier, and she even felt a little dizzy.

Bai Changan whispered, "Sakuraba-nee, I'm not feeling well today."

"Okay, we don't need to review the game after this one. Let's rest tomorrow."

"Thanks……"

After the game ended, Bai Changan walked back to his room, looking rather embarrassed.

Ji Yingting opened her eyes a sliver of pale green. She had finally overworked her brain, and the time had been about what she had expected.

When amateur chess players study at the chess academy, they usually study on Saturdays and Sundays, so they don't feel tired from studying chess every day. Moreover... Bai Chang'an usually relies on self-study.

In Go, a game that requires extremely high mental exertion, this is the limit for amateur players. Moreover, professional players have a long rest period after each game.

Ji Yingting curled a strand of her light green hair into a bun, holding it to her lips. "It's not enough. This training intensity isn't enough to fully unlock Xiao An's potential. If she stays in this state until a month later when she takes the professional exam, she'll become stronger, but she'll only be able to get a maximum of fifteen wins, still not reaching the minimum threshold for becoming a professional Go player."

After a long-awaited day of rest, Xiao An recovered a lot and started a new day of training. However... her condition became even more unpredictable, sometimes good and sometimes bad. She even had to endure a headache while playing chess with Ji Yingting.

Day after day, compared to Xiao An and Ji Yingting, she had a much easier time. She watched helplessly as Xiao An's condition worsened, becoming confused, tired, and suffering from severe headaches that made it difficult for her to solve life-or-death problems.

By the end of the second week, Xiao An wouldn't even say anything extra to Ji Yingting anymore. She spent all her rest time sleeping, training desperately, which was very painful, but... she couldn't give up yet.

Chapter 509: Hidden Talent

"Today is the second round of the Chess Saint Tournament. After reviewing the game records, let's relax for a bit today."

Ji Yingting tidied up the documents on the table and said softly, "Since I gained my sight, my self-care ability has become stronger and stronger. I don't look like a sixteen-year-old girl at all." She put her long light green hair up.

"Um……"

Xiao An nodded silently. She listlessly opened the chess box. Ji Yingting would give her time off depending on the situation... It seemed like he was already taking good care of her, but Xiao An felt resentful for her own lack of ambition.

Ji Yingting did give her enough rest time, but her energy was indeed exhausted, and a good night's sleep couldn't make up for the fatigue.

“Of course…” Ji Yingting glanced at the black-haired girl out of the corner of her eye. No matter what, no chess player could persist in training for more than ten days.

Private seminars at the Daigo Academy and Go school are held once a week, and the frequency of matches and competitions is even lower.

Using one's brain appropriately is an important part of maintaining a professional chess player's career, but... the professional exam is not far away, and if things continue at the current pace, Xiao An will definitely not be able to transform before the professional exam.

.........

In the second round of the Chess Saint Tournament, professional 9-dan player Feng Kuangyu faced off against chess saint Ji Xuehuang.

The black and white sides switch places. If Ji Xuehuang wins this round with black, she will defend her title of Chess Saint for the second time and begin a new round of domination.

"All Things Devour the Sky - Eighty Percent"

Bathed in the golden beam of light, a golden vortex spread outwards from her as the origin, Boom!!!

A giant golden fan-shaped shield loomed before their eyes, and a broken golden ram's horn had sprouted from the top of Feng Kuangyu's head. The broken, spiraling keratinous object caused Ji Xuehuang's eyes to gradually narrow.

Her long golden hair danced wildly in the light, and the white chess piece in her hand pierced the chessboard heavily, reaching the opponent's side.

"Start by pushing the second lane?"

Feng Kuangyu, 9th dan... her Go skills might even surpass those of the Go Saint. Many people thought this from the very first round of the Go Saint tournament. Compared to Feng Kuangyu's ferocious pursuit of honing her Go skills to the extreme, the Go Saint seemed to have won through opportunistic tricks.

In the second round of the game... this phenomenon became even more obvious.

Clatter, clatter, clatter. Bai Chang secretly watched Ji Yingting arrange the chess pieces on the board. "Feng Jiu Dan actually sacrificed a piece on the second rank... This is... [Zombie Style]! I've never seen a game start with such a tactic."

Ji Yingting nodded. "The Chess Saint's attention to detail is better than hers. Feng Kuangyu, 9-dan, is trying to gain a significant advantage in the middle game to avoid being dragged into the endgame. Last time, she failed to turn the tide in the endgame, so she was somewhat mentally unbalanced."

As more and more pieces were placed, Bai Chang'an's expression grew increasingly uneasy. Was this terrifying, mind-numbing skill truly the work of a challenger to the Chess Saint?

"I know you're very tired right now, but you need to try your best to understand the games played by those at the pinnacle of the lunar chess world."

Ji Yingting said softly, "If we miss this kind of game, we don't know when we'll be able to see it again."

..........

"Whoo~~~"

A chilling blue aura emanated from Ji Xuehuang's mouth. Her long blue hair split into two branches like a mermaid's tail, with soft strands resembling rabbit ears.

The black chess piece she had picked up paused in mid-air for a moment, and a hint of desolation appeared on Ji Xuehuang's expression.

"Ice-Sleeping Heart-Boiling Rabbit - Moon Palace"

The black piece in his hand spun into a crescent shape. The moment the piece landed on the board, even the air seemed to freeze, and a chilling current froze time.

The icy blue palace, a celestial court standing in the sky, is called the Guanghan Palace. A giant icy blue tree trails a hanging icy moon. Seated atop the frosty heavens, a girl with long, icy blue, rabbit-ear-shaped hair looks down at Feng Kuangyu.

Her golden eyes were filled with extreme fanaticism, and the golden patterns on Feng Kuangyu's hands when she clasped together formed a giant eye. Her aura surged, and her long golden hair danced wildly behind her, defying gravity.

Even those who are not professional Go players or have no knowledge of Go strategies can feel the madness emanating from Feng Kuangyu.