Leng Hui’s heart was not at peace either. He knew Ding Yi’s level well—he had won and lost against professional ninth-dan players. Although he was a bit stronger, the confidence with which Ding Yi spoke forced Leng Hui to be cautious. It’s never wrong to be careful, and Leng Hui knew his own Go skill well—the number of people in the country who could confidently beat him could be counted on one hand.

But he was a man who had weathered countless storms and fought in wars; he knew that one must never let down their guard. Of course, he had great confidence in himself, especially with someone like Old Soldier on the sidelines to help. Even if a top national player came along, they would still suffer defeat, let alone this little kid.

When Ding Yi brought the game pieces, Leng Hui looked at Lin Feng, "It’ll be the two of us old fellows against you alone—if you have no objections, you take Heizi and go first."

Ding Yi handed the black game pieces to Lin Feng, adding, "Do me proud, kid. Give it your all and beat them, win one for me."

"Mm," Lin Feng didn’t bother with pleasantries and didn’t say much, taking the black game pieces and starting to play.

After about 20 moves were played, Leng Hui was astonished because he couldn’t believe that the young man before him, Lin Feng, was using the Nine Palace Maze Formation. Leng Hui knew only one person who used this formation; in their encounter, Leng Hui had been thoroughly defeated and had afterward asked for some advice, only to be told "Nine Palace Maze Formation." He had studied this formation for nearly 20 years and had still not grasped its key essence.

However, that person had been an old man with white hair and a white beard, while Lin Feng was so young. How could this be? Surely, it couldn’t be a coincidence?

No, it was impossible. Such a formation could not be a matter of chance.

Qian Rong, who was there to assist, simply stood by and watched quietly, very puzzled. Why was today’s opening different from usual? Why did it seem so scatterbrained? This did not bode well. Could it really be, as Ding Yi said, that Lin Feng was some sort of expert to dare to use such a profound formation?

Seeing Lin Feng’s formation, Leng Hui couldn’t afford to be the slightest bit negligent and played with full concentration and effort...

However, the more Leng Hui played, the more startled he became; he could clearly feel that Lin Feng had the entire board under control, that wherever he played it seemed to be in accordance with Lin Feng’s intentions. It was as though he had completely lost the initiative, which was not a pleasant feeling. And he noticed that the difference between them was just two points, consistently controlled at that margin.

Qian Rong was also astonished, thinking to himself that Old Soldier was nationally renowned for his chess skills. What happened today? Was he not in good form? Although he didn’t quite understand, he just felt that Leng Hui’s gameplay was off somehow, unable to specify exactly how.

Although Old Soldier never participated in competitions, those who ranked at the top of international tournaments often exchanged ideas with him—his Go skill was no falsehood, but today... What was this...

...

As the game went past the middle, maintaining the initial pace, it came to the point where Leng Hui could hold on no longer.

"I concede," he declared.

Seeing Leng Hui conceding as expected, Ding Yi secretly rejoiced.

"I told you so; you were only making it tough for yourselves. Haha, I feel so good. I can’t beat Old Soldier, but my son-in-law has won face for me. Same thing. Haha..."

"What? Old Soldier, why did you concede? The gap didn’t look that big, there was still a chance." Qian Rong was shocked. In his memory, Leng Hui was an absolute master of chess who hardly ever lost, let alone concede. What on earth was going on? Was Lin Feng’s game really that good to make Old Soldier concede? Why couldn’t he see it?

Leng Hui felt just as frustrated. How could this young man know that formation? The old man he had faced in the past had directly forced him to concede, while this young man had been controlling the game all along, making him play exactly as Lin Feng intended, every move very uncomfortable. He knew it wasn’t a good move, but he could only play there. The frustration and depression were overwhelming.

The most frustrating part was that this young man had, from start to finish, maintained around a two-point lead, never more or less. Damn, it felt like being slowly boiled like a frog. What kind of monster was this young man?

This level of control could only mean one thing: the opponent was much, much stronger than him.

Observing Lin Feng’s play style, Leng Hui found that Lin Feng was a very understated and reserved person with no sense of impulsion, using a calm and stable mindset to control the overall development of the game. He was definitely talented—the epitome of the principle ’The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.’ Hmm, this young man truly is something, no wonder Ding Yi always smiled that way whenever he mentioned him.

"Lin Feng, right? Let’s play another round. But you can’t use the Nine Palace Maze Formation, is that okay?" Leng Hui asked without paying attention to Qian Rong, who was speaking on the side.

"Mm, okay," Lin Feng replied, but he was puzzled inwardly, wondering how Leng Hui knew about the Nine Palace Maze Formation.

He knew that his adoptive master had told him that this version of the Nine Palace Maze Formation was different from the usual one; in fact, it was largely his own creation, as he had simply been too lazy to come up with another name.

"Let’s keep the same conditions." Ding Yi took advantage of the situation.

Hearing Ding Yi’s words, Leng Hui almost died of anger, thinking to himself that guy really is greedy. But who could blame him, with Lin Feng as his son-in-law? If I had a son-in-law like Lin Feng, I’d definitely do the same. The kid really is not bad at all, very impressive.

Hmm, the Nine Palace Maze Formation? What kind of chess formation is that, is it really powerful? Qian Rong was pondering whether he should find it and take a look at it later. Then he encouraged Leng Hui, "Old Soldier, it’s okay, just make a comeback this round."

Qian Rong felt very frustrated because he couldn’t understand the formation just now. Thinking to himself that he shouldn’t seek out such thrills, he took Ding Yi aside and asked, "What’s this Nine Palace Maze Formation about?"

"I don’t know either, but I just know that it’s extremely powerful, not something an ordinary expert could handle. I’ve only heard Old Soldier mention it once before when he was terribly defeated by it, a formation he had never even heard of before," Ding Yi said truthfully, because when he played chess with Lin Feng, there was no need for the Nine Palace Maze Formation.

"Oh, then it definitely must be some sort of secret move..." Unable to get any more information, Qian Rong felt a bit depressed.

In this game, Lin Feng chose the Four Symbols formation that beginners often use to start.

Seeing Lin Feng choose this formation, Leng Hui heaved a sigh of relief because it was the most basic formation that everyone had extensively studied and couldn’t cause any big waves, he should be able to pull back a victory. Leng Hui psyched himself up and then confidently engaged Lin Feng in the battle again.

...

But the reality was cruel and disheartening, after the mid-game, Leng Hui once again couldn’t hold on and was decisively defeated by Lin Feng. The 9-point gap made Leng Hui give up again.

What? Old Soldier has admitted defeat again? That was too much for people to accept. Old Soldier was at the level of a national master, how could he lose twice to a young man? Qian Rong felt terrible because Leng Hui’s loss meant Lin Feng’s win, Lin Feng’s win meant that Lin Feng was outstanding, Lin Feng being outstanding meant Ding Yi was smug, and this was not what he wanted to see.

Leng Hui was now quite calm. With the performance in the previous round, he had a deep understanding of Lin Feng’s chess skills, which definitely belonged to a monstrous level. Probably only the old man who used the Nine Palace Maze Formation could beat him in the whole country. However, for a young man to have such chess skills was indeed supernatural, beyond what mere talent could explain, and no amount of envy was useful.

"Hey, that... Lin Feng, right? How do you play chess so well?" Qian Rong felt gloomy. The guy was so young and had already beaten Old Soldier, what the f*** was going on? He had to ask for clarity.

"Somebody cursed a few words, it’s no issue. Just me alone, staring at the computer, playing and playing, and then I got it." Lin Feng thought back to the island where he had that unique way of communicating and playing chess with his master.

"What? What are you saying? Someone cursed a few words and you learned by playing against the computer?" Lin Feng’s answer almost made Qian Rong spit blood, thinking if you can really learn like that from a computer, I’ll eat the computer.

"What do you do for work?" Since he couldn’t get a straight answer, he might as well beat around the bush to see if he could find out more. Qian Rong asked another question.

"General Affairs Office, Logistics Department, staff member at the school." Lin Feng answered honestly.

Logistics Department, staff member!

That left Qian Rong feeling dizzy. He turned to look at the old academic, wondering what the hell the old guy was up to.

To think he’d let his son-in-law be just a clerk in the school, and in the Logistics Department of all places. Ding Yi shrugged and smiled. He hadn’t meddled in this matter and couldn’t talk about it in front of Lin Feng.

"What about before that?" Qian Rong, not giving up, continued to inquire.

"Before that, for 5 years on a deserted island, I learned Peerless Divine Skill, survival abilities, killing techniques, Hundred Schools of Thought, Astronomy and Geography, Divination and Astrology, music, chess, calligraphy, painting, multiple languages, and so on." Lin Feng had become quite used to saying this by now.

"Come on, you’re blowing too much smoke, aren’t you? When I was young, I swept through a street by myself, and I never bragged like you, kid." Qian Rong was completely speechless. This young man’s talk was too grand, too damn boastful. Also, learning all sorts of crazy things on a deserted island for 5 years, acting as if he were the protagonist in a novel. In real life, where could such things happen? F***, not even a draft for lying.

Lin Feng offered no response, just glanced indifferently at Qian Rong who was speaking and thought to himself, you old man are a bigger boaster, "sweeping through a street by yourself," are you making a movie or what?

Leng Hui, after listening to the conversation between the two men, shook his head, thinking, I had such respect for this young man’s chess game before, and felt like someone like him wouldn’t speak lightly. How could he come up with such an incomprehensible line, sounding like a deceitful excuse to fool people?

"Ding Yi, when I was commanding the troops, I came to a conclusion. No matter how skillful you are, you must first look at a person’s character and integrity; they are the most important." Leng Hui couldn’t sit still any longer, and the usually reticent man finally spoke up, hoping Ding Yi would advise Lin Feng in the future to not talk like that and create a bad impression.