The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu-Chapter 459: Self-Created Go Gu

"Senior, may I ask what benefits I will receive from playing this game of Go with you?" Long Xuan asked cautiously.

Since he couldn’t avoid it no matter what, he decided to go ahead and play this game.

However, since this old man was clearly trying to take advantage of him, how could Long Xuan not ask for something in return?

"Hehe, a benefit, you say? How about a peak-grade Go Insect? Consider it repayment for saving Jiuge’s life," Qi Luoyou said with a chuckle, slapping down an insect that looked remarkably like a Go piece in front of Long Xuan.

Upon seeing the oddly shaped insect, Long Xuan’s eyes lit up. Fearing Qi Luoyou might go back on his word, he quickly put the Go Insect away.

He hadn't expected that a casual comment would result in such generosity from Qi Luoyou.

Go Insects could be refined into many types of Go-type Gu. A peak-grade Go Insect was the primary core Gu for refining a Go Gu, and extremely rare. For Qi Luoyou to offer one so casually—it was beyond Long Xuan’s expectations.

Now that he had this peak-grade Go Insect, Long Xuan was already considering whether to use his next Gu refinement opportunity to create a Go Gu.

He was quite interested in this kind of Gu, which shared the fate of geniuses through the act of playing chess.

The chess rules in this world differed from those of his previous life. The biggest differences were the size of the board and the number of pieces.

The chess here was more akin to ancient styles from his previous world—only 17 lines on the board, with a maximum of 289 pieces. That was also the number of Sub-Go Gu in Qi Luoyou’s Go Gu.

By contrast, the Go system in his previous life was far more sophisticated and balanced. It used a 19-line board with 361 pieces in total: 181 black and 180 white.

He was deeply curious about what would happen if he used the 19-line Go rules from his past life to refine a Go Gu.

At the very least, the number of Sub-Go Gu would far exceed the standard, and with more Sub-Go Gu, the overall strength would naturally surpass the original version.

If he let his imagination go even further, perhaps he could even invent a heaven-defying Gu insect. Long Xuan’s interest only grew stronger.

"After you, Senior," he said with a smile as he moved to the stone table and took a seat.

Back in his previous life, Long Xuan had been a rare Go expert. In that internet-savvy era, he could compete with top players from all over the world anytime, anywhere. Drawing from many schools of thought, his Go skills had improved rapidly.

That was an advantage no one in this world could match.

But upon seeing the 17-line board carved into the stone table, Long Xuan frowned slightly.

He had just remembered that the chessboard here had only 17 lines, whereas he was used to the 19-line version from his past life. The sudden shift to a smaller board would inevitably throw him off.

Under such conditions, no matter how good his Go skills were, could he still have a real chance at victory?

Qi Luoyou smiled and walked over, pushing a jar filled with black pieces toward him. "You're younger, so let's skip the draw. You go first."

Long Xuan took a deep breath. His chances of winning this game were slim, and he was mentally prepared to lose.

Of course, even if he could win, he would still choose to lose deliberately. Without absolute strength, he didn’t dare to damage the reputation of a Gu King.

Who knew what kind of person Qi Luoyou really was? If he didn’t get what he wanted from Long Xuan, he clearly wouldn’t let the matter rest.

Besides, the outcome of the game had no real effect on Long Xuan. Even if one of the Go Gu ended up sharing his fate, it wouldn’t pose any negative consequences. So, why not just let the old man win a round?

Once he popularized the 19-line chessboard in this world, he could come back and reclaim his dignity from Qi Luoyou then.

Having made up his mind, Long Xuan took the black piece jar and looked inside.

As expected, the pieces inside were all Gu insects—each one identical in shape to an actual Go piece. If it weren’t for the faintly visible legs beneath each one, he might have thought they were just regular pieces.

About half of them emitted a glow, with varying brightness. The brightest ones were almost blinding.

It was easy to tell: the brighter the glow, the more promising the talent with whom the Sub-Go Gu was connected.

The dimmer the glow, the weaker the potential of the individual it was tied to.

As for the pieces that didn’t glow at all, they had not yet found a matching genius.

By the time this game ended, one of those unlit black pieces would begin to shine. In just a few decades, it would likely become the brightest piece on the board.

Long Xuan stopped overthinking, reached into the jar, and pulled out the brightest piece, placing it firmly in the bottom-right corner of the board.

"Well done!" Qi Luoyou sat down, smiling as he reached into the jar of white pieces, also selecting the brightest piece and placing it heavily next to Long Xuan's black one.

The two Gu pieces stared at each other, their eyes sparking with battle intent—hostile and blazing with fighting spirit.

Clack. Clack. Clack...

As piece after piece was placed on the board, crisp sounds echoed from the stone table. The two moved quickly. Qi Luoyou, clearly underestimating his young opponent, was aiming for a swift victory and didn’t spend much time thinking about each move.

Gu cultivators in this world rarely devoted time to studying Go—they spent every spare moment on cultivation. As a result, most of them had poor Go skills.

Given Long Xuan’s age, Qi Luoyou naturally assumed he wouldn’t be very good, so he played with minimal caution.

However, as the game went on, Qi Luoyou began to sense something was wrong. At some point, he furrowed his brows, and his move speed slowed.

He realized that this boy was not only skilled at Go but extremely skilled—his moves followed patterns Qi Luoyou had never seen in this world before.

Faced with such strange and unconventional strategies, Qi Luoyou suddenly felt the pressure build. He had to focus all his attention and furrowed his brow even tighter. At this point, he dared not show the slightest carelessness.

Unnoticed by them, a crowd had begun to gather.

After all, they were at the city gate—one of the busiest places around. Seeing a master like Qi Luoyou engaged in a game would naturally draw many onlookers.

Before long, the two were completely surrounded by an impenetrable crowd.

“What a strange strategy… this style of play is sharp and ruthless. It’s my first time seeing something like this. I wonder who his master is.”

“Who exactly is this young man? To be able to play against Qi Luoyou to this extent—it’s a rare sight indeed.”

“Heh! Looks like Qi Luoyou has finally met his match. To be pushed this far by a junior… this is truly a first!”

The crowd murmured in hushed voices.

Suddenly, a dramatic change occurred.

A black dragon appeared above Long Xuan, and a white tiger emerged above Qi Luoyou. The dragon and tiger clashed violently in the air.

On the board, Long Xuan's pieces resembled a dragon, and Qi Luoyou's pieces resembled a tiger. The situation on the chessboard mirrored the intense battle between the dragon and the tiger in the sky.

Whenever Long Xuan lost a piece, the black dragon in the air would lose a limb—such as a tiger arm torn off by the black dragon. Whenever Qi Luoyou lost a piece, the white tiger would strike off a part of the dragon—such as a horn.

The fierce battle between the dragon and the tiger shook the heavens and the earth.

Startled, the onlookers backed away to a safe distance.

“That’s... Intent! Their game has actually given rise to Intent! Only when one’s Go skills have reached a certain height, and the match becomes incredibly profound, can such Intent be born. The chances of that happening are extremely low—even I’ve only seen it a handful of times.”

“Unbelievable! This game has given birth to Intent. Intent is something you can only come across by chance, never by seeking—it’s an incredibly rare occurrence, and it's the best material for refining Go-type Gu.”

“What a marvelous game! A match that can produce Intent is bound to be remembered for the ages. Quick—record the layout of this game!”

The appearance of Intent caused the crowd to erupt in excitement, passionately discussing what they were witnessing.

On the board, the black and white pieces were still locked in a fierce struggle. Long Xuan was completely focused, eyes fixed intently on the board, undisturbed by anything happening around him.

No one knew how much time had passed when he finally let out a quiet sigh.

Although Qi Luoyou was initially unfamiliar with Long Xuan’s unique tactics and suffered some early setbacks, he eventually relied on his unfathomable Go mastery to slowly turn the tide, and ultimately, seize the advantage.

At this point, most of the black pieces had been devoured—the majority of the board was firmly under white’s control. The situation was beyond saving.

Even the black dragon in the sky had been torn in half by the massive white tiger and was being devoured piece by piece. Even those who didn’t understand chess could tell from the phenomenon in the sky who had won.

Long Xuan tossed the chess piece in his hand back into the container, sighing inwardly.

Ultimately, it was his unfamiliarity with the board that cost him dearly. Had that not been the case, even if he still lost to Qi Luoyou, the defeat wouldn’t have been this one-sided.

Still, Long Xuan wasn’t discouraged by the loss—it was something he had already anticipated. He had never aimed to win. If Qi Luoyou had to play on the unfamiliar 19-line Go board from his previous life, the one losing might have been him instead.

“Heh… well played! Well played!”

Qi Luoyou cupped his hands and smiled at Long Xuan, though a rare look of seriousness flashed in his eyes.

This young man may not have been the strongest opponent he had ever faced, but his playstyle was unheard of and mentally exhausting. One misstep could result in total defeat.

Just as Qi Luoyou’s voice faded, the last piece Long Xuan had placed on the board suddenly emitted a brilliant light—so bright it was blinding.

Clearly, this chess piece had become intimately connected to Long Xuan’s fate. As Long Xuan grew stronger in the future, so too would this piece.

Seeing its dazzling brilliance, Qi Luoyou was startled. For a piece in its initial state to shine so brightly—just how terrifying could this young man’s future be? He had truly stumbled upon a great catch this time.

“Senior, this round I have lost. But I’ll reclaim my honor next time. Farewell!”

Long Xuan cupped his hands to Qi Luoyou, then turned and walked into the city, not bothering to engage in further conversation.

“Young friend, this old man resides at the Holy Gu Academy. You’re welcome to come challenge me anytime.”

Qi Luoyou smiled and waved at Long Xuan’s departing figure, then finally packed up the chessboard and left, carrying the still-unconscious Zhu Jiuge.

The disappointed crowd, still unsatisfied, shook their heads and gradually dispersed…

Upon entering the city, Long Xuan did not search for the Holy Gu Academy. Instead, he immediately found an inn, eager to start brainstorming ideas related to Go-type Gu.

Since he was going to craft a Go Gu, he had no intention of refining the standard version. Instead, he intended to use the Go rules from his previous life to create a far more terrifying Go Gu.

Long Xuan sat down at the desk, pulled out pen and paper, and began outlining the blueprint for the new Go Gu.