Lin Yun stood in the center of the palace and faced the three lords and all the officials. His expression did not change as he said, "Since the three lords want to test me, then bring it on."
"It's good for a young man to be confident, but don't be too blindly confident." The Lord of Internal Affairs chuckled and signaled a scholarly young man with his eyes.
The young man immediately stood up and cupped his fists at Lin Yun. "I am Shangguan Yongqi, a third-rank scholar. I am honored to be able to compete with Brother Lin."
"What do you want to compete with me in?" Lin Yun asked expressionlessly. He did not even look at the young man.
"Brother Lin, your martial arts talent is unparalleled. I am a scholar, so I will not compete with you. May I ask, other than martial arts, what other domains do you know? "Shangguan Yongqi pretended to be humble at first, but his tone soon turned into blatant mockery.
Shangguan Yongqi had always thought highly of himself, and he looked down on those who were all brawn but no brains. That was because they only knew how to compete in martial arts.
But what Lin Yun said next completely overturned his view.
Lin Yun said calmly, "I don't know many domains. I only know astronomy, geography, natural physics, alchemy, formations, puppets, chess strategies, martial arts, physical arts, swords, spears, halberds, martial arts …"
Lin Yun was like a flowing river, and he spoke continuously, leaving Shangguan Yongqi dumbfounded.
All the domains that he could think of were listed out by Lin Yun. How could he say that he didn't know many domains? This was a blatant act of showing off!
"I only know a little about these domains." After listing out all the domains, Lin Yun added one last sentence.
Hearing Lin Yun's words, all the officials looked at Lin Yun with disdain.
This young man only knew a little about them, and he dared to say that he knew them?
He really had no self-awareness at all!
"Since you said that you know a bit about chess, then I'll compete with you." Shangguan Yongqi revealed a confident smile.
The Minister of Internal Affairs waved his hand, and Eunuch Li immediately passed the message, "Let's go into the chess game."
In a few short breaths, a stone table was carried into the palace by two guards and placed in the center of the palace.
A chessboard was placed on the stone table, and an equilateral symmetrical diagram was carved on the chessboard.
The formation shone with a faint blue light. Clearly, it was an effective formation.
As long as various runes were filled into the array, the array could be activated.
The carriers of the runes were the chess pieces of the formation chess.
Shangguan Yongqi said disdainfully to Lin Yun: "Brother Lin, have you played this kind of formation chess before? Let me introduce you to it first."
"The rules are actually very simple. We will use our chess pieces to fight against each other in the formation. We will destroy the other party's layout and form a formation of our own, and the winner will be the one."
Lin Yun did not say anything and silently walked to the front of the formation.
Shangguan Yongqi also walked to the front of the formation and faced Lin Yun. He said confidently: "Don't say that I'm bullying you. How about this, if I can't defeat you within 30 steps, I'll consider it my loss."
His tone was filled with arrogance, and he did not have the humility of a scholar.
The way he looked at Lin Yun was also filled with disdain, and he did not have the bearing of a scholar.
A game of formation chess was actually a battle between two armies, and the two commanders would set up the formation. This process was extremely complicated, and it would usually take a few hundred steps to end a game.
Sometimes, when the two sides were evenly matched, it was not surprising for them to go up to a thousand steps in a game.
However, Shangguan Yongqi boasted that he would defeat Lin Yun within 30 steps. From this, it could be seen that he did not take Lin Yun seriously at all in terms of chess skills and strategies.
Defeating an opponent within 30 steps sounded a little exaggerated, but the officials present were not surprised. Instead, they felt that it was normal for Shangguan Yongqi to defeat Lin Yun within 30 steps.
"Shangguan Yongqi is a genius in the field of chess. Even though he is not as good as Grand Scholar Murong Tuohai, he is still one of the top figures in the Southern Summer Continent. How can Lin Yun be his match? "
"That's right. Lin Yun only knows how to cultivate, and he does not know anything about chess. I feel that Shangguan Yongqi would be able to defeat Lin Yun within 20 steps. "
"Yeah, I think so too."
Finally, Lin Yun turned a deaf ear to the discussions of the officials and asked Shangguan Yongqi in an indifferent tone, "Can we start now?"
Shangguan Yongqi waved his hand and said, "You can start first."
Lin Yun did not waste any time and immediately picked up a red stone and placed it on the chessboard.
Shangguan Yongqi laughed coldly in his heart when he saw Lin Yun placing his stone without hesitation.
From his point of view, Lin Yun's actions showed that he did not know chess at all and was playing at random.
He did not even know the basics of chess, yet he had the cheek to say that he knew a thing or two? He was simply bragging.
"Watch carefully, this is how chess is played." Shangguan Yongqi grabbed the pomelo in his right hand with his left hand and used his right thumb and index finger to pick up a blue stone and placed it confidently on the chessboard.
Lin Yun did not have the mood to bother with Shangguan Yongqi. He picked up a red stone and placed it on the chessboard at an even faster speed.
Shangguan Yongqi shook his head helplessly and said, "Brother Lin, you are playing at random. It seems like I don't need 30 steps to defeat you. 20 steps is enough. "
After Shangguan Yongqi finished speaking, he picked up a second stone and placed it on the chessboard.
Just like that, the two of them went back and forth for a dozen moves in this manner.
Shangguan Yongqi gradually realized that something was wrong with the game.
According to his initial estimation, he would be able to finish the game within 15 steps.
However, he had already made 15 steps, and the game was not over. In fact, he felt that he needed more steps to finish it.
What was going on?
Why were there more and more steps?
In Shangguan Yongqi's eyes, the game was like a mirage. It was right in front of him, but he could not reach the end.
Did something go wrong?
Shangguan Yongqi could not understand. Lin Yun was clearly playing at random, so why did he disrupt his rhythm?
Shangguan Yongqi fell into deep thought when he saw that Shangguan Yongqi was hesitating. All of the officials were puzzled and did not know what was going on.
However, Murong Tuohai, who had once become sworn brothers with Lin Yun, saw through the crux of the matter and exclaimed, "Brilliant, brilliant!"
Hearing Murong Tuohai's words, all of the officials looked at him curiously.
"Grand Secretary, what do you mean by that?" a general asked, puzzled.
"The secrets of heaven cannot be revealed."
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