After leaving the Go house, the three of them walked a short distance. Yu Shao looked up at the slightly dim sky and asked, "We haven't had dinner yet. What do you guys want to eat?"

Wu Zhixuan and Wu Shuheng were both a bit absent-minded;

only after Yu Shao repeated the question did they finally snap back to attention.

"Eat... anything will do."

Wu Zhixuan answered somewhat distractedly.

Yu Shao was a little stunned by that response. He hadn't expected Wu Zhixuan to be so casual about dinner, and couldn't help glancing at Wu Shuheng to see what he thought.

"Anything's fine with me."

Seeing Yu Shao look over, Wu Shuheng immediately replied.

"Then, how about barbecue?"

Yu Shao thought for a moment. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a barbecue place not far away and asked, "It's pretty close. Just a few steps."

"Sounds good."

Neither Wu Zhixuan nor Wu Shuheng objected;

they both nodded.

Once the two agreed, Yu Shao headed toward the barbecue shop, and Wu Zhixuan and Wu Shuheng followed immediately.

The old city's night was bright with lights and packed with people;

it was lively and bustling. Given Wu Zhixuan's usually curious nature, she would normally be looking left and right, but at that moment she was unusually quiet.

After a few steps, Wu Shuheng suddenly looked up and stared at the back of Yu Shao walking ahead.

"Yu Shao... you can actually see with the naked eye that he's gotten stronger."

Wu Shuheng's gaze on Yu Shao's back carried a tangle of feelings.

"Even though Yu Shao has always been strong, I used to think that as long as I kept learning, kept refining my play, sooner or later I'd be able to match him."

"But... I met Yu Shao quite early. Back in Jiangling High School we played a handicap game, and I've watched him climb to where he is now. I've witnessed game after game of his. So after watching today's match, I sensed a very noticeable increase in his strength."

"Before, I always figured his edge came from the fact that he had never studied Go in a systematic way, so he had all these unorthodox insights and understandings."

"Like the 3-3 invasion, like Pointed Apex, like structural takes on the three notoriously hard joseki..."

Those insights and understandings overturned the Go world. One could even say that on the strength of those alone, Yu Shao had already cemented himself into legend. Even if he never won another game after that, it would still stand.

"But those things can be learned."

Wu Shuheng lowered his eyelids, thinking of the game he'd just played with that girl, and of Yu Shao's match with that Japanese youth. A surge of emotions swelled in his chest.

"If you master those, the gap naturally shrinks. That's what I did. Other players do the same. If you set aside those novel openings and new joseki and go back to look at what players a year or two ago produced, there's actually little that truly dazzles."

"Sure, they're strong, but they lack something memorable — something a top-tier player should have. For example, no player is known for moving with overwhelming solidity, using thick positions to pressure others into steady, closed victories, making them very hard to beat. Or some players are robust, stylish fighters who stretch the fight and, when disadvantaged, pull off shockingly creative decisive moves to reverse the game;

even top rescue specialists often lose to them. Or some players have a unique grasp of territory and influence, favoring a 'take first, clean later' meticulous fighting style;

in fine-grained skirmishes no one can best them."

"But the former Yu Shao didn't have those traits. No—rather, the part of Yu Shao that left a deep impression was his bizarre, unpredictable comprehension of Go: the 3-3 invasion, the fearless shoulder hit into the corner, contact at Komoku..."

People's attention and praise for his games tended to focus on a single move, a single variation, or one unique understanding. Yet those things could be learned. The other traits I described—those are almost impossible to acquire.

"Back then, you could call Yu Shao a fierce, combat-style player with deep calculation and first-rate attacking and killing skills. Beyond that, there wasn't much. It's odd. Any super-top player must have something that stands out, something so exceptional they'd be unmatched even among other top players. That's why super-top players are super-top, not merely first-rate. Judging from Yu Shao's past record, he deserved to be super-top, but his exceptional quality used to lie in individual moves, in specific joseki, in singular insights. It was even to a degree that no one could rival."

"Yu Shao's uniqueness could be caught up to by polishing one's technique and relentless study, but others' uniqueness is hard to chase."

"Of course, among all of Yu Shao's game records, there was one game that was different: the final game against Jiang Changdong in the National Hand Championship. In that match, the way he played—concise, riding the flow, subduing the opponent without direct confrontation, subtly leveraging large-scale position to press and win with calm stratagems—was unprecedented, almost otherworldly."

"However, that was likely a sudden burst of inspiration, a brilliant fluke. Such one-off masterpieces happen even among professionals;

you can't use a single game as the measure of a player's entire caliber."

"This is also why, in the online debate over the 'Yu vs. Su' rivalry, even though Su Yiming clearly appeared disadvantaged in the match with Yu Shao today, many still favored Su. Su's standout qualities are abundant: he isn't confined to corner territory but builds influence across the broad board with astonishing daring and grand imagination. His sensitivity to large-scale play, mastery of attack, and reliance on thick positions to strike and capture makes even rescue specialists like Fu Shunan get 'encircled and annihilated.' He realizes extraordinary potential from thickness, shines in the difficult-to-settle late game, and when losing, his fighting skills in entanglement are nearly unmatched. His late-game endurance and tenacity are breathtaking."

"These are the reasons Su Yiming surpasses other top players."

"But now, things seem different."

Wu Shuheng could sense with incredible clarity that in the recent game, White had emanated a kind of unique brilliance from start to finish. Amid a complicated, fierce board, White frequently produced earth-shattering, unimaginable ideas—taking unexpected paths and striking off the beaten track. His play carried a constant, fierce pressure, pursuing absolute efficiency with a certain coldness. He was adept at sacrificing stones, making creative use of dead stones, exploiting thin inefficiencies, using harmonizing moves to harry his opponent, and his judgments of large-scale areas and urgent points were stunningly precise."

"As a professional who grew up studying records and who has reviewed countless games, he's never felt the same impression from any other player's records. This feeling even led him to believe that whenever a board becomes complex and fierce against Yu Shao, the position totally spirals out of control and ends up under Yu Shao's command."

"The game just now didn't display any previously unseen conceptual leap in Yu Shao's Go... in other words, both sides started from the same baseline of understanding, and yet Yu Shao still crushed the opponent into resignation!"

Wu Shuheng stared blankly at Yu Shao's back, then secretly clenched his fist.

"Compared to a year ago, I'm obviously a lot stronger... but the gap between me and Yu Shao seems to have widened."

"How much farther can he still go?"

...

Wu Zhixuan and Wu Shuheng were not participants in the Phoenix Cup, so they had to arrange their own lodging. After dinner at the barbecue place, Yu Shao parted with the two of them and returned alone to his accommodation.

By the time he arrived, night had fully fallen.

"Nice setup."

Yu Shao examined the small house the Go institute had arranged for him, surprised.

It was decorated in a classically elegant style. A faint, pleasant scent lingered in the air. Near the window there was a solid wood four-legged Go table, with two cushions placed on either side.

Yu Shao thought for a moment, went to the table, sat down on one side, opened the go bowl lid, took out the stones, and began replaying the game.

Before long, he had reconstructed today's game move-for-move. He stared at the board and fell into thought.

Although today's win was decisive, it had been quite thorny. The young man across from him had shown a level of skill that at one point had even put pressure on Yu Shao. He didn't know exactly who the youth was, but among Japanese players the youth probably wasn't the absolute strongest;

after all, Yu Shao had some familiarity with Japanese players.

In Japan, the strongest players tend to be in their thirties and forties. There's even a saying in the Japanese Go world that a player's peak strength is around forty.

"No wonder Japanese players rank among the world's top two. Their level now is probably much stronger than Teacher Zhuang Weisheng when I played him."

Yu Shao looked at the board, pondering.

Of course, it's unfair to directly compare the young man's strength today to Zhuang Weisheng's when he faced Yu Shao. Although not much time had passed since Yu Shao's match with Zhuang Weisheng in the National Hand Championship, the Go world evolves rapidly. For instance, players back then hadn't fully realized inverted thickness and thinness;

now they have, and that alone has raised everyone's level considerably.

Yu Shao could clearly sense that the average level across the board was improving at a startling rate. At first he found it hard to believe, but then he realized Go remains the premier board game and there are many more players now—ten times more professionals, and amateurs multiplied by ten thousand—so it made sense.

Because Yu Shao hadn't played Zhuang Weisheng recently, he had no real idea of Zhuang's current strength;

it's certain only that today's youth was stronger than Zhuang was back then.

"Not only Japan and Korea, but also Europe and North America—I've heard their players are formidable. Even domestic players I've faced before shouldn't be judged by how I once saw them."

Yu Shao exhaled slowly, his gaze flickering.

"Looks like this World Championship will be even more interesting than I expected."

Knock, knock!

At that moment, there was a sudden knock at the door.

"Who's calling at this hour?"

Yu Shao was somewhat surprised. He quickly composed himself, stood up, walked to the door, and opened it. Zheng Qin was standing there with a gloomy expression.

"What are you doing here?"

Yu Shao blinked, puzzled. Although the institute had arranged similar accommodations for players, they weren't all clustered together—some were quite far apart. Zheng Qin's lodging wasn't extremely close;

it was about a kilometer away.

"Nervous."

Zheng Qin gave a bitter smile as he stepped inside. "Just thinking about the World Championship makes my heart pound."

"You've been to so many tournaments. Why are you still this nervous?" Yu Shao laughed as he shut the door.

"Can the World Championship be the same as the rest?"

Zheng Qin rolled his eyes. "The World Championship results are the true proof of a professional player's level. It's the stage every player dreams about. No matter how you do domestically, the world stage is the real test. Even if your domestic results are poor, a good performance at the World Championship can make them meaningless."

Zheng Qin paused, then added, "Guess who I saw on the way here?"

"Who?"

Yu Shao asked with curiosity.

"Master An Hongshi! Although I knew he was participating, actually seeing him gave me this inexplicable pressure."

Zheng Qin grimaced. "I never thought I'd have the chance to face Master An on the board, even with reverse order. If that happens, I don't know whether I'd be happy or upset."

"Definitely happy, right?"

Yu Shao smiled. "Your mindset is off. Admiring someone has its limits—otherwise you'll never beat them."

"I know that."

Zheng Qin sighed helplessly. "But it's An Hongshi. For many players, he's a lifelong target."

Yu Shao smiled and asked, "So you're here to...?"

"Play. Blitz."

Zheng Qin took a deep breath and looked at Yu Shao with solemnity. "The tournament starts the day after tomorrow. During this time I want to improve as much as possible. If I can increase even a little, it's worth it. Blitz sharpens the sense for win-or-lose."

"I... want to hold on as long as possible in the World Championship."

Looking at Zheng Qin, Yu Shao saw that fighting spirit mixed with nervousness in his eyes and finally nodded. "Alright."

Soon the two sat opposite each other at the board, determined who would play black and white, and began their game.

"World Championship!"

At the thought, Zheng Qin's eyes sharpened a bit. He took a stone and placed it quickly.

Click!

The crisp sound of a stone hitting the board echoed through the room.