Chapter 600: Genius (Two in One)

"Sound off!" Yan Jing looked at his two "little soldiers."

"83,641."

Huo Tong stood at attention and answered.

Before coming out here, she had specifically sought out Bobo to ask for tips on following Mao Si.

After all, she used to follow Wen Xu. He might have been ruthless, but from any angle, he was much easier to get along with than the Mao Si standing in front of her.

Mao Si... was simply too eccentric.

To her surprise, Bobo told her that Mao Si wasn't hard to deal with at all.

"Whatever the Captain says, you just do it. That's all there is to it."

"The Captain is actually incredibly easy to get along with."

Bobo had emphasized this repeatedly.

"Very good." Exactly as expected, Yan Jing nodded in satisfaction at Huo Tong's report.

He then turned to Wen He beside her and cleared his throat.

"Please sound off, Officer Wen!"

"Yes!"

Wen He played along perfectly, standing at attention as she answered, "Reporting to the Captain! 175,432!"

"Not bad at all."

Yan Jing nodded in satisfaction once again.

"Then I declare... the winner this time is..."

Yan Jing threw his hands high in the air.

"The great Captain himself!!!"

With that, he smugly revealed his point total.

"8,377,498!!!"

Huo Tong and Wen He's eyes widened at the same time.

They counted the digits back and forth three times before finally confirming they hadn't missed a place value.

Their shock had nothing to do with doubting Yan Jing's abilities.

Rather, having painstakingly earned points themselves for so long, they knew exactly how difficult it was to reach such a number.

Players were everywhere in this place. You could always pick games that favored your strengths, relying on your specific talents or tier to win. But first, you had to find opponents willing to bet that many points against you. Second, even if you did win, there was a high probability they wouldn't agree to a rematch.

That meant, more often than not, you could only win their points once.

And in the later stages, it was extremely easy to run out of games to play altogether.

"A single game averages around 10,000 points, so over eight million is..."

Huo Tong couldn't even process the math.

At that moment, Chen Nian and Chen Chunshui returned from the distance.

Wen He asked for their point totals. As a Tenth Tier cultivator, Chen Chunshui had earned roughly the same amount as Wen He—a little over 200,000.

Chen Nian's total, however, actually surpassed Chen Chunshui's, reaching nearly two million.

"The speed at which you earn points here has more to do with the breadth of your abilities rather than their depth,"

Chen Nian explained.

"As long as you take on all comers, the points pile up fast."

Even so, upon hearing that Yan Jing had racked up over eight million points, Chen Nian still froze in disbelief.

They had only been here for about a day. That speed... was simply too fast.

"Excellent! Captain Cat is the champion!"

Yan Jing leaped into Wen He's arms, smiling smugly.

"This should be just about enough..." Chen Nian's focus shifted to the Points Mall.

In the final slot on the very last page of the Points Mall sat a gleaming, golden card.

"Teleport Before the Lord of the Domain, Kick Her Viciously in the Ass, Avoid Being Dragged Into a Game for Five Minutes, Take No Damage, and Teleport to Another Domain at Any Time Card"

It was a massive forty-one-character name, long but straightforward.

Its price was ten million.

Combining everyone's funds, they had just enough to buy one.

"But... it looks like this card can only be used by one person."

Chen Chunshui pursed her lips.

She was worried that this task would eventually fall onto her shoulders.

"Fourth Master will go!"

Yan Jing stood up, eager to give it a try.

But Chen Nian shook his head.

"I'll go."

Everyone was a little surprised.

"But Mr. Chen, you're only..." Huo Tong trailed off, though she had already voiced what everyone was thinking.

Chen Nian was, after all, only at the Sixth Tier.

"It's fine," Chen Nian said with a smile.

"If I can't win, I'll run. Besides, this is the Game Kingdom. She can't attack me here anyway; at most, we'll just play a game."

"Alright, then you go, Mr. Chen!" Yan Jing was the fastest to make a decision among the group, saying directly, "You are our leader, after all, Mr. Chen. Such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity can only be given to you."

Huo Tong blinked.

Was this really a good opportunity?

"Alright," Chen Nian nodded.

"Then it's settled."

Through a few quick games, the group easily threw their matches to lose their points to Chen Nian.

Chen Nian then directly redeemed his points for the card.

The card was about the size of a palm. Aside from the gold foil detailing on its surface, there didn't seem to be anything special about it; holding it felt like gripping a cheap 888 VIP bathhouse card. Chen Nian channeled Weird Energy into it, and in the very next second, he vanished right before their eyes.

"Then we..."

Huo Tong looked at Yan Jing.

"We'll keep playing."

Yan Jing waved a hand grandly.

"It's decided."

Saying that, he and Wen He immediately headed off into the distance.

Huo Tong and Chen Chunshui exchanged a glance.

It seemed Yan Jing wasn't the least bit worried about Chen Nian running into trouble.

"No one?"

The woman frowned, her half-frame glasses shifting slightly against her furrowed brow as her beautiful eyes revealed a rare hint of confusion.

The situation was somewhat beyond her expectations.

The intruders' concealment was beyond what she had imagined. Even after the Tenth Tier cultivator behind her took action, they still hadn't found anyone.

"Something's not right."

The woman's frown deepened.

She knew her younger brother and sister well; they were absolutely not capable of this level of stealth.

But if she ruled those two out, she couldn't make sense of it at all.

Even if it were someone else, since they had chosen to launch a surprise infiltration through the Stone Realm, they should have aimed for a quick, decisive battle. Otherwise, sneaking in would be entirely pointless. Yet right now, there was no one to be found...

Could it be an ambush?

Or was her initial deduction simply wrong?

The woman took off her glasses, propped one hand against her cheek, and began to think.

This was her signature gesture. Whenever she did this, it meant she had encountered a rather thorny problem.

Tap, tap, tap—tap, tap, tap.

The fingers of her other hand rose and fell against the desktop like ocean waves, tapping rhythmically.

Tap, tap, tap—tap, tap, tap.

The others in the room were already entirely accustomed to this familiar sound.

The woman always did this, and after a little while, the problem would be solved.

Once it was solved, everything would be fine.

However...

Bang!!!

The woman suddenly flew out of her seat, slid across the surface of her desk, and crashed precisely onto the floor.

Face down.

Ass up in the air.

Everyone was utterly stunned. Staring at the scene unfolding before them, not a single person actually remembered to step forward and help her up.

The woman was completely bewildered as well. She turned her head and looked behind her.

At that moment, the culprit hadn't even fled, but was instead standing right there, smiling at her.

"Long time no see, Fourth Sister."

The woman thought there was something wrong with her eyes. She reached out, trying to grab her glasses, but grabbed empty air.

Weird Energy surged around her body. A second or two later, she roughly figured out what had happened.

"Are Seventh Brother and Ninth Sister dead?"

She stood up, acting as if what had just happened had never occurred.

Beneath his mask, the corners of Chen Nian's mouth curled up.

"I've been wanting to kick your ass for a long time, Fourth Sister."

"..." The woman's face flushed slightly, but she forced herself to remain calm.

"I asked you, are Seventh Brother and Ninth Sister dead?!"

"That felt pretty good on the foot. No wonder Teacher Hu liked spanking you back then!"

"Shut up!!!" The woman instantly snapped. Like a tiger whose tail had been stepped on, her previous calm and composed demeanor completely vanished.

But Chen Nian clearly had no intention of stopping. A smile danced in his eyes, yet his tone carried a chilling, emotionless edge. "The genius girl of the Chen Family. If Father ever found out about that incident, what do you think would happen?"

"That teacher would certainly die, but you would be fine, of course. Father would never allow such a scandal to spread, so he would probably smear me for spreading rumors. Although... you would definitely still fall out of favor."

"Shut up!!! I said shut up! I told you to shut up!!!"

The woman's eyes were bloodshot and she screamed hysterically, almost as if she had reverted to her childhood self.

Chen Nian stood there, watching her quietly.

Everything was just like it had been back then.

"Fifth Brother, do you know how to play Go?"

Chen Lan looked at Chen Nian.

She was holding a Go board in her arms, having just returned from her Go lesson.

Seeing Chen Nian with his head buried in a book, she suddenly recalled how everyone always called her fifth brother a genius, so she tossed out the question on a whim. "Go?"

Chen Nian looked up, then shook his head.

"Come on, I'll teach you."

Chen Lan smiled, placing the board between herself and Chen Nian.

She immediately began teaching him the rules.

The rules of Go were naturally not complicated.

What was complicated was how to actually play.

Chen Lan finished teaching him quickly, and the two began to play.

In less than an hour, Chen Nian, playing exactly as she had taught him, resigned the game.

"You're quite talented,"

Chen Lan patted the four-year-old Chen Nian on the head.

To be able to hold out against her to that extent, Chen Nian was indeed pretty good.

But it seemed Chen Nian's interest had been piqued.

"Fourth Sister, can we play another round?"

"...Sure."

Assuming Chen Nian had simply taken a liking to the game, Chen Lan agreed.

This time, they played for about two hours, and Chen Nian lost by over twenty points.

"Not bad, not bad."

Chen Lan was surprised by Chen Nian's talent; he was indeed just as brilliant as everyone said.

Still, a gap of over twenty points was not a small margin.

Go, after all, couldn't always be conquered by sheer intelligence alone.

Chen Lan stood up, preparing to return to her room.

"Thank you, Fourth Sister." Chen Nian waved his little hand at her.

"Fourth Sister, can I play with you again tomorrow?"

"Sure!"

Chen Lan said with a smile.

What she hadn't expected was just how deeply she would regret those words later.

The next day, they played a game, and Chen Nian lost by over twenty points again.

The third day, they played, and Chen Nian still lost by over twenty points.

The fourth day, the fifth day, the sixth day...

Chen Lan sometimes found Chen Nian rather amusing. He lost to her so miserably every time, yet whenever she offered him a handicap, he would refuse.

But it wasn't until the thirteenth day that Chen Lan realized, to her astonishment, that Chen Nian was now losing by fewer than ten points.

Her own intelligence warned her that something was off. From then on, she treated the games much more seriously, even beginning to employ hidden traps and strategies.

Yet...

The gap between them continued to close.

Chen Nian's memorization of Go game records had reached an absolutely astonishing level.

A month. In barely a month's time, the difference between victory and defeat for the two of them was a mere two points.

After two months, Chen Nian won his very first game of Go.

By the third month, Chen Nian was winning more often than he was losing.

The fourth month, the fifth month, the sixth month...

Clack.

The piece slipped from Chen Lan's fingertips and fell onto the board. Her face was deathly pale, her eyes unfocused.

She had lost again.

For the entire past month, she hadn't won a single game.

At first, she had pretended it didn't matter, offering Chen Nian a few words of praise and acting as if she had some free time to casually play another round. But then... even when she went all out, she still lost.

This time, she had begged the teacher she admired the most.

She had him secretly guide her through an earpiece.

And yet, she still lost.

This meant that Chen Nian had directly defeated the teacher she respected most.

The very teacher her father respectfully called the Go Saint of the Inner World.

Chen Nian stood up and bowed slightly to his opponent, exactly as Chen Lan had taught him.

And then.

He gave another slight bow to the empty space behind Chen Lan.

Chen Lan's fists clenched so tightly her knuckles turned white, her ears burning red.

He had seen through it.

He had seen that she wasn't the one playing.

A child of barely five years old.

Then, Chen Nian looked at her. Those seemingly emotionless eyes stared at her flustered face as he asked the question she would remember to this day: "Do you still want to play?"

His tone was clearly devoid of any emotion, but in Chen Lan's ears, it sounded like sheer mockery.

And in her favorite game of Go, of all things.

Chen Lan had already forgotten how she managed to forcibly suppress the rage in her heart that day to tell Chen Nian she was tired.

She only remembered that after that, she never played Go with Chen Nian again.

Whenever Chen Nian came looking for her, she would always find some excuse to refuse.

The matter should have ended there.

She was a member of the Chen Family.

She wasn't a professional Go player.

Her world consisted of far more than just Go.

Even without Go, she was an impeccable genius in other fields.

Yet...

Perhaps that was exactly the problem.

Chen Nian's existence was like a vortex.

It sucked her in, trapping her so deeply she couldn't break free.

"Fifth Brother, do you know surveying?"

"Fifth Brother, do you understand geography?"

"Fifth Brother, do you know military strategy?"

"Fifth Brother, do you know how to run a sandbox simulation?"

It was as if she had gone mad after that day. Every minute, every second, her mind was filled with Chen Nian's eyes.

Like a deep abyss staring back at her, suffocating her.

The only way to break free was to prove that she was better than him in other areas.

But...

She failed time and time again.

All the talents and abilities she took such pride in—the ones outsiders praised to the heavens—were completely reduced to nothingness in front of Chen Nian. As long as he was given a little time to learn, she would quickly be defeated.

And she would never have the chance to turn the tables again.

She would often break down crying in the dead of night. The feeling of desperately studying more knowledge just to beat him, only to find herself utterly helpless against him anyway... that sheer impotence tortured her heart over and over.

She finally went mad.

Outsiders simply couldn't tell.

But she truly had gone mad.

Wisdom... was useless.

She told herself this.

In the face of authority, in the face of absolute power, wisdom meant nothing.

To show off one's wisdom to fools, and to unleash one's authority, power, and charm against the wise.

Only by doing this could she remain forever undefeated.

In order to prove this point.

That very night, she went straight to the door of the Go teacher she admired the most.

And knocked on the door.