As soon as Duan Xingyao finished speaking, before anyone else could react, Qin Lang strode toward the referee’s table and reached into the draw box to grab a slip of paper.
The moment he pulled out the slip, he glanced down at it before looking up and scanning the crowd. Then, he said calmly, "Whoever draws number six will be my opponent."
The crowd frowned slightly. Soon, the second person stepped forward to draw, followed by the third, and the fourth…
Before long, Yu Shao also approached the referee’s table, drew a slip from the box, and looked down at the number.
Once everyone had drawn their lots, Duan Xingyao finally picked up a pen and paper, asking, "Who got number one? Raise your hand."
At that moment, Su Yiming raised his hand and said, "I'm number one."
"First group: Su Yiming, First Dan, versus Chu Jiang, Sixth Dan."
Duan Xingyao nodded and wrote down their names and group number before continuing, "What about the second group?"
Le Haoqiang raised his hand and spoke up.
Seeing this, the only female player in the tournament, Yang Qiaozhen, hesitated for a moment. She bit her lip, took a deep breath, then firmly raised her hand and said, "Me too!"
Duan Xingyao continued to call out for the third, fourth, and fifth groups…
He looked up at the last three remaining players. "Who drew number seven?"
Immediately, the entire hall turned their gaze to the three players left. With fifteen competitors in total, each round consisted of one-on-one matchups, meaning that one person would have no opponent and automatically advance to the next round.
Yu Shao finally raised his hand and answered, "I'm in the seventh group."
A tall young man glanced at Yu Shao, then at Le Haoqiang. He clenched his teeth before finally speaking. "Me too!"
"Seventh group: Yu Shao, First Dan, versus Cao Xinghuai, Sixth Dan."
Duan Xingyao nodded slightly, writing down their names on the matchup list. Then, he turned to the last remaining player, Zhou Wei, and asked, "Zhou Wei, you're advancing by default?"
Although it was already clear that Zhou Wei had no opponent this round, as a referee, Duan Xingyao still had to confirm.
Zhou Wei smiled. "Guess I got lucky. Skipping a round saves me a battle."
After confirming, Duan Xingyao recorded Zhou Wei's name before finally announcing, "You may take a short break. The first round of matches will begin in forty minutes!"
Hearing this, everyone became tense.
"The matches will be long," Duan Xingyao continued. "If you're hungry, eat something, but not too much, or you'll get carb fatigue and lose focus."
"If you'd rather wait in the game rooms, you may do so now. Your match number corresponds to your assigned room number."
The players nodded before gradually dispersing.
Yu Shao had already eaten breakfast before arriving at the Go Academy, so he wasn’t hungry. He turned and prepared to leave, heading straight for his assigned game room.
A clear, steady voice suddenly called out from beside him.
Yu Shao stopped in his tracks and turned his head. He saw Su Yiming, dressed in a formal suit, standing not far away.
"What is it?" Yu Shao asked with slight confusion.
"You're in the seventh group, right?"
Su Yiming’s gaze remained fixed on Yu Shao as he asked.
Yu Shao nodded. "Seventh group."
"I'm in the first group."
Su Yiming’s words were brief, yet meaningful.
Hearing this, Yu Shao stood still. He looked at Su Yiming in the distance and immediately understood the hidden message behind his words.
Su Yiming also stood motionless, calmly meeting Yu Shao’s gaze.
Their eyes locked in midair.
Both of them appeared calm, but beneath that stillness, there was an unspoken intensity.
The tournament draw had been a one-time event, meaning the matchups were now set in stone.
The winner of Group One would face the winner of Group Two in the next round. The winner of Group Three would face the winner of Group Four… Yu Shao, as the seventh group competitor, would inevitably face Zhou Wei, who had advanced by default.
And once the quarterfinals were determined, adjacent group winners would continue to battle.
In other words, if both he and Su Yiming kept winning—
They were destined to meet in the final match!
Yu Shao nodded slightly, saying nothing more. "I understand."
Su Yiming didn’t say anything else either. He nodded in return, then turned and left the game room.
Watching Su Yiming’s departing figure, Yu Shao stood there in silence for a moment before finally stepping forward and heading toward his own game room.
"We will meet at the summit."
Yu Shao arrived at Hand-Talk Room No. 7 of the Central Go Institute. As he pushed the door open and looked inside, the decor and furnishings before him were almost identical to those of the Hand-Talk Rooms at the Southern Go Institute.
The room was elegantly quiet, with a Go table placed in the center, its atmosphere filled with a faint sandalwood scent that unconsciously calmed the mind.
On the wall, a calligraphy scroll bearing the words "Sit and Discuss the Way" hung prominently. The bold, flowing strokes of the characters added a sense of solemnity and dignity to the room.
At this moment, several cameramen were adjusting their cameras. Noticing Yu Shao entering, they were slightly surprised and greeted him with a smile.
"Yu Shao, 1-dan, are you playing your match in this room later?"
Yu Shao nodded as he answered, walking to the side of the Go table before pulling out a chair and sitting down.
"This is your first official game in a Hand-Talk Room outside of the Rising Flames Tournament, right?"
One of the cameramen, adjusting the tripod, clicked his tongue and said, "Man, this is insane. You just became a pro, and you’ve already made it to the main tournament of the Yingjiao Cup?"
"I saw a lot of people online saying you might be the next Go Sage, Zhu Huai'an." Another cameraman, full of curiosity, spoke up, his face filled with astonishment.
Yu Shao was slightly taken aback. "Zhu Huai'an, the Go Sage?"
Of all the current titleholders, Zhu Huai'an was the only one Yu Shao hadn’t met yet. If he remembered correctly, Zhu Huai'an was only twenty-one this year, just a 7-dan, making him the youngest among the titleholders.
But considering that Zhu Huai'an had managed to claim a title at 7-dan, it was clear that rank alone didn't define his true strength.
A cameraman nodded with a smile. "The commentators for this year’s Yingjiao Cup main tournament are none other than Go Sage Zhu Huai'an and 4-dan Zeng Chenlu."
Yu Shao was a little surprised. He had known there would be commentary for the games, but he hadn’t expected Zhu Huai'an to be one of the commentators.
"Good luck, play your best. Everyone's looking forward to your match. Hope you put on a great performance."
The cameraman smiled encouragingly before turning back to continue adjusting the camera angles.
Before long, two referees and a recorder arrived in the Hand-Talk Room.
Both referees were middle-aged men, while the recorder was a young woman in her early twenties, with long, flowing hair and delicate features.
As soon as the three entered the room, they all glanced at Yu Shao. The two referees studied him for a while before withdrawing their gazes and taking their seats at the referee’s table.
Seeing the referees seated, the female recorder finally snapped out of her daze and quickly took her seat at the recording table.
"I can't believe a 1-dan player actually made it into the main tournament of the Yingjiao Cup, and he might even compete for a title match. I'm a 2-dan, yet here I am, recording his game… Unbelievable..."
As she opened her laptop, she couldn't help but sneak glances at Yu Shao, feeling a whirlwind of emotions.
"But what’s even crazier is that there are two 1-dan players in the Yingjiao Cup main tournament this year…"
Before long, the door to the Hand-Talk Room opened once again.
A tall young man appeared at the entrance.
Cao Xinghuai didn’t step in immediately. His expression was dark as he stood at the doorway for a long moment before finally entering in silence, pulling out a chair and sitting down across from Yu Shao.
The two sat facing each other without speaking, quietly waiting for the match to begin.
"Cao Xinghuai, 6-dan, usually only plays against higher-ranked opponents in the Hand-Talk Room. Now, his opponent is just a 1-dan… I bet he’s feeling all sorts of complicated right now."
The female recorder glanced at Cao Xinghuai, musing silently to herself.
Then, unable to resist, she looked back at Yu Shao. Compared to Cao Xinghuai, she was much more curious about Yu Shao.
If he had made it to the Yingjiao Cup main tournament, his strength was undoubtedly formidable. He couldn't be judged by his rank alone.
But since he had only played in the preliminaries so far, there were no records of his games. All she knew was that he should be strong—but exactly how strong, she had no idea.
"The Yingjiao Cup main tournament games will have recorded game records, and they’ll also be live-streamed globally."
"How will he perform in this tournament?"
"Beneath this calligraphy scroll that reads ‘Sit and Discuss the Way’, what kind of game will he play?"
That was not just her question—it was the question of tens of thousands of viewers who were currently glued to their screens, watching the official Yingjiao Cup livestream.
At this moment, the live chat was flying by like a waterfall. Everyone was eagerly anticipating Yu Shao’s first game—the one that would be recorded forever in the professional Go archives.
Finally, after a short wait, one of the referees checked his watch, then looked at the two players sitting across from each other. He stood up and announced in a solemn voice:
"The time control for this match is three hours per player, with a seven-and-a-half point komi. Each player will have a one-minute-thirty-second countdown per move in overtime."
The referee took a deep breath, glanced at both Yu Shao and Cao Xinghuai, and declared:
"Now, players, please proceed with the nigiri to determine the first move!"