Yixing

Yixing is a Mage hero in Honor of Kings.

Background[]

Yixing was once saved by a mysterious figure known as the "Peony Diviner" just as he was at his lowest point. From then on he took the Peony Diviner as his master, and finally felt a sense of belonging, as if he had found a new home. His newly acquired teacher taught him many techniques both physical and emotional, such as how to disassociate himself from his own suffering and manipulate others to his advantage. Yixing became known as a young prodigy for defeating the Weiqi masters of Kyokutou before Wu Zetian as well as for undertaking many successful covert missions. In every task, he acted with supreme calm, driven by a sincere desire to please his mentor. Now, the winds of change have come to Chang'an, and so the young man has decided to pursue his own, independent designs. The world is his oyster, for he views life akin to a game of Weiqi to be played however he wants.

Lore[]

"The world is too painful. What can I do to forget about it?"

"Play Weiqi."

"Weiqi? Can that really replace the world?"

"Yes. These nineteen rows and columns hold a universe all of their own."

The boy, covered in injuries, picked up a white stone and placed it squarely in the center of the board, just like his father whom he had secretly watched before. The world has been cruel, but he had no wish to be beaten down. He was a human being, and he longed for the happiness he deserved, but all he could do was confine his thoughts and feelings within the world of the Weiqi board.

Time flew like an arrow. As spring arrived and the flowers bloomed, the boy made his appearance before the people of Chang'an with his benefactor, the Peony Diviner, who had saved his life and taught him how to play Weiqi.

An emissary had come from Kyokutou and managed to obtain an audience with the Empress, when he produced a Weiqi set made of jade and asked to play against the best players of Chang'an. The emissary was surprisingly skilled, and beat several masters in a row. The smile on the Empress's face slowly faded.

Just as the court officials were cowering from the heat of the Empress's rage, the Peony Diviner suggested that the young man play against the emissary. Everyone looked at the small figure in disbelief. Had they known that this would be the first time that the young man played against a real opponent, they'd probably have been even more taken aback.

The emissary from Kyokutou looked at the trembling, young man sitting in front of the Weiqi board with disdain. "Ha!" He thought. "He probably hasn't even been weaned from his mother's bosom yet!" But this contempt soon disappeared in the face of a series of bold and sophisticated moves.

The emissary from Kyokutou was soundly beaten in just under two hours. The Weiqi board was marked by drops of sweat, like a battlefield scarred after the fact. It was only then that he understood that the boy was not trembling out of fear, but excitement. Excitement that he'd finally have an opponent to test his skills against.

As a result of the game, the young man became famous and much celebrated throughout Chang'an in an instant. A rumor soon spread that he was descended from the famous Duke of Ying, one of Chang'an's founders. It was the Duke who had conquered the lands outside the Great Wall and established the Great Wall Guardians. The Duke was also skilled at Weiqi, but unfortunately, his descendants had fallen to the status of commoners. Wild rumors such as this gave the young man's success an added flair.

The boy at the center of all this ignored the chatter and remained focused on his game. So far, no one had been able to beat him.

"Chang'an is like a great Weiqi board."

"You must remember this board well."

Dozens of streets criss-cross and cut the city of Chang'an into hundreds of blocks. Each block is like a square on the Weiqi board, and the buildings are the stones. This was how the young man had been taught since his childhood.

As a child, he once asked his master:

"If I keep winning games, will I finally win my father's approval?"

"That's right."

After receiving the confirmation he sought, he closed his eyes and followed the Peony Diviner's instructions. In an instant, that part of Chang'an City was transformed into a place of isolation.

He immersed himself in the game for a long time, accumulating the power of thunder and storms as he went. If victory in Weiqi could erase the harsh injustices of the world, he wondered, would he also be able to find his own place in it?

On one seemingly ordinary night he saw his master return with the look of someone with something to say. The young man waited for his master to speak, but he just sat down in front of him, looked at the ongoing game on the table, picked up a black stone, and placed it.

"Chang'an is like a great Weiqi board."

"Mmm."

"But do you really understand this game you're playing?"

The young man shook his head.

"But I don't have to. I just have to keep winning, right?"

If he kept on winning, he would have the right to keep calling this place "home", he thought.

At some point, the young man's desires quietly shifted. His Weiqi skills became increasingly sophisticated as he immersed himself in the world of black and white, and he achieved victory after victory in order to realize the wishes of his master and his friends.

"Wrong."

His master's response had shifted from the one he gave all those years ago.

"A universe resides in the world of Weiqi, but there is also a vast world beyond the Weiqi board."

"It is in this world that you must find your way as a Weiqi player."

"Find my way...? What do you mean?"

The young man looked up, uncomprehending, but all his master did was place another stone without a word.

He never got an answer from his master. He looked out of the window after his master left the room, and saw that dark clouds were already closing in on the city. A storm was coming. He walked out of the city that had him trapped for so long, and looked towards the faint thunder in the distance.

To use the world as his Weiqi board, to enter the game with stones in hand. This time, the young man would find the answer on his own."The world is too painful. What can I do to forget about it?"