Chapter 129 - Breaking Ninth Young Master's Dream, Part One
Guan Jiu?
Gu Hai studied the white-robed scion before him, puzzled.
In any case, Gu Hai didn't underestimate Guan Jia. After all, someone who could make the Northern and Southern Weiqi Kings listen to him was certainly not an ordinary figure.
"How about this. I will also let Mister Gu see my weiqi skills conveniently by playing ten games first?" Guan Jiu asked, smiling.
Gu Hai nodded in acknowledgment, with a slightly confused look on his face.
Young Master Guan Qi's subordinates immediately jumped into the air, quickly catching ten endgames and placing them before Guan Jiu.
Guan Jiu swept a glance at the weiqi boards before waving his hands. Immediately after, many weiqi pieces were sucked into his hands.
Tok! Tok! Tok! Tok! Tok!...
Suddenly, ten white pieces were placed on the ten endgames.
Tok! Tok! Tok! Tok! Tok!...
The ten endgames all started to move.
At the sight of this, all the cultivators in the vicinity looked at Guan Jiu and marveled.
"Ten games? He is playing ten games at the same time?"
"Are you kidding me, ten games at the same time? How is he gonna solve them?"
"He looks absent-minded!"...
Everyone was looking at Guan Jiu in astonishment. Gu Hai, on the other hand, had his eyebrows twitching.
Because the places where Guan Jiu had placed the ten weiqi pieces were the same very positions that he had thought of in his mind.
Tok! Tok! Tok! Tok! Tok!...
Another ten weiqi pieces were thrown out before the endgames changed accordingly.
---
Tok! Tok! Tok! Tok! Tok!...
As the ten white pieces fell on the weiqi board for the tenth time...
"Solved, the first game is solved!"
"The second game is solved as well!"
"No, all ten games are solved!"...
Everyone exclaimed in astonishment. Immediately afterwards, the ten weiqi boards transformed into clouds that rose into the air, circling around the enormous floating island in the sky.
"Mister Gu, what do you think?" Guan Jiu asked, a smile on his lips.
Everyone in the vicinity looked at Guan Jiu, shocked. This Guan Jiu is a freak!
How can he solve these endgames which we have been unable to solve so quickly and effortlessly? So calmly! Ten games at the same time!?
This time, Ding Tong personally came to deliver the spirit stones to Guan Jiu.
"Young Master, these are the spirit stones you deserve. You played too magnificently!" Ding Tong came forward, marveling at the accomplishment.
Guan Jiu glanced at Ding Tong with a blackened face. Then, he turned his head around, ignoring Ding Tong completely.
Ding Tong's expression became stiff.
Guan Jiu's subordinate stepped forward right away. "Go away, don't disturb my Young Master!"
Ding Tong's face turned stiffer. Isn't this my Ding Long Clan?
"Patriarch Ding, please don't bother the Young Master!" the Southern Weiqi King pleaded.
"Patriarch Ding, please don't bother the Young Master!" the Northern Weiqi King also implored.
Ding Tong was rendered speechless. "...!"
The two weiqi kings, who could roam in the Thousand Islands Seas freely, were far more famous than Ding Tong. However, both were acting like members of Young Master Guan Jiu's entourage. Ding Tong felt depressed. He finally nodded, looking weirdly at everyone around.
"Mister Gu, what do you think?" Guan Jia asked again, smiling.
"Young Master Guan Jiu, you are extremely skillful!" Gu Hai nodded in acknowledgment.
"Mister Gu, you don't need to butter me up, you too can do the same, it's just that you were reluctant to do it, that's all! Do you want to try a 29x29 game?" Guan Jiu asked with a smile.
"Hmm?" Gu Hai's eyebrows twitched again.
"How many endgames are still there?" Guan Jiu asked.
"Reporting to Young Master, there are still 1,600 endgames remaining!" a subordinate respectfully reported.
"Bring a thousand of them here!" Guan Jiu ordered.
A thousand? Hearing this, everyone's eyes went wide in shock. Has Guan Jiu gone crazy?
"Yes!"
Suddenly, a thousand weiqi boards were pulled down, packing the area in all directions.
Ding Tong's eyes also went wide. What does this Guan Jiu want to do? Is he planning to solve a thousand games at the same time?
Gu Hai also looked at Guan Jiu, stupefied.
However, right then, Guan Jiu slowly took out a crystal stand. The crystal stand seemed to have a whirlpool on it. From the outside, it looked quite strange.
"Put them in!" Guan Jiu ordered.
"Yes!"
His subordinates quickly put a thousand endgames into the whirlpool of the crystal stand. The endgames that were put in the top soon came out from the bottom.
But the endgames didn't change at all. It seemed as if they had only gone through a passage. However, the whirlpool inside the crystal stand slowly disappeared, transforming into a 29x29 endgame.
"This?" Gu Hai was taken aback.
"This weiqi stand of mine can lock these thousand endgames into an endgame. Take a look, these thousand endgames have merged most perfectly. Playing this game is equivalent to playing a thousand endgames!" Guan Jiu explained.
Gu Hai looked at the weiqi board there, intrigued.
The weiqi board had twenty lines, horizontally and vertically each in a criss-cross fashion. Many black and white pieces were already placed upon it. Moreover, a thousand endgames were circling around it, as if this weiqi stand had a forcefield that covered those thousand endgames.
"Mister Gu, please!" Guan Jiu invited Gu Hai. There was a smile on his lips.
A complex look showed up on Gu Hai's face as he nodded to Guan Jiu.
The two sat down, looking at the crystal weiqi stand before them.
"Mister Gu, I will move first!" Guan Jiu pursed his lips into a smile.
A puzzled Gu Hai looked at Guan Jiu, but Guan Jiu didn't tarry any further and grabbed a black piece, placing it slowly on the weiqi board.
Tok! Just as a piece was placed, all one thousand endgames in the vicinity started moving suddenly.
Tok! Tok! Tok! Tok! Tok!...
A thousand black pieces fell on each endgame. However, the white pieces didn't move at all, as if the endgame had changed.
Guan Jiu slightly smiled and grabbed a white piece before placing it on the crystal stand.
Tok!
Tok! Tok! Tok! Tok! Tok!...
Just like before, a thousand white pieces fell on the thousand endgames subsequently.
"This, Guan Jiu can replace the white side of the endgame and place it himself?"
"How is this possible?"...
All the cultivators in the vicinity looked at this strange scene, flabbergasted.
"From the three thousand endgames, I have only taken a thousand endgames, therefore, the game before you is just one-third of the 29x29 game! Also, there is no backlash from it. Mister Gu, your turn!" Guan Jiu stated with a smile.
Gu Hai nodded as he took a deep breath and carefully looked at the weiqi board.
This game was too mysterious. Looking at it, Gu Hai seemed like he had been enchanted.
The Southern and Northern Weiqi Kings were also staring at this game with wide eyes, they were also seemingly entranced by it.
Tok! Tok!
Gu Hai and Guan Jiu slowly made their moves. And with each move of theirs, the thousand endgames also moved!
Confused as the many cultivators in the vicinity were, they were still watching patiently.
"If that is true, then wouldn't that mean that a thousand endgames would be solved at the same time?" A complex look appeared on Ding Tong's face.
Tok! Gu Hai placed a piece. It was his twentieth move.
Gu Hai suddenly entered a trance-like state. A huge peony had suddenly appeared before him.
With a hum, Gu Hai felt his consciousness entering the peony flower.
BOOM!
Just as his conscious drilled into the peony flower, a loud bang sounded. Gu Hai looked about quickly. He seemed to be standing in a vast ocean, where the wind howled and rain poured down. A tsunami was crashing straight towards Gu Hai.
"Dreamland?" Gu Hai's countenance changed.
BANG!
Gu Hai was suddenly sent flying by the tsunami.
"Ah~!" Gu Hai screamed in shock as he fell down from the sky.
Gu Hai landed on an island. He looked about in surprise. Everything seems so real, so strange!
"Mister Gu, how perceptive! The twentieth piece, on just the twentieth piece you have actually entered this world of consciousness!" a voice spoke out.
"Hmm?" Gu Hai turned around to look, only to see the white-robed Guan Jiu standing on the island.
"Where am I? Did my consciousness enter this place?" Gu Hai asked, surprised.
"It's the weiqi game you were just playing. If you close your eyes you can leave!" Guan Jiu answered, smiling at him.
Gu Hai narrowed his eyes slightly.
---
With a hum, Gu Hai awakened once more. He opened his eyes and looked about. I am still sitting in the Entertainment Valley of the Ding Long Clan? What is going on?
A smiling Guan Jiu, who was sitting opposite him across the crystal weiqi stand, looked at Gu Hai.
In contrast to the Young Master, Gu Hai had a most peculiar look on his face...
===
Chapter 129 - Breaking Ninth Young Master's Dream, Part Two
"Mister Gu, it's your turn!" said a smiling Guan Jiu.
Gu Hai remained silent for a moment before placing a weiqi piece once more.
Tok! As Gu Hai placed the piece, his consciousness returned to that vast sea once more.
It seemed as if it only two people remained in the vast world, he and Guan Jiu.
"What's going on? Why is my consciousness here again? Is this a world of weiqi games?" Gu Hai asked, intrigued by all of this.
"This isn't a complete 29x29 world, so, only your consciousness can enter. Had the 29x29 game been created from all three thousand endgames, not just your consciousness, even your body could enter!" Guan Jiu nodded in agreement.
"Was the Ninth Young Master in the Xiantian Endgame World I saw false? Are you the Weiqi Empyrean Court's Ninth Young Master?" Gu Hai's eyebrows twitched as he stared at Guan Jiu.
In response, a slight smile flashed past Guan Jiu's lips as he answered, "Mister Gu, you are very perceptive!"
"This is the world of the 29x29 weiqi game? Can a weiqi game also create a world?" Gu Hai blurted out, dumbfounded at the concept.
"This one isn't complete. However, even if it was a perfect 29x29 game, the world created would still be imperfect. A 28x28 game creates a cloud beasts offensive array, 29x29 creates a world! No, it creates a world's prototype!" Guan Jiu informed him calmly.
"World's prototype? There was a 29x29 Heaven and Earth Weiqi Game in the Golden Tong, is there one in the Ding Long Clan as well?" Gu Hai looked at Guan Jiu.
"That's right, it was laid out by Grandmaster!" Guan Jiu nodded to Gu Hai in acknowledgment.
"It's Elder Guanqi again!" Gu Hai tightly knit his brow into furrows.
Tilting his head, Gu Hai looked at Guan Jiu and asked, "Ninth Young Master, you came looking for me to play a game of weiqi, but it wasn't just for playing, right?"
Guan Jiu slightly smiled and said, "Mister Gu, you are right. I came to give you a bit of good fortune!"
"Oh?" Gu Hai was perplexed.
"Although Grandmaster has fallen, he has left his inheritance. I have acquired a part of his inheritance, it contains countless painstaking efforts of the Grandmaster. I want to pass it to Mister Gu, what do you think?" the smiling Guan Jiu proposed.
"Elder Guanqi's inheritance!?" Gu Hai's eyebrows started to twitch again.
Grandmaster Liunian had explained that Elder Guanqi had likely been the strongest person in the world. His inheritance would make countless cultivators go crazy, and this man wants to pass it to me?
"Ninth Young Master, what do you mean?" Gu Hai asked, puzzled.
"Do you still remember that Ninth Young Master of the Xiantian Endgame World? Unfortunately, he was too stupid! I gave him the inheritance, but he could not comprehend even one ten-thousandth of it! I think, with Mister Gu's intelligence, comprehending it would not be too difficult. I will pass Grandmaster's inheritance to you and you will become the Ninth Young Master, what do you think?" Guan Jia smiled and explained.
"You want to make me your substitute?" Gu Hai furrowed his brow.
"You can say that! You only need to use 'Ninth Young Master' title when traveling around, to the common people you will tell them you are Weiqi Empyrean Court's Ninth Young Master, you can continue to call yourself Gu Hai. Some of the outside forces of the Weiqi Empyrean Court will be at your disposal. After getting Grandmaster's inheritance, you only have to wear the title of Weiqi Empyrean Court's Ninth Young Master, that's all. How about it?" Guan Jiu stated.
Gu Hai, on the other hand, stared at Guan Jiu with a more complex look in his eye. "Why?"
"There is no why, this is just a deal. In the past, the Eastern Thief King, Southern Weiqi King, and Northern Weiqi King have all dreamt of getting Grandmaster's inheritance, but couldn't. Today, I am giving it to you. Mister Gu, why are you hesitating?" Guan Jia asked earnestly.
A complex look emerged on Gu Hai's face. "I, Gu Hai, had always believed that there is no free lunch in this world; to get something, you need to lose something! Ninth Young Master, your proposition is indeed tempting, I just need to pay one very simple thing, but I still don't know what the catch is. I am unable to accept your proposal at this moment!"
"Oh?" Ninth Young Master's eyebrows burst into twitching momentarily.
This was the first time someone had refused such a tempting offer!
"Let's continue playing!" Gu Hai stated calmly.
Ninth Young Master studied Gu Hai with a complex gaze.
Gu Hai closed his eyes, leaving the world of consciousness and continued placing his pieces.
The Ninth Young Master also followed suit. Every time they placed their pieces, the two would enter the world of consciousness again.
"Can you see? Grandmaster's inheritance has this 29x29 game. As long as you agree, I can pass it to you. How about it? And not just this, there are other weiqi games as well, many, many more!" Guan Jiu continued to tempt Gu Hai.
After all, after having seen Gu Hai perform all this time, he decided Gu Hai would be his perfect substitute.
Gu Hai, while placing the pieces, looked at Ninth Young Master. "Ninth Young Master, if I have to make a guess, you want to make me your stand-in because there is some kind of disaster on your head?"
"Hmm?" Hearing this, Guan Jiu's eyebrows started twitching again as he stared at Gu Hai.
"It sounds just too good to be true. Your conditions are too easy, the harvest is too big in return. I can think of only one reason why you want me to become the Ninth Young Master... because there is some kind of danger approaching!" Gu Hai stated with a frown.
Guan Jiu furrowed his brow as he looked at Gu Hai. "Mister Gu, you should know that danger and benefits go hand in hand. If you want a big return, you have to pay for it!"
"You are looking for a substitute only because you want to pass your disaster! Tell me then, Ninth Young Master, what kind of danger is it that can make you, who has obtained Elder Guanqi's inheritance, so afraid?" Gu Hai asked in a deep voice.
Guan Jiu was silent, and said no more.
---
Tok! Tok! Tok!
In the world outside, the two continued to place their respective pieces. A thousand endgames were also changing as they did. Guan Jiu was looking at Gu Hai gloomily. He didn't expect that Gu Hai would go down that road, so contrary to his expectations.
The two made their moves, vying with each other for a while.
"Huh?" Suddenly, the Ninth Young Master's countenance changed.
Right then, as Gu Hai placed a piece, a hundred endgames suddenly collapsed with a loud bang.
"Solved? Gu Hai has solved a hundred endgames?" someone shouted in shock immediately.
Ding Tong was also dumbfounded by this scene. It was indeed true. Those hundred endgames suddenly transformed into clouds and rose into the sky, while the original endgames circling in the air also collapsed with a loud bang. Apparently, Gu Hai had solved them!
---
Inside the consciousness world of the weiqi game...
Ninth Young Master stared at Gu Hai in surprise as he said, "No, no, no, I got it wrong!"
"Huh?" A puzzled Gu Hai looked at Ninth Young Master.
"You have solved them? You can actually solve them! You will be eight...!" Ninth Young Master's eyelids suddenly began to twitch like crazy.
"What do you mean? What eight?" Gu Hai asked, his eyes narrow and cautious.
The Ninth Young Master looked at Gu Hai for a good long while, anxious and doubtful. Then, a distressed look suddenly showed on his face as he said, "So it was like that, I was thinking too much, hahaha, I was thinking too much! I should not have come to Nine-Five Island, hahaha!"
"Ninth Young Master, what do you mean?" Gu Hai asked, dumbfounded.
"You can solve the weiqi game which is one-third of a 29x29 weiqi game, and so easily at that! It seems you can solve a complete 29x29 weiqi game already! NIne-Five Island! Nine-Five Island! I was thinking too much, I should not have come here looking for my substitute, ha! You are already marked by the Grandmaster!" said the Ninth Young Master, a bitter smile on his face.
"I have been marked by Elder Guanqi? Hasn't Elder Guanqi already passed away?" Gu Hai asked, staring at Ninth Young Master.
"Yes, he has fallen!. However, you can't understand Grandmaster's stratagems! Since Nine-Five Island is in his layout, then, as long as anyone enters his scheme, no one can escape, everyone's life has been calculated by him. Since you are so good at weiqi, you can definitely not escape his calculations! You can break the 29x29 heaven and earth weiqi game, you must have caught Grandmaster's eyes! Hahaha, I have been looking for so long, only to find Grandmaster's substitute! Gu Hai, your fate is similar to mine, hahaha!" Ninth Young Master broke into laughter which carried a bit of desolation.
"Eight? You mean to say the Eighth Young Master?" Gu Hai's eyebrows started to twitch as he stared at Ninth Young Master.
"Mister Gu, being too clever isn't a good thing!" the Ninth Young Master said, a bitter smile on his lips.
"Oh? Nine-Five Island is in his arrangement? Is it for picking the Eighth Young Master?" Gu Hai's eyes widened in shock, staring at Ninth Young Master.
"Almost! You have a ninety percent chance of becoming the Eighth Young Master, ha! Who asked you to be so good at weiqi? Even better than me! When I accepted Grandmaster's inheritance, I wasn't so skilled!" Ninth Young Master bitterly smiled.
"Ha, Ninth Young Master, you are overthinking things. Elder Guanqi has conspired to pick the Eighth Young Master, but what if I refuse to become this Eighth Young Master?" Gu Hai stated in disdain.
"Refuse to? Hahaha, you won't be able to bear the temptation. At that time, you will understand, it's about time. Very soon, you will become the Eighth Young Master. You will be unable to resist Grandmaster's offer. Grandmaster's inheritance has always been extremely generous. I gave myself away to temptation, I couldn't do anything, I couldn't restrain myself. Now, I can only think of finding a substitute! At that time, I couldn't hold myself back, ha!" Ninth Young Master stated, so much bitterness evident in his voice.
Gu Hai stared at the Ninth Young Master, a complex look flashing past his eyes.
"Forget it, since you have been marked by Grandmaster, I won't compete with you in vain. Make your move, okay, there are still nine hundred endgames left to solve!" The Ninth Young Master heaved a sigh.
Gu Hai, on the other hand, said with an earnest look, "Ninth Young Master, thank you very much for your warning!"
"Hmm?"
"I might not know what the Grandmaster's inheritance is. However, I will stay on alert. The Eighth Young Master's position may be extremely high, but I will do my best to restrain myself against that temptation!" Gu Hai explained solemnly.
"You won't be able to hold yourself back, you don't understand Grandmaster's generosity. The earth dragon vein here is just a meager gift from Grandmaster, that's all. Many will fight to the death to become the Eighth Young Master, and you want to back down? Hahaha, it doesn't matter what you say! At that time, you will understand. However, let me warn you!" Ninth Young Master said with a solemn expression.
"Oh?"
"These days, I have discovered that Long Wanqing is imprisoned in the Ding Long Clan. She is imprisoned by Ding Rui. That Ding Tong is a distant relative of Ding Rui! Do you understand?" Ninth Young Master said in a serious manner.
"Oh ho? Hall Lord is imprisoned here?" Gu Hai's face darkened.
The Ninth Young Master nodded in acknowledgment." Also, that Butcher King is an old acquaintance of yours, he is Meng Tai in disguise!"
"Meng Tai?" Gu Hai's eyebrows twitched upon hearing this.
The three Weiqi kings, the Southern Weiqi King, the Northern Weiqi King, and the Butcher King are here! No wonder the Butcher King never responded to me...
"Make your move!" the Ninth Young Master said.
Gu Hai closed his eyes as he consciousness moved out.
---
Tok! As a black piece was placed, all nine hundred endgames collapsed with a thunderous roar and transformed into clouds rushing towards that enormous floating island.
Ding Tong and the crowd of cultivators had their mouths agape.
I could not solve all these endgames, ever! Yet Gu Hai alone has solved a thousand of them at once? Am I dreaming?!