“I want one hundred.”
Gu Hai’s determined attitude put Ninth Young Master in a spot. He had promised the Qian Heavenly Emperor to help Gu Hai gain as many recommendation talismans as possible. Gu Hai should already have this in the bag; why was he taking such risks?
Ninth Young Master turned his head to look at the Qian Heavenly Emperor. However, the Qian Heavenly Emperor nodded.
“Hurry up! What is there to look at? What is there to worry about in dealing with these weaklings? Since my brother-in-law said that he could do it, he can!” Long Wanyu yelled.
Ninth Young Master smiled bitterly and said, “Alright. Inviting one hundred Go Dao sages to face Gu Hai in Go!”
After Ninth Young Master shouted, the Go Dao sages in the sky roared furiously.
“How insulting!”
“This is too much!”
“Humph! Are you really trying to imitate Old Mister Guan Qi? He played everyone simultaneously alone. Do you dare to do that?!”
The sages felt furious, but one hundred of them still flew down in a rage. One hundred Go boards surrounded Gu Hai.
“Gu Hai will be the black player! Begin!” Ninth Young Master shouted.
Gu Hai extended his hand and tossed again. One hundred black Go stones accurately landed on the tengen position of the one hundred Go boards.
The spectators in Heavenly Yin City now kept their comments to a murmur as they looked at Gu Hai curiously.
Playing against one hundred alone was an uncommon sight. Furthermore, these one hundred were Go Dao sages.
Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!
The one hundred sages played their moves.
Clack!
Gu Hai tossed out one hundred Go stones.
The two sides confronted each other.
Why did Gu Hai want to face so many sages? He was not trying to show off, nor was he overreaching. He needed extremely complicated Go games to improve his Go skills.
Go skills?
When Gu Hai played the World Go Puzzles—the Twenty-Eight, the Twenty-Nine, the Thirty, and the Thirty-One—his Go skills had experienced qualitative improvements with each solution. This could be seen from the incomplete Go puzzles continuously condensing in his forehead space.
The Go Dao was a cultural cultivation that required an opponent. The stronger one’s opponent, the better for tempering oneself. However, it was very difficult for Gu Hai to find an opponent, given his current Go skills.
The match with Wu Yazi earlier only reached the level of the Thirty-One’s peak. Gu Hai had already solved the Thirty-One Line-Pair World Go Puzzle; he had no way to make big improvements. Now, he had this chance by playing against a hundred simultaneously. Since he could not hone himself with quality, he only could make up for it with quantity.
Simultaneously playing one hundred sages seemed complicated, and having to remember one hundred Go games seemed extremely difficult. However, this was nothing to strong Go Dao cultivators. When Go Dao cultivators simulated Go games, they involved horrifying numbers of Go stones. Back when Gu Hai had one hundred thousand Go puzzles in his forehead space, he had played one hundred thousand simultaneously.
While those one hundred thousand Go puzzles could not compare to the Go games played with these sages, the number was much larger.
Since Gu Hai’s mind could cope with one hundred thousand, he naturally could deal with one hundred.
Clack! Clack! Clack!
Clack!
Gu Hai continued playing in an orderly fashion while the sages felt incredibly furious.
The Supreme Genesis narrowed his eyes at Gu Hai.
“Father, are Gu Hai’s Go skills really that incredible?” Yehua appeared shocked.
“Another Old Mister Guan Qi,” the Supreme Genesis said coldly.
“Ah?” Yehua said in shock.
The Grand Mohist looked at Gu Hai coldly.
“Grand Mohist, given Gu Hai’s incredible Go Dao, should we reconsider our previous plan?” a Supreme Ascendant Dao disciple asked with a frown.
“Do you know why I am the Grand Mohist and not you?” the Grand Mohist countered indifferently.
“Huh?” That Supreme Ascendant Dao disciple was stunned.
“You are still influenced by external things. As for me, I have reached the point where I am unmoved. The mundane matters no longer affect my heart. The Supreme Ascendant Dao is one where we forget our emotions and nature. Once I decide on something, it is impossible for me to change it casually,” the Grand Mohist said coldly.
“Yes!”
The Future Buddha held his palms together and said, “Amitābha!”
“Lord Buddha, what’s wrong?” Bodhisattva Zi Zhu asked.
“I checked on the games by connecting my mind. Hah! One against one hundred is very complicated. Simulating it is beyond me,” the Future Buddha said with a faint, bitter smile.
“Why is Gu Hai’s Go Dao so strong? Based on my investigation, he is not even a hundred years old yet,” Bodhisattva Zi Zhu said.
“There are many who are less than one hundred years old. Why can’t they be strong?” the Future Buddha said with a smile.
“Lord Buddha, are you saying that Gu Hai is a reincarnated person?” Bodhisattva Zi Zhu’s face sank.
The Future Buddha took a deep breath and shook his head, not saying anything more.
Amateurs watched the bustle, but experts looked for skills. The more skilled one was at Go, the more one would realize how difficult these games were.
This was especially so for Wu Yazi. At this moment, he had a sullen expression and narrowed eyes.
“Mister Wu Yazi, how are Gu Hai’s Go skills?” Emperor Kong asked with a smile.
Wu Yazi shook his head and said, “I’m not sure. However, the Go skills of the one hundred sages combined are of the same level as mine when I was possessed earlier.”
“Oh?” Emperor Kong’s face sank.
The Azure Emperor stared at the Go boards.
“Imperial Lord, how are Gu Hai’s Go skills? I am already dizzy; I can’t keep up at all,” Dan Wang said with a frown.
“Don’t interrupt!” the Azure Emperor said coldly.
Dan Wang raised his head and saw the Azure Emperor staring at the Go boards, apparently keeping up with Gu Hai’s match with one hundred sages.
“Yes!” Dan Wang did not dare to say anything more.
At the center of the plaza, Gu Hai continued playing. Finally, he felt the one thousand Go boards in his forehead space budge. However, it seemed insufficient for them to start merging again.
“It’s not enough. It’s still not enough,” Gu Hai muttered.
“What’s not enough, Brother-in-Law?” Long Wanyu asked curiously.
“Mister Gu, what’s wrong?” Ninth Young Master asked worriedly.
Nothing must go wrong at this moment.
“Not enough? Hahaha! Gu Hai cannot last for much longer, right?” a Go Dao sage said with a cold smile.
Clack!
Gu Hai tossed one hundred black Go stones to the Go boards. “Thank you for going easy!”
“What?” The Go Dao sages felt startled.
They lowered their heads to look at their respective Go boards.
“Gu Hai, what are you saying? We have not lost yet!” some of the sages shouted furiously.
However, most of the sages felt stunned, saying, “How could it be like this?”
“You have not lost yet? You all already lost.” The Azure Emperor and Wu Yazi narrowed their eyes at the same time.
The sages that shouted earlier played their move after a while. Then, everyone gaped without needing Gu Hai to say anything.
“Gu Hai wins!” Ninth Young Master shouted.
Rumble…!
One hundred recommendation talismans sent their dazzling light at Gu Hai.
“Mister Gu, congratulations,” Ninth Young Master said excitedly.
“Host, I would like to play against all the remaining sages this time,” Gu Hai said.
“What? All the remaining sages? There are one thousand three hundred eighty-nine of them!” Ninth Young Master said in shock.
“Please!” Gu Hai said gravely.
Ninth Young Master: “…”
Wu Yazi: “…”
The Azure Emperor: “…”
The surroundings fell quiet.
Ninth Young Master turned his head to look at the Qian Heavenly Emperor.
“The scene one thousand years ago repeated?” Lifespan Beiming said.
“Gu Hai? Guan Qi?” The Qian Heavenly Emperor narrowed his eyes slightly.
“Hurry up! This bunch of rotten tomatoes is no match for my brother-in-law. Let’s just end this quickly!” Long Wanyu called out.
“Humph!” The one hundred sages flung their sleeves out as they returned to the noble spirit sea.
However, no sages criticized Gu Hai now. This same scene had happened one thousand years ago. Furthermore, it was even more horrifying then. At that time, there was still the Go Dao’s artistic conception. When that horrific Go Dao artistic conception appeared, huge waves kicked up on the boundless noble spirit sea. Even the sages had felt shocked and despaired. Fortunately, heaven had taken away the Go Dao laws; hence, there were no manifestations this time.
Long Wanyu did not understand the Go Dao, so she hurried things along. However, Ninth Young Master did not dare to. Instead, he looked at the Qian Heavenly Emperor, waiting for the Qian Heavenly Emperor’s decision. After all, this was too risky.
“Permitted,” the Qian Heavenly Emperor said indifferently.
“Yes!” Ninth Young Master answered.
“Inviting all the remaining Go Dao sages to descend together to face Gu Hai in Go. Those unwilling will be considered defeated!” Ninth Young Master shouted.
“Humph!” the sages in the sky snorted coldly.
One thousand three hundred eighty-nine sages descended to the plaza.
Go boards immediately filled the plaza, densely packed together. Then, some attendants brought over a mountain of Go stones to Go Hai.
“Gu Hai will play as the black player! Begin!” Ninth Young Master shouted.
Gu Hai flung his sleeves out.
Boom!
One thousand-odd Go stones landed on the tengen positions with loud sounds.
The surroundings were quiet as the sages played Gu Hai.
One vs. one thousand three hundred eighty-nine.
Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!
Boom!
The entire Heavenly Yin City held its breath, watching Gu Hai play.
By the eighty-sixth move, Gu Hai no longer played as quickly as before. Instead, he started thinking.
“Gu Hai can’t handle this anymore? Haha! He finally has no idea how to continue playing!” Yehua said with an excited look.
“It is your own fault for overestimating yourself. Hah! You can’t continue anymore, right?” Bodhisattva Zi Zhu said with a smile.
Ninth Young Master appeared worried.
The Azure Emperor narrowed his eyes at the Go boards.
“Mister Wu Yazi, with more than one thousand sages playing simultaneously, what level has this game reached?” Emperor Kong asked.
“I remember that there were records in Old Mister Guan Qi’s inheritance. Back then, when he faced one thousand three hundred eighty-nine sages, he said that it had reached the initial level of the Thirty-Two,” Wu Yazi said with a frown.
“The Thirty-Two Line-Pair World Go Puzzle? I recall that Old Mister Guan Qi’s final match with heaven used the Thirty-Three?” Emperor Kong frowned.
“Yes!”
“The Thirty-Three against heaven, and this is already close to the Thirty-Two? Just one step away?” Emperor Kong narrowed his eyes.
Wu Yazi shook his head. “Just one step, but a world of difference.”
Emperor Kong nodded and held his tongue, greatly shocked at Gu Hai’s current Go skills.
Gu Hai’s play slowed. It was not because he did not know how to play but because he made another breakthrough. The one thousand Go puzzles in his forehead space suddenly started merging in sets of four.
Boom!
The merger of the first four Go boards seemed to trigger a chain reaction. More Go boards merged as Gu Hai’s Go skills improved rapidly.
