The soul soldiers escorted Gu Hai and Bing Ji into Reincarnation City.
When the soul soldiers came over earlier, Bing Ji had been prepared to attack. However, Gu Hai stopped her.
Bing Ji immediately understood what Gu Hai wanted. They pretended to yield to the soul soldiers and get captured.
“Hahaha! The sages from the Ten Thousand Sages Convention? You’re nothing much,” the magistrate that ordered Gu Hai’s capture laughed happily.
“Magistrate Lu, the great king will reward you enormously this time. Perhaps he might even give you a Millennium Essence Pill?” one of the magistrate’s subordinates said excitedly.
“Hahahaha!” Magistrate Lu appeared happy.
The magistrate that went to report came back with instructions. “Magistrate Lu, the great king said for you to bring the two wicked people to the Go arena!”
“Move it!” Magistrate Lu ordered excitedly.
Gu Hai and Bing Ji exchanged looks, smiling faintly.
Reincarnation City was extremely large. Gu Hai walked for two hours before reaching the so-called Go arena.
The Go arena was like the soccer fields Gu Hai had seen on Earth. There were high platforms in the surroundings and an empty plaza in the center. A gigantic Go board lay in the center.
The surrounding stands were already filled with souls who had heard the news. Many of them wore official robes, appearing to have noble status among the souls.
A group of official souls stood respectfully on a platform to the north. They bowed towards a male soul in imperial robes sitting on a throne there.
“Salutations, Great King! Salutations, Milords! The two villains have already been brought here. I was the one who discovered them outside the city. I immediately captured them and brought them here,” Magistrate Lu said excitedly to the imperial-robed man he was bowing to.
Many official souls standing on the high platform discussed the two.
“Who is in the arena?” that king shouted coldly.
Gu Hai smiled faintly and said, “Reincarnation King, since you offered a bounty for me, how could you not know who I am?”
“How dare you?!” the official souls shouted furiously.
Gu Hai smiled coldly, not showing any fear.
“Humph! Are you that Gu Hai? The person who took first place in the Ten Thousand Sages Convention? The Gu Hai who defeated all the Go Dao sages?” the Reincarnation King asked coldly.
“Oh? Might I ask how Reincarnation King knows of me?” Gu Hai said with a frown.
“Does this king need to report that to you?” the Reincarnation King retorted coldly.
Gu Hai showed a faint, cold smile.
“Since you are unparalleled in the Go Dao, take a look at this Go board for us. What exactly does it say?” the Reincarnation King said.
“A Go puzzle left by Old Mister Guan Qi?” Gu Hai narrowed his eyes slightly.
“There’s no need for you to bother with who left it behind. You just need to know that you are now only left with your three spiritual souls and are extremely weak. Any random soldier here can make you live a life worse than death,” the Reincarnation King said coldly.
Gu Hai turned his head to examine this Go board.
“Great King, can this fellow solve Old Mister Guan Qi’s Go puzzle?” someone asked the Reincarnation King in a whisper.
“It has been so many years, but no soul has managed to solve it yet. I can only place my hope on him. Furthermore, she said… Furthermore, we heard that Gu Hai had defeated all the Go Dao sages this time,” the Reincarnation King said.
Gu Hai did not argue with the Reincarnation King, as he also wanted a look at this Go board. He did not even need to guess to know that it was Old Mister Guan Qi who had left it behind.
Gu Hai examined the Go board.
This Go board was not very complicated, far from comparable to the Twenty-Nine Line-Pair World Go Puzzle.
After looking for a while, Gu Hai frowned.
“Your Majesty, does the Go board have information that Old Mister Guan Qi left behind?” Bing Ji asked in a whisper.
“The Go stones are very scattered. It looks like a map,” Gu Hai said with a frown.
“A map?” Bing Ji appeared shocked.
“That’s right. Furthermore, it seems to be pointing to a certain direction?” Gu Hai said, appearing curious.
“However, why can’t this subordinate tell?”
“He shifted the positions,” Gu Hai said.
“What do you mean, shifted the positions?”
“He shifted the entire Go board by a few lines in a certain direction. This Go board might be a nineteen line-pair Go board, but Old Mister Guan Qi used a twenty-nine line-pair Go puzzle. He shifted the entire Go board by ten lines.” Gu Hai smiled.
“Shifted by ten positions? In what direction? How is one to find it?”
“It’s very simple. Old Mister Guan Qi starts his first move on the tengen position. We just need to reverse engineer the Go board and find the position of the first move. Then, we will know which direction it is pointing to,” Gu Hai said.
“It’s that simple?”
“Simple? It is not simple at all. Old Mister Guan Qi pointed to a specific direction using this Go board. I don’t know what is there, but it has to be something extremely precious, based on how careful he was.” Gu Hai narrowed his eyes slightly.
“Quickly, speak. Where is it? Where is it?!” The Reincarnation King excitedly stood up from his throne.
“Bring a map over!” Gu Hai called out.
“Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!”
An official soul immediately brought over a large map. Reincarnation City was at the center of the map, and the map showed a vast territory in the surroundings.
“Gu Hai, speak quickly. Where is it? What is there?” the Reincarnation King said excitedly.
Gu Hai compared the map to the Go board, showing a faint, satisfied smile.
“Many thanks for Reincarnation King’s aid!” Gu Hai said with a smile.
“Speak quickly! Where is it?” the Reincarnation King called out.
The surrounding official souls looked at Gu Hai excitedly.
Gu Hai smiled faintly and shook his head.
“How bold of you! The Reincarnation King asked you a question! Why are you not answering yet?!” Magistrate Lu, who escorted Gu Hai, scolded with a glare.
“Old Mister Guan Qi communicated this via a Go puzzle. That means that it is just for people who understand Go, not for everyone. You are better off forgetting about it. Reincarnation King, let us talk about who leaked information about me. Rather, it is time to get her to come out,” Gu Hai said with a smile.
“How audacious! Gu Hai, do you believe that I will whip you to death?!” Magistrate Lu said with a glare.
As Magistrate Lu spoke, a whip appeared in his hand. Then, he cracked it and swung it at Gu Hai.
“That’s Magistrate Lu’s Soul Snatching Whip. Just one lash can beat him half-dead!” a soldier soul whispered.
Crack!
The whip swung towards Gu Hai, but Bing Ji grabbed it out of the air.
“Huh? Loathsome lass, how dare you get in my way?! I was initially thinking of asking the great king for you to make you my concubine after this is over. I’ll kill you now instead!” Magistrate Lu roared with a glare.
“Humph! Reckless fool!” Bing Ji snorted coldly. Then, she flicked her wrist, and cold energy poured out from her hand.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
The cold energy traveled through the whip, quickly freezing it. This shocked Magistrate Lu, and he froze into an ice statue in the blink of an eye.
“What?” The expressions of the surrounding souls changed.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
Magistrate Lu’s body started cracking. Then, he exploded in the next moment, turning into shards and disappearing. Strands of blue soul fragments soared into the sky.
“How audacious!” the surrounding magistrates and soldiers shouted.
Many soldiers immediately charged at the two.
“Did you really think that you suppressed His Majesty and me when you brought us here?” Bing Ji said coldly.
As Bing Ji spoke, she waved her hand, and white, cold energy spread out in all directions.
Whoosh!
The air suddenly chilled, and a heavy snowfall started. Everywhere the white, cold energy went, the soldiers instantly froze into ice like Magistrate Lu. Then, they shattered into fragments in the next moment, scattering in all directions.
Bing Ji destroyed one hundred soldier souls in the blink of an eye.
The expression of the Reincarnation King changed as he tried to sneak away.
Gu Hai raised his head and looked at the Reincarnation King. “Reincarnation King, you had best not move!”
The Reincarnation King’s expression stiffened as he paused.
“Men, capture them! Capture them!” the Reincarnation King roared furiously.
“The three spiritual souls do not have a lot of power. While we are weak, you are not strong, either, right? Hah!” Gu Hai sneered as he walked towards the Reincarnation King.
Rumble…!
Many soldiers rushed towards Gu Hai and Bing Ji.
As Gu Hai walked forward, he utterly ignored what was happening around him. Bing Ji waved her hand, and the snow fell more heavily. Any soul that touched the snow froze and exploded.
“Charge! Charge! You, charge forward!” the official souls called out.
However, a snowy domain formed wherever Bing Ji went, preventing the souls from approaching.
“Your Majesty, they are indeed not even worth a strike. They are just ordinary souls. Previously, Your Majesty bestowed on me the ice spirit. I was able to bring that with me and can use it to pave Your Majesty’s way,” Bing Ji said excitedly.
Gu Hai did not respond. Instead, he continued walking towards the Reincarnation King.
“Men! Quickly capture these two deceitful people!” the Reincarnation King ordered, his voice quavering with horror.
“Anyone who barges into my Icy Snow World will explode!” Bing Ji said coldly.
Rumble…!
Many souls continued to charge over recklessly. However, once they entered the Go arena, they froze and exploded, shattering into soul fragments in the blink of an eye.
Everywhere Bing Ji went, she was indomitable.
Gu Hai walked in front of Bing Ji, making his way to the Reincarnation King.
The Reincarnation King showed horror on his face. “What do you want? Heaven appointed me the Reincarnation King!”
“Heaven appointed you? That’s good. That means that after you die, Heaven will appoint a new Reincarnation King, right?” Gu Hai approached slowly.
The surrounding officials had already fled in fear.
Now, the Reincarnation King alone faced Gu Hai.
“Sage, spare me! Sage, spare me! I…I only got greedy. Someone sent word to me earlier, saying that you could solve Old Mister Guan Qi’s Go puzzle, so…so I fell for temptation. Spare me! Spare me!” The Reincarnation King plopped down on his knees and begged for mercy.
Gu Hai frowned slightly. This is the Reincarnation King that ruled over billions of souls? He knelt so readily?
“Heaven let someone of your quality become the master of souls?” Gu Hai frowned, disbelief in his eyes.
“No, no. There used to be ten thousand Reincarnation Kings. Later on, the rest of them died mysteriously. Hence, I am the only Reincarnation King left!” the Reincarnation King said in fear.
“Mysteriously died? Someone helped you to kill them, right? The three holy lands’ people?” Gu Hai sneered.
“Ah?” The Reincarnation King’s expression changed. It seemed that Gu Hai’s guess had hit the mark.
“Alright, I will not beat about the bush. I want to search for a soul. On my way here, I heard the magistrates say that their Mortal Soul Registers were just copies and that the original was with you. Hand the Mortal Soul Register over to me. After I’m done, I’ll return it to you,” Gu Hai said indifferently.
“Ah? The Mortal Soul Register? No way! Heaven does not permit outsiders to touch it. Otherwise, I will…,” the Reincarnation King exclaimed.
Before the Reincarnation King finished, Gu Hai’s expression turned sullen.
“Should I attack?” Bing Ji asked frostily.
Bing Ji emanated surging cold energy from her hand as she reached for the Reincarnation King.
“No, don’t! I yield! I’ll hand it over!” the Reincarnation King said bitterly amid his horror.
