Book 02 Chapter 068: Guan Ninth
The Northern Sea Go Master and the Southern Sea Go Master were doing their best to resolve the Go puzzles before them. Suddenly, they both received a voice projection in their ears.
The two’s expressions changed as they raised their heads.
“Master, what’s wrong?”
“Master, do you need something?”
The disciples asked, feeling curious. However, the two Go masters ignored them. Instead, the two turned their heads to look at Gu Hai.
Initially, the two had focused on playing Go. They did not even bother to take a second look when Gu Hai arrived. After hearing Ninth Young Master’s instructions, they immediately stopped what they were doing.
Now, another five Go puzzles lay before Gu Hai. However, he did not rush to solve them. Instead, he scrutinized every Go puzzle as he played unhurriedly.
The Northern Sea Go Master and the Southern Sea Go Master slowly made their way over to Gu Hai.
The disciples and servants all felt curious. However, the two Go masters ignored them. Before the eyes of the one thousand-odd cultivators Gu Hai brought, the two walked to Gu Hai’s Go puzzles.
Everyone gave the two Go masters strange looks. Gu Hai also raised his head to glance at the two.
“Mister Gu!” the Southern Sea Go Master greeted with a serious tone.
“Greetings, Mister Gu!” the Northern Sea Go Master also greeted Gu Hai with a serious tone.
These two were Nascent Soul cultivators, while Gu Hai was only an Innate Realm cultivator. The two’s exquisitely polite behavior confused the surrounding cultivators.
Gu Hai’s fame already grew this great? Indeed, he knew the Twenty-Eight Line-Pair World Ritual Array and had killed countless First Song Sect disciples. However, his strength was still weaker than that of Nascent Soul Realm cultivators.
The two were polite to Gu Hai not because of his fame but because of Ninth Young Master’s attention to him. Naturally, the two could tell that Ninth Young Master thought highly of him, more so than them.
“Oh? Northern Sea Go Master, Southern Sea Go Master? Do the two of you have any advice?” Gu Hai asked, feeling bewildered.
“I’m not worthy of offering advice. This humble one was just anxious to display my skill and would like to compare my Go skills with Mister Gu’s!” the Southern Sea Go Master said seriously.
“This humble one, as well. I sincerely ask for Mister Gu to bestow your advice to us!” the Northern Sea Go Master said.
“Huh?”
“Is this considered the Southern Sea Go Master and the Northern Sea Go Master challenging Mister Gu?”
“That can’t be. These two Go masters have been famous for a long time. They are challenging Gu Hai?”
The surrounding cultivators revealed expressions of surprise.
Not far away, Ding Dong also revealed surprise on his face.
The appearances of the Northern Sea Go Master and the Southern Sea Go Master are very strange. They actually challenged Gu Hai out of nowhere now?
This…should I report this to Aunt?
Ding Dong had not gone far. Instead, he remained nearby to observe.
Not far away, the Life Slaughterer Go Master also stopped playing. He remained seated and looked over curiously. The black-clad person seated next to him, who seemed to be a female, held his arm, apparently fearful.
The Life Slaughterer Go Master consoled the black-clad woman as he continued looking in Gu Hai’s direction.
Gu Hai stared at the two Go masters with surprise flashing in his eyes as he pondered the two’s purpose in approaching him.
The two looked at Gu Hai with an overwhelming battle hunger mixed with faint traces of anxiety in their eyes.
Gu Hai smiled faintly and suggested, “How about this? We are all here to solve the Go puzzles here. I previously solved more than one hundred Go puzzles and discovered that the difficulty of the Go puzzles is mostly similar. How about we compete using the Go puzzles?”
“Alright!”
“Please go ahead!”
The two Go masters agreed, feeling satisfied.
Gu Hai nodded, then ignored the two to focus on solving the five Go puzzles before him.
The two Go masters imitated Gu Hai, getting their disciples to bring them five Go puzzles. However, they did not look at the Go puzzles but waited for Gu Hai to finish his current five.
Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!
Gu Hai soon solved the five Go puzzles. Then, some cultivators quickly went to retrieve another set of five.
“Mister Gu, do you need to rest first?” the Southern Sea Go Master asked.
“There’s no need. Let’s begin!” Gu Hai replied with a faint smile.
“Great!” the Northern Sea Go Master and the Southern Sea Go Master answered.
The three immediately looked at their respective five Go puzzles.
Gu Hai was unaffected by this competition. He maintained his earlier pace, pondering the concept behind the Go puzzles and not just solving them. Even so, the speed he played his Go stones and solved the Go puzzles was extremely fast.
Clack! Clack! Clack!
However, the Southern Sea Go Master and the Northern Sea Go Master became incredibly tense when solving five Go puzzles at the same time. This was much more difficult than when they worked on one puzzle at a time earlier. Moreover, the two’s eagerness to win made them hastier in playing their moves. Due to their impulsive moves in the beginning, they had to think more later.
The two anxiously played their moves, and the many cultivators in the surroundings were on tenterhooks as they watched.
“This is a good thing!” Ding Dong smiled as he stood in the distance.
——
After half an hour:
Clack!
The Southern Sea Go Master solved one Go puzzle.
Clack!
The Northern Sea Go Master solved one Go puzzle.
However, Gu Hai continued to make his moves leisurely.
Having solved one Go puzzle each, the Southern Sea Go Master and the Northern Sea Go Master were thrilled. They continued looking at the other four Go puzzles and making their moves.
As the two played their Go stones, sweat started to bead their foreheads. After all, playing became more difficult as time passed.
In the end, playing in a rush had an effect. When the two had solved four Go puzzles each with only one remaining, Gu Hai had yet to solve even a single one.
Continue!
The two Go masters pushed on, doing their best to solve their last Go puzzles.
Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!
Gu Hai slowly played five Go stones.
“Mister Gu solved five Go puzzles at the same time!” someone immediately cried out.
Clack! Clack! The two Go masters continued playing Go stones.
“The Southern Sea Go Master solved the final Go puzzle! The Northern Sea Go Master solved the final Go puzzle as well!”
The three solved all five Go puzzles nearly at the same time.
After the Dragon Pinning Sect disciples sent over the spirit stones, cultivators quickly helped the three bring over five more Go puzzles each, as if competing in speed.
The Southern Sea Go Master and the Northern Sea Go Master immersed themselves in the Go puzzles again. However, Gu Hai glanced at the two, finding their demeanor strange. Why are they putting in so much effort to compete with me that sweat covers their foreheads?
Gu Hai shook his head before turning to look at the next five Go puzzles.
“Who do you think will win?”
“Probably the Southern Sea Go Master? His offense is the most ferocious!”
“I think it will be the Northern Sea Go Master. His solutions are the most thorough!”
“No, I think it will be Mister Go. He is the calmest!”
——
In the pavilion building not far away, Ninth Young Master narrowed his eyes.
“Young Master, can the Northern Sea Go Master or the Southern Sea Go Master win?” one of his subordinates asked out of curiosity.
“Both of them have already lost,” Ninth Young Master sighed, shaking his head.
“Ah? This is just the beginning, right?!”
“Yes, it’s just the beginning. However, did you see the expressions of the three? The Northern Sea Go Master and the Southern Sea Go Master are going all out, and sweat covers their foreheads. Now, look at Gu Hai. From the start until now, his expression has not changed at all,” Ninth Young Master said indifferently.
“But…!”
“The Southern Sea Go Master and the Northern Sea Go Master are looking only at the surface of the puzzles and not the concept. However, Gu Hai’s earlier sentence about the difficulty of these Go puzzles being mostly similar shows that he already figured out the concept,” Ninth Young Master explained.
“The Go concept?”
“The three thousand Go puzzles are just one big Go puzzle. The two Go masters still have not comprehended this, hence their difficulties. Gu Hai has plenty of maneuvering space. Although he is solving the Go puzzles, he is more focused on comprehending the concept. What a strong comprehension ability!” Ninth Young Master said, his voice sinking.
Ninth Young Master’s subordinates all appeared confused.
“Just continue watching. Gu Hai will continue solving the Go puzzles like this. As for the Southern Sea Go Master and the Northern Sea Go Master…” Ninth Young Master narrowed his eyes.
Indeed, Gu Hai remained calm and leisurely. However, the two Go masters found the going increasingly more difficult, increasingly more agonizing. It would have been fine if they slowed down. However, this was a competition. They could not slow down, only speed up.
Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!
Gu Hai played five Go stones and solved the five Go puzzles before him simultaneously.
The two Go masters played their moves, solving their set of five Go puzzles as well. However, they were again a little slower than Gu Hai.
“Continue!” the Northern Sea Go Master said anxiously.
The two Go masters immediately continued solving Go puzzles.
Everyone stared at the Go puzzles, watching the intense competition.
Soon, ten hours had passed.
During these ten hours, Gu Hai solved two hundred Go puzzles. The Southern Sea Go Master and the Northern Sea Go Master likewise solved two hundred Go puzzles each.
“Did you all notice that Mister Gu’s pace of play is steady? He also takes the same number of moves to solve every puzzle?” someone exclaimed.
“Ah? Yes, that seems to be the case. He always solves his five Go puzzles simultaneously?”
“That’s true. Why is Mister Gu’s play so even?”
The surrounding cultivators all looked at Gu Hai in shock.
By then, the Northern Sea Go Master and the Southern Sea Go Master both appeared somewhat dazed due to the intense mental strain. The hands that held the Go stones trembled as if they were both mentally and physically exhausted.
“Master, stop playing!”
“Master, let’s stop!”
The Go masters’ disciples cried out apprehensively.
“Scram!”
“Shut up!”
The two Go masters scolded their disciples and continued solving the Go puzzles with all their might.
The surrounding cultivators could see Gu Hai’s advantage. Clearly, the scales had already tipped in Gu Hai’s favor.
Naturally, the happiest person was Ding Dong. Six hundred Go puzzles. This competition resulted in six hundred solved Go puzzles. That was very fast. If they maintained this pace, might they…
Blargh!
Suddenly, the Northern Sea Go Master vomited a mouthful of blood onto the Go board.
“Master!”
Blargh!
The Southern Sea Go Master also vomited blood onto the Go board.
“Master!”
The two’s disciples immediately rushed over anxiously.
The two Go masters had played until they were utterly mentally and physically exhausted. After they vomited blood, they looked withered like mummies.
Gu Hai suddenly stopped playing. He frowned as he looked at the two Go masters and asked, “Are the two of you alright?”
The Northern Sea Go Master smiled bitterly. “Mister Gu, great Go skills!”
“Playing Go is something enjoyable in the first place. The two of you should not put the cart before the horse. Many thanks to the two of you for going easy!” Gu Hai said seriously.
“Gu Hai, what are you? Do you think that it is your place to lecture our masters?!” the disciples of both Go masters shouted angrily.
“Shut up!” both the Northern Sea Go Master and the Southern Sea Go Master scolded.
Continuing to glare at Gu Hai, the disciples protested anxiously, “But, Master—”
“Your disciples are unable to swallow their frustration. Gu Hai could have won long ago, but he dragged it out until now, causing you to vomit blood!” Suddenly, a voice came from behind the two Go masters.
“Huh?” Everyone looked over.
They saw a white-clad man sauntering over, holding a folding fan. A group of gray-clad subordinates trailed him.
The Southern Sea Go Master’s and the Northern Sea Go Master’s expressions immediately changed. Just as they were about to stand up to greet this person, the white-clad man waved his hand, inhibiting the two from getting up and saying anything.
Gu Hai stared at the white-clad man before looking at the two Go masters’ expressions. Did they challenge me because this white-clad man instigated them?
“Mister Gu, this humble one has studied Go a little. If you do not feel it beneath you, how about we compete once? Consider it as giving me a chance to help the two Go masters regain some face?” the white-clad man suggested with a smile.
The surrounding cultivators showed strange looks as they looked at the white-clad man. Who is this person? Where did he come from? What bold words! He is going to regain face for the two Go masters?
“If you want to play Go, this Gu gladly welcomes you. However, I’ve yet to know how to address your distinguished self,” Gu Hai replied, feeling curious.
“This humble one is Guan Ninth!” the white-clad man said with a smile.
Guan Ninth? The surrounding cultivators turned contemplative. Who was Guan Ninth? They had never heard of this person in the Thousand Islands Sea before.