Book 02 Chapter 069.1: Ninth Young Master’s Dreams Shattered, Part One
Guan Ninth?
Gu Hai gave the white-clad man a suspicious look.
He did not underestimate Guan Ninth. After all, an ordinary person could not make the Northern Sea Go Master and the Southern Sea Go Master so obedient.
“How about this? To make it easy for Mister Gu to evaluate my Go skills, I’ll solve ten Go puzzles for Mister Gu to see first?” Guan Ninth suggested with a smile.
A trace of suspicion appeared on Gu Hai’s face as he nodded.
Guan Ninth’s subordinates immediately rushed into the sky, quickly grabbed ten Go puzzles, and placed them before him.
Guan Ninth glanced at the Go puzzles. Then, he extended his hand, and a suction pulled several Go stones to his hand.
Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack Clack!
Suddenly, Guan Ninth tossed ten white Go stones into the ten Go puzzles.
Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!
The ten Go puzzles started moving.
The surrounding cultivators looked at Guan Ninth in shock.
“Ten Go puzzles? He is solving ten Go puzzles at once?”
“He must be joking. How is he going to solve ten Go puzzles simultaneously?”
“He does not even seem focused on the Go puzzles?”
The crowd looked at Guan Ninth in surprise and shock. However, Gu Hai suddenly raised his eyebrows.
Gu Hai would have made the same moves as Guan Ninth did on all ten Go puzzles.
Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!
Guan Ninth tossed out another ten white Go stones before the Go puzzles moved accordingly.
Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!
On the tenth move, Guan Ninth sent out ten white Go stones as usual.
“It’s solved! He solved the first Go puzzle?”
“The second Go puzzle is solved as well?”
“No, he solved all ten Go puzzles?”
Amid everyone’s loud exclamations, the ten Go boards suddenly turned into clouds and fog as they soared up, surrounding the large floating island in the sky.
“Mister Gu, what do you think?” Guan Ninth smiled.
The surrounding cultivators looked at Guan Ninth in shock. This Guan Ninth was too strange, right?
Were these the Go puzzles that we could not solve earlier? How did he solve these Go puzzles in only a few moves? Furthermore, he did so with such ease, solving ten simultaneously?
This time, Ding Dong personally delivered the spirit stones to Guan Ninth.
“This young master, here are the spirit stones you deserve. Your earlier move was simply too magnificent!” Ding Dong rushed forward, feeling deeply moved.
Guan Ninth glanced at Ding Dong but did not respond to him; he just turned his head away and ignored Ding Dong.
Ding Dong’s expression froze.
Guan Ninth’s subordinates immediately moved forward and said, “Move aside. Don’t disturb our young master!”
Ding Dong turned even more sullen. This is my Dragon Pinning Sect, alright?
“Sect Master Ding, please don’t disturb the young master!” the Southern Sea Go Master said.
“Sect Master Ding, please do not interrupt!” the Northern Sea Go Master said.
Ding Dong: “…”
The two Go masters had traveled throughout the Thousand Islands Sea. Their fame could only be greater than Ding Dong’s and not lesser. At the moment, they behaved like Guan Ninth’s escorts, making Ding Dong feel depressed. The Dragon Pinning Sect Master could only nod and give everyone strange looks.
“Mister Gu, what do you think?” Guan Ninth smiled.
“Young Master Guan Ninth possesses extraordinary Go skills!” Gu Hai nodded.
“Mister Gu, there’s no need to pander to me. You can accomplish the same thing I did. It is just that you don’t want to. You want to figure out the Twenty-Nine Line-Pair World Go Puzzle?” Guan Ninth smiled.
“Yes?” Gu Hai suddenly raised his eyebrows.
“How many Go puzzles are left?” Guan Ninth asked.
“Reporting to Young Master, there’re still one thousand six hundred unsolved Go puzzles!” one of Guan Ninth’s subordinates answered respectfully.
“Bring one thousand Go puzzles over!” Guan Ninth said.
One thousand Go puzzles?
All the surrounding cultivators goggled, thinking Guan Ninth mad.
“Yes!”
Rumble…!
Suddenly, one thousand Go puzzles descended, filling the surroundings.
Ding Dong gaped. What is this Guan Ninth going to do? What is he playing at? Does he intend to solve one thousand Go puzzles simultaneously?
Gu Hai also looked at Guan Ninth in surprise.
Then, Guan Ninth took out a crystal table. A whirlpool on the crystal platform made it look exceptionally strange.
“Toss them in!” Guan Ninth said.
“Yes!”
The group of subordinates quickly tossed the one thousand Go puzzles into the crystal table’s whirlpool. They entered from the top and exited from the bottom.
[TL Note: Think of this table as a thicker version of a Go board. It looks more like a cuboid rather than a flat piece of wood. It likely would be the height of a coffee table or even shorter.]
The Go puzzles did not change as if they just went through a tunnel. However, the whirlpool in the crystal table slowly disappeared, turning into a Go puzzle with twenty-nine line-pairs.
“This is…?” Gu Hai said in shock.
“My Go table can condense these one thousand Go puzzles into one Go board. What you are seeing is the perfect merger of the one thousand Go puzzles. Playing this is equivalent to playing the one thousand Go puzzles,” Guan Ninth explained.
Gu Hai marveled at this Go board.
This Go board had twenty-nine line-pairs with many black and white Go stones on it already. The one thousand Go puzzles surrounded it as if a force field had trapped these one thousand Go puzzles.
“Mister Gu, please!” Guan Ninth invited, smiling.
Gu Hai showed a complicated expression as he nodded.
The two sat down and looked at the crystal Go table before them.
“Mister Gu, please make the first move!” Guan Ninth smiled.
Gu Hai gave Guan Ninth a suspicious look but did not dwell on the matter. Then, he picked up a black Go stone and slowly played it.
Clack!
When Gu Hai made his move, the one thousand Go puzzles surrounding the board all suddenly stirred.
Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!
One thousand black Go stones appeared but no white Go stones. It seemed like these Go puzzles all changed.
Guan Ninth smiled faintly as he picked up a white Go stone and played it on the crystal Go table.
Clack!
Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!
One thousand white Go stones appeared in the one thousand Go puzzles as well.
“This…Guan Ninth is playing on behalf of the Go puzzle?”
“How can it be like this?”
The surrounding cultivators marveled at the strange sight around them.
“There are a total of three thousand Go puzzles. I only used one thousand of them, so only one-third of the Twenty-Nine Line-Pair World Go Puzzle is before you. There will not be any rebound from this. Mister Gu, it’s your move?” Guan Ninth smiled.
Gu Hai nodded and took a deep breath as he carefully observed the Go board.
This Go puzzle hid too many mysteries. As Gu Hai looked at it, he seemed somewhat entranced.
At the side, the Northern Sea Go Master and the Southern Sea Go Master goggled as they looked at this Go board. As they looked, their minds also became immersed in it.
Clack! Clack!
Gu Hai and Guan Ninth leisurely made their moves. The one thousand Go puzzles reacted to their play.
Although the surrounding cultivators could not understand what was happening, they waited patiently.
“This can’t be real, right? Solving one thousand Go puzzles simultaneously?” Ding Dong showed a complicated expression.
Clack! Gu Hai placed down Go stones one by one.
When it reached the twentieth move, his mind suddenly felt dazzled. He seemed to see a huge peony flower.
Buzz!
Gu Hai felt his consciousness enter the peony flower.
——
Boom!
A loud sound suddenly rang out in the peony flower. Gu Hai looked around and found himself above a vast sea with a heavy storm raging. An overwhelming wave charged at him.
“An illusion?” Gu Hai’s expression changed.
Bang!
The wave sent Gu Hai flying.
“Argh!” Gu Hai let out a startled cry as he fell from the sky.
Thud!
Gu Hai landed on an island. Then, he took in his surroundings in shock. Everything seemed real; this was too strange!
“Mister Gu, great comprehension ability. Twenty moves. You managed to enter this mental world in just twenty moves?” A voice suddenly rang out.
“Huh?” Gu Hai turned his head to look.
He saw Guan Ninth, the white-clad man, standing on the island.
“Where is this? Where did my consciousness enter?” Gu Hai asked in shock.
“This is the Go board you are playing. Close your eyes, and you can go out!” Guan Ninth replied with a smile.
Gu Hai narrowed his eyes.