Chapter 43: Go Dao Ritual Array
Gao Xianzhe and Chen Tianshan rode on their cloud beasts and soared into the sky. However, the two did not notice that many strange things had already happened in Carefree Valley.
Of course, these strange things were not obvious on the surface.
An unknown fragrance spread out in all directions from Carefree Valley. The fragrance was very faint and special. Even Gao Xianzhi and Chen Tianshan did not notice it.
A line of ants carrying food marched under a tree when the fragrance suddenly wafted over.
Buzz!
All the ants froze on the spot. Then, they turned their heads and tossed away the food in their jaws.
The ants changed directions and slowly crawled towards the source of the fragrance.
The ants were tiny, but there were many of them.
While the fragrance was faint, it held a fatal attraction for the ants.
The fragrance continued to spread out in all directions, attracting ants from even farther away.
The ants put down everything they did and continuously crawled towards the cave where Gu Hai was.
The ants were too small, so they crawled very slowly. When they got hungry, they searched for food along the way. When they got tired, they rested. After they recovered, they continued on their journey to Gu Hai’s cave.
The tiny ants could not catch Gao Xianzhi and Chen Tianshan’s attention at all.
Who could have expected ants?
Two days after Gao Xianzhi and Chen Tianshan left, the first batch of ants slowly gathered in Carefree Valley. Even so, they did not seem remarkable.
The first batch of ants did not rush to Gu Hai’s cave. Instead, they started killing each other.
The ants only started to approach the cave when more ants arrived.
Gao Xianzhi and Chen Tianshan had hidden the cave entrance, leaving only some small holes for air to enter. However, these were like broad, open roads for ants. Furthermore, ants were capable of digging.
——
Inside the cave:
Gao Xianzhi and Chen Tianshan had made arrangements for Xiaorou to remain and take care of Gu Hai. Naturally, Xiaorou had not hesitated to agree to that request. Furthermore, she had agreed happily.
Xiaorou watched Gu Hai as he sat there cross-legged. Then, she moved around Gu Hai, sometimes leaning her head on his leg. As she sniffed the fragrance coming from Gu Hai, she felt intoxicated.
As for Gu Hai, he remained completely immersed in the space within his forehead.
——
At this moment, the one hundred thousand Go puzzles continuously moved and merged, forming large Go puzzles after four connected.
The black Go stone remained cold and silent, watching aloofly from above without moving.
The illusory body of Gu Hai’s consciousness stared at the white crystal under the black Go stone. The white crystal had a Go board with twenty-eight line pairs, and the Go stones on it were moving increasingly faster.
Something seemed to be drawing on Gu Hai’s consciousness. He slowly came to see something.
“Using Go to control ritual arrays?” The eyes of Gu Hai’s illusory body lit up.
“This Go board is showing me how to use Go to lay a ritual array? The ritual array Dao is very complicated, split into Yin and Yang, balancing each other. The white Go stone is Yang and governs life. The black Go stone is Yin and governs death. The Go Dao is the ritual array Dao? It uses Go stones as nodes to lay a Go-shaped ritual array? Old Mister Guan Qi’s Go Dao ritual array? The strength of one’s Go skills decides the strength of the ritual array?” Gu Hai said in shock.
Perhaps ritual arrays were not this simple. However, the Go board before Gu Hai showed him a special way of laying ritual arrays. Using Go to lay ritual arrays was not limited to just Yinyang ritual arrays or life-and-death ritual arrays. Go skills equaled ritual array strength.
The Go board in front seemed to be demonstrating every detail of the Go Dao ritual array, teaching Gu Hai how to convert his Go skills into combat prowess. This held a stronger attraction for him than any other cultivation technique.
Gu Hai possessed strong Go skills. However, he could only use them for his pleasure, training strategies, or special circumstances. The demonstration before him taught him how to use his Go skills destructively.
The stronger his Go skills, the stronger the destructive force.
This was teaching Gu Hai how to put theory into practice. It turned out that Go skills could be used in such a way.
“This Go board is showing a sort of balance, the balance of a Go Dao ritual array? Demonstrating various changes? Old Mister Guan Qi truly lived up to his reputation as the best Go player in the world. It turned out that this is one of the Heavenly Dao?” Determination flashed in Gu Hai’s eyes.
Now, Gu Hai focused even more, completely immersed in this Go board, not wanting to miss out on any detail. Perhaps only people with strong Go skills, like Gu Hai, would see so deeply into this. For other people, it would be just an ordinary Go board.
——
The Go stones moved around endlessly, giving off a vague energy and fragrance. As the fragrance wafted out, Xiaorou sniffed it and stared at Gu Hai in a daze.
After some time passed:
“Ah!”
Xiaorou suddenly felt pain in her tail, like a wound had opened there and blood poured out.
She startled awake and turned her head to look.
“Ah!”
Xiaorou shrieked at the sight of blood flowing out at her tail. Thousands of ants were crawling on her tail, consuming her blood. That was not the more horrifying thing. The most horrifying thing was that ants filled the cave, covering every bit of visible surface.
“How could it be like this? How could it be like this?” Xiaorou exclaimed.
Bang!
Xiaorou curled up her body and swung her tail, immediately knocking away a large number of ants.
However, ants already filled the cave. There were even more at the entrance, like a small mountain blocking it.
“There are so many ants? Why are there so many ants?” Xiaorou exclaimed.
Turning her head, Xiaorou looked at Gu Hai.
“Benefactor, quickly wake up! It’s not good! Benefactor!” Xiaorou nearly cried from her anxiety.
However, Gu Hai was completely immersed in that Go board at this moment, growing increasingly focused on it. The Go Dao ritual array looked simple, but it contained many variations. Even with Gu Hai’s astonishing intelligence, he had to focus fully.
Once Gu Hai focused fully, he could not hear anything that happened outside.
“Benefactor, quickly wake up!” Xiaorou cried out anxiously.
However, Gu Hai did not wake up at all.
Countless ants continued pouring towards Gu Hai.
“Oh no! It’s that fragrance! It must be that fragrance!” Xiaorou exclaimed.
The endless wave of ants poured towards Gu Hai.
“Don’t touch my benefactor! Don’t touch my benefactor! Go die!” Xiaorou cried out.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Xiaorou quickly swung her tail, flinging away the ants. However, the ants were too tiny. Even when swinging her tail, she could not get rid of all of them. There would always be some that got through and continued towards Gu Hai.
Xiaorou felt extremely anxious as she attacked the ants.
“No! No! The number of ants is increasing. I need to bring Benefactor away. If we remain here, we will be eaten by ants sooner or later!” Xiaorou cried out.
The ants were tiny and did not have a strong offense. However, it was different when there were too many of them. Just like how many drops of water formed a sea, the same went for ants. Now, the ants had already bitten out two small wounds on Xiaorou’s body.
Xiaorou looked at the cave entrance.
“Move away! Move away! Move away!”
Boom!
Xiaorou charged at the cave entrance, knocking away many ants. She wanted to break out of the cave and bring Gu Hai away.
Rustle! Rustle! Rustle! Rustle!
Countless ants blocked the passageway. Although Xiaorou was sentient, she did not have the corresponding cultivation. After all, she was only eight years old; how powerful could she be? She could only rely on brute force to smash her way through.
Boom!
A loud sound rang out as Xiaorou cleared the entrance, knocking away all the wood, dirt, and stone used to conceal it.
However, Xiaorou immediately held her breath after knocking the entrance open. The scene outside the cave completely shocked her.
“Hiss!” Xiaorou inhaled sharply.
Carefree Valley appeared black, like a black sea.
This black sea was made up of countless ants. As they scurried over, the ants appeared like waves.
“Ah!”
Xiaorou immediately started crying from her shock.
The ants in the cave already fatigued Xiaorou. However, the black sea in Carefree Valley dashed Xiaorou’s final hope.
It seemed like ants filled the entire world.
“How could there be so many?! How could there be so many?! Benefactor! Benefactor!” Xiaorou cried out in fear.
However, when she turned her head, she saw a multitude of ants crawling over to Gu Hai.
“No! Don’t hurt Benefactor. You ants! Scram! Scram!” Xiaorou immediately charged over, continuously swinging her tail at every ant and sweeping away the ant army on Gu Hai’s body.
Rustle! The ants tirelessly rushed over, and more ants continued to scurry over from outside.
“Benefactor, quickly wake up! Sob! Sob! Sob! Quickly wake up!” Xiaorou cried.
Xiaorou continuously swung her tail, flinging away the ants on Gu Hai’s body. Plenty of injuries appeared on her tough tail. Although the ants were small, they could bite hard, hurting her.
“Benefactor!” Xiaorou kept calling out.
However, Gu Hai could not hear at all.
In the blink of an eye, the sea of ants poured into the cave. Now, a layer of ants covered the ground with countless ant corpses. The ants seemed to want to eat Gu Hai, the source of the fragrance.
The ants were more interested in the fragrance. They only bit Xiaorou because she obstructed them. If Xiaorou charged out, she could escape the ant sea. However, she did not. She continuously swung her tail to the point of exhaustion.
“What should I do? What should I do?”
Xiaorou quickly pulled on Gu Hai, dragging him outside the cave.
“Scram! Scram!” Xiaorou shouted in horror.
Everywhere she went, millions of ants climbed onto her body, continuously biting her. It seemed like they wanted Xiaorou to put down Gu Hai so they could eat him.
“I will not let you hurt Benefactor! I will not! Sob! Sob! Sob! Sob! Benefactor, quickly wake up! What should I do?” Xiaorou cried as she fled.
The ants kept climbing onto her, biting her tail bloody.
Xiaorou pulled Gu Hai out of the cave. However, he was the source of the fragrance. Wherever he went, the ant army would go.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Xiaorou frantically swung her tail as she charged out of the valley. However, the boundless ants frantically scurried over and bit her.
Xiaorou gritted her teeth. She cried as she swung her tail. The ants had already bitten her flesh open, making her bleed. She nearly fainted from the heart-wrenching pain several times, but she persisted.
“I cannot sleep. If I sleep, the ants will eat Benefactor. Sob! Sob! Sob! I cannot sleep. I must protect Benefactor!” This strong thought supported Xiaorou.
However, there were simply too many ants outside. After Xiaorou escaped from the cave, she got lost in the sea of ants, unable to get her bearings. Furthermore, the number of ants would not lessen, only increase.
More blood flowed out. Xiaorou did not know how long she could last. The ants had already mangled her body, weakening her to the point of nearly fainting several times.
“I cannot sleep! I cannot sleep!” Xiaorou trembled as she swung her mangled tail.
——
At the same time, above the white crystal in the space within Gu Hai’s forehead:
Clack!
When the last white Go stone landed on the Go board, the Go board exploded and thoroughly scattered as a final wave of energy. The final waves of fragrance also spread out.
Buzz!
Gu Hai’s consciousness trembled, finally waking up.
“What a strong Go Dao ritual array!” Gu Hai exclaimed.
It finally came to an end. The earlier scenes left a rich aftertaste, lingering in his memories. Joy surged into his heart. He understood that he had gained a great inheritance, or rather, he had learned the method to use the Go Dao. With this inheritance, his strength would increase by several levels.
As Gu Hai basked in his excitement, he suddenly heard a faint voice.
“I cannot sleep! I cannot sleep!”
Xiaorou’s feeble voice entered Gu Hai’s ears.
“Huh?” Gu Hai suddenly opened his eyes.