Chapter 38 - Black Piece Awakens

Xiantian Endgame World, a gorgeous big hall, named "Guanqi Hall"...

The Guanqi Hall was extremely dark and dreary; one could only see eighteen vague silhouettes sitting in cross-legged position, but their faces weren't clearly visible.

At the north of the great hall a coffin was placed, it was only thing within the great hall that was bright. Hovering above the coffin was a weiqi board.

The weiqi board wasn't that big, just an ordinary 19 x 19 weiqi board, but unusually, the connecting lines were all golden. However, the weiqi board was filled with pieces at three-hundred-and-sixty-one positions, all the weiqi pieces were crammed onto the board.

The three-hundred-and-sixty-one pieces, of which two hundred were white and one-hundred-and-sixty-one were black, floated in the air gently, emitting a faint light.

The eighteen silhouettes sat quietly inside the great hall, and didn't speak a word.

BUZZ!

Suddenly, one of the black pieces emitted a faint glow. Everyone focused their gazes on the black piece.

The brilliance continued for a good long while before the black piece surprisingly started to change its color gradually. Amid the glow, the black piece gradually turned white.

"Two-hundred-and-one white pieces!" stated one of the figures with a sliver of excitement.

"Yes, Great Elder! Now there are still one-hundred-and-sixty black pieces remaining, when all the black pieces turn white...!" another person said with excitement.

"Choose your words carefully!" the Great Elder's voice once again rang out.

"Yes, this lowly one had a slip of tongue!" that figure said respectfully.

"The Xiantian Endgame World has opened once again. The outsiders will create many variables. This place is the coffin of Hall Lord, nothing can happen here. From now on, we will take turns guarding this place; there must be nine people stationed here always, to prevent anyone from creating a disturbance," the Great Elder ordered in a solemn tone.

"Yes!" the rest obeyed.

"Has Little Nine been warned?" asked the Great Elder unenthusiastically.

"Uh, Great Elder, perhaps we don't need to warn him, Little Nine has suffered a big loss this time!" a person said with a wry smile.

"Oh?"

"He had even mobilized the cloud beast, but encountered Bodhisattva Lian Sheng. Little Nine could only withdraw!"

"Bodhisattva Lian Sheng? He came?" the Great Elder asked in a dignified tone.

"From what I have heard, Bodhisattva Lian Sheng seems to have come for Great Elder; he wants Great Elder to return him the thing which Grandmaster had promised. Great Elder, what did Grandmaster promise to give him?"

The Great Elder remained silent for a while before speaking, "So, he finally came! Bodhisattva Lian Sheng? In the past, he once played a game with Grandmaster, and Grandmaster was moved by his great mercy and promised to help him!"

"Mercy?"

"From the looking at the layout in the game, Grandmaster had seen Lian Sheng’s compa.s.sion for all sentient beings. Even Grandmaster continuously praised his heart. If anyone encounters him again, do not embarra.s.s him, directly bring him to see me! It was very intelligent of Little Nine to retreat. He is not Bodhisattva Lian Sheng's opponent! It is not difficult for someone who played with Grandmaster to break the Sky Saber Life and Death Game," said Great Elder solemnly.

"Well, it wasn't  Bodhisattva Lian Sheng who broke the Sky Saber Life and Death Game, but another person!"

"Oh?"

"It was someone name Gu Hai, I heard he is an Ascendant Hall Throne Master."

"Ascendant Hall? Gu Hai?" The Great Elder was slightly puzzled.

"I heard that he has entered this world just to search for 'Wei Shengren'!”

"Look for Wei Shengren? Do we know why?" Great Elder's tone carried a trace of worry.

"It's Ascendant Hall Lord who is looking for him. Great Elder, should we inform Wei Shengren?"

The Great Elder remained silent for a while before he spoke, shaking his head, "No! Regardless of anything, Wei Shengren cannot be disturbed, he has his mission!"

"Yes!" everyone obeyed.

"Great Elder, Little Nine mobilizing the cloud beast this time may have sped up the appearance of golden weiqi pieces everywhere. The outsiders will once again begin to fight for our Weiqi Empyrean Court treasures! Why is it that every time they plunder, we don't stop them and let them continue to rob? We don't need to pay so much!"

"This is Grandmaster's instruction, we have to comply. As long as the Hundred Years Longevity Peach Tree is fine, we will let them rob other treasures!"

"But..." that person said unwillingly.

"Alright! This is an order!" said Great Elder coldly.

"Yes!"

------

Carefree Valley...

Gu Hai, Gao Xianzhi, Chen Tianshan, Little Rou, and Bodhisattva Lian Sheng returned to the previous cave again.

The earlier turbulence had not affected this peak at all. The cave was still brightly lit by the luminous pearls.

It was just that the pool was completely empty, revealing three huge holes. At the bottom of a pool a jade disc was floating.

Gao Xianzhi sat next to the circular jade disc, stretched his hand and placed it on the jade disc. After a good long while...

BUZZ!...

The jade disc trembled as a golden light spread out from Gao Xianzhi's palm.

Opening his eyes, a sliver of surprise flashed past Gao Xianzhi as he looked at his palm. In his palm was an extra golden piece.

"This is? Isn't this the golden piece that Ninth Young Master used to summon the cloud beast? How did it appear in my hand?" asked Gao Xianzhi, astonished.

"Gao Xianzhi, you have been sitting here for three days, completely still. What happened?" asked Gu Hai, perplexed.

Looking at the golden piece in his hand, Gao Xianzhi tried to recall for a moment before he shook his head and said, "I also don't know. I vaguely seems to remember someone teaching me weiqi. We kept on playing and playing, until a moment ago, when that person acknowledged me. Finally, he gave me a golden piece, but it was in a dream. How did this golden piece appear in my hand now?" Gao Xianzhi replied in confusion.

Gu Hai's party looked at Bodhisattva Lian Sheng.

Bodhisattva Lian Sheng slightly smiled and said, "Don't look at me, I also don't know. This golden piece was hidden inside this array diagram!"

"Array diagram?"

"It's this jade disc, it's a magical item of the Weiqi Empyrean Court refined by Elder Guanqi in the past to motivate this land to produce spirit pools. This jade disc was always hidden underground until it was found by me!" Bodhisattva Lian Sheng replied, smiling.

"Spirit pool? This natural array, no, this array which could create a spirit pool, was actually this magical item refined by Elder Guanqi?" Chen Tianshan's eyes became slightly red.

A magical item that could create a spirit pool. How could it not move Chen Tianshan's heart?

Bodhisattva Lian Sheng said, smiling, "The most this array diagram can contain is three golden pieces. You can slowly retrieve them by using the same approach as Gao Xianzhi. After you have retrieved all of them, you can also take this array diagram, don't let anyone else discover it. Once it's discovered, it will cause countless people to hunt you down!"

"Bodhisattva Lian Sheng, you don't want it?" Gu Hai looked at Bodhisattva Lian Sheng in some surprise.

All three golden pieces and the array diagram were given to their party? 

Bodhisattva Lian Sheng slightly smiled and said, "No, this thing is useless to me. I have to go now, to look for the Weiqi Empyrean Court Great Elder. Be careful here!"

"Thank you very much, Bodhisattva Lian Sheng!" Chen Tianshan immediately thanked him excitedly.

Gu Hai, on the other hand, looked at Bodhisattva Lian Sheng, furrowing his brow, "Bodhisattva Lian Sheng, I or anyone else in my party have never crossed paths with Bodhisattva in the past, yet why does Bodhisattva always help us? Why did Bodhisattva hand all these extreme treasures to us?"

Everyone looked at Bodhisattva Lian Sheng.

Bodhisattva Lian Sheng looked at Little Rou and said, "Throne Master Gu, you always make me feel as if we are the same kind of person. There are not many people walking on the same road as mine. I could meet one, you can consider it as fate!"

Gu Hai looked at Bodhisattva Lian Sheng, his eyes flickering with uncertainty, yet he could only nod.

Looking at Gu Hai, Bodhisattva Lian Sheng remained silent for a moment before speaking, "However, as a matter of fact, I felt a familiar aura from Throne Master Gu's body!"

"Oh?" A sliver of confusion showed up on Gu Hai's face.

"It's not you, it should be someone who had once come in contact with you, and a trace of his aura has been left on your body. It's very mysterious!" stated Bodhisattva Lian Sheng thoughtfully.

"Someone who came in contact with me?" Gu Hai looked at Bodhisattva Lian Sheng curiously.

"This is my unique ability, it should not be wrong! I don't have much time to investigate this matter. I may also have to make an exchange in the near future; at that time, if I encountered some trouble, I may have to ask Throne Master Gu to do me a favor!" Bodhisattva Lian Sheng said with a smile.

"Bodhisattva, you are too polite. As long as I, Gu Hai can do it, I will spare no effort!" stated Gu Hai solemnly.

Bodhisattva Lian Sheng nodded as he put his palms together and said, "If that's the case, let's meet again if fate is willing!"

"Fare thee well, Bodhisattva Lian Sheng!" everyone returned  the salute together.

They sent Bodhisattva Lian Sheng graciously off, and out of the cave, bearing their grat.i.tude.

Bodhisattva Lian Sheng was also eager to leave and soon disappeared from everyone's view.

After Bodhisattva Lian Sheng left, everyone returned to the cave again.

Gao Xianzhi, who was last, buried the cave carefully, preventing others from discovering it.

"Gao Xianzhi, now that you have obtained the golden piece, give it a try. Let's see whether or not you can also mobilize the heaven and earth forces and congeal a cloud beast?" asked Chen Tianshan anxiously.

Gao Xianzhi shook his head, looking at Gu Hai.

"Oh?" Chen Tianshan was slightly confused.

"The commotion created by congealing a cloud beast is too big. Let's test it after we have retrieved all the golden pieces!" ordered Gu Hai, shaking his head.

"Oh, that's right!" Chen Tianshan replied immediately, nodding.

"Chen Tianshan, come give it a try! Retrieve the second golden piece!" said Gu Hai calmly.

"Yes!" Chen Tianshan suddenly became excited.

Having sat down in a cross-legged position, Chen Tianshan stretched his hand out and pressed it upon the jade disc.

BUZZ!...

A white flash of light suddenly appeared from the jade disc as Chen Tianshan was entranced, seemingly meditating.

"Throne Master, did this subordinate was also like this a while ago?" asked Gao Xianzhi with a slightly ashen look on his face.

Gu Hai nodded and said, "That's right, your mind should have been drawn in by the array diagram! Gao Xianzhi, did you feel any kind of discomfort?"

Gao Xianzhi closed his eyes, thinking for a moment, before he shook his head, "I didn't feel any discomfort. In my dream, I seemed to have been taught weiqi. My weiqi learning appeared to be in the complete control of the old man in my dreams. This subordinate didn't like that kind of feeling, it felt as if I had no control over myself!"

After three days...

BUZZ!...

Chen Tianshan's figure quivered as he suddenly woke up.

"Hahaha, I have also obtained a golden piece!" shouted out Chen Tianshan excitedly.

"Did you also feel like you were in a dream, just like Gao Xianzhi?" Gu Hai asked, perplexed.

"Yeah, that's right. It's a bit hazy though, I can't remember it clearly, it feels like an old man in my dream was teaching me weiqi!" Chen Tianshan replied as he knit his brow.

Gu Hai stared at the jade disc in silence for a moment, before taking a deep breath and slowly sitting down.

Gu Hai stretched his hand out and placed it on the disc.

Once again, a white flash of light emerged before Gu Hai entered into a trance-like state, like he was meditating.

Swis.h.!.+

Gu Hai felt everything becoming hazy in his mind suddenly. Unbeknownst to him, his mind had entered some kind of dream. In the blink of an eye, Gu Hai felt disoriented.

But at this time, the black piece in the s.p.a.ce at his glabella shook suddenly.

BOOM!

A thunderous sound seemed to have woken Gu Hai's mind from its stupor immediately, waking Gu Hai up.

The moment he was awake, Gu Hai discovered that in the s.p.a.ce of his glabella, his mind had congealed an illusionary body that was sitting inside the s.p.a.ce at his glabella.

Next to the illusionary body was that black weiqi piece that brought him from Earth to this world. Just a moment ago, it was that very black piece that shook and woke him up, or else, he would still be in a trance.

Gu Hai was terrified, as well shocked.

In the s.p.a.ce of his glabella, the black piece was the lord of the world. Underneath it were a hundred thousand weiqi boards that had a hundred thousand endgames placed upon them. Everything appeared as it had before, but at this moment, the s.p.a.ce in his glabella was shrouded in a mist, as though a billowing sea of clouds had invaded Gu Hai's mind.

Avague, white-haired old man sat in a cross-legged position amid the sea of clouds.

Gu Hai could not clearly see the appearance of the white-haired old man. Although he was close by, he was extremely vague. Placed before the white-haired old man was a weiqi board. However, this weiqi board was extremely strange, it had a 20 x 20 grid.

"Sit down, let me take a look at your weiqi skills!" the white-haired old man said slowly.

"This lowly one is Gu Hai, I wonder who your excellency is...?" Gu Hai asked calmly.

"Sit down, let me take a look at your weiqi skills!"

"Sit down, let me take a look at your weiqi skills!"

"Sit down, let me take a look at your weiqi skills!"

The white-haired old man seemed to have not heard Gu Hai's question, he kept on repeating.

Gu Hai narrowed his eyes, this old man wasn't a spiritual body!? He was just like a human puppet that had been pre-programmed.

Gu Hai did not resist and sat down slowly.

In the blink of an eye, two people were seated facing across a weiqi board.

"Play a game of weiqi with me, and this golden weiqi piece will be yours!" The old man's voice was completely lacking in emotion.