Everlasting Immortal Firmament

Book 02 Chapter 093: Three Births All Things

“Gu Hai, you solved the Go puzzle? If you receive the inheritance, does that mean that the life puzzle and death puzzle will end? Then, the venerable and the others can be saved?” Long Wanqing suddenly exclaimed in pleasant surprise.

“Indeed! Adoptive Father, no matter what it contains, shouldn’t you take it first?” Gu Qin said happily.

Only Gu Hai frowned as he sat in front of the Go puzzle. He recalled Ninth Young Master’s helplessness. Ninth Young Master even went to the extent of searching for a substitute.

Others might not know what was in the inheritance, but Gu Hai knew a little. Eighth Young Master? If he accepted the inheritance, he would be Eighth Young Master?

Gu Hai felt silent.

“Gu Hai, quickly receive the inheritance. At that time, the dragon vein will be yours. I’ll give you my Dragon Luring Jade!” Long Wanqing said anxiously.

The dragon vein?

This was one of the reasons why Gu Hai did not hesitate to come.

Initially, Gu Hai did not care about the dragon vein. However, after reading the Heavenly Dynasty Outline that Yao Zhengtian gave him, he discovered how important the dragon vein was.

Now, there was an opportunity before him to obtain a dragon vein. Was he going to give up? If he gave up this opportunity, would there be another one in the future?

Gu Hai remained silent for a long time.

Countless cultivators looked at Gu Hai in confusion, not knowing what Gu Hai felt conflicted about.

After thinking for a while, Gu Hai made up his mind. He slowly retrieved a Go stone and placed it on tengen.

Buzz!

When Gu Hai set the Go stone down, the peony flower suddenly emitted a bright golden light. Then, the peony flower turned transparent, aside from the life puzzle and the death puzzle, which remained the same. Now, it seemed like everyone stood on a gigantic transparent flower.

The golden light came from below the peony flower, where a huge dragon head was.

“Roar!”

The peony flower sealed a colossal, golden dragon head. Just the head alone was apparently one hundred kilometers long. It looked ferocious as it roared. However, the peony flower suppressed it, preventing it from moving, making it extremely furious and anxious.

A fist-sized eight-colored peony flower hovered between the gigantic peony flower and the dragon head. The eight-colored peony flower spun slowly, looking illusory. The eight-colored light it radiated shook everyone’s heart. It vaguely seemed like the light contained many densely packed tiny characters.

“Is that the dragon vein?”

“What is that fist-sized peony? There seem to be many words floating in it?”

“Could the inheritance that Meng Tai and the others mentioned earlier be Old Mister Guan Qi’s inheritance?”

“That eight-colored peony flower is Old Mister Guan Qi’s inheritance?”

Boom!

The fifty thousand cultivators outside immediately felt excited.

If it were just the dragon vein, everyone could still remain rational. However, it was Old Mister Guan Qi’s inheritance; they could not remain rational. That inheritance could lead to them becoming the strongest in the world.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, hundreds of people rushed forward, charging at the gigantic transparent peony flower.

“Mine!”

“You bastard, don’t snatch it from me!”

“Mine! Mine!”

Hundreds of people rushed to the gigantic peony flower.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

A large suction came from the peony flower, suddenly pulling in the hundreds of people and turning them into Go stones, making them vanish before everyone.

Close to a thousand people rushed forward and got sucked into the death puzzle.

The people outside finally calmed down significantly as they started at the scene before them in confusion.

“Why is it like that? This is not fair! Why can Gu Hai’s group go to the life puzzle, but we get sucked into the death puzzle when we go there?”

“Could it be because Gu Hai has solved the life puzzle, so no one else can enter the life puzzle?”

Countless cultivators looked at the gigantic transparent peony flower in confusion. Then, they looked at the dragon vein suppressed below and Old Mister Guan Qi’s inheritance. Everyone felt blood rushing to their head. However, they felt extremely depressed at being able to see but not obtain what they wanted.

Long Wanqing goggled as she looked down. The place she stood on was now transparent, revealing the dragon vein. However, there was something else even more ridiculous: Old Mister Guan Qi’s inheritance?

“This…this…!” Long Wanqing exclaimed.

However, Gu Hai only took one look before frowning.

“I have a question! I took a look at the death puzzle. Why are there three kinds of Go stones there—black, white, and transparent Go stones? Did Old Mister Guan Qi leave any explanation?” Gu Hai asked, feeling puzzled.

Long Wanqing, Gu Qin, and the others showed confused expressions upon hearing Gu Hai’s question. Why was he asking about the death puzzle at this moment?

However, the white-haired old man on the other side suddenly smiled faintly and said, “My true body did leave an explanation. He apparently anticipated the person to solve the life puzzle would ask this. The explanation my true body gave was ‘The Dao births one; one births two; two births three; and three births all things. Three is the origin of all things. The three kinds of Go stones represent the three states!”

[TL Note: The quote of “The Dao births one; one births two; two births three; and three births all things” comes from the Classic of the Way and Virtue or Tao Te Ching, written by Lao Tzu (or Lao Zi), a sixth-century sage. This is a classic text that is a fundamental text for Taoism and has strongly influenced other Chinese philosophies and religions, including Confucianism and Buddhism. One interpretation of this is that the one refers to primal chaos, two refers to Yin and Yang, and three refers to Yin, Yang, and a mixture of both. This quote comes from chapter forty-two of the classic, where Lao Zi discussed the theory of the creation of the world. Another interpretation is that it is not a little one, two, and three, but an analogy for a gradual and incremental progression.]

“Three states?” Gu Hai frowned slightly as he entered deep thought.

After Gu Hai thought for a while, his expression changed as he said, “Three as the origin of all things? Three encompasses all things? I once heard that the Buddhists have a similar explanation. Buddhism has the three-life Buddha: the past, the present, and the future. Is this Go puzzle the same? Since the black Go stone moves first, then black represents the past. The past is the Go stone that was already played. The unplayed white Go stone represents the future, the Go stone that would be played next. In that case, what represents the present? The time between the black Go stone being played and the white Go stone being played is the present. During the present, one has not made a move yet, only considering the best move. That is the Go stone that is simulated in one’s mind, an imaginary Go stone and not a real one. Hence, the transparent Go stone in the death puzzle is not a true Go stone, but imaginary?”

The white-haired old man smiled faintly as he looked at Gu Hai. “I do not know. My true body did not explain the answer to me. All I know is that ‘three’ encompasses all things. Everything else is up to you to comprehend. Please make your move and receive my true body’s inheritance for you!”

Gu Hai looked at the white-haired old man with a complicated expression.

When Gu Hai looked at the Go board, he saw that the white-haired old man had already played a white Go stone. Taking a deep breath, Gu Hai made another move.

Clack!

Rumble!

The gigantic transparent peony flower suddenly shook, and cracks appeared in it. The fist-sized, eight-colored peony flower trembled as if wanting to move to Gu Hai.

It seemed that Gu Hai only needed to make one more move for the eight-colored peony flower to break through the gigantic transparent peony flower and fly to Gu Hai.

“Please make your move!” the white-haired old man said after playing a white Go stone.

However, Gu Hai frowned slightly and asked, “What is this inheritance? How is it useful to me?”

“My true body left a message. Actually, you already gained the greatest inheritance when you solved the Go puzzle earlier!” the white-haired old man said.

“Oh?” Gu Hai said, feeling bewildered.

“Didn’t you comprehend the Twenty-Nine Line-Pair World Go Puzzle? You comprehended the fickle Heavenly Dao, the heartless world, and everyone is a Go stone. In my true body’s inheritance, the Heavenly Dao inheritance is the foundation. The rest are minor details. The eight-colored peony flower only contains the inheritance of techniques. No matter how strong techniques are, they can never be better than the Heavenly Dao. You obtained the Heavenly Dao. The techniques in the eight-colored peony flower are just embellishments. The dragon vein inheritance below is ranked the lowest, serving a supporting role. The peony, the king of flowers, is the inheritance of a king. My true body calculated the path of establishing a nation. He will help you establish a nation so that you can walk a path different from his back then!” the white-haired old man answered.

“The path of establishing nations? Old Mister Guan Qi calculated that? Then, why didn’t Old Mister Guan Qi establish his own nation?” Gu Hai asked with some misgivings.

“Because establishing a nation is not my true body’s strong suit; he could not become the best. However, he could be the best at the Go Dao, so he gave up on establishing a nation and fought heaven with the Go Dao!” the white-haired old man explained.

“Establishing a nation was not Old Mister Guan Qi’s strong suit? In that case, this inheritance might not be the best?” Gu Hai said.

“However, it is still much better than most royal dynasties and imperial dynasties!” the white-haired old man explained.

“If no one can solve this puzzle, then will the great inheritance of the Heavenly Dao be lost? At best, others will obtain the technique inheritance and dragon vein inheritance?” Gu Hai asked.

“Only people with great comprehension ability for Go can obtain the Heavenly Dao inheritance; they cannot inherit it otherwise.” The white-haired old man nodded.

“What is the price for obtaining the inheritance?” Gu Hai asked, feeling suspicious.

“Make another move and do not resist the peony flower entering your body. The eight-colored peony contains tens of thousands of techniques, all with my true body’s mark. Relax your entire body and do not resist; let the eight-colored peony read your memories and leave a mark from my true body in your body. From then on, you will be my true body’s grand-disciple. The Heavenly Go Pavilion disciples will heed your orders. Your orders will equal the orders of my true body!” the white-haired old man explained.

“Read my memories and leave Old Mister Guan Qi’s mark in the depths of my soul?” Gu Hai suddenly narrowed his eyes slightly.

“Yes, that is the only way to receive the technique inheritance!” the white-haired old man explained.

Gu Hai narrowed his eyes further. He held a Go stone in his fingers. Initially, he was going to play it. However, he now slowly pulled his hand back.

Place Old Mister Guan Qi’s mark in the depths of my soul? Then, from here on, wouldn’t I be the same as Ninth Young Master, trying my best to shrug off the identity of Eighth Young Master? Gu Hai did not want that. Furthermore, he did not want others to read his memories, not even a dead person.

“Gu Hai, make your move! Old Mister Guan Qi is already dead! If this were the Divine Continent, many people would go crazy over such a technique inheritance!” Long Wanqing said anxiously.

However, Gu Hai slowly shook his head and said, “The benefits are great, but the risk is greater. You don’t understand how terrifying it would be to have Old Mister Guan Qi’s mark!”

“Huh?” Long Wanqing frowned slightly.

At the side, Gu Qin’s expression changed. Then, he took a deep breath and suggested, “Adoptive Father, how about you let this child accept the technique inheritance, then?”

“Huh?” Gu Hai frowned slightly as he looked at Gu Qin.

“Adoptive Father, this child still remembers Adoptive Mother’s death like it was yesterday. This child is incapable and cannot do anything. However, this child would like to take revenge for Adoptive Mother. Adoptive Father is doing his best. This child does not want to become a burden. This child would like to share the burden. Right now, there is an opportunity. I cannot just let it go! This child is willing to take on this risk!” Gu Qin said with a determined tone.

“The risk is too great. You cannot bear it!” Gu Hai shook his head.

“Back then, Adoptive Father and Adoptive Mother pulled this child out of the snow. At that time, I nearly froze to death, yet I survived. That’s already more than what I should have. Furthermore, there is such a great inheritance. So what if there is some risk? At worst, I will die. This child does not care!” Gu Qin said resolutely.

“No way!” Gu Hai shook his head, not wanting Gu Qin to take the risk.