“We are the ones responsible for the Go Dao’s evaluation. The Go Dao is simple. According to your participant number, face each other in Go. We will think about recommending the final victor.”
These were the Go Dao sages’ initial words. They would think about recommending the final victor.
That meant that they would consider only the final victor. How could the Go Dao sages have expected back then that Gu Hai possessed astonishing Go skills, able to take first place?
This resulted in the sages slapping themselves in the face.
Nearly everyone in the surroundings looked at the sages. Only Gu Hai stared at Wu Yazi.
Wu Yazi?
Was that really Old Mister Guan Qi possessing him earlier?
Someone had already thought of this. However, this was not Gu Hai’s conclusion. Wu Yazi’s play style had been too strange. Thirty-One? It was all the Thirty-One; there was no Thirty-Two at all. The final move was astonishing, but it was still the Thirty-One.
Gu Hai remained silent for a while. Then, he took a deep breath and bowed to Wu Yazi.
Regardless of the situation, he had benefited significantly from the earlier Thirty-One.
Seeing Gu Hai bow, Wu Yazi appeared slightly startled. Then, he bowed back to Gu Hai.
Heavenly Yin City was silent. The sages now felt very awkward.
“First? How could Gu Hai be first?”
“Didn’t Wu Yazi play very well earlier?”
“Didn’t you say that he played like Old Mister Guan Qi? How could Old Mister Guan Qi lose?”
The painting Dao and music Dao sages immediately raised a clamor.
The Go Dao sages remained grave. They knew that Gu Hai possessed strong Go skills, far surpassing their expectations.
However, how were they to make their recommendations?
According to what they said earlier, they would think about whether to recommend the final victor. However, the final victor was Gu Hai.
They had also promised the painting Dao and music Dao sages that they would not recommend Gu Hai. This left the Go Dao sages in a dilemma.
“Go Dao sages, please make your recommendation for the first place of the Go Dao competition!” Ninth Young Master shouted to the sky.
The Go Dao sages remained silent.
“Hurry up!”
“The Go Dao sages are dawdling!”
“Are they going to go back on their promise?”
“These are sages? Are they that unwilling to lose?”
Public outcry from the many spectators erupted. These sages were too much. Were they going to go back on their word? Gu Hai had won, so he deserved the recommendations.
The spectators clamored again. Right now, the sages’ prestige was receiving its greatest challenge. Of course, the sages might no longer have any prestige after the earlier two events. Now, it was just about their bottom line and integrity.
Various exhortations reached the sky, triggering turmoil among the sages.
“Don’t ever submit to Gu Hai!”
“You can’t let that vile person get his way!”
The painting Dao and music Dao sages cried out anxiously.
The clamor of the surroundings made the Go Dao sages feel conflicted.
“The sages are remaining silent. Are you silently acknowledging Gu Hai?” Ninth Young Master shouted.
The Go Dao sages did not speak.
“Sages, have you silently acknowledged Gu Hai?” Ninth Young Master shouted again.
“Oh no! It’s the same trick again! Ten times. If he asks ten times, he can help you deal with your recommendation talismans. Hurry! Hurry!”
“Trying this again? Dream on!”
“Go Dao sages, hurry! Gu Hai has colluded with the hosts again, trying to trick us! Hurry!”
The sages became agitated.
Ninth Young Master: “…”
That was not my intention. Have these sages become like startled birds? The sages’ attitude of “I have already seen through your intentions” rendered Ninth Young Master speechless.
The Go Dao sages said that they would recommend only the final victor. That’s why I asked that.
“Reporting to heaven, I recommend Wu Yazi!” One of the sages suddenly spoke.
Boom!
A recommendation talisman suddenly appeared in the noble spirit sea and sent out a beam of light.
“Sages! How could you go back on your word?” Ninth Young Master glared.
“The sages are indeed shameless!”
“They said that they would recommend the final victor. Why did it become Wu Yazi?”
“They are intentionally targeting Mister Gu. Good-for-nothings!”
The surrounding citizens immediately criticized the sages.
In the east, the angels revealed cold smiles.
“After offending the sages, you want the sages to recommend you? You managed to get by using tricks the first two times. Do you think that the sages are that easy to fool?” a six-winged angel sneered.
In the south, a Supreme Ascendant Dao disciple laughed sarcastically, “Haha! Gu Hai, serves you right for embarrassing Elder Xuan En!”
In the west, the bodhisattvas smiled. “Gu Hai can’t do anything about this now.”
“Shameless!” Mu Chenfeng immediately shouted at the sky.
Mo Yike and Bing Ji frowned.
In the sky, the sage that recommended Wu Yazi said, “We said we would think about recommending the final victor. We only said we would think about it; it was not an absolute that we would recommend the final victor. Furthermore, the final victor in my heart is not the person who obtained first place. The final victor in my heart won due to his attitude. Wu Yazi faced danger without getting flustered. He did his best in Go and admitted his defeat when it was time. This is the air of a gentleman, an attitude of humility that the Go Dao should have. He is the final victor!”
The spectators: “…”
The Go Dao participants: “…”
Gu Hai: “…”
Ninth Young Master: “…”
How could anyone have imagined that the sages could be this shameless?
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What nonsense gentleman’s air? What humble attitude? To think that this sage had the cheek to say that. The Go Dao was a battle to the death. What place was there for a humble attitude?
According to what you say, all the Go Dao cultivators don’t even have to play. They just need to admit defeat.
After that Go Dao sage spoke, the other sages immediately started shouting.
“I recommend Wu Yazi as well. He is the final victor in my heart!”
“I recommend Wu Yazi as well. As the final victor, his fame follows his merit!”
“I recommend Wu Yazi!”
Gu Hai, you are too inexperienced to compete with us in cheating. We are the judges. Now that we no longer care about our reputation, you have no way to salvage this even if you have powerful means.
The calligraphy Dao sages wanted to stop the Go Dao sages, but the painting Dao and music Dao sages cheered, “The Go Dao sages are wise!”
After failing twice, the sages had already had enough. As long as they could take revenge on Gu Hai, nothing else mattered. How many of the people here would still be here to participate in the Ten Thousand Sages Convention one thousand years later?
The painting Dao sages and music Dao sages fell over each other in their eagerness to praise the Go Dao sages’ shamelessness.
The other Go Dao sages slowly let go of their reservations.
“I recommend Wu Yazi!”
“I recommend Wu Yazi!”
Eventually, all five hundred Go Dao sages recommended Wu Yazi. Five hundred recommendation talismans appeared in the sky, shining down dazzling white light that encased Wu Yazi like lamps.
Gu Hai and Wu Yazi immediately became the focus of all attention.
Just like that, Wu Yazi gained five hundred recommendation talismans despite losing.
“Hahahahaha! Gu Hai, can you still obtain these recommendation talismans?” a painting Dao sage laughed after venting his frustration.
“Hahaha! No matter what kind of powerful means you have at your disposal, it is useless! Gu Hai, you failed to obtain the five hundred Go Dao recommendation talismans. Now, you can forget about getting another recommendation talisman!” another music Dao sage guffawed.
The many sages guffawed, feeling relieved of their frustration.
The sages laughed at Gu Hai as though they had taken revenge and were mocking him.
Just as the sages felt very cocky, Wu Yazi suddenly bowed to Ninth Young Master.
“Reporting to the host, Wu Yazi admits inferiority to Mister Gu and is extremely embarrassed to receive these recommendation talismans. I ask the host to transfer my five hundred recommendation talismans to Gu Hai to restore the prestige of the Go Dao!” Wu Yazi shouted.
The guffawing sages in the sky suddenly grunted and fell silent.
“What? What did I just hear?” the Medical Music Sage exclaimed.
“Wu Yazi seems to have asked the host to transfer all his recommendation talismans to Gu Hai,” a sage said in shock.
“Transfer them all to Gu Hai?”
“Then, everything we did earlier was useless?”
“We gave our recommendation talismans to Wu Yazi, but he transferred all of them to Gu Hai?”
The sages were stunned.
“Reporting to heaven. After receiving the recommendation talismans, Wu Yazi felt undeserving of them and recommended Gu Hai instead, transferring all the recommendation talismans to Gu Hai. Will heaven validate this?!” Ninth Young Master suddenly shouted towards the sky.
Rumble…!
The noble spirit sea churned.
The five hundred recommendation talismans shining on Wu Yazi suddenly shifted the dazzling light to Gu Hai. Evidently, heaven had accepted the transfer.
Boom!
The light from the five hundred Go Dao recommendation talismans encased Gu Hai.
The spectators were silent for a while. Then…
“Hahahahahaha!”
“Hahahahaha!”
“Hahahahaha!”
The laughter from the five million spectators in Heavenly Yin City celebrated Gu Hai’s obtaining his rightful merits and mocked the sages.
After all that effort, everything ended up benefiting Mister Gu?
All the sages were staggered.
“You bastard! Guan Ninth, how dare…,” the painting Dao sages immediately exclaimed.
“You are cheating! You are all cheating!” the music Dao sages exclaimed.
Ninth Young Master looked skyward coldly. “Cheating? Hah! This is the rule of the Ten Thousand Sages Convention. Did you forget it? Recommendation talismans can be transferred. You gave the Go Dao recommendation talismans to Wu Yazi; he has the right to transfer it to someone else. You have no right to intervene! Furthermore, this is the Go Dao’s matter. It is not your place to manage it, either.”
The sages in the sky felt frustrated to death.
After all that plotting, how could they have imagined that Wu Yazi would give their recommendation talismans to Gu Hai?
Are you not embarrassed?
Who is the shameless one now?
The hatred that the sages bore Gu Hai intensified.
Five hundred painting Dao recommendation talismans, five hundred music Dao recommendation talismans, and five hundred Go Dao recommendation talismans. That was practically a clean sweep.
One thousand years ago, Old Mister Guan Qi obtained only one thousand two hundred recommendation talismans during the first round.
Now, Gu Hai had already obtained one thousand five hundred.
“Many thanks, Mister Wu Yazi,” Gu Hai said gravely.
Wu Yazi said with a faint, bitter smile, “I am just returning them to their rightful owner. You were able to play that game earlier. That game…hah…I am too ashamed to accept these recommendation talismans. One thousand years ago, Old Mister Guan Qi broke the ancient pattern, managing to enter the Cultural Dao Sage Palace. I hope you can as well.”
“I’ll do my best.” Gu Hai eyed Wu Yazi with mixed emotions.
“Calligraphy Dao sages, please be careful. Don’t get tricked by Gu Hai too. That Wu Yazi must have colluded with Gu Hai. We were all fooled. Be careful. Be very careful!” the music Dao, painting Dao, and Go Dao sages exhorted the five hundred calligraphy Dao sages.
“Don’t worry!” the calligraphy Dao sages immediately answered.
