"Just play a ga of chess with . If you win, I’ll let him go and tell you how to pass this level," the old man looked at Mu Can with a smile on his face.
"You know all this?" Now it was Mu Can’s turn to be surprised. This old man was definitely up to no good, knowing even the identity of a Challenger like him.
"What’s so surprising about that? With the air of an outsider all over you, it would be impossible not to recognize you," the old man said, looking at Mu Can with indifference.
"Enough with the nonsense. Will you play or not? Just one ga of chess," the old man waved his hand lightly, and the pots and pans in front of him vanished into thin air, replaced by a chessboard set between the two n.
"Let’s play," Mu Can took a deep breath and nodded.
This old man was truly unfathomable. The Guardian Beasts in the previous Heavenly Pillars might have known of Mu Can’s status as a Challenger but didn’t have the courage to negotiate with Mu Can like this one did. As soon as they t, it was either a fight to the death or dragging out ti to make Mu Can fail the challenge.
By now, if Mu Can didn’t realize that the old man in front of him was the Gatekeeper of this level, then all his years of Cultivation would have been in vain.
"That look in your eyes, the old man is a genuine human being, not so Guardian Beast," the old man said, annoyed and a bit embarrassed by what he perceived in Mu Can’s gaze.
"Are you really not the Guardian Beast for this level, elder?" Mu Can was skeptical but asked anyway.
Fortunately, the old man didn’t seem like he was a terribly devious or evil person.
"Guardian Beast? That big rat below is the Guardian Beast," the old man said irritably.
"And you?" Mu Can was now especially curious about the old man’s identity, for such strength would definitely not belong to an ordinary naless individual in the Mortal World.
"If you win against this old man, feel free to ask any questions. If you lose, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to accept defeat in the challenge," the old man deflected, his tone changing as it was evident he was avoiding discussing his own identity.
"Elder, could you please let my dog down? We definitely won’t run," Mu Can asked, though finding Wang Cai tied up was sohow satisfying, he was still his partner and couldn’t be left hanging there.
"This dog sneaked into this room after coming here, almost stealing all my treasures. And it wasn’t the slightest bit afraid when it saw , it even started biting , which is really infuriating," retelling his encounter with Wang Cai, the old man’s face was filled with anger.
Mu Can had never seen such a shaless dog, brazenly trying to rob a place, then shalessly biting the owner when caught. If the old man hadn’t been powerful, he might have been robbed by a dog.
"Is that true?" Mu Can looked at Wang Cai but had already believed the old man’s words in his heart.
It was just like Wang Cai to do such a thing, especially in this trial space where there were no taboos.
"Woof! Woof! Woof~" Hearing Mu Can’s questioning, Wang Cai showed an unusually embarrassed response, apparently feeling ashad of his behavior.
"You, why can’t you make things easier for ? It would be fine if you just went out to rob, and even if you failed, but now you’ve been caught and are about to be hung up and eaten. Aren’t you ashad?" Mu Can scolded as if lanting the hopelessness of this situation.
The old man, listening to this conversation, took offense.
"How dare you, kid? Are you saying that I deserved to be robbed by him? Forget it, let’s not play chess anymore and just eat dog at," the old man said, eyeing Mu Can and implying he might really eat Wang Cai.
It seed the master wasn’t any better than the dog.
But in fact, the old man was misunderstanding Mu Can; Mu Can always held great respect for the elderly, but he knew Wang Cai too well – the dog could never resist treasures and, being accustod to doing as he pleased in the Supre Interface, had developed such a character.
"Senior, senior, I didn’t an that. This dog does indeed need a good lesson. He’s at fault, so you can keep him hanging for now. Let’s carry on with the ga," Mu Can hurriedly spoke out, not daring to truly anger the old man. If it ca to fighting, Mu Can wasn’t confident of victory.
Mu Can hadn’t forgotten that in the space of the eighth Heavenly Pillar, the Big Willow Tree had almost left him ensnared despite wearing the Reincarnation Battle Armor.
Moreover, in any realm, nine was the pinnacle - the Supre. Mu Can believed that the difficulty of this ninth level would far surpass all previous Heavenly Pillars.
Without giving the elder any chance to reconsider, Mu Can picked up a Chess piece and placed it on the board.
Go, one of the higher-end pastis within the Three Realms, a ga of nearly endless variations, demands strong strategic skill from its players.
Mu Can had once been obsessed with Go, challenging and defeating all the experts at the Immortal Ancient Academy until none dared to face him.
If it were anything else, Mu Can might not have confidence in playing against the elder, but when it ca to Go, he harbored no fear.
Seeing Mu Can play, the elder spoke no more, picking up a Chess piece and engaging in an intense match with Mu Can.
Mu Can initially thought to play casually, but to his surprise, he discovered the old man was no slouch in Go. Among all opponents Mu Can had faced, this one was one of the top players. Facing such an adversary, Mu Can put away any thoughts of contempt and played each move carefully after much consideration.
"You don’t say much, but your skill in Go is comndable," the old man gently placed his Chess piece on the board.
"Your skill in Go ranks within the top three of all the players I’ve t," Mu Can replied as he placed another Chess piece on the board.
With that move, Mu Can finally relaxed. On the board, a long dragon connected, as if the entire ga ca to life.
"Aren’t you afraid I’ll slay your dragon with that move?" The elder noticed sothing unsettling too late, frowning but not willing to concede.
"Haha, elder, I’ve been ready to form this dragon since the beginning. Do you really think you can slay it?" Mu Can replied unconcerned. If his dragon could be slain so easily, then how would he be the best player at the Immortal Ancient Academy?
"Let think, let think." After a close inspection, for the first ti, anxiety appeared on the elder’s face. Indeed, that dragon was not easy to slay.
"I lost, let’s play another round," the elder declared with a frown.
"Alright," Mu Can agreed, since it was a best of three, he couldn’t just win one round and have the elder admit defeat.
"Co on, put so effort in, woof! Old man, you’re not up to snuff either," although Wang Cai was hung up, it didn’t stop him from watching the ga and jeering when the elder lost.
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