Seeing that no one responded after waiting for a while, Zhao Gongming pushed the door open and went inside, finding it unlocked.
As far as his eyes could see, it was a courtyard almost pitifully small, estimated to be unable to even fit his mount. It did not look like a celestial dwelling at all.
Inside the pavilion, a young man in white clothes was fiddling with a giant chessboard.
But it was unlike any ordinary chessboard. It floated in mid-air, with three lines of horizontal, vertical, and high intersecting to form a grid of nodes, several times more complex than a normal chessboard.
Why was he calling it a chessboard? Because Zhao Gongming saw black and white pieces continuously falling on the nodes, weaving into a huge chess net.
He just didn't understand who Shi Hao was playing against, because apart from him, there was no one else around.
"Are you your sister's younger brother?"
After watching for a while, Zhao Gongming interrupted the opponent's chess game. Otherwise, he didn't know when they would finish a game.
Shi Hao had just wanted to test his chess skills against AI after activating a 3D virtual chessboard he got from today's sign-in.
After all, the squares on the 2D chessboard were too small. In the end, he would always end up in a draw with AI.
The sudden voice disrupted his next move.
Shi Hao looked up and found someone standing in front of him, appearing out of nowhere. He asked doubtfully, "My sister? Oh, I'm Shi Ji's younger brother. Who are you?"
"I am Zhao Gongming of Mount Emei..." Zhao Gongming raised his eyebrows and revealed his identity.
"So you are a disciple of the Emei Mountain Zhao Gongming under the Intercepting Sect. You are considered a fellow disciple with my elder sister. What brings you here, esteemed guest?"
Zhao Gongming's face turned black. He had already finished speaking, but the other party was making him continue. What disciple? I am Zhao Gongming.
Seeing the other party's expression, Shi Hao thought that something was wrong. He wondered if his sister had some grievance with him, and he had come to seek revenge.
"Humph, do you know that because of your letter of recommendation, including myself, many disciples from the Intercepting Sect have left their sect and come here to see you? Naturally, we want to see what kind of person my sister's younger brother is."
Shi Hao now understood everything and felt guilty, his face becoming somewhat awkward. This was the time of the Great Calamity. If they dared to show themselves, they would face a nine-death situation.
And the irony was that the other party happened to be a disciple of Zhao Gongming. He could imagine how miserable his fate would be.
"Ahem, so that's it. By the way, have you ever thought about changing your teacher? With my relationship with my sister, asking my sister's master to take on one more disciple shouldn't be too difficult. It's better than staying on Emei Mountain waiting to die, right?"
Since he had encountered him, Shi Hao wanted to see if he could save him.
"Waiting to die? How dare you underestimate me, Zhao Gongming of Mount Emei? Although he is just an outer disciple, in terms of strength and realm, he is among the top ranks in the numerous Great Golden Immortals."
Zhao Gongming, understanding the meaning behind Shi Hao's words, glared at Shi Hao angrily.
Shi Hao did not answer. He couldn't say, "Your ancestor, Zhao Gongming, is about to perish, so I'm letting you run away."
"Zhao Gongming's strength is indeed quite strong, but it's unlikely that he ranks among the top."
Shi Hao didn't care, he could only press on, hoping to persuade the other party.
Though it's hard to persuade a doomed ghost with good words, he was partly responsible.
"Hehehe, I'd like to hear your brilliant insights." Zhao Gongming sneered.
"First, the top one among the Great Golden Immortals should be Kong Xuan, the current general guarding the Three Mountain Pass. Although he only has the cultivation of a Great Golden Immortal, even a Quasi-Saint wouldn't be his match."
His Five-Colored Divine Light could brush anything and everything without any reason. Even a Saint could be brushed away by it.
So Kong Xuan's strength, not to mention among the Great Golden Immortals, could probably be ranked among the Quasi-Saints.
"Secondly, there are the three fairies of the Intercepting Sect, the Three Sovereigns. With the Primordial Golden Gourd and the Nine-Bend Yellow River Formation, the three of them combined could kill a Great Golden Immortal like chickens."
"Furthermore, there is Lu Ya Zhenren, the Sun Golden Crow of the Demon Race. His magical treasures are extremely strange, and he can also be ranked among the top of the Great Golden Immortals."
Finally, there are Houyi, the war god Chi You, and Yao Ji, who possesses the Treasure Lotus Lamp, etc. In Shi Hao's opinion, they could all rank ahead of Zhao Gongming.
Except for the Witch Clan, the basis of strength under the Saints is actually secondary in terms of magical power and realm. The main factor is who possesses more powerful magical treasures.
Divine abilities count, but examples like Kong Xuan are rare.
"Humph! Except for the Three Sovereigns, the rest is nonsense!"
Learning from Shi Hao that he would be ranked outside the top ten, Zhao Gongming's face turned purple. He was always arrogant and felt insulted.
Especially Kong Xuan, who wasn't even famous, wasn't a disciple of the Three Religions, and was ranked first by him.
After saying that, he angrily flicked his sleeves and slammed the door, his face black as he left.
After his cultivation fully recovered, he felt the abundant magical power in his body, snorted coldly, "He said Kong Xuan, the general guarding the Three Mountain Pass, ranks first among the Great Golden Immortals. I want to see what skills he has."
He had already reached the peak of the Great Golden Immortal realm, just a little short of being able to cut off his avatars and breakthrough to the Quasi-Saint realm.
He also possessed magical treasures like the Fixed Sea Pearl and the Binding Dragon Rope. He even believed in his heart that his current strength was not much weaker than his senior brother, Multi宝.
Then, Zhao Gongming turned into a wisp of breeze and fled to the Three Mountain Pass, several tens of thousands of miles away.
…………
"Report!"
Inside the Three Mountain Pass, a soldier rushed to Kong Xuan, the general guarding the Three Mountain Pass.
"What's all this fuss about? Has the rebel army from Western Di attacked?" Kong Xuan said calmly.
"Report to the general, it's not the rebel army. There's a Daoist outside who is challenging you. He has already injured several soldiers and said that he wants to test the general's skills." The soldier reported.
"Humph, I want to see what kind of Daoist he is, daring to be so arrogant in front of this general." Kong Xuan raised his eyebrows and instantly appeared on the city wall of the Three Mountain Pass.
He scanned with his divine sense and quickly discovered the Daoist in green robes standing tens of miles outside the Three Mountain Pass.
"I see who it is, it's Zhao Gongming of the Intercepting Sect. This general remembers that the Intercepting Sect has always been on the side of the Yin Dynasty, why are you here to stir up trouble?" Kong Xuan said loudly.
"Hehehe, it has nothing to do with the Intercepting Sect. I merely heard that your Daoist techniques are profound. So, Zhao has come to challenge you. I want to experience your skills."
Zhao Gongming scanned with his divine sense and understood the other party's realm. As expected, Kong Xuan was a Great Golden Immortal, just like him, but his cultivation was slightly weaker than his.
"Humph, leave quickly. This general has no time to play games with you." Since the other party was challenging him for no reason, Kong Xuan wouldn't entertain him. So, he directly gave him an order to leave.
"Where do you think you're going."
Zhao Gongming roared, and his magical treasure, the Binding Dragon Rope, flew out.
The Binding Dragon Rope emitted a golden light and transformed into a several-hundred-meter-long dragon that charged towards Kong Xuan.