Soon, his wait was answered.
"This is..."
Fang Ming watched as a man of decent appearance walked towards him.
As Fang Ming watched, he felt that the middle-aged man's appearance was very familiar. He had seen people like him in many fictional worlds, even in multiverse-spanning works.
"Is it Sect Master Yue?"
Fang Ming asked directly.
The middle-aged man's expression changed slightly, clearly Fang Ming had guessed correctly. However, his expression did not change much, indicating that while Fang Ming's guess surprised him, it was not a major issue.
"I am Sect Master Yue. Do you know me, fellow Daoist?"
The middle-aged man added, "It seems that in the world you come from, there are also counterparts like me."
Counterparts.
In the fourteen-star fictional world where Fang Ming was from, similar counterparts emerged in every chaotic epoch.
And in this branch of the Myriad Worlds Bazaar, the term "counterpart" was clearly well-known. The middle-aged man understood the meaning of counterpart and knew it was nothing significant.
"Is this your first time at the Myriad Worlds Bazaar, fellow Daoist? Would you like me to introduce you?"
Sect Master Yue asked.
Just as Fang Ming had predicted, many guides in the Myriad Worlds Bazaar specifically targeted new customers to recommend themselves. Here was one.
Fang Ming was waiting for someone who could introduce him to the layout of this branch of the Myriad Worlds Bazaar. Therefore, upon hearing the question, he did not refuse but gladly accepted.
After accepting, Fang Ming began to chat with Sect Master Yue.
Sect Master Yue hailed from a wuxia world. However, his wuxia world was not a simple one but a multiverse-spanning work containing countless worlds.
Before Sect Master Yue could experience that particular storyline in the wuxia world, extraterrestrial demons from a Saint Seiya world invaded. Clearly, under the supersonic fists of the Bronze Saints, a wuxia world of this caliber could offer no resistance.
The entire world was almost plunged into ruin.
However, at this very moment, Sect Master Yue received an invitation from the Myriad Worlds Bazaar.
And then came his rise to prominence.
Serving as a guide for new customers in the Myriad Worlds Bazaar was a part-time job for Sect Master Yue. He had undertaken this job multiple times, gaining certain resources from it. Now, like Fang Ming, he was already at the thirteen-star cultivation level.
Furthermore, Fang Ming vaguely felt that based on pure strength, Sect Master Yue was stronger than him.
Sect Master Yue's strength and origin were not particularly important in this situation. Fang Ming had no intention of exploiting him; he simply needed Sect Master Yue to act as a guide.
Sect Master Yue also quickly explained how to rapidly improve one's strength here.
"Within the Myriad Worlds Bazaar branch, there is an integrated amusement park called the 'Myriad Worlds Protagonist Brawl Amusement Park,' also known as the 'Myriad Worlds Chessboard.'"
"Numerous worlds are placed on the chessboard as pieces."
"Many powerful individuals go there to play chess, with both sides placing stakes as the prize for victory."
"If you wish to accumulate cultivation resources, you should go there and take a look."
This is what Sect Master Yue said, and he led Fang Ming the way.
Thus, Fang Ming entered the so-called amusement park.
...
The amusement park was a palace with multiple names, but customers of the Myriad Worlds Bazaar generally called it the 'Hall of Myriad Worlds.'
Within the Hall of Myriad Worlds, countless chessboards were laid out. On each chessboard were many pieces, each representing a world.
Fang Ming could see worlds ranging from the size of a planet to infinite multiverses among these pieces.
The players, however, used entire worlds and their protagonists as their pieces.
The game was played across the myriad worlds, with the entire multiverse serving as the board.
Fang Ming had already learned a great deal from Sect Master Yue on their way, so he no longer needed further explanations. After giving him a reward, he let Sect Master Yue depart.
Then, Fang Ming looked at the many people within the Hall of Myriad Worlds.
Although his main body was in the Primordial World, slaying ancient saints to obtain cultivation resources, his avatar could also earn cultivation resources here.
Previously, the cultivation resources in many ordinary fictional worlds were too scarce for Fang Ming to be interested in acquiring them.
But here in the Hall of Myriad Worlds, it was different.
The cultivation resources here were excellent, making Fang Ming feel good. If he could defeat many of the 'chess players,' he would obtain a great deal of cultivation resources, and his strength as a thirteen-star cultivator would rapidly increase.
"Fellow Daoist, would you like to play chess with me?"
A woman, seated elegantly, extended an invitation to Fang Ming.
"Please."
Fang Ming sat down directly.
It didn't matter who he played chess with; the important thing was the value of the stakes.
The woman first offered a source stone that shimmered with myriad lights as a wager.
"For cultivators like us at the thirteen-star level, source stones are very useful."
"Shall we wager with these goods?"
Fang Ming replied, "Agreed."
Fang Ming also presented a wager of corresponding value.
The chess game between the two parties officially began.
Playing chess here meant selecting a protagonist from each world within the chessboard's myriad worlds, bestowing them with a cheat, and then engaging in battle with the opponent.
Myriad worlds, countless realms, possessed billions of protagonists.
Who could unify their respective worlds was merely an initial goal, equivalent to capturing an opponent's black or white piece on the chessboard.
The true victory, the one that would earn the opponent's source stones, required one of their billions of protagonists to dominate all the myriad worlds and defeat the opponent's countless chosen protagonists.
That would be when Fang Ming defeated this woman.
Of course, the reverse was also true.
"Let's play chess," the woman said.
Fang Ming pondered for a moment, then asked, "Can my clones also be counted as the billions of protagonists?"
The woman showed a hint of surprise: "This is... a concept of 'self'? Are you perhaps from a high-tech world... it's rare for cultivators to have such a concept."
The woman seemed to recall a battle with a certain Overlord of the Gods, who adhered to the path of 'self' and the art of cloning.
The scene then was similar to this one.
The same chessboard, the choice of clones.
That Overlord of the Gods had placed billions of clones from his own memories onto the chessboard as protagonists.
This had left a deep impression on the woman.
However, such an action did not actually affect fairness.
As long as Fang Ming's clones did not include cultivation experience or memories, and were restricted to a pre-supernatural state, it was acceptable.
The woman added, "Yes, but you must limit your clones' technological level to below the 21st century, and also restrict all supernatural knowledge, supernatural abilities, and supernatural experience."
This was naturally implied. Otherwise, all the memories possessed by a thirteen-star cultivator, even if stripped of power, would be terrifyingly immense, allowing them to grasp the heavenly will almost at any moment and control countless spiritual energies, or even the power of the entire world, with a mortal body.