Techniques and Dao

Chapter 24 The Divine Calculation Game (4)

Then, the transformed Shadowless Woman took a step forward, and a crack a finger's width appeared in the rock on the ground. She then pushed off with both feet, sending a cloud of rubble flying behind her as she charged straight towards Heavenly Extreme Child.

Tianjizi realized something was wrong, but he hadn't expected the attack to be so fierce. In an instant, Mieying's fist was upon him, and he couldn't dodge in time, only able to defend himself with his hands. With a loud bang, the paper Tianjizi had just finished writing on, clutched in his fist, was shattered into fingernail-sized scraps by Mieying's fist. Then, Tianjizi was sent flying by Mieying's fist, crashing into a huge rock behind him.

With a loud crash, the rock was shattered into three pieces by Tianjizi. Tianjizi dusted himself off and saw that five disciples were hiding behind the rock.

Without a second thought, Tianjizi rattled off five strings of numbers. The five disciples, still reeling from the shattered rocks, vanished into the cave in a flash of white light.

The numbers on the cave wall then decreased sharply.

"Trial Participants: Thirteen"

Although Hua Sheng was relieved that he and Tai Shang Xiao Jun hadn't been discovered by Tian Ji Zi yet, with the number of people decreasing, they couldn't hide in this cave for long. And once he came face to face with Tian Ji Zi, Tian Ji Zi would definitely know his exact number, and then he would have almost no chance of winning.

"That's really great!"

Tai Shang Xiao Jun was clearly in a much better mood than Hua Sheng.

Hua Sheng looked at Tai Shang Xiao Jun with a puzzled expression: "What? What's so good about it?"

Tai Shang Xiao Jun replied, "Look! In the Tianmu Trial, more than 3,700 disciples participated at the beginning, but now only 14 remain. Strictly speaking, Mie Ying alone occupies seven of them, so there are only eight of us. We've all made it into the top three-thousandths."

Reminded by Taishang Xiaojun, Hua Sheng finally realized that he had been stumbling along unknowingly until now.

Tai Shang Xiao Jun said to Hua Sheng, "Maybe you're an extremely lucky person too!"

“He’s lucky too. Even the smallest creatures that manage to enter Saint Pingning are extremely lucky,” Xuanwen added with a smile. “But my luck seems to be pretty good today as well.”

As he spoke, Xuanwen took out a piece of paper from his hand. He turned his back and wrote a few words on the paper.

Hua Sheng then asked, "What are you writing?"

"number."

"You know the answer?"

Xuanwen nodded.

"How did you know?"

Xuanwen opened his palm, revealing a piece of paper that had been torn up and pieced back together.

Hua Sheng was about to ask where it came from when he looked in the center of the cave and saw that the piece of paper with numbers written on it, which had been shattered in Tian Jizi's hand, had somehow ended up in Xuan Wen's hands.

Tai Shang Xiao Jun glanced at it and said, "You used the Wind Control Technique to blow that pile of scraps of paper over here. And you actually managed to put it back together."

“Yes,” Xuanwen replied.

"Not only that, Tianjizi just mentioned five numbers. You just need to subtract the sum of those five numbers from the number on this paper, and that will give you the sum of the numbers of the remaining trial participants in this cave."

Xuanwen laughed and said, "It seems that those with connections are quite clever."

Hua Sheng couldn't wait to grab the piece of paper that had been pieced together: "What's the number?"

With a whoosh, Xuanwen burned the paper into a pile of black powder.

"You!" Hua Sheng asked angrily, "Why did you do this?"

"Because it wouldn't be of any use to me if I gave it to you."

"why?"

Xuanwen picked up the piece of paper with the numbers he had written on it and said, "Because these numbers can only be useful to one person."

“He’s right,” Tai Shang Xiao Jun interjected. “What Xuan Wen wrote down now might indeed be the sum of the numbers of all the current trial participants. But once he wins, the sum will change. Since he wasn’t eliminated because others knew his number, we don’t know how much to subtract from the sum.”

Hua Sheng tried to grab Xuan Wen by the collar. Xuan Wen quickly took a step back: "The number in my hand is just one spot that I can advance to the next level. If you try to take it, I'll burn it. Even if I burn it, the number will still be in my head, and I can still advance."

Xuanwen was clearly confident of victory.

Hua Sheng gritted her teeth.

Taishang Xiaojun said to Xuanwen, "You can leave now, we won't stop you. Since you found the way to win on your own, you have no obligation to help others. This was originally a competition, there are winners and losers."

“I didn’t realize you had connections…” Xuan Wen had only spoken halfway when Tai Shang Xiao Jun suddenly stepped forward like lightning, swiftly pinching the strip between two fingers and then pulling it out.

The slip of paper slipped through Xuanwen's fingers and landed in Taishang Xiaojun's hand.

Xuanwen's face immediately turned pale at this sudden turn of events.

Tai Shang Xiao Jun rattled off, "I can throw you out right now. Once you appear, Tian Ji Zi will tell you your number. I'll subtract this number from the numbers on this piece of paper to find the sum of the numbers. You lose, I win."

"You, you...you...you..." Xuanwen stammered, unable to say anything. Taishang Xiaojun's speed was too fast; he regretted his arrogance. Now, he could only admit defeat.

He waited for Taishang Xiaojun to open the paper in his hand.

However, Tai Shang Xiao Jun did not do so, nor did he even intend to open it. He simply said slowly, "But this number was obtained through your own abilities, and I will not take advantage of you. But if you mention the words 'nepotism' and 'inferior' again, don't blame me for being impolite!"

Xuanwen's face turned completely red from holding it in. Taishang Xiaojun handed him the paper and said, "Quickly disappear from below!"

Xuanwen grabbed the paper and ran away without looking back. He used the path behind him to fly upwards along the cave wall. Once he reached the top of the cave, he stuffed the paper into the trial ring, which was now only the size of his palm.

Then, the trial ring turned blue, and at the same time, a blue light flashed across Xuanwen's body before he disappeared.

The writing on the cave wall began to change simultaneously.

Divine Calculation Game
Trial participants: twelve

One person advanced.

"We still shouldn't underestimate Zhiyun; Tianjizi's numbers are indeed accurate." - Taishang Xiaojun.

"You let Xuanwen go because you want to..."

“I let him go simply because I let him go, I didn’t think anything of it,” Taishang Xiaojun interrupted Huasheng.

Since Taishang Xiaojun didn't continue the conversation, Huasheng didn't say anything more. However, he felt that Taishang Xiaojun had doubts about the numbers written by Tianjizi, meaning that Taishang Xiaojun believed that Tianjizi might have written the wrong numbers.

If Tianjizi possesses supreme fortune, then all the numbers he writes down, including guessing other people's numbers, should be accurate. Why would Taishang Xiaojun have doubts about this?

Wait! A thought suddenly flashed through Hua Sheng's mind.

If destiny itself always exists, then no matter what Tianjizi does, things will always develop in his favor. This includes writing down an incorrect number. Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean that Tianjizi does it intentionally, but objectively speaking, if it makes things work in his favor, then the number he casually writes down might be wrong.

For example, eliminating some people, or promoting others?

The ultimate destiny will surely bring Tianjizi the favorable situation he desires, and in that case...

Some ideas vaguely flashed through Hua Sheng's mind, but the information was too chaotic for him to sort out immediately. Besides, the current trouble was still imminent.

In the center of the cave, Mieying and Tianjizi were still fighting, the sounds of impact and cracking rocks echoing incessantly.

Shadow Extinction's stamina was incomparable to what it had been before, showing no signs of fatigue. Compared to when she used the Hurricane Technique earlier, Shadow Extinction now seemed to have transformed into a fighting sorcerer with boundless strength. The incredibly hard granite in the cave was sliced ​​into powder in her hands as easily as tofu.

After being entangled with Mie Ying for a long time, Tian Jizi seemed to have lost the will to continue fighting. After all, participating in the Divine Mind Calculation Bureau was not a competition of immortal arts. If he were injured by Mie Ying, Mie Ying would at most be eliminated for violating the rules. It would be a loss for him.

Whenever he tried to shake off Mieying, as soon as the distance became even slightly greater, Mieying would turn and pounce on Caihuan, forcing Tianjizi to chase after her in order to protect Caihuan.

Just as Hua Sheng thought the battle would continue in a protracted back-and-forth struggle, Tian Jizi suddenly produced a piece of white paper from his hand, flashed backward, and then flew towards Cai Huan, still holding the paper. Seeing this, Mie Ying naturally wouldn't let Tian Jizi escape, and she lunged forward with all her might. Taking advantage of Mie Ying's forward lean, Tian Jizi dodged to the left. Mie Ying missed her target and was about to turn around when Tian Jizi slapped her on the back of the neck.

"Hurry, hurry, as the law commands! Go to sleep!" Tianjizi's immortal technique caught Mieying off guard. He was lightly patted on the back of the head by Tianjizi and fell to the ground under the spell.

Seeing that Mieying was no longer moving, Tianjizi dusted himself off and said, "So troublesome."

He then levitated the white paper in his hand into the air. It turned out the paper had no writing on it; it was merely a ploy to mislead his opponent. A pen materialized in his hand.

Just as I was about to write, a loud shout came from behind: "Wait!"

Tianjizi turned around and saw a tall, slender girl with long hair reaching her waist standing behind her. The girl stared with a pair of purple pupils.

"And where did you come from?" Tianjizi asked.

"This isn't over yet!" the long-haired girl chuckled menacingly.

Tianjizi looked again and saw that the short-haired Mieying who had been lying on the ground was nowhere to be seen. He said, "Hmm? Was it an incarnation technique? No, you're not the same person as before!"

The girl continued laughing, "Now that Xiao Liu is here, you're going to go blind."

It turns out that this girl is the sixth sister inside Mieying's body.

The moment Tianjizi frowned, the girl instantly floated into the air. Then, something extremely strange happened: the colorful fluorescent lights that were originally radiating from the rocks all over the cave, and even the torches placed everywhere, suddenly seemed to spread out like ink and concentrated on the long-haired, shadowless girl.

The previously glowing area quickly dimmed, and in no time, the cave was pitch black. Even the trial rings had vanished without a trace.

Tianjizi conjured a ball of fire from his palm, only to find that Mieying was already less than half a foot away from him, and Mieying's fingernails had already gripped his hand. Tianjizi quickly retreated, but Mieying still snatched the piece of paper from his hand, and at the same time, Mieying tore the cuff of his academy uniform.

Upon closer inspection, although the flame in his hand was still warm, the flame had been taken away by the Shadow of Extinction.

Tianjizi had no choice but to quickly dodge backward in the darkness. Yet, he could still feel Mieying clinging tightly to him, even feeling Mieying's hair brush against him. It was chilling.

"You can't escape this darkness! If you don't give up the trial, you'll stay in this darkness with me forever!"

The cave echoed with Mie Ying's slightly sinister laughter.

Tianjizi didn't answer, and then suddenly a dazzling white light appeared above. Tianjizi floated in mid-air, emanating streaks of white light from his palm. He held a piece of white paper in one hand, on which numbers were clearly written. Under the white light, the trial ring was obviously only half a step away from Tianjizi.

Tianjizi threw the white paper into the trial ring.

Seeing that she had been thrown aside, Mieying didn't have time to grab the piece of paper with the number written on it. She only heard her shout, "One, four, five!"
As Mieying shouted, the piece of paper flew into the Trial Ring.

Light emanated from Shadowless's body, and the cave became bright again.

"Hahaha! You lost!" Mie Ying suddenly burst into laughter. "You wrote the numbers wrong! You'll have to leave the Heavenly Eye Trial with me!"

(End of this chapter)