My brother is so cunning

Chapter 1064 The Basic Principles of Calculation by Finger Calculation
Yun Zhongzi composed himself, his tone calm yet carrying undeniable weight: "I am Yun Zhongzi, residing in the Jade Pillar Cave of Zhongnan Mountain, and a disciple of the Chan Sect. I have captured you today not for personal grudges, but to ask questions on behalf of all living beings in the Three Realms."

The seemingly honest and kind-hearted young human in front of him looked puzzled and confused upon hearing this, but he remained silent, pursing his lips and waiting for Yun Zhongzi to continue.

Yun Zhongzi was not in a hurry. He first carefully examined Zhao Mingcheng, then slowly stroked his beard and nodded, saying, "I haven't seen such a talented cultivator in a long time. You are exceptionally gifted, have a solid foundation, a clear Dao heart, and a pure character. Not to mention the Daoist temples opened up by those senior brothers, even the fourth-generation disciples of the Chan Sect in Kunlun Jade Void Palace cannot compare to you."

This wasn't Yun Zhongzi using the "good cop, bad cop" tactic to induce a confession and lower Zhao Mingcheng's guard.

Every word he spoke came from the bottom of his heart.

Yun Zhongzi had long been fed up with the quality of the fourth-generation disciples of the major immortal sects of Chan Sect. He felt that each generation was worse than the last, and none of them were presentable in terms of cultivation talent or character.

Countless times, during his travels, Yun Zhongzi witnessed disciples of immortal sects fighting each other for a single spiritual herb, wantonly oppressing lower-level cultivators, betraying their promises to curry favor with the powerful, and upholding "might makes right" as their guiding principle.

They have no compassion for mortals and all living beings, and even before becoming immortals, they put on an arrogant face as superior beings looking down on ants.

The disciples of the Chan Sect back then were not so incompetent. Jiang Ziya cultivated Taoism in Yuxu Palace. Although he did not become an immortal, he reached the Mahayana stage. After descending the mountain, he never relied on his high magical power to oppress mortals. In fact, he found it very difficult to make a living in the mortal world.

If these morally corrupt cultivators from the current cultivation sects were to become Mahayana cultivators who were determined not to pursue immortality but instead sought wealth and glory in the mortal realm, they would act arrogantly and do whatever they pleased, even if the emperor were still alive. Their actions would not be much different from those of demons.

The young man in front of me had very clear eyes. Even though he was already a chosen one of heaven, with a divine spiritual root and bone that could not be found among millions of mortals, he remained unchanged in his original intention and calm, as if he still regarded himself as an ordinary member among billions of people.

In the eyes of practitioners, this means having a pure and innocent heart, achieving complete tranquility and non-action, and returning to one's true nature; such a mindset is of the highest quality.

Jiang Ziya was of such character back then, which is why the Primordial Lord of Heaven made an exception and accepted him into the Jade Void Palace as a direct disciple.

Otherwise, given his inferior aptitude for cultivation, let alone becoming a disciple of the Primordial Heavenly Venerable of the Jade Void Palace, even the Twelve Golden Immortals would not accept him as a disciple.

The young man before them possessed not only an excellent character but also exceptional natural talent and aptitude.

For a fleeting moment, Yun Zhongzi felt a surge of admiration for his talent and regretted that he was not destined to meet him sooner, to take him as his disciple, and to pass on his mantle so that the Yuzhu Cave lineage of Zhongnan Mountain would have a successor.

"Zhao Mingcheng, I ask you, where were you between the 126th and 154th years of the Jietian Calendar?"

Upon hearing Yun Zhongzi mention this timeline, Zhao Mingcheng's expression visibly changed. His face darkened, and he coldly replied, "No comment!"

Despite being directly contradicted, Yun Zhongzi was not angry but pleased. He knew he had found someone who knew the truth and was getting closer to the truth: "I am an immortal of the Chan Sect, representing the righteous energy of heaven and earth and the glorious righteous path. I am asking you patiently for the safety of all living beings. I swear by my inner demons that I have no ill intentions."

"Even if you don't say it, with my Taoist skills, I can still figure it out. The reason I asked you is because I see that you are not a bad person at heart. Perhaps you have been deceived by villains and have become an accomplice to evil, making one mistake after another. I just want to give you a chance to repent."

As he spoke, Yun Zhongzi released the vast immortal power of a Golden Immortal. Compared to Yun Zhongzi, Zhao Mingcheng, who was only at the Mahayana stage, was like a firefly facing the bright moon, and was immediately suppressed to the point that he could hardly breathe.

Within the vast immortal power, a dazzling light of merit also shone forth, making Yun Zhongzi appear as if he were covered by a rainbow of light, dazzling and radiant.

The lecherous old man's disguise was completely shed, replaced by the image of a refined and otherworldly young Taoist. Yun Zhongzi revealed his true form to increase his persuasiveness and prove to Zhao Mingcheng that he was by no means a bad person. He believed that someone as pure-hearted and clear-minded as Zhao Mingcheng would definitely stand on the side of righteousness as long as he could distinguish right from wrong.

Having reached the Mahayana stage, Zhao Mingcheng could naturally discern the authentic Xuanmen immortal power emanating from Yun Zhongzi, and was also awestruck by Yun Zhongzi's magnificent transformation.

"During that period, you were in an underground secret realm, teaching a group of female insectoid students as a volunteer teacher. Am I right?"

Yun Zhongzi, with an unfathomable air, stroked his beard and spoke calmly, as if everything was under his control.

"How do you know?"

Sure enough, putting on this divine act and pretending to be a god to fool mortals is a surefire way to succeed. Zhao Mingcheng was greatly shocked and asked in surprise and doubt.

"If you don't want people to know, then don't do it in the first place. This humble Taoist only needs to do a quick calculation..."

"impossible!"

Before Yun Zhongzi could finish speaking, Zhao Mingcheng interrupted him: "The Divine Art of Calculation is an information indexing tool built with immortal power. Its core logic is 'inferring the unknown from the known,' and its underlying support is 'finding patterns from massive amounts of data.' It uses topological principles to ignore details, grasp the core connections, and draw conclusions."

"Ultimately, it uses metaphysical power to encapsulate the scientific process of 'collecting information, analyzing patterns, and reasoning conclusions' in a black box, thereby deriving vague predictive results. Whether such predictions are accurate is another matter, but they can never be created out of thin air!"

"In short, you can't possibly deduce my past experiences out of thin air!"

"Eh?"

Yun Zhongzi's expression of profound wisdom and otherworldly mastery froze on his face. For a moment, he couldn't fully understand what Zhao Mingcheng was babbling about.

But after he pondered it for a while, he was suddenly shocked to realize that his secrets had been exposed by this junior cultivator who was only at the Mahayana stage and had not even stepped into the Immortal rank.

His interpretation of the immortals' divination and prediction abilities was far more accurate than Yun Zhongzi's own understanding and summary, completely shattering the mystery surrounding the immortals' ability to predict with a flick of their fingers.

"You've secretly investigated me?"

Zhao Mingcheng, taking the initiative, questioned Yun Zhongzi: "No, the volunteer teaching project is the Demon Alliance's top secret. The identities of all volunteer teachers are covered by the secret service. Even if you are a god, you couldn't easily get my file..."

The improvement of one's realm can enhance one's overall quality. The physical strength of the Mahayana stage can be increased tenfold or a hundredfold, and the mind also becomes more intelligent and sharp. Zhao Mingcheng may have been a poor student with limited mental capacity before, but now his thinking ability is completely different from before.

"The only way to get information about me is through my students. You laid a hand on my students? If you dare to hurt them, I will never let you get away with it!"

(End of this chapter)