Chapter Twenty-One: The Divine Mind Calculation Bureau (1)

“The Divine Mind Calculation Game…”

Huasheng murmured these four words under his breath and kept reading.

“Number of participants: thirty-six.”

Huasheng was startled. Just from the Candlefire Battle—where the number of candles matched the number of participants—so many were eliminated that only thirty-six advanced to the second round!

He continued reading the rules carved into the cave wall:

“Trial Rules:
1. The Divine Mind Calculation Game officially begins when the last qualifier from the Candlefire Battle arrives.
2. Each participant must write the sum of all trial numbers assigned to those present, and toss this number into the trial’s colored ring. Those with the correct answer advance; those with the wrong answer are eliminated.
3. No participant may reveal their own number, nor may they convert it into other information that could allow others to guess it.
4. If, during this trial, anyone’s number is discovered by another, the owner of that number is immediately eliminated. However, if the discoverer does not know the owner’s appearance, this rule does not apply.
5. Magic may be freely used during the trial. However, offensive spells must stop short and may not injure other participants.”

After reading these rules, Huasheng felt utterly bewildered. What numbers? What sum? And participants were forbidden to share these numbers with each other.

He glanced at the disciples now chasing after Tianjizi and immediately sensed something amiss.

Every participant had received a number at registration, visible only to themselves. Huasheng clearly remembered his own: “991248.”

Yet the Junior Sovereign had told him that this number was randomly generated and meant nothing. It could be one; it could be a million—there was no pattern to it.

In the Candlefire Battle, this number served no purpose. But here, in the Divine Mind Calculation Game, it had become the crucial clue.

The problem was, no one should know any number but their own. Perhaps some had shared numbers before the competition, but with over three thousand participants, it was impossible for anyone to know all the numbers. Knowing just a few would be useless in this round.

So how could anyone deduce the sum of every number in the cave?

Moreover, even if everyone were willing to share their numbers, it was forbidden by rule three: anyone who revealed their number was immediately eliminated.

So what could be done?

And why was everyone chasing after Tianjizi, trying to stop him from tossing his paper into the colored ring? Had Tianjizi already figured out the sum?

With this thought, Huasheng asked the Junior Sovereign beside him, “Are they all chasing Tianjizi because he knows the answer?”

“I only arrived moments before you. But judging from the situation, it seems so,” replied the Junior Sovereign.

“Then how did Tianjizi know?”

“He doesn’t need to know.”

“Then what did he write?”

“Whatever number he writes, that’s the number.”

“Huh?” Huasheng gaped. “Why would he get it right?”

“Luck,” said the Junior Sovereign.

Huasheng felt as if something stuck in his throat. This answer was so infuriatingly reasonable, he had no retort.

He looked into the cave. Though the disciples had quickly formed a tacit alliance to surround Tianjizi at the start, Tianjizi moved about easily, evading them as if he were playing a game.

“If he really manages to guess the number, I have a bad feeling,” Huasheng said suddenly, grabbing the Junior Sovereign and pulling him behind a boulder.

“Why are you hiding?”

“They’re doing it all wrong!” Huasheng said urgently. “In fact, it’s the opposite! We need to let Tianjizi leave as quickly as possible!”

“Let him advance to the next round?”

“Yes. We mustn’t let him stay in the Divine Mind Calculation Game!”

“But if he advances, won’t he have an advantage in the next round?” the Junior Sovereign began, but just then, Tianjizi’s voice echoed through the cave.

“Three four one nine three!”

“One one six!”

“Eight two seven one four nine!”

Three muffled whooshes followed.

Immediately, someone shouted, “Bad news! Run!”

Huasheng and the Junior Sovereign peeked out from behind the rock. Three disciples’ forms suddenly turned translucent—before they could react, they vanished into thin air. At the same time, the words on the cave wall changed.

“Participants: thirty-three.”

The disciples who had been attacking Tianjizi scattered in all directions.

The Junior Sovereign rubbed the back of his head. “So that’s it!”

“If anyone’s number is revealed, they’re out! So, as soon as Tianjizi sees someone, he can guess their number!”

“So if we let Tianjizi stay here…”

“He’ll eliminate everyone in this round!”

“If he’s the only winner in the Divine Mind Calculation Game,” the Junior Sovereign frowned, “he’ll become the ultimate winner of this year’s Heavenly Eye Trial.”

“The only solution is to let him advance quickly. The rest of us can think of another way to pass!”

The Junior Sovereign shook his head. “But the fewer people left, the better for us.”

Huasheng corrected him, “We need to hide in the crowd. Since Tianjizi already holds the sum of everyone’s numbers, he just wants to advance. If the number of participants drops to single digits, he might decide to eliminate everyone else right here.”

“So first, when he wants to leave, we must let him—before he changes his mind.”

“Exactly!” Huasheng nodded. He cautiously peered out; in the vast cavern, only Tianjizi was in plain sight. The others, like Huasheng, were hidden in the shadows.

Tianjizi, holding his slip with the number written on it, strolled about at leisure, seemingly in no hurry to advance. He began searching from the center toward the edges. The cave, though full of bizarre rock formations and many hiding places, was gradually being scoured by Tianjizi. With every few steps, he would call out a string of numbers. Each time, the number of participants on the cave wall decreased.

Some tried to duel him with magic, but Tianjizi was their equal in the mystical arts. The moment anyone revealed themselves, he would expose their number.

In less than the time it took for an incense stick to burn, only twenty-one participants remained. The rule that anyone whose number was discovered would be eliminated became Tianjizi’s ultimate weapon.

The Junior Sovereign, growing frustrated, whispered to Huasheng, “This game of hide-and-seek can’t go on. The cave may be large, but in an hour it can be searched completely. Besides, even if we hide forever, we still can’t win. If we don’t advance, Tianjizi wins alone.”

This matched Huasheng’s own thoughts. Tianjizi’s advantage in the Divine Mind Calculation Game was obvious. The previous round, the Candlefire Battle, had tested strength; the strongest in mystical arts had the best chance to win a candle and advance. That was why it was called a “battle.” Those like Tiger Spirit, with both brawn and cunning, naturally had an edge.

But this round was called the “Calculation Game.” Here, magical prowess alone was not enough; one needed a way to deduce the sum of all the numbers.

Thinking of this gave Huasheng a headache. Still, for now, their only hope was to get Tianjizi out of this round.

Just then, a palm-sized black shadow shot out from behind a strange rock, aiming directly at the trial’s colored ring high above. It struck the ring’s fiery edge with a dull thud, and the ring—originally large enough for an adult to pass through—shrunk to half its size.

The black shadow drifted down. Huasheng saw it was a black feather.

As everyone stared in surprise, another feather of the same size shot out from behind another rock, again hitting the colored ring, which shrank further, now no larger than a washbasin.

Tianjizi was startled too. He rushed behind the rock, but found nothing.

“It’s Shadowbane,” Huasheng suddenly heard someone whisper beside him. Turning, he saw a male disciple about his own age—a familiar face. Then he remembered: this was the classmate with the warhorse spirit from the lesson he’d interrupted by burning the Hall of Thought.

The Junior Sovereign recognized him first. “Xuan Wen? You’re here too?”

Xuan Wen held his forehead and sighed. “Didn’t expect to meet a privileged child and an ant here.” His words were sharp as ever.

The Junior Sovereign narrowed his eyes. “Who are you calling privileged?”

“And who are you calling an ant? Not just one, but a single one!” Huasheng nearly lunged at him, but the Junior Sovereign held him back.

“I never said who I meant, and already you’re jumping to defend yourselves,” Xuan Wen replied. “No choice, I’ll just squeeze in here with you two.”

“Squeeze in with us?” Huasheng asked.

“What, should I go out there and run into Tianjizi instead?” Xuan Wen shot him a look. “Why didn’t you use your Samadhi True Fire to toast Tianjizi at the crucial moment?”

Huasheng was so angry he nearly exploded. “If I used it, you’d be first since you’re closer!”

“You passing the Candlefire Battle is truly a miracle. Must’ve been thanks to the Junior Sovereign.”

“You—!” Huasheng was about to retort.

The Junior Sovereign quickly said, “Enough, Huasheng. Think of the bigger picture; there’s no need to argue here.”

He turned to Xuan Wen. “He passed on his own merits—I simply cooperated.”

“Weren’t you the one who used your grandfather’s connections to sneak in?” Xuan Wen’s words were always barbed.

“I’m tired enough tonight; let’s drop this subject,” the Junior Sovereign said, suppressing his irritation. “Just now, you mentioned Shadowbane—what is that?”

“It’s not a thing,” Xuan Wen replied.

“Then what is it?”

“A disciple from the Institute of Magical Arts.”

Huasheng felt something odd. “Why does that sound like you’re saying she’s not a person?”

Xuan Wen shot him a look. “Are you a person?”

Huasheng was momentarily speechless. “I suppose not.”

“So if I say Shadowbane isn’t a person, what’s the problem?”

The Junior Sovereign interrupted their pointless bickering. “Enough! None of us are people, apparently. What I’m asking is—who is Shadowbane?”

Xuan Wen peeked through a crack in the rocks to make sure Tianjizi wasn’t nearby, then lowered his voice. “Shadowbane is a descendant of the Mistsunder Bird.”

“Mistsunder Bird?” Huasheng thought of the black feathers. “So she’s a spirit?”

Xuan Wen nodded seriously. “Yes. If someone like you, Huasheng, is an ant—one of the lesser mortals—then the Mistsunder Bird is a high-ranking spirit among the immortals.”

“Can you make your analogies without trampling me?” Huasheng interjected.

“If you’re not happy, I won’t continue.”

“No, go on, please.” Huasheng shut his mouth.

Xuan Wen continued in a low voice, “Shadowbane is a descendant of the Mistsunder Bird. She has eight sisters—nine in total, and she’s the youngest. She keeps an extremely low profile at the Institute, appears to have mediocre talent, and always sits in the last row. Many people go a whole year in class and never notice her.”

“So how do you know her?” Huasheng asked.

“My family is of the Fire Aspect—we’re old friends with the Fire Wheel King. He told my father personally that he’d adopted Shadowbane as his goddaughter,” Xuan Wen replied.

Another unfamiliar name. Huasheng asked, “Who is the Fire Wheel King? Also a spirit from the Mistsunder Bird family?”

Xuan Wen gave him a sidelong glance. “I knew ants were ignorant, but not this ignorant.”

Huasheng looked baffled. “Should I know who the Fire Wheel King is?”

The Junior Sovereign said, “Of course you should. The Fire Wheel King is Nezha!”