Chapter Twenty-Four: The Divine Calculation Bureau (4)
After the transformation, Shadow Extinction took a step forward, and the stone beneath her feet split open, leaving a gap the width of a finger. Then, she pushed off with both feet, sending a cascade of shattered rock behind her as she charged straight toward Sky Limit. Sky Limit sensed something was wrong but hadn’t anticipated the ferocity of her attack. In an instant, Shadow Extinction's fist was upon him; unable to dodge, he could only raise his hands in defense. With a loud bang, the freshly written paper he held in his fist was crushed into nail-sized scraps by her blow. Sky Limit was sent flying, crashing into a massive boulder behind him.
The boulder fractured into three pieces with a thunderous crash. Sky Limit brushed the dust from his robes and discovered five disciples hiding behind the rock. Without hesitation, he recited five strings of numbers. The disciples, still stunned by the boulder's destruction, vanished from the cave amid a flash of white light.
The numbers on the cave wall dropped rapidly.
“Trial Participants: Thirteen.”
Hua Sheng felt fortunate that neither he nor Young Lord Tai Shang had been discovered by Sky Limit, but as the number dwindled, he knew they couldn't hide much longer. If he came face to face with Sky Limit, his number would be instantly identified, leaving almost no chance of victory.
“Isn’t this quite something!” Young Lord Tai Shang was clearly in a much better mood than Hua Sheng.
Hua Sheng looked at him in confusion, “What do you mean, quite something?”
Young Lord Tai Shang replied, “Look! The Tianmu Trial started with over three thousand seven hundred disciples, and now only fourteen remain. Strictly speaking, Shadow Extinction accounts for seven of those, so really, just eight people. We've made it into the top three thousandths.”
Reminded by Young Lord Tai Shang, Hua Sheng realized that he had stumbled this far almost by accident.
Young Lord Tai Shang said to him, “Perhaps you’re an exceptionally lucky person!”
“He’s not the only lucky one. Any ant who makes it into Saint Pingning is extraordinarily fortunate,” Xuan Wen laughed, “But it seems my luck today is also quite good.”
As he spoke, Xuan Wen pulled out a slip of paper, turned away, and wrote a few words.
Hua Sheng asked, “What are you writing?”
“Numbers.”
“You’ve figured out the answer?”
Xuan Wen nodded.
“How did you know?”
Xuan Wen opened his palm, revealing a torn and reassembled sheet of paper.
Before Hua Sheng could ask where it came from, he saw that the scraps of numbered paper shattered earlier in Sky Limit’s hand had somehow ended up with Xuan Wen.
Young Lord Tai Shang glanced at it, “You used Wind Manipulation to blow the scraps over, and you managed to piece them together.”
“Yes,” Xuan Wen answered.
“Not only that, Sky Limit announced five numbers earlier—if you subtract those from the sum on the paper, you get the total of the remaining trial participants’ numbers.”
Xuan Wen smiled, “Connections seem quite clever, after all.”
Hua Sheng impatiently reached for the reassembled paper, “What’s the number?”
With a swoosh, Xuan Wen burned the slip into a heap of black powder.
“You!” Hua Sheng asked angrily, “Why did you do that?”
“Because it’s useless even if I give it to you.”
“Why?”
Page (1/3)
Xuan Wen held up the slip he’d written, “Because this number is only useful to one person.”
“He’s right,” Young Lord Tai Shang interjected, “Xuan Wen’s number may indeed be the sum of the current trial participants, but once he wins, the sum will change. Since he wasn’t eliminated by having his number exposed, we don’t know how much to subtract from the total.”
Hua Sheng lunged for Xuan Wen’s collar, but Xuan Wen quickly stepped back, “The number I have is just one advancement spot. If you try to take it, I’ll burn it. Even if it’s burned, the number is in my mind—I can still progress.”
Xuan Wen was clearly confident in his victory.
Hua Sheng gritted his teeth.
Young Lord Tai Shang said to Xuan Wen, “Go on, we won’t stop you. Since you found the way to win yourself, you’ve no obligation to help others. This is a competition—there are winners and losers.”
“I never took you for a—” Xuan Wen began to speak, but Young Lord Tai Shang suddenly stepped forward like lightning, pinching the slip between two fingers and pulling it out.
The slip slid from Xuan Wen’s fingers and landed in Young Lord Tai Shang’s hand.
Xuan Wen’s face instantly paled at the unexpected turn.
Young Lord Tai Shang rattled off, “I could throw you out right now. Once you appear, Sky Limit will announce your number. I subtract your number from the sum on this paper, and I’ll know the total. You lose, I win.”
“You—you—scoundrel—I—” Xuan Wen stammered, unable to find words. Young Lord Tai Shang’s speed had caught him off guard; he regretted his arrogance. At this point, he could only accept defeat.
He waited for Young Lord Tai Shang to open the slip.
Yet Young Lord Tai Shang did not, nor did he seem inclined to. He spoke slowly, “But this number was earned by your own skill—I won’t exploit your weakness. If you mention ‘connections’ or ‘ants’ again, I won’t be so courteous!”
Xuan Wen’s face reddened with suppressed frustration.
Young Lord Tai Shang handed the slip to him, “Disappear from my sight!”
Xuan Wen snatched the slip and ran off without a backward glance, following the narrow path along the cave wall, ascending to its upper reaches. Once at the top, he tucked the slip into the trial’s colored ring, now no larger than his palm.
The trial ring turned blue, a blue light flashed across Xuan Wen’s body, and he vanished.
The writing on the cave wall changed in sync.
Divine Calculation Bureau
Trial Participants: Twelve
Advancers: One
“Never underestimate supreme luck; Sky Limit’s number was indeed correct,” said Young Lord Tai Shang.
“You let Xuan Wen go because—”
“I let him go, nothing more,” Young Lord Tai Shang cut off Hua Sheng.
Since Young Lord Tai Shang didn't continue, Hua Sheng couldn’t press the matter. But he recalled Young Lord Tai Shang’s earlier suspicion about Sky Limit’s numbers, implying he believed Sky Limit could write incorrect numbers.
If Sky Limit possessed supreme luck, all his numbers—including those used to guess others’—should be absolutely accurate. Why did Young Lord Tai Shang harbor doubts?
Wait! A thought flashed through Hua Sheng’s mind.
If supreme luck always exists, then whatever Sky Limit does, events will turn to his advantage—even writing an incorrect number. It might not be intentional, but objectively, if it benefits him, then any number he casually writes could be wrong.
For instance, eliminating certain people or letting some advance?
Supreme luck would always bring Sky Limit the favorable outcome he desires; in that case...
Faint ideas flickered in Hua Sheng's mind, but the information was too tangled for him to clarify. Besides, immediate troubles were pressing.
Page (2/3)
In the center of the cave, Shadow Extinction and Sky Limit were still locked in battle, the sounds of blows and shattering rock echoing endlessly. Shadow Extinction’s stamina was now incomparable to earlier, with no sign of fatigue. Compared to her previous Windstorm Technique, she now seemed transformed into a martial artist of boundless strength. The cave’s granite, usually unyielding, was crushed to powder in her hands as if it were tofu.
After being entangled by Shadow Extinction for so long, Sky Limit seemed to lose interest in the fight. After all, the Divine Calculation Bureau was not a contest of immortal arts—if he were injured by Shadow Extinction, she would at most be eliminated for breaking the rules, leaving him at a loss.
Whenever he tried to shake off Shadow Extinction, if the distance grew even slightly, she would lunge for the colored ring, forcing Sky Limit to chase her to protect it.
Just as Hua Sheng thought the fight would drag on in relentless back-and-forth, Sky Limit suddenly produced a white slip from his hand and darted backward, then rose and flew toward the colored ring. Shadow Extinction, unwilling to let him escape, lunged forward with all her might. Sky Limit, taking advantage of her forward momentum, sidestepped to the left. Shadow Extinction missed her mark and, as she turned, Sky Limit slapped the back of her neck.
“Hasten as the law commands! Sleep!” Sky Limit’s immortal art caught Shadow Extinction off guard; with a gentle tap, she collapsed.
Seeing her motionless, Sky Limit dusted himself off and muttered, “What a nuisance.”
He then floated the white slip in the air; it bore no writing, meant only to distract his opponent. He conjured a pen.
Just as he was about to write, a shout rang out from behind, “Wait!”
Sky Limit turned to see a slender girl with waist-length hair and violet eyes standing before him.
“Where did you come from?” Sky Limit asked.
“It’s not over yet!” The long-haired girl let out a chilling laugh.
Sky Limit looked closer—Shadow Extinction, who had just lain on the ground, was nowhere to be seen. “Hmm? Transformation technique? No, you’re not the same person!”
The girl kept laughing, “Now that Six is here, you’ll be blind.”
This girl was none other than Sister Six, residing in Shadow Extinction’s body.
As Sky Limit frowned, the girl suddenly floated into the air. Then something strange happened: the colored glows from the rocks, and the torches scattered throughout the cave, all the light seemed to dissolve like ink and converge onto the long-haired Shadow Extinction.
The places that had radiated light faded rapidly, and within moments, the cave was pitch black—so dark one could not see their hand before their face. Even the trial ring was lost to sight.
Sky Limit conjured a ball of fire in his palm, only to find Shadow Extinction now barely half a foot from him, her nails already grasping his hand. He hurriedly retreated, but she snatched the slip from his grasp, tearing his sleeve as well.
Trying to look again, he found the fire’s warmth remained, but its light was stolen away by Shadow Extinction.
In total darkness, Sky Limit could only dodge swiftly backward, yet he felt Shadow Extinction pressed close, her hair even brushing against him—a deeply unsettling sensation.
“You can’t escape this darkness! Refuse to abandon the trial, and you’ll be trapped here with me forever!”
The cave echoed with Shadow Extinction’s wicked laughter.
Sky Limit gave no answer. Suddenly, a dazzling white light appeared above. He floated in mid-air, conjuring streams of white radiance from his palm. In one hand, he held a slip of paper, already inscribed with numbers. The trial ring was just half a step from him, illuminated by the white light.
Sky Limit tossed the slip into the trial ring.
Shadow Extinction, realizing she’d been thrown off, was too late to seize the numbered paper. She shouted, “One four five!”
As her cry rang out, the slip flew into the trial ring.
Light dispersed from Shadow Extinction’s body, and the cave brightened once more.
“Hahaha! You lost!” Shadow Extinction burst out laughing, “You wrote the wrong number! Leave the Tianmu Trial with me!”
Page (3/3)