Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Was this the spiritual eye that had been opened up by the pineal gland in his brain?
Opening his eyes, Yan Liqiang looked at the space that returned to normal in shock.
The 108 rare beast core crystals were still on the table, all looking exactly the same as each other. However, Yan Liqiang was no longer confused this time. He stared at the rare beast core crystal that looked different from the rest just now. He walked to it and picked it up.
Closing his eyes once again and opening his spiritual eye, the core crystal in his hand became a glob of blue light. He could see the faintly discernible strange runes among the light.
He opened his eyes…
The rare beast core crystal looked like what it was supposed to look like.
“So it turns out that the Death door of this crystal pagoda is really for the Divine Sword Sect to select a disciple that can succeed as a talisman master!” Yan Liqiang mumbled to himself. At this point in time, he would really be a little too stupid if he still failed to realize the objective of the sixth trial.
He had almost never heard anything about being a talisman master. The only thing related to a talisman master he had seen before was the spirit talisman that protected the Shatu priest back then. When he saw the energy shield that was impenetrable by arrows came out from that Shatu priest for the very first time, he was so shocked that his jaw almost dropped. Before that, he had never expected such an unimaginable secret technique to exist in this world apart from martial arts.
In the blink of an eye, he might just unexpectedly become a talisman master in the Heavenly Realm.
After standing in a daze for a while with all kinds of thoughts rushing through his mind, Yan Liqiang came to the metal table in the middle of the room with the rare beast core crystal in hand. Without any hesitation, he placed the core crystal into the indentation on the metal table.
The moment the glowing red rare beast core crystal was put into the indentation, blue light magically came bursting out. The eerie blue light shone on Yan Liqiang’s entire body in front of the metal table. The metal table then sunk to the ground silently. A crystal door on one of the walls slid open silently, revealing the passage that led to the seventh floor.
Yan Liqiang took a deep breath and walked toward the passage.
As usual, there was a line of words at the entrance.
——Only the exceptionally talented individuals possess the spiritual eye. Permitted to proceed to the seventh floor.
Just what kind of trial lies on the seventh floor of this crystal pagoda?
With this question in heart, Yan Liqiang took a deep breath and went up to the seventh floor. Less than half a minute later, he arrived at the hall on the seventh floor.
Unlike the sixth floor, the hall on the seventh floor was extremely spacious. The metal table on this floor was bigger than those from downstairs. On the ground beside it, there was a pile of things that looked like square bricks. Yan Liqiang went closer and found out that they weren’t bricks, but square metal blocks. There were numbers engraved on each metal block, from 1 to 81, totaling up to exactly 81 blocks.
“What are these for?” Yan Liqiang scratched his head while looking at the objects on the floor. He then noticed a note on the metal table, so he picked it up to read it.
—Congratulations! Only one in a million disciples in the Divine Sword Sect have ever made it here thus far. You have proven your rights to come here by putting your strength, luck and excelling talent to good use. If you fail the next trial, you will still be able to obtain the reward for this floor. The reward for this floor is one of the Divine Sword Sect’s four great works, the ‘Fusion Sword Technique’. As a secret technique made in heaven, it could be considered the work of a celestial being and is thus incomparable to any other secret manual. Apart from that, you will also obtain the right to cultivate in the Blue Dragon Cave in Dijian Valley for seven years. You are deserving of these rewards.
——The trial of the seventh floor is the final trial of the Death door. To many, it is the most difficult trial. There will be no other trials beyond this floor and you will be able to go directly to the ninth floor. If you can pass the trial on the seventh floor, you will receive even more rewards. Not only will you receive all the rewards on the seventh floor, but a greater reward also awaits you on the ninth floor. This reward is the Divine Sword Sect’s ultimate inheritance that will allow you to embark on a more glorious path, which will surely bring you fame and allow you to stand at the peak of society on the Silver Continent. At the same time, it will also grant you an extremely promising position in the Divine Sword Sect.
——Among the previous trials, some tested your nature, some tested your strength, while some tested your luck. Some tested your courage, some tested your ability, and some tested your talent. This trial will put another kind of ability and talent to the test.
——There are 81 slots on the metal table before you, and there are 81 numbers on the ground beside you. Insert the numbers into the slots. When the figures add up to 369 vertically, horizontally, and diagonally, the final door will open for you.
——Followers of the Dao, numbers are the key to the creation of all!
Yan Liqiang read the note twice before his mouth involuntarily gaped open. He didn’t expect the final trial on the seventh floor to actually put his mathematical ability to test. The 81 slots and 81 metal blocks on the ground before his eyes, as well as the requirements stated on the note… It was clear that he had to complete a magic square of order nine within a time limit.
The rewards on the seventh floor were not related to talisman masters. Yet, the trial on this floor was very closely related to mathematics. Yan Liqiang couldn’t help but secretly wonder becoming a talisman master required good mathematical skills. There seemed to be a faint connection between a talisman master and mathematics…
Yan Liqiang read the final line on the note twice and discovered there was profound meaning behind it. It might be a head-scratcher to the people of this world, but Yan Liqiang definitely had a deeper understanding of this sentence. That was because the sciences he had seen and learned from his previous world were built upon mathematics. Therefore, from certain perspectives, this could be considered as coming into contact with the ‘Dao’…
When it came to the Nine Palace Diagram, many people on the Silver Continent would be able to say this: ‘In the Nine Palace Diagram, two and four are the shoulders. Six and eight are the feet. Three is on the left side and seven is on the right side. Nine is at the head and one is at the tail. Five occupies the center.’ The Nine Palace Diagram was the simplest magic square of order three. Even the Nine Palace Wind Shadow Steps technique which Yan Liqiang cultivated before was one of the martial techniques that evolved from the Nine Palace Diagram.
Beyond the magic square of order three, some people might study magic squares of order four or five. However, Yan Liqiang had never heard anyone studying beyond order five. Even an expert engineer like Zhang Yourong would probably stop before order six. For many martial practitioners, asking them to solve a magic square of order six was no different than asking for their lives. Given a decade, they might still not be able to solve it. It would have been more practical to just ask them to battle on the Arena of Life and Death.
This trial would probably drive even the elders of the Divine Sword Sect or an expert engineer like Zhang Yourong crazy. However, to Yan Liqiang, the trial before his eyes was simply a blessing to him.
“Could it be that the person who set this trial is aware of my nickname in the previous life as the Prince of Mathematics back in school?” Yan Liqiang mumbled to himself. There were actually many ways to solve magic squares like this. One could easily obtain the final answer through constructing triangles, Robert’s method, or Bashe’s method. There wasn’t only one correct answer to a magic square of order nine. In just the blink of an eye, at least two correct answers popped into Yan Liqiang’s head.
With the answers in mind, Yan Liqiang’s hands no longer remained idle. He bent down and picked up the metal block engraved with the number ‘1’ on it and inserted it into one of the slots on the metal table in front of him.
In just less than two minutes, when the final block on the ground was inserted into the final slot, the metal table sunk to the ground silently. The last crystal door finally appeared before Yan Liqiang.
—He who resonates with the Dao, please proceed to the highest floor of the Death door!
As usual, there was a line of words at the crystal door entrance. Yan Liqiang glanced at it, then directly made his way upstairs.
This time, the journey was exceptionally long because there was no eighth floor. Therefore, Yan Liqiang directly arrived on the ninth and highest floor.
The top floor of the crystal pagoda was narrower than the other floors below it. An ordinary wooden table was placed right in the middle of the ninth floor. Beside it was a meditation cushion on the ground. There were two boxes made of gold on the wooden table. Yan Liqiang went to the wooden table and sat cross-legged on the meditation cushion. He opened the first golden box on the left and found a strange-looking secret manual in it. The material of the secret manual slightly resembled the half Golden Bell Divine Protection Technique manual he obtained before. There were three glowing words on its cover —’Fusion Sword Technique’.
Yan Liqiang took a deep breath, trying to suppress the excitement in his heart. He then opened the golden box on the right and found a strange crystal in it. There were a few words on the crystal —’Taiyi Talisman Manual’.
Yan Liqiang gulped. He had struck a pot of gold this time…
