Chapter 181: The Supreme Arcane Calculation Canon
In Qin Mu's team, besides himself as a Grand Academy Erudite, there was no Imperial Academy supervisor. Gu Linuan's reasoning was that Qin Mu, being a Grand Academy Erudite with a high official rank, should naturally lead a team of scholars on his own.
The few scholars assigned to Qin Mu, though selected and among the top talents of the scholar community, were far inferior to the scholars chosen by Imperial Prince Yuan Shentong's selection.
The Grand Academy was filled with experts, countless individuals of great skill. Gu Linuan sending Qin Mu to lead a team for field training was clearly an act of personal vendetta disguised as official duty.
The scholars following Qin Mu to the front lines for training were all familiar faces: Shen Wanyun, the monk Yun Que, Yue Qinghong who brought her wolf slave, Si Yunxiang, and also Qin Yu.
However, Qin Yu was a scion of the Qin family in the capital, with deep connections. He sought out Gu Linuan, said a few words, and was transferred out of Qin Mu's team to another team led by an Imperial Academy supervisor, thus avoiding Qin Mu's doomed squad.
Qin Mu finished refining a batch of Crimson Fire Spirit Pills and stretched his waist. He had been alchemy these past few days, ensuring that the Dragon Qilin would have food once they reached the front lines, and had no time to meet with those scholars.
The monk Yun Que found Shen Wanyun, Yue Qinghong, and the others, and discussed, "This time, the Grand Sacrificial Officer has ordered Dr. Qin to lead us for training, and it's to a place of rebellion. It's likely a one-way trip, certain death. Our team doesn't even have a single Divine Ability practitioner!"
Shen Wanyun shook his head. "There is."
The others looked at him. Shen Wanyun said calmly, "I've been suppressing my cultivation realm these days. You can rest assured; I can break through at any time and become a Divine Ability practitioner of the Six Harmonies realm."
Yue Qinghong said, "I've heard that these rebellious sects are gathering in the south, aiming to completely expel the Yan Kang Kingdom's influence there. Many sect forces that were originally active near the capital have now vanished. For example, the Dragon Taming Gate has migrated south. Now, south of the Yong River is entirely rebel territory! All the rebellious sects and schools are gathered there. How many Divine Ability practitioners are there? One Divine Ability practitioner is utterly useless."
Shen Wanyun frowned. "Dr. Qin has too little worldly experience. How old is he? How many times has he traveled the martial world? With him leading us, misfortune outweighs fortune. Even with my highest cultivation and strength, there's nothing I can do. Junior Sister Si, you've been silent. What are your thoughts?"
Si Yunxiang smiled shyly and said nothing.
The others fell silent.
The monk Yun Que sighed. "Better go to the Heavenly Record Tower and pick one or two escape techniques. They might come in handy."
Finally, the day of departure arrived. In front of the Grand Academy hall, several hundred scholars gathered. Imperial Academy supervisors inspected their respective teams, and then one by one, tower ships flew in and landed before the hall. The supervisors each led their teams aboard their ships.
"Dr. Qin, didn't you hire a ship?"
Gu Linuan walked over, smiling. "This journey is quite far. If you walk, it will take over ten days. You're a Grand Academy Erudite; surely you're not unwilling to spend a little money?"
Qin Mu was calm and composed, smiling. "Thank you for your concern, Grand Sacrificial Officer. I'm so poor I only have money left, so I spent a large sum to hire a fast ship. It will arrive soon. The furnace on that ship was forged by me, so it's very fast."
Shen Wanyun and the others exchanged glances, thinking, "Truly stingy. He even forged his own furnace. It's probably a small boat. But he knows artifact forging? He's never been to the Divine Works Hall; where did he learn to forge?"
The Grand Academy had a Divine Works Hall, where artifact and treasure forging was taught. The supervisors of the Divine Works Hall also held positions in the imperial court, serving as directors of the shipbuilding and armament factories.
Since entering the Grand Academy, Qin Mu had never once visited the Divine Works Hall, so it was impossible for him to have learned forging and casting.
After a while, tower ships rose one by one and departed from the Grand Academy. Yun Que and the others grew anxious. Suddenly, a dilapidated tower ship wobbled through the air, swaying as it landed before the Grand Academy hall.
"Our ship is here!" Qin Mu said with a smile.
Shen Wanyun, Yun Que, Yue Qinghong, and the others frowned deeply. The ship was riddled with holes, letting wind through everywhere. Its mast had been chopped off, and there wasn't even a sail.
A bare-chested, fierce-looking man appeared on the tower ship. He didn't look like a good person at all, covered from head to toe in tattoos. He waved at Qin Mu and laughed heartily, "Brother Qin, sorry I'm late, sorry I'm late!"
Qin Mu walked forward with Fox Ling'er and the Dragon Qilin, smiling. "A day or two late is no problem. What happened to your ship? It was fine when I last saw it. Why is it so battered after just a few days?"
"Don't mention it. I ran a job and ran into that slut from Three Wonders Fort again. She released bugs to harm me. I was going too fast and crashed into the swarm; it nearly turned my treasure ship into a sieve."
Fan Yunxiao glanced at Shen Wanyun and the others, grinning slyly. "Fellow scholars, when you become officials, be sure to take care of my humble business. We've recently gone straight."
Yun Que muttered, "This ship is so broken, won't it fall apart mid-air?"
Qin Mu had the same doubt. This Cloud-Chasing Pirate Ship was truly too dilapidated, looking like it might collapse at any moment.
"No, no!"
Fan Yunxiao gave his full guarantee, slapping his chest hard. "My brothers have reinforced the hull with runes. It's very sturdy. Brother Qin, do you have time to forge me an iron-hulled ship? Help me forge a few more furnaces, make the hull out of dark iron. Wood is a bit too brittle."
Qin Mu pondered. "That would require a large sum of money. Just the dark iron alone would be a considerable expense. Can your business afford that? Also, do you have blueprints?"
Fan Yunxiao rubbed his hands together eagerly. "I've been robbing—*ahem*—doing business all these years and saved up quite a bit. All my savings combined should be enough to forge an iron-hulled ship. As for blueprints, that's a bit tricky... Everyone, please board the ship. We'll discuss it once we're on board."
Everyone boarded the ship. Yue Qinghong looked around. The crew members were all covered in tattoos, fierce and evil-looking. Some had long knife scars on their bodies, others were missing noses or eyes, exuding a murderous aura. They clearly weren't good people.
The broken ship slowly rose into the air, moving as sluggishly as an old ox pulling a broken cart, heading out of the capital.
Seeing this, the group became even more disheartened. Shen Wanyun said quietly, "The people on this ship are all bad guys—violent criminals who rob homes and businesses. Most of them are Divine Ability practitioners. Dr. Qin has little worldly experience and has probably fallen into their trap. We must be careful on the road to avoid being robbed..."
Just as he said this, the broken ship suddenly accelerated violently, letting out a shrill whistle as it tore through the air.
A violent tremor shook the ship. Its speed surpassed sound, covering a mile in an instant. Several wine barrels were flung off, exploding mid-air from the air pressure.
Everyone quickly steadied themselves, looking around in shock. The broken ship soon overtook one gleaming tower ship after another that had already been flying for half a day, leaving them far behind.
The speed of this broken ship was unbelievable. At this rate, they would reach the Yong River in just a day or two!
Qin Mu was already used to it. After all, he had forged the furnace himself, so it wasn't surprising.
"It's fine, it's fine. It won't fall apart."
Fan Yunxiao reassured everyone. "I thought it would fall apart before, but after carrying a few passengers, it never did. It probably won't this time either."
*Whoosh!*
A plank of the deck was ripped up by the wind and flew backward with a clatter.
Fan Yunxiao said confidently, "Don't worry, it won't fall apart! Second-in-command, bring up another plank... Bring two; another one just blew off! Don't worry, don't worry, I have experience."
Suddenly, the tower ship passed through a rain zone where it was pouring. The ship cut through the torrential rain, and Fan Yunxiao ended up covered in splashes of color.
Fox Ling'er exclaimed in surprise, "Old Xiao, your tattoos are washing off!"
The other bandits on the Cloud-Chasing Pirate Ship also had their tattoos washed off by the rain. One crew member shouted, "Boss, my scar washed off!"
Fan Yunxiao was a bit embarrassed. "We'll find a painter to redo them after we get off the ship. But since we've gone straight, maybe we don't need tattoos anymore. Second-in-command, take off your eyepatch. Look, you're scaring the scholars."
The second-in-command took off his eyepatch, revealing a perfectly good eye.
The monk Yun Que muttered, "These thugs don't seem very reliable..."
Qin Mu, however, was quite familiar with the bandit leader. He took out a calculation manual and consulted Fan Yunxiao. Fox Ling'er found a cloth and wiped the dragon head tattoo on Fan Yunxiao's back; the dragon head vanished instantly.
"Fox, stop messing around." Fan Yunxiao waved his hand.
Fox Ling'er curled her lip. "I thought it was a real tattoo, but it turns out it was just painted on."
Fan Yunxiao gave a dry laugh, stammering, "That would hurt so much! Our bodies, hair, and skin are gifts from our parents; how could we deface them recklessly?"
Qin Mu said, "Brother Fan, in this Supreme Arcane Calculation Canon, the units like individual, ten, hundred, thousand, and ten thousand are easy to understand. But the units like yi, zhao, jing, gai, zi, rang, gou, jian, zheng, zai, and ji—aren't these numbers too large? What are they used to calculate? Do we need such huge numbers?"
"I once asked the Dao Lord about that. He said they are used for infinite calculations."
Fan Yunxiao said, "Between ten thousand and yi, it's a ten-thousand-base system: ten thousand ten-thousands make one yi. After yi, it's a yi-base system: one yi yi makes one zhao, one yi zhao makes one jing, one yi jing makes one gai. Besides that, for numbers that can't be divided evenly, after the integer part, we use units like fen, li, hao, si, hu, wei, xian, sha, chen, ai, miao, mo, mohu, qunxun, xuyu, shunxi, danzhi, chana, liude, kongxu, and qingjing, using a ten-decimal system. Fen is one-tenth, li is one-hundredth, and so on."①
Qin Mu was amazed. "And kongxu and qingjing—what are they used to calculate?"
"They are used to calculate the smallest particles of primordial qi."
Fan Yunxiao said, "The fourteenth chapter of the Dao Sword requires inscribing runic arrays on the smallest particles of primordial qi. Without calculation, it cannot be mastered."
Qin Mu was astonished. He looked at the Supreme Arcane Calculation Canon and felt a headache coming on.
"You also need these calculations when forging various treasures. A slight error can lead to a huge mistake."
Qin Mu agreed and praised, "The Dao Sect's mastery of mathematics is truly extraordinary."
He humbly sought advice, and Fan Yunxiao shared everything he knew. Fan Yunxiao had already mastered the fifth chapter of the Dao Sword and had a very high level of mathematical skill.
Note ①: Zhao, jing, gai, zi, rang, gou, jian, zheng, zai, ji, fen, li, hao, si, hu, wei, xian, sha, etc., are all ancient Chinese counting units. Fen, li, etc., are used for numbers after the decimal point.
PS: Two chapters today—one at noon, one in the evening. Zhai Zhu has been releasing chapters for nine days straight. My body and mind can't take it anymore these past two days.