Chapter 273 — The Summit of Arithmetic
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 4
Reverend Hongfa was overjoyed and quickly invited him into the hall, saying to the scholars, "Today the Doctor of the Grand Academy shall lecture to you. Doctor, please!"
Shen Mu looked toward Ban Gongcuo at the back of the hall and smiled. "Prince Ban Gongcuo of the frontier has also broken through the Six Harmonies Barrier and become a divine-power wielder. Would you care to speak of what you have gained?"
Everyone turned to look. Ban Gongcuo shook his head. "A barbarian from beyond the frontier does not presume to show off. Sect Master Shen, please."
Shen Mu narrowed his eyes, and explained his calculating technique to all present in the hall. Reverend Hongfa was both startled and delighted; she seized upon several points and questioned him again and again, drawing out more of the mystery of his technique, until everyone in the hall listened spellbound.
A long while passed before Shen Mu finished. The scholars in the hall tried the method one after another, seeking to master this art of reckoning, but some were quick and some dull, and not all could grasp it.
"Doctor of the Grand Academy, with this technique of yours this humble nun could recompile the Six Harmonies Mathematical Classic."
Reverend Hongfa smiled. "Would the Doctor be willing to set his name to it as co-author?"
Shen Mu said gravely, "This is a good deed that will profit the peace of the realm; if my name may stand upon it, I am glad. But my name must be written as these words: Shen Mu, Sect Master of the Celestial Sage Sect."
Reverend Hongfa's face darkened, and she thought to herself: "He is the Sect Master of the Nether Demon Sect. If my name stands beside his, does that not make me a demon too? Amitabha, Amitabha -- this humble nun has clung to appearances once more. To stand alongside the Nether Demon Sect Master is, after all, a coat of gold for this humble nun."
Shen Mu looked at Ban Gongcuo and smiled. "Little prince, you and I broke through at almost the same moment and entered the Six Harmonies realm as divine-power wielders. Heaven's hour and earth's advantage -- it is rare for two to reach the same realm. Shall we try a bout?"
Ban Gongcuo shook his head. "Sect Master Shen jests. I came here to study."
Shen Mu smiled faintly. "To study? How convenient. I have here a set of saber techniques, said to have been created by the Heavenly Saber. Would you care to learn them?"
Ban Gongcuo's brows rose, and his gaze fell upon him -- and in Shen Mu's ears there suddenly came the wailing of countless ghosts and the howling of gods!