Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
In Qin Muâs team, other than him being an imperial academician, there was no directorate. Gu Linuanâs reason was that since Qin Mu was an imperial academician and had a high official position, he should lead a team by himself.
The scholars that were assigned to Qin Mu may be selectively chosen, the top notch of Scholarâs Residence, however, they were far inferior compared to the scholars selected from Royaltyâs Park and Divine Arts Residence.
With strongest practitioners lying everywhere in Imperial College, there was no lack of experts. Gu Linuan making Qin Mu lead a team for experience was obviously using public office to avenge his personal grudge.
The scholars going with Qin Mu to the front lines were all acquaintances. They were Chen Wanyun, Monk Yun Que, Yue Qinghong who brought wolf slave along, Si Yunxiang and finally, Qin Yu.
However, since Qin Yu was the younger generation of the capital cityâs Qin Family, he had a deep background and found Gu Linuan to give him a word, thus he was relocated from Qin Muâs team to another team which was led by a directorate, avoiding Qin Muâs sure death team.
Qin Mu finished refining a furnace of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills and stretched his body. He had been refining pills these few days to ensure that the dragon qilin would have enough to eat when they reached the front lines, thus he had no time to meet those few scholars.
Monk Yun Que found Chen Wanyun and Yue Qinghong to discuss with them, âThis time Grand Chancellor made Academician Qin bring us out for experience and to a place of turmoil, I reckon we wonât make it back and will surely die. We donât even have a divine arts practitioner in our team!â
Chen Wanyun shook his head, âWe have.â
The few of them looked towards him. Chen Wanyun smiled faintly, âI have been suppressing my realm these few days so you guys can be at ease. I can breakthrough anytime and become a divine arts practitioners of Six Directions Realm.â
Yue Qinghong said, âIâve heard that the sects that rebelled have already started gathering towards the south, wanting to completely rid Eternal Peace Empireâs power in the south. Numerous sects that were active near the capital city had all vanished without a trace. For example, Dragon Rider Sect which had already moved to the south. Now the south of Surging River is completely the territory of the rebel army! With all the rebel sects gathered there, how many divine arts practitioners are there? With you being the only divine arts practitioners, there absolutely no usefulness.â
Chen Wanyun frowned, âAcademician Qinâs experience in the martial world is too shallow. heâs too young, so how many times has he traveled throughout the martial world? With him leading us, everything points to disaster. No matter how high my cultivation is, I would be helpless. Junior Sister Si, you havenât been talking. Whatâs your opinion on this?â
Si Yunxiang smiled shyly and didnât say a word.
Everyone fell silent.
Monk Yun Que sighed, âItâs better for us to choose one or two divine arts for escaping from Floor of Heavenly Records. It might just be of use.â
The day finally came for departure. In front of Hall of Supreme Learning, a few hundred scholars gathered and the directorates inspected their own teams. Ships then flew in one after another and landed in front of Hall of Supreme Learning. The directorates then led their teams to board their own ships.
âAcademician Qin, didnât you hire a ship?â
Gu Linuan walked over with a beam on his face, âThis journey this time is pretty far and if you were to walk there, you would need to walk for ten days and more. Youâre an imperial academician, donât tell me you donât even bear to spend this little money?â
Qin Mu smiled with a calm composure, âThank you, Grand Chancellor, for troubling yourself with our matter. I got nothing but money. Therefore, I have hired a fast ship with a high price which would reach very soon. The furnace of the ship is forged by me, itâs very fast.â
Chen Wanyun and the rest looked at one another in the eyes and thought, âHeâs indeed petty, even the furnace is made by himself. I reckon itâs a small ship. However, he actually knows how to forge artifacts? He has never been to Hall of Divine Craft so where did he learn to forge from?â
Thereâs Hall of Divine Craft in Imperial College and they taught how to forge artifacts and treasures. The directorates of Hall of Divine Craft were also holding official positions in the imperial court, the supervisors of the shipyards and the armaments manufacturers were positions the directorates of Hall of Divine Craft must assume.
Ever since Qin Mu entered Imperial College, he had not even been to Hall of Divine Craft once therefore it was impossible for him to learn any knowledge on forging.
Not long later, the ships started to fly up and left Imperial College on their own. Monk Yun Que and the rest became anxious as they waited and suddenly, they saw a dilapidated ship sailing over shakily in the sky and landed in front of Hall of Supreme Learning wobbly.
âOur ship is here!â Qin Mu smiled.
Chen Wanyun, Yun Que, Yue Qinghong all frowned hugely. This ship was already filled with holes and air was leaking out from everywhere. Furthermore, the mast of the ship was also broken and there wasnât even a sail.
A burly man with bare arms appeared on the ship and had a fierce look on his face. With one look, they knew he wasnât any good person. He was covered in tattoos and he waved towards Qin Mu while laughing, âOld Brother Qin, Iâm late, Iâm late!â
Qin Mu brought Hu Lingâer and the dragon qilin forward with a smile, âItâs fine even if youâre one or two days late. What happened to your ship? It was still fine the last time I saw you. How did it become like this in just a few days?â
âDonât talk about it. I did another trip and met those bitches of Three Wonders Castle again. They released their insects to harm me but my speed was too fast, thus we crashed into the swarm of insects and almost turned my treasure ship into a sieve.â
Fan Yunxiao chuckled as he looked at Chen Wanyun and the rest, âScholars, when you become officials in the future, please take care of me. I have turned good recently.â
Yun Que muttered, âWith this ship being so dilapidated, will it fall apart when we fly into the air?â
Qin Mu also had the same suspicions. This Cloud Chasing Pirate Ship was simply too worn out and looked like it might fall apart anytime.
âIt wonât, it wonât!â
Fan Yunxiao patted his chest forcefully and assured, âMy brothers have already used runes to fortify the shipâs body thus itâs extremely durable. Old Brother Qin, can you help me forge an iron-shell ship when youâre free? You can help me refine two more furnaces and use black iron to forge the body of the ship, wood is simply too brittle.â
Qin Mu pondered for a moment and replied, âThat would require quite a high price, just the black iron alone is a pretty large expense. Can you take out that much money? Furthermore, do you have the blueprints?â
Fan Yunxiao rubbed his hands forcefully and said, âAfter robbing everywhere for these few days⦠Pooh, pooh, after doing business everywhere, Iâve saved quite a sum of money. If I add all my property together, it should be enough to make an iron-shell ship. As for the blueprints, that wouldnât be easy to get⦠Everyone, please board the ship, weâll talk after we board the ship.â
Everyone boarded the ship and Yue Qinghong looked around. The mates of the ship were all covered in tattoos and looked fierce. Some even had scars on their bodies and some were missing a nose or an eye. With malicious aura leaking out from their bodies, they obviously didnât look like good people.
This dilapidated ship gradually rose into the ship and slowly drove out of the capital city like an old bull pulling onto a dilapidated cart.
Everyone looked at this situation and were even more dejected. Chen Wanyun whispered, âThe people on this ship arenât good guys. Theyâre villainous people who rob people and they have extremely high abilities. Most of them are divine arts practitioners. Academician Qin has a shallow experience of the martial world and I reckon he must have fallen into the banditâs trap. We have to be careful on this journey so that we wonât be robâ¦â
Just as he said that, the dilapidated ship suddenly increased its speed and gave off a mournful whoosh as it broke through the air.
Violent tremors came as the speed of the ship surpassed the speed of sound, crossing miles of distance in an instant. The few barrels of wine were flung away and exploded mid-air as they got smacked by the air.
Everyone immediately stabilized themselves and looked at their surroundings in aghast. They saw this dilapidated ship soon passing by all the ships which had already set sail a while ago, leaving these ships in the dust.
The speed of this ship was so unimaginable. With this speed, the could reach Surging River in just a day or two!
Qin Mu was long used to it. After all, he was the one who had forged the furnace, therefore, there was no need to be astonished.
âItâs fine, itâs fine, it wonât fall apart.â
Fan Yunxiao consoled everyone and said, âI originally thought it would fall apart as well but after ferrying passengers for a few trips, it has never fallen apart. Itâs likely not to fall apart this time.â
Whooshâ
A piece deck board was lifted up by the gales and flew backward with a whoosh.
Fan Yunxiao was full of confidence, âDonât worry, it wonât fall apart. Second brother, bring a deck up⦠Bring one more up, another one was blown away! Relax, relax, Iâm experienced.â
Suddenly, the ship passed a raining region. It was currently raining there as the ship passed through the downpour, turning Fan Yunxiaoâs body all colorful.
Hu Lingâer cried out in astonishment, âOld Xiao, your tattoos got washed off by the rain!â
The other bandits on Cloud Chasing Pirate Ship also had their tattoos blurred by the rain and there was even a mate who shouted, âBig brother, my scar got washed off by the rain!â
Fan Yunxiao was also slightly embarrassed and said, âWhen you disembark later, we can find painters to paint it back on again. However, weâve all turned good, it seems thereâs no need for us to paint tattoos anymore. Second brother, take off your eyepatch, you see, youâve scared those few scholars.â
The second mate took off his eyepatch and revealed a perfectly fine eye.
Monk Yun Que muttered, âThe appearance of these bandits doesnât look too reliableâ¦â
However, Qin Mu was very close to the head of the bandits and took out a computational canon to consult Fan Yunxiao. Hu Lingâer found a handkerchief and wiped the dragonâs head on Fan Yunxiaoâs back and the dragonâs head instantly disappeared.
âFox, stop fooling around,â Fan Yunxiao waved his hand.
Hu Lingâer pouted her lips, âI thought they were real tattoos, so they were painted on.â
Fan Yunxiao gave a dry laugh and muttered, âHow painful is that? Our body, hair, and skin are given to us by our parents, how can we anyhow draw on them?â
Qin Mu said, âSenior Brother Fan, the shi, bai, qian, wan in Computational Canon of Supreme Mystery is not a problem, however, Yi, Zhao, Jing, Gai, Zi, Rang, Gou, Jian, Zheng, Zai, Ji. These numerals are really too huge, what are they used to calculate? Is there a need for such huge numerals?â
âIâve also asked Dao Master before and Dao Master said they were used for immeasurable calculation.â
Fan Yunxiao said, âBetween Wan and Yi is the Wan system, Wan Wan becomes Yi. After Yi is the Yi system. Yi Yi becomes Zhao, Yi Zhao becomes Jing, Yi Jing becomes Gai. Other than that, thereâs also no end to division, whatâs used after a single number is Fen, Li, Hao, Si, Hu, Wei, Xian, Sha, Chen, Ai, Miao, Mo, Mo Hu, Qun Xun, Xu Yu, Shun Xi, Tan Zhi, Cha Na, Liu De, Kong Xu, Qing Jing. What they used are decimals. Fen is one tenth, Li is one hundredth, so on and so forth.â
Qin Mu was astonished and asked, âThen whatâs Kong Xu and Qing Jing used to calculate?â
âTo calculate the smallest particle in vital qi.â
Fan Yunxiao continued, âThe fourteenth writing of Dao Sword requires runes to be imprinted in the smallest particles of the vital qi. It was impossible to cultivate it without calculation.â
Qin Mu was dumbstruck and felt his head aching as he looked at the Computational Canon of Supreme Mystery.
âIf you forge all kinds of treasures, you also need to use these calculations and the slightest error could result in a world of difference.â
Qin Mu acknowledged and exclaimed in admiration, âDao Sectâs attainment in algebra sure is extraordinary.â
He consulted sincerely and Fan Yunxiao told him everything that he knew. Fan Yunxiao had already cultivated to the fifth writing of Dao Sect and had an extremely high attainment in algebra.
亿(Yi) â One Hundred Million, å (Zhao) â One Trillion, 京(Jing) â Ten Quadrillion, å(Gai) â One Hundred Quintillion, ç§(Zi) â One Septillion, ç©°(Rang) â Ten Octillion, æ²(Gou) â One Hundred Nonillion, æ¶§(Jian) â One Undecillion, æ£(Zheng) â Ten Duodecillion, è½½(Zai) â One Hundred Tredecillion, æ(Ji) â One Quindecillion
å(Fen) â One Tenth, å(Li) â One Hundredth, 毫(Hao) â One Thousandth, ä¸(Si) â Ten Thousandth, 忽(Hu) â Hundred Thousandth, å¾®(Wei) â One Millionth, 纤(Xian) â Ten Millionth, æ²(Sha) â Hundred Millionth, å°(Chen) â One Billionth, å(Ai) â Ten Billionth, 渺(Miao) â Hundred Billionth, è«(Mo) â One Trillionth, 模ç³(Mo Hu) â Ten Trillionth, é¡å·¡(Qun Xun) â Hundred Trillionth, é¡»è¾(Xu Yu) â One Quadrillionth, ç¬æ¯(Shun Xi) â Ten Quadrillionth, å¼¹æ(Tan Zhi) â Hundred Quadrillionth, å¹é£(Cha Na) â One Quintillionth, å å¾·(Liu De) â Ten Quintillionth, 空è(Kong Xu) â Hundred Quintillionth, æ¸ é(Qing Jing) â One Sextillionth