Chapter 624
Chapter 624
They left the Floating Sea and returned to the mainland, bringing their journey to Mount Putuo to an end. They had spent less than three hours on Mount Putuo, so they still had no idea what it was truly like. Shen Lang had not even set foot on the main island of the Mount Putuo Sect, only glimpsing its impossibly high peaks from afar. Moreover, he had seen no more than ten people from Mount Putuo in total, making his exploration less thorough than a blind man touching an elephant. Even so, the power, mystery, and condescending attitude of Mount Putuo had left a deep impression on him. The small wall made of vipers, the flowerbeds and bushes formed by countless butterflies—it was all so surreal it felt unreal.
Upon returning to the mainland, two magnificent carriages were already waiting for them. Shen Lang shamelessly climbed into one of the two carriages and sat down. It was the one Elder Wu Daozi was in, no less. Sword King Li Qianqiu said to the carriage driver.
“Brother, how about I drive your carriage? I'm quite skilled at this.”
“Hmph! Be my guest!”
The two carriages, flying the banner of Mount Putuo, headed south without stopping. It was the first time Shen Lang had seen their banner. It didn't look imposing at all; a mayfly-like creature was embroidered on blue silk, and aesthetically, it seemed inferior even to the banner of the Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion. The Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion's banner was very simple, embroidered with just a single cloud. These transcendent factions loved to feign modesty.
The banner might not look imposing, but Mount Putuo itself certainly was. Everywhere the two carriages passed became like a deserted region. It wasn't that they chose deserted routes, but that as soon as anyone saw the banners on the carriages, they cleared everyone out. It could be said that people of every nation avoided Mount Putuo like vipers and scorpions. Upon seeing that banner, everyone fled far away. There were no interrogations or checkpoints for them, allowing them to cross the territory of the State of Chu with ease, traveling openly on the main roads. If it weren't for the fresh wheel tracks and hoofprints on the road, Shen Lang would have suspected that everyone in the region had died.
It was the same when they crossed the State of Jiang. When he had passed through here before, he had seen cavalry galloping across the grasslands of Jiang. This time, heading south, he should have seen even more, but in reality, he didn't see a single cavalryman. After asking, Shen Lang finally learned the reason. Before setting out, Mount Putuo had sent their itinerary to the states of Chu, Yue, Danan, and Nangu. So, it was no wonder there was no one along their route.
This wasn't an act of currying favor with Mount Putuo, but of shunning and avoiding them. For example, the King of Chu was not on good terms with Mount Putuo, and neither was the King of Yue. King Aruna of Jiang had even less intention of pleasing Mount Putuo.
The Mount Putuo carriages traveled south at great speed, cutting through the State of Jiang before soon entering King Jin's State of Danan. Here, Shen Lang witnessed a completely different scene from the other states. King Jin of Danan had also seen the itinerary sent by Mount Putuo, but he hadn't bothered to clear the roads. The great army of the Savage Tribes was still swarming along the roadside, even constantly observing the two carriages. But even here, no one blocked their path or questioned them; they acted as if the two Mount Putuo carriages didn't exist. Mount Putuo, in turn, acted as if the Savage Tribes' army wasn't there. The two sides did not interfere with each other.
Instead, it was Shen Lang who found the scene quite strange. He had never imagined he would cross the State of Danan before even fighting King Jin. And to see his army on the march, no less. King Jin's army of one hundred thousand was marching toward the State of Nangu, and Shen Lang observed them from a close distance. The soldiers were not tall, nor could they be described as having healthy physiques, but they looked truly fierce.
All of them had muscles that looked as hard as iron; they were lean but filled with explosive power. The equipment of every soldier looked outdated, but it seemed it would be incredibly effective in actual combat. The majority of the Savage Tribes wore rattan armor, straw sandals, and carried shields made of rattan. The bows slung over their backs didn't look sophisticated, and were even small in size. To the uninformed, they might look like the army of a primitive tribe.
However, Shen Lang knew that the rattan armor was actually very durable. The rattan shields, in particular, couldn't be pierced by ordinary arrows, and a sword slash would only leave a deep mark on them. Furthermore, their bows looked incredibly crude but were in fact very powerful. The bowstaves were very thick, made from a single bent piece of wood, and had a draw weight of about one hundred twenty pounds. For a large army, this was already a very powerful longbow, at least stronger than the bows of the State of Yue. Moreover, the swords in their hands looked strange. The scimitars didn't look like scimitars, and the greatswords didn't look like greatswords. However, they were all made from high-grade steel provided by the Western Regions, making them extremely hard and sharp.
"Know the enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles without defeat." After seriously studying the equipment of the Savage Tribes, Shen Lang came to one conclusion. Their equipment might not look good, but it was practical.
Furthermore, when the Savage Tribes' soldiers marched, they didn't stick to the roads but took paths over mountains and through passes. Yet, they showed no signs of fatigue, moving with the agility of monkeys. Especially when they ran, they displayed bursts of explosive power and moved with incredible speed.
*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.*
Along the way, there was a hunting party among the Savage Tribes' army. They sprinted madly through the undergrowth, leaped into trees, and fired their bows in unison with lightning speed. They even fired before the shadow of their prey appeared, and the game fell dead to the ground. This hunting party's archery skills were outstanding. While running at high speeds, they could shoot leaping rabbits, slithering vipers, and even birds flitting through the forest.
Sword King Li Qianqiu couldn't help but exchange a glance with Shen Lang. The reputation of the Savage Tribes' warriors was indeed well-deserved. The State of Yue was in for a great deal of trouble.
The carriage sped through the eastern region of the State of Danan and entered the territory of the State of Nangu. Here, another scene unfolded. The one hundred and fifty thousand strong army of the State of Yue stretched out majestically, seemingly without end. Nangong Ao, Princess Ning Luo, and Grand General Zhu Lin were still deploying their troops, while countless laborers frantically built defensive lines and fortifications. Outside the three cities of the State of Nangu, there were fortifications and trenches everywhere. The entire capital of the State of Nangu had been transformed into a massive battlefield.
This was the first time Shen Lang had witnessed a large-scale battlefield firsthand, and the sight was far more magnificent than he had imagined. It was even grander in scale than what he had seen in movies. An army of over a hundred thousand, with more than a hundred thousand laborers, had gathered, and the defensive line stretched for hundreds of miles. Most of the millions of gold coins Shen Lang had earned had been transformed into this defensive line stretching for hundreds of miles. In fact, this was quite cost-effective.
In actual history, when the Qianlong Emperor fought the Jinchuan campaigns, he spent seventy million taels of silver, but Jinchuan was merely a single county with a population of only about ten thousand. A war that could bankrupt a nation was like the clash of two behemoths, having a tremendous impact on the world.
The Mount Putuo carriage crossed the State of Nangu without any hindrance, entered Tiannan Province of the State of Yue, then turned south and arrived at the coast once more. A ship flying two banners was already waiting there. The main banner belonged to Mount Putuo, but the smaller one next to it was unexpectedly the banner of the South Sea Sword Sect. The ship belonged to the South Sea Sword Sect, so as expected, the relationship between Yan Nanfei and Mount Putuo was quite close. However, he did not appear, and even the sailors did not bother the two elders of Mount Putuo. Because it was impossible to please them in the first place.
***
After sailing for a day and a night, the ship finally reached its destination. It was one of the many desolate islands in the southern sea, without even a dock. The large ship anchored near the island first, and then small boats were used to land on the small island. The ancient ruins are on such a desolate island? There was no vegetation on this island, only black rocks. Strange rocks jutted out around the island, creating a sinister and terrifying atmosphere.
Sword King Li Qianqiu was not allowed to disembark and had to remain on the ship. This was a clear disregard for Li Qianqiu, and of course, there was no room for negotiation. And Elder Wu Jue also did not disembark, as he too was not qualified to set foot on the island. Only Elder Gong of Mount Putuo, Elder Wu Daozi, and Shen Lang—the three of them—landed on the black island. Seen up close, the island truly looked like a black monster crouching in the sea. Entering from the west side of the island and heading deeper, Shen Lang felt a strange energy, but he couldn't quite explain what it was.
*A sense of restraint? No! The difficulty in breathing isn't just because of the temperature or air pressure. That's it! A magnetic field!*
The magnetic field on this island was extremely strange. It even affected the human brain, causing an instinctual feeling of dizziness. Normally, a person wouldn't feel this dizzy even when entering a strong magnetic field. Shen Lang used his computer to measure other data again.
*Radiation!*
Radiation was another reason for the discomfort. It wasn't just radioactive metals like radium, plutonium, and uranium that emitted radiation; many types of marble were also radioactive. The levels of magnetic fields and radiation on this island far exceeded those of other regions. Shen Lang had intended to ask where the entrance to the ancient ruins was, but there was no need; it was impossible to miss.
*So that's the entrance to the ancient ruins.*
In the center of the island stood a giant stone statue, roughly twenty stories high. The statue was looking up at the sky, holding a large planet in its hands. A complex map was carved onto the planet, showing many land and oceanic plates, with four spots in the center of these plates colored red, blue, yellow, and green. The giant statue seemed to be trying to shine sunlight onto the map on the planet. The map carved on the planet held by the giant was the key to opening the entrance to the ancient ruins. That map was a millennium-level mathematical problem, and solving it would open the ancient ruins. Shen Lang recognized it at a glance: this was the problem known as the Four-Color Theorem or the Four-Color Problem.
This was one of the three great theorems of modern mathematics. The essence of this problem concerns the inherent properties of a two-dimensional plane. That is, on a plane, two lines that intersect or do not share a vertex should not appear. Many have proven that it is impossible to create five or more regions on a two-dimensional plane where each region is adjacent to all others. Simply put, it means that any map can be colored with just four colors so that no two adjacent regions share the same color, and if there is no confusion, a single map can be represented using only four colors.
This problem seems so simple that even a middle school student would excitedly pick up a pen and try to solve it. But once they start trying to solve it, they realize that this problem is, in fact, incredibly difficult. Otherwise, how could it be on the same level as the three great problems of the modern world: Fermat's Last Theorem and the Goldbach Conjecture? For over a hundred years, no scientist could solve this problem. Countless brilliant scientists, as well as numerous mathematicians, were defeated by this problem. In 1976, it was only proven after running two computers for 1,200 hours and making ten billion judgments.