Chapter 626
Chapter 626
‘This place is too high.’
Shen Lang stood upon the giant's two hands. The giant's hands were dozens of square meters in area, cupping a planet about two meters in diameter. As Shen Lang observed the planet closely, he saw it was not Earth, nor was it even this world. It was a map of a very unfamiliar planet. After examining it twice, Shen Lang couldn't help but be impressed.
‘Truly incredible. The layout of this planet's map pushes the difficulty of the Four Color Theorem to its absolute limit.’
There were hundreds of irregular pieces, with some tectonic plates delving deep and intertwining with one another. Just looking at it, it didn't seem like a normal map at all; it was too bizarre. Completing the coloring of this planet wouldn't be a perfect proof of the Four Color Theorem, but it would be 99.9999% of the way there. Now, Shen Lang had to paint every piece of this planetary map with one of four colors, and he absolutely could not use a fifth. Furthermore, any adjacent pieces had to be different colors.
This seemed extremely simple, something even an elementary school student could complete, but once you actually started, it was a problem that would drive you to despair. The planetary map before him, in particular, seemed to have been created specifically for this theorem. Hundreds of pieces intersected and crisscrossed the map. This meant that out of more than ten billion possible combinations, only one was the correct answer. Therefore, if the various transcendent factions were to prove the Four Color Theorem, even decades would probably not be enough. However, just to color this planet, Shen Lang roughly calculated that if they gathered a few hundred people to perform the calculations, it might be completed within a few years.
If Shen Lang were to calculate it alone, without a computer? It might take ten years, or perhaps even longer. But in 1976, the Four Color Theorem was proven using two electronic calculators running for 1200 hours, and the processing speed of Shen Lang's computer was tens of millions of times faster than those two machines. Shen Lang quickly input this difficult problem into his computer, and in just a few seconds, the answer appeared. Tens of billions of calculations were nothing to a computer.
Next, Shen Lang picked up a large brush and began to paint. Four large brushes lay on the giant's hand, one each of yellow, blue, red, and green. There was no need to dip them in pigment; the brushes themselves contained the color. Moreover, when a brush touched a piece of the planet, the color was immediately applied. It was truly strange, almost like a magnetic reaction. Shen Lang started painting the map pieces, but after he had colored just one, Wu Daozi could no longer stand by and watch.
‘You're too slow! There are hundreds of pieces to paint. At your pace, even a quarter of an hour won't be enough.’
She immediately snatched the brush away.
“What color? You say it, I'll paint it!”
“Yellow!”
“Blue!”
“Green!”
“Blue!”
Shen Lang took out a mirror, reflected the sunlight onto a specific piece of the planet, and then called out the color to be painted. Wu Daozi's martial arts were profound and her movements swift; she took less than a second per piece. Her speed was so fast she looked like a phantom, and in just three minutes, half of it was painted. By then, half of the people present had looked up, and they discovered that, so far at least, all of Shen Lang's answers were correct. Judging right from wrong was extremely simple. As long as adjacent pieces were different colors and the total number of colors used didn't exceed four, it was a success.
It was even better that there was an audience. How boring would it be to show off in silence? Shen Lang's incomparably handsome face instantly grew colder. He stood on the giant's hand with his arms clasped behind his back, striking a pose as if a superior being was deigning to instruct lesser creatures like them. Seeing him act so smug, the people below shared a common thought.
‘I want to kill that bastard!’
Shen Lang continued to reflect the light with his mirror, and Wu Daozi continued to paint with her brush. Without pausing for even a second, Shen Lang worked with his mouth and Wu Daozi with her hands.
* * *
Another three minutes passed, and all but one piece of the planetary map had been colored. Shen Lang did not speak. Because even someone with a head as thick as a pig's could see at a glance that the remaining piece needed to be yellow.
‘This last piece, I, Lord Shen Lang, shall leave as a finishing touch.’
Seeing Shen Lang pause, Wu Daozi frowned and said.
“Speak. What color?”
‘Damn it! My attempt to be cool failed. My beautiful master, can't you use your head just a little? There are three colors around the last piece, so obviously only yellow is left, isn't it?’
“Yellow!”
Shen Lang had no choice but to say the final color. Was Wu Daozi as dumb as a pig? No, she was a great scientist. Her emotional intelligence was astonishingly low, but her IQ was astonishingly high. It was just that she considered this a problem she didn't have to solve herself, so she didn't want to use even a tiny bit of her brainpower. As Wu Daozi painted the last piece, every part of the planet was now colored.
A complete success!
Every one of the hundreds of adjacent pieces was painted a different color, and the total number of colors used did not exceed four. The mysterious and bizarre map was now fully revealed. It no longer looked like map pieces, but like an impressionist work by Van Gogh. Out of tens of billions of combinations, this was the only correct answer. Shen Lang's solution, right before their eyes.
After everyone present confirmed it was the correct answer, they gasped in astonishment.
‘He really got it right?! It's all correct! This... damn it. This is terrifying. How much time has passed? Shen Lang said it would take a quarter of an hour, but now it seems he solved this thousand-year-old puzzle in less than half that time. This world is too strange! A problem that countless geniuses couldn't solve in over half a year, this Shen Lang solved just like that? That guy is from the native civilization. He's never even been educated in the advanced civilization of the ancient era.’
Everyone fell into a deathly silence.
*Slap, slap, slap, slap, slap!*
Suddenly, the sound of slapping echoed in the air. It wasn't an illusion; it was real. Because Shen Lang was slapping his own thigh.
“My apologies, there's a mosquito!”
A mosquito? Bullshit. The environment on this island was so extreme that no living creature could survive, let alone a mosquito. This was no different from Shen Lang slapping everyone's faces. He had shamed them all.
‘Have you ever seen me pick and choose who I show off to? Have I, Lord Shen Lang, ever feared anyone? You all act like representatives of a higher civilization, looking down on the people of the secular world in so many ways. In other fields of study, I might be inferior to you, but when it comes to the Four Color Theorem, I, with my computer, can crush you all in one fell swoop.’
Then, Shen Lang stared intently at Princess Yinghan's face.
‘You wicked woman, doesn't your face hurt? A problem you couldn't solve in half a year, I, Lord Shen Lang, solved in less than half a quarter-hour. The other day when I came to see you, you dismissed me like a charlatan. How about now? Hahahaha!’
Seeing Shen Lang's petty expression, Yinghan's face indeed turned pale. She truly hadn't expected Shen Lang to solve the problem in such a short time. From her deep understanding of this puzzle, she knew it required countless calculations to solve. But the fact that Shen Lang had solved it was laid bare before her eyes. This was the first time she had ever been so thoroughly humiliated by someone.
*Slap, slap, slap.*
Standing on the giant's hand, Shen Lang swatted at the air again.
‘This man is so vulgar!’
This time, her face twisted in extreme displeasure, as if Shen Lang had truly slapped her across the cheek. At this moment, the person enjoying the most unexpected joy was the Master of Budong Mountain.
‘Truly unbelievable. He actually completed it? Shen Lang, this pretty boy, is truly remarkable. To have such a high aptitude for arithmetic. Now that the puzzle is solved and the entrance to the ancient ruins opens, the entire development rights to these ruins will belong to our Budong Mountain.’
Then, everyone quietly waited for the entrance to the ruins to open.
* * *
Shen Lang grew a little anxious.
‘I've solved the puzzle, so why isn't the entrance to the ancient ruins opening?’
Shen Lang was certain this was the only solution. It was the 100% correct answer, but the ancient ruins showed no movement. Even when Shen Lang observed it with his X-ray vision, he found nothing. Were these ancient ruins blocking X-rays? Or was the stone statue too thick for even Shen Lang's X-ray vision to scan? As the sunlight shone on the planet in the giant statue's hand, the planet began to grow brighter, reflecting a dazzling, multicolored light. The planet grew brighter and brighter. Wu Daozi grabbed Shen Lang and leaped lightly back down to the ground. The planet in the giant's hand brightened to its limit.
*Rumble.*
A loud noise echoed as the planet in the giant's hand suddenly split open, revealing something like a polygonal suction cup.
‘Is this a key? A key this complex and bizarre?’
Without a word, Wu Daozi once again climbed onto the giant's hands, took the strange key, and jumped back down to the island's surface.
*Rumble.*
Next, the incredibly solid black stone ground beneath the giant's feet began to crumble. That black stone ground was so durable that it couldn't be pierced no matter what great weapon was used, nor could it be burned by terrifyingly high-temperature flames. And now, that same ground was crumbling like dust. A gust of wind blew the thick layer of dust away, and then the twenty-story-high giant statue began to rotate with a loud noise and slowly sink.
After half a quarter-hour, the giant statue had completely sunk into the ground, and in its place, a building made of black stone rose up. The building wasn't very large, only a few dozen square meters and three or four meters high, but it too was indestructibly solid. The black stone house had a single door, and on the door was a polygonal hole. As expected, the polygonal key from before should be able to open this door. Wu Daozi, still without a word, inserted the key into the hole.
*Click, clack.*
With a light turn of the key, the thick, special door slowly opened, revealing a deep, bottomless entrance within. Entering this passage would lead into the ancient ruins. With this, the ancient ruins were officially opened. From its discovery to its opening, a total of two hundred and thirty-five days had passed.
The Master of Budong Mountain spoke.
“Martial Brothers, thank you for yielding!”
Now, these ancient ruins belonged to Budong Mountain.
“Congratulations, people of Budong Mountain.”
“Martial Brother, congratulations!”
The other transcendent factions present all began to leave the island. Everyone except for Budong Mountain—including Yinghan, the Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion, Zhutian Pavilion, Xuankong Temple, and Tongtian Temple—retreated completely. The Master of Budong Mountain came forward, looked at Shen Lang, and said.
“Shen Lang, from this day forward, you are a meritorious contributor to our Budong Mountain! Elder Gong, go back and register Shen Lang in the records. Shen Lang will enter Elder Wu Daozi's tutelage and become a disciple of the Harmony Hall!”
Elder Gong replied.
“I will respectfully follow the Mountain Master's will! However, this man once forged our Budong Mountain's command token. I request the Master's command on how he should be punished.”
The Master of Budong Mountain said.
“His merits will offset his transgressions!”
“Mountain Master, I have already promised Shen Lang that if he opens the ancient ruins and finds a Marrow-Cleansing Crystal inside, I will give it to him.”
Hearing Wu Daozi's words, the Master of Budong Mountain nodded.
“Very well! Send the signal and order the disciples of Budong Mountain to formally land on the island.”
*Swoosh!*
A signal arrow was shot into the sky, and a moment later, hundreds of Budong Mountain's experts landed on the black island and formed a defensive perimeter around the entrance to the ancient ruins. Wu Daozi formally handed the key to the ancient ruins' entrance to the Master of Budong Mountain. After the defensive perimeter was fully established, the Master of Budong Mountain said.
“The first group will formally enter the ancient ruins to explore. Remember, do not touch anything!”
“Yes!”