Chapter 273 — The Summit of Arithmetic

The dantian, also called the lower dantian, is where the six harmonies reside; the Daoists name it the Imperial Court. The middle dantian is the heart's chamber, named the Crimson Palace. The upper dantian lies between the brows -- the Daoists call it the Spirit Terrace, and the Buddhists call it Mount Fangcun.

Once Shen Mu had fixed the position of his Crimson Palace, he roused all his qi and charged at the barrier he had located!

Shen Mu's cultivation was already vast beyond measure, far beyond his peers. This time he gathered his every breath of qi and drove at it in one unbroken rush, and the Six Harmonies Barrier was instantly seamed with cracks.

A roar like ocean waves came from within his body. Shen Mu roused his qi and struck a second time; the surge of waters grew louder, as though angry waves split the shore and great billows beat the clouds, each sound louder, each blow fiercer, and Shen Mu's qi charged more violently with every strike!

With a crash, his Six Harmonies Barrier burst apart, leaving a great gap.

Shen Mu kept stirring his qi, striking at the broken wall, widening the gap.

Inside Six Harmonies Hall, Reverend Hongfa and all the scholars heard the sound of qi smashing within Shen Mu's body, and each showed astonishment.

"Doctor of the Grand Academy!"

Reverend Hongfa hurried out. "If you have not calculated the exact position of the Six Harmonies Barrier, breaking it rashly will kill you!"

Scarcely had she spoken when a tremendous boom came from Shen Mu's body, as though heaven and earth were splitting apart, and his cultivation soared at incredible speed!

The Six Harmonies Barrier broke!

The Six Realms Spirit Treasury opened!

At that very moment a rumble also came from within Six Harmonies Hall -- Ban Gongcuo's Six Realms Spirit Treasury had opened as well. But every scholar and Reverend Hongfa herself had their attention fixed on Shen Mu, and no one noticed him.

Ban Gongcuo's aura too was growing more and more powerful; his eyes flickered, and he rose from his meditation cushion and looked outside the hall.

Reverend Hongfa was stunned for a moment, then said hurriedly, "Doctor, close all the spirit treasuries within your body, then charge through them in one breath and see!"

Shen Mu drew a long breath, shut away his Primal Embryo Spirit Treasury, his Five Luminaries Spirit Treasury and his Six Realms Spirit Treasury alike, then gave a low shout. Three places -- Spirit Terrace, Crimson Palace and Imperial Court -- each gave forth a rumble, three sounds in all; the three great spirit treasuries opened, and Shen Mu's aura surged!

"You really have opened the Six Realms Spirit Treasury!"

Reverend Hongfa exclaimed in wonder, then glanced at Si Yunxiang beside her, and saw that Si Yunxiang too was striving against the Six Harmonies Barrier -- plainly she had also found its exact position.

She had driven these two whispering youngsters out of the hall, never imagining that in so short a time they would both find the place of the Six Harmonies Barrier, and that one of them would break through in a single rush and become a divine-power wielder of the Six Harmonies realm!

Reverend Hongfa pressed her palms together. "Sect Master Shen... Doctor of the Grand Academy, you seem to possess a secret method by which the position of the Six Harmonies Barrier may be calculated, swifter even than this humble nun's Six Harmonies Mathematical Classic. Might you be willing to pass it on?"

Shen Mu smiled. "You are too kind, Reverend. My abilities are slight, and I would not presume to show off before the assembly; but if I have gained anything, I am glad to exchange it with you and the scholars."

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!