Chapter 290: The Third Level
This formation is mainly themed around “rapid changes,” but as the saying goes, “all changes are inseparable from their root.” Xingnong had already roughly understood its mysteries in the first level. In this level, relying on her knowledge of formations and her super-strong computing ability, she could see what was going on at a glance.
Without hesitation, she opened a door and walked in, opened another door, walked in.
After opening a total of sixteen doors in this way, they finally reached the third level.
This level ended even faster than the previous one.
Old Master Xu excitedly said, “Princess Xingnong, how did you figure out the order of opening the doors at a glance?”
Xingnong: “It’s very simple, I calculated it.”
Everyone: “. . .”
Simple?
The formation that has stopped thousands upon thousands of formation masters, she actually says it’s simple?
However, thinking about the speed at which Xingnong opened the doors just now, they knew that she really did find it simple.
So the gap between them and Miss Xingnong wasn’t a chasm, but a vast ocean!
Seeing everyone’s devastated expressions, Old Master Tang stroked his beard and said smugly, “My precious disciple is a natural at breaking formations! Don’t compare yourselves to her, or you’ll shorten your lifespans! As the saying goes, ‘comparing yourself to others will only make you angry’!”
Everyone: “. . .”
Old Master Guo directly ignored Old Master Tang, “out of sight, out of mind.” He looked at Xingnong, “Princess Xingnong, how did you calculate it?”
Xingnong: “It’s a long story. I’ll explain it to Old Master Guo after we go out.”
Hearing this, Old Master Xu immediately said, “Princess Xingnong, I also want to know! You can’t favor one over the other!”
“Yes, Princess Xingnong, we also want to know!”
Explaining it to one person was the same as explaining it to a group of people. Xingnong said nonchalantly, “Everyone can listen then.”
Actually, this formation only had one secret chamber, but it required opening all sixteen doors once to get out.
Because the positions of these doors would change, but once you understood the rules of a cube and were familiar with formation knowledge, it wasn’t difficult to calculate.
The difficulty lay in the fact that these formation masters didn’t have her powerful computing ability.
Or rather, in this dynasty, much knowledge was relatively backward. The mathematical knowledge they had access to wasn’t profound enough, and not everyone would learn arithmetic. What they learned was some basic arithmetic knowledge needed for daily life, so they couldn’t yet perform some advanced calculations.
Xingnong thought: The master who set up this formation must also have a high level of proficiency in arithmetic!
~
The third level of the formation was a carousel scene. There were many stone-carved horses running around a circular platform on the field. As they ran, the horses would suddenly disappear in front of you.
Old Master Guo: “I’ve been trying to break this formation for many days. These horses run too fast. I’ve discovered over the years that there are a total of thirty stone horses! I initially thought the way to break the formation was to ride on the running stone horse. As long as you ride the right one, you can break the formation. But I’ve ridden all thirty horses and still can’t break it.”
Xingnong didn’t speak. She stared unblinkingly at the horses running past her eyes. These stone horses all looked the same, but because they were carved from stone, and there were no two identical stones in this world, the stone patterns on the horses, as long as you looked carefully, you could still find differences.
The others were all coming to this level for the first time. Looking at the running horses, they started counting in their hearts, but found that the horses were turning too fast, making their eyes dizzy.
Old Master Xu looked old: “Tie ropes of different colors to the stone horses, so it’s easier to count!”
Old Master Guo shook his head: “I’ve tried that method too, but there’s not enough time. You need to ride on the horse to tie the rope, but as soon as you touch the horse, you’re immediately sent out of the formation!”
Old Master Tang: “We should prepare some brush and ink. That way, we can mark the horse with a stroke and recognize it!”
Old Master Guo shook his head: “You think I haven’t thought of such a simple method? No, this stone is strange, it doesn’t leave any ink marks!”
Old Master Tang frowned upon hearing this: “This method won’t work, that method won’t work either, then how did you count that there are thirty stone horses?”
Old Master Guo raised his eyebrows upon hearing this: “I distinguished them with my naked eyes!”
Heaven knows he’s been watching for years, coming every day, staying for a whole day when he has time!
Staring at these stones every day, how could he not recognize them?
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It’s just a pity that he’s tried riding all thirty horses, and still hasn’t found a way to break the formation!
But since riding the wrong horse sends you out of the formation, this means that this is the way to break it.
“It’s not thirty horses, it’s thirty-six!” Xingnong said with certainty.
“Thirty-six?” There are six more he hasn’t found? Old Master Guo’s eyes widened, wondering which six he had missed.
To calculate using modern time, Xingnong found the pattern of the horses’ rotation and calculated their speed in three minutes.
It took them exactly one minute to complete a circle.
Xingnong watched three times to make sure she didn’t count wrong!
Old Master Tang had great faith in Xingnong. His precious disciple wouldn’t count wrong even if she didn’t use her eyes and just counted by intuition!
“Precious disciple, come and count for Old Master Guo. Tell him where he counted wrong!”
Xingnong wasn’t afraid of the trouble, and she began to count: “The first one has a small black heart-shaped pattern on its ear, the second one has a mark on its front left hoof…”
As they listened to Xingnong’s words, everyone finally recognized each horse before it disappeared!
As soon as one minute passed, Xingnong counted thirty-six horses!
Old Master Guo was full of admiration: “Princess Xingnong has sharp eyes! You counted so clearly in such a short time!”
He’s been watching for so many years, countless times, yet it wasn’t as clear as what she saw in a short while!
Could it be that his old eyes were failing him?
Shen Hanyu had a question in his mind, “Imperial Sister, now that you’ve counted the number of stone horses, do you know how to break the formation? You’re not going to ride each horse, are you?”
Xingnong nodded and pointed to a black dot on the ground, “After the first horse passes this point thirty-six times, it’s the auspicious position. It’s already passed six times. I’ve calculated that it will take about two quarters of an hour for it to pass thirty-six times, which means the auspicious position will only appear after two quarters of an hour.”
Everyone shook their heads. They didn’t expect it to be like this. No wonder Old Master Guo hasn’t been able to break the formation for so many years!
Even if you ride the right horse, it won’t work. You have to wait until the horse passes thirty-six times before riding it!
Who came up with this formation? Did this person want to blind the formation breakers?
The auspicious position appears about once every half an hour, and it’s fleeting. This is really too difficult for the formation masters present to judge,
because staring unblinkingly at the horses appearing will make your eyes blurry.
After a while, Old Master Feng said, “No, my eyes are blurry!”
“Yes! My head is spinning from watching!”
“Staring at the first horse appearing thirty-six times, I wouldn’t need my eyes anymore!”
A group of old men over fifty were now teary-eyed.
Xingnong: “. . . You don’t have to wait all the time! Just stare at it when the time is almost up, isn’t that enough?”
So she felt that this formation was a huge waste of time!
Everyone: “. . .”
Right! Why didn’t they think of that?!
