"How could this happen? How could this happen? I've read 12 volumes of medical books and memorized 1,000 ancient prescriptions. How could I meet such a question? How could I meet such a question? It shouldn't be like this, shouldn't be like this …" An aged old man on one side watched the first question of Bian Heng's apprentice selection with a pale face as he pulled his hair as if he had seen a ghost.
At this moment, there were so many people who felt disillusioned like this old man on Zhang Tie's side.
They all came here with full expectations. Previously, they thought that Bian Heng would test the medical attainments of major doctors. They had not imagined that the first test was such a question.
Such a scene was like a group of athletes going to the physical education teacher exam with confidence, only to find out that the qualification exam thrown to them by the school was not on the sports field, but a violin thrown to the athletes.
'Those numbers and squares are nothing to do with medical knowledge!'
Watching the LV 5 magic square on the piece of white cloth, Zhang Tie's face turned weird too. In a split second, Zhang Tie recalled those pieces of paper which were covered with magic squares, figures and lines in Bian Heng's study room when he arrived at Tigerback Mountain and the extremely arrogant words of Bian Heng about recruiting apprentices. Zhang Tie had not imagined that Bian Heng would really do that only after a few days.
The words on the white cloth were still fresh. They must have been written just now. At the sight of those numbers, Zhang Tie had known that it was Bian Heng who made the question.
'Why did Bian Heng do that?'
Zhang Tie knew that Bian Heng was a bit eccentric; however, he would never play a prank on over 10,000 people.
For a time, Zhang Tie didn't know what was the secret of Bian Heng's question.
At this moment, it was not that old man on Zhang Tie's side who collapsed the most; instead, it was those nerds who had not even heard about Nine Palace Grid.
"Ah, Brother An, what's Nine Palace Grid …"
"Nine Palace Grid refers to the Nine Palace Pattern. Nine on the back, one on the right, three on the left, seven on the right, two and four on the shoulders, six and eight on the feet and five in the center. It's called Nine Palace Pattern. However, it's difficult to turn nine palaces into 25 palaces …"
Among the over 10,000 people, some looked pale; some were looking around in a daze; some were frowning as they were calculating inside.
The incense in the incense burner had already been lit. Instead of feeling sorry for himself here, it was better to take a gamble here. Maybe there would be a chance.
Why would Bian Heng set such a test? If Bian Heng didn't say, no one dared to ask, nor did they have the qualifications to ask. Because if they couldn't pass this test, they wouldn't even have the chance to see Bian Heng.
On Tang Mei's side, all the others including Tang Mei became speechless. They had never imagined that Bian Heng would use such a question to select disciples.
At this moment, Tang Mei was still as quiet as before. As her face was covered by a veil, nobody could see her expression. However, those on her side could sense her focused qi.
For Zhang Tie, such a question was as easy as asking a college student to do addition and subtraction within 10. Even though Zhang Tie didn't understand the meaning of Bian Heng's question, he only needed to rotate the gears of the difference engine for a few rounds. In the blink of an eye, Zhang Tie had got all the solutions to the LV 5 magic square. There were not only one solution to the LV 5 magic square, but 24. There were three basic solutions. Through rotation and mapping of the basic solutions, Zhang Tie could get all the answers to the LV 5 magic square. Each of the 24 solutions was equal to 65, whether horizontally, vertically or obliquely …
When Zhang Tie was considering whether to "help" Tang Mei, someone had already walked out of the square and entered a room on one side of the decorated archway.
A person on General Manager Qin's side also entered the room. In the blink of an eye, he came out with a piece of paper and gave it to General Manager Qin. After reading it, General Manager Qin nodded. Closely after that, that person was taken out of the room and stood under the decorated archway.
Seeing that someone had passed the first test, the crowd in the square was in an uproar.
Actually, this was not surprising. Among the more than 10,000 people here, there would always be a few smart people. Just like how athletes were good at sports, there were also athletes who knew how to play the violin.
The moment that person entered the room, Zhang Tie had not expected that Tang Mei had also walked out of her circle and walked towards that wooden room.
Among over 10,000 people, Tang Mei was the second one who found the solution to the LV 5 magic square.
After walking out of the wooden room, Tang Mei also entered the decorated archway, which meant that she had passed the first test.
"Ahh, a woman …" Someone on Zhang Tie's side exclaimed. In a split second, Tang Mei, who was wearing a veil, attracted numerous eye lights. As a result, Tang Mei, who was not that eye-catching previously, immediately became one of the focuses at present.
After Tang Mei, more and more people walked into the cabins and wrote down their answers. However, some of them were asked to come out of the cabins and didn't walk to the decorated archway. Obviously, their answers were not correct.
The time it took for an incense stick to burn was neither too long nor too short. It only lasted about 40 minutes.
Within this period of time, there were about 200 people who had found the solution to the Rank 5 Magic Square. After passing the test, these people all entered the archway and waited quietly. As the incense stick in the incense burner became shorter and shorter, more and more people in the square, including over 10,000 people who hadn't got the answer, became more flustered.
It was interesting that the two good-looking young men on Tang Mei's side and that immortal general who came here hurriedly passed the first test.
When the incense stick burned out, General Steward Qin raised his hand, ending the first test. As for those who had not got their answers, they lost their chance.
There was silence in the square. Some people's faces were ashen, and some people sighed deeply. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the more than 200 people who had passed the first round. At the same time, their hearts were filled with curiosity. They didn't know what Bian Sheng's second round would be.
General Steward Qin didn't let them wait too long. After taking a look at those people who had passed the first test, he opened his mouth.
"Well, you've passed the first test. I don't need to explain the second test to you. The second test is the same as the first one; however, it's a bit more difficult. The second test is 36 palace maps. You need to find the answer within half an incense stick's time. If you could find the answer, you'll pass the second test …"
Tigerback Mountain gave them half an incense stick's time to find the LV 5 magic square; however, it only took them half an incense stick's time to find the more difficult LV 6 magic square.
However, after hearing Steward Qin's words, many of the people who had ashen expressions on the square slowly regained their composure. They thought that those people suddenly understood that even if they were lucky enough to pass the first round, it was impossible for them to pass the second round. At the same time, many of those who had passed the first round would be eliminated in the second round, which was even more difficult. Thinking of this, many people felt more at ease.
Zhang Tie became more curious as he wondered what Bian Heng was going to do. Was he going to recruit mathematicians or apprentices?
The time it took for half an incense stick to burn was even shorter, around 20 minutes. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, only four people managed to pass the second round. The others who didn't manage to pass the second round were eliminated again.
The square was silent. Everyone's eyes were focused on the four people who had passed the second round.
Zhang Tie was shocked once again. Because Tang Mei was one of the 4 people. She was the third one who found the answer.
It was quiet in the square as everybody was waiting for the last test intensely.
"I'll count dozens of times. Within 10 counts, whoever among you could find the answer to the 64th palace will pass the third test and become my apprentice officially …"
It was Bian Heng who uttered those words. Bian Heng's voice drifted from the mountain and reverberated around the foot of the mountain.
The square was in an uproar as everybody became dumbfounded. 'Within 10 counts? How could it be possible? The difficulty of the last test is thousands of times greater than that of the first test. Could a human do that? '
However, Bian Heng did not care about the astonishment in everyone's hearts. His calm voice started to resound in everyone's ears.
"One … two … three …"
The interval between each count was only a bit more than 2 seconds, which didn't spare much time for people to think about it.
When Bian Heng counted to two, Tang Mei slightly quivered all over as an abrupt voice entered her ears.
"Five … six … seven … eight … nine …"
Gritting her teeth, Tang Mei finally strode out as she said, "I've already got the answer …"
"What? Little girl, you've got the answer …" Bian Heng's voice disappeared at once. Besides Zhang Tie, nobody else at the foot of the mountain could see how Bian Heng appeared. Everybody felt dazzled as an old man with messy hair appeared at the foot of the decorated archway and watched Tang Mei with a pair of shiny, beady eyes.
"Master …" General Butler Qin and those servants of Tigerback Mountain hurriedly bowed towards Bian Sheng.
"Ah, Bian Sheng, he's Bian Sheng …" At the sight of Bian Sheng, all the people in the square were in an uproar.
Bian Sheng gazed at Tang Mei as he asked again, "Little girl, tell me about your answer to the 64th palace …"
After recovering her composure, Tang Mei replied, "From left to right, from top to bottom, the numbers in the first row of the 64th palace are 1, 63, 38, 28, 7, 57, 36, 30. The total of the first row is 260; the numbers in the second row are 64, 2, 27 …"
It took Tang Mei 2 minutes to say all the numbers in the 64th palace. When Tang Mei said that, Bian Heng closed his eyes as if he was calculating. When Tang Mei finished her words, Bian Heng suddenly clapped his hands as he opened his eyes at once out of excitement, asking, "Little girl, what's your name?"
"I'm Tang Mei!"
"I'm a man of my words. From now on, you're my disciple …"
After hearing Bian Heng's words, the gazes that were focused on Tang Mei could almost burn the air if there was any temperature in the eyes.
Tang Mei's body quivered slightly as she was very thrilled. After hearing Bian Heng's words, Tang Mei directly knelt down and kowtowed three times in front of Bian Heng as a disciple.
"Get up. Now that you're my disciple, you don't need to hide anymore. Show us your look. Take off your veil …"
After picking herself up, Tang Mei hesitated for a second before taking off her veil. In a split second, it had been quiet at the foot of Tigerback Mountain. Many people on Tang Mei's side became dumbfounded …
Zhang Tie had seen beauties; however, when Tang Mei took off her veil, Zhang Tie's mind became blank for a second. He felt like seeing a brilliant moon behind the clouds …
What a beautiful face! If Heller's face was the extreme of a male, then Tang Mei's face was the extreme of a female. It was a beautiful face. Every inch of her face was perfect. Even if a stone saw her face, he might feel sorry for her.
After being blank for a short while, Zhang Tie became sober in a split second as he thought, "Peerless Immortal Beauty!"
Only such a person could make the Heavens jealous of her and cause her to suffer from the incurable disease of five yin meridians …
(To be continued.)
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