Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 559 The End of Dreamland
"What is a positive circumference? How come I don't know?" Upon hearing Zu Chongzhi's words, the Ghost King couldn't help but feel ashamed. It was something that was 'common knowledge', yet he didn't know it.

“Me too,” Wu Xie said softly. “Looks like I need to get out more often. Staying in my hometown has made me so isolated…”

"Hmm." The Ghost King nodded, deeply agreeing.

Then Zu Chongzhi continued to declare:
"Therefore, in the real world, the circumference of a circle can never be calculated to its limit. Now, I will verify this on the spot: if a circle in this world can be completely cut off, it means that this world violates the laws of heaven and earth and will inevitably be obliterated by heaven and earth!"

Having said that, he drew a golden ring with a diameter of ten thousand feet in the air. Then, his hands moved so fast that they seemed to flit among flowers like butterflies, rapidly calculating the equations that the counting rods had carved in the air. These equations transformed into straight lines that cut into the ring like sharp blades!

With each cut, more and more angles appear on the torus, transforming it into a regular polygon with an ever-increasing number of sides. This is the essence of the 'method of exhaustion': using the sum of the side lengths of the polygons to infinitely approximate the circumference of the circle!

"Regular hexagon, regular dodecagon, regular tetragonal..." Zu Chongzhi muttered to himself, calculating that the number of sides of the polygons increased exponentially wherever he had planned them. Each newly added side fit the curve of the circle even better.

"But in the real world, polygons can never perfectly coincide with circles!" Zu Chongzhi declared with piercing eyes, "But after many years of calculations, I have found that in dreams, circles can be completely cut!"

"In other words, the circle here is a regular 402,653,184-sided polygon!" Zu Chongzhi said, drawing a regular 402,653,184-sided polygon and placing it over the golden ring in the air.

The two fit together perfectly, the circumference of which was exactly the same as that of a regular polygon, and it could not be cut any further...

On the counting rods, the decimal places that should have extended infinitely were suddenly frozen.

"This is the flaw!" Zu Chongzhi exerted force with both palms, and the counting rods transformed into thousands of golden rays.

"A circle in the real world can never be perfectly replaced by a finite number of edges! But the circle in dreams is a complete fake; no matter how meticulously it is simulated, it cannot hide its inherent falseness!"

Millions of golden rays pierced the dome and the earth. Amidst a deafening cracking sound, as if billions of ice crystals shattered simultaneously, the entire dreamland collapsed...

Pearly clouds peeled away piece by piece, and countless cracks appeared in the azure sky, revealing the pitch-black void beneath.

The towering Jianmu tree on the shores of the East China Sea, supporting the heavens and the earth, collapsed with a deafening roar amidst the terrified cries of the golden crows, raising clouds of dust. The three-legged golden crows perched on its branches, attempting to take flight for refuge, were all reduced to ashes by the scorching golden light…

In the night sky, the Jade Rabbit, a symbol of eternity, trembled along with the bright moon. Then, the moon began to twist and deform, like melting wax, dripping down like tears, evaporating completely before it even touched the earth.

On the ground, a scene of utter devastation unfolded. In the forests, towering ancient trees were uprooted, their trunks colliding with each other with deafening roars. Rivers raged, forming massive floods that engulfed everything, sweeping through dreamscape after dream.

In the countryside and in the cities, magnificent buildings, houses, and shops collapsed one after another. The constraints imposed by the Dream Lords on the people also disappeared, and countless people who had only ever known how to work hard and be slaves to the land finally raised their heads and joyfully welcomed this baptism of destruction!
They ran and cheered, letting the collapsing buildings bury their heavy shackles, letting the surging river wash away their endless nightmares, and letting the flames burn away the cages that bound them. Even if they died together, they would do so willingly…

The golden crow has fallen and lost its light; the jade rabbit has cracked and turned to frost.

The abyss boils like soup, the mountain collapses like chaff.

The shackles are broken, the chains are gone, and I dance wildly.

Time will surely pass, and you and I will both perish!
Zu Chongzhi, by cutting through the circumference of a circle and piercing the illusion of a dream, finally broke through that layer of paper and became a god on the spot—the god of mathematics!
In an instant, he understood all the mathematical laws of the universe and could even see through the mathematical phenomena behind all things. Overjoyed, he roared to the heavens:
"Alas! This truly means that if one hears the Way in the morning, one can die content in the evening!"

"Stop saying unlucky things." Ren Yuan didn't want to see anyone he cared about die again.

Some rejoiced, some grieved. As the dreamland completely collapsed and vanished, the enormous floating island finally had nowhere to hide and appeared in front of the Chinese Shenzhou spacecraft.

"I have already retreated again and again, why do you still insist on forcing me?!" A hysterical shout rang out from the depths of the floating island, neither male nor female, but clearly belonging to Wu Yang.

"You don't not want to fight anymore, you just can't win!" Ren Yuan said loudly.

"You can decide when a war begins, but you can't decide when it ends."

"Well said." Wu Xian also sneered, "Wu Yang, you insidious and despicable wretch! If we don't take advantage of your weakness today, you'll come after us again once you've recovered!"

"Brother Wu Xian, don't be confused! We ten shamans are one!" Wu Yang shouted to Wu Xian again, "Those who are not of our kind will surely have different hearts! That brat surnamed Ren cannot be trusted!"

“You’re even less reliable!” Wu Xian spat. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten just because I’m getting senile. You weren’t originally one of the Ten Witches of Ling Mountain. You only managed to get in by relying on Wu Peng and the others.”

“Indeed.” Wu Xie nodded. “Back then, my elder brother was too soft-hearted and let Him join, which resulted in the disintegration of our Ten Witches!”

"Big brother..." Wu Yang still wanted to play the emotional card, clearly still wary of Wu Xian.

"No, I can't accept that. Back then, you banished me from Jiankang, and we severed all ties!" Wu Xian said coldly, "Today, I will settle the score with you!"

"Hahaha..." Seeing that one plan had failed, Wu Yang came up with another and laughed loudly, "Trying to settle accounts with me? You're really good at acting! You can only fool that silly kid over there!"

"You think you're so smart?" Ren Yuan spat out unhappily.

"Kid, don't be so unconvinced. Do you know what he's up to?" Wu Yang said to Ren Yuan, "I'll tell you something—our three divine fires share the same origin and can be combined into a single primordial chaos!"

"..." The Ghost King's face showed anger. But he couldn't cover Wu Yang's mouth, otherwise Ren Yuan would become even more suspicious.

"What is Hunyuan used for?" Ren Yuan asked.

"It is the origin of the supreme god, which can help you become an immortal, indestructible, eternally untouched, unaffected by karma, and impervious to all laws—a god-king!" Wu Yang proclaimed fervently.

"My lifelong pursuit, as well as that of Wu Xian, is to become a God-King! And because our origins are similar, in order to become a God-King, we must devour each other, which is why we have come to this point of irreconcilable enmity!"

(End of this chapter)