Huang Rong from The Return of the Condor Heroes: Brother Jing, let's get a divorce.

Yang Guo had another strange dream.

He loves to dream; the last time he dreamed, he was practicing the One-Finger Divine Skill.

But this time, the dream wasn't about practicing martial arts; it was about solving problems.

He dreamed that he went back to when he first started school.

"Yang, class time has started, what are you still daydreaming about?"

A cold, stern voice entered Yang Guo's ears, accompanied by the "snap snap" of a pointer striking the table.

Yang Guo was startled and suddenly raised his head.

The sight before him left him speechless.

He found himself in a spacious and bright classroom, where sunlight streamed in through the glass windows, making him feel warm and comfortable.

He was sitting at a desk piled high with test papers and exercise books.

And the person standing on the podium...

Yang Guo felt a heat in his nasal cavity, and two streams of blood almost gushed out on the spot.

That's Little Dragon Girl.

But it wasn't the ethereal, fairy-like Little Dragon Girl he knew, dressed in ancient costume.

The "Teacher Long" in front of me had her long hair piled high, revealing her slender and elegant swan neck. She wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses on her nose, and her originally cold face instantly gained a touch of ascetic intellectual beauty. She was simply the pinnacle of the mature and sophisticated woman!

She was wearing a tailored, black and gray business suit, the kind of office lady outfit that Yang Guo had only seen in his previous life in "adult films"... no, in workplace dramas.

The white shirt was buttoned up meticulously, yet it still couldn't conceal the impressive figure that was about to burst forth.

The bodycon skirt tightly hugged her breathtaking curves, and beneath the hem were a pair of exquisitely beautiful legs encased in flesh-colored stockings—straight, shapely, and gleaming delicately in the sunlight. They were legs to be admired for days!

She was wearing a pair of pointed high heels with thin, long heels that made a crisp "clack-clack-clack" sound when she stepped on the ground.

"Gulp."

Yang Guo swallowed.

Is this the legendary... highest level of the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra?

A mental illusion?

This inner demon... it understands me too well!

"Yang Guo!"

"Teacher Long" on the podium raised her eyebrows, pointed her pointer at the blackboard, and said in an icy tone, "I'm talking to you, where are you looking?"

Yang Guo quickly wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth, sat up straight, and looked like a well-behaved child: "Reporting...reporting to Teacher Long! I'm looking...looking at the ocean of knowledge! Exploring the mysteries of truth!"

"Glib-tongued."

Little Dragon Girl pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses, a cold glint flashing behind the lenses. "Have you finished the homework I assigned last night?"

"Do...homework?" Yang Guo looked completely bewildered.

"Since we haven't done it yet, let's do it now."

Little Dragon Girl turned around and wrote a problem on the blackboard with a "swish, swish, swish" sound.

The question is very simple.

1 + 0 = ?

After finishing writing, she turned around, crossed her arms, tapped her palms lightly with the pointer, and looked down at Yang Guo: "Yang Guo, come up here and solve this problem. You need to use the vertical calculation method."

Yang Guo almost burst out laughing.

That's it?

Who are you insulting?

Am I the kind of illiterate person who can't even calculate 1+0?

He stood up confidently and strode towards the podium.

"Teacher Long, this question is too easy. I could do it with my eyes closed." Yang Guo picked up the chalk and was about to write on the blackboard with a flourish.

however.

The moment his hand touched the blackboard, something strange happened.

His hands... wouldn't obey him.

The feeling was like sleep paralysis. You were thinking about writing a "1" on top, a "0" below, and then a "+" sign to get the result "1", but your wrists felt like they were weighed down by a thousand pounds and you couldn't lift them up no matter what you did.

"Write it quickly." Teacher Long behind me was getting impatient.

Yang Guo gritted his teeth and used all his strength.

"Ugh—!"

He growled, and the chalk drew a piercing sound on the blackboard.

Finally, he wrote out a crooked "1".

Next is "+".

then……

His hand trembled, and the "0" he meant to write turned into a vertical stroke.

The number 1 + 1 appeared prominently on the blackboard.

The air froze instantly.

Yang Guo felt a chill run down his spine, as if he were being watched by an ancient ferocious beast.

"Yang Guo!!!"

Teacher Long's voice rose eight octaves, filled with obvious anger, "I told you to calculate 1+0! What do you mean by writing 1+1? Do you want to fight me with bayonets?"

"No...no..." Yang Guo stammered, on the verge of tears, turning around to explain, "Teacher, this chalk has its own mind! It's out of control!"

"An excuse!"

Xiaolongnu's pretty face turned fierce as she slammed her pointer down on the lectern with a loud "crack," startling Yang Guo.

"Hands out!"

Yang Guo shakily extended his right hand.

"Snapped!"

The pointer struck, and my palm burned with pain.

"Rewrite!"

Yang Guo could only turn away with tears in his eyes, erase the wrong "1", and try to draw a new circle.

But it's really too difficult.

His body seemed to be bound by some kind of law. Whenever he wanted to draw a "0", the resistance was as great as pushing a mountain. But whenever he wanted to write a "1", it was as smooth as diarrhea.

I tried more than ten times.

黑板上全是密密麻麻的「1+1」、「1+11」、「1+111」……

It's almost like some kind of mysterious binary code.

Yang Guo was so exhausted that he was panting heavily, his arms were sore and weak, and in the end he couldn't even hold the chalk anymore, and it fell to the ground with a "thud".

"I can't take it anymore... Teacher Long... I can't take it anymore..."

Yang Guo slumped down beside the podium, panting heavily without any regard for his image. "This question is beyond the syllabus... This is definitely an Olympiad math problem..."

"waste."

Little Dragon Girl coldly uttered two words.

She walked behind Yang Guo, and the faint, cool fragrance instantly enveloped him.

"Stand up."

Yang Guo leaned on the lectern, barely managing to stand up straight, his legs still trembling.

"Since you don't know how to write it, the teacher will teach you."

Xiaolongnu took Yang Guo's hand from behind.

Her hands were cool and soft, with a tingling, electric sensation at her fingertips.

She held Yang Guo's hand and picked up a piece of chalk again.

"Feel its trajectory."

Xiaolongnu's voice was right beside his ear, her warm breath spraying on his neck, giving Yang Guo goosebumps all over his body.

"1..."

She took his hand and wrote a strong and powerful "1".

"+..."

Then, there's that crucial "0".

"The zero here doesn't mean there is none." Xiaolongnu's voice became somewhat ethereal, carrying a profound philosophical meaning, "The Tao gives birth to One, One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, Three gives birth to all things. All things carry Yin and embrace Yang, and through the interaction of these two energies, harmony is achieved."

"Yang, the reason you can't write 0 is because you don't understand the principles of Yin and Yang."

You must learn to be humble and open-minded.

"You need to learn...to explore."

As she spoke, Yang Guo felt the raging heat within him miraculously subside and begin to circulate along a strange trajectory.

It's like all rivers flowing into the sea.

It's like a lone sun encountering a dark yin.

His hands stopped trembling, and the immense resistance disappeared.

"0..."

Guided by Xiaolongnu, a perfect circle finally appeared on the blackboard.

【1 + 0】

The vertical format is complete.

But it's not over yet.

"And the answer?" Teacher Long whispered in his ear, "Tell me, what's the answer?"

Yang Guo looked at the equation.

In the logic of this illusion, what does 1 plus 0 equal?

If we're outside, even a fool would know it equals 1.

But this is clearly not a math class; it's... a philosophy class, or even a biology class!

"equal……"

A sudden inspiration struck Yang Guo, reminding him of what Xiaolongnu had just said about "binary" and "the primordial universe".

In the binary world, there are only 0 and 1.

And in the world of Yin and Yang...

Yin alone cannot produce anything, and Yang alone cannot grow.

The merging of 1 into 0 is not a simple addition, but a completely new...birth.

"Equals... 10!"

Yang Guo shouted, as if he had grasped the true meaning of the universe.

This is a carry-in binary!

This is also a step forward in life!

"Snapped!"

The answer is correct.

Little Dragon Girl held his hand and wrote a "1" heavily below the horizontal line, followed by a "0".

In that very instant.

boom--

Yang Guo felt his mind go blank. The classroom, the blackboard, Teacher Long... everything in front of him was collapsing and turning into countless points of light.

An unprecedented sense of exhilaration swept over him, as if he had grasped the true meaning of the universe.

……

Ancient tomb, stone chamber.

A flower-like flame burst forth from the wick of the ever-burning lamp.

On the cold jade bed.

Yang Guo suddenly opened his eyes, panting heavily, his chest heaving violently.

Sweat streamed down my forehead and into my eyes.

He moved his fingers.

acid.

pain.

That intense, tingling sensation was even more exaggerated than running ten marathons.

My waist, in particular, feels like it no longer belongs to me; even the slightest movement makes a "crackling" protesting sound.

"woke up?"

A lazy and aloof voice came from beside me.

Yang Guo turned his head with difficulty.

Little Dragon Girl was lying on her side beside him, still wearing that incredibly embarrassing "bikini" training outfit, but now it looked much more pleasing to the eye, even exuding a kind of sacred radiance.

Her complexion was rosy, her eyes were bright, and her previous fatigue had vanished. She looked radiant, and her inner strength had clearly improved considerably.

Yang Guo, on the other hand, had dark circles under his eyes and sunken cheeks, looking like a scholar whose life force had been drained overnight.

"Sister...Sister..."

Yang Guo's voice was hoarse, "Just now...we were...practicing martial arts?"

Little Dragon Girl blinked, a sly glint in her eyes, before reverting to her serious demeanor.

"Naturally, it's about practicing martial arts."

She sat up, her long, flowing hair cascading down, obscuring the breathtaking glimpse of her chest.

"The third level of the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra emphasizes the unity of mind and spirit. Although you were just deluded and talking nonsense about 'vertical calculations' and 'binary'... fortunately, you understood it at the last moment."

Little Dragon Girl stretched out her finger and gently tapped his forehead.

"Well done, Yang."

Upon hearing this address, Yang Guo shuddered and nearly rolled off the jade bed.

Real hammer!

That was definitely not just his hallucination!

This woman... this woman can actually play so skillfully in that shared illusion!

"What? Still haven't practiced enough?" Little Dragon Girl glanced at him sideways, a half-smile playing on her lips. "Want your teacher to give you some extra lessons?"

"No! Please don't!"

Yang Guo scrambled to the floor and scrambled off the bed. At this moment, even Ouyang Feng's Toad Stance felt much more welcoming and endearing than this "tutoring class."

"Teacher Long, please spare me! Yang has already learned it! He has fully grasped it! No more tutoring is needed!"

He leaned against the stone wall, trying to stand up.

However, as soon as the legs put pressure on them.

puff.

I was completely blown away.

Its two legs swayed uncontrollably at a frequency so fast it could almost generate electricity.

"Cough cough..."

Yang Guo coughed awkwardly twice, trying to save face, "Um... this bed was a bit hard last night, and my legs went numb. I'm going outside... to get some fresh air."

After saying that, he put his hands on the wall and slowly moved towards the door.

Looking at Yang Guo's disheveled figure.

Little Dragon Girl finally couldn't help but burst out laughing.

That smile was like ice and snow melting away, and spring flowers blooming.

She looked down at the meager amount of fabric covering her body, her cheeks flushing slightly.

"Binary... a 'one'?"

She murmured softly, her eyes sparkling.

"That's... somewhat interesting."

(P.S.: I really put a lot of effort into writing this chapter!)