The tyrannical father was so intimidated when his own daughter was found during the raid.

All eyes were fixed on the sandalwood tray.

In the very center of the tray was a strange, square object.

That thing was about the size of an adult's fist.

The entire piece is made of an unknown type of jade and fine wood joined together using mortise and tenon joints.

It has six sides in total, including top, bottom, left, right, front, and back.

Each face is neatly cut into nine small squares.

Six colors of paint—red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, and blue—are applied to it.

At this moment, all the colors were disrupted, mottled and intertwined, with no discernible pattern.

The courtiers of Da Yuan Kingdom craned their necks, completely bewildered.

What is this thing?

Hidden weapon? Doesn't seem like it.

A magic weapon? I didn't see any fluctuations of true energy.

The envoy leader looked at the bewildered expressions on everyone's faces, his contempt growing even stronger.

He picked up the cube and twisted it twice in front of everyone.

"This is the national treasure of my Central Plains, named the Nine Palaces Heavenly Secret Lock!"

The commander's voice was arrogant.

"The Heavenly Lock contains a universe within it, with countless variations, reportedly numbering in the hundreds of millions."

"If the colors on all six sides are restored to their original state, the lock will be unlocked."

A collective gasp of astonishment rippled through the main hall.

Tens of millions of variations?

If you twist it wrong even once, you might never be able to solve it for the rest of your life.

The leader's show of bragging was not over yet.

He clapped his hands again.

The attendant behind him took out a huge sheepskin scroll from his sleeve and unrolled it in front of everyone.

With a "bang," the scroll was hung on the dragon pillar next to it.

The surface was covered with dense writing.

"It is not enough to simply unlock the secrets of heaven. Our Central Plains is a land of propriety and etiquette, and we value literature and reason above all else."

The troupe leader pointed to the sheepskin scroll with his folding fan.

"This is an arithmetic problem that no one in Zhongzhou has been able to solve for a hundred years."

"It's called, 'The Heavenly Calculation of Chickens and Rabbits in the Same Cage!'"

"Now there are pheasants and rabbits in the same cage. There are 3,568 heads and 9,472 feet."

"Among them were three-legged toads, and the number of toads was half that of the rabbits."

"How many pheasants, rabbits, and toads are there?"

The civil and military officials of Dayuan were stunned by this astronomical figure.

Thousands of heads? Thousands of feet?

And what's with the three-legged toad mixed in there?!

Who can possibly calculate that!

Su Zhen sat on the dragon throne, his face darkening.

This is clearly an attempt to make things difficult!

A puzzle that no one in the Central Empire could solve for a hundred years is being offered to the people of the Great Abyss Kingdom?

"What? Does the Great Abyss Kingdom not even have anyone willing to give it a try?"

The troupe leader deliberately raised his voice and spoke in a mocking tone.

"If you don't even dare to try, then you might as well admit defeat and hand over your surrender document!"

"Arrogant!"

"I'll take a look at your broken lock!"

The old scholars of the Hanlin Academy in Dayuan Kingdom finally couldn't hold back any longer.

Although they were physically weak, they still possessed the refined and aloof spirit of scholars.

Who could tolerate being insulted by an envoy from an enemy country for being illiterate?

Five or six old men, led by the Grand Secretary of the Hanlin Academy, stormed out angrily.

They split into two groups.

A group of people surrounded the Nine Palaces Heavenly Secret Lock, studying it with worried expressions.

Another group had someone bring over desks, abacuses, paper, and pens, and began frantically working out arithmetic problems.

"Click...click..."

An old scholar, his hands trembling, tried to twist the Heavenly Lock.

The result was that not only did they not match the colors, but they also broke up the two red patches that were originally connected.

"Oops! Wrong, wrong, you should turn to the left!"

"No, I think we should turn downwards!"

The old men argued heatedly, their faces flushed and sweating profusely.

But no matter how they rotated it, the colors of the six sides were still a mess.

The more I turn, the more confused I get.

Some tried to pry off a piece to move it, but found that the wood and jade were stuck tightly together and they couldn't pry it off at all.

The envoy commander, startled, repeatedly sneered, "Be gentle!"

"You've damaged the national treasure of my Central Plains; your entire Great Abyss can't afford to pay for it!"

Let's look at the other side.

The battlefield of arithmetic problems is even more brutal.

The constant clicking and clattering of the abacus was so fast it seemed to spark.

"Three thousand five hundred and sixty-eight heads... half of them are toads..."

"No, no, rabbits have four legs, chickens have two, and toads have three..."

The old scholars muttered to themselves, their brushes trembling in their hands.

Draft paper was scattered all over the floor, and the abacus beads were almost broken.

An old man was calculating so hard that his eyes went blank, and he even plucked out several strands of his white beard.

But the results of the calculations were either that the chicken had half a head extra or the rabbit was missing a leg.

The generals of Da Yuan all turned red in the face.

They would rather go into battle and be slashed a dozen times than suffer such humiliation.

But this is a battle of wits, so even if they have brute strength, they can't use it and can only stand by and watch helplessly.

Half an hour has passed.

The main hall was completely silent, save for the heavy breathing of the old men and the clatter of abacuses.

The hearts of the king and his ministers of Dayuan sank to the bottom little by little.

"puff!"

Suddenly, an old scholar in charge of arithmetic couldn't withstand the immense pressure of mental calculation.

His eyes rolled back, and he spat a mouthful of blood onto the draft paper, instantly fainting.

"Master Li! Master Li!"

Chaos immediately erupted around them, and the imperial physicians rushed to their aid.

The head of the Hanlin Academy, who was in charge of cracking the Heavenly Lock, also dejectedly put down the cube in his hand.

He had combed his white hair so much that it looked like a bird's nest.

His once rosy face was now deathly pale, making him look as if he had aged ten years.

"I am ashamed...this old minister is truly ashamed!"

The head of the Hanlin Academy's knees buckled, and he knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face.

"Your Majesty, this lock is exquisitely crafted and infinitely versatile; this old minister... cannot solve it!"

With the academy head's surrender, the last glimmer of hope for the Great Abyss Kingdom was extinguished.

An atmosphere of humiliation enveloped the entire Taiji Hall.

The officials bowed their heads, clenched their fists, but were helpless.

Upon seeing this, the commander looked up and let out a loud, arrogant laugh.

The laughter sounded particularly jarring in the quiet hall.

"Hahahaha! The Great Abyss Kingdom truly is a land of barbarians!"

"Not a single official in the entire court can understand the most basic mathematics and mechanisms of my Central Plains!"

"You bunch of brutes who only know how to use brute force, do you think you're worthy to stand on equal footing with my Central Continent Empire?"

The envoy commander waved his folding fan, his eyes filled with utter contempt.

"Emperor Dayuan, you are willing to accept defeat."

"You are not worthy of the Xuanbing Stone."

"Now, issue an edict ordering Zhongzhou to submit and pay tribute! This foreign subject is in a hurry to return home to report!"

Madness!

Arrogant!

They're dancing wildly, stepping on the face of the Great Yuan Kingdom!

Su Zhen sat on the dragon throne, gripping the pure steel armrests tightly.

His face was so dark it looked like it was about to drip water, and a murderous intent began to rise in his eyes.

The dignity of the Great Yuan Kingdom must not be lost in his hands!

Even if it means a fight to the death today, he would never submit to Zhongzhou!

Su Zhen stood up and reached for the Longquan sword at his waist.

Just when the situation was tense and the Great Abyss Kingdom was about to lose face, a dead end was reached.

On a small, diamond-encrusted gold throne next to the dragon throne, Su Yaoyao was listlessly resting her chin on her hand.

She had actually finished eating the osmanthus cake long ago.

I was just spacing out, thinking about the Gatling gun.

He watched with wide eyes the whole time, watching the Central Plains delegation pack their cups with great interest.

She had assumed that this arrogant delegation leader would produce some kind of world-destroying artifact.

When she saw the red cloth clearly, she was stunned.

She blinked hard, unable to believe what she was seeing.

Then, she let out a deafening laugh in her mind.

[Hahaha! This is hilarious!]

After all that, I thought it was some kind of high-tech gadget!

[Isn't this just a scrambled 3x3 Rubik's Cube?!]

A clear, resonant voice exploded in Su Zhen's mind.

Su Zhen, who was about to draw his sword to kill someone, suddenly trembled.

Break... break the Rubik's Cube?

Su Yaoyao's inner thoughts continued to flow, filled with speechless disdain.

[Tens of millions of variations? Who are you trying to scare?]

[This thing deserves to be called the Nine Palaces Heavenly Secret Lock?]

[Just make a cross, add a bottom corner, restore two layers at a time, and apply a formula to the top layer, isn't that enough?]

[Don't even mention a 3x3 Rubik's Cube, even a 17x17 Rubik's Cube, this young lady can solve it for you within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.]

When I was three years old at the interstellar orphanage, I could solve math problems blindfolded.

[The kids at the interstellar kindergarten don't play this idiotic game anymore!]

Su Yaoyao rolled her eyes and looked back at the arithmetic problem.

What other unsolved arithmetic problems remain unsolved for centuries?

Isn't it just a basic system of two linear equations in two variables?

[Oh wait, I added a three-legged toad; let's solve a system of three linear equations.]

[Let the unknowns be X, Y, and Z, substitute them with the given conditions, and you can figure it out in two minutes with your mind!]

[That's it? This can be called an age-old problem?]

[Is the Central Plains delegation here to be a joke?]

[Trying to act all high and mighty with toys that even a three-year-old wouldn't play with, and expecting my dad to submit and pay tribute?]

Has this old man's brain been slammed in a door?

Upon hearing the rapid-fire thoughts, Su Zhen's originally gloomy expression froze.

Then, the clouds parted and the sun shone through.

The gloom dissipated.

An uncontrollable surge of ecstasy welled up within him!

The national treasure that drove the courtiers of the Great Abyss to their doom.

In his own daughter's eyes, it's just a stupid toy that even a three-year-old wouldn't play with?!

It was totally worth it to latch onto this powerful figure!

This smells amazing!

The guild leader was still frantically attacking from below, mocking the incompetence of the Great Abyss's ruler and his ministers.

"Emperor of Dayuan, what are you still hesitating for? Don't the people of Dayuan even have the courage to admit defeat?"

Su Zhen was not angry at all when he heard the head of the delegation mocking him.

Once I felt at ease, I actually thought that Old Deng with the goatee was just a clown jumping around.

His face, which had been gloomy, suddenly brightened, and he couldn't help but let out a smug, cold smile.

"Bang!"

The tyrant father slammed his hand on the armrest of the pure steel dragon throne, producing a deafening bang.

The slap startled the laughing delegation leader, making him shudder.

Everyone in the hall looked at the emperor in horror, thinking that the tyrant was about to unleash a massacre.

Su Zhen sat up straight with an air of superiority, looking down arrogantly at the head of the delegation below.

He snorted coldly, rudely interrupting the mission leader's mockery.

"Stop laughing! My precious daughter could solve this idiotic puzzle with her eyes closed!"