In that instant, Li Zhu knew he was doomed; he had definitely triggered some kind of mechanism…
Swoosh...
The sound of arrows whistling through the air rang out, and Li Zhu retreated without hesitation…
Bang bang…
Dozens of arrows were embedded in the ground. Li Zhu had retreated to the edge of the cliff, panting heavily. In that instant, he had forced himself to change direction at least a dozen times, each time causing unimaginable pain to his body and immense pressure to his heart.
But this was just the beginning. Several water arrows shot out from both sides of the stone gate, and together with the arrow fletching, they almost blocked all of Li Zhu's escape routes...
The water arrow landed, sending up a puff of white smoke. Li Zhu instinctively covered his mouth and nose, but as soon as the smoke touched his eyes, tears began to stream uncontrollably. Waves of dizziness washed over him, almost causing him to faint…
The tattoo formed by the dragon ring lit up, finally dispelling Li Zhu's dizziness. The white smoke seemed unable to cause him any further harm...
Li Zhu patted his chest. It was too dangerous. If he had just taken one wrong step, he would have been doomed...
He wondered what kind of venom could be preserved for so long and retain such potent toxicity. He even considered taking some back to kill off the disobedient ones while he was at it…
But this is just wishful thinking. There's black and white in this world. If you kill off a group of disobedient people, another group of disobedient people will surely rise up...
Seeing that the danger had passed, Li Zhu finally breathed a sigh of relief. Returning to the stone gate, he looked at the numbers lying on the ground. His recent experience had made him realize that these numbers weren't randomly placed, but rather followed a certain pattern…
Li Zhu thought to himself, "It's just a math game, isn't it? I got into this top university based on my own merit, and my math grades are pretty good..."
He carefully examined the stone trough on the left and the numbers on the right. Finally, he discovered that the stone trough on the left was arranged in a six-by-six pattern. This made Li Zhu think to himself, "Could this be Sudoku?"
Based on his guess, he counted the numbers and found that there were indeed six sets of the same numbers from one to six…
This further confirmed his conjecture, leaving him with only one thought: the ancients really knew how to solve things. But if he could solve a nine-by-nine problem, then a six-by-six problem would naturally be no problem at all…
He needs to make sure that each row and each column has the numbers one through six, and the entire array also needs to be divided into six groups of two by three, with each group also having the numbers one through six without repetition!
The most important thing now is to figure out the initial number layout so we can guess where the remaining numbers are placed...
Looking at the empty stone door on his left, Li Zhu was suddenly at a loss. He couldn't possibly try them one by one, could he? He needed that many lives...
Since the stone gate was designed this way, it's impossible that there were no clues at all. He must have overlooked some details. He racked his brains while checking his surroundings, hoping to find some flaw. As time passed, Li Zhu became increasingly anxious. If he couldn't get out of here, he would need to go back. After all, time was running out, and he still needed to attend the banquet…
Suddenly he looked at the numbers in his hand, square like seals. He took down a few more to compare and found that these seals with numbers were not all the same length...
However, seventeen of the grooves on the left side are the same depth, and the bottoms of these grooves are movable. The other nineteen grooves are of different depths, and their bottoms are fixed. This means that he needs to install the nineteen fixed grooves correctly, and then put the remaining seventeen in order to open the door...
With this in mind, Li Zhu finally breathed a sigh of relief. Now he only needed to compare the lengths of the large number seals to form the entire Sudoku puzzle, and then he could use the remaining seventeen numbers to solve it…
Fearing that his guess was wrong, Li Zhu was on high alert...
After careful comparison, Li Zhu put in the first number...
The sound of stones scraping together came from somewhere; everything was calm, and there were no arrows or venomous attacks…
This relieved Li Zhu greatly; at least they were heading in the right direction…
Soon, the nineteen numbers were placed according to their length, and everything was fine. The last seventeen numbers required his attention, but Li Zhu had already solved this simple Sudoku puzzle in less than three minutes…
Now comes the moment of truth, where life or death hinges on pressing that first number. Because the groove at the bottom is movable, he needs to press down the rectangular number, which will trigger the mechanism. The result will either open the door successfully or send him away safely…
Li Zhu kept himself calm, carefully placing the calculated numbers one by one into the grooves and pressing them down...
When the first groove was pressed down, Li Zhu was still a little nervous, but after a loud rumbling sound, no danger came, which relieved him...
Then came the second, the third…
As the last one was placed inside, a deafening rumble echoed from the stone door, which then slowly rose, revealing the underground palace beneath...
The imagined treasure didn't exist, but the underground palace was decorated with extreme luxury; even the luminous pearls were merely tools for lighting...
In the center of the underground palace was a huge alchemy furnace, and not far away were large quantities of charcoal...
Seeing this, Li Zhu immediately realized that this was the alchemy room!
Many emperors of the late previous dynasty died from alchemy, and this place must have been one of those alchemy sites…
No wonder there was so much sulfur at the entrance; sulfur is one of the main ingredients used by Taoists in alchemy!
Li Zhu slowly walked to the alchemy furnace, circled it a few times, and felt somewhat uncomfortable due to the strong metallic smell. However, he still endured the discomfort and opened the furnace, finding a sealed jar inside…
Could this be a hidden gem of a bar that a Taoist priest keeps secret?
Li Zhu carried it out, and after opening the lid, a pungent smell wafted out…
This is alum water!
Although it was the first time he had been so close to alchemy, he still managed to smell what was in the jar!
Alum water is used in alchemy to enhance immortality; it is recorded in the Thirty-Six Water Methods!
Upon discovering that this place was actually the Ascension Water, Li Zhu couldn't help but wonder if Qin Shi Huang could have refined the Elixir of Immortality if he had found it back then.
This stuff is a good thing for alchemists, but it's useless to him. He'd probably die before he saw the sun rise again if he drank a sip. After hesitating for a moment, he put it back and then began searching for an exit in the underground palace...
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