Su Mei was a Golden Core Grandmaster.
The transformation was absolute. She no longer walked; she levitated a few inches off the
ground at all times. Her skin had taken on a pearlescent sheen, impervious to dust. She didn't
breathe air anymore; she cycled pure Qi.
To celebrate her breakthrough, she decided to explore the Ruins of the Celestial Arithmetician,
an ancient inheritance ground that had appeared in the southern swamps. She brought Li Wei.
Not because she needed protection, but because she needed a bag carrier.
The ruins were a maze of floating geometric platforms and shifting light walls.
"Brute force is useless here," Su Mei muttered, frustration evident in the set of her jaw.
She stood before a massive stone gate. It didn't have a keyhole. Instead, it had a grid of nine
squares, each filled with glowing runes representing numbers. Above it, a riddle was carved in
ancient script:
"Place the stars so that the horizontal, vertical, and diagonal paths all sum to the number of the
Heavens (15)."
Su Mei stared at it. She raised her hand, gathering a massive ball of frost energy.
"I will just shatter it," she decided.
"No!" Li Wei shouted, stepping forward. "Look at the inscription on the floor. 'Strike the gate, and
the ceiling falls.' If you attack it, the whole room collapses on us."
Su Mei lowered her hand, scowling. "These ancient scholars... always playing tricks. Who has
time to count numbers? The Dao is about power, not sums."
She looked at the grid, annoyed. "I never studied arithmetic. My father only taught me poetry."
Li Wei walked up to the gate. He looked at the grid.
It was a magic square. A 3x3 Lo Shu Square. Basic mathematics on Earth. Children learned this
in primary school.
"I can open it," Li Wei said quietly.
Su Mei looked at him, skeptical. "You? This is a puzzle left by a Nascent Soul sage, Li Wei.
Don't be arrogant."
"It's not arrogance," Li Wei said. "It's logic."
He reached out. The System highlighted the correct sequence, but he didn't even need it. He
pressed the rune for 4, then 9, then 2. He rearranged the lights rapidly.
Click. Click. Click.
He stepped back. "Done."
Su Mei scoffed. "You just pressed random—"
Rumble.
The massive stone gate groaned. The glyphs turned gold. Slowly, majestically, the heavy doors
swung open, revealing a chamber filled with ancient scrolls and piles of spirit stones.
Su Mei stood frozen. She looked at the open treasure trove, then at Li Wei. Her expression was
one of genuine shock.
"How?" she asked. "You have no spiritual sense. How did you divine the solution?"
"It's just math, Mei'er," Li Wei said, rubbing his scarred hands (the burns from the lava were now
shiny pink scars). "Numbers follow rules. Just like the seasons. Just like business."
Su Mei walked into the chamber. She picked up a scroll, scanning it. It was a lost technique,
The Algorithm of the Stars. Invaluable.
She turned back to Li Wei. She didn't hug him. She didn't praise his intelligence. She looked at him with a new kind of appraisal.
"I see," she said slowly. "I always thought your mortal mind was a hindrance. A bucket full of
dust."
She pocketed the scroll. "But it seems that dust has its uses. You think differently than a
cultivator. We look for Qi; you look for patterns."
She walked past him, patting his shoulder lightly.
"You are useful, husband. I will keep you close."
Useful.
The word hung in the stagnant air of the ruin. It wasn't an insult. It was worse. An insult implies
emotion. "Useful" is what you say about a shovel. "Useful" is what you say about a key.
Li Wei stood by the open gate. He watched her looting the room, her face glowing with the
reflection of the gold.
"I am glad I could help," Li Wei replied.
His voice was steady, but inside, the last pillar of his self-worth crumbled. He wasn't her partner
anymore. He wasn't even her lover. He was a utility. A multi-tool she kept in her pocket because
it could open doors she was too powerful to bother with.
[System Quest Complete: The Sage's Riddle.] [Reward: 100 Support Points.] [System
Note: Host value updated. New Status: 'Strategic Asset'.]
Li Wei laughed bitterly. Even the System agreed with her.