The sage was determined to die.

Five days later, at the Imperial College.

Ji Bai looked sickly, but his expression was radiant. He occupied the best spot and casually picked up a jade compass, wiping it repeatedly as if afraid that others wouldn't notice.

As he wiped, he silently criticized himself, wondering if his acting was too deliberate, given how poor it was.

People with normal intelligence shouldn't be that easily fooled, right?

Not far behind, Yan Ming and the others watched with envy.

"Damn it, Xie Bi'an didn't lie to me after all. Ji Bai actually got the compass."

The number of people who can enter the Book Mountain this year has basically been decided internally. Although it has not been announced to the public, those who have the quota naturally know in advance. With their families backing them, they have naturally made full preparations and know how much weight Ji Bai's compass carries.

Several close-knit scholars whispered among themselves, "Isn't this compass the Second Prince's? Why is it in Ji Bai's hands?"

"This was given to the Second Prince by the Grand Scholar. The Second Prince used this compass to find Wenxin three times, although he destroyed it each time."

The thought of this pained everyone. The Second Prince was simply wasting such a precious gift. If he didn't want it, he could have given it to them; they wouldn't have minded.

"Ji Bai was already pre-admitted by Shushan, and now he's even received the compass, so wouldn't he be—"

Wouldn't that guarantee Wenxin's success?

The group exchanged glances. Although they didn't speak, they all thought of the same thing: they were the ones who had entered the Book Mountain. They had originally planned to use Ji Bai to find Wen Xin and then abandon him, leaving him to his fate. But now, given the situation, should they still carry out their agreed plan?

Thinking of Xie Bi'an's unreliable guarantee and the silver notes he had lost, Yan Ming reluctantly walked to Ji Bai's side and said stiffly, "Ji Bai, this time when we enter the Book Mountain, we are all Jinshi from Qi. I hope you will not leave the group on your own initiative. Let's unite and work together so that we can make progress together and avoid returning empty-handed."

Ji Bai glanced at him: "You really want Wenxin?"

"Who wouldn't want to win Wenxin's heart?"

Yan Ming could hardly suppress the longing in his eyes and said, "That's a literary heart! What kind of scholar are you without a literary heart? A mortal's lifespan is no more than a hundred years. With a literary heart, one can extend their life by at least a hundred years. If one is lucky enough to obtain a powerful literary heart, one might even be able to command the wind and rain."

Yes, who wouldn't want to win Wenxin's heart?

Ji Bai narrowed his eyes, revealing a wicked smile: "You were so hostile to me before, yet you still dared to expect me to act with you? Do you think I'm stupid? If we encounter any situation where Wenxin is vying for power, you'll probably kill me first as a sacrifice."

The implication was that he truly knew specific details about Wenxin.

"The chief scholar said in class that there is only one way to go: death."

An unfamiliar scholar approached, his eyes filled with worry as he looked at Ji Bai: "Ji Bai, even if you don't get along with us, don't gamble with your life, will you?"

Ji Bai muttered under his breath, "Didn't the Second Prince also walk alone in the Mountain of Books three times, and nothing happened to him?"

The people weren't fools; they naturally understood the other party's implication.

Yan Ming gritted his teeth and said, "I really don't know what method you used to get the Second Prince to lend you the compass. Name your price. How much money do you want us to pay for you to let us follow you?"

"So polite?" Ji Bai said with a smile. "To be honest, I thought you guys were going to just come and snatch it from me."

Yan Ming said quietly, "...So you can just rob it directly?"

"Of course you can steal it."

Ji Bai nodded: "However, the Second Prince only told me how to use it. If you're not afraid that I might deliberately set a trap to mislead you, you can give it a try."

The group exchanged glances and ultimately had no choice but to obediently hand over their money.

.

Ji Bai returned to Taoranju in the evening.

He didn't go back to his room to rest immediately, but went to visit his senior brothers and sisters first.

After announcing his seclusion, the High Priest stayed indoors for the past few days, focusing solely on studying the Holy Path in his room. Naturally, the task of setting questions for his senior brothers and feeding his senior sisters fell to Ji Bai.

Pushing open the courtyard gate, I found that my senior brother wasn't copying books or pacing back and forth with blank pages. Instead, he was sitting on the ground, scratching his head in distress, looking extremely troubled.

Ji Bai washed two pears, keeping one for himself and handing the other to his senior brother Qiao. Qiao looked at him resentfully and said, "Junior brother, I couldn't solve the problem you gave me."

Ji Bai took a bite of the pear, not rushing to answer the question, but instead said, "Senior brother, do you know what is the most absolute thing in this world?"

The senior brother shook his head blankly.

Ji Bai answered his own question: "It's mathematics. Everything can be faked, but mathematics can't, because if you can't do mathematics, you simply can't."

Before the chief priest went into seclusion, he specifically told Ji Bai that he could pretend to give his senior brother questions every day, but he didn't have to actually give them. For his senior brother, the most important thing was to have something to do every day so that his brain wouldn't become exhausted.

Ji Bai agreed and then began to test Qiao Shixiong's math skills.

Clearly, the senior student is a top student who is severely unbalanced in his studies.

Ji Bai finished the pear in a few bites, picked up a pen and started writing a question on a piece of paper, reading aloud as he wrote: "Senior brother, I'm going to the Book Mountain in a few days. During the time I'm there, I'm afraid no one will give you any questions. Do this question first, and hopefully you can solve it when I leave the Book Mountain."

My senior brother was clearly being tormented by this thing called mathematics.

He reluctantly looked at the paper, only to see Ji Bai writing word by word on the white paper.

There is a flock of sheep on an island. The sheep are of four colors: black, white, spotted, and brown. There are both rams and ewes. Among the rams, there are more white rams than brown rams. The number of white rams is equal to one-half plus one-third of the number of black rams. There are more black rams than brown rams. The number of black rams is equal to one-quarter plus one-fifth of the number of spotted rams.

Ji Bai was excitedly transforming from a cow into a sheep, copying the Archimedes problem, the title of a book in the history of mathematics. He was writing with great enthusiasm, unaware that his senior brother next to him couldn't help but grab his hair, his eyes slowly filled with the word "sheep".

After losing his family and Wenxin, his mind suddenly went completely blank. He could only repeatedly copy and ask questions, and there was no room for anything else.

But after meeting Ji Bai, he was tormented by this thing called mathematics and regained his sense of humanity.

Sheep, sheep, sheep, why are there so many sheep?

"Junior brother."

The senior brother tugged at Ji Bai's sleeve, seemingly very uncomfortable with the way he was addressed, but still said with a hint of resentment, "I want to eat mutton."