Lin Fan was shocked at his uncle's strength. He glanced at the man and shivered inwardly. "You aren't my uncle! Who are you?"
The Angel of Wisdom, Zhi Zun, gave a slight glance at Lin Fan and asked, "Do you want revenge?"
Lin Fan murmured, "Revenge?"
Zhi Zun stepped back, looking up at the vast heavens. "You will lose your freedom, and you will have to do everything I dictate! If you agree, I will help you take your revenge."
Lin Fan murmured, "How can I take revenge? You already killed the Demons! If you want me to fight the Devil Race, how can I stand up to them while the Supreme Devil exists?"
Zhi Zun said lightly, "Even if it is the Supreme Devil, I will provide you the means to rival him!"
Lin Fan's pupils dilated. Those words could not come from an ordinary person. The mere existence of the Supreme Devil struck fear into even the strongest of the Immortals.
Who was this person boasting about rivaling the Supreme Devil? Even the Supreme Creator could not defeat him in a frontal battle!
Lin Fan sensed that things weren't simple, but without entering the lake, one couldn't catch fish! If he wanted to become strong, he had to take a gamble.
He said in a hoarse voice, "I will!"
He was gambling his life this time. He wanted to become strong—strong enough that no one in this world could threaten his life!
Zhi Zun nodded. "From now on, you are my personal disciple!"
Lin Fan immediately bowed to Zhi Zun and kowtowed three times, acknowledging him as his master.
Not long ago, the Creator had entered deep meditation once again after guiding the successor for the Angel of Carnage. If you do not recall, the Angel of Carnage would in the future become the Timeless Demon God. At this point, there was no Angel of Carnage! The title existed, but no one had formally succeeded it.
Zhi Zun took Lin Fan to the Divine Palace of Creation.
Although this palace was where the Angels of the Supreme Creator resided, it was extremely vast, built to encapsulate all dimensions in existence. As a result, it also housed countless geniuses of the God Race.
The one leading those geniuses was none other than a Wanderer who had appeared in this world not long ago! Her name was Wang Xueyao.
She was the successor to the Angel of Creation and the Saintess of the Divine Palace. Rumor had it that her intelligence was quite low, but because of an extremely powerful Special Ability, no one could defeat her at the same cultivation level!
Her Special Ability allowed her to wield multiple Divinities!
This was the first time Lin Fan saw Wang Xueyao. He didn't know the rumors, but looking at her from afar made his heart skip a beat.
Zhi Zun looked at Wang Xueyao, then turned to Lin Fan and sighed. "You two are not fated. You belong to different worlds!"
Lin Fan responded subconsciously, "The world is vast, and bridging the gap isn't hard in the current era!"
Zhi Zun suddenly glared at Lin Fan, causing the boy to inadvertently bow his head.
Zhi Zun shook his head. "You misunderstood my words. I am telling you not to waste your time on her. The path you will follow far exceeds what she can even imagine achieving. Crossing paths with her will only lead you to a miserable life!"
Without another word, Zhi Zun led him away. Eventually, they arrived at a portal.
Zhi Zun opened his palm. A token manifested there, and he said faintly, "Take this token and go inside!"
Lin Fan nodded, but as he reached the portal, he looked back. "Master, what is this place?"
Zhi Zun said lightly, "Inside is an important inheritance. You haven't stepped onto the path of Cultivation yet, so you should try to win at any cost! What you receive in there will be highly beneficial to your future and serve as a strong foundation. Your divinity is special; you might actually be able to defeat her!"
Lin Fan asked, "Will it be difficult?"
Zhi Zun fell silent. For a moment, he didn't know how to respond. He finally sighed. "In the history of the God Realm, countless geniuses have appeared and disappeared. Countless have come to confront her."
His voice turned heavy. "I have never witnessed a single talent who could defeat her."
Lin Fan's expression grew heavy. "Then how can I..."
Zhi Zun interjected, "It is not solely about whether you win or lose; it is about how you perform. You need to impress her. The more brilliance you show, the more benefits you will obtain. However, you must play to win and never despair! Do not give up halfway!"
Zhi Zun smiled as he continued, "She will rate your performance on a scale of 1 to 10. The highest evaluation anyone has ever obtained was an 8!"
Lin Fan asked, "Who was it? Did they win, or just get close?"
Zhi Zun shook his head. "There were two Immortals who achieved that score. One of them is the successor to the Angel of Carnage!"
Lin Fan didn't know who the successor to the Angel of Carnage was, so he asked about the other person. "And the second one?"
Zhi Zun smiled. "It was me!"
Lin Fan nodded. He bowed to him and stepped into the portal.
The surrounding environment instantly vanished, and he found himself levitating in a vast, foggy space. He couldn't see the edge in any direction.
Suddenly, a little girl appeared before his eyes. Her appearance was stunning; he had never seen anyone as perfectly formed as her! Yet, he didn't feel any frivolous emotions toward her—only the fond appreciation one feels when looking at a cute child. She appeared to be only five years old.
The little girl spoke in a childish voice, "Big brother, are you here to play with me?"
Lin Fan stepped toward her and ruffled her hair. "Yes, big brother is here to play with you! What is your name?"
The little girl giggled happily, immediately jumping in excitement.
Lin Fan felt his heart warm looking at her joyful face. He asked again, "What is your name, little one?"
The girl gave a cute smile. "My name is Jin Huang! I am the formation spirit and the ruler of this place!"
Lin Fan smiled faintly. "So, what are we playing?"
Jin Huang smiled and snapped her fingers.
Instantly, the foggy void trembled. Nine colossal, ancient pillars erupted from the mist, forming a massive circular array around them. Hovering around each pillar were exactly twelve rings of pure, radiant light, humming with a deep, mystical resonance.
Jin Huang's childish voice echoed, though it now carried a hint of ancient, undeniable law. "Here are the rules of the Heavenly Ring Array, big brother!"
She floated up slightly, pointing her tiny finger at the towering constructs. "We will take turns. On your turn, you must extinguish the rings on any single pillar you choose. You must shatter at least one ring, and you can never destroy more than half of the rings currently on that pillar. If a pillar has an odd number of rings left, you round down to the nearest whole number."
Lin Fan nodded, his eyes sweeping across the nine pillars, his mind already calculating. "Half or less. Seems simple enough. Is there a catch?"
"The pillars are connected by the threads of the Dao!" she beamed happily. "You cannot just shatter rings blindly. The number of rings you choose to extinguish must perfectly harmonize with the two pillars sitting right next to it. That means the number you pick must be a common divisor of the total rings remaining on its left and right neighbors."
She tilted her head, offering a cute, helpful example. "Let's say you want to touch Pillar Two, and it currently has eleven rings. Its neighbors, Pillar One and Pillar Three, have twelve rings and six rings left. The maximum you could normally take from Pillar Two is five—which is half of eleven, rounded down. But because of the neighbors, you can only pick a number that perfectly divides both twelve and six. The common divisors are one, two, three, and six. Since you cannot exceed your limit of five, your only choices are one, two, or three! Six is rejected because it oversteps your limit."
Lin Fan's eyes narrowed as the profound complexity of the array dawned on him. "And what if the neighboring pillars share no harmony at all? What if their only common divisor is one?"
Jin Huang giggled, but her gaze held the absolute weight of a sovereign. "Then the Law seals it! You can only extinguish rings if the neighboring pillars share a common divisor greater than one. If they don't, that middle pillar is locked and cannot be touched."
She clapped her small hands together, causing the 108 rings of light to pulse simultaneously. "The duel ends when one of us is trapped by the array with no legal moves left to make. Oh, and one last thing... the Law waits for no one! If you are out of moves, or if you fail to make your choice within sixty seconds, you lose!"
At this point, Lin Fan suddenly took out his token. "Can you tell me what this is for?"
Jin Huang looked at it, and the smile on her face faded. She asked, "Elder brother, who gave this to you?"
Lin Fan replied, "My master!"
Jin Huang nodded. "Because of your master's great performance, which satisfied me the most among all my opponents, I will grant you a benefit."
Jin Huang smiled. "For one turn, at any point in the game, you can force me to make a move of your choice!"