Chapter 1157 - 907

"Beautiful! Truly beautiful!" Zemir exclaimed from the bottom of his heart. As a researcher, he fully understood that the complexity of the formula had broken through the skies, and perhaps he might never comprehend it in his lifetime. In the end, all he could muster was to call it beautiful.

Lily and Sasa checked that there were no issues, and so they continued with their research while munching on snacks. Zemir, however, left in a hurry, soon arriving at the secret chamber. Inside, a group of researchers was studying the new formulas. Meanwhile, the mages who had been in charge of copying the formulas were sitting aside resting, their mana completely drained, to the point where they had no strength left.

"I have some bad news," Zemir said.

"Are you suggesting that beyond that formula, there’s another layer of formulas?" Zuo La asked.

Zemir paused, then replied, "Yes, Master Zuo La, exactly. I saw with my own eyes that they have unfolded another layer of formulas."

Zuo La shook his head, saying, "I actually sensed the existence of that layer of formulas, but I didn’t bring forth these formulas because even the current ones are enough to keep us busy for a long time. As much as I hate to admit it, I must acknowledge that those two young girls have far surpassed us in their research on the Fissure."

Zemir was shocked because in his eyes, Master Zuo La’s knowledge was already astonishing. Yet those two children, still reeking of mother’s milk, were supposed to possess knowledge surpassing Zemir’s? He didn’t believe it! Absolutely not!

"Everything now lies within this formula; we must try our best to understand what it truly signifies, and I will send this formula to the core research chamber. I need to seek guidance from my teacher to enlighten me," Zuo La said.

The core research chamber!

These five words immediately hushed the room. Everyone who could enter the core research chamber was among the most elite scientists, their understanding of research unparalleled! And Master Zuo La believed that this was an issue that warranted discussion with the core research chamber’s scholars?

Yes, Zuo La was indeed from the core research chamber, and according to his own words, he was just a Nameless pawn there. Every researcher there possessed knowledge that exceeded all others.

Among the four groups participating in the test, one came from the core research chamber. They were like zealous scientists, frantically conducting research at any time, tirelessly, and their understanding of research far surpassed everyone else’s.

"So, do we continue our test?" Zemir asked.

"Continue, there’s no need to stop. I am very curious to see what kind of surprise these two young girls will ultimately present us with," Zuo La said with a chuckle.

Time passed day by day until the day arrived to verify the results, and the several groups participating in the test gathered together.

Lily and Sasa still maintained an attitude as if they were on a picnic.

The general group looked dejected. A month’s time was plainly insufficient for them; their research had barely started when they hit a roadblock. Throughout the entire month, they hardly slept at all, but research isn’t something that time alone can solve.

The elite group fared somewhat better, having embarked on their research, but they were also aware that they hadn’t touched upon the core issue of the problem, always circling the periphery.

The core group, on the other hand, appeared very composed because the problem was precisely what they were already researching. Although a mere month was by no means enough for them to solve the problem, they had undeniable confidence in their authoritative voice on this issue.

Zuo La appeared, and Zemir stood with the leaders of the other groups beside their respective teams. The leader of the general group was not at all uneasy because he was well aware that they were effectively a control group, there to demonstrate the difficulty of the problem. So, the final outcome wasn’t of much consequence to them.

The leader of the elite group, however, was quite tense because the elite group he led hadn’t achieved the anticipated results. He feared that Master Zuo La, in a fit of anger, might strip them of their elite title. If he really had to take charge of a general group, that would be a true embarrassment.

As for the leader of the core group, although he was called the leader, he was well aware that he was just handling odds and ends. Each person in the core group possessed unparalleled research ability and knowledge, far beyond his own understanding. So, he dutifully took up the role of handling miscellaneous duties and spent the month keeping everyone in the core group quite content.

In charge of the assessment, along with Zuo La, were some unfamiliar faces. They were all uniformly dressed in neat black robes. An emblem of an eye shape simplified behind the Fissure adorned their chest, and they had similar tattoos on their foreheads.

When Zemir saw these individuals, he immediately became excited because these people were the leaders of the core research group. They called themselves Apostles, the knowledgeable among the learned, the most devout followers and spokespersons of the great Star Devourers. If one could get their approval, undoubtedly, they would immediately gain access to the core.

But at this moment, Zemir’s heart was again uncertain. Though he felt that the young girls, Lily and Sasa, were already quite strong, they had still not understood much of those mysterious formulas. In other words, the success of the matter was not yet assured.

It should be, no problem, right?

Zemir thought, slightly worried.

The Apostles came to Zuo La, greeted him, and then stood firm. Zuo La stepped forward and addressed the crowd, "To ensure the fairness of the test results this time, I have specifically found the most authoritative experts to review the research results of your four groups. You don’t need to worry about how far you’ve researched; just tell the experts honestly about your research process and thoughts. As I have said before, we are not judging your research by the final results, but by the process itself."

After Zuo La finished speaking, he turned back and nodded to the Apostle group, and the six Apostles immediately began their work.

First was the regular group used as the control group. These members were the ones Isrile and Ruosha had seen when they first arrived, defined as ordinary people. They needed to advance through evaluations of their everyday efforts and results.

In the presence of the Apostles, the members of the regular group were clearly very nervous, their speech stammering at times. After all, these researchers usually focused on their research and seldom interacted with others, making their communication skills quite poor. Nonetheless, the Apostles were able to understand their research process despite their somewhat incoherent presentations.

"Overall, your research is not bad, standard, nothing eye-catching, but thankfully, you made no errors. Please keep up the good work," one Apostle said as he gave his assessment.

The researchers of the regular group were instantly overjoyed to hear the Apostle’s evaluation. They had long been aware that they were unlikely to achieve any results in their research. Despite their utmost efforts, they had still been worried about being on the wrong path. How could they not be happy to hear such an evaluation?

The leader of the regular group could only sigh inwardly. Clearly, the Apostle’s words needed to be read in two ways: saying they had not made any errors was essentially saying their work was not good enough. This was far from praise!

However, there was nothing to be done, so he could only reply with a thankful smile.

Then the Apostles proceeded to the elite group, whose members wore faint smirks of confidence. They had heard the Apostles’ evaluation of the regular group. Was that level deemed acceptable? Then, weren’t they much stronger?

One presented while the six Apostles began to review their documents. Soon, the Apostles’ brows furrowed.

"Please wait a moment, I have a question," an Apostle interrupted the presenter.

"Yes, Master Apostle, please ask," the presenter immediately responded anxiously. It was usually not a good sign to be interrupted mid-presentation.

"This value has appeared here; can you tell me how you arrived at this?" the Apostle inquired.

"Yes, Master Apostle, we applied three formulas, after certain transformations..."

"Which three formulas? What transformations?" the Apostle pressed further.

"Idiot! How dare you lie!" Before the presenter could continue, the group’s leader had already charged out and landed a heavy punch on the presenter’s face. Totally unprepared, the man was sent tumbling to the ground.

"Master Apostle, I am ashamed. This number, they derived it using an exhaustive method, not by applying any formulas," the leader confessed truthfully.

"Ah, taking shortcuts," the Apostle sighed. Then, pointing to a certain spot in the document, he said, "Look, if you simply apply this set of formulas here and then carry out a series of deductions, you can get the correct value. But you ignored this method and were lured into the trap set by this question, resorting to the seemingly simple method of exhaustive search! Had you not used the exhaustive method, you could have solved much more!"

As the Apostle finished speaking, all members of the elite group were dumbfounded. They had unanimously agreed to use the simple exhaustive method to save time, not realizing it was a trap!

"Ah, demote everyone to the regular group, and the previous regular group will be promoted to the elite group! We must remind everyone that sometimes the only difference between the regular and the elite groups is a matter of attitude!"

Another Apostle declared. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it at Qidian (qidian.com), your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)