Chapter 42 (2/2)

Shen Zhe felt like weeping.

“I must go…”

Knowing that he would be in even greater trouble should his identity be exposed, Shen Zhe lowered his head and looked around. Finally, he found the plump girl who apparently ran the shop.

In a low voice, he asked, “Can I claim the Bark of Penghe now?”

He solved the question only to get the herb. Since he had solved it, he wanted to leave with the trophy as soon as possible, or he would become famous!

What if many beautiful fangirls wanted to marry him and have his children once he became famous?

He was only a child!

Shen Zhe was rather apprehensive.

“The princess instructed me that as long as half of the answer to the top-tier question is confirmed to be correct, you will be qualified to take the herb away…”

The plump girl fetched a long narrow jade box from a room and delivered it to Shen Zhe.

“This is the Bark of Penghe collected from a hundred-year-old tree. It’s pure and powerful…”

Shen Zhe accepted the box and opened it. He immediately smelled the fragrance of spiritual energy. Once confirming that it was genuine, he said with relief, “See you…”

“Please wait a moment, senior…”

Senior Quan hurried to approach him.

He had finally met a great expert who could solve the top-tier question. He would certainly not let him go easily.

“While we can verify the answer to the question, we don’t quite understand the mechanism behind it. Could you please explain it for us, senior…?” said Senior Quan, blushing.

The stranger didn’t show his face but he was obviously a young man, judging from his figure and his skin. It was truly embarrassing for a white-haired old man like Senior Quan to call him senior…

However, intelligence was the faculty that mattered most on this continent. His superiority was justified by being able to answer a question that other people couldn’t.

“Mechanism?” Shen Zhe scratched his head and said honestly, “I’m just a bad student. Honestly speaking, I don’t understand any of those formulas or steps…”

He was just copying the answer. How could he understand the mechanism?

“A bad student?”

“You don’t understand?”

Senior Qiao and Qiao Zimu both trembled.

The plump girl almost vomited blood.

He told them such a blatant lie so matter-of-factly. Was he really serious?

“If you were a bad student, what would we be?”

Since the truth didn’t convince them, and knowing he would likely give himself away the more he talked, Shen Zhe escaped from the crowd and left in a hurry.

He found an empty corner in the Gold Source Mall and took off his cloak and hat to restore his previous look. He was finally relieved after that and continued shopping.

He had collected one of the three missing herbs he needed; two remained to be found. He was going to see if they were available in the mall, or if he could find out where else he could buy them.

After he left in a hurry, the Empyrean One Pavilion was almost exploding.

“Who exactly is he?”

“If I solved the question, I would’ve announced it to the whole city… Still, he didn’t say anything and even claimed that he was a bad student…”

“That’s what low profile really means!”

“Solving a top-tier question without leaving his name… He’s truly a role model for us…”

“Compared to him, my abilities in mental calculation are nothing worth mentioning… I’m like a kindergartener…”

…

Watching Shen Zhe leave, all the geniuses were awed when they recalled his humble words just then.

What was a real expert?

Someone like him!

Solving such a tricky question without leaving his name or his address, he was as low-key as a cloud… He was too great!

“The princess is here…”

While everybody discussed with one another, someone announced the arrival of the princess. They turned around and saw a girl who was in glamorous clothes but seemed slightly weak.

Her face was hidden behind a veil, but her wise looking eyes were so bright that none of them could shift their attention away from her.

She was Xiao Yurou, the Ninth Princess, and the creator of the top-tier question.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Ninth Princess…”

Everyone lowered their heads and clasped their fists.

Although the princess was congenitally weak and couldn’t cultivate, nobody in Green Abyss dared to underestimate her, because she was an unprecedented genius in mathematics. She was the real talent of the whole country!

She wasn’t eighteen yet, but she had solved more questions than they did in their entire lives.

Even the Marching Flag that Xiao Lin just used was personally designed by her through calculation, before it was forged by Xiao Jin.

“Where is the problem solver?”

Xiao Yurou looked at them.

She looked around but didn’t find the person that her maid described.

“He’s gone!” The plump girl approached her and said, “I was too useless. I couldn’t stop him…”

Even though she was the manager of the Empyrean One Pavilion backed by the royal family, she couldn’t force the guy to stay after he had solved the question and obtained the herb.

Xiao Yurou shook her head in disappointment.

Even she was unable to solve the question. The person’s academic competence was awe-inspiring.

She would love to meet him and learn from him.

“Your Highness, we haven’t confirmed all the steps yet, but half of them are correct…” said the plump girl.

“Let me take a look at it…”

Nodding her head, Xiao Yurou approached the wall and read it.

She scanned the answer on the wall. Characters glittered with sparks of wisdom in her eyes.

“…Correct!”

“…Correct!’

…

The Ninth Princess’s conclusion echoed in the room. It wasn’t loud, but it sounded like rumbling thunder for everyone in the room.

Although they speculated that the answer was correct halfway through the confirmation, the Ninth Princess’ endorsement was still beyond their expectation.

“…All the steps are correct… He solved this question!”

Xiao Yurou was visibly trembling after reading the complete answer.

She thought she wouldn’t be able to see the answer because she would die in a few months… Little did she expect that someone could really solve her question!

More importantly, the intricacies and subtleness of the answer’s methodology was unimaginable even for her.

Unable to hold herself back anymore, Xiao Yurou turned around and asked, “Did the senior who solved the question mention who he was?”

“Well…”

The plump girl shook her head.

“Did he leave any remarks?” asked Xiao Yurou hopefully.

Hesitating for a moment, the plump girl replied, “He said… that he was only a bad student!”

Xiao Yurou: “…”

“We are all bad students when faced with the skyscraper of academics…” said Xiao Yurou after a long pause, with mixed feelings and glittering eyes.

He had solved such a difficult question, yet he claimed to be a bad student…

What a low-key man!

It was true that those who were capable were modest, while those who were ignorant tended to be arrogant!

“Where did he go?” she asked again.

“That way. But he was too fast. I couldn’t follow him…” replied a genius who was still running the confirmation.

“Okay!”

Xiao Yurou looked at that direction and said to her guards, “Go and check!”

Ten minutes later, a guard returned and said, “Your Highness, we found this cloak in a corner over there…”

Looking at the clothes, Xiao Yurou remembered something and sighed, “Alright, stop searching. This senior must really hate to be in the public eye. Investigating his identity would be disrespectful for him… Ask everyone here not to talk about him, or they will be deemed to be enemies of the royal family!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

All the guards nodded their heads.

“Who are you exactly?”

Xiao Yurou had a great deal of complicated thoughts as she touched the cloak and the hat.

Disguising his body and his looks on purpose meant that he didn’t want to be recognized. So, he was probably someone that was well known in Green Abyss…

However, she knew everybody who could be called a genius in the city. None of them could be that person.

She stood still while she remained stunned.