Chapter Thirty-Five: The Measure of Wind and Fire

Fate is not determined by causality, but only by belief.

At this moment, the challengers’ sole task was to leave this place, so they could report the intrusion of the Celestial Eye Trial Immortal Array to the Academy of Arts and Methods, and investigate the cause of these bizarre events.

“The Buddha’s Path Pass can go to anyone, except Celestial Extremity,” said Scarlet Shadow, her right hand clenched tight, a golden glow flashing between her fingers. She glanced at it and said to Blossom, “But do you really think this plan will work?”

“Absolutely.”

The Supreme Minor Lord said, “This must be the loophole in Celestial Extremity’s ultimate fortune. As long as such a flaw exists, even if he knows about it, it’s nearly impossible to avoid.”

“But best not to tell him yet,” Blossom pressed his index finger to his lips, making a shushing gesture. “Let the three of us give him a surprise.”

When Celestial Extremity’s hand touched the red-black Blood Taiji, since all the porcelain guardian boxes had been opened, he encountered no obstacle. The Blood Taiji glowed, and the red and black dots on its surface unfolded like petals, revealing two rising columns. The columns were not large; at their tops, each held an item.

As the columns rose, the items ascended slowly and halted at waist height. Atop each column sat an enamel treasure box.

This pair of boxes, one black and one white, retained the yin-yang colors of the Taiji. The white box’s enamel gleamed like jade, edged in gold, while the black box was of dark glass, rimmed with silver.

Despite the corruption of the ingenious array, the treasure boxes holding the Buddha’s Path Pass were fiercely protected by immortal arts and remained pristine. Thus, whoever seized the Buddha’s Path Pass could close the Celestial Eye Trial and return all challengers to the Academy.

These boxes, naturally, were the pivotal “Ingenious Boxes” of the contest.

Each lid was inscribed with four characters: the white box with “Battle is Void,” the black with “Enlightened Triumphs Buddha.” Their craftsmanship surpassed all description.

“The Buddha’s Path Pass,” Celestial Extremity murmured, “lies within the black box.”

He reached to open the black box. As his fingertips brushed the lid, the Supreme Minor Lord descended from above, snatching the black box away!

“Ha! If you can't seize it by hand, how can you claim the 'seize' in this Ingenious Box Contest?” he boasted, box in hand.

Seeing the Supreme Minor Lord claim the black box, Celestial Extremity showed no anxiety, nor did he attempt to reclaim it.

The Supreme Minor Lord flipped open the lid with a snap, reached inside, and laughed, “Thank you, Registrar, for pointing the way. I, the Supreme Minor Lord, gladly accept the Buddha’s Path Pass—”

Before he finished, he realized his hand was empty. Looking inside, he found the box exquisite but utterly empty.

“Well played, Celestial Extremity, so you can mislead too!” he said, a hint of frustration in his voice.

Celestial Extremity replied, “This immortal never misleads.”

“Then why is it empty?”

“If I open it, it contains; if you open it, it does not.” With that, Celestial Extremity reached for the white box. “Now, the Buddha’s Path Pass is in the white box.”

Just as he was about to take it, the white box was slapped away, flying forward; a shadow flashed by, and the box vanished.

The shadow landed several paces away—it was Blossom. He not only took the white box but shook it in his hand. “The Buddha’s Path Pass lies in one of the two. Now both boxes are with us, so it seems it’s not your turn, Celestial Extremity.”

Celestial Extremity remained calm, as before, making no move to seize the box.

Blossom, surprised, asked, “You won’t try to take it?”

“I won’t.”

“You don’t think the Buddha’s Path Pass is in these boxes?”

“I do believe it is.”

“Clearly not in the black box.”

“Correct.”

“If I take it, will you accept it willingly?”

“If you take it, I will not accept it willingly.”

“But you don’t try to seize it?”

“Why should I?”

“If you don’t, it’s mine.”

“If I don’t, you still won’t get it.”

“Absurd!” Blossom opened the white box, peered inside, and his face changed—astonished to find the box empty.

“Empty?” exclaimed the Supreme Minor Lord. “Is it fake?”

Blossom glared at Celestial Extremity. “Did you switch it for a fake?”

Celestial Extremity smiled, “You two, disciples of the Academy, one accuses me of deceiving, the other of forgery. You both underestimate me—and the Ingenious Box Contest.”

Blossom inspected the white box again; there was nothing more to see. It was little larger than the porcelain guardian boxes, incapable of hiding anything, even a secret compartment.

He swept his hand inside, turning it upside down. Even if the Buddha’s Path Pass were a speck of dust, he would have found it. He was sure the Supreme Minor Lord had searched as thoroughly. But the fact remained: nothing.

If these were the true Ingenious Boxes, and the rules—though few words visible—suggested the Buddha’s Path Pass could not be elsewhere.

As Blossom pondered, the lid of the white box snapped shut, startling him. He instinctively tried to open it, and at that moment, another snap sounded nearby. He looked and saw the Supreme Minor Lord’s box had closed as well.

He saw the Supreme Minor Lord jump at the black box’s self-closing, then try to open it—when he did, Blossom’s lid snapped shut.

“Wait! I think I see something!” said Blossom. “Only when the black box is shut can the white box be opened. If the black box is open, the white box closes automatically.”

He thought a moment, then continued, “In other words, these yin-yang boxes can only both be closed, never both open at once!”

The Supreme Minor Lord asked, “What does that mean?”

Blossom’s mind raced. “Perhaps Celestial Extremity was right. The Buddha’s Path Pass is within these two boxes!”

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“We’ve opened both boxes, yet never found it. Is it invisible?”

“Not invisible, but—” Blossom said, “the Buddha’s Path Pass transfers between the two boxes. Each time it moves, it resides in whichever box is closed!”

Blossom meant there was a technique within the Ingenious Boxes, causing the Buddha’s Path Pass to always be in the closed box. This explained Celestial Extremity’s view and did not contradict the trial’s rules.

“What kind of game is this? If it’s always in the closed box, how can anyone get it?” The Supreme Minor Lord looked at Blossom, baffled.

Then both glanced at Celestial Extremity.

Celestial Extremity laughed, “So you’ve finally realized. The Buddha’s Path Pass can only be taken by the rightful victor. It chooses the winner.”

The Supreme Minor Lord gritted his teeth, “Ridiculous! The rules are rigged—only Celestial Extremity can take it. Isn’t this fixed for the winner of the Celestial Eye Trial?”

“Why not admit defeat?” Celestial Extremity said. “Hand me either box, let me open it and retrieve the Buddha’s Path Pass, end the trial, and let us all leave—it benefits everyone.”

Celestial Extremity stepped toward the Supreme Minor Lord, about to take the black box. Blossom cried, “Wait! Don’t give it to him! If you do, you’ll fall into his trap!”

The Supreme Minor Lord pulled back. “Why?”

Blossom shouted, “The reason we can’t get it isn’t the rules!”

“Hmm?” The Supreme Minor Lord’s eyes widened. “You say it’s not fixed for Celestial Extremity? I nearly thought his yearly victories were due to some hidden arrangement!”

“No! Quite the opposite! The rules are absolutely fair, which is why we can’t get it!”

The Supreme Minor Lord gasped, “What do you mean? If it’s fair, why can’t we take it?”

“It’s because of ultimate fortune!” Blossom said.

Celestial Extremity’s brow furrowed at this.

Blossom explained, “I’ve been thinking—the core of every trial is reflected in the challenge. Why is this called the Celestial Eye Trial? Because it tests the challengers’ inner insight—the ‘celestial eye.’ With this insight, one can distinguish truth from falsehood in the Candle Battle, and find the hidden flames. It’s also how, in the Divine Mind Calculation, one sees through the numbers, and calculates the sum without knowing each person’s number.

“The essence of the Celestial Eye is insight! Celestial Extremity’s ultimate fortune allows him to behave as if possessing supreme insight. But there’s a difference between calculating and guessing! So, in the Ingenious Box Contest, only the truly insightful—the ‘celestial eye’—can find and open the box containing the Buddha’s Path Pass.”

Blossom continued, “To preserve fairness and prevent premature leakage, the immortal who set the rules made the Buddha’s Path Pass appear randomly in the yin-yang boxes.”

“So, before opening the boxes, no one knows which contains the Buddha’s Path Pass?” asked the Supreme Minor Lord.

“Exactly. I believe what’s in the boxes isn’t an object, but something called probability.”

“Probability?” The Supreme Minor Lord scratched his head. “I know what that means, but how can you put probability in a box?”

“Since it’s called the Buddha’s Path Pass, likely the Victorious Buddha Sun Wukong helped set the challenge. What he placed inside wasn’t the pass itself, but this thing we call probability. So the actual location is unknown—even the immortal overseer doesn’t know, so no challenger can learn beforehand.” Blossom reasoned, “When both boxes are closed, they simultaneously hold both possibilities. Until opened, no one knows. Not even the setter intended to know.”

Blossom thought, objectively, the Divine Mind Calculation was tilted toward the Shadow sisters, since the immortal overseer and challenger were one. But if Sun Wukong helped design the final round, he clearly didn’t want the immortal to know the outcome beforehand.

The Supreme Minor Lord pressed, “Then why are both boxes empty? Is our insight not up to par?”

“It isn’t that our insight is weak, but that we’re in the same scenario—among several challengers, one’s excessive luck makes others’ luck poorer,” Blossom replied. “That challenger possesses ultimate fortune, which guides him to claim the Buddha’s Path Pass!”

Celestial Extremity calmly brushed his sleeve and interrupted, “Even if you know this, so what? None but I can obtain the Buddha’s Path Pass.”

“Wrong! We anticipated this, just not in this circumstance.” Blossom’s eyes gleamed cunningly. “So, we’ll change the scenario.”

As Celestial Extremity saw the Supreme Minor Lord and Blossom puzzled, they both looked at their boxes and approached him. The Supreme Minor Lord returned the black box to its place atop the Blood Taiji column.

Blossom likewise restored the white box. “Today, I’ll gamble my luck against yours.”

Celestial Extremity was taken aback, then laughed, “You, insignificant mortal, dare gamble with me?”

Blossom said, “Looks like the Registrar dares not?”

“No need to gamble—my luck is unmatched.”

“But we must! Let’s wager the Buddha’s Path Pass—the winner claims it!”

Celestial Extremity curled his lip disdainfully. “How do you wish to gamble?”

Blossom declared, “We each open a box. Whoever finds the Buddha’s Path Pass wins.”

Celestial Extremity pointed to the Supreme Minor Lord. “If I recall, you two have each opened the boxes at least ten times.”

Blossom said, “That was different. Now it’s just you and me.”

“You think this will change the outcome?”

“Yes, it will. I will win.” Blossom was serious.

“Hmph!” Celestial Extremity started to laugh, but seeing Blossom’s expression, his mirth faded. “If you’re so confident, fine, you pick first. I’ll open the remaining box, so you won’t say I won unfairly.”

“No, you pick first. The remaining box is mine.” Blossom insisted.

“You insult me! If I pick first, I’ll take the Buddha’s Path Pass. The remaining box will be empty for you!”

“You’re right.”

“Enough talk! Which do you choose?”

“No, you first.”

“You! Scoundrel!” Celestial Extremity felt a surge of anger—this worm dared toy with him! He shouted, “You wish to lose faster?”

Blossom replied calmly, “No, I mean you pick a box, the other is mine. For fairness, I’ll open mine first. If it’s empty, the Buddha’s Path Pass is in your box, then you open it.”

“Hmph! What difference does that make?”

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“It matters,” Blossom said. “Because perhaps, when I open my box, I’ll be the winner.”

Celestial Extremity’s anger grew harder to restrain. “Fine, as you wish—the result will be the same!”

He was about to pick when Blossom shouted, “Wait!”

“What now?” Celestial Extremity nearly wanted to strike this worm into dust. “Have you lingered in the immortal array too long, unwilling to leave?”

“It’s not fair enough,” Blossom replied.

“How so?”

“Because it’s a wager, both sides must be fair.”

“What’s unfair?”

“You have ultimate fortune, I do not.”

“You scoundrel! Are you mocking me?” Celestial Extremity roared, “By law’s decree!”

He sent a gust toward Blossom, who raised his hand—and astonishingly blocked Celestial Extremity’s spell.

Celestial Extremity was shocked. “How?”

He saw a figure emerge from behind Blossom—it was Scarlet Shadow, who had been silent until now. She had blocked the spell, allowing Blossom to stand firm.

“You, an immortal, help this mortal worm!” Celestial Extremity barked.

Scarlet Shadow was unimpressed. “Anyone can win, I just don’t want to see you win.”

“So you side with him?”

“You’re mistaken, Registrar. I stand with neither. Not wanting you to win doesn’t mean you can’t. I just want your wager with Blossom to be fairer.”

“How will you ensure fairness?”

“You can’t use ultimate fortune.”

Celestial Extremity protested, “Ultimate fortune isn’t a spell! It’s innate, I’ve never been separated from it!”

Scarlet Shadow tossed her red hair. “If I can make your ultimate fortune vanish for a while, will you dare gamble with this boy?”

Celestial Extremity had never imagined such a thing. Ultimate fortune was as much a part of him as his limbs—he’d never considered separation. If today he lost it, would he never regain it? Would he lose what made him unique?

He’d never had to consider this—never needed to.

He said, “Ridiculous. How would you make me lose ultimate fortune?”

Scarlet Shadow opened her palm, revealing two shining, rapidly spinning spheres, illuminating everything around.

A thunderclap sounded, and the light from the spheres kept the rain from falling on them, as if a giant glass dome covered them.

“What are these?” Celestial Extremity asked.

“Let me show you! These are the Wind and Fire Wheels!”

“The Wind and Fire Wheels of the Heavenly King?” Celestial Extremity instinctively stepped back.

Scarlet Shadow saw the flicker of unease in him and said slowly, “Don’t be afraid, I won’t use them against you.”

“Hmph! Wind and Fire Wheels—I may not have seen them, but I could face them!”

Scarlet Shadow replied, “Again, I have no intention of fighting you. I want your wager with Blossom to be fairer.”

Celestial Extremity asked, “How will you use the Wind and Fire Wheels to create fairness?”

Scarlet Shadow said, “Perhaps you don’t know—the Wind and Fire Wheels are not only magical tools, but also serve another purpose.”

Celestial Extremity listened in silence.

“They can create an immortal array barrier—a space called…” Scarlet Shadow paused, then enunciated, “Quan-tum Space.”

“Quantum space?”

“Yes. You’ve never heard of it, have you?”

“Hmph! Such pseudo-science—worldly scholars pretending to knowledge. I have no interest.”

“Seems you do have some learning,” Scarlet Shadow said. “Then you should know quantum space exists. Not only that, you should know that within it, because of quantum indeterminacy, things move without pattern, events happen randomly.”

“So what—” Celestial Extremity began, then stopped himself.

“You sense it, I see. In such an environment—where all is random—luck itself becomes random. Though luck should always be so, ordinary laws do not apply to you. So we must create quantum space.”

Scarlet Shadow laughed and continued, “Simply put, here, the winner may not be you, Celestial Extremity!”

Celestial Extremity was stunned. He’d always scorned worldly science, found it tedious. But now, with the Wind and Fire Wheels before him, he was forced to doubt.

Scarlet Shadow flipped her hand, and the two Wind and Fire Wheels, radiating heat and flames, began spinning rapidly around the group. The deck beneath Celestial Extremity became scorchingly hot. The wheels spun faster, the deck dazzling, the rain evaporating instantly. Every direction was filled with brilliant light.

The deck vibrated rapidly, the two Ingenious Boxes atop the Blood Taiji columns bounced as if shivering.

“Celestial Extremity! This is quantum space—this is the boundary beyond your ultimate fortune!”

She pointed at Celestial Extremity and commanded, “Now, do you dare choose a box?”

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