Chapter Twenty-Two: The Purification Algorithm and the Engineering of Terror
Before dawn had fully threaded its light across the skies of Tian Long, Advisor Zhou had already begun his first move in redrawing the internal balance of power within the Imperial Palace.
As the Third Prince's personal advisor, Zhou Fan did not confront his enemies with swords—but with logic, the kind that shattered minds.
At the uppermost level of the Celestial Observation Tower, three grand ministers of the empire sat together, representatives of the Cosmic Elders Council. They were plotting how to restrain the rapidly expanding influence of the Third Prince. These men were not mere politicians; each stood at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm, commanding armies of followers and informants.
"The Third Prince has brought in a new advisor," said Minister Mo, an elderly man with dull eyes that concealed ancient cunning.
"They say he shattered Heaven's Balance. This brat, Long Xiao—or whatever he truly is—must be removed from the equation before he overturns the board entirely."
"Your concern is justified, Elder Mo," replied Defense Minister Qin.
"I dispatched the Seven Shadows to infiltrate his quarters last night. None of them have returned. That boy is no ordinary cultivator."
Suddenly, the air in the room turned unnaturally cold. One by one, the spirit candles extinguished—without a trace of wind. In the center of the chamber, dust particles began arranging themselves into a precise geometric pattern.
Then, Zhou Fan materialized from nothingness.
It was as if he had always been there—only they had never been programmed to perceive him.
"Were you discussing my removal from the equation?" Zhou Fan asked calmly as he took an empty seat beside them, placing the Lost Ledger of Calculations upon the table.
The three ministers leapt to their feet as their spiritual auras erupted, pressure flooding the chamber hard enough to crack the walls.
"Who are you?!" Minister Mo roared, forming a spiritual seal to attack.
"How dare you trespass into the Celestial Observation Tower?!"
Zhou Fan did not move.
His golden computational eyes locked onto them, symbols flowing endlessly within his pupils.
"Sit."
It was not a command—it was a programmatic instruction issued to reality itself.
Instantly, the ministers felt their bodies lose synchronization with their minds. They were slammed back into their chairs as if gravity beneath them had multiplied a thousandfold.
"Minister Mo," Zhou Fan said, opening a page in his ledger,
"You cultivate the Scorched Wood Dao. Your heart beats at seventy-two cycles per minute, yet your qi circulation suffers a delay of precisely 0.004 seconds per loop. This latency is caused by the longevity toxin you secretly ingest."
Minister Mo's face drained of color.
"H-how… how do you know this?"
"I do not know," Zhou Fan replied coldly.
"I calculate."
His gaze shifted.
"As for you, Minister Qin—the Seven Shadows you sent are not dead. They now exist within an Imaginary Space I created in my chamber. To them, they have been walking for a hundred years through an endless corridor. To me… they are merely data, trapped inside a recursive loop."
A suffocating silence filled the room.
The men who believed themselves to be rulers of the empire suddenly realized they were nothing more than ants before a being who viewed the world as variables and values.
"What… do you want from us?" the third minister asked, his voice trembling.
"I want you to understand that the Cosmic Elders Council is an obsolete variable—one that must be deleted," Zhou Fan said, dragging his finger across the table.
Golden symbols appeared in his wake, devouring the Spirit Sandalwood itself.
"I offer you two options.
"The first: swear absolute loyalty to the Third Prince. In return, I will correct the flow errors within your bodies, granting each of you an additional century of pristine life."
He paused. A demonic gleam flickered in his eyes.
"The second: continue your current plan. In that case, I will divide your existence by zero.
"Do you know what happens when matter is divided by zero?"
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"It vanishes from the fabric of time. You will not merely die—your memories will be erased from your children's minds, and your names will disappear from all historical records, as though you never existed."
This was not a threat of death.
It was a threat of existential erasure.
Minister Mo—who had spent centuries amassing power—felt terror he had never known, not even before the Emperor himself.
"I… I accept," he whispered, lowering his head.
"The Scorched Wood Faction submits."
One by one, the ministers knelt before Advisor Zhou.
At that moment, the Lost Ledger of Calculations trembled faintly.
This was the first successful Purification Operation carried out without spilling a single drop of blood—saving Zhou Fan an immense amount of spiritual essence.
Zhou Fan exited the tower, where Ling'er waited in the shadows, having observed everything through the Linkage Array he had given her.
"You subdued them with words alone," she said in disbelief.
"Zhou Fan… you're not building an army for the prince. You're building a religion around your mind."
"Armies die. Religions evolve," Zhou Fan replied, gazing toward the Imperial Palace, now trembling with imperceptible frequencies.
"But mathematical truth is eternal. Ling'er, the ministers were merely input devices. Now… it is time to deal with the primary processor."
"The Emperor himself."
Deep beneath the palace, within the Dragon Vein Chamber, the aged Emperor suddenly awoke from his coma. A sharp sting pulsed through his life-bound array.
Someone was altering the constant values of his empire—from within.
"Summon… the Third Prince," the Emperor rasped, his voice like dead leaves brushing together.
"And bring with him… that shadow wearing the robes of an advisor."
Zhou Fan heard the command before it was ever spoken.
A cold smile curved his lips.
"The equation is growing more complex," he murmured.
"And this… is the enjoyable part."