Chapter 763
This point, even the best minds in the modern world combined, have no way to tackle.
Sometimes, wisdom is not true strength.
...
"Control..." Just when the old man Bai felt somewhat powerless, Tang Lingwu, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up, "Can we try to control the Zhuxian Array?"
"Huh?"
Tang Lingwu spoke slowly, as if organizing the sudden flash of inspiration:
"You just said that the Zhuxian Sword Array is a bit like a maze game, a kind of programming that targets cosmic space and physical rules."
"Right."
"I don't know if the Zhuxian Sword Array is perfect, but if we can crack the structure of its symbols, wouldn't that mean we could gain higher permissions than others?"
Zheng Fa listened, his eyes brightening.
Old man Bai seemed to understand as well: "A game cheat?"
"That's pretty much it," Tang Lingwu nodded. "And Zheng Fa, you also have the Xian Sword, which gives you a natural advantage."
"That's also a natural flaw in the Zhuxian Sword Array."
"Even if the Zhuxian Sword Array is flawless, we still have ways to work with it."
Zheng Fa was stunned.
Tang Lingwu's idea, to put it plainly, was to exploit system vulnerabilities to develop a game hack.
On one hand, she was thinking about the problem entirely from a programming perspective.
On the other hand, she had given Zheng Fa the possibility of regaining the initiative.
Old man Bai slapped his thigh: "If you can control the Zhuxian Sword Array, Zheng Fa, that means you have the strength of a Golden Immortal!"
Zheng Fa suddenly stood up from the beach, his heart racing: "I don't need to be at the Golden Immortal level; the four swords of the Zhuxian Sword Array combined are far superior to an ordinary True Immortal..."
"Then Lu Yao's infiltration of the Underworld probably also shows his caution towards the Zhuxian Sword Array..."
"Right now, he hasn't yet attained the Golden Immortal path, but he is definitely stronger than other True Immortals. However, the Golden Immortal... might not be the case."
"If the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor weren't restricted by the Book of Life and Death, controlling the Zhuxian Sword Array wouldn't be so passive."
The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor, it seemed, had some flaws as a Golden Immortal, especially since the Book of Life and Death was not yet complete.
But that didn't mean Lu Yao was necessarily very strong.
After all, he had yet to truly attain the Golden Immortal level.
The main reason the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor was at a disadvantage now was that Lu Yao had taken advantage of Zhi Tong's sacrifice to target the Book of Life and Death, rendering it unable to exert its full power.
The Book of Life and Death goes without saying.
Even the Zhuxian Sword Array seemed beyond the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor's control.
This was the greatest ailment of the Tianhe Sect.
It was also the reason Lu Yao had gone to such lengths to infiltrate the Underworld.
In the Xuanwei Realm, the power of treasures greatly influences a person's strength.
For example, with the Qingping Sword, Xie Qingxue becomes the strongest under the Dao Fruit.
The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor, holding the Book of Life and Death, dares to claim to be a Golden Immortal.
Zheng Fa, needless to say, with the Fusang Wood, had long since entered the upper echelons of the Xuanwei society, mingling with various Dao Fruits.
If he could master the Zhuxian Sword Array...
Then Zheng Fa would truly hold the trump card that could influence the balance of the battlefield.
At that time, even if the Tianhe Elder left nothing behind, he would never be like now, merely watching the situation change.
Though it was just a possibility, it was a direction worth striving for—
For Zheng Fa, this direction was immensely important, almost like a lifeline.
The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. He walked up to Tang Lingwu, slipped his arms under her armpits, and lifted her high above his head.
The moonlight was gentle, merging their shadows on the beach into one.
"There's still someone here!"
Old man Bai grunted.
Zheng Fa gently set the blushing Tang Lingwu down and chuckled at old man Bai, "If Lingwu's idea works out, it would truly save the world."
And not just one world.
"I get it, but it's the middle of the night, and here I am, a lonely old man, not out here to eat dog food."
"Grandpa Bai!" Tang Lingwu pouted, "Then how about you head back first?"
Her voice was small, but it left a big impact on old man Bai.
"...What speed does Zheng Fa have? What speed do I have? How long would it take me to fly back?"
"Just right to practice the flying technique..."
Old man Bai fell silent for a long time, as if he didn't recognize Tang Lingwu at all. After a while, he sighed deeply: "Thank goodness for the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor."
"...The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor?"
"I've just lost my dear little Lingwu, but he has lost much more."
"The Tianhe Sect is gone, and now it looks like the Book of Life and Death is about to be lost too," old man Bai counted on his fingers, "Now, the Zhuxian Sword Array will also be lost."
Thinking of this, Zheng Fa felt a bit embarrassed.
In fact, to plot for the Zhuxian Array, he might really have to thank Lu Yao?
If it weren't for Lu Yao's efforts to seize the Book of Life and Death, restraining the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor, trying to gain control over the Zhuxian Array would have been ten times more difficult.
Tang Lingwu pondered for a long time and muttered, "Then I suppose the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor should be used to it by now?"
"..."
"You are definitely not my little Lingwu!"
...
"The Confederation Hacker Competition?"
"No nationality restrictions, can participate online? Just one question?"
"Can form teams freely? Even communicate with each other?"
The Immortal Dao Confederation had been established for a few years now.
Although Zheng Fa didn't manage it, the order of the entire modern world had undergone fundamental changes.
The most obvious was:
There had been almost no wars, and even small-scale conflicts were rare.
This was also determined by Zheng Fa's character.
As the saying goes, "When the upper levels take a liking, the lower levels will follow suit." Although Zheng Fa rarely expressed his stance, it was like how Team Leader Yang would analyze Zheng Fa's resume over and over again back in the day.
Think tanks from various countries had never stopped analyzing Zheng Fa.
His preferences, his views, even his perspective on the world situation were not secrets to many:
Zheng Fa didn't care about these; his control over the modern world made him indifferent to them.
Moreover, most past disputes revolved around resources and market competition.
Now...
The most valuable resources were spiritual materials and spiritual veins, all in the hands of the Confederation Research Institute.
The largest market was the Confederation.
When it comes to energy, a Golden Core is nearly endless energy—Rainbow Mountain's most crucial project now is to utilize the newly emerged spiritual materials and veins to produce external elixirs.
In a sense, the rules of the world have completely changed.
If there was one thing worth fighting for, it was just one:
The slots at the Confederation Research Institute.
Now, this inexplicable hacker competition had such a reward!
One can imagine the appeal of this competition.
...
Zheng Fa led Tang Lingwu into a conference room, which was packed with people.
Team Leader Yang quickly stepped forward, explaining, "I've invited experts and scholars from the fields of computer science and mathematics."
Zheng Fa glanced around and felt the brightness everywhere, instantly believing in the expertise of this group.
Team Leader Yang continued, "The symbols you provided, Director, are far more complex than ordinary programs."
"Some seem to be new algorithms that have never appeared before. Fortunately, you confirmed their functions."
This was thanks to Senior Sister Zhang.
She had worked day and night, analyzing all the symbols Zheng Fa had noted in the sword array without missing a single one.
With this data as a foundation, the experts of the modern world could analyze the program logic within.
Zheng Fa nodded at Team Leader Yang and looked at a somewhat familiar face in the conference room—this was a mathematical scholar from the research institute, seemingly quite proficient in computer science, and among this group of scholars, he was considered a leader.
He stood up and explained, "From analyzing these symbols, we've identified seventy-eight potential vulnerabilities."
"The only problem is that these symbols are not complete."
"Some vulnerabilities may not actually be vulnerabilities, or they may not work."
This wasn't due to the incompetence of these people.
Rather, Zheng Fa indeed did not have the complete array diagram in hand.
Naturally, there were many speculative elements in the analysis.
In fact, whether any of these seventy-eight vulnerabilities would ultimately be usable was uncertain.
He held this hacker competition for this reason:
It wasn't that all programmers were hidden masters, but there were indeed many skilled programmers lurking in the industry, often reluctant to show their faces due to personality and professional reasons, only gaining some fame in small circles.
On the other hand, he wasn't looking for a standard answer:
Because the symbols were incomplete, Zheng Fa needed to find more vulnerabilities, prepare more possible solutions, and then return to the Tianhe Sect to try them one by one.
The format of the hacker competition was suggested by this group of scholars.
They said that similar competitions in academia and industry were quite common, with good results, allowing for more feasible ideas and higher efficiency.
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