Xu Yi had never imagined that Elder Bai, renowned as a master of cultivation techniques, had such limited talent for number theory.
Back then, after only a few hours of instruction from him, Xue Zihan had already grasped the crucial points.
After another two hours of practice, she could wield the Return to Origin Steps as deftly as her own arms.
Yet Elder Bai seemed to have been born without the knack for mathematics.
Xu Yi often had to explain a single key point more than ten times before Elder Bai finally understood.
And whenever a doubt was cleared up, Elder Bai would be so delighted he scratched his ears and cheeks, leaping about like a monkey.
Xu Yi explained the Return to Origin Steps from morning until dusk, stopping only to take a sip of water before Elder Bai urged him to continue.
Then they carried on from dusk until noon the next day, when Xu Yi finally finished explaining the last key point of the Return to Origin Steps.
Elder Bai's face was flushed with excitement, and he showed no sign of fatigue. Carefully putting away all the notes, he pointed at Xu Yi and said, "You've got a good head on your shoulders, kid. Even something as winding and convoluted as this, you can lay out so clearly. Within a circle, in a space no bigger than a square inch—marvelous!"
"If you ask me, the cultivation techniques in this world that let you glimpse the Great Dao at a glance are the ones based on number theory. All right, I still need to mull over these Return to Origin Steps and connect all the dots. If I have any questions, I'll come find you."
As he spoke, he tossed over a message pearl and a jade token.