A calculator was, as the name implied, an instrument for calculation. In essence, it was a tool used for computation, a device purely meant to calculate.
Whether it simulated spells or controlled mechanisms and formations, those were merely auxiliary capabilities. Such functions had only been added later by cultivators of the modern immortal path.
In the broad sense, tools used for calculation had existed in the Divine Land since ancient times. The earliest counting rods and abacuses, even the Craftsman's Ruler that had flashed briefly through the mechanism arts of medieval Mohism, all belonged to this category of tools.
The so-called Craftsman's Ruler was a marvelous tool commonly used in mechanism arts. It consisted of three graduated bars locked together and a sliding cursor. This wondrous ruler could be used for calculations and even for recording data on mechanism components.
Whether counting rods, an abacus, or a Craftsman's Ruler, their computing power came from their structure and had nothing to do with their "spirituality." Whether these calculating tools were made from stone, wood, or heavenly materials and earthly treasures, their calculating ability would not be affected in the slightest.
Even if the abacus in one's hand gained sentience and became a demon, or nurtured an artifact spirit and became a high-grade magical artifact, it would not add a single fraction to its usefulness. Even if every bead on the abacus were a bodhi seed brimming with Buddhist nature, it could only affect the person using the abacus, not help the abacus itself.
And even a set of counting rods pieced together from rotten bits of wood could still be used for calculation.
In other words, what truly possessed the ability to "calculate" was the "structure" of these tools.
Compared with the innately spiritual human race, these calculating instruments themselves were