Chapter 75: Du Meridian
Lizi came early in the morning like clockwork, waking Anji up and helping her to get dressed. She prepared food for the day and did the menial chores as Yan Ping tested Anji’s mental sums.
"What is two times four?"
"Eight?"
"How about three times eight?"
Anji tried her best not to peek behind her. The charts with the right answer were right there. However, after calculations with the help of her fingers and counter pebbles that were now repurposed, Anji eventually got the correct answer.
"Twenty-four!"
It took a long time, but at least Anji understood the basic concept of multiplication. All she needed now was time to fully memorise all the timetables for single digits and then learn how to use the abacus for double-digit calculations.
"It’s good enough," Yan Ping acknowledged. "How did you learn to remember or count them?"
Grinning, Anji explained proudly that it was due to her new ability to parallel think.
"At first, it was difficult," she admitted. "I kept losing track of which number I was counting. After adding the same number several times, I would lose the number of sets I’ve counted or misremember the new total calculated, causing the numbers to become wrong. I’ve tried memorising them, but as the number grows bigger, they become a big puddle of confusion."
Nodding, Yan Ping agreed. They have a different method of teaching matrix calculations at the Mystical Qilin Sect. However, she wanted to know if Anji had any better solutions. She had been monitoring her student’s progress closely all of yesterday despite recuperating. Anji learned how to design a method of charging up a spell instead of activating it by storing up the energy required in it within her body. She used a qi circulation technique that most advanced spell casters employed for group spells. In doing so, she finally overcame her bottleneck limits and successfully activated her first spell, even if it only produced a teaspoonful of water.