Sweat began to pour down Shiru's pale face. The math was becoming exponentially more complex with every layer. The interconnected dependencies of the elements were straining his spiritual processing power.
Fifty nodes. Fifty-five.
"Come on, Fox, balance the ledger!" Yanlie cheered from the sidelines.
Sixty nodes.
And then, Shiru's finger slipped on the abacus. He miscalculated the density of a Metal node by a fraction of a percent.
The imbalance cascaded instantly. The array flashed red.
"Brace!" Elder Hex barked, activating a safety ward.
BOOM!
The array collapsed, generating a concussive shockwave of chaotic Qi that threw Wen Shiru backward.
He skidded across the marble, his glasses askew, gasping for breath as his meridians cramped.
"Sixty nodes," Elder Hex announced, her voice dripping with condescending pity. "A commendable attempt for a merchant. But mathematically insufficient. The Azure Dragon novices routinely achieve seventy before graduation."
