Chapter 571: Anxious Zhang Jie

“You understand this point, that’s good.” Zhang Jie nodded slightly.

As for Zhang Chulan encountering Zhuge Qing of the Zhuge Clan and Lingyu Zhenren Zhang Lingyu of the Celestial Master’s Mansion in the first round, only to be brutally eliminated?

Hey, no need to worry about it at all.

Because someone will definitely pull shady strings behind the scenes.

What, you say the Celestial Master’s Mansion is a righteous sect, and the Old Celestial Master is highly respected,

and would never allow such filthy maneuvers that tarnish the sect’s thousand-year reputation?

But what if the shadowy mastermind behind these shady operations is the Old Celestial Master himself?

Of course, this shadowy mastermind isn’t Zhang Jie—after all, with his connections in the Celestial Master’s Mansion,

he would never cause the sect’s disciples to disregard their thousand-year reputation.

Of course, if Zhang Jie wanted to, with his methods, slipping in a small trick during the draw—

sending Zhang Chulan into a weak group to dominate the matches—would be no problem at all.

Even if the Celestial Master’s Mansion, in a trendy move, abandoned ancient manual drawing and used high-tech computers for electronic random grouping,

Zhang Jie would still find a way around it.

After all, the world Zhang Jie came from, the World of Devouring, though a hyper-martial, hyper-magical realm where the strong could seize stars and snatch moons as easily as breathing,

was also an unmistakable near-future world, far surpassing the One-Person World in technological advancement.

As a programmer and engineer capable of writing artificial intelligence, hacking into a computer

and rewriting a few lines of code was as easy as catching a turtle in a jar—effortless.

But in reality, Zhang Jie had no need to pull any tricks—the Old Celestial Master Zhang Zhiwei would handle all of it for him.

The Old Celestial Master, Zhang Huaiyi (Zhang Chulan’s grandfather), and Elder Tian Jinzhong were all disciples of the previous Celestial Master, Zhang Jingqing,

and the three had grown up together as sworn brothers with deep bonds.

When Zhang Huaiyi became one of the Thirty-Six Thieves and was hunted down by immortals coveting the Qi-Ti Yuanliu,

both the Old Celestial Master and Tian Jinzhong descended the mountain multiple times to search for him.

Elder Tian’s limbs were crippled during one such descent by malicious individuals.

It was only because those people feared the Old Celestial Master and worried that killing Tian Jinzhong would drive him mad

that he survived the Jia Shen Uprising—otherwise, Elder Tian might have died then.

Now that Zhang Huaiyi is confirmed dead, this bond, extended by association,

naturally transferred to his grandson, Zhang Chulan.

Although the Old Celestial Master, bound by his status, could not directly protect Zhang Chulan, branded a thief,

if Zhang Chulan became a disciple of the Celestial Master’s Mansion—or even its heir—

that restriction would vanish on its own.

After all, if even the Celestial Master’s heir could be coveted, then the Old Celestial Master had no right to remain Celestial Master.

To ensure his junior brother’s grandson became champion, the Old Celestial Master resorted to drugging his final disciple, Zhang Lingyu:

The drug he used was called “Jianjing San,” also known as “Immortal Pills.”

It was a substance that blocked the flow of Qi in the body,

and the Old Celestial Master slipped it into Zhang Lingyu’s breakfast that day.

The drug’s effect was subtle—no impact when Qi was not in use,

but the moment the victim exerted full strength in battle, the drug would activate instantly,

causing total paralysis and Qi obstruction, reducing combat power to near zero.

This allowed Zhang Lingyu, whose raw strength surpassed Zhang Chulan’s, to be defeated by him.

In short, this Luotian Da Jiao, though seemingly loud with drums, gongs, and firecrackers,

crowded with throngs of people, was in truth held solely for Zhang Chulan.

What is a protagonist’s prestige?

The crowd was immense, but it was truly held for Zhang Chulan alone.

Zhang Jie’s promise to protect Zhang Chulan was merely going with the flow.

In truth, he had no interest in the Celestial Master’s throne.

Though uncertain whether the Celestial Master’s succession could restrain his current self, Zhang Jie had no habit of willingly stepping into a trap

even if the trap posed no threat whatsoever.

After all, Zhuge Liang was always cautious—what if, like Monkey King,

he playfully wore a flowered cap only to end up with a golden circlet tightening around his head? That would be disastrous.

Now, trading an unnecessary Celestial Master throne for the Qi-Ti Yuanliu was an absolute windfall.

Thus, Zhang Jie obtained the Qi-Ti Yuanliu, Zhang Chulan won the Luotian Da Jiao championship,

and the truth of the past was finally revealed—a true win-win, with bright futures for all!

“By the way, since I can now write artificial intelligence, I’m essentially a programmer,

so… will the programmer’s curse also strike me?”

Zhang Jie stroked his glossy, jet-black hair, suddenly feeling uneasy.

It is well known that modern programmers have two ancestral figures: von Neumann and Turing.

Ancestor Turing possessed superhuman intellect, laying the foundation for computers

and endowing them with a “soul” (computational theory and logic).

In 1936, Turing proposed the abstract mathematical model of the “Turing Machine.”

He proved that, given sufficient instructions (programs) and time,

a machine could solve any computable problem.

This established a solid mathematical and logical foundation for modern computers.

He also proposed the famous “Turing Test,” pioneering the field of artificial intelligence

by questioning whether machines could think like humans.

During the Second Global Conflict, he led the design of the “Colossus” computer

to crack Nazi Germany’s codes—an early practical application of electronic digital computing.

Without Ancestor Turing, we might still be debating whether machines could perform general computation.

Yet, while Turing’s intellect surpassed his era, so did his aesthetics.

Of course, this doesn’t mean Ancestor Turing favored Walmart plastic bags

or armed helicopters or the dozens of genders that emerged in America afterward—

those didn’t exist yet, so they couldn’t have influenced him.

Ancestor Turing was British, and shared the aesthetic tastes of British gentlemen.

And Britain was also known as “Gay-land”…

Though such preferences were already widespread among British gentlemen at the time,

in British society, they were still considered immoral, even criminal.

In 1952, Turing was convicted by British courts for having a sexual relationship with an adult male

(classified under British law then as “gross indecency”).

He was given two choices: either go straight to prison,

or accept probation on the condition of undergoing “chemical castration.”

To continue his scientific research, Turing was forced to choose the latter.

Zhang Jie felt Ancestor Turing was simply born in the wrong time—

because Britain legalized homosexuality in England and Wales by 1967.

After that, many prominent public figures in Britain openly came out as gay,

from pop stars like George Michael and Elton John.

After that, many prominent public figures in Little Britain came out as gay.

Such as George Michael and Elton John from the pop music scene.