334: Chapter 334: Analyzing Jiang Zhe's past reveals him to be astonishingly talented.

3:50 AM, downtown Kyoto City.

The lights were still on in the National Think Tank's conference room.

Elder Fang sat at the long table, a thick stack of documents spread out before him.

He hadn't left since the livestream ended.

Most of the others in the conference room hadn't left either.

Some were resting with their eyes closed, some were staring at the screen replaying the livestream recording, and others were discussing in low voices.

"Elder Fang, you should rest," a male assistant said softly, bringing over a cup of hot tea.

Elder Fang, wearing a black Zhongshan suit, shook his head. He took a sip of tea, his eyes never leaving the documents on the table.

"Pull up Jiang Zhe's data again. Let's look from the beginning. I want to see exactly what that big gift is."

"Yes."

The large screen in the conference room lit up.

The assistant operated the computer, pulling up an encrypted file.

There were only two words on the cover: Jiang Zhe, Top Secret File.

"Start from his first episode."

"Yes."

Episode One: tui bei tu

The livestream recording appeared on the screen.

Jiang Zhe was sitting on the sofa in the living room of an old house, with Xiao Yu sitting opposite him.

The lighting was a bit dim. Since the old house was near the road, the sound of cars driving on the road in the footage could be heard occasionally, but Jiang Zhe's voice was clear.

"The final sixtieth image of the tui bei tu, the final eulogy is: Seeking the vast destiny within this, the rise and fall of the world are not free. Thousands upon thousands of things cannot be fully told; it is better to push the back and go to rest..."

Elder Fang listened, his expression calm.

The footage fast-forwarded.

He listened carefully from the first hexagram to the last.

Jiang Zhe was interpreting the hexagram, prophecy, and eulogy of each image.

He cited classics and was well-organized, not exceeding the scope of a common scholar's interpretation.

"This episode is quite ordinary," Elder Fang began his evaluation. "It's just that the interpretation method is somewhat novel; there's nothing earth-shattering."

The assistant nodded and continued to operate the mouse, fast-forwarding.

The turning point arrived: the divination.

The screen jumped to another episode.

Jiang Zhe sat on the sofa while Xiao Yu held a phone, reading out a string of numbers from a fake classmate group in the livestream chat.

Jiang Zhe narrowed his eyes, his fingers pinching the air as if setting up a hexagram in the void. Then he opened his eyes and stated the location of the Jingxuange Hotel explosion and the number of casualties.

The conference room fell silent for a moment.

Elder Fang didn't say a word, but turned his head to look at a person sitting in the corner.

The man was about sixty years old, wearing a gray Zhongshan suit, with graying hair and a lean face.

His name was Lu Yuanzhi, a titan in the domestic metaphysical world—proficient in Qimen Dunjia, Liu Ren, and Taiyi Shenshu. He usually lived in seclusion but had been specially invited by Elder Fang tonight.

"Elder Lu," Elder Fang spoke softly, his tone polite. "Among you practitioners of metaphysics, can anyone do this?"

Lu Yuanzhi looked at Jiang Zhe's face on the screen, his gaze complex.

After a long time, he slowly shook his head.

"It's impossible. Seeing the future based solely on numbers is no longer divination."

"Then what is it?"

Lu Yuanzhi chose his words carefully.

"Elder Fang, you know the divination methods of our metaphysical world—Liu Yao, Meihua Yishu, Qimen Dunjia, and so on; all of these require a complete deduction process."

"First you cast the hexagram, then arrange the chart and interpret it. Every step has its rules and methods."

"The results deduced are a trend, a possibility, a direction; they are not 100% certain. To put it bluntly, it's like a modern scientific big data prediction model, except we practitioners combine it with the Eight Characters of Birth and destiny."

"The Eight Characters of Birth and destiny are actually a branch of cosmology—the influence of heaven, earth, and time on different people's dates."

"When we look at the Eight Characters, we also ask about the parents and family; for example, the ancestors' status and what they did. Even if people have the same Eight Characters, we perform a metaphysical interpretation by cross-referencing the relationships between the target's relatives and friends."

"To put it bluntly, it's ancient big data."

"But that time with Jiang Zhe, it was different."

"What he saw wasn't a trend or a possibility. He saw certainties; specific times, specific locations, specific numbers. This has already exceeded the scope of divination. This is a [superpower] from modern science fiction movies."

Elder Fang's brow furrowed slightly: "Superpower?"

"Actually, it might not exactly be a superpower. In our metaphysical world, there is a saying called Traveling the Great Void."

Lu Yuanzhi said pensively, "For someone who has cultivated to an extremely high realm, their primordial spirit can leave the physical body to roam between heaven and earth, seeing the past and the future."

"But that's just the stuff of legends. Many people mistake lucid dreaming for Traveling the Great Void."

"It is recorded in Taoist scriptures, and Buddhism also has the concept of Fate Connection—the ability to know the past and future."

"But those are things only patriarch-level cultivators could achieve."

"In this world..."

He didn't continue.

Elder Fang couldn't help but press further: "In this world, can anyone do it?"

After a long time, he finally spoke slowly: "There is one person, Celestial Master Zhang of Qingfeng Temple in the suburbs of Kyoto City. He is twenty-nine years old this year and is a metaphysical genius rarely seen in centuries. His Old Celestial Master was even more powerful, but after the Old Celestial Master passed away, he became the strongest in the world."

"But!"

"But what?"

"But even he cannot do it. He can deduce the general direction, seek good fortune and avoid disaster, and calculate the auspiciousness, inauspiciousness, regret, or misfortune."

"But to ask him to give specific times, locations, and numbers like Jiang Zhe—he cannot. In this world, no one can."

The conference room was silent for a few seconds.

No wonder it was called a superpower. Yes, it was simply incredible!

Elder Fang didn't say a word. After absorbing the insights, he raised his hand to signal the assistant to continue playing.

Destiny and Quantum Delayed Choice

The image on the screen switched to another episode.

Jiang Zhe was talking about destiny, the revolving lantern, and the Quantum Delayed Choice experiment.

Talking about destiny, and how one's future self intervenes with one's current self.

Jiang Zhe's past voice came from the screen.

"Your future self, at the moment of death, will look back on their whole life. They will see every key node, every choice."

"If they feel a certain choice was wrong, they will intervene at that node—"

"Giving you an intuition, an impulse, a mysterious idea."

"The more intervention, the better your luck; the less intervention, the worse your luck. If there is no intervention at all!"

The Jiang Zhe on the screen first smiled, then his expression suddenly became serious.

"Xiao Yu, that means your future self is very satisfied with their life—no regrets, no remorse. They died of old age, passing away peacefully."

"Of course, there's another possibility—that person simply doesn't live long!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the sound of gasping could be heard in the room.

Twenty or thirty people looked at the confident Jiang Zhe in disbelief. They looked at each other, all shocked by this scientifically-framed explanation.

Elder Fang didn't have time to think deeply and turned to look at Lu Yuanzhi. "Elder Lu, how does metaphysics view this perspective?"

Lu Yuanzhi narrowed his eyes, which were shining. "Elder Fang, do you know there is a saying in the I Ching?"

"Which one?"

"The Changes have no thought, no action; they are silent and unmoving. Yet when stimulated, they penetrate all the causes under heaven."

Seeing Elder Fang frown, Lu Yuanzhi explained:

"It means that the principles of the Changes themselves have no thoughts or actions; they are quiet and still. But when you connect with them, the affairs of the world naturally present themselves before you."

"The ancients called this connection resonance—there is no barrier between your heart and the Heavenly Dao; they naturally communicate."

He gave a thumbs-up and pointed at Jiang Zhe on the screen.

"Jiang Zhe uses the language of physics to explain destiny, why some have good luck and others bad, and why some can see the future."

"This is essentially the same thing as the resonance and penetration we talk about in metaphysics."

"It's just that he uses quantum physics while we use Yin-Yang and the Five Elements. Their essences reach the same goal by different paths."

Elder Fang nodded thoughtfully, his understanding of Jiang Zhe reaching a higher level.

It was clear that Jiang Zhe, a high school dropout, had suddenly gained a super-rational mindset overnight, with everything unfolding based on science and physics.

He raised his hand, and the assistant continued playing.

Wen Gu!"