Relying on the Magic Academy's "acceptance letter", Lin Qi was immediately bailed out. Strictly speaking, he was guaranteed bail and left the prison under the lead of Mage Mo Feng.
As for the rest of his prison life, according to Mo Feng, there was no need to worry. The Magician Arbitration Court would naturally follow the rules and issue him the declaration of innocence without even needing him to turn up in court.
It was mainly because the Arbitration Court had knocked off for the night, otherwise Mo Feng would have gotten him a copy on the spot.
Because Lin Qi had already eaten, Mo Feng brought him directly to the newly-constructed landmark building in Yang City. They directly headed for the VIP elevator and boarded the pre-booked revolving bar.
Through the curved floor-to-ceiling glass of the extra-wide view, Lin Qi gazed at the night view of Yang City under the dark night sky. The main road was filled with cars, dancing like silver snakes. Streetlights and building lights illuminated each other, transforming into resplendent stars.
"I've lived in Yang City for eighteen years, and I've passed by this place no less than a hundred times. But I didn't even know there was such a quiet and elegant bar here." Outside Lin Qi's personal booth, a few customers were scattered across the bar counter .
Mo Feng smiled. "Mages like private places, so there are many associations, businesses and even top clubs where only mages and their relatives or invited guests are eligible to enter."
At that he turned and surveyed the centerstage which was bathed in neon light. "But I think I'm the only mage here."
Even entertainment spots were starting to get segregated. Lin Qi could subtly detect just how wide the distance was between the mage class and the rest of society.
"There's no need to frown. In the future, as a beneficiary, you might even take the initiative to maintain this distance."
Mo Feng smiled. This expression had appeared on his face before.
Lin Qi curled his lips slightly. He was from the new generation who grew up singing "The Internationale" anthem. He would not descend to such a corrupted level.
Mo Feng took a sip of the cocktail in his glass. "I brought you here mainly because I wanted to find a place that is private enough for us to talk. The new students will be enrolled early this year and will have to report in about a week later."
Lin Qi nodded. In fact, he was also looking forward to his upcoming "magic journey".
Even though the school's management was strict. It was difficult for mage apprentices to go home during the winter and summer holidays. They were more or less isolated from the world.
He also started to calm down, looking seriously at the robed Mo Feng.
The other party had come all the way here to inform him of the results of the admission and the S-Class treatment. He was definitely not doing this just for fun.
At the same time, Lin Qi silently observed his "memory palace". Rumor had it that mages had many divine powers, including reading the surface thoughts of others and modifying memories. One had to be on the alert.
"Your S-Class treatment is actually very special. The way it was activated is even more special."
With that, Mo Feng recounted everything that had happened on the admissions committee meeting.
Lin Qi realized that he had almost become meat on a chopping board.
"You don't have to thank me. In fact, from the moment the dean saw your file, you were protected because of this 'similar fate'."
"And your Tier 5 extraordinary powers are only activated under special circumstances. Therefore, even if you don't match up to expectations for your future calculations, you won't encounter much trouble. Everyone has the patience to wait for you to create a miracle."
As he spoke, Mo Feng raised his brows slightly. "However, Little Brother Lin Qi, since we've already come this far, why don't you tell me? Have you been purposely lying low for the past few years, or did you really enter that 'hyper-charged' state under the pressure of death?"
The violinist in the bar was playing the song Czardas and, befitting the scene, the song was entering the high-tempo section.
Lin Qi did not know whether to laugh or cry. Didn't the other party just confidently claim that he was a genius under pressure?
However, after thinking about it carefully, he felt his back go numb. He forced himself to remain calm.
Mo Feng had a sparse stubble and his facial lines were well-defined. He also had a naturally melancholic temperament. In a bar, he could be considered top killer material.
But Mo Feng immediately brought up the historical case argument even though he wasn't that certain of Lin Qi?
There must be a hidden reason behind this.
If he didn't have the real ability, wouldn't he just become a pawn that the other party could manipulate?
Although Lin Qi had obtained a "death-exemption" token after the dean issued his decree, he had yet to let down his vigilance in the slightest.
His expression remained the same. "Well, I can't explain it myself. The answers just kept coming out of my head."
Hearing the politically correct reply, Mo Feng felt a little awkward.
Realizing that he had been too hasty, he hurriedly waved his hand. "Don't worry. There are many factions among us mages, more than you can imagine. I also have a faction backing me, so I need more accurate information. If necessary, we will help you create a disguise."
Mo Feng turned his head to look at the other customers casually chatting on the bar counter. The eyes of many kept drifting over to him because of his robe. A woman with a hot figure even smiled charmingly at him.
He said loudly, "Do you believe that there are people here working for the Luo couple?"
Unsure if he was imagining things, Lin Qi instantly noticed a couple silently lowering their heads.
Mo Feng turned back and said, "But don't worry, we have an iron-clad rule. You cannot set up any eavesdropping methods in places that are exclusive to mages. You just have to be wary of hearing ears."
Lin Qi finally understood why he had chosen this place. The volume of the music was loud enough to cover the conversation.
"Lin Qi, the entire Yang City is controlled by the husband and wife. And I guess that in a few days, they will probably apply to transfer back to the capital, or even to the academy, so you are not free from worries."
"The moment I jumped out to protect you during the meeting, I already showed whose side our faction is on. The dean also noted this. Perhaps he was happy to see this happen, so he let me be in charge of 'welcoming' you."
Lin Qi interrupted. "Everyone would have? Did the dean make sure of that?"
Mo Feng understood that Lin Qi had grasped the crux of the problem and nodded in satisfaction. "Only the S-Class cultivation scheme receives this kind of treatment, including some A-Class ones. And the dean supports everyone, so he will naturally protect you. Nevertheless, it's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to defend against an arrow in the dark. Don't let your guard down. The family power behind Zheng Xinlan is directly connected to the council."
The Highest Council was the most powerful organization of the Association of Mages. Every member of the Council was a big shot Council Elder in Planet Blue.
Lin Qi knew that there was no point in lying, so he relented and said, "But I really can't guarantee my condition under stress as well as my usual standard."
He knew very well that the stronger his performance was, the more valuable he would be and more worthy of high-level protection.
Not to mention, he still had his "Memory Palace" as a trump card. Nevertheless, he was still unsure of its value level, so he planned to just enter the academy first.
Therefore, it did not matter that he was temporarily mistaken as a "computational genius".
On the one hand, he had the excuse of "Tier 5: Stress Activation". On the other hand, he could bring out his other trump card and act like a genius with "powerful memory".
The most important thing now was to just get through this period first.
Mo Feng just asked with a playful expression, "Then you don't mind taking the test?"
Lin Qi nodded. If worse comes to worst, he would just say that he did not feel any pressure and couldn't perform beyond his usual capacity.
Mo Feng was overjoyed when he heard that. He knew that he had completed more than half of his mission. He took out a cube from his pocket and placed it on the glass coffee table.
Lin Qi's eyes hardened.
A Rubik's cube. Nine squares on each side, six sides, six colors.
But this one had already been twisted and the color scheme was all messed up.
"This little gadget has just been passed down from the top over the past few days, and it has quickly become a popular toy in the academy. The way to play it is to restore the sides to the same color from its current messed-up state."
Lin Qi inhaled slightly. "Any other requests?"
Mo Feng's interest was piqued when he saw the other party reacting contrary to his expectations.
"For normal gameplay. Take it in your hand and start twisting it to restore it."
"For high-level gameplay. You just set it down as it is and read out the instructions to restore it. For example, twist the top level 90 degrees clockwise, the second level 180 degrees to the right, the bottom level 90 degrees counterclockwise, and so on. There's no way to verify this method in real time. It's more of a test of memory and calculation depth."
With that, Mo Feng raised his brows. "Do you understand now? You can try holding it in your hands first. If you can restore it after just seeing this toy for the first time, that would already be considered pretty good."
Lin Qi leaned back comfortably. "I'm starting to feel a little pressure now."
"Oh, then why don't you give it a try?" Mo Feng felt even more eager now. "Don't underestimate it, it has 43252003274489856000 variations."
But Lin Qi didn't pick it up.
Instead, he closed his eyes.
This situation was like someone giving him a pillow just as he felt like dozing off. It would be a waste not to put on an act.
After a long time, the violin was switching to a more relaxed melody, the Croatian Rhapsody.
Lin Qi spoke up now.
"The symbols that define the Rubik's cube will be as follows: R (Right), L (Left), U (Up), D (Down), F (Front) and B (Back). Respectively, they refer to the right, left, top, bottom, bottom, positive, and back layer."
"No suffix signifies a turn of 90 degree clockwise while the suffix ' refers to 90 degrees counterclockwise. The suffix 2 refers to a 180 degrees rotation. So RL2 means 90 degrees clockwise on the right side and 180 degrees on the left side."
Mo Feng's expression turned serious.
Lin Qi continued to explain with his eyes closed.
"The first layer of the technique is divided into seven steps: the base layer returns to its original position, the base corners return to their original position, the middle layer returns to its original position, the top layer returns to its original position, and the top corners return to their original positions."
"The base layer can be solved without instruction."
"The bottom corners will return to their original positions with the following instructions… use RUR, F'U'F…"
"The middle layer can be returned to its position with the following instructions… use U'FURU 'R', URU 'R' UFU '…"
As Lin Qi gradually recited the most basic "Layer By Layer method", Mo Feng's mouth slowly fell open. He already understood that this was not the method to restore this particular Rubik's Cube.
But something which surpassed all solutions—
The universal working solution to the Rubik's cube!
A solution that could work for 10,000 problems!
There are thousands of illusions in the world, I can break them all by myself with a single method.
His lips couldn't help trembling slightly. "You got the solution from above? That's not right. You've been in prison for the past few days, and this toy hasn't been circulated outside at all."
As he spoke, he couldn't help but clench his fists. So what if it had been circulated?
This was the universal working solution!
He could believe that a genius could come up with this solution in a day. But within just a few minutes?
Lin Qi just smiled and continued.
"Corners First method…"
"CFOP method…"
Mo Feng had more or less regained his composure, but his heart was still pounding.
"These two solutions are similar to the Layer By Layer method, but it's enough to show that you've completely understood the whole solution. It was only during dinner that someone summarized a few of these methods to me. They should be the same as yours."
Mo Feng grinned. He had already gotten the answer he wanted, but a genius still had to be taken down a notch. He could not let him get too smug.
Lin Qi nodded. "But these methods are more mechanical. They can't be done quickly."
"There's more?" Mo Feng finally couldn't resist asking.
"The CFOP method is divided into Cross (bottom cross) → F2L (41 algorithms) → OLL (57 algorithms) → PLL (21 algorithms). There are a total of 119 algorithms. After mastering it, you can unlock the Rubik's Cube within 30 seconds…"
At this moment, Mo Feng finally closed his eyes.
He stood up and took out his phone to make a call.
"Hello, teacher. Regarding the end-of-year examinations for first-year mage apprentices. I just heard the CFOP method. It is challenging enough to be used as an advanced standard answer…"