"Connection Law: You can rely on a clear set of conditions and outcomes to accurately grasp the relationship between the two."

The introduction to the ability of the "Connection Law" states that there are two prerequisites for successful use--

One is a clear set of condition clues.

And the other is a defined outcome.

The magic cube meets both conditions.

Using a magic cube is simple; it involves continuously changing the direction of the cubes.

When a disorganized magic cube is placed before you, all the conditions are very clear. At the same time, the magic cube also has a defined outcome, which is to change all six sides to the same color.

"Should it work out?"

Zhao Yi approached He Ronghua, stretched out his hand and asked, "Can I try it?"

"You also play with the magic cube?"

He Ronghua passed the magic cube over, while guiding him, "This is very simple. Once you’ve resolved one side successfully, the rest is easy."

"Thank you."

Zhao Yi nodded, staring at the cube in his hand, repeatedly turning it to observe it from different angles.

"Just looking won’t do any good. Use your hands to twist it a bit," He Ronghua embodied a magic cube’s instructor.

Zhao Yi continued nodding, seemingly agreeing with He Ronghua’s advice, but in reality, his mind was elsewhere. After carefully observing the six faces, and setting the outcome to ’all six faces changed to the same color’, he instantly used "Connection Law".

In an instant.

A clear sequence of twisting steps appeared in his mind.

When Zhao Yi looked at the magic cube again, it seemed as if its mysteries had been completely unraveled.

Even if he couldn’t remember the specific colors of the nine small squares on each side, he knew how to twist it, in order to achieve the final goal of making all sides the same color.

"This...is amazing!"

Zhao Yi continued to stare at the magic cube, glancing at his energy value meanwhile.

"Energy: 99/104."

"No consumption?"

Before using the "Connection Law", his energy was at 99 points, and it remained at the same level even after using it. The consumption was negligible.

He Ronghua couldn’t help but urge him, "Why are you always staring at it? Try twisting it, it’s simple."

"I’ve played with it for a long time."

"I can now assemble it in a few moves. I’ve timed it before, and my fastest time is less than forty seconds."

Zhao Yi looked at He Ronghua and nodded with a smile, "Hmm, I’ll give it a try!"

He started to tailor the cube.

Turn left, then right.

Rotate up, then down.

The entire process didn’t require any mental effort. It came naturally.

Whoosh, whoosh...

Watching Zhao Yi’s fingers moving swiftly, He Ronghua intended to say ’random moves can’t help you solve it’, but before he could speak, he was left speechless.

Was it...resolved?

Zhao Yi put down the completed magic cube, looked towards He Ronghua, and inquired, "How long did I take?"

"Around ten seconds?"

He Ronghua too wasn’t sure.

Zhao Yi, in deep thoughts, finally understood what restricted the ’World Record of the Magic Cube’.

He used to believe that wisdom and proficiency were the key to solving the cube.

Now he knew he was wrong.

Many top players could solve the cube within ten seconds.

When ’knowing how to move’ is no longer a problem, and even knowing how to move it by touch, he still took more than ten seconds. Meaning, the real restriction to the magic cube record isn’t wisdom or proficiency, but...

Speed of hands!

This is indeed a physical sport!

He Ronghua, unaware of Zhao Yi’s thoughts, was left astound by the speed, he quickly scrambled the cube and handed it back to Zhao Yi. Surprised, he asked, "Can you try again?"

People around also started taking notice.

"How did you do it? Are you very familiar with it? You must play often!" He Ronghua said as he picked up his watch, "I’ll time you this time!"

"Alright!"

Zhao Yi was also curious about his completion time.

He accepted the cube and started to observe it, then promptly used the "Connection Law".

"Start!"

As soon as he heard He Ronghua’s command, Zhao Yi’s hands started moving quickly.

Touch here, twist there!

During the swift movements, the cube got stuck once. He had to apply some force to twist it, then he continued moving his fingers.

"Bang!"

The moment he finished, Zhao Yi put the cube on the table, "how many seconds?"

"10 seconds!"

"Less than 10 seconds!"

Zhao Yi shook his head disappointedly, "My hand speed is simply no match, it’s too far off!"

The others were astonished.

Although they’ve seen on TV occasionally that some players could solve the cube at an incredible speed, it was their first time witnessing such a feat in reality.

"No worse than those professionals!"

"Tremendous!"

"I think you could compete in contests!"

Lin Xiaoqing had also come over, and had been observing Zhao Yi solving the cube from start to finish. She initially wanted to compete against Zhao Yi to see who could solve the cube faster as she couldn’t solve the Mathematical Olympiad questions.

But then.

She didn’t even utter a single word and returned like a defeated rooster.

How could they compete?

In less than ten seconds, a time far too short to even solve a single face of the cube, she was in awe as well. She couldn’t help but turn her head again, her gaze upon Zhao Yi completely undeterred, "Why is he so good?"

Even Sun Liang was surprised, he gently tousled Zhao Yi’s hair, "Did you swap brains or something?"

"Get out!"

Zhao Yi dodged irritably, nonchalantly saying, "It’s just a game!"

He returned to his seat.

Yes, a Rubik’s cube is indeed just a game.

Zhao Yi felt that, with the agility of his fingers, even if he didn’t need to think about how to turn the cube, it would be next to impossible to break the world’s record.

His hands were not fast enough!

The most important thing for breaking the record was hand speed, which would definitely require a lot of practice. He didn’t want to take up a huge amount of time practicing pointless finger speed.

What was most important was reflection on his abilities.

Using the "Connection Law" was surely a drain on energy, but how much energy it used was something he needed to understand.

Zhao Yi summarized a few points --

When answering standard questions, questions that could be solved given enough time, he expended almost no energy.

For something like Mathematical Olympiad problems, the difficulty of derivation increased and the energy expended increased as well, but the cost was still quite small in comparison.

Moreover, the energy expenditure might also be related to condition lines.

If there were fewer conditions and the line was simple, the energy drain would be less. Solving a Rubik’s cube was a good example.

Solving a standard Rubik’s cube wasn’t difficult. For someone unfamiliar with a Rubik’s cube, it wouldn’t be considered easy, since it required continuous thinking as you rotated it, but because the process was just rotating it, it barely used any energy.

...

Throughout the day, Zhao Yi reflected on the "Connection Law," including its application to all subjects, solving tough problems, and what aspects of life it could be applied to.

All of these things required verification, and it led to a bit of a high energy drain.

It was nine-thirty.

Zhao Yi returned home, got into bed, and fell asleep. By the time he woke up again, it was almost eleven. He got up, ate something, and simply turned on his computer, to earn some "Leisure Coins."

The "Connection Law" had used up a thousand Study Coins, he felt like he was back to square one.

And...

Zhao Yi opened his system and took a glance--

[Name: Zhao Yi.]

[Brain Domain Development: 5.3%.]

[Wisdom: 61.]

[Energy: 82/104.]

[Study Coins: 18.]

[Research Coins: 15.]

[Abilities: "Causality Law," "Connection Law." (Activating the next stage ability requires 6000 Study Coins.)]

When he saw the last piece of information, he even rubbed his eyes vigorously to make sure what he was seeing was real.

Only a thousand was needed for the second ability, and the third required six thousand?

Six thousand, what was that?

If you accumulated thirty Study Coins a day without using any, it would take a whopping two hundred days.

Of course.

If it was just two hundred days, it wouldn’t be that outrageous.

The key was the increase in rate!

The third ability cost six thousand Study Coins, wouldn’t the fourth ability cost thirty-six thousand?

"Maybe..."

"Accumulating Study Coins can’t rely solely on daily routines, research is more important?"

After Zhao Yi thought about the two hundred Study Coins bonus from his academic reputation for exterminating the program bug, he suddenly had an enlightenment.

It was just like playing an online game, relying solely on grinding monsters to level up was definitely slow. If you wanted to level up quickly, you had to do quests and run dungeons.

"Beep, beep, beep..."

There was a QQ notification.

It was a message from a group chat.

There were too many messages in the "Computer Technology Chat Group," so it was already set to the "receive messages without notification" status.

If there was a notification, it must be an @mention.

Zhao Yi opened it and noticed it was a familiar figure-- ’Zhang Zhen the storyteller.’

Zhang Zhen broadcasted a message, "Does anyone want to earn some extra cash by part-timing? Our company is developing an intelligent interactive system. Now we are working on the underlying algorithm libraries and data packets. We are short on hands and planning to subcontract some parts."

A few people were @mentioned, including security expert Meng Ruohao, AI technician Zhang Junlei, and a few other unfamiliar names.

Of course ’Zhao Yi, a student of Class thirteen’, was also included.

Zhao Yi quickly lost interest.

Creating low-level algorithm packages and data packages was typically the job of algorithm engineers. He’d done some algorithmic work, on an internship level, but most importantly, He knew all too well how mind-bending research work could be.

Even a seemingly simple algorithm required thorough research, again and again, otherwise there was the potential for problems.

Just as he was about to close the chat window, he suddenly froze.

Right!

"Connection Law"!

A computer algorithm was a process to achieve a goal, the "Connection Law" focused on the process, and the conditions for the algorithm...

Wasn’t that programming language?

Zhao Yi took a deep breath and sent a private message to Zhang Zhen, "Send one to me, let me see if I can do it."

Zhang Zhen responded immediately, "Wait a moment!"

Quite soon.

A compressed folder was sent over.

Zhang Zhen also added, "If you can pull it off, that’d be great. You’re still studying, it wouldn’t be bad to part-time."

"Even if it’s just one, I’ll give you two thousand!"

"OK!"