Chapter 600: The Book of the River

"The Book of River Searching? What's that?""I don't know either!""If Master Hong had to apply to headquarters for it, it must be extraordinary!""Indeed!"Hearing the name "Book of River Searching," the many master teachers in the audience were completely bewildered. No one had heard of this item. Even Hall Master Kang, Master Su, and others were utterly confused, not understanding its purpose.

"As master teachers, I'm sure you've all heard that knowledge isn't just mere words and information; it also has weight!" Seeing their confusion, Master Hong explained."I've heard that before!""The more knowledge one acquires, the calmer their mindset becomes, and their demeanor changes entirely!""The more knowledge accumulated, the heavier the soul becomes. Legend has it that back in the day, when Confucius stamped his foot, the earth sank, and the oceans tilted, all because the knowledge within him encompassed an entire realm, unmatched by anyone!""Yes, and later, when Confucius ascended, his seventy-two direct disciples were no weaker than him in strength, yet none possessed the power to suppress the eight directions!"The crowd murmured in agreement. Zhang Xuan couldn't help but nod as well. Although he didn't know much about Confucius's deeds, the books he had read also mentioned that knowledge possesses weight. Though knowledge is a form of information, the more one learns, the more their cultivation grows, and their mindset becomes profound.

"If it has weight, it can naturally be measured, and there are items designed for that purpose—precisely this... Book of River Searching!" Master Hong continued, "'Sifting through river sand reveals true gold; parting the mists reveals the bright moon.' The Book of River Searching detects one's knowledge and can easily strip away a person's disguise.""This item was created ten thousand years ago by an eight-star master teacher. It contains the investigative consciousness of a teacher. As long as you place your palm on it, it will automatically detect the amount of knowledge you've memorized within a certain period, making it impossible to fake!""Of course, it only measures the quantity of knowledge; it cannot detect your thoughts or ideas, so there's no need to worry! The one I borrowed from headquarters, though it's a low-grade item, is certainly sufficient for your examination.""Detects knowledge quantity?""That's... incredibly powerful!""Indeed, it's truly remarkable, worthy of being a treasure from headquarters!"Hearing that this artifact could measure the amount of knowledge acquired based on its weight, everyone was astonished.

"When teachers assign tasks and homework to students, and the students are lazy and don't complete them, the teachers have no way to check. With this item, it becomes simple: a quick scan, and if the knowledge quantity is insufficient, it indicates that they haven't studied.""The Book of River Searching was created precisely for this reason."As he spoke, Master Hong flicked his finger, and a book appeared before everyone. The book was not large, pure white throughout, yet it emanated strong spiritual energy fluctuations, clearly indicating it was a treasure of no low grade.Placing the book on the table in front of him, Master Hong looked at everyone again: "The Book of River Searching reacts to the detected knowledge quantity by emitting seven colors of light: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple! Each level corresponds to 800 books. This means... a red light indicates you've passed the assessment; an orange light indicates you've memorized the knowledge from 1600 books, and so on. Our assessment is the simplest: just touch the book and make it emit a red light, and you pass!"

"Oh, so it's that simple!""This item is fair and just; no one can object!"After Master Hong finished explaining, everyone understood, nodding in unison. Since it was a treasure from headquarters, there would certainly be no issues."It's over..."Unlike the general excitement, Zhang Xuan's vision went dark, and he nearly fainted. If he had known this device would automatically detect knowledge, he wouldn't have read so many books. In one hour, others might read a few hundred or a thousand books, but in the library, he had used his soul to observe, scanning at an incredibly fast pace, having already read almost two hundred thousand books... He had thought it was just a regular exam, where he could choose what to write or answer, making it easy to keep a low profile. But if it was beyond human control, how could he hide it? There was no way to conceal it! What should he do?

"Alright, let's begin the assessment now. Who would like to go first?"While Zhang Xuan looked troubled, Master Hong stroked his beard and looked at the crowd."This..."Exchanging glances, the crowd hesitated for a moment, then suddenly turned to look at Zhang Xuan, who was not far away."How about... Master Zhang goes first!""Right, Master Zhang, you take the exam first. We're not in a hurry!"A few people chuckled.Before Zhang Xuan could speak, Master Hong, standing nearby, stumbled and almost spat blood.*You're not in a hurry because you want to wait for this fellow to cause another scene and easily pass, right? If that's the case... of course, you're not in a hurry, but I am!*His face flushed, he quickly waved his hand: "Never mind, let's... go by age, from oldest to youngest. Master Zhang will be last!"It wasn't that he didn't want this guy to go first; it was simply that this guy was... too terrifying. If he truly went first, Master Hong genuinely didn't know if the Book of River Searching would survive. The Ghost Domain Illusion City was his property, and he had personally captured the Amulet Tribe members, so even if there were losses, he could find a way to resolve them. But this item was borrowed from headquarters; if it were damaged, he couldn't bear the consequences!

"I'm last?"Zhang Xuan shook his head, a wry smile on his face, surprised that a dignified five-star master teacher could be so intimidated by him. Being last wouldn't affect him; as long as he could pass the assessment, there was no need to dwell on the order. For now, he should focus on how to hide the knowledge he had just acquired...Hearing this decision, Hall Master Kang and the others were also speechless. To force the assessment administrator to be afraid to let you go first, Master Zhang, you truly are a talent!

Once the rules were set, the rest was simple. The first to be assessed was the oldest master teacher—the participant from Mingxia Empire. This master teacher was also ranked in the top ten on the potential list. His cultivation had reached the peak of the Turbid-Clear Realm, and his eyes gleamed like lightning. Upon hearing Master Hong's instruction to be assessed, he stepped forward to the Book of River Searching.Everyone's gaze converged on him.Taking a deep breath, the master teacher placed his palm on the book for a moment, then withdrew it. The pure white book instantly trembled twice, followed by a clear chime, and a red light shone forth."Red light, he passed!""Yes, that's great...""To be able to detect the amount of knowledge learned, this treasure is indeed powerful!"Seeing that the Book of River Searching truly worked as described, everyone was filled with excitement. In the understanding of many, artifacts were typically used for combat or cultivation enhancement; this was the first time they had seen one used to detect acquired knowledge.

"How many books did you read just now?" Master Hong nodded with satisfaction and asked."Reporting to Master Hong, I read one thousand two hundred and thirty-eight books!" the master teacher replied, nodding."Mm, good!" Master Hong nodded approvingly and announced the result: "Liu Quan of Mingxia Empire has passed. Next, Zhang Mingzhi of Hengsha Empire."Hearing the call, the second person stepped forward. This Zhang Mingzhi, although second oldest among the group, had a true cultivation level of only early Mortal-Transcendence 4-dan, which was not outstanding.He took a few steps forward and placed his hand on the book. However, unlike the previous attempt, the Book of River Searching showed no reaction, as if his palm hadn't touched it at all."It seems he didn't read eight hundred books!"After waiting for a while and seeing no movement from the book, everyone shook their heads."I only read seven hundred and seventy-one books..." Zhang Mingzhi explained with a bitter smile. He had thought that perhaps he could just barely make it or even try to deceive it, but now it was clear that the Book of River Searching was incredibly powerful, making cheating utterly impossible."Understood!" Master Hong nodded: "Zhang Mingzhi has not passed and loses his qualification to participate in the grand competition. Next..."

With the previous examples, everyone now understood the miraculous nature of the Book of River Searching. They stepped forward for their assessments in order of age.An hour later, all 53 participants, except for Zhang Xuan, had completed their assessments. This round, testing wisdom, was indeed not as simple as imagined. A total of seventeen participants were eliminated. Upon inquiry, it was found that none of them had memorized enough books to reach the 800-book threshold; one person, who had memorized 799 books, still failed and had to leave dejectedly."How accurate!"Seeing the Book of River Searching confirm results without error, even distinguishing differences of just one or two books, everyone couldn't help but exclaim. Truly worthy of being a treasure from headquarters—it was formidable!Excluding Zhang Xuan, 35 people had now passed the assessment. The highest score didn't go to Luo Xuan, who had the loudest praises, nor to Liao Wuzhi, who had previously looked down on Zhang Xuan. Instead, it was Zhang Xuan's old acquaintance... Song Chao! He had actually emitted an orange light, which indicated... he had memorized a full 1600 books! To memorize so many books in just one hour, practically grasping their content with a glance, his memory could be described as incredibly abnormal. Even Zhang Xuan was quite surprised by Song Chao's achievement. This guy seemed a bit slow, so he never expected him to possess such a powerful memory. As for Young Master Ruohuan, with over 1200 books, his ranking was considered high.

"Last one, Master Zhang Xuan!"As Master Hong called out, everyone's gaze converged on the young man who had been causing a stir since his arrival."Master Zhang is about to be tested! I really want to see what kind of score he'll get!""His score probably won't be very good. When he was reading just now, I watched closely. He'd pick up a book and just space out... Of the five thousand books on the shelf, he only flipped through a few... It'll be hard for him to get a good score!""I think so too, but... this is Master Zhang! He was so incredible in the first two rounds; I don't believe he'll be eliminated in this one!""Let's just wait and see..."Seeing that it was finally his turn after hiding for so long, Zhang Xuan's face was filled with frustration. He had spent half the day trying various methods, but he was still utterly confused, finding no solution."Forget it, I guess this is it..."Knowing there was no escaping it, he braced himself, walked to the book, placed his palm on it, and immediately withdrew it. Then, he hurried closer, eager to see what kind of light it would emit.