Library of Heaven’s Path

”Book of Emptied River? What is that?”

”I’ve never heard of it!”

”Given that it’s an artifact that Hong shi applied to the headquarters for, it must be extraordinary!”

”Indeed!”

...

Hearing of the Book of Emptied River, confusion surfaced on the faces of the master teachers on the stage.

No one here had heard of it, and even Pavilion Master Kang, Su shi, and the others were perplexed over this matter.

Seeing the confusion on everyone’s faces, Hong shi explained with a smile, ”As master teachers, everyone should have heard of the saying that knowledge isn’t just words or information, it has its own weight as well!”

”I’ve heard of that saying!”

”Knowledge will reinforce one’s mental fortitude and refine one’s disposition!”

”The more knowledge accrued, the denser one’s soul will become. It’s said that back then, Kong shi was able to sink the earth and tilt the oceans with just a single stomp, and that’s because the knowledge he harnessed within him encompassed the entire world!”

”Indeed! After Kong shi departed, even though his 72 direct disciple possessed cultivation comparable to him, they weren’t capable of exerting the same might as he did!”

...

Discussions broke out amidst the crowd.

Zhang Xuan couldn’t help but nod his head as well.

He didn’t know too much about the affairs of Kong shi, but from the books, he learnt that knowledge carried weight as well.

Even though knowledge was intangible, it could make a person more cultured and collected.

”Since knowledge has weight, naturally, it can be measured. And the artifact to do so is the Book of Emptied River!”

Hong shi continued, ”Empty the river sediment to reveal true gold, part the veiling fog to uncover clear moon. The Book of Emptied River is able to peer through all of one’s facades to weigh one’s knowledge.

”This artifact was created by an 8-star master teacher ten thousand years ago, and it harnesses a function to search one’s soul. As long as you place your hand on it, it’ll determine the weight of the knowledge you have accrued within a certain period of time!

”Of course, it can only weigh into the knowledge one has accrued; it can’t analyze one’s thoughts, so there’s no need for you to worry! The one I’ve borrowed from the headquarters is an inferior good, but it is more than enough to check the number of books you have read.”

”Weigh one’s knowledge?”

”This... How incredible!”

”Indeed, this is amazing. As expected of an artifact from the headquarter!”

...

Upon hearing that this artifact was capable of assessing the amount of knowledge one had accrued, everyone was amazed.

”Usually, if a teacher instructs his student to study, even if the student lazes off, the teacher isn’t able to check. But with this artifact, he could simply weigh his student’s knowledge and determine whether his student has been diligent or not!”

”This is also the main reason why the Book of Emptied River was created.”

With a flick of his finger, a book appeared before everyone’s eyes.

The book was snowy-white in color and average in size. However, its very presence seemed to induce an intense spiritual energy disturbance in the surroundings, indicating that it was no ordinary artifact.

Placing the book on the table before him, Hong shi turned to the crowd and explained, ”The Book of Emptied River will emanate seven different colors depending on the amount of knowledge one has accrued within a specific period of time. The colors are namely red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet! Every rise in color equates to 800 books. Meaning... if the Book of Emptied River glows red, it means that you’ve passed the examination; if it glows orange, it means that you’ve managed to memorize the content of 1600 books, so on and so forth. Thus, you will come up one by one to touch the book!”

”To think that it would be so simple!”

”Given that the artifact was made by an 8-star master teacher, we have no qualms about the fairness of the test!”

Hearing Hong shi’s explanation, everyone came to a realization and nodded their heads.

Since it was a treasure from the headquarter, there was definitely no trouble at all.

”I’m done for...”

But contrary to everyone’s delight, Zhang Xuan’s vision went dark, and he nearly fainted on the spot.

If he’d known that he was going to be assessed by such an artifact, he would never have read so many books! In that two hours, the other competitors might have only read a few hundred to more than a thousand books, but he, by browsing through the books using his soul, had managed to read around 200,000 books...

He thought that the test would involve a few questions testing him on the content of the books, and he could easily keep a low profile... Who knew that everything would spiral out of his control so quickly? How was he supposed to keep a low profile like that?

There was no way he could make an artifact created by an 8-star master teacher lie for him!

What was he supposed to do now?

While Zhang Xuan was conflicted, Hong shi stroked his beard and asked the crowd, ”Alright, let’s begin the test. Who wants to go first?”

”This...”

Everyone glanced at one another, and after a moment of hesitation, everyone’s eyes suddenly turned to look at Zhang Xuan in unison.

”Why don’t we allow Zhang shi to go first again?”

”Indeed! Zhang shi, feel free to go first. We’re in no hurry at all!”

...

A few of them urged Zhang Xuan forward.

But before Zhang Xuan could reply, Hong shi, upon seeing the sight, staggered and nearly spewed blood.

Of course none of you will be in a hurry! All of you are just hoping that Zhang shi will cause some kind of trouble once more so that you can pass the test easily!

This might be good news to you... But how am I to account this matter to the Master Teacher Pavilion if such a farce were to occur once more!

With a reddened face, Hong shi immediately raised his hands and instructed, ”Alright, since no one has stepped forward, let’s go by age once more. But this time, we’ll start from the oldest!”

It wasn’t that Hong shi wanted to discriminate against Zhang shi, but this fellow... was simply too fearsome.

If he were to allow him to go up first, who knew what would happen to this Book of Emptied River.

At the very least, the Ghost Domain Illusory City and Otherworldly Demon belonged to him, so he could still bear the burden of them breaking. However, the Book of Emptied River was borrowed from the headquarter, and it had to be returned after the test!

”I’m going last?”

Not expecting even a 5-star master teacher to be so scared of him, Zhang Xuan shook his head, not knowing whether he should laugh or cry.

In any case, going first or last made no difference to him. All that mattered at the moment was for him to pass the test, so he didn’t pay too much heed to the matter.

Besides, he didn’t have the effort to be thinking about it either! The most urgent matter at hand was to figure out how he could hide the knowledge which he had just learned...

...

Hearing the decision made by Hong shi, Pavilion Master Kang and the others were also dumbstruck. Zhang shi, to be able to instill such fear into the host of the Master Teacher Tournament, sure is talented!

Now that the rules had been established, the rest was simple. The first participant to head up was the oldest master teacher of the group-a master teacher from Mingxia Empire.

This master teacher was also among the top ten of the list of contenders to look out for, and his cultivation had reached Clarifying Turbidity realm pinnacle. Upon hearing that he was to be up first, he started walking toward the Book of Emptied River.

Everyone’s eyes gathered on him.

Taking a deep breath, the master teacher placed his hand on the book momentarily before withdrawing it. The snowy-white book shook for an instant before a clear crisp sounded, and a red light shone.

”Red light, he has passed the test!”

”Wonderful!”

”To be able to weigh one’s knowledge, this artifact really is amazing!”

Seeing the Book of Emptied River in operation left everyone excited.

In their view, artifacts were mainly used in battle or to raise one cultivation. This was their first time seeing an artifact capable of testing one’s knowledge.

Hong shi nodded his head in commendation as he asked, ”How many books did you read?”

”Reporting to Hong shi, I’ve read a total of 1238 books!” the master teacher replied.

”Un, not bad!” Hong shi complimented before announcing the result. ”Mingxia Empire’s Liu Quan has passed the test. Next, Hengsha Empire’s Zhang Mingzhi.”

Hearing his name being called, a young man stepped forward-Zhang Mingzhi. Even though he was the second oldest among all of the master teachers gathered here, his cultivation was only at Transcendent Mortal 4-dan primary stage, and he was ranked at the lower end of the group.

Walking to the Book of Emptied River, he placed his river on it.

But different from before, the Book of Emptied River didn’t react at all. It was as if his hands had never touched it.

”It seems like he failed to read 800 books!”

After waiting a moment later and confirming that there was no reaction from the Book of Emptied River, everyone shook their heads.

”I have only read 771 books,” Zhang Mingzhi explained with a bitter smile.

He thought that since he was just a little off from reaching 800, he might be able to smoke his way through. But from the looks of it now, it was impossible to fool the Book of Emptied River.

”Un!” Hong shi nodded. ”Zhang Mingzhi has failed the test and he’ll be eliminated from the tournament. Next...”

After the first two participants, everyone got a better understanding of the mystical effects of the Book of Emptied River. Following which, based on their age, the master teachers tested the number of books they have read one by one.

Two hours later, all 53 participants, with the exception of Zhang Xuan, had been tested.

This Wisdom test wasn’t as simple as it seemed. In total, seventeen people were eliminated, and after some questioning, all of them had failed to memorize 800 books. In fact, there was one who memorized 799 books, but the Book of Emptied River still deemed him to have failed, and he could only leave in disappointment.

”The results of the Book of Emptied River sure are accurate!”

Seeing how the Book of Emptied River could gauge the difference of even a single book, the crowd couldn’t help but be impressed by its accuracy.

As expected of a treasure from the headquarters, it was indeed fearsome!

Of the 35 people who had passed the test, the one with the best result at the moment wasn’t Luo Xuan nor Liao Wuzhi. Surprisingly, it was one of Zhang Xuan’s acquaintance... Song Chao!

During his test, the Book of Emptied River actually emanated an orange glow... this meant that he had memorized a total of 1600 books!

To be able to memorize so many books in just two hours, his memorization ability was nothing short of monstrous.

Even Zhang Xuan was surprised by his results.

Even though that fellow looked a little slow on the surface, he didn’t expect him to have such a good memory.

Ruohuan gongzi’s result of 1200 or so books was also amongst the forefront.

”Last but not least, Zhang shi!”

Following Hong shi’s declaration, everyone turned their eyes to the troublemaking young man.

”Zhang shi is about to be assessed. I’m really curious to see what his results will be!”

”I don’t think he’ll fare too well in this test. I took a look at him during the test just now, and all he did over the course of the test was take out a book and go into a daze... Under such circumstances, it will be difficult for him to achieve good results!”

”I think so too, but... No matter what, this is Zhang shi! Given his astounding results in the previous two tests, I find it hard to believe that he will be eliminated in this round!”

”Let’s wait and see then...”

...

After the previous two tests, Zhang Xuan had already become the center of attention. Everyone was curious to see how the fellow who smashed the previous two tests would fare in this one.

Seeing that he couldn’t hide any further, Zhang Xuan walked forward with a depressed look.

He had been wracking his brain over this problem throughout the entire duration, but he still couldn’t find a feasible solution to it.

”Forget it, I’ll just have to get it done with...”

Knowing that it was impossible for him to avoid it, Zhang Xuan could only muster his courage and step forward. He placed his hand on the Book of Emptied River and retracted it quickly.

Then, he stared at the book, curious to see what color it would glow.