Chapter 248: He Is Running!
Chapter 248: He Is Running!
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: - -
"This is impossible..."
The moment the thought appeared in her mind, Shen Bi Ru shook her head vigorously.
She had once read on an ancient manual that in the Upper Nine Paths, other than the commonly seen occupations such as blacksmith, apothecary, and formation master, there was another mysterious occupation, seer.
Seers are skilled in divination. Using special methods, they are able to foresee the events that would happen in the near future and then make preparations for it in advance.
If Zhang Xuan were a seer, it would have been completely possible for him to know the questions in advance and flip through the corresponding books to memorize the correct answers. But if so, he didn't need to browse through all of the books in the library.
Could it be that Zhang laoshi possess talents in this mysterious occupation? If that was the case, that explained why Zhang Xuan was able to answer her questions outside the Compendium Pavilion perfectly back then.
That also explained why he knew that Yun Tao's formation couldn't confine the Gold Alloyed Panther... Now that she thought of it, this might really be the case!
Just that...
This occupation exists only in the legends. According to the ratio stated in the books, out of billions of cultivators, there might not even be a single seer. Given the absurd rarity of the occupation, nearly no one has ever seen a seer.
If Zhang Xuan possessed such abilities, he could have avoided scoring a zero in his Teacher Qualification Examination, and he wouldn't have suffered so much afterward either.
Besides, divination only allows one to foresee the rough outline of affairs that is about to happen. It is impossible to peer into the specific questions of the examinations and make preparations for them beforehand!
Shen Bi Ru's eyebrows knitted tightly together as she mused over the matter. The more she thought about it, the more confused she became.
She thought that she knew this Zhang laoshi well, but from the looks of it, all she had seen was just the tip of the glacier.
After deriving nothing at all after a long period of contemplation, her curiosity toward Zhang laoshi grew.
At this moment, she finally understood why Han Qiong said she wasn't worthy of the other party. While she was beautiful and possessed quite some talent, Zhang Xuan was simply out of her league.
As her thoughts were wandering around the place, Zhu Jinhuang and Zhou Xuan were staring at Zhang Xuan's back with widened eyes.
"This fellow... Is he mad? To only start reading right before the examination?"
"There must be something wrong with his head. What use is there to browse through books now?"
The two of them muttered as they sneaked glances toward Mo Yu. There were deep creases on her forehead, and it was a mystery to them what she was thinking about.
They were about to walk up to fawn on her when their goddess turned around and walked in the library’s direction.
"Mo Yu xiaojie..." The duo hurriedly followed behind her.
"Stay here! I will break the legs of whoever who follows me!"
Harrumphing coldly, Mo Yu turned around and headed straight for the library.
"Damn it, damn it!"
Hearing Princess Mo Yu berate the two of them because of a fellow she had just met, Zhu Jinhuang and Zhou Xuan's faces reddened in anger.
But before their rage could burn for long, Mo Yu xiaojie returned to the examination hall. She was muttering something beneath her breath, and there was a bizarre expression on her face.
The two of them stared at one another in confusion. They were curious about what she was saying, but fearful of angering the other party, they could only remain where they were and scratch their heads in frustration.
After a short period, they finally came to the limit of their patience. Zhu Jinhuang beckoned a guard over and whispered into his ear.
The guard then circled around the room and appeared behind Mo Yu. After listening in to her words for a moment, he returned with an equally bizarre expression.
"What did Princess Mo Yu say?"
Upon the guard's return, the duo asked anxiously.
"She... kept saying flipping through books, flipping through books, flipping through books... As for her other words, I didn't manage to catch them!"
The guard scratched his head.
"Flipping through books?"
Zhu Jinhuang and Zhou Xuan stared at one another. They could see bewilderment in each other's faces, and at the same time, a thought appeared in their minds...
Can it be that... their goddess has gone insane?
...
Oblivious to the fact that the goddess of the duo was in a frenzy because of him, Zhang Xuan was, at the moment, engaged the action which Mo Yu kept mumbling about, flipping through books.
He thought that there would at most be tens of thousand of books on beast taming here. However, upon walking into the library, he realized how childish his thoughts were. Looking at the dense congregation of books around him, there was surely no less than several hundred thousand books.
Even though it wasn't as large as Tianxuan Kingdom's Book Collection Vault, it wasn't far from it.
If he were to use his usual method, several days would have passed before he could manage to flip through them all.
He thought that the beast tamer examination would be easy, and that he would be able to finish it swiftly. If he were to spend several days flipping through books, even if he doesn’t go mad, Hall Master Feng and the others waiting outside would go mad.
Usually, people only spend a maximum of four hours to adjust their state of mind for examinations. If he were to take several days at a single go and emerge with bloodshot eyes, everyone would realise that something is amiss.
"But if I don't flip through all of these books, the Library of Heaven's Path won't be able to compile a corresponding book. If the knowledge within that book which I missed out were to be tested, I will fail the examination..."
Zhang Xuan frowned. "If so, I wouldn't be able to enjoy the free rental that beast tamers enjoy..."
Even though Zhang Xuan possessed over ten million gold coins in his storage ring, he had already cultivated frugal habits as a result of being an average librarian in his previous life... If he has the chance to save money, he would definitely seize it!
This was no longer a matter of money, but principles!
"The Library of Heaven's Path allows me to view the information and flaws of an object just by touching it. If I were to touch this bookshelf... Will the content of the books on it appear as well?"
Going by his usual pace, it would be impossible for him to finish flipping through so many books within a few hours. Thus, he had to look for another method. With a deep frown on his forehead, an idea suddenly appeared in his head.
With a touch of his finger, he was able to compile a book on any objects, unconscious people, and unconscious savage beasts.
Since these books were placed on a bookshelf, was it possible for all of the content of the books to appear in the Library of Heaven's Path just by touching the bookshelf?
"I should give it a try!"
Zhang Xuan walked up to a bookshelf, touched the bookshelf, and mentally echoed 'flaws'.
Hu!
The library jolted and a book appeared. Flipping it open, Zhang Xuan's body swayed and he nearly vomited blood.
Written in the book is: Xuanluo Mountain Range Beast Hall 3rd row bookshelf. Crafted by a 1-mo craftsman using camphor wood. It has 37 years of...
"This is not what I want..."
Zhang Xuan nearly burst into tears.
Clearly, only when an object comes into direct contact in his hands would information and flaws be generated. There were no shortcuts around it.
"Un? That's not right. If information is generated when an object comes in contact with my fingers, then... even if I don't flip through these books, just by touching it, a corresponding book should be compiled as well, right?"
Before long, another thought popped into Zhang Xuan's mind.
The duration of contact didn't matter. As long as Zhang Xuan willed for the flaws of an object to be shown, a book would be compiled. If so, it should be possible for Zhang Xuan to compile corresponding books just by brief contact.
"I should try it out..."
Zhang Xuan walked over to a pile of books and, yelling 'flaws' in his head, his fingers slid past over them.
Huhuhu!
Zhang Xuan was still considering whether its usefulness when the library jolted, a pile of new books appearing in his consciousness.
"It works?"
Zhang Xuan's face reddened in agitation. He flipped open the compiled book quickly, and verified that the content of the original book was imprinted perfectly on it along with the various flaws.
"It's workable!"
Crying tears of happiness, Zhang Xuan carried out several more tries more in order to confirm the situation.
As long as he willed for flaws to appear, he would be able to duplicate the books his fingers slid past in the Library of Heaven's Path.
This was more than a hundred times faster than flipping through the books.
Zhang Xuan was able to flip through more than a dozen books at once, but retrieving and returning the books from and to the shelves consumed much of his time. Now that Zhang Xuan had confirmed that he could duplicate a book just by touching it, he could slide his fingers over the books without even moving the books from their original positions. As such, he was able to compile an entire shelf of books in less than a minute.
However, due to the rapid pace of collecting the books, the intense tremor in the library would cause Zhang Xuan's head to hurt. He was therefore unable to compile all of the books at a single go. Usually, after duplicating the books on several shelves, he would have to take a rest.
Even so, his speed was much faster than before.
At his current pace, he would only need around two hours to finish duplicating all of the books present.
"Let's go!"
Zhang Xuan was delighted at finding an efficient way in collecting books. As he mentally yelled 'flaws', he ran alongside the shelves as his fingers slid on the books.
After finishing a row, he would double check the books in the Library of Heaven's Path to see if he had missed out any. If so, he would return to add it in.
As he collected more and more books, Zhang Xuan's understanding toward beast taming increased swiftly.
...
"Hall Master Feng, are you done preparing the papers?"
In the room, Beast Tamer Lu and Beast Tamer Wang, upon seeing Hall Master Feng walk over, turned to look at him.
"Un!" Hall Master Feng nodded his head. "Characteristics of hundreds of savage beasts are tested in this examination, and I hadn’t gone easy on him at all. If he can answer all of these questions accurately, then his proficiency in beast taming is truly incredible."
"Since he is able to identify the Ancient Lightning Cloud Sparrow, he should be well-versed in the knowledge of savage beasts. I think that there's a high probability of him passing the examination." Beast Tamer Lu said.
"Indeed. Our Beast Hall often ranks among the last in the competition because of our remote location and lack of talents. If a genius were to appear in our Beast Hall and win the competition, we might be able to successfully advance to become a 3-star beast tamer as part of the rewards!"
Hall Master Feng's eyes glowed in excitement.
"That's right. But we shouldn't rush the matter, let's wait for the results of the examination first!" Beast Tamer Wang said. "Honestly speaking, I think that Yun Tao had exaggerated his achievements. I find it hard to believe that a person can tame a Pixue realm savage beast within ten minutes!"
"I also find it hard to believe, but I've questioned Yun Tao's subordinates as well. All of their replies are the same, and they don't seem to be lying. Even if he isn't as amazing as Yun Tao put him out to be, he probably isn't too far from it."
Beast Tamer Lu replied.
"No matter what, this is an opportunity. If he disappoints us, we will just have to continue looking for another candidate. Ah right, is Zhang Xuan still browsing through books in the library?"
At this moment, Hall Master Feng suddenly noticed Zhang Xuan's absence and frowned.
"He isn't out yet!" Beast Tamer Lu nodded.
"Xiao Zhu, you take a look!"
Hall Master Feng commanded.
Xiao Zhu was an apprentice which was currently learning beast taming under him. Hearing his commands, Xiao Zhu rushed into the library. Then a moment later, he returned with a flushed face. He opened his mouth to speak, only to close it hesitantly.
"Why? Is he still browsing through books?"
Upon seeing the expression on his apprentice, Hall Master Feng frowned in confusion. For his usually calm apprentice to behave in such a manner, what could have happened?
"That's not it..."
With an awkward expression, Xiao Zhu said, "H-he is in the library... running!"