Chapter 584: The Divine Sense Reading Method

Under Zhang Xuan's gaze, the River-Sifting Book before him remained motionless, as if it had never been touched.

"Why no reaction? Could it be... he didn't pass?"

"No way... If that's true, he's in trouble..."

"Yeah, but... Master Zhang is so formidable, how could he not have memorized 800 books?"

After waiting a while and seeing no response from the River-Sifting Book, everyone was stunned.

No light meant the content he had just memorized did not exceed 800 books!

Failing to meet this mark left only one path... elimination!

In other words, no matter how extraordinary his performance in the first two rounds, he would not qualify for the next competition.

This couldn't be!

"What a pity! I thought Master Zhang was so formidable that he would surely go all the way, even break into the top ten. I never expected... he would stumble here!"

"He didn't even reach 800 books—truly surprising!"

"When he was daydreaming while reading, we should have known this would happen..."

A clamor arose, some expressing regret, others gloating.

Given his extraordinary performance in the first two rounds, this Master Zhang seemed poised to reach the top ranks. No one expected him to be eliminated in this round.

"This..." Hall Master Kang and Master Su felt their minds explode, on the verge of tears.

They had been worried that Master Zhang would cause more trouble, but instead... he didn't pass!

Didn't that mean all their previous hopes were dashed?

His face dark, after a long pause, Hall Master Kang couldn't help shaking his head: "At the end of the day, Master Zhang... is still too young!"

Though he had a formidable teacher and talent, he still couldn't hold steady in the face of a real test!

He sighed, his expression desolate, as if he had aged ten years in an instant.

He had invested immense effort in this competition, hoping that Zhang Xuan's sudden rise could reverse the decline of the Ten Nations Alliance. But now... it was just a pipe dream, as before!

The crowd's expressions varied. Master Hong also staggered, feeling frantic.

Who was this?

A student of Master Yang!

Though the first two rounds had left him flustered and disoriented, he still felt it was only natural.

A personal disciple of an eight-star master teacher—if he were like everyone else, keeping a low profile, how could he live up to his teacher?

And now, he was eliminated...

Hall Master Mo had left behind high-grade spirit stones earlier precisely to help Master Zhang win first place, so he could reward him and also secure a favor...

But now, not only did he not win the championship, he didn't even pass the selection. If he went to the Hongyuan Empire, would Hall Master Mo, in a fit of rage, slap him to death?

And even if Master Yang didn't hold it against him, causing such a mess was still a dereliction of duty!

Tears streaming, he was about to cry.

If he passed, he was miserable; if he didn't pass, he was even more miserable!

As the host of the prestigious Master Teacher Competition, ending up like this was certainly a first in history.

But since the result was already out, saying more was useless; otherwise, the selection would lose its meaning. Master Hong had to steel himself: "The River-Sifting Book did not shine, indicating that Master Zhang did not pass. Now, let me explain the content of the fourth round..."

Just as he was about to announce the rules for the next round, he saw everyone in the audience staring wide-eyed, as if they had seen a ghost.

"What's wrong?"

Full of doubt, he turned to look and was also stunned on the spot.

The River-Sifting Book, not far away, had somehow floated into the air, glowing with a red light.

Just as he wondered why the red light was different from others, the light shifted to orange, then yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple...

In an instant, it was as if a kaleidoscope had opened before them, or the most beautiful fireworks, flickering without end.

"Seven... colors?"

Standing there, Master Hong was completely bewildered.

He had seen red, orange, yellow, and green flashes, but... seven colors alternating—what the hell?

Could it be that while measuring, the River-Sifting Book got happy and decided to flash a few colors to celebrate?

Or maybe, like a person, it had a brain freeze and just crashed?

But... there was never a precedent for this!

"Could it be that after Master Zhang finished, the River-Sifting Book analyzed for a long time... and only now reacted?" someone in the crowd suddenly shouted.

"Reacted after so long? Really?"

"No way. For the River-Sifting Book to take this long to react, how many books did he memorize?"

Hearing this, the crowd erupted in clamor.

If it were anyone else, they would surely dismiss it as nonsense, but this Master Zhang... it was indeed possible.

This guy had collapsed the Ghost Domain Phantom City, talked an alien to suicide, and now making the River-Sifting Book turn into fireworks and malfunction—it wasn't impossible...

Crack!

Amid the commotion, a sharp sound came from the stage. The River-Sifting Book, which had been flashing repeatedly, suddenly cracked, fell from the air, and broke in two.

"Ah..."

Seeing the precious River-Sifting Book shatter, everyone was first shocked, then seemed to understand something, suddenly enlightened.

"Now I can confirm that what I said earlier was right!"

"Yeah, it must be Master Zhang's doing; otherwise, how could it break?"

If there had been any doubt about whether Master Zhang caused the fireworks, now it was absolutely certain—it was one hundred percent his doing!

This guy had a track record; if not him, then who?

It seemed... Master Hong would surely cry again. Breaking something borrowed from headquarters—the severity of the offense was easy to imagine.

Thinking this, everyone looked at the old man on stage with sympathy.

Just as they were about to offer a word of comfort, they saw something that made their eyes widen again.

Master Hong, upon seeing the River-Sifting Book crack, was not at all anxious or sad. Instead, his eyes shone with excitement, his face flushed with emotion, as if he was about to jump for joy.

What was going on?

Wasn't this borrowed from headquarters? Shouldn't he be very upset and dejected that it was broken? Why was he trembling with excitement, as if he had taken an aphrodisiac?

"Uh... What's wrong with Master Hong? In the first two rounds, when Master Zhang broke things, he was unhappy. Why is he so excited this time?" Zhao Feiwu was also puzzled.

"Probably... probably..." Hall Master Kang choked for a moment: "He's gotten used to it!"

"Used to it?"

Master Hong, who was brimming with excitement, stumbled.

Others get used to good things; getting used to breaking things—what a big heart that must take!

The reason he was happy was naturally not because he was used to it, but because... Master Zhang hadn't been eliminated!

Though the River-Sifting Book was precious, compared to angering Hall Master Mo by eliminating Master Zhang, the latter was certainly more serious.

Choosing the lesser of two evils—since Master Zhang was fine, he wouldn't offend Hall Master Mo or Master Yang, so naturally he was overjoyed.

But... as the host of the Master Teacher Competition, being happy about breaking his own things—he was certainly unique.

"Red light means memorizing 800 books, orange means 1600, and so on... Just now, red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple flashed in succession... Master Zhang, how many books did you actually memorize?"

Suppressing his excess negative emotions, Master Hong looked at the young man not far away, full of curiosity.

According to calculations, memorizing 5600 books would show purple light. Not only did this guy show it, but he also made it look like fireworks, and even caused this low-grade River-Sifting Book to shatter from the strain...

How many books did you read to produce such an extraordinary result?

Others also thought of this and looked over in unison, their faces full of curiosity.

"How many books?"

Zhang Xuan rubbed his brow.

It was exactly what he had been dreading.

He had been agonizing over this for so long precisely because he feared this situation. In the end, it still came.

If he told the truth—that in one hour, while others memorized about a thousand books, he had memorized over two hundred thousand—would this man be scared to death?

"Ahem, I didn't count either. Probably around ten to twenty thousand..." Embarrassed, he directly reduced it to a tenth.

"Ten to twenty thousand?"

Everyone was startled.

Others struggled with seven or eight hundred, and he had multiplied that by over ten times. Was he even human?

"That's not right. There are only five thousand books on the shelves. During the test, I specifically watched—you were just standing there daydreaming, barely flipping through any books. How could you have memorized so much?"

A master teacher in the crowd shouted.

This guy had been staring blankly from the start, like an idiot, and had only turned a few pages. How could he have memorized all the content on the shelves?

Besides, there were only five thousand books on the shelves. Where did you get ten to twenty thousand?

"Well..."

Scratching his head, Zhang Xuan didn't know how to answer. But having seen the world, he coughed: "This is a special reading method taught by my teacher... It allows one to read without opening the books! As for the extra... I finished all these books, saw there was still time, so I also read some books from my storage ring..."

When explanations failed, he blamed his teacher. Since he had a 'big backer,' he wasn't afraid of being investigated.

"Read without opening the books?"

The crowd was baffled.

The words were printed inside the books; how could one read without opening them? Did he have X-ray vision?

Did such a method exist in the world?

Was it real or fake?

Why had they never heard of it?

"Could it be... could it be... How is this possible?"

The crowd was puzzled and somewhat incredulous, but Master Hong on stage trembled, his face pale, his voice hoarse.

"Master Hong, have you heard of this method of reading without opening books?"

A master teacher couldn't help asking.

Others also looked over.

Among the crowd, the most knowledgeable was certainly the man on stage. As a true five-star master teacher and a super-strong cultivator at the Sixth Level of Mortal Transformation, his cultivation and experience were beyond compare.

"I have heard of it..."

Hearing the question, Master Hong recovered from his shock and looked at Zhang Xuan again, as if recalling someone, with even more reverence and gravity.

"I once had the fortune to attend a lecture by Hall Master Mo of the Hongyuan Empire. He mentioned this situation once, and I happened to remember it. If I'm not mistaken, it should be..."

"...the Divine Sense Reading Method, which only a Saint realm second level expert can achieve!"