Martial Saint through Reading

Chu Ming looked at the book in his palm, about halfway through, and felt more and more that it was unbelievable.

The contents of the Mountain Scripture, though they appeared to be about human culture, geography, and the strange creatures of mountains and seas, held a power in their study that he had never expected.

Not only had it formed a new lake of his own, but his strength had soared, and he’d even deduced a Strong Bone Realm Technique.

After a brief adjustment, Chu Ming continued to study the Mountain Scripture.

The bridge between the two lakes in his mind still existed, but the resonance between them was no longer as intense as before. The Cultivation Technique Lake had returned to calm, with only the occasional bubble rising up.

The Lake of the Mountain Scripture, however, rippled continuously. As his reading progressed, the ripples strikingly began to transform into waves.

The Cultivation Technique Lake hardly reacted, but the travelogues, storybooks, scriptures, and even fragments of Poetry, Politics, and Military that Chu Ming had read seemed attracted, falling into the Lake of the Mountain Scripture one after another.

In an instant, the ripples atop the Mountain Scripture Lake vanished, replaced by surging white waves.

The waves collided, lake water burst forth, and mist filled the air, coalescing above the lake into a white floating cloud.

At the very moment the white cloud formed, the interface changed once more.

[Reading: Nothing Escapes the Eye]

[Progress: 1/100]

[Effect: Ten lines at a glance, photographic memory, integration, inference, nothing escapes the eye]

The [Reading] skill at Perfection Level had changed, or rather, it had broken through its former constraints, and a fifth effect had appeared.

What’s more, there was no Minor Success, Great Success distinction—very much like the [Calligraphy and Painting] skill. It appeared to be able to rise without end.

"Nothing Escapes the Eye..."

Chu Ming’s eyes deepened and shone with light. As his gaze dropped to the pages of the Mountain and Sea Great Wilderness Scripture·Mountain Scripture, he was almost flipping a page with every blink.

Dozens of lines of Ancient Armor Script per page, and with a single glance, he had memorized them all.

He might not immediately understand every meaning, but these characters would fall into the Lake of the Mountain Scripture, where through dismantling and recombination, they would slowly be transformed into words he could understand.

The special breakthrough effect of [Reading], Nothing Escapes the Eye, made his reading speed many times faster than the original "Ten lines at a glance"!

"With this ability, many things can be sped up."

There was still a little left unread in Poetry, Politics, and Military, as well as row upon row of volumes in Wenlan Hall, plus all the works of the Great Qin Dynasty...

"Still, I can’t read them all. Need to ask Mr. Shen which books are truly worth reading when I have time."

Even with Nothing Escapes the Eye, wanting to finish all the books in Wenlan Hall would probably require a great deal of time.

Chu Ming lifted his head for a quick scan, then lowered his gaze again, continuing to flip through the Mountain Scripture.

The Ancient Armor Script after the halfway mark in the Mountain Scripture became increasingly cryptic and complex; so much so that, despite the translation by the text lake, it was still difficult to keep up with his reading speed.

The meaning of the Ancient Shell Script would need time to extrapolate, but for now, he could simply memorize the content.

Soon after, when Chu Ming closed the Mountain Scripture, his expression had grown grave.

He had finished reading the whole Mountain Scripture, and the text had been interpreted to about thirty percent.

That thirty percent essentially expounded the entire geography and human culture of the Nine Hordes Kingdom in detail.

And not just the Nine Hordes Kingdom; this third also touched on a dozen or more surrounding countries and races bordering the Nine Hordes.

Some were adjacent to the Great Qin Dynasty; others had no interaction with Great Qin at all—hadn’t even been heard of, perhaps.

It was fine for the kingdoms—they were all human—but the other races, that was another matter.

Thus, Chu Ming had a general understanding of the situation facing the Great Qin Dynasty.

To the west, the bloodthirsty and brutal Nine Hordes Kingdom.

To the north, the warlike Xue Di, with bodies half-human and half-beast, possessing immense strength.

As for the south and east, nothing had yet appeared.

Beyond this, Chu Ming also found introductions to many strange and evil beings.

These evil beings were not nations or races; they did not exist beyond the dynasty.

Instead, they existed within the dynasty—possibly even at one’s side, anywhere.

The Great Qin Dynasty had a special organization to deal with the evil supernatural, named the Divine Mystery Bureau. The people in it did not temper their bodies with Qi Blood, but cultivated certain arts to repel evil—they were known as Refiners of Deceit.

Chu Ming understood: perhaps they were akin to Qi Refiners, or maybe Warlocks.

But this was only a guess; the Divine Mystery Bureau only existed in major county cities and the capital. Whenever there was evil somewhere, these Refiners of Deceit would appear. Normally, they rarely showed themselves.

Evils were hard to exterminate. Ordinary people who encountered them might be gravely ill at best; at worst, they could lose their minds for life, or even die.

Martial Artists who trained their Qi and Blood fared better—the stronger their Qi and Blood Power, the better they could intimidate these evils and fend them off. But even that was merely a defense—they still couldn’t destroy them.

To eradicate them required the Refiners of Deceit from the Divine Mystery Bureau.

Luckily, such evils were extremely rare; for all the time Chu Ming had been here, he’d never heard of one turning up anywhere.

"Nine Hordes, Xue Di, evil..."

With more and more content being deciphered, the value of Mountain and Sea Great Wilderness Scripture·Mountain Scripture became all the more apparent.

No wonder Liu Sitong and Feng Yuan had promised to recommend him for office, seeking to keep him here.

At this thought, Chu Ming found his answer.

"To become an official..."

He took out Liu Sitong’s jade token, gave it a glance, and slipped it back into his garments.

At that very moment—

"Hey—hey—Feng Yuan, Lord Feng, what brings you to Wenlan Hall?"

From outside came Shen Yu’s voice, loud and clear. It was obviously deliberate—a signal to him.

The Mountain Scripture was a classified text, accessible only to a select few, and certainly did not include someone in Chu Ming’s current position.

Shen Yu was using Wenlan Hall as a cover to bring out the Mountain and Sea Great Wilderness Scripture·Mountain Scripture for Chu Ming to study, which was actually crossing a line.

Chu Ming’s brow twitched, but without a change in expression, he quietly put away the hand-copied book and the Mountain Scripture, randomly took a book from the shelf, flipped through a few pages, and walked toward the doorway.

"Shen Yu, why are you dragging me? Is Chu Ming in Wenlan Hall?" Feng Yuan looked anxious.

"He’s... not here..."

Shen Yu’s gaze darted, one hand gripping Feng Yuan’s sleeve, the other clutching a teapot—a clear warning to advance no further or it would be smashed down.

But Feng Yuan ignored him, shook Shen Yu off, and strode forward in big steps.

Shen Yu staggered with the momentum, tumbling to the ground. "Ouch—ow..."

Feng Yuan halted, then reluctantly turned back to help, but as soon as he got Shen Yu up, he found his sleeve clutched with an iron grip.

"Mr. Shen—I’m just looking for Chu Ming, why are you...?"

He couldn’t understand it. Shen Yu usually gave him either the cold shoulder or sarcasm. But today, again and again... playing the bullying elder?

Wrinkles twitched on Shen Yu’s face as he gripped Feng Yuan with one hand and held his back with the other, muttering, "Feng Yuan—Lord Feng—with all your airs, bullying an old man like me, eh?"

This was Mr. Shen?

Why did he seem more like an old rascal...?

Feng Yuan’s mouth twitched.

Huh? Wait a minute!

Shen Yu was stalling for time!

Feng Yuan’s brow shot up, but immediately he sensed something wrong.

He was only here for Chu Ming—so why was Shen Yu delaying him?

What was Chu Ming doing inside?!

"Mr. Shen, Lord Feng."

Just then, a youth’s voice rang out.

Chu Ming walked out, a book in his hands, bowing in greeting.

When Shen Yu heard the voice, he jerked his head up. Seeing that Chu Ming held only an ordinary book, his tense expression relaxed with a quiet sigh of relief.

Feng Yuan, however, had just suffered a jolt and had nearly stumbled to the floor.

He barely managed to regain his footing, when a familiar, coldly mocking voice called out—

"Lord Feng, the floors of our Wenlan Hall are perfectly flat."

I...