Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 311 - Provoked

Liu Wuxie's words were brilliant as he dragged Zhu Sheng out, using his identity as a Law Enforcement Hall's disciple to resolve this crisis.

If Zhu Sheng did nothing, it would be a dereliction of duty. But if he intervened, it would be equivalent to helping Liu Wuxie.

Naturally, this frustrated Zhu Sheng and thoughts of killing Liu Wuxie crossed his mind.

"Hold it right there!" Zhu Sheng didn't dare act too outrageously in front of so many people. As a disciple of Law Enforcement Hall, he couldn't sit by and watch someone snatching others' possessions.

Lin Mingxu stopped, no longer daring to pick up Liu Wuxie's medal. The situation turned bizarre, and it was puzzling why Zhu Sheng would help Liu Wuxie.

However, only some understood that Liu Wuxie's move was perfect for resolving the situation.

"Are you a priority disciple?" Zhu Sheng turned to look at Liu Wuxie with his sharp gaze.

"Absolutely!" Liu Wuxie smiled with a hint of mockery hanging on his lips. No one doubted his words this time because Lin Mingxu and Gongsun Zhen had confirmed his identity as a priority disciple.

"All the best to you!" Zhu Sheng waved his hand. Not only did he fail to detain Liu Wuxie, but he was manipulated by him. Naturally, it frustrated him, but now wasn't the moment for him to make trouble for Liu Wuxie. There would be plenty of chances for him to deal with Liu Wuxie.

He was inexplicably swept into this matter and had become a tool in Liu Wuxie's hand. It was natural that Zhu Sheng couldn't take this lying down.

"Deacon, can I go in now?" Liu Wuxie didn't know that Zhu Sheng was already holding a grudge against him, so he turned to look at Deacon Kou.

Deacon Kou didn't dare make things difficult for Liu Wuxie with so many people around. He took out a brush and paper to register before glaring at Liu Wuxie fiercely.

"Go in!" Deacon Kou said reluctantly, with a myriad of thoughts crossing his mind. He naturally couldn't take it down to be embarrassed by Liu Wuxie with so many people present.

Liu Wuxie entered the Book Collection Hall under countless, watchful gazes. He first saw a huge arched hall designed like a tower, with a giant pillar in the center supporting the entire hall.

The Book Collection Hall had eight stairs, allowing simultaneous access to the top, and the entire building had ten floors.

The first and second floors were open to outer disciples, the third and fourth floors to inner disciples, the fifth and sixth floors to core disciples, the seventh and eighth floors to true disciples, and the final two floors held the secrets of the sect.

True disciples had to pay points to access knowledge in the Book Collection Hall. The higher the floor, the fewer the books. The first to fourth floors had the most books, with their numbers decreasing exponentially on the upper floors.

Liu Wuxie was an outer disciple who could only stay on the first and second floors. Time was also limited, and Liu Wuxie plunged into the sea of books when he came in.

The first floor had tens of thousands of books, which would commonly take months to read. But with Ghost Eye, Liu Wuxie could absorb knowledge rapidly like a sponge.

When he picked up a book, he began flipping through it rapidly with words pouring into his soul sea. If someone read books this way, their soul sea would burst in less than two hours.

However, Liu Wuxie's soul sea was extraordinary, and even someone in the Heavenly Dipper Realm might be unable to compete with him in terms of soul sea.

While others read books individually, Liu Wuxie had already read over a dozen in the blink of an eye. It only took him three breaths to read a book, and he stored the knowledge he read for later digestion when he returned to his courtyard.

Countless words appeared in his soul sea, converging and merging similar knowledge while filtering out useless information.

What a mighty soul sea! This should be Ghost Eye's hidden function, Liu Wuxie thought. Upon reaching a higher level, Ghost Eye would possess unpredictable means.

Liu Wuxie's actions naturally drew the attention of countless people. They had never seen anyone scanning so many books. He had already read over a few hundred books in fifteen minutes.

If this continued, Liu Wuxie could read tens of thousands of books daily. Even if he couldn't read all the books on the first floor, he could finish at least one-third of the books here.

As time passed, Liu Wuxie's speed in flipping through the books increased. This was because most of the knowledge overlapped with what he had already read.

"What is he doing? Is he just flipping through the books?" News began to spread, and a group soon followed behind Liu Wuxie, who was watching from a distance.

But Liu Wuxie ignored those behind him and was immersed in the world of books. His soul sea still had no signs of swelling, and this meant he could carry on absorbing knowledge from books.

"I have no idea what the sect was thinking about choosing a fool like him as a priority disciple." A mocking voice came from behind, originating from Lin Mingxu. He was intentionally trying to provoke Liu Wuxie.

If he acted first, he would leave behind evidence to be used against him. But the sect wouldn't interfere if both parties fought willingly.

Liu Wuxie was already used to such pointless provocations, so he carried on reading. Four hours passed, and news of a 'book maniac' spread.

Liu Wuxie spent the entire morning reading over ten thousand books on the first floor but still wanted more. Looking at the remaining books, he raised his head to the second floor.

The books on the first floor mainly covered unusual events, geographical magazines, cultivation rankings, grades of spiritual herbs, and shallow knowledge of alchemy and blacksmithing.

Through an entire morning of reading, Liu Wuxie had a rough understanding of the True Martial Continent. As for alchemy and blacksmithing knowledge, Liu Wuxie mostly skimmed through them.

Liu Wuxie headed towards the second floor, where the books contained more advanced knowledge. Many people followed behind him, heading towards the second floor with him.

The second level was smaller than the first, with only a few people present. Access to the third floor was restricted, with only inner disciples permitted to enter through the west entrance.

Liu Wuxie entered the second floor without resting and began flipping through the books, instantly causing an uproar as everyone put down their books.

Those following behind Liu Wuxie were constantly making records, and Liu Wuxie had flipped through over twenty thousand books since entering.

An ordinary person might not be able to read so many books in three years. After all, the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion had accumulated these books throughout the years.

Many disciples had spent decades at the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion and still hadn't read half the books. Yet, Liu Wuxie managed to read ten years' worth of books in less than a day.

Time passed quickly, and Liu Wuxie had read over ten thousand books on the second floor. He also felt a faint swelling sensation in his mind. This was a sign that his soul sea had reached the limit, and he would injure it if he continued reading.

Liu Wuxie's action had finally angered everyone, especially the disciples on the second floor. Most of them were in the higher levels of the True Core Realm and resided in the upper region.

Liu Wuxie had interrupted their desire to read, and a few of them were filled with murderous intent.

Liu Wuxie stretched his back and massaged his head. His soul sea was still filled with countless words overlapping together. He planned to return in a week to finish reading the remaining books.

"Brat, are you tired of living to disturb the order of the Book Collection Hall?" a disciple in the seventh level of the True Core Realm roared and looked at Liu Wuxie viciously.

The sound of Liu Wuxie flipping through the books might have affected others, but most people ignored it because it wasn't serious. However, some took the lead and caused trouble for Liu Wuxie, making everyone gloat.

Liu Wuxie's name had long spread in a small circle. They had learned that he had offended Deacon Kou and a Law Enforcement Hall disciple, which meant his future in the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion would be difficult.

Hearing their remarks, Liu Wuxie frowned with a hint of anger. He had minimized the noise of flipping through books so that only those close to him could hear.

But if they were fully immersed in the world of books, they wouldn't be affected by him. They were the ones who needed to be more focused. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been bothered by his actions.

In the end, it was because he stood out too much. After all, who could believe he read tens of thousands of books in half a day?

"What do you all want?" Liu Wuxie asked impatiently. He needed to digest the knowledge in his mind and didn't want to waste time with these people.

"I heard you're a priority disciple. You must have a lot of spirit stones. You joined the sect yesterday, right? Take it out and compensate our losses." A disciple in the seventh level smiled, demanding Liu Wuxie to hand over his spirit stones.

"Senior Brother Su Ji is right. Since you affected us, it's only right for you to compensate us," everyone chimed in, agreeing with Su Ji's suggestion to have Liu Wuxie compensate them.

More people joined in, and over a hundred people tried to force Liu Wuxie to compensate them. But more people weren't bothered and merely watched from a distance.

"What a joke. I'm reading normally, and how am I affecting you all?" Liu Wuxie didn't want to escalate this matter because he wanted to focus on cultivating and not get involved in countless troubles.

In others' eyes, Liu Wuxie was merely flipping through the books. So how could he possibly remember their contents? Even someone in the Heavenly Phase Realm couldn't remember tens of thousands of books at once.

A burst of laughter came from the surroundings.

"Liu Wuxie, are you trying to make me laugh to death? You're telling me you finished reading a book in three breaths?" A man stepped forward with mockery on his face, believing Liu Wuxie was being too arrogant.

Everyone's faces were filled with mockery.

"Liu Wuxie, cut the crap. The sect might have chosen you as a priority disciple, but I highly doubt you deserve it. Hand it over!" Lin Mingxu interrupted, still unable to accept that Liu Wuxie had been chosen as a priority disciple.

"That's right. He's unworthy. He's simply a disgrace to all the outer disciples!" More people chimed in. They all felt that Liu Wuxie was merely messing around earlier.

"A bunch of garbage. Because you all read too slowly, you can't accept others reading faster than you? It just shows what garbage you people are!" A powerful aura swept out from Liu Wuxie. He knew it wouldn't be the solution if he kept backing off.