Chapter 31: Mind Like Still Water

Taking the book, Old Mo glanced at it and also trembled.

This... impossible, right?

"Alright, any other questions? If not, I'm leaving!" Zhang Xuan looked over, full of curiosity.

Are these two guys crazy?

If you want to ask questions, ask hard ones, ask ones not explained in books—no need to use your brain at all, so boring.

And they call themselves library administrators, experts, star teachers... pfft! Not even as good as me, a time traveler—such poor knowledge!

"Wait, I have a question, just came to mind. How do you explain 'Qi circulates through the body, mind roams through all things'?"

Forcing down his disbelief, Old Mo continued.

This phrase was asked by an elder a few days ago, and he couldn't explain it either. The elder searched the library for a long time but couldn't find the answer, so he had to leave frustrated. Now, seeing the young man casually explain several questions, he couldn't help but bring it up.

"You don't even know this?" Zhang Xuan looked at him like he was an idiot. "This is the most basic thing in cultivation, alright? It means that as qi and blood circulate through the body for one cycle, the mind feels as if it has traveled the world and grasped the rules of all things! This is recorded in Senior Bai Ming's 'Treatise on Qi and Blood,' which is on the 27th shelf, page 69!"

'Qi circulates through the body, mind roams through all things' is one of the flawlessly phrased sayings in the first level of martial arts. He remembered it very clearly, and since Hongtian Academy had a senior who specifically explained it, he took an extra look. It wasn't hard at all—why would this esteemed guardian of the library ask him?

Old Mo didn't answer directly but, like Shen Biru earlier, hurried into the library. After a moment, he indeed found a copy of 'Treatise on Qi and Blood,' opened it to page 69, and staggered.

Exactly as he said!

A few days ago, that elder had searched through many books without finding it, never dreaming it would be recorded in such an obscure book!

Such an obscure book... he had actually read it, and even knew... the page number?

Old Mo felt the world spinning, about to go mad.

If not for maintaining his image, he would have been tearing his hair out.

Just moments ago he said the other was here to cause trouble, but the guy had not only read the books but also remembered the content. Old Mo felt his face burning, wishing he could crawl into a crack in the ground.

Was he really the teacher who ranked last in the faculty assessment?

If someone with his knowledge was last, wouldn't he himself not even score zero?

"Alright, read more books in the future. These questions are all recorded!" Seeing both of them dumbfounded, Zhang Xuan said earnestly, shook his head, and added, "If there's nothing else, I'm off!"

With that, he walked out.

He was unbearably hungry; if he didn't eat soon, he might really faint.

"Teacher Zhang Xuan, wait for me..."

Shen Biru finally recovered from her shock and hurried after him.

"What now?" Zhang Xuan said helplessly.

Was this woman sick or what?

If you don't understand, I've taught you—is there no end? Can't you see I'm hungry and want to eat?

"I haven't eaten either. Don't you want to invite me to dinner?" Shen Biru gritted her teeth.

She was the academy's goddess; many men had invited her to dinner, but she had never agreed. Even Shang Bin had invited her many times, and she had never accepted.

Today, this young man had shocked her so much that she couldn't help but feel curious, leading to this decision. She wanted to take the chance to see what was up with this guy.

"Invite you?" Zhang Xuan looked at her strangely. "What are you thinking? If you want to eat, can't you pay for yourself? How can you be so thick-skinned?"

You ask me questions, I give you guidance, and you still want me to treat you?

How shameless can you be?

Although he had lived two lives and had studied some 'action films' in his previous life, he was actually a true homebody, a real loser who had never interacted with girls. How could he understand a girl's thoughts?

"You..." Seeing the young man's expression and hearing his words, Shen Biru almost spat blood and fainted on the spot.

I'm a beauty, alright? Beauties have privileges, alright?

Others want to invite me, and I don't go. I ask you to invite me, and you look at me like I'm a monster...

And calling me thick-skinned!

Thick your sister!

Is this how you talk to a beauty?

The girl was about to lose it.

"Fine, how about I treat you? I'll treat you to a meal!" Gritting her silver teeth, Shen Biru said.

"You treat me?" Zhang Xuan paused. The original him, as the academy's worst teacher, had a low salary and almost no income. If someone was treating, that wasn't bad. Thinking this, he nodded. "That's acceptable, but I want a big meal. Simple steamed buns or fried pancakes—I'm not going!"

"..." Shen Biru was about to lose it again.

Steamed buns and fried pancakes, my foot!

"Let's go!" She didn't want to explain further; any more talk and she'd be infuriated to death by this guy.

The Library of Heaven's Path could reveal the flaws of all techniques and the weaknesses of all people, but it couldn't read a girl's mood. Zhang Xuan had no idea that his simple words were about to drive Hongtian Academy's number one beauty to spit blood.

Instead, he followed behind her, walking along the path out.

Hongtian Academy at night, though not as bright as in his previous life, was still very beautiful under the moonlight. Bathed in abundant spiritual energy, it appeared even more quiet and serene.

In his previous life, he had lived amid noise and clamor, with smog everywhere. It was never this quiet. Zhang Xuan couldn't help but immerse himself in such beautiful scenery.

Shen Biru walked ahead, expecting the young man following her to deliberately strike up a conversation, ask something, to break the awkwardness. But after waiting a long time without hearing a sound, she couldn't help turning around.

At a glance, she was stunned.

The young man walked quietly, the moonlight shining on him like a silent painting.

"This is... this is... the second level of the mind, 'Mind Like Still Water'?"

Her pupils contracted.

Martial artists cultivate not only true qi and the body, but more importantly, the mind!

The higher the mind, the better the grasp of cultivation, the faster the cultivation speed, and the higher the future achievements.

Because of this, experts have divided the mind into several levels.

'Mind Like Still Water' is exactly the second level!

The mind is even harder to cultivate than martial arts. It was said that in the entire academy, only the dean had reached this level. Even she, reputed to have unparalleled talent, having reached the peak of the fifth level of martial arts, the Strength Establishment Stage, at only twenty, second only to the famous genius Bai Xiaowang, was still far from the second level of the mind.

She thought it would be hard for a second person in the academy to reach this level, never dreaming that the teacher everyone called a waste had achieved it!

If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she would never have believed it!

How is this possible?

This is the second level of the mind, harder to cultivate than the sixth or seventh level of martial arts!

"Could it be... he's not a waste at all, but... deliberately scored zero in the faculty assessment, wanting to use others' scolding to temper his mind?"

Suddenly, a strange thought emerged.

She had little contact with this Teacher Zhang Xuan before and didn't know much. But today, chatting with him, she found him not only knowledgeable but also having reached the second level of the mind, 'Mind Like Still Water.'

This was something countless people dreamed of but could never achieve!

It seemed his faculty assessment was all an act, just to use others' scolding to temper his mind and break through to the second level of the mind.

She couldn't believe that someone with such a mind couldn't even pass a simple faculty assessment.

"Hmph, keep pretending. Let's see how I expose you!"

Thinking that she too had been fooled by this guy, Shen Biru gritted her silver teeth.

This guy was so infuriating; she would find an opportunity to expose him publicly!