Powerful Dharmic powers surged out and the power of the Soul Formation realm immediately made reading at midnight feel more profound.
His magic power seeped into every book and touched those words. Then, his magic power spread out and turned into words of light in the air.
This time, the speed at which he read the books increased dozens of times. Yun Su's eyes were closed but he did not miss a single word among the thousands of words that appeared in each book. He quickly memorized them one by one.
Although the speed was extremely fast, his actual consumption was not as great as using the Dharma Eye to search for the remaining information in the dozens of books.
After finishing a dozen books, he read several dozens, and then several hundred. With the support of his heaven-defying consciousness and rich dharmic power of the Soul Formation realm, Yun Su finally finished reading thousands of ancient books in the library when the chicken crowed a second time.
Not long after returning to the Qingfeng Small Building, he locked the building from the inside. The sun was beginning to shine in the east.
Yun Su was in a hurry to sort out the thousands of books in his mind and did not have time to eat breakfast. He found a piece of paper and casually wrote a note and pasted it at the door. He said that he wanted to have a good sleep and asked Wang Xuanji to continue reading at home or play in the courtyard. He just could not go out.
With a wave of his hand, the building was already enveloped in an illusion. Not to mention mortals, even ordinary demons and ghosts could not enter.
Yun Su closed the door tightly and lay back on the bed. He began to sort out the contents of the thousands of books he had forcefully memorized with his powerful magic.
The thousands of books in his mind flashed past one by one at an extreme speed. Each ball of light represented a book. Two hours later, Yun Su had digested these thousands of books and memorized them all. He did not just forcefully store them in his sea of consciousness.
After two hours, the consumption of magic power and mental strength was minimal. It was far less than when he had visualized the mysteries of the heavens and wrote the word "Cut". In comparison, it was insignificant.
Time passed in the blink of an eye. After Yun Su finished reading these 4,351 books, not only was he not tired but he also felt scholarly and carefree.
After reading these thousands of books, he was still far from knowing the truth but he had achieved his goal.
From these thousands of books, a thousand-year-old painting of the land of the Great Cheng Dynasty leaped out of the paper. A clear chronology could be drawn which included major histories, allusions to famous people, and even many rural accounts. Myths and legends were also memorized.
It turned out that the Great Cheng Dynasty was only a small country in the South Continent. Compared to the entire South Continent that spanned hundreds of thousands of kilometers, its territory was still not big.
A carefree understanding of history and the territory arose.
Yun Su pushed open the door in high spirits. The four little fellows were carrying small bamboo chairs to read in the corridor for the exam in four days. From time to time, Wang Xuanji corrected their mistakes.
"Xuanwu, you've mispronounced it again. This word is pronounced as 'Du'. It's not the word 'Stupid'. The term refers to worms but it is also used to mock corrupt officials and vile men that fill their own pockets through corruption. Come, read it ten times after me."
"Uh…"
Wang Xuanji's attitude was very serious. Xuanwu, who had mispronounced, muttered and followed her pronunciation with some slurring.
"Good morning, Brother Yun. There's porridge and pickled vegetables in the kitchen."
"Good morning, Brother Yun."
"Morning."
Wang Xuanji hurried into the kitchen and prepared the porridge and pickles. She put the porridge in the pot and kept it warm with hot water and charcoal from the stove. It was well prepared. Yun Su could eat it warm whenever he woke up.
After two bowls of hot porridge, the crisp and refreshing pickled vegetables were ready. He ate very comfortably.
"Come, I will test your foundations."
Hearing that Yun Su wanted to test them, the three little fellows were slightly nervous but also a little expectant.
The test was very simple. It was divided into reading and writing.
Wang Xuanji did not bring many things from the Mystic Wood Sect with her. Instead, she brought the books down the mountain. Yun Su picked an introductory book and let them read it. It was the book that Wang Xuanji taught the most.
"Heaven and earth, man, sun, moon, and stars. Metal, wood, water, fire, earth, thunder…"
The three kids shook their heads as they read. There were basically no mistakes on the first few pages but the gap widened noticeably toward the end.
Wang Xuanwu froze as he read. He couldn't continue. The further he went, the harder it became. He couldn't even jump and read.
"Owwwww, it hurts …"
Wang Xuanji walked forward and pulled his ear. Wang Xuanwu cried out in pain.
Then, Wang Xuanwen couldn't continue reading too. On the other hand, although Wang Xuanzang skipped a few words, he barely finished reading the book.
Without any error too.
After listening to them read, Yun Su tested their writing skills.
The writing gap was even wider.
Wang Xuanwu's handwriting was all over the place. It was as if he was drunk when he wrote those words. Even the way he held the pen was ridiculously wrong. As expected, his right ear suffered again.
Wang Xuanwen and Wang Xuanzang did well this time. There was no problem with their basic writing skills. However, Wang Xuanwen wrote a word almost completely according to the instructions. Therefore, his speed was very slow. Wang Xuancang's speed was much faster. Sometimes, he would write directly. Sometimes, he would take a look and compare carefully when he encountered difficult words. He would only write after imprinting the writing method in his memory.
In the final question-and-answer session, Yun Su did not make things difficult for them. Instead, he chose a few questions from a book he had read last night. This time, the three of them performed similarly. As for who was right and who was wrong, there was no conclusion.
Wang Xuanwu rubbed his ears and heaved a sigh of relief.
"Wang Xuanwen, Wang Xuanwu, stand together as punishment."
Wang Xuanji's expression was cold as she pulled the two little fellows into the courtyard. The two of them did not dare to resist and could only stand there with bitter expressions.
"I just don't like to read and write. If Big Brother Yun tested me on somersaulting, even Big Brother and Third Brother combined won't be my match."
"How dare you be stubborn?"
Seeing Yun Su nod, Wang Xuanwu shook his limbs and somersaulted seven or eight times in the courtyard. When he finished, he even threw a few punches. He didn't use much strength but his punches were smooth, making Wang Xuanwen and Wang Xuanzang envious.
"Alright, I will take it that all of you passed today. You have to work twice as hard in the next few days."
Yun Su neither blamed nor commented. A child who was not even six years old could not be a brat which made people change their expressions at the mention of him. It did not matter if he was smart or stupid. It did not matter if he wanted to be an official or join the army. He was just a youth.
After the three little fellows, it was Wang Xuanji's turn.
After interacting with her for the past few days, Yun Su realized that not only was this little girl cute but her temperament was also not bad. Her temperament and comprehension were all excellent. The performance of the three little fellows was good and ordinary. They were not stunning. From Wang Xuanji's usual performance, they were not comparable to her.
"Which books have you read, Xuanji?"
"I've read all the books in the sect in the past. Sometimes, my senior brothers would lend me some books when they went down the mountain, such as…"
Without thinking, Wang Xuanji recited a long list of titles. Yun Su had read most of them but not all of them. He casually asked a few questions and the little girl blurted out the answers. With her left hand behind her back and her right hand gently holding out her index finger, she read the original meaning of the book in cadence.
The two little fellows who had been punished to stand were now dejected. They wanted to see their elder sister embarrass herself but they saw Big Brother Yun nodding from time to time. It was completely different from the expressionless face the three of them saw on him during the evaluation just now.
Next was writing.
Unlike the three little fellows, Wang Xuanji rolled up her sleeves, rhythmically grounded the ink, and moistened her pen. Only then did she focus her attention and write an article called "The Lotus Says". Yun Su had read it last night.
It was a small piece of calligraphy that was written smoothly. There was no sharpness and it was elegant and pleasing to the eye. The little girl wrote it very seriously and smoothly. When she put down the pen, there was already a layer of sweat on her forehead.
"Why did you pick this piece to write?"
"The lotus is neither enchanting nor demonic. It grows in the mud but it's elegant and otherworldly, exceptionally noble."
"That's right. I've also heard that lotuses are pure and untainted despite growing from the mud."
Hearing this, Wang Xuanji's eyes lit up and she asked: "Brother Yun, who said that?"
"Zhou Dunyi."
"I've never heard of him."
Wang Xuanji didn't continue asking. She thought that maybe he wasn't from the Great Cheng Dynasty. The world was so big and the books she read were basically from the Great Cheng Dynasty. It wasn't surprising that she didn't know.
"Alright, that's all for today's small test."