"Reading earnestly?"
Elder Mo's beard bristled as his temper finally exploded."You didn't transcribe, you didn't study, and you flipped through books at random. And you dare say you were reading?"
"Since when does reading require copying everything down?" Zhang Xuan finally understood why the old man was so furious. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
In his previous life, he had been a librarian. As long as one had a library card, they could enter freely—read, nap, even eat inside. Unless someone committed arson or murder, no one cared.
He had thought Elder Mo was deliberately making things difficult for him because of his abysmal Teacher Qualification Examination results.
So this was the real reason.
"These books were acquired by the academy's elders at great cost," Elder Mo said coldly. "Each one contains painstaking effort. If you don't intend to study, then don't touch them! Flipping through them casually like that—if that isn't disturbance, then what is?"
"I…"
Zhang Xuan shook his head helplessly."Fine. If you say I disturbed the place, then I disturbed it."
There was no point explaining further. The Library of Heaven's Path was something he could never reveal, and without that, his behavior truly looked unreasonable.
Besides, he didn't plan to come back anyway.
"Good that you admit it. Get out!" Elder Mo waved his arm impatiently, disgust clear in his eyes.
"Farewell."
Zhang Xuan turned to leave—
But suddenly, a figure flashed before him. A faint fragrance drifted forward as Shen Biru stepped in his path.
"Wait."
"What now?" Zhang Xuan sighed."You read your books, I read mine. I didn't delay you."
"Snort."
Seeing his impatience, Shen Biru's delicate brows furrowed."That's not the point. Didn't you claim you were reading just now? Since you 'read' for so long, you should remember something."
"What do you mean?" Zhang Xuan asked suspiciously.
"Very simple," Shen Biru said coolly."I saw you flipping through Alchemy Eight Techniques earlier. There's something I don't quite understand and would like to ask. Since you're a teacher, you won't refuse… right?"
Her intention was obvious.
If he really had just been pretending, he wouldn't be able to explain a thing.
"Alchemy Eight Techniques?" Zhang Xuan's mind stirred."Yes, I flipped through it. If there's something you don't understand, I can explain. But be quick—I need to eat."
"You—!"
Shen Biru nearly fainted from anger.
His tone was impatient, as though she were the student asking questions.
She was the academy's Star Teacher, a high-ranking instructor, and the number-one beauty. And this man—who had scored zero on the Teacher Qualification Examination—was acting like he was doing her a favor?
Suppressing her fury, she clenched her teeth and said slowly,"There's a line in the book:'Medicine disperses in eight directions, the pill is hard to form. Medicine congeals in furnace fire, the pill turns yellow.'I find this confusing. Can Teacher Zhang explain?"
She nearly ground her teeth on the word explain.
Zhang Xuan curled his lips."You even remembered it wrong, and you're asking questions…"
He waved his hand casually."The correct line is:'Medicine congeals in furnace fire, the pill is hard to form. Medicine disperses in eight directions, the pill shines yellow.'
"It's simple. When refining pills—whether powder, liquid, or solid—if the medicinal essence clumps inside the furnace, the properties won't fully fuse, and refinement will fail. But if the medicine disperses evenly and fuses completely, the pill forms smoothly, round and bright like an egg yolk."
After absorbing the entire Compendium Pavilion, such knowledge was trivial to him.
The real problem was—
Her question was far too basic.
"What… what did you say?"
Shen Biru stared at him in disbelief.
She had deliberately altered the line to trap him, convinced he hadn't really read the book.
But not only had she been wrong—his explanation was flawless.
How was this possible?
Could it be that he hadn't been pretending after all?
"That's it. Anything else?" Zhang Xuan urged, clutching his empty stomach.
"Then explain this!" Shen Biru said sharply."'Burning Gold fire—unquenched, unmelted!'"
She sneered inwardly.
The previous question was about alchemy.This one came from forging theory.
She had struggled with it for a month and only understood it after consulting a Refiner Grandmaster.
She refused to believe he could answer this too.
Elder Mo, standing to the side, frowned deeply. Even he found this line difficult.
"'Burning Gold fire—unquenched, unmelted'?"
Zhang Xuan looked at her as if she were an idiot."What's hard to understand? It means that during refinement, metallic materials must be repeatedly tempered in fire to remove impurities. Without thorough quenching, they can't be properly fused."
"Ask something difficult next time. Read a little more and you'd understand this naturally."
Shen Biru's body trembled.
That explanation—
It was exactly correct.
Even Elder Mo felt his scalp tingle.
The question he couldn't answer… Zhang Xuan had explained casually?
"Teacher Zhang, that's not right," Shen Biru said stubbornly."I remember Various Uncertain Theories explaining it differently—saying that metal ingredients must be quenched before being added to pill refinement!"
"You remembered the wrong book," Zhang Xuan replied calmly."That's not from Various Uncertain Theories. It's from Various Spoken Theories by Senior Liu Ze. The line there is 'Burning Gold pill, unquenched, unmelted'—not fire."
He waved his hand."And the passage you quoted is recorded on page forty-nine."
"As for the alchemy explanation earlier—if you don't believe me, check Fire Utilisation: Three Formulas by Senior Du Qu. It's on the fifteenth row, far corner, page twenty-four."
"I'll check!"
Shen Biru rushed into the Compendium Pavilion.
Moments later, she returned with two books in her hands.
When she flipped to the pages Zhang Xuan mentioned—
Her body shook violently.
Everything matched.
Every word.Every explanation.
Even the page numbers.
He hadn't just remembered the content.
He remembered the books, their locations, and their pages.
Shen Biru's mind went blank.
Is this… really possible?