Chapter 7

Two hours.

Chen Ping, who had been smashing through the earlier trials like dry wood before a blade, finally encountered a challenge at the Seventh Gate.

But just as the two hours passed, Chen Ping suddenly opened his eyes.

Then, with a single step, he instantly appeared beside the bespectacled man.

The elven woman woke up almost simultaneously; seeing Chen Ping standing before her, reverence involuntarily surfaced on her face.

But immediately afterward, she exaggeratedly gaped her mouth wide open.

They saw that as soon as Chen Ping reached the same position as the bespectacled man—one line ahead—he paused for less than a minute before lifting his foot again.

In the next moment, he stood at the very front of everyone!

The bespectacled man’s face still wore that mocking smile, yet his cheeks were stiff and immobile.

The eyes behind his lenses were bloodshot, nearly turning completely red.

"How is this possible!!!"

The bespectacled man let out a shrill scream.

Unfortunately, no one present could hear his voice.

Chen Ping didn’t even bother to look back, simply closing his eyes and entering the final trial.

Yet the image of Chen Ping advancing past the Eighth Gate in just one minute was deeply seared into Seeing Seeing Natasha’s and the bespectacled man’s minds.

"Could there be a secret trick to the Eighth Gate?"

"Impossible. The Eighth Gate tests your ability to find the correct insertion point within an ocean of knowledge."

"What gives him the right to be so fast?"

The bespectacled man quickly shut his eyes and re-entered the trial.

He refused to believe it.

He refused to accept that he was inferior to Chen Ping.

When there were only three people left, though he had lingered here for a long time, he had still felt pride inside—

because neither Seeing Seeing Natasha nor the man with the beard was anywhere near him.

But Chen Ping had crossed this gate in just one minute—it was like a slap straight across his face.

It hurt.

It hurt so much it drove him mad.

As the bespectacled man twisted his face in agony during the trial, Chen Ping faced his final test.

Visualization.

This was the Ninth Gate’s challenge given to him.

It was no longer something with clear patterns to follow, where understanding and coherence allowed steady progress.

Heavenly Dao Rewards Diligence was utterly useless here.

It saved Chen Ping tremendous amounts of time previously.

But the Ninth Gate was filled with vagueness—there were no concrete steps or details to reference.

Visualization?

Chen Ping recalled the cultivation novels he’d read in his previous life, where visualization often appeared.

Could it mean the same thing here?

Just as this thought arose in Chen Ping’s mind, the void world suddenly rippled, as if something had been triggered.

Chen Ping’s heart leapt—he knew instantly he had touched upon the key to the Ninth Gate’s trial.

In cultivation, visualization was for training.

Then in this world, what was visualization for?

A Hall of Knowledge—why would learning knowledge require visualization?

Visualize a giant of knowledge? Visualize knowledge taking form? Or perhaps, to avoid getting lost in the sea of knowledge?

Chen Ping’s thoughts moved swiftly.

Each guess and attempt he made caused corresponding changes in the void world, but he dismissed them all.

Until his final attempt—the feedback from the void world made him frown.

That’s it.

The world of knowledge is boundless—if one becomes too immersed, they might lose themselves?

Then visualization must be about creating an anchor for oneself.

Then, channel the endless stream of knowledge into that anchor, using it to organize one’s entire knowledge system.

The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

Chen Ping immediately emptied his mind.

In this trial, Heavenly Dao Rewards Diligence offered almost no help—he could only rely on his own understanding.

Within the void, a blue planet slowly emerged.

Then a second, a third, continuing all the way to the ninth.

These planets varied in size, orbiting each other according to some mysterious law.

Solar System!

Chen Ping looked toward the center, raising a nonexistent finger to point at it.

Here—this shall be my anchor point.

And over there—is where my true Hall of Knowledge lies!

His fingertip descended—and the sun appeared.

But Chen Ping's gaze turned toward the third planet—Earth, the blue one!

10: Record Breaker, Gift from the Hall of Knowledge

The bespectacled man spat blood from the corner of his mouth.

He had just forced himself to take the assessment, yet still couldn't figure out how to pass.

Finally, after repeated mental assaults, his spirit was injured.

This meant he had no chance at the final two trials, as recovering one’s spirit required a great deal of time.

It was absolutely impossible to fully recover in just a day or two.

The bespectacled man opened his eyes; due to ruptured capillaries, his eyeballs were patchily red, extremely grotesque.

Seeing his appearance, Seeing Seeing Natasha behind and to the side felt a chill run through her heart.

She immediately added the bespectacled man to her blacklist.

Someone so obsessed with competition, unable to tolerate others surpassing him, was certainly not someone easy to deal with.

If they met again during the Lord Trials, she would need to be extra cautious.

At that moment, Chen Ping, who had just been calm for an hour, suddenly moved.

He lifted his foot and, under the shocked gazes of Seeing Seeing Natasha and the bespectacled man, walked step by step to the core.

A pillar of light descended, directly absorbing Chen Ping into the dome, vanishing from within the hall.

Seeing Seeing Natasha covered her mouth in astonishment.

From the time Chen Ping entered until now, less than a single day had passed—he had already cleared all nine trials and entered the Tower of Knowledge.

Just how powerful was this person?

Could he possibly be the legendary peerless genius?

While Seeing Seeing Natasha was still stunned, an anomaly suddenly occurred inside the hall.

The walls, originally carved with reliefs, suddenly began displaying names one by one.

Behind each name followed a line of numbers.

Seeing Seeing Natasha looked closely and realized they were times—she instantly understood: this was a record of the durations used by those who had historically passed the trial.

This was a leaderboard!

Then, a name emerged glowing in gold, rapidly climbing upward from the very bottom.

Chen Ping!

Seeing Seeing Natasha saw Chen Ping's name and silently memorized it.

The man ahead, who had just crushed his own glasses, made the same move.

With a hideous expression, he glared at Chen Ping's name, roaring inwardly.