What He Read, Never Forgotten at a Glance

Because Chen Ming had enrolled very early, long before the school term began, he had nearly more than two months of free time at his disposal.

After arriving at Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Chen Ming's favorite place was not the Mimicry Training Ground specially assigned to him, but the academy library.

The library was divided into nine floors, representing the nine realms of Spirit Masters. The first three floors could be browsed freely; the middle three required recognition or faculty status; the final three required the approval of an Education Committee Member or the academy's Dean, Prince Xue Xing.

Yet even the books on the first three floors were already considerable in number.

Chen Ming practically lived in the library, relying on his memory to read every book available to him.

Chen Ming's undisguised behavior naturally caught the attention of many teachers within Heaven Dou Royal Academy. At first, the librarian showed little concern for the way Chen Ming read.

But when he saw Chen Ming swiftly finish a book once before moving on to the next, the librarian grew somewhat displeased, though he said nothing.

However, after Chen Ming switched from book to book, merely glancing through each one before never looking at it again, the librarian could no longer endure it and reported the matter directly to the library's overseer.

The highest-ranking person in charge of the library was an old Spirit Saint in his eighties. His Martial Soul was the Healing Book, an auxiliary Tool Martial Soul. Guarding the library was both his duty and a form of cultivation.

Upon hearing of Chen Ming's behavior, the old Spirit Saint said nothing. He merely dismissed the first-floor librarian, then came down himself and sat beside Chen Ming, watching him continuously turn pages with a cold gaze.

He watched for an entire day, from morning until dusk, from the library's opening until it was about to close. Just as Chen Ming was preparing to pack up and leave, the old man finally spoke.

"What was the preface of the Heaven Dou Empire Spirit Master Examination Records? And what did it describe?" the old Spirit Saint suddenly asked.

"The Heaven Dou Empire Spirit Master Examination Records was the first book I read this morning. Its author was a Titled Douluo from the imperial family three hundred years ago, and also the most recent Titled Douluo of imperial blood to emerge from the Heaven Dou Empire's royal family."

"The book primarily recorded the distribution of Martial Souls throughout the Heaven Dou Empire and the proportion occupied by each type of Martial Soul, from the perspective of the imperial family and through official statistics."

"The preface reads: I have now become a Titled Douluo. By order of His Majesty, I shall use the strength of the entire Heaven Dou Empire to investigate the inheritances of sects large and small within the realm, as well as the Martial Souls of commoners, and record them in the Heaven Dou Empire Spirit Master Examination Records..."

Chen Ming stopped packing his things, raised his head, and answered calmly.

Not only did Chen Ming recite the preface, he even remembered the entire table of contents word for word. He knew which Martial Soul was on which page, as well as every category and subject within the book.

"Interesting." The old Spirit Saint was caught off guard, but for the sake of his pride, he could only offer a flat compliment before asking, "Then do you remember what the sixth book you read today was?"

"An Examination of the Products and Local Customs of the Heaven Dou Empire and Its Provinces. It described the output of the various production regions and subordinate kingdoms of the Heaven Dou Empire, as well as the local customs of each place."

"It also described the internal sect forces and Martial Soul inheritances of several kingdoms, and roughly introduced the distribution and primary resources of several Spirit Beast Forests within the empire."

"However, the various resources and local conditions recorded in that book were already from over a hundred years ago. They differed greatly from the Annals of the Heaven Dou Empire, which I read today and was written five hundred years ago, and from the Spirit Master Examination Records compiled three hundred years ago."

"I presume some places gradually exhausted their resources through continual development, while other places discovered new resources as they developed. That was what ultimately caused the differing descriptions of Martial Souls, Spirit Masters, Spirit Beasts, and so on in books written in different years..."

The old Spirit Saint fell silent for a moment before remembering that Chen Ming had indeed read those three books today. Thinking of how Chen Ming had remembered so much after merely flipping through them, the old Spirit Saint's uncertain suspicions finally seemed to find a reasonable explanation.

"Photographic memory?" There was a note of certainty in the old Spirit Saint's voice.

"Yes. Everything I read is never forgotten at a glance. But it's only a minor talent." Chen Ming did not deny it and admitted it directly.

To someone with AI Thinking, a capability like photographic memory truly was the smallest of talents. In fact, as the knowledge entered his mind, it was already being fully understood, organized, and catalogued.

If Chen Ming really wanted to pick flaws, he could find several contradictions in the books he had read today alone. The data from certain provinces and kingdoms had clearly been exaggerated, or part of their output had been concealed, ultimately affecting the discrepancies between the books.

Chen Ming simply could not be bothered to pursue the matter.

"A minor... talent? Minor..." Hearing Chen Ming's words, the old Spirit Saint felt a sharp sourness in his heart and an indescribable sense of grievance.

Even at the level of a Spirit Saint, he could not achieve photographic memory. And forget photographic memory—because of his age, his own memory had already begun to decline.

This was called a minor talent? A minor talent?

Could he not be given just a tiny bit of such a talent too?

He did not ask for photographic memory. He would be satisfied if his memory were merely doubled.

Moreover, even a talent like photographic memory had different levels. Those with weaker memories needed to make a deliberate effort before they could remember something. Yu Xiaogang, when his learning ability and condition were at their peak, was roughly at that level.

As his passion for striving faded and he grew older, Yu Xiaogang no longer possessed such a talent. At most, his memory was better than ordinary people's, and he had not forgotten the knowledge accumulated in his youth.

(It was fine to criticize Yu Xiaogang's character, intelligence, and research results, but there was no denying his memory. As long as he did not use his brain for research and simply acted as a carrier of knowledge, he truly could have become a qualified scholar.)

Chen Ming, on the other hand, only needed one glance for everything to be directly imprinted in his mind. Though both were called photographic memory, they were completely different things.

How could such talent not make onlookers feel sorrowful and bitter?

"You... what are you planning to do? Read every book in the entire library and memorize them all? Do you think you can do it?" the old Spirit Saint asked somewhat resentfully.

"Although that is what I intend to do, I do not think I can accomplish it. After all, as a student, I can only read the books on the first three floors. I cannot access the remaining six floors. Still, memorizing the books on the first three floors should be enough."

Chen Ming answered frankly.

"Your name is Chen Ming. You're a new student this year, correct?" After a moment of silence, the old Spirit Saint stood and looked at Chen Ming.

"What does Senior require?"

"Once you finish reading the books on the first three floors, you may come to me for an assessment. If you can pass my assessment, I will take it upon myself to grant you access up to the sixth floor. You will have only one chance. Whether you can seize it will depend on you."

After leaving those words behind, the old Spirit Saint ignored Chen Ming and slowly climbed the stairs toward the higher floors.

Heaven Dou Royal Academy's library possessed many books, yet over the years, few students had seriously read them. Even the old Spirit Saint himself could not say whether he had given Chen Ming this task because he valued Chen Ming's talent or because he wished to make things difficult for him.

But he was truly, deeply curious whether anyone in this world could rely on photographic memory to thoroughly memorize every book in the entire library.

And if such a person truly existed, just how far could he eventually go?