LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 523: Comprehending River of Knowledge
After mastering 10% of the River of Law, they could separate a stream of specialization.
Instead of mastering the entire river of knowledge, they could focus on a stream of specialization.
Not only was it faster to master, but because of its infancy, one could dictate its growth and potential.
The only problem was that, in its infancy, it was weak compared to those who mastered an entire river from the start.
It was also resource-intensive to turn a stream into a full river, which was another major downside.
Finally, those who controlled the source of these streams, while unable to directly control their life and death, could directly influence their path of advancement.
Cutting off the source of the stream or even tampering with it could be fatal.
Fortunately, once Maximus mastered the River of Knowledge, these problems would be insignificant.
With a river or an ocean supporting and protecting them, these streams could grow much faster and unharmed by various disasters.
"How about it? Have you chosen your path?"
"We have…"
While comprehending the River of Knowledge, they had already chosen the paths they would follow.
From various professional paths like Alchemy of Knowledge, Music of Knowledge, Gastronomy of Knowledge, Mentor of Knowledge, Arcane of Knowledge, and more.
To various combat paths like Knowledge of the Berserker, Knowledge of the Arcane Mage, Knowledge of the Guardian, and Knowledge of the Sword Immortal.
Some also chose more archaic paths suited to their physiques, like Skye, Lilith, and Etheria, with the Knowledge of Reincarnation, the Knowledge of Omniscience, and Knowledge of Dimensionality.
Hearing their choices, Maximus nodded in approval.
"That's good. No matter what path you choose, I'm sure you will reach the peak with me."
Although some paths had more domineering names than others, they would all start from scratch.
The growth and potential of their stream of law would be up to them.
Hearing his encouragement, his wives couldn't help but smile.
They were confident in their chosen paths only because of Maximus.
With him, no matter what they became, he would ensure they excelled.
After settling down, they each went to their training quarters to officially begin their seclusion.
While his wives were separating their streams of law, Maximus turned his attention to the River of Knowledge.
Opening his system, he glanced at his current status.
[Family and Power System:
Host: Maximus Shadowcrest
Physique: Dimensional Source (Origin Grade: 0/Unknown) (Rank 11: 1.08 Trillion/10 Trillion)
River of Knowledge: 30%
Causality Points: 1.505 Trillion
Causality Points (Corrupted): 21.1 Trillion]
"1.5 trillion causality points, this should be enough…"
Turning toward the inner workings of the system, he couldn't help but sigh.
After over a thousand years, he had only comprehended about 10% of the system.
Initially, this was a downside, but since he needed to comprehend higher tiers of knowledge to master his path, it became a perk.
In case it wasn't enough, he also bought a copy of all the available knowledge for his status and the knowledge he copied from the Dimensional Origin Library.
There was also the Amalgamation of Will and the Tier 11 Chapter of the Origin Manual that he still hadn't created.
With endless knowledge to study, he was confident it was only a matter of time before he mastered the River of Knowledge.
"Let's begin..."
Using causality points, he began rapidly comprehending his system.
At the same time, he didn't forget to enhance his physique using the corrupted causality points.
With 30% mastery of the River of Knowledge, he could now absorb about 3,000 corrupted causality points per minute.
---
A hundred years later, Maximus suddenly felt a slight tremor beside him.
"Hmm? Have you separated your own stream of law?"
Sensing that his wives hadn't come out of seclusion and were still stabilizing their streams of law, Maximus smiled.
"It seems they didn't notice the passage of time..."
He was initially worried that they would be bored comprehending knowledge in seclusion.
Fortunately, unlike him, who had over a trillion in magnitude of will, theirs was only at a hundred billion.
Although they weren't affected by knowledge pollution, it still blurred their sense of time.
Comprehending knowledge in seclusion in an indefinite period, such a blurry sense of time, was an advantage instead of a disadvantage.
Adjusting the array to match their intensity of absorption, Maximus continued to comprehend the River of Knowledge.
---
Two hundred years later, Maximus successfully broke through a small barrier.
[Family and Power System:
Host: Maximus Shadowcrest
Physique: Dimensional Source (Rank 11: 1.61 Trillion/10 Trillion)
River of Knowledge: 40%
Causality Points: 1.453 Trillion
Causality Points (Corrupted): 20.67 Trillion]
"40% mastery!"
After working for 300 years, he finally reached 40% mastery.
"Comprehending the River of Knowledge is not easy..." Maximus sighed.
However, feeling the power surging through his body and the enlightenment pouring into his mind, he knew it was all worth it.
Even the Tier 11 chapter of the Origin Manual, which had been giving him trouble, was becoming clearer now.
At the Tier 11 realm, there are no cultivation manuals; it's all about comprehending the River of Law and turning it into an ocean.
In this process, there is no systematic method, only brute force—having more individuals join the path and nurture it together.
However, according to the hazy enlightenment in his mind, such a rough method was too inefficient and a waste of energy.
It was like pouring a bucket of water into a pond, hoping it would turn into an ocean.
As for a more efficient method, the enlightenment he received wasn't yet clear enough.
"Continue!"
The only thing he could do now was to master the River of Knowledge as soon as possible.
Continuing his seclusion, he didn't forget to enhance his physique with corrupted causality points.
With 40% mastery, he could now absorb 4,000 corrupted causality points per minute.
At this rate, it would only take him a few thousand years to attain a Rank 12 physique—much earlier than mastering the River of Knowledge.
Time continued to pass.
As the path toward mastering the River of Knowledge became rougher, it took Maximus more and more time to progress.
After a hundred years, having only advanced to 41% mastery, Maximus took a moment to breathe.
Taking a break, he and his wives went for a picnic, discussing their various insights.
Hearing that they had already reached over 20% mastery of their streams of knowledge, Maximus was a little shocked.
Even without using causality points, their progress was much faster than his.
At such a speed, Maximus estimated that they would master their paths before he did.
A few months later, after clearing their minds and taking a short break, they returned to seclusion.
Feeling that his comprehension became smoother after the rest, Maximus decided to take such breaks more regularly.
---
Soon, with each passing hundred years, they would take a break and share their insights with one another.
As time flew by like a flash of lightning, nine hundred years quickly passed.
"Finally, I broke through 50% mastery!" Maximus clenched his fist and opened his panel.
[Family and Power System:
Host: Maximus Shadowcrest
Physique: Dimensional Source (Rank 11: 3.95 Trillion/10 Trillion)
River of Knowledge: 50%
Causality Points: 1.273 Trillion
Causality Points (Corrupted): 18.34 Trillion]
After thousands of years of arduous work, he was finally halfway to mastering the River of Knowledge.
Just as Maximus was filled with excitement, a light of insight appeared in his mind, revealing an innate skill he received after reaching 50% mastery.
"Hmm? An Innate Skill?"
From 1% to 49% mastery, the River of Knowledge could only influence him through insights and enlightenment.
Reaching 50%, he could finally use one of the innate skills of the River of Knowledge.
"Enhance Comprehension…"
As the name suggested, Enhance Comprehension could amplify his understanding.
Based on his mastery of the River of Law, he could enhance his comprehension threefold!
"That means I can comprehend the River of Knowledge three times faster!" Maximus thought excitedly.
Activating the ability, he felt his mind becoming clearer and working three times faster than usual.
However, he also noticed that his origin energy was rapidly depleting.
Frowning, he estimated that he could only sustain it for a few days before his origin energy was exhausted.
"If only I had a Rank 12 physique…" Maximus thought, subconsciously channeling corrupted causality points to enhance his physique.
But as he did, his concentration as he comprehended the River of Knowledge suddenly broke.
The corruptive power of causality seemed to pollute the source of knowledge.
As his connection with the River of Knowledge becomes deeper, the corrupted causality of power becomes closer that it could affect it.
In an instinctive protective mechanism, the River of Knowledge would temporarily sever its connection with him as it senses the corrupted energy seeping into it.
Fortunately, the worst didn't happen.
After some testing, he concluded that he could still connect to the River of Knowledge and absorb corrupted causality points—the only issue was that he couldn't do both simultaneously.
He would either have to focus on comprehending the River of Knowledge or upgrade his physique first.
Faced with this fork in the road, Maximus quickly deduced which path would be more efficient, faster to accomplish, and give him the greatest immediate advantage.