The Omniscient

Chapter 17: Knowledge Assimilation

While researching "Electric Work," Huang Ji also continued studying medicine and biology.

These three fields complemented each other. The more deeply Huang Ji understood the human body, the better he could tailor the most powerful technique for himself. However, as his level of expertise grew, so did his need for books and knowledge. After all, he lacked systematic, well-rounded educational resources; all his knowledge came from books.

After spending 13 days thoroughly studying every medical book in the bookstore, Huang Ji hit a bottleneck. As he had anticipated, when encountering such a bottleneck, the best solution was to learn face-to-face from experts.

During this period, he behaved obediently, so Zheng Xuan trusted him completely. With the excuse of going to read books, Huang Ji headed alone to Zhongshan Hospital, affiliated with Fudan University.

At the hospital, Huang Ji quickly identified two specialists who were currently holding outpatient clinics.

"Li Wei... a respiratory specialist, ranked over 170,000 in global medical rankings?"

"Jiang Wan... a pathology specialist, ranked over 240,000 globally?"

Huang Ji wandered around the specialist outpatient offices, evaluating the medical skills of these two experts. While their rankings were relatively low globally, they were still considered excellent specialists within the hospital. In fact, on a global scale, their rankings weren't bad.

"As long as they're better than me," Huang Ji thought, taking out the outpatient registration he had booked online earlier. After completing the formalities, he went to the waiting area to wait for his turn.

As expected, an hour later, it was his turn.

The moment he stepped into the room and sat down, Huang Ji was surprised to notice that Li Wei's ranking had dropped.

"In just one hour, he fell by over 800 places!" Huang Ji mused.

The rankings were updated in real-time, and in professions with many practitioners, the changes could be quite drastic. It wasn’t that Li Wei's skills had declined significantly; rather, over 800 doctors worldwide had surpassed him in the past hour.

The changes weren’t massive, and the differences in skill were very small. This made the rankings highly volatile.

"A slight improvement from him or a small decline from others could shift his rank by hundreds."

"Also, my evaluation is based on general internal medicine standards. If I only considered his specialty, he’d rank within the top 10,000 in the respiratory field." 𝔯ÀŊÖ𝖇Ęŝ

Huang Ji understood this as he simultaneously searched Li Wei’s memories for respiratory knowledge he hadn’t yet learned.

Previously, Huang Ji couldn't conduct such precise searches. With minimal knowledge of medicine, he had to painstakingly read memories one second at a time. Learning all of an expert's skills this way would take years. By contrast, self-studying through books took him just 13 days to reach the level of a graduate student. That’s why he chose to focus on reading first.

But now things were different. Facing a bottleneck, face-to-face knowledge transmission was coming in handy. His solid foundation allowed him to pinpoint what he lacked and search for it directly.

It was like searching for a song online. Before, he’d have to listen to countless songs one by one. Now, it was like having a keyword from the lyrics, letting him find the song immediately. He could focus on the parts he didn’t understand and move on to the next topic.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Each piece of knowledge took only a dozen seconds, and while his expertise rapidly improved, the time needed for perception decreased significantly. His efficiency skyrocketed.

"Breathe in..." Li Wei instructed, placing the stethoscope on Huang Ji's chest. Unbeknownst to him, the young man's knowledge of respiratory medicine was advancing at an astonishing pace.

Huang Ji slowly exhaled, then inhaled deeply. His cardiopulmonary function was extraordinarily robust. At the same time, he continuously acquired new knowledge, including clinical test reports and outstanding papers that were only accessible within Fudan University.

Many of these were things even Li Wei had long forgotten.

Now, Huang Ji could compress and package information, absorbing it at 1.25 times the normal rate in a targeted manner. This was why he had previously gone to great lengths, even shortening his lifespan, to enhance his physical capabilities and strengthen his "human engine."

He wanted to know if a stronger body could indeed enhance his ability to process information.

"It’s true. Losing 30 years of lifespan wasn’t in vain..."

Although he hadn’t directly enhanced his brain, his cardiovascular system functioned like a powerful engine, improving his overall physical performance. Huang Ji’s heart and lung functions were twice as strong as an average person’s, providing his brain with more blood and oxygen. This increased his brain's information processing capacity to 1.25 times that of a normal person.

"Are you an athlete? Your heart muscle is strong, and your lung capacity is excellent. There’s nothing wrong with you. So, what exactly is bothering you?" Li Wei asked, assuming Huang Ji was a runner from a sports academy.

Huang Ji’s long, steady breaths and perfectly healthy respiratory system made him seem entirely free of any illness.

Huang Ji replied, "I always feel like my breathing sounds too heavy, and I can constantly hear my heartbeat. When I think about it, I feel chest tightness, like I might suddenly collapse..."

Li Wei’s lips twitched. He almost wanted to recommend Huang Ji to a psychiatric department instead.

Still, thinking he might have missed something, Li Wei asked a few more questions. No matter how he analyzed it, Huang Ji seemed perfectly healthy. If there was any issue, it was that his cardiopulmonary function was too good...

Li Wei shook his head, utterly unable to determine what was wrong with Huang Ji’s body.

After some thought, he began writing on a form while saying, “The issue isn’t clear for now. Let’s start by ruling out a respiratory infection. Go get a chest X-ray and a blood test.”

He handed the form to Huang Ji with a serious expression. “Take this to the second floor to pay. Once the X-ray is done, bring it back here.”

“...” Huang Ji accepted the form slowly, feeling speechless. In just the ten minutes they spent together, Li Wei’s ranking had plummeted by another 1,000 places.

“Thank you, doctor,” Huang Ji said as he stood up. After absorbing the last bit of Li Wei’s personal expertise, he left the room quietly.

He finally understood why Li Wei’s ranking was dropping so quickly. He had been coasting for too long in outpatient clinics, gradually losing his professionalism. This lack of proper judgment over an extended period had eroded his decisiveness and self-confidence.

On top of that, Li Wei had been semi-“exiled” to the outpatient department, which had further impacted his mindset. These factors combined to cause dramatic fluctuations in his ranking.

In the past, Li Wei had been an exceptional specialist, ranked within the top 50,000 globally. That was his prime. Everyone has their peak period, but if they start slacking off, their skills deteriorate.

With the principle of “use it or lose it,” Li Wei’s objective ranking had dropped drastically.

Currently, Li Wei was ranked below 180,000, while Huang Ji had advanced to 45,000!

In the time it took to see a doctor, Huang Ji, the “patient,” had surpassed the specialist and reached Li Wei’s peak level of expertise.

“The information is incredibly objective. The world itself is in constant flux.”

“‘Use it or lose it,’ along with factors like mindset and mood, all influence rankings. This principle applies to most fields. Take athletes, for example. In one competition, they might rank in the global top ten; in the next, they could fall out of the top thousand...”

“And then there’s Zheng Xuan. When I first met him, his global hacker ranking was 683. But after spending a few days in the countryside, it dropped beyond 1,000.”

“These past two weeks, he’s been studying economics while keeping up with his surface-level translation work. Since he hasn’t kept up with the latest developments in online technology, his ranking has now fallen below 2,000.”

The era moves relentlessly forward. In society, if you’re not advancing, you’re falling behind.