Chapter 82

Hearing the physical and mental exhaustion of Dean Hu and others, they finally managed to smooth out this explanation, each one so anxious that they were about to sweat, and their gazes toward Yue Heng had changed.

"Master Yue, I beg you, please don't say such shocking words anymore, okay? Aren't you making us scholars the target of everyone's criticism?" Some informed scholars and instructors were praying in their hearts.

These prayers soon took effect. Yue Heng swiftly wrote the next eight lines, which made everyone breathe a sigh of relief. At least these lines did not cause conflicts between different professions.

"Learning comes from diligence, with ten thousand volumes of books by the firefly window. Three winters are enough for use, who will laugh at the emptiness of the belly? Since childhood, I have been talented and ambitious. Others carry swords, but I have a pen like a knife." When Yue Heng wrote this, he paused slightly.

"Spoken well!"

"Too wonderful! It turns out the previous text on diligence came from here!"

"Since childhood, I have been talented and ambitious, this is truly a true portrayal of every gifted person. Who hasn't been proud in their youth? Who hasn't been arrogant and reckless?"

"Warriors wield swords across the world, but scholars need only a pen! A pen is as sharp as an invincible treasure sword, this is truly the most vivid image of us scholars!"

Almost all the scholars present became excited and moved. Many people resonated at this moment. Those who had cultivated the "knife" text symbol and those who practiced sword and knife series martial arts all discovered with surprise that their divine palaces and martial souls were resonating!

"Resonant text! Resonant text!" a fourth-level Confucian scholar muttered to himself.

"What? This clearly unfinished poem, how can it resonate halfway?" another martial arts instructor exclaimed in surprise.

"Nothing is impossible. As long as the core meaning of the article is universal, it can resonate at any time," a fourth-level spirit controller whispered to himself, but soon closed his eyes and began to feel the fluctuations in his spirit.

Dean Hu breathed a sigh of relief, and his expression toward Yue Heng changed significantly.

The importance of resonant text goes without saying. To make four thousand students resonate is even more difficult. If this text resonates from the beginning...

Dean Hu didn't dare to think about it. He didn't know whether this deception of the Chu Kingdom's literary department would be a disaster or a blessing. It seemed that things had escalated beyond his control.

It was time for the next four lines. Yue Heng paused slightly, took a deep breath, and gathered his strength.

He looked up and saw four thousand students and hundreds of instructors all looking at him with admiration and anticipation. He sighed inwardly.

"Next, even if divine punishment occurs, I will accept it. We are classmates, and I at least want to bring you some benefits. I am the most opposed to keeping good things to oneself. Good things should be shared!" Yue Heng sighed inwardly, dipped his brush in ink, and wrote again.

"In the morning, I am a peasant; by night, I ascend to the imperial hall. Generals and ministers are not born, but men should strive for self-improvement."

The moment he wrote the character "strong," a shocking phenomenon occurred.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

This time, it wasn't the noisy crowd, but real thunder from the sky!

Dark clouds gathered above the hall, the black clouds rolling like boiling mist, as if a dragon-like beast was flying and rolling in the clouds.

Without warning, a fierce wind rose inside the teaching hall, as if it were a life-taking demon wind. Debris flew everywhere, and the wind stung people's faces.

Boom!

A huge thunderclap exploded, the lightning's intense brightness making it impossible to open one's eyes. The power of the thunder struck through people's eardrums, directly impacting their hearts, and injuring their divine palaces and martial souls.

Dean Hu was greatly alarmed. He had set up a magical array in the teaching hall beforehand, which should have isolated the connection to heaven and earth, temporarily deceiving the investigation of the Fuxi stars. How could it be sensed by heaven?

It must be that the last two lines of the poem were too shocking, "Generals and ministers are not born, but men should strive for self-improvement." As an encouraging poem, it was fine, but using it to belittle the origins of generals and ministers to elevate the poor was absolutely inappropriate. This would offend all the aristocratic families and nobles!

"Power of the divine palace, 'imprison'!"

Dean Hu had no time to think. He first protected Yue Heng. With his "imprison" text symbol and the talent provided by the array, he should be able to save his life.

"Power of the divine palace, 'restrain'!"

This was the second defensive text symbol. Although it wasn't the best defensive text symbol, the "restrain" text symbol still had some defensive protection. At this moment, encountering the heavenly punishment, any additional protection was valuable.

Dean Hu compressed the power of these two text symbols to the extreme with his divine consciousness, reducing the original range of several dozen feet to just ten feet. The defensive effect increased significantly, making Yue Heng safer.

Boom!

Large black thunderclouds floated above Yue Heng, and after a thunderclap, multiple lightning bolts struck down, turning the paper in front of Yue Heng into powder. Even the Fuxi text disks used for amplification were destroyed.

From the moment the black thunderclouds gathered, Yue Heng was frightened and tried to run back, but he couldn't take more than two steps. It seemed as if an invisible shackle was controlling him. He knew he must have been imprisoned by someone using a text symbol.

Occasionally, a lightning bolt would strike above his head, but it was absorbed by the invisible power of the text symbol, which made him feel more at ease.

But no matter what, the thunder was truly terrifying!

The Fuxi text disks, which were so precious that ordinary people couldn't even chip a corner, were directly turned into powder by the thunder.

Moreover, the thunder seemed to be angry only at the poem. After destroying the poem in front of him, its color gradually faded and finally disappeared, as if it had never appeared.

When everything returned to calm, the teaching hall was in a mess. Yue Heng was still shaken; this was the first time he felt so close to death!

Debris and plants were scattered everywhere, and all the junior students were sprawled about. Many people were injured due to panic, trying to avoid the danger.

The instructors on the main stage, who were closest to the thunder, were pale-faced, clearly terrified.

It wasn't surprising. The thunder was too powerful and appeared suddenly. No one expected such an event to happen.

"Is this really divine punishment?"

"It doesn't seem like it! The divine thunder from Fuxi shouldn't be these rolling black clouds?"

"What's going on? If this isn't divine thunder, what is it? Dean Hu, what exactly happened?"

Many instructors, after calming down, began to doubt. This thunder didn't seem like the divine punishment from Fuxi. What was it then?

Dean Hu's mind raced. He seemed to have an idea. His gaze swept over the many scholars and instructors, finally settling on Instructor Du. His eyes seemed to pierce through the soul, making Instructor Du dodge and lower his head, not daring to meet his gaze.

"Hmph! Power of the divine palace, 'restrain'!"

Dean Hu made a hand sign and quickly used the "restrain" text symbol to protect himself. He then took out a Fuxi text disk and, with a grim face, used it to communicate over a long distance.

No one outside could hear a word, and even the lip movements were blurry. After half an incense stick's time, Dean Hu withdrew the power of the "restrain" text symbol and looked at everyone with a serious expression.

He first looked at Yue Heng and asked, "Is the 'Poem of the Divine Child' finished?"

Yue Heng didn't dare to say it wasn't finished. If he had known it would cause such a phenomenon, he would never have recited these lines: "To the lord, it is finished."

Whether it was really finished wasn't important at the moment. Dean Hu seemed to understand Yue Heng's true intentions and warned, "It's best if it's finished! In the future, no one is allowed to spread this poem. Those who violate this will suffer divine punishment. Do you understand, instructors and students?"

Everyone responded in unison, "Understood, sir (lord)!"

Dean Hu gave Yue Heng a look, signaling him to quietly leave. He then said, "Today's lecture ends here. How much each person understands depends on their own destiny. Everyone, you may leave!"

When Dean Hu returned to his teaching area, the group of scholar-officials who had discussed matters together the previous day were already waiting there.

Everyone had many questions and didn't know how to handle the aftermath. They all wanted to hear Dean Hu's opinion.

With no outsiders around, Dean Hu sighed and said, "I have already asked through long-distance communication. This thunder was not from the power of Fuxi, but from a high-ranking official of the Chu Kingdom's Academy. The purpose was to destroy the 'Poem of the Divine Child' and warn us not to leak its content. Mr. Du, don't you have an explanation for everyone?"

Instructor Du's face was ashen, but he still stood firm, gritting his teeth and saying, "Yes, I activated the long-distance communication function of the Fuxi text disk to report the content of the 'Poem of the Divine Child' in real time. This text disk was also transmitted from the Chu Kingdom's Academy. In times of crisis, it can be activated to trigger the thunder spell array, which will be destroyed afterward. Gentlemen, don't you have any thoughts on the line 'Generals and ministers are not born, but men should strive for self-improvement'?"

There was a moment of silence. For the poor and unsupported scholars, this line posed no problem and was the most inspiring poem. It was believed that the majority of the two thousand scholars present today were greatly encouraged, and some might have even broken through their bottlenecks, greatly enhancing their strength.

But for these instructors or the current rulers of the country and the world, this line was completely wrong. It was undermining and even overturning the advantages that the aristocratic families, nobles, and powerful families had built over the past few hundred years. It was a thoroughly rebellious statement.

Everyone understood what was happening. Dean Hu used the array to temporarily deceive Fuxi, but Instructor Du privately contacted a high-ranking official of the Chu Kingdom's Academy. Upon hearing Yue Heng's opposition, the official used the thunder to destroy the poem. This was a normal reaction.