Chapter 33

After Ye Qing finished his bow, he noticed that among the hundred or so people, most of the invitations on the table were golden yellow, with only a dozen or so being light green.

One person seemed familiar, and upon a closer look, it turned out to be the young master of the Yu family. Is he here too?

This young man was now looking straight ahead, exuding a dignified demeanor.

These people did not sit together, as if wary of each other, maintaining a distance, with scholars holding golden yellow invitations serving as a buffer in between.

"His composure and stability are impressive!" Ye Qing realized that these were the main opponents. His heart stirred, thinking, "In the previous life, the Dragon Lord's banquet became a famous story, and it was said that the top three benefited greatly, but the specific identities were never revealed."

"Is the young master of the Yu family one of the top three, Yu Fan?"

As he was thinking, he heard the Dragon Lord speak from above: "The underwater palace is deep and I am ignorant. Gentlemen have come, and I have nothing to offer in return, so I have set up a small banquet to entertain you all."

With that, the Dragon Lord clapped his hands.

This was the signal, and immediately, horns blew and war drums sounded. Before the scholars could react, banners were waving, and armored soldiers poured in.

These soldiers exuded a solemn aura, and with three hundred of them, the gathered killing intent was overwhelming. Several scholars immediately changed their expressions, and some even fell off their seats.

In the previous life, Ye Qing had heard of this, and he instantly knew it was the first test. He was well-prepared, sitting still, and with a glance, he saw that only half of the scholars could maintain their composure, and only twenty had a calm demeanor.

"Please enjoy the 'Peaceful Array Music'!" someone said, and immediately, the three hundred soldiers, with their banners, exuded a heroic and solemn presence.

Ye Qing remained still, watching them. Although he was prepared, he still felt the killing intent piercing his brow, similar to the mountain god temple, but with a more majestic and cold sharpness, penetrating the hall. He realized, "A great calamity is coming. Does the Dragon Lord sense it? If so, his intentions are not small."

This was indeed a military parade, displaying power. The people present were all talents, and once the news spread, it would have many benefits.

Indeed, upon closer inspection, even the scholars who appeared calm were secretly intimidated.

"Next, the 'Dragon Palace Feast Music'!" Seeing that the guests were intimidated, the Dragon Lord smiled and signaled for a change in the music. The melody was clear and melodious, and the scholars finally regained their senses.

Following the Dragon Lord's command, young girls, all of whom were beautiful, with white jade on their foreheads, moved gracefully, replacing the fresh fruits and fine wine on each table.

The girl who approached Ye Qing was a familiar dragon maiden!

She was not surprised by the empty plates, smiling as she replaced them with new ones, and whispered to Ye Qing, "Hey, the grand banquet has no restrictions. You can eat more. No need to wait for instructions; someone will refill it... My father is actually quite stingy, so don't tell anyone I said that."

"Thank you, Dragon Maiden!" Ye Qing smiled slightly, wondering if this stinginess was a hint, real or fake?

"Only call me sister if there's a benefit. How mean!" The dragon maiden smiled playfully, but without any real displeasure. After speaking, she quietly retreated to the western curtain, blending in with the other girls.

One or two such beautiful girls would not be strange, but all of them being of such quality made everyone look at each other in surprise. Whether they held golden yellow or light green invitations, the scholars were all captivated, thinking how fortunate the Dragon Lord was.

Ye Qing, however, noticed their subtle aura and observed carefully. The white jade on their foreheads indicated that they were not purely aquatic beings, which meant...

"Who would have thought, they are all dragon maidens?" Ye Qing was shocked and somewhat envious.

This was the depth of the Dragon Lord's power. Since the previous Dragon Lord of the Peaceful Lake fell, this Dragon Lord had ruled the lake for eight thousand years.

In the human world, a founding emperor might have a hundred million subjects and a heavenly mandate, but how many could match this longevity? Even eight hundred years or eighty years were rare!

In this world, the lifespan of a heavenly emperor was only a hundred and twenty years, much longer than on Earth.

Living for eight thousand years and ruling the eight-hundred-mile Peaceful Lake, collecting countless beauties was not excessive. The quality of the offspring was high, and these hundred dragon maidens were all extraordinary, each with natural beauty. One couldn't help but wonder if the Dragon Palace recruited sons-in-law.

Ye Qing took the opportunity to feast his eyes, but suddenly noticed a hint of golden starlight in a girl's sleeve and her prominent position. His expression changed, and he dared not look around anymore.

Looking down at the fresh fruits and fine wine on the table, which had been replaced, he was about to indulge, but his mind was racing with thousands of thoughts, finally settling on the dragon maiden's slightly angry expression.

"It seems my performance at the Yellow Dragon Tower was too noticeable, and I'm being closely watched. No good feast is without its price," Ye Qing narrowed his eyes, looking at the light green invitation on the table, pondering.

However, despite the usual smiles and scowls, Ye Qing, who had experienced two civilizations and the life-and-death struggles of the previous world, was not afraid.

He gathered his thoughts and looked around the Dragon Palace banquet. If it were someone else, they might have been overwhelmed and wished to stay here for life.

Thinking of this, he was suddenly struck by a realization: "No wonder the top three were vague. Besides Yu Fan, the other two must have stayed in the Dragon Palace... This really does have the intention of recruiting sons-in-law."

"I can't just blindly enter this situation. I need to regain my composure first!" Ye Qing picked up an unfamiliar purple-red fruit and bit into it fiercely...

Seeing that the hundred or so guests were gradually smiling, the Dragon Lord nodded in approval from above and then looked down, slowly speaking, "Today's feast, how can there be no poetry to match the occasion? Let's have a poem on the theme of the lake."

With these words, many dragon maidens gracefully approached, offering ink, brushes, and paper.

The dragon maidens moved silently, making the hall fall into silence. The scholars, all human talents, no longer paid attention to them. Some rubbed their foreheads, some closed their eyes in deep thought, some gazed at the green ceiling, and some traced characters on the table, clearly pondering and organizing their poems.

The dragon maidens, seeing the mess on the table, inwardly laughed, thinking, "You really ate everything."

As she spoke, her silk neckline slightly fell, revealing a patch of white skin. Ye Qing deliberately looked a bit longer, inwardly praising, "This body is surprisingly well-endowed."

The dragon maiden suddenly felt it, looked up, and met Ye Qing's naked "appreciation" gaze. This time, she was not pretending to be angry. Considering the setting, she gritted her teeth and hissed, "Hey, scholar, can you do it?"

At this moment, no matter the age, any man would not say no.

Ye Qing met her gaze and instantly caught a glimpse of her deep, unfathomable nature. His mind raced with thousands of thoughts, but he showed a look of disdain, "You'll see!"

After saying this, he ignored the dragon maiden and fell into deep thought.

Composing a poem on the spot was the most challenging. Compared to the usual careful deliberation, the key was not the time but inspiration and accumulation.

A minute on stage, ten years of practice.

Even the greatest poets accumulated good lines in their daily lives and selected them on the spot, like a thousand days of accumulation used in a moment, resulting in a brilliant poem. Otherwise, it would just be an ordinary work.

In reality, even Li Bai's lifetime of poetry was mostly ordinary, but with Li Bai's level, even the ordinary surpassed the common, and with a strong personal style, a single word, phrase, or line could make the audience marvel.

If even the Poet Immortal was like this, no wonder these scholars were deep in thought, composing poems. They had prepared for the "lake" theme, even consulting their clans for ideas.

However, no matter how much preparation, it could not match the time-tested masterpieces.

"Hurry up, you're the only one left!" The dragon maiden's eyes darted, and for some reason, she whispered a reminder.

"Oh..." Ye Qing was startled out of his thoughts, seeing that everyone else had already picked up their pens. Those who could attend this banquet were not only quick-witted but also talented. Outside, they could be considered potential juren (imperial examination candidates), and it was rare for a tongsheng (child scholar) like himself to be here.

"Not in a hurry!" Ye Qing added water to the inkstone, grinding the ink carefully, his gaze passing over the others, through the hall door, to the distant blue sky.

A faint smile appeared on Ye Qing's face as he recalled the past half month, climbing mountains and touring the lake with Qianqian. Thousands of poems came to mind, each with a touch of green... Even a literary giant could not match the power of a civilization.

As for plagiarism, well, only by accumulating resources with all one's might could one pursue the ultimate path. Why be pretentious about such things?

Thinking of this, a joy suddenly surged in his heart. At this moment, his literary inspiration flowed like a spring, and the joys and sorrows of the past thirty years of his previous life flowed through him like water.

Ye Qing picked up his brush and dipped it in the ink, ready to write.

"Idiot, stop looking. Quick thinking is also part of the score..." The dragon maiden suddenly stopped, her heart racing. She usually did not reveal such things, so what was this now?

Ye Qing was startled, looking at the brush in his hand, but smiled without speaking.

If he wrote a famous poem so quickly, it would be too astonishing.

There were no luck-stabilizing artifacts in the hall. Once a timeless masterpiece was written, the paper would be filled with mist, illuminating the entire hall, making the gathered talents feel out of place.

The lesson from Cao Mengde was not far off...

Ye Qing shook his head, put down the brush, and slowly wrote one word: "Ascend"

He paused, falling into deep thought.

A moment passed, and the hall was silent. The scholars bent over their desks, focusing their energy on their pens, and invisible literary auras began to rise, white, yellow, or green.

This time, the dragon maiden held back, looking at the stars in the sky outside. It had been half an hour.

Ye Qing opened his eyes and wrote the second word: "Approach"

Seeing the literary aura, he paused again.

Ye Qing was not deliberately using this tactic but unexpectedly found that the longer time allowed him to concentrate his energy on the brush, potentially making the literary aura rise half a level.

"Ordinary poems need to worry about the thickness of the literary aura. Once the poetic inspiration is interrupted, the energy cools, making it hard to continue. My level of poetry, however, is like fine wine, getting stronger with time."

Seeing Ye Qing fall into deep thought again, the dragon maiden's eyes flickered, observing the other scholars, her mind racing.

This young man, either a true fool trying to impress the crowd, or a confident genius, not competing for the moment, aiming to win with a dignified poem.

So, which one is he?

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