Chapter 87

That page of paper disappeared, leaving no trace, and in his hand remained only a piece of green dragon skin.

"What's going on! Who can take this defiled text from a thousand miles away?" Fang Yun immediately looked around, but saw nothing.

Fortunately, this wasn't the first time such an event had occurred, and Fang Yun immediately understood, silently thinking, "In the realm of strange books, where is the defiled text of the Great Scholar?"

Fang Yun immediately "saw" a void, with a withered yellow page floating within it. The blood-red characters on it suddenly began to pulse like veins, the pulsing growing louder and louder, eventually sounding like drums.

The blood-red characters seemed to be restrained by some force, struggling.

Far away, at the confluence of the Yangtze River and the East Sea, there was a vast estuary. Deep within the estuary stood a magnificent dragon palace at the bottom of the river.

"Father, Li Wenying has insulted our aquatic race too much. Please, Father, grant me a treasure to retrieve the defiled text of the Great Scholar."

"Go and take a drop of my holy blood, and slowly search for that page of the defiled text of the Great Scholar."

"Li Wenying has already killed that lowly snake and should have obtained it. To deal with Li Wenying, I fear I need a drop of your essence blood."

"If he obtains it, he will surely return to Dàyuan Prefecture to have the power of the Holy Temple cleanse it. He won't act in the river. That little snake is clever and might hide the defiled text of the Great Scholar along her path."

"Good! I will transform into a human and search slowly."

"Hmm, go... wait, no need to go."

"Father, you..."

"My holy blood has already been erased by someone. The Holy Temple cannot act so quickly; it must be a half-saint! Forget it, the 'Peach Blossom Spring' is just a legend. Go down."

In the mountains, Fang Yun "saw" the blood on the page being lifted by a tremendous force, then the blood transformed into a small dragon, roaring to the sky and writhing wildly.

But the invisible force was extremely terrifying, firmly restraining the blood-red dragon.

Fang Yun couldn't help but wipe the sweat from his forehead.

"Could this be the divine will of a legendary half-saint? A drop of blood combined with the divine will inside can have the power of a Grand Scholar at the lowest and the might of a Great Scholar at the highest, capable of destroying a city with a drop of blood or breaking a mountain with a thought. How did the realm of strange books do this?"

Fang Yun thought to himself, carefully examining the defiled text of the Great Scholar. The blood-red color had completely disappeared, and the characters glowed with a gentle golden light. A graceful voice came from the page, reciting the content continuously.

"The sound lingers, no mistake, it must be the manuscript written by the Sage Tao when he was a Great Scholar. But how can I take it out? Realm of strange books, let me see it."

The realm of strange books did not move.

"This..."

Fang Yun was just suspecting that the realm of strange books was trying to keep the manuscript of the Great Scholar for itself when the fragment of "Peach Blossom Spring" disappeared. Then Fang Yun heard a deafening voice in his ear.

"In the reign of Emperor Taoyuan of the Jin Dynasty, a man from Wuling made his living by fishing. He followed a stream, forgetting how far he had traveled. Suddenly, he encountered a peach blossom forest..."

The voice was ethereal, carrying a transcendent and wondrous atmosphere, making people feel as if they had entered a beautiful village with peach blossoms, forgetting the world and living forever in the world of "Peach Blossom Spring."

Fang Yun realized that the realm of strange books had sent the fragment of "Peach Blossom Spring" into his literary palace. Listening to it once was very comfortable, but listening to it a second time made him feel dizzy.

The manuscript of the Great Scholar had immense power, like a powerful literary treasure, and could be stored in the literary palace, greatly benefiting it. However, Fang Yun was just a Scholar, and even with a literary gallbladder, he was only a half-tribute, unable to withstand the repeated refinement of the lingering sound.

After just over thirty breaths, Fang Yun could hardly bear it, and his literary palace wobbled slightly.

The deafening lingering sound immediately disappeared and returned to the realm of strange books.

Fang Yun glanced at the small blood dragon struggling in the void, then returned to the camp in a daze and fell into a deep sleep.

In the early morning, nearly a thousand reinforcements from Dàyuan Prefecture arrived. Governor Ge received a message from Li Wenying and came personally, bringing five full-fledged Jinshi officials, sixteen tribute officials, and even a recently retired old Hanlin scholar, fearing that Fang Yun and others might be in danger. They collected the bodies of all the fallen soldiers and walked out of the mountains.

That day was also the release date for "The Sacred Way" and "The Literary Gazette."

"The Sacred Way" and "The Literary Gazette" were issued as scheduled in all ten countries, with no difference from usual.

However, there were some small differences outside the literary academies in all ten countries. The book vendors of the Xuanting Bookstore wore uniform clothing, pushing carts with advertising banners, buying large quantities of "The Sacred Way" and "The Literary Treasure" from the academies and placing them on the carts, while also selling various books like "The West Chamber."

Outside the literary academy bookshop in Dàyuan Prefecture, there were crowds of people, several times more than during the monthly release of "The Sacred Way," with the bustling scene almost equal to the annual county and prefecture exams.

"Hey, Old Liu, why did you come? You're over eighty, why not send someone to buy it?"

"I couldn't wait! I heard that Fang Shuangjia's great work is published in 'The Sacred Way' again, with three full articles and two co-written ones. Not only does it include new painting techniques I like, but it also helps Sword Brow Gong revise a poem. How could I sit still? Old Song, you're over seventy, didn't you come yourself too?"

"Ha, same here. Our Jiangzhou rarely produces a great talent. His poetry and prose are published in 'The Sacred Way,' so of course I came to buy it. Alas, if he had been born fifty years earlier, 'The Inscription of a Humble Abode' would have been published fifty years earlier, and you and I could have passed the tribute exam long ago."

"So this time I'm buying ten copies, one for each of my grandchildren, and they must read his poetry and prose every day to ensure they pass the tribute exam!"

"Exactly! Look at all these people around us, eight out of ten are buying for their children and grandchildren."

"He is the first to invite the Holy Words and the first to be chosen by the Holy Selection. Who wouldn't learn his poetry and prose? He might become the first sage of Dàyuan Prefecture!"

"Possible! I must find a way to get his calligraphy, which can be a family treasure!"

"Don't mention it. Now all the literati in the city are vying to get his calligraphy, but he doesn't attend any poetry or prose gatherings, focusing solely on his studies to pass the Scholar exam. No one has the chance."

"Ah, it's May again. The fifth day of the fifth month is the Dragon Boat Festival. As usual, the literati of Qingguo will cross the river to compete in poetry and dragon boat races with us. We've lost for over ten years, and I hope Fang Yun doesn't skip it to study, making our country lose face every year."

"Yes, alas."

When the people nearby heard about the dragon boat poetry competition, their expressions turned gloomy.

"Fang Yun is powerful, but the 'Poetry Prince' of this generation is in Qingguo. The Poetry Prince won't come, but his disciples or fellow students might. Even with Fang Yun, the chances of winning are slim."

"Yes, the dragon boat poetry competition isn't a single person's contest; it's a competition for everyone on the boat."

"Fang Yun won't participate in the dragon boat poetry competition."

"Why?" many people asked.

"Have you forgotten? The dragon boat race involves using poetry to invoke the elemental energy of heaven and earth. Only tribute and Scholar candidates can participate. Even if he writes a poem better than the national level, it won't help as a child candidate."

"Ah!"

"Wait until next year."

"Next year, Fang Yun will definitely be able to!"

Many copies of "The Sacred Way" and "The Literary Gazette" were bought, with some people reading them immediately, others reading them after dinner, and still others rushing to secret places outside the city to give dozens of copies to an eagle demon.

The eagle demon grabbed the wrapped "The Sacred Way" and "The Literary Gazette," flew into the clouds, and quickly headed for the Demon Mountain.

At the Demon Mountain, on the Surprising City Peak, in the Dream Tour Hall.

All the rebel literati stood in front of the hall, a monthly ritual even for those who hated humans and revered demons, still fascinated by the power of the Sacred Way.

They revered the Sacred Way but not the human race.

A demon servant carried a large bag inside, then took out a copy of "The Sacred Way" and "The Literary Gazette," holding them with both hands and presenting them to the half-human, half-demon, half-scholar, Grand Scholar Feng Chengjue.

Feng Chengjue glanced at the table of contents, snorted, and said, "That Fang Yun is making a big fuss again! I hope he knows what's good for him. If he dares to become a Scholar before the Sage, I will kill him! A mere Li Wenying can't stop me!"

"Li Wenying is naturally not as great as you, sir. You are one of the four great talents of the previous generation."

Feng Chengjue flipped through the book, saying, "I heard that Fang Yun's 'The Inscription of a Humble Abode' is good. I didn't read it before, so let's take a look."

Soon, Feng Chengjue flipped to the page of "The Inscription of a Humble Abode," read a few lines, and his eyes lit up, reading it slowly.

Halfway through, all the characters of "The Inscription of a Humble Abode" suddenly trembled, emitting a faint light, and a deep voice sounded.

"What is there to be humble about!"

Feng Chengjue and all the rebel literati present screamed.

"Ah..."

Feng Chengjue suffered the most; his eyes were blinded by the light, his literary gallbladder and literary palace cracked, and the literary palaces of the other rebel literati also had problems. The three most unstable literary palaces suddenly bled from the seven orifices and died. Several others had their literary palaces shattered, becoming completely demented.

In the end, less than half of the people barely managed to hold on, but their literary palaces were full of cracks, making it difficult to repair in the short term.

"Damn half-saint! Using the gallbladder-refining text and the Holy Words of Confucius to trap us! Report quickly, tell everyone not to read today's 'The Sacred Way'! Be careful of the trap!"

"Yes!" A rebel literatus hurriedly left.

Feng Chengjue's face was terrifying, his dragon-clawed hands gripping the stone throne, turning it to powder, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "It must be the half-saint using this text to warn us not to investigate the identity of the Five-Action Grand Scholar! Damn, I was about to become a Great Scholar soon, but this ambush will delay me for a long time, and I will have to return to the demon world to repair my literary palace and gallbladder! Fang Yun, you're in trouble! Pass my order immediately, kill Fang Yun at all costs! I am returning to the demon world to rest, and if Fang Yun is still alive when I return, you will all die! All of you will die!"

"Yes, sir! We will mobilize all the forces of Jiangzhou to kill Fang Yun!"

Feng Chengjue stood up and walked out of the hall, saying, "Whoever kills Fang Yun will be heavily rewarded with a divine fruit that extends life by fifty years! If you have any requests in the future, I will grant them! I will eat Fang Yun! Bit by bit, inch by inch!"

"Yes!"

The rebel literati watched Feng Chengjue leave, their faces filled with worry.