CH 41

Fang Yun sat on the carriage with his eyes closed, resting. After reciting "Butterfly Love Flower Spring Scenery," he felt that his talent and energy had been drained and needed some time to recover.

Hei Yunong, who was in the same carriage, became more and more excited as he spoke, "I'll bring this poem back to our clan's school. The teachers and students will surely be delighted. I never expected that you not only write good poetry but also amazing lyrics. This poem is truly wonderful. 'Where there is no fragrant grass at the end of the world...' What a great line! It will surely be passed down for generations."

Fang Yun didn't reply but nodded.

"With 'Dream Record of the Pillow' and this 'Butterfly Love Flower,' your upcoming 'Path of the Saints' will be a double masterpiece. If you work harder and write two more poems, you'll have four masterpieces!"

Fang Yun still didn't reply, and Hei Yunong continued, "Nine days later, the top scholars from the nine counties and the top child scholars from the prefecture will enter the prefectural academy to study. You're one of them. Although the Lishan Society can help you, it's still the territory of the Ying Society. And Liu Zicheng will be studying at the prefectural academy. From what I know of him, he will definitely try to show off on the first day and make you the laughingstock of the academy."

"Does he dare to act recklessly in the prefectural academy?"

"Don't you know? The head of the academy is the Left Chancellor's man, and the prefect is the Right Chancellor's man. This is the case in all ten kingdoms. The heads of the civil officials in the prefecture and the academy must never belong to the same faction for the sake of balance. If you can enter the state academy, it will be much better. Although Li Wenying is not from the same faction as the Right Chancellor, he belongs to the military and hates the Left Chancellor. Can you find a way to enter the state academy?"

"A child scholar entering the state academy? It has happened in other kingdoms, but has it ever happened in Jing Kingdom? Do I have the qualifications?" Fang Yun asked.

Hei Yunong thought for a moment and said, "Your literary reputation is enough, but you haven't studied at the county academy and you're not from a prominent family of All the Saints. It's too difficult for a child scholar to directly enter the state academy. Generally, only the top talented scholars from the prefectures and the top presented scholars from the various prefectures can enter the state academy."

"Okay."

Fang Yun rested for a moment with his eyes closed, and his mind entered the literary palace.

Another star appeared in the literary palace, and the starlight that nourished his talent increased, but it was still thin.

His talent, like a silk thread, continued to rise and had reached seven and a half inches, two and a half inches away from becoming a talented scholar.

Fang Yun continued to ponder in his mind, "The prefectural examination is around June 15th, which is still more than two months away. This is the best time for Liu Zicheng to strike and attack me. Even if I try to endure it, I may not be able to get through it. Therefore, I must become a talented scholar before the prefectural examination and master the art of paper warfare. Otherwise, even if Liu Zicheng doesn't kill me, he can still humiliate me in countless ways with his physical and literary abilities.""If talent grows too fast without enough tempering, it won't work. If in the future, I cannot condense the courage to write or if I am born with insufficient courage to write, it would be equivalent to being completely useless. According to the collection of Chen Sheng, Tao Yuanming was too obsessed with the countryside and had no intention of tempering his courage to write. He was unable to become a saint and only realized his mistake on his deathbed. He wrote "The Peach Blossom Spring" to clarify his mind and no longer avoided the world, instead creating a utopia outside of society. In the end, he became a Half-Sage and lived to be eighty years old."

"From today on, I will shorten my sleep to four hours. With my talent, I can maintain a high level of energy for two months. It won't be too late to rest after becoming an accomplished scholar."

"Moral character is the bone of writing, temperament is the heart of writing, ambition is the root of writing, and the name is the body of writing. One must practice calligraphy constantly, and reading the works of sages and saints is the best way to solidify one's talent. However, I cannot neglect the lessons of the clan school, as they explain the path of the saints in the simplest language, which is of great benefit to my cultivation."

After exiting the Palace of Literature, Fang Yun asked, "Brother He, what does your Palace of Literature look like?"

He Yunong smiled and said, "The Palaces of Literature of great talents like you are all unique and cannot be publicized. Mine is no different from an ordinary accomplished scholar's. It's just a thatched hut with nothing inside except for my statue. There's no such thing as the rumored Palace of Literature Starry Sky or the murals of all the saints. I'm just mediocre. A better one would be a pavilion, and an even better one would be a stone house. As for you great talents who are expected to become great scholars or even saints, your Palaces of Literature are either like the imperial Golden Palace or the Holy Temple of Literature. Of course, they can be big or small."

"I see," Fang Yun replied.

"Your Palace of Literature must at least be a royal palace, right? You have such great talent, so you must have the Palace of Literature Starry Sky, but you might not have the murals of all the saints. It's said that only the four recognized great talents or the heads of nations can have them."

Fang Yun thought for a moment but didn't say anything. He had seen the murals of all the saints when he visited the Holy Temple.

He Yunong became interested and continued talking, "There are rumors that there are other strange Palaces of Literature outside of the Holy Temple. Based on the scraps of information left by Sage Confucius, one must jump out of the Holy Origin mainland and look out into the stars and myriad realms. They must have extraordinary insight, such as how all the saints say that the place where the Holy Origin mainland is located is not flat but a large sphere, and that the sun is a million times larger than the Holy Origin mainland. But we can't even understand that the Holy Origin mainland is round, so how can we talk about the stars and myriad realms?"

Fang Yun wanted to laugh but couldn't. He thought of his own Palace of Literature.His literary palace was not a palace or a temple, nor was it an ordinary stone house. It was a grand and ancient temple built of huge stones, with a length and width of thousands of feet, larger than an ordinary small town, and it continued to expand with the growth of his talent.

He Yunong continued, "It is said that the larger the literary palace, the greater the possibility of the God of Literature appearing. No one knows what the God of Literature really is, only the Half-Sages speculate that the origin of the Holy Origin's vitality comes from itself, but the origin of talent comes from the God of Literature. However, since the death of Sage Confucius, there have been two more sources of talent in the world, one is the Holy Academy and the other is the human race itself. As long as people read and write, they will continuously create talent. However, if you want to obtain the purest talent, you must accept the God of Literature's appearance. As for the God of Literature shining on the body, except for Sage Confucius and King Wen of Zhou, no one can obtain it. Oh, by the way, that person, Yi Zhishi, may have a chance."

Fang Yun heard Yi Zhishi's name again. This person was also a genius of the present age, only slightly familiar with poetry, but the number one person under the Half-Sages in the study of the classics of all the Saints. It is said that he could create lingering melodies before becoming a Great Scholar.

Fang Daniu outside couldn't help shouting, "My young master can do it too! Who is Yi Zhishi? Is he a Child Scholar before becoming a Double-Jin Saint?"

Fang Yun smiled, and He Yunong smiled and said, "Okay, your young master can definitely become a Half-Sage, right?"

"At least he should become a Semi-Saint! In the future, I will be the one driving the carriage for the Semi-Saint. That's so grand." Fang Daniu said.

He Yunong smiled and said to Fang Yun, "Your cousin is so naive. How can a Semi-Saint ride a horse carriage? If he wants to ride, he should ride a Treasure of Literature carriage. There's no need for anyone to drive it."

Fang Daniu muttered to himself outside, "That's true. I'll just be a gatekeeper in the future."

Fang Yun became interested in Treasures of Literature and asked, "Are there any Treasures of Literature for sale?"

"Yes, but they are very rare. After all, a Presented Scholar can only create the lowest level of Treasure of Literature once in his life. How many Treasures of Literature can there be in Jiangzhou in a year, with only forty to fifty Presented Scholars at most, excluding those who die in battle or die accidentally? Most of the Treasures of Literature are obtained by the court and the Holy Academy, and very few can be traded. It is said that seventy percent of the Treasures of Literature traded privately are from the bodies of those who died at the hands of Demon Barbarians. Those Demon Barbarians don't need them, so they naturally sell them to human merchants in exchange for what they need."

"What do the Demon Barbarians need?" Fang Yun asked.

He Yunong's face changed, and he said helplessly, "Most merchants only sell cattle and sheep to Demon Barbarians, but a few unscrupulous merchants not only sell living people, but also sell the bodies of people with literary positions."

"Is this true? I thought it was just a rumor.""Of course it's true! The blood of demon barbarians can be made into ink, and their bones and hair can be used to make sacred pages. And the bodies of those who have been infused with talent are the favorites of demon barbarians, whether alive or dead. It is said that it can help them increase their cultivation and absorb the essence of the sun and moon, after all, talent comes from the God of Literature."

"I see." Fang Yun's expression became serious.

He Yunong continued, "It's because demon barbarians eat people that every nation distributes Treasures of Literature to the counties, and each prefecture has stationed troops. Our Jiangzhou is quite unlucky, with water demons from the Yangtze River to the south, sea demons to the east, and one of the Five Demon Mountains to the southwest. Fortunately, the demon mountain in our territory is a branch, and there are only small demons there. The water demons from the Yangtze River have been cleared out by the navy, or else it would have been chaotic. The sea demons and the dragon tribe usually trade with us, but they use people from our tribe to train their soldiers every year."

"You mean the Poem Festival for pacifying demons?"

"Yes, the sea demons use us to train their soldiers, and we use them to train ours. Generally speaking, no one loses out. The most feared are the dragon princes and grandchildren who want to make a name for themselves. Then there needs to be a big battle, and some Presented Scholars and Talented Scholars will inevitably die."

"I would like to see it." Fang Yun said.

He Yunong said, "I've seen it. It was really spectacular. That year, a demon king's dragon grandson led the way. Guess what his mount was? A ten-mile-long giant demon turtle. When the demon turtle and the dragon grandson appeared on the sea, they didn't even use their demon power, but it caused a storm. The demon turtle moved slightly, and a three-zhang-high wave came over. If it weren't for several Imperial Scholars working together to protect us, the sea dike would have been washed away. Although the dragon grandson was powerful, he was no match for Jianmiao Gong. Jianmiao Gong's original famous work was the 'Wind and Rain Sword Poem'. The dragon grandson insisted on controlling the wind and rain, but was killed by countless Wind and Rain Swords and fled into the deep sea with scales all over his body. The demon king's strength was originally slightly higher than that of the Grand Academician, so that battle made Jianmiao Gong famous throughout the ten nations, and he later became the head of the State Academy."

Fang Yun nodded and said, "They say that the sea demons have been well-behaved in recent years, mainly thanks to Li Wenying's efforts."

"Of course, it's all thanks to Jianmiao Gong."

"Does Li Grand Academician have a lot of dragon blood ink?" Fang Yun asked curiously.

"Yes! Even if seventy percent is handed over to the court, ten percent is given to the military, and ten percent is given to the State Academy, he still has one percent left. In recent years, many people have had their eyes on his dragon blood ink, so he appears in some literary gatherings every year and sets the prize as a block of dragon blood ink."

"I'll keep an eye out for that."

At this time, Fang Daniu outside said, "Young Master, we're about to enter the city. Those carriages behind us seem to be following us all the way."

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