CH 80

More than 30 armored bull carts carried more than 400 people, heading in the direction of the escaping demon tribe.

Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the "pawread dot com"

An Chengcai sat on one of the carts, bowing his head in silence, lost in thought.

Except for Nunu, who often glanced at him, everyone else was busy with their own tasks.

Mr. Wang said, "Everyone should silently recite the classics of all the saints to cultivate their spirits and restore their energy. Fang Yun, you don't need to worry about writing war poetry. Remember to use the mountain inkstone to escape if there is any danger. Your life is more important than all of us combined, understand?"

"I will follow your lead, Mr. Wang." Fang Yun didn't try to show off and could sense that there was more to Mr. Wang's words than what was said.

An Chengcai lifted his head and looked at Fang Yun with a hint of respect and struggle in his eyes.

Fang Yun closed his eyes and silently read "Mencius" in his mind. Reading the classics of all the saints not only helped to condense his talent but also restored his consumed talent at a faster rate.

"My talent is like water, not inferior to an Imperial Scholar in quality, but far behind in quantity. Therefore, I cannot create war poetry at the level of an Imperial Scholar. I wonder if there is any force that can increase my current talent level."

Fang Yun searched in the Heavenly Book World and soon found a sentence in a wild history book: "Unsurpassed Heart of Literature, talented enough to fill eight measures, one can defeat eight with one's talent."

"'Talented enough to fill eight measures' originally praised Cao Zhi and Cao Zijian. The Cao family had three great talents, with Cao Cao being the most famous and Cao Zhi having the greatest talent. However, he was killed by Cao Pi. But what does 'Unsurpassed Heart of Literature' mean? Why is it 'one can defeat eight' instead of 'one can compete with eight'?"

After his talent was restored, Fang Yun opened his eyes and saw Mr. Yu idle, so he asked in a low voice, "Mr. Yu, what is the Unsurpassed Heart of Literature? What does 'talented enough to fill eight measures' mean?"

"'Talented enough to fill eight measures' praises Cao Zijian as having eight parts of talent that surpasses everyone else, but there is nothing special about it. As for the Unsurpassed Heart of Literature, I have never heard of it before, perhaps it can be found on the ninth mountain of Book Mountain. However, I know that there are three levels of Heart of Literature: high, medium, and low. The most common Heart of Literature is 'writing fast and furiously,' which is said to be able to write one sentence per breath for those who can master the low level and one poem per breath for those who can master the high level."

"Ah? That fast? Even faster than the demon tribe's use of demon arts." Fang Yun was surprised. He had thought that writing war poetry would take a lot of time. If he could obtain the high level of 'writing fast and furiously,' he could write a war poem in just one second, which was incredibly fast.

Mr. Yu smiled and said, "You underestimate us humans and all the saints. 'Writing fast and furiously' is just an ordinary Heart of Literature. There are more magical ones like 'empty words on paper' and 'off-the-cuff remarks,' which are incredibly powerful! However, Heart of Literature is rare, and high-level Heart of Literature is even rarer. But we all have high hopes for you. Although it is impossible for you to obtain a Heart of Literature when you become a Talented Scholar and climb Book Mountain, you will definitely get one when you become an Imperial Scholar and climb Book Mountain! You are one of the candidates for the next generation's four great talents!"Fang Yun modestly smiled and said, "Don't say that. Only four great talents are born in every ten years in each of the ten nations, and as long as they don't die, they will all become Great Scholars. I'm not there yet."

"You are." Mr. Wang opened his eyes and said.

The others also nodded, but no one said the reason in front of outsiders: since Fang Yun can now write strong military poems, he is not only one of the candidates for the next generation of four great talents, but also one of the strongest candidates.

An Chengcai looked at Fang Yun with even more respect, and some shame.

Yu Xiansheng laughed and said, "I actually hope you will keep a low profile. If you become too popular and rise up within two or three years, and push down the last of the contemporary four great talents, then there will be something to laugh at, haha."

The crowd chuckled. Although such a thing had never happened before, it would be quite interesting if it did.

Only An Chengcai did not laugh.

Lu Yu looked at An Chengcai nervously and persuaded him, "We have two Imperial Scholars and nine Presented Scholars in total, one Imperial Scholar and four Presented Scholars are also experienced military officers, they all have the ability to kill demonic generals alone. Our enemy only has four demonic generals, we have more than enough strength to kill them. Demonic generals are just slightly stronger Presented Scholars. As for those demonic soldiers and demonic civilians, they are nothing."

An Chengcai kept his head down and said nothing.

Mr. Wang said, "Lu Yu, don't underestimate that demonic turtle. That demonic turtle is as big as a house and may have condensed a fake dragon ball. A fake dragon ball can hold the water of a river. Imagine how heavy it is. Once it falls, even an Imperial Scholar would be crushed to death. General Chen doesn't need to lead the army to kill the demonic generals. He is probably afraid that the demonic turtle has a fake dragon ball. If it does, even he may need to seek help."

"What's the use of a fake dragon ball?" Fang Yun asked.

"If a fake dragon ball falls into our hands, it has two uses for us humans. One is to refine Treasures of Literature, preferably those related to water, such as injecting it into 'Canglang Journey'. The power of the Treasures of Literature will increase by at least twice that of ordinary ones and can be used continuously. As for the second use, it is to eat it directly. Then you can travel through wind and waves without fear, divide water and travel, and there will be some special uses. However, you should not think about the fake dragon ball, but think about how to save your life."

"Turtles have a very high status among fish demons, second only to the Dragon Clan. The most frightening thing about demonic turtles is their hard shells. Once they activate their demonic blood, scholars of the same level cannot break through their defense. Fortunately, Chen Xibi and He Xianling are two Imperial Scholars. If nothing unexpected happens, they can slowly consume the demonic turtle's energy and finally kill it. If it were Presented Scholars, they would probably be killed before they could consume its energy." Mr. Wang said.Mr. Yu said, "A fake dragon bloodline turtle alone is not scary, but what's scary is that there are demons everywhere in this mountain. If that turtle attracts a large number of demons, we will all perish here. So even General Chen said we should only pursue for a day. If we don't see the demon tomorrow morning, we will return."

"We won't be that unlucky, will we?" Ning Zhiyuan whispered.

"There are many people who are even unluckier than us. Many talented scholars and presented scholars have died because of bad luck, shattered courage to write, or directly died. But there are two imperial scholars here, so you don't have to worry too much."

"Anyway, we only kill demon soldiers and demon civilians. We stay away from the turtle. Imperial scholars are not afraid of the turtle, but if the turtle goes crazy and kills us, the imperial scholars may not be able to stop it."

Everyone remembered the incident with the strange bird before and felt scared. If it weren't for Fang Yun, they would have already perished.

"Be careful and you won't go wrong." Mr. Wang sighed lightly and looked outside the carriage.

The demons left many traces along the way, and Chen Xibi was experienced in warfare, so they rushed all the way.

After a quarter of an hour, all the armored ox carts slowed down because the demons had left the main road and entered the undulating hills.

The armored oxen were extremely strong, but it was still difficult for them to climb hills while carrying people.

Chen Xibi ordered everyone to get off the carts and walk. They picked out six armored ox carts to carry three days' worth of supplies and weapons. The cart drivers picked out six armored ox carts and had six oxen pull each cart. Someone pushed the carts uphill and held them back when getting off, ensuring that the carts could travel through the hills.

Everyone followed the traces of the demons all the way and finally arrived at a large forest.

The trees in this forest were tall and the distance between them was small. The ground was uneven, and even if the armored ox carts could pass through the forest, they would quickly fall apart.

Everyone stopped in front of the forest and sent out a scout team first. Then Chen Xibi ordered everyone to bring two days' worth of dry rations and wear full armor and weapons.

Fang Yun chose a bow and arrow, and the other students put on armor.

An Chengcai also chose a bow and arrow, and at the same time, he took a sharp dagger.

Most of the soldiers wore armor on their upper bodies. They had received the power of the farewell poem before they came, so carrying a hundred pounds of things was no problem at all.

Afterwards, Chen Xibi gave orders, arranged the troops, reminded everyone of the matters of forest warfare, and emphasized military orders.

From now on, everyone here is a soldier.

The students of the State Academy of Literature had also killed demons before, but that was just training. At that time, their identity was still students, but now, they are soldiers, they are soldiers!

The three presented scholar teachers were still okay, but Fang Yun and fifteen talented scholars had to force themselves to change their mentality to adapt to this real military life. If they were slightly careless, they could be punished by military law. If they made a big mistake, they could be executed.

There are no saints or gods in the army, only superiors and subordinates, only obedience and killing enemies.The dense canopy of the primeval forest blocked out the sunlight, making the forest slightly dark. The rotting leaves on the ground emitted a musty smell, and the occasional poisonous insects or snakes and rats passing by made people even more nervous.

More than four hundred people moved quickly.

General Chen Xibi and County Magistrate He walked at the front, each flanked by a sixth-ranked general on their left and right. The three teams were arranged in a T-shape, with Fang Yun and the other academy students in the middle. Behind them was a seventh-ranked military instructor.

Fang Yun took a deep breath and carefully observed his surroundings. He no longer considered himself a student undergoing training but a new soldier, learning from the veterans how to choose the best path, deal with poisonous insects, and conserve energy.

Fang Yun discovered that, in addition to the civil officials from Mi County and the State Academy, there was one Imperial Scholar, four Presented Scholars, and at least thirty Talented Scholars among the prefectural army. This ratio far exceeded that of ordinary armies, and it was clear that they were an elite selection.

As the group chased after their target, night fell without them realizing it. At around seven in the evening, they rested for three quarters of an hour to eat before continuing on their way.

The forest was pitch black. Child Scholars or those with higher ranks had the ability of night vision, so they were not afraid to walk at night. However, the ordinary soldiers did not have this ability, so the team had to shrink. One of the generals held up a Treasures of Literature embedded with many luminous pearls. Originally used for underwater lighting, it was also very effective in this situation.

By nine o'clock at night, the group found that the forest ahead was in disarray. A large number of giant trees were broken, and there were some poisonous fluids in some places. There were hundreds of monster corpses, including fish monsters and many mountain monsters, indicating that the monster snake or monster turtle had summoned more mountain monsters.

Chen Xibi paused for a moment, carefully examining the battlefield. With a solemn expression, he warned the group to be cautious, as two more monster generals had joined the fray. Then they set off again.

As he walked, Fang Yun recalled the map of Jiangzhou he had seen at the State Academy.

This should be Heiqu Mountain, a branch of the desolate Monster Mountain. The mountain was not very steep, and if they continued forward, they would reach the summit, where they could see the Yangtze River.