One person curiously asked, “Master Hu, what kind of battle painting did you give us? Can you tell us?”
Hu Moyuan smiled and said, “You’ll find out when Fang Shuangjia comes back.”
The crowd speculated, as Hu Moyuan only made one battle painting per year.
After saying goodbye to everyone, Fang Yun put most of the paintings on the carriage and walked to the literary academy holding Hu Moyuan’s battle painting.
Many people at the literary academy already knew him, and he nodded or bowed to others along the way.
When he arrived at the Ink Fragrance House, Fang Yun heard Li Yuncong and others talking, their tone different from before.
“It is said that something happened at the Qushui River. It wasn’t a demon general, but a demon commander. It is said that a presented scholar almost died from poisoning, but luckily brought an antidote. Two others cut off their right arm and left leg respectively to avoid being affected by the poison gas. Almost everyone was injured, especially miserable. It is said that a fragment of the Great Scholar’s corrupted writing has been found, but it’s unclear which Semi-Saint’s famous work it was before being tainted by the Demon Saint’s blood.”
Fang Yun became interested upon hearing that it was the Great Scholar’s corrupted writing before being sealed as a Semi-Saint.
The Great Scholar’s writing was placed in the room, with its sound lingering during the day and radiating light at night, causing the demons to retreat. It had an incredible power.
However, the demons were equally magical. The blood of powerful demons had various effects. Once the blood polluted the Great Scholar’s or All the Saints’ famous works, the corrupted writings could be used by the demons, possessing equally powerful abilities.
Fang Yun walked into the room and saw five classmates with worried expressions, concerned about the presented scholars.
“Did they catch the demon commander?” Fang Yun asked.
“No, it escaped into the Yangtze River. It is said that the Lord of the Academy personally went but couldn’t find it. Alas, the snake demon was injured and killed two villages to recover, then fought with the presented scholars. If it wasn’t wounded, all the presented scholars would have become its food.”
“What do you have in your hand?”
“A painting,” Fang Yun said.
No one asked further and continued discussing the demon-killing business.
“It is said that the deaths in those two villages were particularly gruesome. Some were eaten alive, some were half-eaten, some were beaten into pulp, and some were dried into corpses.”
Li Yuncong sighed, “The Prefecture Army cleaned up the area, and the Lord of the Academy brought Chen Sheng’s famous work with him, reportedly going straight into the Yangtze River, destroying twelve demon dens in a row, and forcing a dragon demon king to flee. That section of the river was stained red, and the water surface was filled with demon corpses. Many people are salvaging demon corpses to sell, and the Prefecture Army is urgently buying them back.”
“The demons are really hateful! After studying at the State Literary Academy for three years, if I can’t pass the presented scholar exam, I’ll immediately go to the army in Yuhai City to kill demons! Even if I pass the presented scholar exam, I will only study at the State Literary Academy for one year, then kill demons and exterminate barbarians!” said Lu Yu angrily.
“Let’s go together!” The other five responded in unison.”I really hope there are still some fish that escaped the net, let’s go kill them! I can’t wait!” Ning Zhiyuan gritted his teeth.
Soon, Mr. Wang arrived, his face was also not good.
After lunch, Fang Yun took the revised “Early Plum Blossoms” and entered the Ming Mirror Hall to find Li Wenying.
Li Wenying’s expression was extremely poor today, but when he saw Fang Yun still smiling, he asked, “What’s up, any progress?”
“Yes. Your poem is very good. I thought about it for a long time yesterday, and there is only one word that can be changed.”
“Oh? Which word?”
“Please take a look, sir.”
Fang Yun handed over the rewritten “Early Plum Blossoms” and changed the original “Yesterday, several branches bloomed” to “Yesterday, only one branch bloomed.”
Li Wenying’s mood was not good at first, but when he saw this sentence, his eyes lit up.
“What a great Fang Zhenguo! Several branches blooming is not wrong, but it is not early enough after all. Only this one branch can be considered a true early bloomer! You really have a unique vision, you can be called my mentor in one word.” Li Wenying laughed.
“You flatter me, sir.” Fang Yun said.
Li Wenying wrote the new “Early Plum Blossoms” with his pen. The poem was two and a half feet long and was already a poem of the prefecture.
“I will ask my friend to recommend this ‘Early Plum Blossoms’ to the Academy, and indicate that this ‘one’ word was changed by you. Your ‘Dream Record of the Pillow’ was written late, and I did not recommend it last month. In a few days, I will recommend it along with ‘Butterfly Love Spring Scenery’ and ‘Inscription of the Dilapidated Room’ to ‘The Path of the Saints’. Xiao Yi’s ‘Light and Dark in the Painting’ counts as half a chapter, this ‘Early Plum Blossoms’ counts as half a poem, adding up to four works shining together, unprecedented! I want to see if you can break the ‘five works drought’! I want to see when you will publish a supplement to ‘The Path of the Saints’!”
“I’m afraid I will disappoint you, sir.” Fang Yun smiled.
Li Wenying carefully looked at Fang Yun and said, “It’s up to the man to achieve. I see your eyes are bright and your talent is abundant. Your talent is almost ten inches, right? It is too difficult to become a talented scholar before the holy. But you will definitely become a talented scholar in the prefecture this year. Do you have the confidence to win the first place?”
“I will strive for the first place in the talented scholar exam.”
“It’s good to have this intention. When you go to Book Mountain after passing the exam, remember to ask your classmates for advice. Although they don’t remember the scene at that time, they will always be helpful to you.”
Fang Yun asked, “May I ask if sir has obtained ‘The Heart of Literature’?”
“I only obtained one.” Li Wenying said regretfully.
“Sir is indeed a rare talent. It is said that nine out of ten people who obtain ‘The Heart of Literature’ on Book Mountain will become a great scholar.”Li Wenying shook his head and laughed, “I didn’t get it from Book Mountain, I obtained it when I became an Imperial Scholar, and it’s only a low-grade one. You are different, you couldn’t get The Heart of Literature as an Accomplished Scholar, but you will definitely get it when you become a Presented Scholar! I have high hopes for you, even Wen Xiang thinks highly of you. If Chen Sheng comes out of seclusion, he will definitely find a chance to see you in person. Wen Xiang even said that Fang Yun is the hope of Jing Kingdom, and may even be the hope of the human race. But because of this, you need to sharpen yourself even more. So unless someone wants to harm your life or destroy your literary path, we won’t take action.”
“I understand, sir,” Fang Yun said solemnly.
“Alright, I’m a bit tired today. If there’s anything, you can come directly to me in the future.”
“Thank you, sir!” Fang Yun exited, thinking to himself that the Grand Academician had been baptized by talent multiple times, even if he didn’t sleep or eat for an entire month, he would still be full of energy. But Li Wenying admitted to being tired, which was evident from yesterday’s danger.
Fang Yun returned to the Ink Fragrance House and continued his studies.
Days passed one by one, and Fang Yun didn’t forget to study hard, and his talent became more solid day by day.
Fang Yun had two private seals engraved, one was “Fang Yun’s Seal,” and the other was “Three Flavors Bookstore.”
The Accomplished Scholar class was originally supposed to go and kill demons on the fifteenth day, but due to the demon general’s reasons, the time for killing demons was postponed.
On the ninth day of the month, the academy was on holiday, and Fang Yun went to the Fang family’s school and taught two consecutive classes. The students were extremely happy, and the slave girl was still studying and reciting with the students at the door, only able to make the sound “ying.”
On April 20th, Fang Yun continued to go to the state academy to study. In the afternoon, Mr. Wang notified everyone to go home and prepare for killing demons in Mi County tomorrow. After learning that Fang Yun was going, he gave Fang Yun a book called “Demon-Slaying Expedition” written by the academy, which was two hundred pages long and as thick as three books.
Fang Yun flipped through a page casually, but when he saw that there were no punctuation marks, he got a headache. He decided to read it again in the Strange Book World after a quick scan.
After school in the afternoon, Li Yuncong was worried about Fang Yun and said he would come to Fang Yun’s house at night to bring some necessary things for killing demons. He had already experienced four demon-killing expeditions in the past year and was very experienced.
After returning home and having dinner, the family began to prepare for Fang Yun’s first demon-slaying expedition, but only the little fox was very unhappy, looking at Fang Yun with worry, afraid that something would happen to him.
Li Yuncong came over at night and brought a lot of things, including medicine cloth, anti-malarial medicine, wound medicine, sealed bamboo tubes, ink bamboo tubes, insect repellent powder, fire starters, coarse cloth hemp clothes, mountain boots, moisture-proof cloth, and many other things, all packed in a large backpack.
In addition, he also had to bring the Four Treasures of the Study, which were like weapons for soldiers and would be used for battle later.After everything was packed, Fang Yun tried it on his back. It would be especially difficult for an ordinary person to carry it, but after going through two tests of talent and receiving the Half-Sage’s gift of the Thunderous Holy Sound, his body was no worse than that of an accomplished scholar, and carrying it was very easy.
At five o’clock the next morning, just as the sun was rising in the east, Fang Yun came to the door with his backpack on his back.
Yang Yuhuan took the initiative to hold Fang Yun’s hand and didn’t want him to leave.
“Little Yun, you must not be impulsive. Killing monsters is the job of the scholars. You just need to watch from behind.”
“Jie Yuhuan, I understand. Besides, when have I ever been braver than you?”
“Okay. Then take another look and don’t forget to bring anything.”
“I’ve checked it three times, there really isn’t a problem.”
Yang Yuhuan nagged for a while before finally sending Fang Yun off.
In the cool morning light, Fang Yun stood at the front of the carriage waving his hand.
Yang Yuhuan, dressed in a white floral dress, stood at the door with a fluffy white fox at her feet. One waved her hand, the other waved its paw, and this scene was deeply imprinted in Fang Yun’s mind.
Fang Yun turned around and entered the carriage, with Tan Yu and Nie Shi Hu on either side of the carriage.
“Snap!” Fang Dan Niu cracked his whip and shouted, “Let’s go!”
The ox cart moved forward, and Yang Yuhuan suddenly turned around and wiped away her tears.
This was the first time the two had been separated, and she had been holding back, but now she couldn’t help it.
“Sniff, sniff…” The little fox suddenly fell weakly to the ground, looking at Fang Yun with a pitiful expression.
Seeing the carriage about to reach the street corner, Nu Nu suddenly shouted loudly, “Sniff, sniff!” and then ran towards the carriage with its short legs at an incredible speed.
Yang Yuhuan reached out to stop it, but slowly withdrew her hand, quickly wiped away her tears, and took a deep breath, watching Nu Nu jump onto the carriage and rush into the carriage.
Fang Yun looked at Nu Nu jumping into his arms, touched its head, and smiled, “Don’t want to leave me?”
Nu Nu nodded vigorously, its eyes shining with tears.
“Okay, don’t be stubborn, go back. We’re going to the wilderness, and if the monsters catch you, what will you do?”
Nu Nu hesitated for a moment, then suddenly raised its two front legs, bent like a human arm, and posed as if it was very strong.
“Go back.” Fang Yun said.
Nu Nu shook its head.
“If you don’t go back, I’ll spank your butt.”
Nu Nu still shook its head.
Tanyu outside the carriage said, “Young master, this little fox is more intelligent than ordinary monster soldiers. It’s better to take it with us when we go to kill monsters. It knows better than us how to survive in the wilderness.”
“Sniff, sniff!” Nu Nu immediately nodded vigorously, wagging its big tail.
Fang Yun thought about it and said, “Okay, I’ll take you with me.”
“Sniff, sniff!” Nu Nu excitedly called out and tried to crawl into Fang Yun’s arms.Recommended urban novel: “God-level Superstar”, Book Number: 3142790.
Synopsis: With a mind full of classic songs, classic movies, classic comics, and classic novels, the protagonist travels to a parallel world lacking in culture.
[bookid=3142790, bookname=”God-level Superstar”]
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