Li Fanming glared at the rabbit and declared, “It’s settled then! The loser will treat the winner to a Flood Dragon Feast at the Mid-Autumn Literature Conference in The City of Confucius three years from now! I’ll reserve one worth fifty thousand taels!”

“Three years from now, we’ll gather in The City of Confucius and share the Flood Dragon Feast!”

“Alright, let’s get going.” Fang Yun shook his head and laughed.

Niu Shan pushed the wheelchair forward, and the rest followed.

“The next place is the Valley of the Silent Moon. When you enter the valley at night, the moon inside is very different from the outside. I wonder if the terrain has changed.” Someone said while looking at the map and walking.

On the way, Fang Yun memorized the second book, learning the combined combat methods of the Presented Scholar and the Imperial Scholar.

The two books were recorded in the Heaven and Earth of Strange Books, making it easier to study in the future.

In order to master these two books as quickly as possible, Fang Yun kept reciting them in his mind. If he didn’t understand something, he would either ask the other Presented Scholars present or look it up in other books.

Before long, they arrived at a chaotic stone mountain. The dried blood of hundreds of Demon Barbarian soldiers lay scattered around, like thick cinnabar sprinkled all over.

Upon closer inspection, some of the stones had crystal clear water droplets on them, which did not evaporate even under the scorching sun.

“That’s the blood of the Mist Butterfly! Someone was able to kill a Mist Butterfly here, that’s incredible.” Niu Shan exclaimed.

Han Shoulu and a few other Presented Scholars ran over, each sharing their findings.

“There are traces of a Mist Butterfly killing Demon Barbarians.”

“There are pieces of robes from the Rising Nation, our human Presented Scholars were injured here.”

“There are bloodstains from the holy Demon Clan, the battle was very fierce.”

“There are fragments of Imperial Scholar’s Treasures of Literature!”

Fang Yun was also carefully observing the traces at the scene. Without the Presented Scholars saying anything, he had already figured out that a great battle had taken place here, and it was very likely a melee triggered by the Mist Butterfly.

In the end, Fang Yun looked towards the center of The Holy Land, because all the traces showed that the melee continued in that direction, and that was exactly where the Demon Clan’s ancestral home was.

“What should we do?” The crowd was buzzing with discussion.

Fang Yun said, “What else can we do. The Mist Butterfly is right in front of us, and the other human Presented Scholars are still here. Of course, we should forge ahead! However, be prepared. This journey will be dangerous. Those who are unwilling to go can stay behind. Niu Shan, let’s go!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Niu Shan pushed the wheelchair with all his might, and the others, after a moment of hesitation, all followed.

Everyone prepared their writing boards, brushes, ink bottles, paper, and Treasures of Literature. Ma Xiong and a few others controlled the mechanical dogs to follow. Shi Tang carried his zither on his back, ready to play at any time, and a Presented Scholar next to him held a Go board in his left hand and constantly fiddled with the black and white chess pieces in his right hand.

There was no wind on the road, but everyone’s robes were billowing. The power of The Courage to Write and talent involuntarily overflowed.

The Demon Barbarian soldiers were ready for battle, their bodies emitting a thin layer of blood-colored mist.

The matter of the Flood Dragon Feast seemed to have completely become a thing of the past. Everyone’s eyes were extremely serious, and their steps were extremely steady.

The fog of The Holy Land never dispersed, and they couldn’t see clearly even three miles away.

After running for a long time, suddenly, the fog in front of them all dispersed, and a bronze gate towering a thousand zhang high stood in front of them. The gate was like a towering mountain, covered in blood-colored patterns, and the top of the gate was surrounded by blood clouds.

It was like the end of the world.

Every breath, countless blood-colored Demon Barbarian monsters’ heads and claws would surge out from the gate. They were full of anger and panic, making silent screams, as if they were asking for help from the people outside the gate, but they were quickly sucked back into the gate by an invisible force and disappeared. After a while, those beasts would emerge again, trying to break free, and this cycle repeated.

Each beast had at least the strength of a Great Scholar, equivalent to a human Great Scholar.

This bronze giant gate emitted a bloody and dangerous aura, as if it had the ferocity to devour the world, making people’s scalp numb.

The bronze gate was slightly ajar, and even though there was only a crack, it was dozens of zhang wide, enough for a large number of people to enter.

The bronze giant gate emitted a soft rumble as it slowly closed.

The heart of every newcomer seemed to be gripped by the constantly shrinking gate crack. Everyone felt that if the gate closed, they would lose the greatest opportunity of their life.

Under the giant gate, there were ten Demon Barbarians, each wearing strange armor. The armor was golden all over, but inside the armor, there were blue-black blood vessels, with bright red blood flowing inside.

The armor seemed to be pure gold infused with flesh, forming a strange blood-gold color.

“Demon Emperor’s Golden Guard.” A Presented Scholar’s voice was filled with undisguised terror.

In front of the ten Demon Emperor’s Golden Guards, a full three thousand Demon Barbarian soldiers were lined up, blocking the bronze gate crack solidly.

These Demon Barbarians were all full of vitality and murderous aura. Each Demon Barbarian had a strange tattoo on their forehead, which was the symbol of one of the thirteen strongest Demon armies in the Demon Realm, the “Imperial City Army”.

Above the Imperial City Army, a large flag made of blood and qi floated. The flag had a blood-colored claw print on it, the same as the tattoo, and it emitted a powerful force that inspired every Demon Barbarian.

As long as the Imperial City Army flag was there, these three thousand Imperial City Army could fight against a hundred thousand human soldiers.

Opposite the three thousand Demon Barbarians, there were some strange combinations.

The Imperial City Army was in the south, a large number of Demon Clan in the north, fewer Barbarians in the west, and seven Presented Scholars in the east. In the center of the east, west, south, and north, there was an even stranger combination.

Two fog balls with a diameter of one zhang were suspended in the air, and a light pink butterfly flew around in the fog from time to time.

Most of these Demon Barbarians were at the Presented Scholar level, and some had reached the level of Demon General, equivalent to an Imperial Scholar.In the distance, there stood even more powerful members of the Demon Clan and other strange creatures. There were snake demons, tiger demons, a massive alien tree, lion-headed humanoid Lion Savages, and so on, totaling eight. Each of them possessed at least the strength of a Demon King.

These eight Demon Kings, unlike the Demon Barbarians who were on high alert, sat on the ground, chatting and eating, essentially acting as spectators.

These Demon Barbarians, terrifying forces wherever they were, capable of destroying towns and states, seemed insignificant under the massive bronze gate.

The bronze gate seemed like a portal to the heavens, making all the Demon Barbarians beneath it look like ants.

Among the Demon Emperor’s guards, there was a Wolf Savage commander. On his shoulder perched a bird, its green feathers almost transparent. It was squawking loudly, its voice echoing for dozens of miles.

“All you insects and beasts, listen up! I am Mingqi, the messenger under the Demon Emperor! The Crown Prince orders that aside from the ten Demon Generals and the Saint Child of the Demon Realm, no one else is allowed to enter the Demon Ancestor’s courtyard. Those who disobey will have their entire clan slaughtered! I don’t want to waste words. I want to kill you all!” As it finished speaking, its feathers bristled, and it looked fierce.

Mingqi’s voice was enchanting. Even without using its enchanting voice, many people felt uncomfortable. Several Presented Scholars even turned pale, feeling dizzy and nauseous.

However, the few Presented Scholars who had reached the first level of The Courage to Write were not affected at all.

The eight-foot-tall Wolf Savage commander, his eyes glowing with a bloody light, was almost hairless. His exposed body was mostly covered by a peculiar blood-gold armor, making him look less like a savage and more like a strange mechanical beast.

The Wolf Savage commander slowly said, “We won’t interfere with the Mist Butterfly. Take it and leave. If you dare to enter the Demon Ancestor’s courtyard, you will be killed without mercy!”

Suddenly, a bear roar erupted from the Demon Clan group to the north. The Bear Savage who had once attacked a village, Bear Cang, disdainfully said, “There’s only one Mist Butterfly. It’s fine if we have it, and it doesn’t matter if we don’t. But the Demon Ancestor’s courtyard is more important to us than the Mist Butterfly! The Mist Butterfly is ultimately an external object, but in the Demon Ancestor’s courtyard… there are humans, I won’t say more.”

The ten-foot-tall Bear Savage stood upright, like a small mountain, his aura terrifying.

The Wolf Savage commander looked at Bear Cang and slowly said, “Half a year ago, the imperial army ordered you to change your name. You hid among the Bear Clan and have not changed your name ‘Bear Cang’ to this day. Since you’re here today, don’t leave!”

Bear Cang angrily retorted, “Bah! Although we Bear Clan don’t care about names, if the Demon Emperor Ji Cang can be called Cang, why can’t I! If you have the guts, come to the Bear Clan to kill me. What does it count to rely on the number of golden guards in the Holy Land? Fellow members of the Demon Clan, the Demon Emperor is neither a demon nor a savage, he despises our pure-blooded Demon Clan, are you afraid?”

“I’m not even afraid of the Holy Land. Why should I be afraid of the Demon Emperor!”

“I am of the Saint Clan bloodline, the Demon Emperor has not yet been canonized, how can he stop me!”

“Let us enter the Demon Ancestor’s courtyard, or we will unite with the other clans to attack the Demon Emperor! Hehe, I wasn’t there for the first two attacks on the Demon Emperor, but I will definitely participate in the third one!”

The Demon Emperor’s guards had a murderous look in their eyes. The blood vessels on their blood-gold armor slowly thickened, and the blood flow inside began to speed up.

“Friends of the Savage Clan, are you afraid of the Demon Emperor?” Bear Cang asked with a smile, looking at the other side.

“That bastard Demon Emperor, clearly a savage but hates our Savage Clan, it would be better if he died! Our tribe will definitely participate in the third attack on the Demon Emperor! Anyone who dares to block me from going to the Demon Ancestor’s courtyard deserves to die!”

“The Demon Ancestor’s courtyard opens once every thousand years, how can we miss it!”

“Hehehe, Demon Emperor’s guards, if you know what’s good for you, get out of the way now! Don’t think that just because you’re a Demon Commander you can boss us around, which of us Saint Clan Demon Generals hasn’t killed a few Demon Commanders and Savage Commanders?”

Amid the quarreling of the Demon Barbarians, Fang Yun and the others continued to move forward.

Li Fanming gloated, “The Demon Realm has never been peaceful. The Human Clan has a rule of only engaging in literary battles and not military ones in recent years, but the Demon Realm has always been in chaos. It can be said that each Demon Saint has his own territory, each race has its own power, far more complex than the Human Clan. However, when they unite, they are terrifying.”

Suddenly, a Demon King said, “Huh? There are humans coming.”

All the Demon Barbarians turned to look at Fang Yun and the others.

“Fang Zhenguo! Brother Shoulu! Fanming!” A Presented Scholar under the bronze gate was overjoyed and waved vigorously.

Among the seven Presented Scholars, Yan Yukong, Mosha, and Sun Naiyong, who were the top three in the Holy Land Road, were present. The fifth-ranked Zong Wude was also there, as well as one person who left a deep impression on Fang Yun.

The top scholar of Jiangzhou, Liu Zizhi.

Yan Yukong and the other two did not bring any spirit beasts, but the other four did.

“How did he get here?” Bear Cang looked at Fang Yun with some fear, a hint of murderous intent flashing in his eyes. He remembered the man sitting at the entrance of the cave, whose ability to control the Weak Water still frightened him.

As Fang Yun and the others approached, Yan Yukong quickly stepped forward to greet them, his expression serious. He asked, “Fang Yun, where are you injured? You even need to sit in a mechanical chair.”

Fang Yun looked at Yan Yukong, then at Liu Zizhi who had followed Yan Yukong over, and said to Yan Yukong, “It’s a minor injury, it will heal soon, don’t worry, it won’t affect my ability to write The War Poetry.”

Li Fanming couldn’t help but say, “Be careful of The Tyrant! The Tyrant projected his consciousness into a spirit leopard, sneaked into the Holy Land, and attacked and poisoned Fang Yun. Fortunately, he was saved, otherwise he would have been killed by The Tyrant.”

“The Tyrant actually sneaked into the Holy Land? He must have used ‘Han Xin’s Three Pieces: The Secret Crossing of Chen Cang’? I understand!” Yan Yukong immediately understood the cause and effect.

“Wait, you called him Fang Yun?” Yan Yukong was confused. (To be continued.)