Holy Origin Continent, Jing Kingdom, Jiang State, Dayuan Prefecture, Ji County.
The sky was clear and sunny, birds chirping happily, and the ground was scattered with fallen leaves and petals from the night rain, full of spring.
Fang Yun shivered all over, suddenly woke up, and looked around in confusion.
He found himself lying on a small alley’s bluestone, the ground damp, and quickly stood up, feeling pain all over his body.
“I remember the library caught on fire, and then I jumped out of the building to escape. How did I end up here? Where is this place?” Fang Yun wondered.
Fang Yun noticed that his clothes were wrong, and when he looked down, he was shocked to see that he was wearing rough ancient linen clothes, with mud and blood stains on them. His arms were thin and small.
There was a small puddle nearby, and Fang Yun looked down and saw his reflection.
“Isn’t this me at fourteen or fifteen years old?”
Suddenly, Fang Yun’s brain was in agony, his eyes were seeing stars, and a lot of memories flooded into his mind. He gritted his teeth tightly, and sweat oozed from his forehead.
After a while, Fang Yun calmed down, his eyes were incredibly complex, and he slowly sorted out the extra memories.
“So this is not Earth anymore, it’s the Holy Origin Continent that I’ve never heard of. This young man named Fang Yun has been killed by someone. Did I fall to my death in the library and coincidentally occupy his body? Is this the legendary rebirth?”
“This Fang Yun’s strongest wish is to become a Child Scholar and have great talent to honor his ancestors. There is a power called ‘talent’ here, and scholars can control the ‘heavenly and earthly aura’ through talent to gain even more powerful strength. It’s unheard of.”
“Hmm? The history here…”
Fang Yun found that this world, except for the Demon Barbarians, had a normal history before the Shang Dynasty, but there was a huge change at the end of the Shang Dynasty.
In the late Shang Dynasty.Ji Chang,The Western First Marquis, later known as King Wen of Zhou, wrote the eternal book “Book of Changes” after observing the sun, moon, and stars in the sky, and was blessed with talent. He was then appointed as a Semi-Saint and led the Western Qi to overthrow King Zhou of Shang.
The Western Qi army was unstoppable, and after many days, they arrived at the capital city of the Shang Dynasty, Zhao Ge. Suddenly, the city gate opened wide, and 100,000 Demon Barbarians, 300,000 Barbarians, and one million Great Shang soldiers flooded out, surrounding 200,000 Western Qi soldiers.
King Zhou of Shang stood on the city tower, holding the demon fox Da Ji, cursing the Western Qi soldiers, and then ordered a total attack. Just as the Western Qi soldiers were about to face disaster, King Wen of Zhou descended from the sky on a green cloud.
King Wen of Zhou wore white clothes, with a cold expression, and listed the ten major crimes of King Zhou of Shang. For each crime, the Great Shang’s fortune decreased by one percent, and King Zhou of Shang aged ten years. After King Wen finished, the Great Shang’s fortune collapsed, and King Zhou of Shang was dying.The talent of King Wen of Zhou turned into scorching sun, hanging high in the sky. He held the holy book “Book of Changes” and recited it. Tiny golden words flew out of his mouth, growing larger and larger until they became the size of a person. Countless golden words surrounded the scorching sun and emitted a brilliant golden light, shining upon the world.
The golden light did not harm the human race, but suddenly, the 100,000 demon barbarians and 300,000 savage tribes let out a mournful cry. Their bodies cracked open from the inside out, and blood splattered as they died one after another.
In the end, all five barbarian saints perished, and only one of the three demon saints escaped.
On the pasture, blood flowed like a river.
King Zhou passed away, and the million soldiers of the Great Shang surrendered.
Later generations praised King Wen of Zhou for single-handedly slaughtering the demon barbarians and securing the world.
Later, King Wen passed the throne to King Wu and devoted himself to the study of the Book of Changes, living to the age of five hundred.
After that, no one in the world had such talent until Kong Qiu was born.
When the sage Confucius was born, he was ugly and strange-looking. He was abandoned in the wilderness, where the weather was extremely hot. A hawk flew down and flapped its wings to drive away the heat for him. A mother tiger carried Confucius into her den and nursed him with tiger milk. Therefore, later generations said that Confucius was “raised by dragons, tigers, and eagles.”
Later, the mother tiger returned Confucius to his mother, who took care of him with great devotion.
Confucius’ mother was a concubine. After his father passed away, Confucius and his mother were driven away by his father’s legal wife.
Confucius was very poor in his youth. After being proclaimed a sage, he once said to his disciples, “I was once lowly, so I could do many menial tasks.” This means that he was very poor when he was young, so he knew how to do many rough tasks.
Confucius was ordinary in his youth, but he showed his uniqueness in middle age and traveled around the states.
In his old age, Confucius returned to the state of Lu to hold a position. Finally, he became the Grand Marshal, one of the highest officials of the state of Lu, but he was eventually ostracized and resigned.
After resigning, Confucius revised the Book of Songs, the Book of Documents, the Book of Rites, and the Book of Music. He also wrote a preface for King Wen’s Book of Changes. Finally, Confucius personally compiled the Spring and Autumn Annals, which were completed with extraordinary talent, causing the heavens to shake, stars to shine, clouds and mist to cover thousands of miles, and thunder to roar for ten thousand miles. He achieved the rank of Sub-Sage.
After being proclaimed a sage, Confucius secluded himself for ten years.
Soon after, the demon snake saint who had fled during the war between the Shang and Zhou dynasties had practiced for six hundred years and became a Great Saint, planning to avenge the demon barbarians’ defeat by King Wen. The demon’s power was slightly stronger than that of the human sub-sages, even exceeding that of King Wen.
The demon barbarian alliance arrived at the gates of Yuhai City, and the people were in panic.
Seeing that the demon saint was about to attack the city, Confucius flew in on the Treasures of Literature “Chariots of the Warring States,” holding the Spring and Autumn Annals in his left hand and the Spring and Autumn Chronicles in his right hand. He smiled when he saw the demon snake saint and said, “I am not tired of eating delicacies or cutting them finely. Please come into my jar, and I will cook you with a fierce fire.”The million demon barbarians were furious. Confucius picked up his pen, and the wind and clouds surged. The world changed color as he wrote nine “exterminate” characters with each stroke being like a sword, killing the snake clan’s Great Saint and dividing him into ten parts. Then, in front of everyone, Confucius cooked and ate the hundred-zhang-long Great Saint.
During the cooking process, the million demon barbarian coalition attempted to escape, but Confucius casually threw out the Treasures of Literature, covering three thousand miles of sky and killing all the barbarians with a single movement of the book.
The people all kneeled and called him a sage.
Later, Confucius founded the first academy, the Academy of Qufu, breaking the educational monopoly and accepting thirty thousand ordinary students, three thousand direct disciples, and seventy-two talented disciples.
All those who studied under Confucius naturally gained talent.
Later, Confucius went even further, achieving the position of a sage, unparalleled in the past or present. As a sage, he saw through the secrets of heaven and detected a great crisis hidden within the human race. He then rode in the Chariots of the Warring States alone, going to the Three Barbarians, the Four Seas, and the Five Demon Mountains, forcing the two demon tribes to sign a thousand-year peace treaty.
No one knew the specifics of Confucius’s journey, only that he visited all the schools of thought upon his return and then secluded himself for the rest of his life.
After Confucius’s seclusion, Mencius, Hsun Tzu, Tseng Tzu, Zithi Zi, and Yan Zi were all appointed as Half-Sages, second only to Semi-Saints.
The disciples of the Confucian school no longer opposed the other schools of thought. Confucius’s grandson, Zithi Zi, even proposed the concept of “learning from all schools of thought,” actively seeking advice from the other schools and helping them to develop their talents. Mozi of the Mohist school, Han Feizi of the Legalist school, Lü Buwei of the Eclectic school, Xu Xing of the Agricultural school, and Sun Tzu of the Military Strategist school were all appointed as Half-Sages.
It wasn’t until Emperor Liu Bang suppressed the White Snake Demon Uprising that Confucius’s disciples learned of his impending death.
When Confucius passed away, his body transformed into a column of talent smoke, rising straight up into the sky and lasting for a long time. Three days later, the column of talent smoke divided into three parts, one entering the Holy Academy, one entering the thirty thousand disciples, and one entering the world.
Mencius, Hsun Tzu, Tseng Tzu, Zithi Zi, Yan Zi, and other Half-Sages were then appointed as Semi-Saints.
From then on, the era of talent was opened.
From then on, the Hundred Schools of Thought Contended, and Confucianism ultimately prevailed.
There was no longer the tragedy of the Suppression of the Hundred Schools of Thought, and the human race prospered.
After Confucius’s death, the Academy of Qufu was renamed the Holy Academy, with a supreme position.
The Holy Academy gradually improved its talent power, adhering to Confucius’s wishes, absorbing the essence of the Hundred Schools of Thought, appointing ten literary positions, namely Child Scholar, Talented Scholar, Presented Scholar, Imperial Scholar, Hanlin Scholar, Grand Academician, Great Scholar, Half-Sage, Sub-Sage, and Sage.
The higher the literary position of a student, the more talent they possessed, and the stronger their control over the world’s vital energy.
Fang Yun’s heart was surging. He never expected such a magical world.”As long as one becomes a child scholar, they can possess the most basic ‘talent’ and receive the heavenly gift of literary position. The heavenly gift for a child scholar is ‘clear-sighted night vision,’ allowing them to see in the dark and read without a lamp at night. And once one becomes an accomplished scholar, it’s even more remarkable, as they can ‘talk about military strategy on paper.’ This is not a mocking phrase, but rather the war poems and writings of accomplished scholars can turn words into reality, forming a powerful force. As one’s literary position grows higher, they gain even more incredible heavenly gift powers.”
Fang Yun remembered that the Holy Origin continent also went through the Qin, Han, and Three Kingdoms periods, and currently has ten nations. Fang Yun inferred that they were currently in the Holy Origin continent before the Sui and Tang dynasties, based on the recent historical figures he had encountered.
Fang Yun listed the recently sanctified famous people.
Wang Xizhi, known as the “Calligraphy Saint,” was sanctified as a Half-Sage for his works such as “Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion,” “The Peace Character Calligraphy,” and “The Chaos Character Calligraphy,” ranking second to the Semi-Saint.
Tao Yuanming was sanctified as a Half-Sage for his works such as “The Peach Blossom Spring” and “The Biography of Mr. Wu Liu.”
Zu Chongzhi was sanctified as a Half-Sage for his works such as “The Art of Embroidery,” “The Ming Dynasty Calendar,” and “The Interpretation of the Book of Changes.”
Li Daoyuan was sanctified as a Half-Sage for his works such as “The Commentary on the Waterways Classic” and “The Local Gazetteer.”
Fan Zhen was sanctified as a Great Scholar for his work “The Refutation of the Soul,” ranking second to the Half-Sage.
However, there was no Li Bai! No Du Fu!
No Bai Juyi! No Wang Changling!
No Li Shangyin! No Wen Tingyun!
No Wang Wei! No Du Mu!
No Han Yu! No Liu Zongyuan!
No Yan Zhenqing! No Liu Gongquan!
No Su Dongpo! No Ouyang Xiu!
No Lu You! No Li Qingzhao!
No Lu Jiuyuan! No Cheng Yi or Cheng Hao! No Zhu Xi! No Wang Yangming!
There was not a single famous person from after the Sui and Tang dynasties!
Fang Yun took a deep breath. Without a doubt, for him, this might be the best era!
Suddenly, Fang Yun’s expression changed, as he remembered his current identity and today’s date.
Fang Yun came from a poor family, with both parents deceased, and only had a child bride named Yu Huan, who was three years older than him.
The Fang family could not afford a child bride, but Yu Huan’s father brought her to escape the famine, and the Fang family took her in. Her father stole the little money the Fang family had to gamble, and lost it all, even cheating, and was beaten to death, saying before he died that he sold Yu Huan to the Fang family as a child bride to repay the debt.
Yu Huan was a beauty since childhood, and even more beautiful when she grew up, known as the “Xi Shi of Jiangzhou” by the neighbors. Even though her family was poor and she only wore simple coarse cloth dresses, she could not hide her peerless elegance.
After their parents’ death, Fang Yun and Yu Huan depended on each other. Yu Huan was skilled with her hands and earned money by doing needlework.
Fang Yun studied at a private school in the morning and worked as a waiter at the Jixiang Restaurant to make a living at noon, with the goal of becoming a child scholar.