Tong Li looked up at Fang Yun, noticing that there was no sign of pain on his face. A trace of shock flashed in his eyes before he lowered his head, hiding his expression from Fang Yun.
At this moment, a young man with thick eyebrows spoke loudly, “If my guess is correct, this wind is similar to the peculiar wind of the Holy Land. It doesn’t harm the body, but only injures the courage to write. It seems that we are here in spirit, not in body. Book Mountain is different from the Holy Land and the Sea of Learning. There’s no need for competition, just do your best! I hope everyone’s commitment to the Path of the Saints remains firm. Don’t let fame and fortune corrupt your heart of benevolence and righteousness, lest you fail to condense the courage to write in the future.”
“But isn’t that Mo Banzhi, the rising star of the Mo family?” someone asked.
“That would be me.”
“I’ve long admired your name. I’m Xu Xiaonian.”
“So, it’s the talented scholar from the Xu family, descendants of the Farmer Ancestor. Banzhi has heard of Brother Xu.”
Fang Yun quietly observed these people from the Semi-Saint prominent families, finding them much calmer than the others. They seemed to be in slight pain but could endure it. A few even remained unfazed, as if they were enjoying the peculiar wind.
Suddenly, someone said, “We, the military strategists, win with righteousness and surprise. We never extinguish the courage in our hearts. Everyone, I will be the first to cross one of the ten bridges. Please forgive my clumsiness.”
“Brother Sun is the bravest in Book Mountain. We admire you!”
Many people praised him without any hint of sarcasm. Even those from the Bo family, who had old grudges with the Semi-Saint Sun family, remained silent. Bo, also known as Zi Xia, was one of Confucius’s most famous disciples. His status in the Holy Academy was no less than that of the Military Saint, Sun Wu.
Sun Bin was a descendant of the Military Saint, Sun Wu. He was not a direct descendant of the Sun family and came from an ordinary background. He studied with Pang Juan of the Wei Nation.
Due to Sun Bin’s rapid progress, Pang Juan became jealous and had someone cut off Sun Bin’s legs and tattoo words on his face. Sun Bin endured the humiliation and escaped, changing his name to ‘Bin’ to remember the shame of his severed legs. He studied Sun Tzu’s Art of War intensively and joined the Sun family after becoming a Hanlin Scholar. He used the power of the Sun family and the Qi Nation to attack Wei.
Sun Bin attacked the Wei Nation with Sun Tzu’s Art of War. He killed Pang Juan in the Battle of Ma Ling and became famous throughout the world.
During the Warring States period, Sun Bin killed many people from the Bo family in the Wei Nation during his campaign against Wei. At that time, Bo had already become a saint and was in seclusion. He was unable to stop the killings and was deeply grieved when he came out and saw his descendants dead.
Although Bo was a student of Confucius, he was brave and extreme. He was attacked by many of Confucius’s students for deviating from Confucianism before he became a Semi-Saint. Bo went to the Sun family as a Semi-Saint and reprimanded the Sun family with saintly words.
If Sun Bin had admitted defeat, the conflict between the two families might have been resolved. But Sun Bin, who had suffered humiliation for many years, refused to bow his head. He angrily accused Bo of being unfair and asked why the Semi-Saint did not come when his legs were cut off.
Bo reprimanded Sun Bin again, which was considered a disgrace by the Sun family.
The two prominent Semi-Saint families thus became enemies, a feud that continues to this day.
The conflict between the two families was not a dispute over the Path of the Saints like that between Mencius and Hsun Tzu. Over time, the hatred gradually faded, but they still compared themselves in secret. With the end of the thousand-year peace agreement, the Sun family, as the leader of the military strategists, had a great influence and was gradually surpassing the Bo family. However, Bo, as a direct disciple of Confucius, still had a solid foundation.
The man from the Sun family stood tall and fearless in the face of the peculiar wind, showing the demeanor of a great general.
Someone whispered in admiration, “Sun Jizong is indeed a direct disciple of the military strategists. Although he doesn’t have the courage to write, he probably has already condensed the vortex of the courage to write. Look at him, so brave and fearless. He has already been to the Holy Prefecture. Alas, we can’t compare with the prominent families of the saints.”
“We can probably only see these important figures here. Once we leave Book Mountain, they will almost always be studying in the Holy Academy or their family. After they finish their studies, they will go to kill monsters and barbarians, or go to those legendary places to guard. Their names are rarely heard in the world. These people have their own direction in the Path of the Saints from a young age. They can comprehend the saintly texts of their ancestors from a young age, unlike us who have to accumulate fame and travel around to grow slowly.”
“He’s on the bridge.”
Fang Yun looked up at Sun Jizong. He saw him step onto the single-plank bridge. At first, there was nothing unusual. After a few steps, his clothes were blown more fiercely by the peculiar wind, and his pace slowed down.
The single-plank bridge was thirty feet long and one foot wide.
When Sun Jizong reached the middle of the bridge, his body swayed slightly. But he persisted and finally crossed the single-plank bridge safely in the violent peculiar wind.
Once he crossed the single-plank bridge, the peculiar wind disappeared.
Sun Jizong turned around, bowed to everyone, and walked towards the first tower of the first mountain, looking quite free and easy.
Fang Yun noticed the pride in Sun Jizong. However, his pride was not the arrogance of a spoiled young master, nor was it the arrogance of talent. It was pure pride in his ideals and sacrifices.
Fang Yun nodded, knowing that once this man left Book Mountain, he would go to those legendary places to guard for the human race. Unless there were special circumstances or he went to the Holy Land, he would never return in his lifetime. Therefore, no matter how many criminals the prominent families of the saints had produced, as long as these true descendants of the saints were there, the people of the Ten Nations would never hate the prominent families of the saints.
“If I have the chance, I must go there for training. That’s where the essence of the human race lies. It’s said that Grand Academician Li also trained there for three years before he became a Grand Academician. Unfortunately, unless the war is urgent, they won’t recruit outsiders to avoid any accidents.”
As Fang Yun was thinking, he noticed that many people had already started to walk confidently towards the single-plank bridge.
Most of these people were steady in their movements. Even when blown by the peculiar wind, they could persist in moving forward. Except for a few people who were more stable than Sun Jizong, the rest were not as good as him.
Soon, the second group of people started to move forward. Fang Yun also started to step forward, preparing to cross the single-plank bridge.Suddenly, a scream echoed from the sixth bridge. Fang Yun looked up to see a man falling into the river, which then bubbled like boiling water, swallowing the man whole.
A man sneered, “Knowing one’s limits is a principle for us scholars. If you can’t cross, then you should stay under the Book Mountain and let the strange wind refine you. There will naturally be gains. Forcing your way across will only lead to this fate. If I’m not mistaken, this water is the ‘Weak Water’ from the Holy Land. The Weak Water here is probably not as powerful as the real Weak Water, but once you enter the water, at best your literary palace will be shaken, at worst your talent will be damaged, and it will take many years to recover.”
Just then, a child scholar suddenly pointed at Fang Yun and shouted loudly, “This man is the number one talented scholar of the ten nations, a double-ranked child scholar, a third-ranked accomplished scholar, Fang Yun!”
Fang Yun was taken aback, then saw several people running towards him, their eyes filled with hostility.
Fang Yun frowned, these people must have been instigated to prevent him from ascending the Book Mountain by any means necessary.
However, a faint smirk appeared on Fang Yun’s face.
The two banks of the river were different. People on the opposite bank couldn’t even talk to each other, but people on this side could interact.
“Push him into the water!”
Three people blocked Fang Yun’s path to the log bridge, while three others, along with the child scholar, charged at him.
“Don’t be afraid, this is the Book Mountain, even the sages can’t see everything! This is not the imperial examination, there are no rules against hurting people, we must not let him cross the river!”
“I am a man of the Wu Nation, I will not tolerate Fang Yun!”
“Fang Yun insulted my Qing Nation at the Dragon Boat Literature Meeting, how can I stand by and watch!”
“We won’t kill you, we just want to stop you from ascending the Book Mountain, even the sages can’t punish us!”
Each of them had a determined look in their eyes, not caring about dying with Fang Yun.
Fang Yun was now very close to the river, and the seven people had been preparing in secret. It would take at most five or six breaths for them to rush over.
“What are you doing, stop it! I am a descendant of Sage Confucius, how can I watch Fang Yun be destroyed by you! If you don’t stop, I will challenge you to a battle of poetry and prose after descending the Book Mountain, and kill you one by one!” A young man from the Kong Family shouted angrily, even though he knew that he would forget everything that happened inside the Book Mountain once he left.
“Stop!” Another person came to intervene.
“Shameless scoundrels, Fang Yun is not someone you can harm! Get lost!”
“You can’t hurt my Jing Kingdom’s Fang Yun!”
Dozens of other people rushed over without saying a word to intercept those people, and then hundreds more followed, most of them accomplished scholars from the Jing Kingdom.
These people were too far away to save Fang Yun in time.
One person cursed in desperation, “Beasts! Fang Yun is so powerful, his literary palace’s divine thoughts can’t withstand seven people, it’s over! My Jing Kingdom finally produced such a great talent, only to be destroyed by the hands of people from Jing Kingdom, damn it! How hateful!”
Others also sighed helplessly, especially those upright and righteous scholars, who were so angry that they wanted to tear the culprits apart, wishing they could replace Fang Yun.
Just as the seven people were about to grab Fang Yun, he suddenly shouted, “Get lost!”
Then, a strong white wind burst out from Fang Yun, blowing in all directions, not only dispersing the strange wind but also continuing to spread outwards, finally reaching the seven people led by the child scholar.
The seven people were like being hit by an invisible hammer, each making a loud bang and flying backwards, landing more than ten meters away in mid-air.
The child scholar cried out loudly, “It hurts so much! How could this happen! My body! No, this is not a normal departure from the Book Mountain, help!”
Everyone saw that the child scholar’s body was full of cracks and was becoming transparent. Finally, his entire body fell to the ground like shattered ice and slowly disappeared.
“You have the Courage to Write!” A man from the Qing Nation who attacked Fang Yun shouted, his body shattering.
Those who were close to Fang Yun were scared and quickly retreated, looking at him in horror.
At this moment, Fang Yun was surrounded by a hazy water light, his figure as majestic as a mountain. The power of the Courage to Write spread out in all directions, making everyone unable to lift their heads.
A person with the Courage to Write in the Book Mountain, full of accomplished scholars, was like a dragon king among a group of small fish and shrimp.
The Courage to Write was not a harmless power like the stars of the literary palace, but a truly powerful force that could annihilate divine thoughts and intentions. Now, all the bodies of the accomplished scholars were composed of divine thoughts.
Fang Yun was now their natural enemy.
The people from the All Saints Prominent Family were the most shocked. Having the Courage to Write as soon as one became an accomplished scholar was unprecedented in the Holy Origin Mainland, not even the direct disciples of Sage Confucius could do it.
Several people from the Confucius Family were dumbfounded. Even the Kong Family, which controlled the most resources of the Holy Academy, couldn’t cultivate an accomplished scholar with the Courage to Write, let alone others. The most outstanding people from the Kong Family could only form a vortex of the Courage to Write when they first became accomplished scholars. (To be continued.)