The scholars on the mountain were striving to climb and think, while the scholars at the foot of the mountain were engaged in heated discussions. Like Fang Yun, they had also deduced that this year’s climb to Book Mountain was more challenging than usual, and they were speculating how far Fang Yun could go.

“In the past, geniuses like Yan Yukong only reached the third mountain and the third pavilion. Given the increased difficulty of Book Mountain this year, even if Fang Yun’s talent equals Yan Yukong’s, I’m afraid he can only reach the first pavilion of the third mountain.”

“You’re right. I admit that in terms of talent, Fang Yun can be compared to our Yan Yukong from Qing Nation. But don’t forget, Yan Yukong, although a native of our Qing Nation, is a collateral descendant of Yan Zi. After becoming a child scholar, he was sent to the Yan family for cultivation. What he learned is beyond Fang Yun’s reach. I doubt Fang Yun can even climb the third mountain.”

“You people from Qing Nation are really impressive. Just now, our Jing Nation’s ‘Courage to Write’ shocked you, killing more than ten of you. How impressive! At this year’s Dragon Boat Literature Conference, it seemed that Yan Yukong was completely suppressed by Fang Yun. Truly, no one can compare to Fang Yun.”

A scholar from Yuhai City couldn’t help but mock. He had personally witnessed Fang Yun winning the Dragon Boat Literature Conference and receiving praise from Historian Shi. In his heart, Fang Yun’s status was second only to Li Wenying. He couldn’t allow the people from the enemy nation to insult Fang Yun.

This scholar from Yuhai City had hit a sore spot for the scholars from Qing Nation. They were already frustrated by their defeat at the Dragon Boat Literature Conference. Many people from Qing Nation had their divine consciousness scattered by Fang Yun. They knew they were in the wrong and didn’t dare to make a fuss. But now, even the ordinary scholars from Qing Nation were stepping on them, which made the scholars from Qing Nation angry.

A man from Qing Nation roared, “You people from Jing Nation have only won once, and you’re already so arrogant! It was Fang Yun who defeated our Qing Nation, not you! Shameless!”

“Shameless? It’s Fang Yun who’s climbing Book Mountain, and you people from Qing Nation, who are reaping the benefits, not only fail to show gratitude, but also curse him for not being able to reach the third mountain and the third pavilion. This is the real shamelessness.”

“We’re just making judgments, not cursing!”

“As long as someone passes one pavilion on Book Mountain, we can stay an extra hour on top of the six hours. You can see the current situation. Fang Yun is definitely the first. You enjoy the time brought by Fang Yun, but you don’t show gratitude. You don’t congratulate him on climbing higher mountains, but think he’s inferior to others. If this is not a curse, what is it?”

“You’re talking nonsense!”

The hatred between Qing Nation and Jing Nation has lasted for hundreds of years, especially for those whose ancestors died at the hands of the other. The combination of national hatred and personal grudges immediately led to a quarrel.

Soon, the topic shifted from Fang Yun to other aspects, such as which nation’s Half-Sage had made greater contributions and started to pick on each other’s scandals.

People from other nations just watched from the sidelines, while the people from Wu Nation secretly laughed. The deeper the hatred between Jing and Qing Nations, the better for Wu Nation. The three neighboring nations have always been at odds.

Before long, a scholar from Qi Nation couldn’t hold back and shouted, “Come on! Let’s start betting!”

“Qiao the Gambling Ghost, this is Book Mountain. Once we leave Book Mountain, we forget everything. What can we bet with? Aren’t you afraid that we won’t pay you if we lose the bet, and we’re afraid you’ll run away if we win the bet. Your father is the big boss of the gambling house in Qi Nation. But you’re just a small gambling ghost. How can you compare with your father? No betting, no betting!”

Many people laughed.

Scholar Qiao laughed and said, “Why can’t we bet? Scholars from Jing and Qing Nations, stop arguing. If you’re men, bet! What’s the point of arguing?”

People from both nations glared at Scholar Qiao.

But Scholar Qiao wasn’t afraid at all. He shouted, “People from Wu Nation and Qing Nation, aren’t you dissatisfied with Fang Yun? Don’t you think Fang Yun can’t reach the third mountain and the third pavilion? People from Jing Nation, don’t you think Fang Yun is better than Yan Yukong? Why don’t we make a bet? If Fang Yun reaches the third mountain and the third pavilion, you people from Wu Nation and Qing Nation will collectively jump into the Weak Water River. If Fang Yun can’t reach the third mountain and the third pavilion, people from Jing Nation will collectively jump into the Weak Water River. Dare you?”

People from Jing Nation and Qing Nation all shut their mouths. In fact, they didn’t have that much confidence.

A scholar from Wu Nation was annoyed and said, “What does the quarrel between Jing Nation and Qing Nation have to do with our Wu Nation?”

A man from Qing Nation sarcastically said, “You people from Wu Nation have never stopped stirring up trouble between us, Jing Nation and Qing Nation. No relation? Six years ago, you won five prefectures from our Qing Nation through a literary contest. Three years ago, you won three prefectures from Jing Nation through a literary contest. We remember these accounts in our hearts, of course it has something to do with you.”

The scholars from other nations saw that things were going to get messy. The conflict between nations has always been the most sensitive topic for people from all nations. Decades ago, the main object of “loyalty” was the nation, so the hatred between nations was extremely deep.

It wasn’t until recent years, when the thousand-year peace treaty expired and the Demon Barbarians launched a large-scale attack, that the Holy Academy had to change the highest concept of “loyalty”. Loyalty should first be to the human race, and then to the nation.

However, it was difficult for people from different nations to accept this immediately. Many people still wanted their own nation to unify the Holy Origin Mainland. By then, loyalty to the nation would be equivalent to loyalty to the human race.

Even the current Fang Yun, having seen Jing Nation being bullied by Qing Nation and Wu Nation in history, also wanted Jing Nation to unify Qing Nation and Wu Nation, let alone them.

Scholar Qiao immediately shouted, “Enough talk! Bet or not! You people from Wu Nation always show off your military might, look down on this nation and that nation, and often attack Fang Yun. Now there’s a bet, and you dare not bet?”

A man from Wu Nation shouted, “Of course we dare to bet, but all the people from Jing Nation don’t dare to bet!”

“Oh? If we, the people of Jing Kingdom, dare to bet everything, do you, the people of Wu Nation at the foot of the mountain, dare to do the same?”

The man from Wu Nation shouted, “I believe Fang Yun is a great talent, I even admire him. But don’t you think these Jing Kingdom Talented Scholars are too noisy? What does Fang Yun’s future success have to do with these people? A bunch of successful petty people, who used to not dare to raise their heads in front of us from Wu Nation, now want to ride on our heads? No way! Good men of Wu Nation, do you dare to bet?”

“We dare! When has our great Wu Nation ever been afraid of Jing Kingdom!”

“I fear Fang Yun, but not these useless people from Jing Kingdom!”

“Fang Yun seems to be unable to suppress it, we can afford to lose, but we can’t lose to other people from Jing Kingdom!”

The people of Jing Kingdom were extremely angry, even many who didn’t want to bet decided to do so, because many people understood that Fang Yun would definitely be able to ascend the three mountains and one pavilion, but by that time, there wouldn’t be much time left, even if they didn’t jump into The Weak Water, they wouldn’t have much time to stay on Book Mountain.

Soon, all the people from Qing Nation and Wu Nation stood on one side, and the people from Jing Kingdom stood on the other.

Qiao, the Talented Scholar, chuckled secretly, glad that they were all newly qualified scholars. If they were Presented Scholars, absolutely no one would bet. He laughed, “Alright, it’s settled! If anyone from any nation backs out, the rest of us from the seven nations will push them into The Weak Water.”

A man from Jing Kingdom shouted up at Fang Yun on the mountain, “Fang Yun, whether those Talented Scholars from Qing Nation and Wu Nation jump into the river or not, it’s up to you!”

Nine mountain peaks were lined up in a row, parallel to The Weak Water. Fang Yun descended from the first mountain and arrived between two mountains.

There was also a strange wind between the two mountains.

The strange wind here was more than five times stronger than the one by The Weak Water, but under the protection of The Courage to Write, the wind couldn’t move Fang Yun’s clothes at all.

Many Talented Scholars in the distance were secretly envious. At this moment, Fang Yun was extremely relaxed, as if he was under great pressure but his expression didn’t change.

After passing through the strange wind, Fang Yun stepped into the first pavilion of the second mountain and saw the word “Number” written on the plaque.

Number is one of the six arts of a gentleman. In ancient times, not knowing numbers was a derogatory term. A scholar’s mathematics can’t be too poor.

“I wonder what ‘Number’ on Book Mountain refers to. If it’s advanced mathematics, I’m afraid even ten miraculous book worlds would be tragic.” Fang Yun thought.

A piece of white paper quietly appeared, with three questions on it. Answering two correctly would suffice. Fang Yun looked at it and couldn’t help but smile.

The first question was a poetry question.

The grand academy stands in the mountains and forests, how many students are there within?

Three hundred and sixty-four bowls, see if they are all used up without dispute.

Three people share a bowl of rice, four people share a bowl of soup.

Please ask the gentleman who is good at calculating, how many students are there in the academy?

“This is saying that there are three hundred and sixty-four bowls in an academy, three students share a bowl of rice, and four people share a bowl of soup. The question is how many students are there. Let X be the number of students in the academy, X divided by three plus X divided by four equals three hundred and sixty-four, solve for X.” Fang Yun thought.

So, a question that could have many Talented Scholars scratching their heads was easily solved.

Fang Yun wrote the number six hundred and twenty-four after the first question.

“Ah, is my calculation method a bit bullying?”

Fang Yun thought to himself, looking at the second question.

There are ten thousand trees in the forest, lined up in a row. Each tree has one leaf, and each subsequent tree has one more leaf. Ten thousand trees have ten thousand leaves, how many leaves are there in the forest?

“The first tree has one leaf, the second has two, and so on, with the ten thousandth tree having ten thousand leaves. Even if you’ve almost forgotten the formula for the sum of an arithmetic sequence, if you know the story of Gauss as a child, you can calculate it. The sum of the first and last tree is ten thousand and one leaves, multiplied by five thousand, the answer comes out. I just don’t know if other people will use this method.”

So, Fang Yun wrote “fifty million and five thousand leaves” above.

Suddenly, the old man from before appeared in front of Fang Yun. The old man looked stern and asked, “How do you explain this question in detail?”

Fang Yun was startled, as if he had been caught cheating, but then quickly realized that he hadn’t cheated this time. After a moment’s thought, he held out both hands and said, “When I was a child playing by the river, I wrote from one to ten on my ten fingers. When I put my hands together, the sum of each pair of fingers was eleven, and eleven times five is fifty-five. This question is ten thousand, but it’s not much different. The sum of the leaves of the first and last tree is ten thousand and one, multiplied by five thousand is the answer.”

“Good!” The old man nodded and disappeared.

Fang Yun couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Fang Yun looked at the third question with a thoughtful expression.

Nine hundred and ninety-nine copper coins, timely bought a thousand pears and fruits,

Eleven copper coins for nine pears, four copper coins for seven fruits.

Question: How much are the pears and fruits?

Fang Yun read and said, “Nine hundred and ninety-nine copper coins bought pears and fruits, the sum of pears and fruits is one thousand, eleven copper coins can buy nine pears, four copper coins can buy seven fruits, how many are the fruits and pears? How much did each cost? This question is difficult.”

After saying this, Fang Yun seemed to have completely forgotten how he solved the first question and pondered deeply.

After a long time, Fang Yun finally wrote down the answer. (To be continued.)