Fang Yun was climbing the mountain while pondering.
He walked extremely slowly, taking the time to step onto the next stair that others could have climbed ten more. His body seemed to have not yet adapted to this world.
His gaze was initially very chaotic, as if countless lights were flickering. Soon, it became blurry, as if covered by a layer of mist. Finally, the mist dissipated, and his eyes gradually cleared.
“From the moment I entered the Three Mountains and Two Pavilions, everything that followed was just an illusion. The so-called test of martial strength was false. Before the Three Mountains and Two Pavilions, the test was about ‘talent’ and ‘wisdom’. Therefore, the test of the Three Mountains and Two Pavilions was about ‘heart’.”
“The disciple of the Poetry King reached the Three Mountains and Two Pavilions when he was an Accomplished Scholar, but he couldn’t pass. His talent was obviously very high, but even after he became a Presented Scholar and climbed the Book Mountain again, he still couldn’t pass the Three Mountains and Two Pavilions. This is not a problem of talent. The Pavilion of Illusion tests my attitude towards the human race, the barbarian race, and the life of my comrades. No matter how talented a person is, the Three Mountains and Two Pavilions is the limit.”
“If you want to go further, it depends on your heart. You need a heart for the human race. If you don’t have it, you will never pass the Three Mountains and never get the Heart of Literature! The Book Mountain will not give such an important thing to him.”
“Shi Dehong still doesn’t understand to this day. He thought he couldn’t pass the Three Mountains and Two Pavilions because his scholarship was not enough. In fact, his heart is not fair and upright. Now think about it, if he really could pass the Three Mountains and Two Pavilions, he wouldn’t target me so much.”
Now, Fang Yun’s achievement on the Book Mountain is higher than both Shi Dehong and Tong Li. The bet between the three has been settled.
Fang Yun continued to walk, but there was a bigger doubt in his heart.
“It seems that the Three Mountains and Two Pavilions are illusions formed by the power of the Book Mountain. But after I sacrificed myself to save that Zhong Yingxiao, I just completed a complete test and should have ended. But not only did it not end, but there were even more bizarre experiences.”
“During the illusion, I completely forgot about the Heavenly Book World. I really thought I had experienced those things. It was only after the old man appeared that I found out. Now think carefully. Many aspects of my memory are very vague. Those memories should be false, they don’t exist at all. It’s the Book Mountain that made me think I had that kind of experience. But the humiliation, torture, begging on the street, and integrating the beggars’ gang are all vivid in my mind. I did it myself. Before the Wolf Savage invaded, my experience of practicing writing, making policy arguments, and reading the classics of All the Saints was also very clear.”
“Roughly estimated, the time I remember clearly adds up to nearly a year. This is fundamentally different from those vague memories! I can still recall the policy arguments I wrote! Even, I still remember the process of learning policy arguments from Li Wenying and Wen Xiang. The answers of the two people are brilliant and incredibly exquisite, it can’t be fake.”
Fang Yun stood still, then found that his talent had actually risen to nine inches! The Palace of Literature was extremely stable, and the Courage to Write had undergone a qualitative change!
All the starlight in the Palace of Literature no longer shone on his talent, but on the Courage to Write.
This means that soon, the power of the Courage to Write can be improved, reaching the first level of toughness like grass and trees, and the Semi-Saint disciple Yan Yukong is only at the great achievement of toughness like grass and trees.
“This can’t be caused by the power of illusion! Could it be that this Book Mountain actually has the power to control time. Or did it take me to the legendary river of history? The ‘Spring and Autumn’ written by Sage Confucius himself is actually a historical record according to time. These two words, spring and autumn, can actually be understood as years, time, and era.”
Fang Yun’s heart was surging.
“No one else could possibly enjoy such good training! This is equivalent to letting a person gain the knowledge that normally takes a year in an hour. And those painful experiences are precious wealth to me. Since it’s an illusion, but Li Wenying and Wen Xiang both taught me a lot, and I can remember what they said, then who is actually teaching me?”
Fang Yun was stunned for a moment, then suddenly bowed to the mountain. His heart was filled with endless gratitude.
Fang Yun had come all the way, with insufficient time and tempering.
“My biggest shortcoming has been made up in the second pavilion of the Three Mountains.”
In Fang Yun’s eyes, there was a determination that had never been there before.
As Fang Yun continued to climb upwards, the Hall of All Saints was unusually quiet.
“Has anyone ever stood in the second pavilion of the Three Mountains for nearly an hour?”
“Unprecedented.”
After a long time, Mi Fengdian said, “The talent consumed by the Book Mountain today has exceeded any previous opening of the Book Mountain, almost three times the usual. But it’s not over yet.”
“If it was at the Four Mountains and consumed so much talent. It might be possible, but now it consumes so much talent, even we can’t guess.”
“Let him go to the Holy Land. As long as he can come back alive from the Holy Land, send him to the Dragon Ascension Platform!” Wang Jinglong said.
“After that Saint Selection, I knew he might pass the Three Mountains and Three Pavilions. I just don’t know how far he can go.”
Wang Jinglong suddenly said, “I believe Fang Yun can pass the Fourth Mountain, what do you think?”
“Eastern Saint is joking. Fang Yun has just become an Accomplished Scholar not long ago, he doesn’t even know how to talk about military strategy on paper, how could he possibly pass the Fourth Mountain? He should be able to get a Heart of Literature, and then fail at the Fourth Mountain.”
The other two Semi-Saints nodded.
Wang Jinglong had personally issued a gag order that day, and “Arrow in the Stone” and “Capture the King” are still on his desk. Only the Four Saints of the Four Saints Pavilion know about it, even Mi Fengdian and other Semi-Saints don’t know.
Wang Jinglong smiled and said, “Fang Yun is too aggressive and will surely face great difficulties in the future. How about this, if he can pass the Fourth Mountain, you will help him when he encounters great difficulties in the future. If he can’t pass the Fourth Mountain, I have some things on hand, you three can choose one, how about it?”
The three Semi-Saints looked at each other. Wang Jinglong is one of the oldest among all the Semi-Saints, and he has a lot of treasures. Even if he won’t give precious treasures, other things are enough to move the Semi-Saints. If they don’t use it themselves, they can give it to their descendants. For example, a Great Scholar’s Treasures of Literature or a Great Scholar’s True Text is very important to a Semi-Saint Prominent Family.
Mi Fengdian smiled and said, “Fang Yun’s talent is not inferior to Yi Zhishi. If he can protect this child safely, it is also a good thing. I agree with Eastern Saint.”
The other two Semi-Saints nodded.
Wang Jinglong smiled and said, “Very good.”
The smile on Mi Fengdian’s face disappeared, and he asked, “Eastern Sage, do you know something?”
“Even if I do, I won’t tell.” Wang Jinglong said with a grin.
The Hall of All Saints fell silent again.
After a while, someone said, “The Accomplished Scholars from Qing Nation and Wu Nation this year are really disappointing. They can’t even hold on till the end.”
“Then this year, half of the Holy Academy’s resources that should be given to Qing Nation and Wu Nation should be deducted and all given to Jing Kingdom.”
“Agreed.”
In the Book Mountain, the most people were at the foot of the mountain, and there were also many people on the first mountain. On the second mountain, there were two people in the first pavilion, and only one person left in the second pavilion, who had already failed.
The Book Mountain had been passed down for hundreds of years, and every year there would be descendants of Semi-Saint Prominent Families reaching the third mountain. But now, even the best one could not pass the second pavilion of the second mountain.
The faces of the descendants of the Prominent Families of All Saints were all ashen.
Others, however, did not have such great pressure. They looked at Fang Yun’s back at the foot of the mountain, hoping that he could create a miracle.
Fang Yun stepped onto the third mountain, and saw four words written on the plaque: Recite Backwards Fluently.
Fang Yun couldn’t help but think of the time when he was taking the Sage Selection, and that Semi-Saint also tested him on Recite Backwards Fluently.
“No wonder even Li Wenying couldn’t pass the third pavilion of the third mountain when he was a Presented Scholar. No wonder no Accomplished Scholar has ever passed. This is not easy at all.”
A piece of paper appeared, with the test question on it: Recite the “Spring and Autumn Annals” backwards.
The “Spring and Autumn Annals” was the first chronological history book written by Confucius. It was extremely concise in wording, profound in meaning, and so many people could not understand it.
When Zuo Qiuming became a Great Scholar, he annotated the “Spring and Autumn Annals” and wrote the “Zuo’s Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals”, commonly known as the “Zuo’s Commentary”, which brought his talent to the peak of a Great Scholar. Finally, with the first national history book “Guoyu” in the world, he established his foundation as a Semi-Saint.
The “Zuo’s Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals” has a large number of words, but the original “Spring and Autumn Annals” has less than 20,000 words.
With the experience of reciting the “Analects” backwards, Fang Yun prepared a little and then recited the “Spring and Autumn Annals” backwards with the help of the miraculous book.
As time passed by, Fang Yun recited every word accurately to the end.
“…The king was in his first month, in spring, the first year.”
After Fang Yun finished the last word, the three mountains moved together.
A rainbow bridge appeared in front of Fang Yun, spanning from the third mountain to the fourth mountain.
Fang Yun stepped onto the rainbow bridge and slowly walked forward.
The rainbow bridge emitted a seven-colored light, which fell on Fang Yun’s body and was gradually absorbed by him.
Fang Yun kept walking forward, and the rainbow bridge behind him kept disappearing.
The many Accomplished Scholars at the foot of the mountain were all stunned at first, because no Accomplished Scholar had ever passed the third pavilion of the third mountain, but Fang Yun did it.
“Fang Yun is a great talent!”
“The most outstanding of the human race!”
“Victory to Jing Kingdom!”
Countless people cheered loudly.
In the face of this miracle, many people’s dissatisfaction vanished, and they recognized Fang Yun as the number one Accomplished Scholar in the world. Only a very few people were burning with jealousy in their hearts, and these people, even if they were gifted, could not pass the second pavilion of the third mountain in their lifetime.
“Once he crosses that rainbow, he will get The Heart of Literature, right?”
“I just don’t know what kind of The Heart of Literature he will get.”
“I’ve heard that the first Heart of Literature in the Book Mountain is always ‘Fervent Writing’, divided into upper, middle, and lower grades.”
“What grade can Fang Yun get?”
“It must be related to the test of the ninth pavilion. The better the test of the ninth pavilion is completed, the higher the grade. Fang Yun can definitely get the middle grade ‘Fervent Writing’. As for the upper grade, it’s almost impossible. Only a Sage can improve The Heart of Literature. Even Yi Zhishi, who is bound to become a Semi-Saint and has the potential to become a Sub-Sage, only has a middle grade Heart of Literature.”
“Fang Yun is sure to get The Heart of Literature, but I don’t know if he can pass the fourth mountain.”
“Even Presented Scholars find it difficult to pass the fourth mountain, let alone an Accomplished Scholar like him.”
Fang Yun walked forward step by step. His body didn’t change, but his literary palace was getting hotter and hotter, as if there was a fire.
As he walked down the rainbow bridge and reached the fourth mountain, Fang Yun felt a tremor in his literary palace, and a warm current emerged from his forehead, spreading throughout his body.
Fang Yun was overjoyed. For a scholar, The Courage to Write was important, and The Heart of Literature was also very important. The Heart of Literature not only had magical effects, but could also quickly calm the turbulence of talent, allowing one to use The War Poetry quickly again, and could also quickly recover talent. (To be continued.)