Talent Performance was rare among Great Scholars, let alone successfully completing it. However, Talent Performance had never occurred to an Accomplished Scholar before.

“Can I not say it?” Fang Yun asked.

Feng Yuanjun laughed, “If you don’t say it, we can guess. Seeing that you are unharmed and even exuding a hint of sharpness, you must have benefited. Based on your family’s reactions, there are only a few possibilities. We, a group of more than ten people, can guess it in less than a quarter of an hour.”

Everyone smiled, ready to guess at any moment.

Fang Yun looked around at everyone and had to say, “Actually, it’s nothing. After my experience in Book Mountain, I found that I had grown, so I decided to choose a minor in The Path of the Saints. Then I thought about the current war among the three races, and the role of the Military Strategists is second only to the Great Scholar’s Path. So, I decided to minor in Military Strategists. I have been studying military strategies these days. Last night, I don’t know why, but I remembered my days by the River of Enlightenment. I had a flash of inspiration and wanted to summarize and simplify the military strategies of the predecessors. As a result, I accidentally entered Talent Performance.”

“Hiss…” Everyone gasped.

Zhang Poyue was a general, and most of the people who came to see him off were soldiers. They knew the importance of Talent Performance. If someone could achieve Talent Performance, they must have an amazing talent in military strategies, which would be of great use to the human race.

“We only thought you had achieved something in poetry, calligraphy, painting, and interpretation of classics. We didn’t expect your military strategy to be so profound! You are trying to be an all-rounder! Even Sage Confucius can’t be considered an all-rounder.”

Zhang Poyue couldn’t help asking, “Brother Wenying, your first Talent Performance was when you were in the Hanlin Academy, right?”

“Um.” Li Wenying nodded.

“Even a few Semi-Saints of the Military Strategists, only two or three have ever had Talent Performance when they were Presented Scholars, but they all failed. Fang Yun, don’t tell us you succeeded in Talent Performance.” Prefect Dong said.

Fang Yun said, “Of course I failed. How could I, a mere Accomplished Scholar, pass Talent Performance?”

“That’s more like it. If you could complete Talent Performance, the Military Strategists would probably come to snatch you directly, detain you for a few years, grind off all your edges. Then they would send you to various dangerous places, use all means to torture… no, to temper you, then throw you into the Two Realms Mountain for more than ten years of training. Finally, they would give you freedom.”

Fang Yun almost broke out in a cold sweat, “Are the people of the Military Strategists really so cruel?”

“Yes. The geniuses of the Military Strategists’ Prominent Families start to be tempered at the age of seven or eight. Apart from participating in the imperial examination and Book Mountain, they hardly have any contact with outsiders. They can’t take control of their own destiny until they are over thirty. So for hundreds of years, the Semi-Saints of the Military Strategists have been extremely patient and cunning. They have caused great damage to the Demon Realm. If the Demon Clan’s All the Saints really want to invade in large numbers in the future, the first ones they will kill must be the Semi-Saints of the Military Strategists.”

“I must follow the Great Scholar’s Path! My Talent Performance must fail!” Fang Yun said.

Li Wenying laughed, “Even if you succeed, it doesn’t matter. Our expectations for you are not just the path of the Military Strategists. If you major in Military Strategists, it would be a waste.”

“That’s right. Ah, I can’t imagine it. Talent Performance, I haven’t even had it yet.” Zhang Poyue seemed very unhappy.

Feng Yuanjun said, “You should also go to the River of Enlightenment when you have time. Maybe you will have a chance to enter Talent Performance.”

“That’s a good idea! After the banquet, I will change my route to the River of Enlightenment in Ji County. I will go to the capital to accept the canonization in two days.” Zhang Poyue said.

Feng Yuanjun looked pitifully at Li Wenying, “Grand Academician, do you agree with my vacation?”

Li Wenying looked at Feng Yuanjun expressionlessly. Feng Yuanjun’s eyes were firm, as if he was not afraid of this famous Grand Academician at all.

“Forget it, I’ll give you five days.” Li Wenying reluctantly said.

“Thank you, Grand Academician. I toast to you.” Feng Yuanjun laughed happily and raised his glass to drink.

Li Wenying ignored Feng Yuanjun and asked Fang Yun, “Is this your first time entering Talent Performance?”

“It’s the first time.”

“Others cannot interfere with Talent Performance. You must never ask others for advice. Otherwise, there will be huge changes, and you may even fail.” Li Wenying said.

“I understand.” Fang Yun said.

Li Wenying glanced at Zhao Hongzhuang, then looked at Fang Yun and asked, “I heard that you want to take the Presented Scholar exam as soon as possible. You may even prepare to take the Imperial Scholar exam this year and become the first person in the world to become an Imperial Scholar in the same year?”

If it weren’t for the experience in the Book Mountain illusion, Fang Yun would never have thought of becoming the first person in history to pass the Child Scholar, Accomplished Scholar, Presented Scholar, and Imperial Scholar exams in the same year. But the experience in Book Mountain made up for his shortcomings.

“I want to give it a try.” Fang Yun said.

“You don’t have to worry about your poetry and interpretation of classics, but the state exam in September will test your policy discussion. Are you confident?”

“As a student, I believe that policy discussion is nothing more than the way of governing the country. I have read the classics of All the Saints and even read through the history books. Although I dare not say that I have the talent to stabilize the country and bring peace, I have gained a little in policy discussion.”

If it were anything else, Fang Yun wouldn’t dare to say it, but he wasn’t afraid of policy discussion. After all, there was too much relevant information in that era, unlike the Holy Origin Mainland where you could only read the newspaper once every ten days, and less than a fifth of the page was about current affairs.

“If you are confident, then try it. Although you are now famous and may even be mentioned in history books, you may not be able to pass down the record. If you can become the first Imperial Scholar in the same year, you will have the opportunity to pass down the record and truly make a name for yourself in history.” Li Wenying said.

Scholars attach great importance to making a name for themselves in history. A general next to him envied, “Grand Academician Li will surely make a name for himself in history. If General Zhang can take another step, he will also have a biography. As for us, being able to leave a name in history books is already an honor to our ancestors.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, extremely envious of Fang Yun, Li Wenying, and Zhang Poyue.

Zhang Poyue said, “Jianmei Gong and I can at most pass down the record. Fang Yun, you have the opportunity to go further and enter the ‘Prominent Family’ category. You must not waste your literary palace.”

“I will definitely work hard.” Fang Yun said modestly.

Zhao Hongzhuang, who was sitting next to him, showed a look of loneliness. Although she was a princess, she would probably only have a name in the history books, and it was absolutely impossible to be listed in the annals like Empress Lv of the Han Dynasty on the grounds of “holding power without holding office”, and be on par with the emperors.

Under the table where no one could see, Zhao Hongzhuang clenched her fists tightly.

Named Hongzhuang, a princess, but here she was like a green leaf.

Zhao Hongzhuang lowered her head, and the unwillingness in her eyes was only known to herself.

A general asked curiously, “Fang Yun, what exactly happened with the interpretation of the classics you wrote for the prefecture examination? According to tradition, the top-ranked interpretations from each prefecture should be displayed in the academy for students to study. Why is it that only the second-ranked ones are displayed this year?”

Feng Yuanjun and the Prefect Dong exchanged glances, both having personally experienced the earth-shattering marking process. They had witnessed the examination papers that shook the world, with the power of Semi-Saints making their appearances, and even a Hanlin scholar being killed on the spot, a sight rarely seen in the imperial examination in a hundred years.

“I… I’m not at liberty to say,” Fang Yun replied.

“That’s strange. Prefect Dong, Feng Yuanjun, you two were the examiners, can’t you say anything?”

The two of them lowered their heads, remaining silent.

Even Li Wenying and Zhang Poyue were unaware of this. Seeing the attitudes of the two examiners, they realized that it was highly likely that the Penal Hall or a Semi-Saint had issued a gag order.

Including Zhao Hongzhuang, everyone was staring at each other, but no one dared to say a word. Before long, everyone vaguely guessed that since Fang Yun had achieved the top rank, his interpretation must be excellent. If such an excellent interpretation could not be publicized, it must be excessively good. At the very least, it was nation-shaking, or even world-shaking, because the Holy Academy would never make such a fuss over an interpretation from Mingzhou.

Everyone immediately thought of the scene where day and night alternated continuously over the sky of Yuhai Prefecture that night, realizing that it was probably a Sage who had taken action for Fang Yun.

Poetry and even policy discussions are minor matters, but interpretations of the classics are different. They are interpretations of the classics of All the Saints, the true path of Confucianism. If an Accomplished Scholar could write a nation-shaking interpretation, it would be even more terrifying than writing ten nation-shaking poems.

“He has hope,” a general murmured.

Although he didn’t finish his sentence, everyone knew what he meant: “Fang Yun has hope in his Path of the Saints”, and his chances of becoming a Sage were extremely high.

The room was quiet for a moment, and then the conversation continued.

Since Zhang Poyue was going to the North to deal with the Wolf Savage, the topic of conversation was mostly about the war in the North.

War and diplomacy are inseparable. Everyone quickly discussed the attitude of the Military Strategists, but no one agreed with the Gu Nation’s practice of paying large amounts of gold, silver, and food as annual tribute in exchange for peace. These generals almost all believed that only by defeating the barbarians and making them realize that the human race is not weaker than the Demon Clan, could they be won over. Then they could unite against the Demon Clan.

These generals were not against uniting with the barbarians to attack the Demon Clan, but they believed that the Military Strategists should be at the forefront, with the Diplomats behind. They absolutely could not let the Diplomats and the Miscellaneous Strategists dominate the situation between the two races. They absolutely could not learn from the Gu Nation’s servility, otherwise, the human race would surely perish.

It wasn’t until the evening banquet ended that everyone left, drunk. Zhang Poyue took a long-distance ox cart straight to Jixian County to go to the River of Enlightenment, and Feng Yuanjun planned to go the next day.

Fang Yun couldn’t persuade them, so he left quietly.

“I hope no one tries to gain enlightenment by the River of Enlightenment,” Fang Yun muttered to himself on his way home.

The weather in June was unpredictable. Before Fang Yun could get home, a light rain began to fall.

When he arrived at his front door, Fang Yun got out of the carriage. Fang Da Niu had an umbrella, but he didn’t hold it for Fang Yun. Instead, he held it for himself, looking at Fang Yun with envy.

The rain fell on Fang Yun’s body and clothes, but it didn’t wet him at all. Instead, it flowed away silently. Fang Yun’s entire body seemed like a large umbrella, repelling all the rain.

Ever since Fang Yun had consumed the False Dragon Pearl, he was no longer afraid of rain, and even bathed less frequently. The False Dragon Pearl gave his body the ability to self-clean. Although it wasn’t as perfect as Nunu’s ability to remain dust-free, any dust on his body would quickly be repelled by an invisible force.

The place where Fang Yun lived was even cleaner. Those mosquitoes didn’t dare to approach someone who possessed the False Dragon Pearl. Even the neighboring households enjoyed a comfortable summer without mosquitoes.

As the rain flowed over his body, Fang Yun felt no discomfort and stepped through the gate.

In the courtyard, Nunu was frolicking in the rain like a playful puppy, shaking her body from time to time, splashing rainwater everywhere.

Seeing Fang Yun, Nunu immediately waved her little paws at him, asking him to play with her. Fang Yun shook his head and smiled, “You play by yourself.”

Nunu nodded and continued to play on her own.

(To be continued.)

PS: The next chapter will be updated before 23:00.