At noon, Fang Yun and Li Wenying headed to the Confucius Prefecture Academy.
Fang Yun didn’t expect that after getting off the carriage near a street close to the Confucius Prefecture Academy, Li Wenying would lead him through the streets and alleys to a food street, where they tasted the local delicacies.
Li Wenying was no longer the domineering figure he once was, but more like an old man reminiscing about the past. He not only treated Fang Yun to food, but also talked about his days studying at the Confucius Prefecture Academy and the Holy Academy. There was no preaching, just an elder introducing everything about the place to the younger generation.
“The original owner of this noodle shop was a fat man, he always gave generous portions.”
“Look at this slab of stone, it’s said to be over five hundred years old, and it’s still sturdy.”
“How do you like the calligraphy on this plaque? I wrote it when I became an Imperial Scholar.”
“See that old lady selling tofu pudding? I once wrote her a love poem, sigh…”
“Oh, Old Master Zhou, you’re still here? Why don’t you retire and enjoy your old age?”
Along the way, Li Wenying occasionally chatted with old acquaintances. They treated him just as they did in the past, speaking their minds and not holding back their laughter or criticism, even revealing some of his embarrassing moments in front of Fang Yun.
However, Fang Yun noticed that Li Wenying seemed to be heavily nostalgic, as if he was hiding some special memories.
After tasting many delicacies on the street, Fang Yun and Li Wenying finally headed to the Confucius Prefecture Academy.
As they walked, Li Wenying said, “I can’t remember what the Book Mountain tests, but I do know a bit about the other Holy Lands. For example, the unique Eight Dou Literature Hall in the Confucius Prefecture not only tests combat ability, but also strategy. The Sea of Learning values talent, the Holy Tower values comprehension, but the Holy Land and the Dragon Ascending Platform, which are closely related to the Demon Clan and the Dragon Clan, are dangerous. If you’re not strong enough, even entering them would be a death sentence. That’s why there’s a Holy Land route for the final selection.”
“Of course,” Fang Yun replied.
“There are many secrets in the Holy Land, but survival is the most important. You must never risk your life for any treasures…”
Li Wenying gave Fang Yun some more advice, which he listened to attentively.
The two entered the Confucius Prefecture Academy and after a while, they arrived at a courtyard named Renyong. From the name, Fang Yun guessed it was derived from the saying in the Analects, “The benevolent must be brave, but the brave do not necessarily have to be benevolent.”
The courtyard was as large as a small square, with a layer of flat stone slabs laid on the ground.
At the far end, there was a row of tall literature halls, full of ancient charm, as if they were built during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. At the entrance of the literature halls stood a dozen old scholars, including the Grand Academician Kong whom Fang Yun had seen at the Mid-Autumn Literature Meeting the day before. They were chatting quietly, occasionally glancing at the crowd opposite them.
It seemed as if an invisible line had divided the crowd into two parts.
The first group of people were very close to the entrance of the literature hall, either dressed as Accomplished Scholars or Presented Scholars.
The other group of people all stood more than ten zhang away, dressed in clothes from various nations, seemingly here to send off someone, just like Li Wenying.
Fang Yun knew that the other participants from Jing Kingdom who were going to the Holy Land would travel together, arriving at the City of Confucius by ship. He looked around, but there were too many people, all with their backs to him, making it impossible to find anyone from Jing Kingdom.
The two of them walked into the crowd, and Li Wenying said, “Go ahead. I believe you can pass smoothly.”
“Then I’ll take my leave,” Fang Yun said, and walked towards the crowd.
As Fang Yun walked, he looked at the thousands of people in front of him and noticed many mechanical beasts and petite spirit beasts in the crowd. These mechanical beasts and spirit beasts were their companions and would also face danger in the Holy Land. If they wanted to bring them into the Holy Land, they would have to pass the Holy Land route.
The most eye-catching among them was a huge mechanical elephant, over a zhang tall, covered in black iron armor, and very similar to a normal war elephant. If it weren’t for its tusks being two sharp metal spikes, no one would have known it was a mechanical elephant.
A young man, who looked less than twenty years old, was sitting cross-legged on the mechanical elephant, resting with his eyes closed.
“Even a Presented Scholar can own such a large mechanical elephant, and such a large mechanical elephant must be loaded with the Drinking Pearl of the River. The owner of the war elephant must be an important figure in the Mo family. The value and power of this war elephant far exceed any Imperial Scholar’s Treasures of Literature, and it’s probably comparable to a Hanlin Scholar’s Treasures of Literature.”
Then, Fang Yun scanned the crowd and noticed that many people had particularly unique temperaments. Some were flamboyant, some were indifferent, some were carefree, but they all managed to attract attention.
Before Fang Yun could get closer, he saw Li Fanming and a dozen others quickly approaching. Qiu Chi, the Presented Scholar who had helped establish the nation, was the most enthusiastic. He strode over and said, “Fang Yun, we’ve been waiting for you for a long time. Many people are discussing your three poems from last night. Thinking about it now, it was a great honor to witness it in person.”
Li Fanming gave Qiu Chi a helpless look, knowing that he was trying to curry favor with Fang Yun, but since they were friends, it wasn’t appropriate to call him out.
“Brother Qiu, you’re too kind,” Fang Yun said, curiously looking at Li Fanming. He saw Li Fanming slightly hunched over, with two beast claws resting on his shoulders, as if he was carrying something on his back.
Just as Fang Yun was guessing whether it was the silly rabbit Li Fanming had mentioned yesterday, he saw two rabbit ears rise from behind Li Fanming. Then a chubby rabbit head appeared, its eyes full of intelligence. It curiously glanced at Fang Yun a few times before retreating. Then it patted Li Fanming’s right shoulder with its right paw.
Li Fanming showed a helpless expression, reached out to touch the Swallowed Lake Pearl, and a carrot appeared in his hand. He passed it back, and the rabbit fell from his body, squatting behind him. It held the carrot with its two front paws and began to eat slowly, making a crisp sound.Upon seeing the full appearance of the rabbit, Fang Yun realized that it was twice the size of a regular rabbit, exceptionally fat, and looked as if it had been inflated.
“Is this… your spirit beast?” Fang Yun couldn’t help but compare the rabbit to his own pet, but quickly decided it was better not to.
Li Fanming showed a look of shame and said, “Sigh, it used to be fine, cute and obedient when it was young, very helpful. But I don’t know what happened, it suddenly started eating and drinking like crazy this year, it’s become a wreck, and it’s especially lazy. If I scold it, it just plays dead. For the sake of The Holy Land, I can only spoil it. The veterinarians can’t figure it out either. Now it doesn’t even want to walk a few steps, it either wants to ride in a carriage or have me carry it. Sigh, I’ve raised it for so many years, I’ve grown attached to it, so I just let it be. Sigh…”
The rabbit huffed a few times to express its dissatisfaction and continued eating its carrot.
Fang Yun, who often interacted with his own pet, looked at the rabbit and asked Li Fanming, “Have you ever discussed The Holy Land in front of it?”
Li Fanming was stunned, and the rabbit immediately turned its head, looking at Fang Yun warily.
“Now that you mention it, I remember that I did talk about The Holy Land in front of it, and not long after that, it changed drastically,” Li Fanming said.
“That’s it then, it’s afraid of dying in The Holy Land. So it’s eating more before it dies, because there won’t be anything to eat after it’s dead,” Fang Yun said.
The carrot fell to the ground with a thud, and the big rabbit stared at Fang Yun with its mouth wide open, tears welling up in its eyes. It ran a few steps and threw itself at Fang Yun’s feet, looking up at him with an incredibly excited expression, as if to say: You understand me! You’re the only one in the world who understands me!
Fang Yun couldn’t help but laugh, it was obviously a naughty rabbit. He said to the rabbit, “Actually, you can’t bear to leave Fanming, otherwise you would have run away a long time ago. You wouldn’t stay by his side knowing the dangers of The Holy Land.”
The rabbit first looked shocked, as if it hadn’t expected anyone in the world to understand it so well. Then it wiped away its tears with its paw, showing a pitiful and touched expression as if it was saying: Finally, someone understands my sorrow.
Li Fanming sighed lightly and said, “Forget it, if you’re scared, go home. If you don’t want to stay at home, you can go outside. Anyway, I won’t stop you.”
The big rabbit wiped its tears and looked up, glanced at Fang Yun reluctantly, then unwillingly walked over to Li Fanming, indicating that it wouldn’t leave.
Li Fanming laughed and said, “What? You think Fang Yun is better than me?”
Without hesitation, the big rabbit nodded its head, then gave Li Fanming a sidelong glance and pouted, as if to say: You’ve been with me for so long and you still don’t know why I’ve changed. You don’t care about me at all!
Li Fanming pointed at the big rabbit and said, “Look at this, how can you raise a spirit beast like this? It’s like a lord!”
The big rabbit gave Li Fanming a disdainful look, picked up the carrot from the ground, wiped it off, and was about to put it in its mouth. It blinked its eyes and offered the carrot to Fang Yun, as if asking: Do you want some?
Li Fanming rolled his eyes in annoyance and said, “Ungrateful rabbit!” Everyone burst into laughter.
Fang Yun declined with a smile, “Thank you, but you eat it.”
The big rabbit nodded its head, then gave Li Fanming a sidelong glance and started eating slowly, making a crisp crunching sound.
Qiu Chi laughed and said, “What a smart rabbit, it’s a spirit beast. We don’t have one, what are you not satisfied with?”
Li Fanming helplessly said, “Let’s go, we have to start walking The Holy Land Road in a quarter of an hour.”
There were about four to five thousand people who were going to participate in The Holy Land Road, and most of them were standing here at the moment.
Fang Yun glanced around, there were too many people, he couldn’t see Yan Yukong and Liu Zizhi, whom he knew.
Only a few people were as relaxed as Fang Yun and the others, most of them were somewhat excited, hoping that they could pass The Holy Land Road. The fame of The Holy Land was too great, the benefits inside were too many, as long as they could leave The Holy Land alive, they would definitely achieve something.
More and more people came, and a quarter of an hour later, a Hanlin Scholar at the entrance of the hall said, “The Holy Land Road is composed of The Weak Water, Strange Wind, Changing Fog, etc. Among the Presented Scholars, the first eighty who pass The Holy Land can qualify to enter The Holy Land. Among the Talented Scholars, regardless of whether they pass The Holy Land Road or not, the first twenty who go the furthest can qualify to enter The Holy Land. In addition, the faster you pass, the more Moonlight you will receive when you enter The Holy Land later. The top ten can get an extra double, the top twenty can get an extra fifty percent, the top thirty can get an extra twenty percent, and there is no extra reward beyond the thirtieth.”
There was some commotion in the crowd, because the previous Holy Land Road did not have the reward of Moonlight. It seemed that this Holy Land Road was really different from the past, and they must strive for it with all their might.
The atmosphere on the scene suddenly became tense, not only to compete for the top hundred, but also for the top thirty, and even more for the top ten!
Li Fanming whispered, “Among the top ten, the Kong Family and the six Semi-Saint Prominent Families will occupy at least seven spots. The remaining three spots basically belong to those genius Presented Scholars, Yan Yukong, Feng Yang and others, you must have heard of their great names. By the way, you seemed to have had a conflict with Yan Yukong at the Dragon Boat Literature Meeting? But he is very magnanimous, he has praised you many times, saying that his poetry is far inferior to yours, and he has not slandered you like other people from the Qing Nation.”
“Hmm, Yan Yukong is different from those people from the Qing Nation, he doesn’t hold a grudge because he lost to me at the Dragon Boat Literature Meeting. His Courage to Write has already reached the peak of the first realm, and he can enter the second realm at any time. I’m afraid he will be the first one in this Holy Land Road,” Fang Yun said.
(To be continued.)