Fang Yun knew that the Weak Water, strange winds, or changing mists of the Holy Land’s path wouldn’t be too strong, but they were enough to prevent thousands of Presented Scholars from passing through. As he was still just a Talented Scholar, he had to be even more cautious.
As Fang Yun recalled the characteristics of the changing mist recorded in the books, he carefully observed his surroundings.
The surrounding white mist was extremely dense, allowing him to barely see a distance of one zhang (3.3 meters). Beyond that, visibility was unclear.
Looking at the mist in front of him, Fang Yun suddenly remembered the day he was trapped in the mirage by the Dragon King. The mirage was also composed of white mist, but the mist was made up of dragon energy, the power exhaled by the Dragon Saint.
The white mist here gave him a feeling somewhat similar to that of the dragon energy, but the mist here seemed to have something more than the dragon energy.
“According to the records of the predecessors, the changing mist is unique to the Holy Land, and other ancient lands do not have it. The core of the changing mist is a mist cocoon. The mist cocoon itself cannot manipulate the energy of heaven and earth like the human race, nor can it have the power of blood and energy like the Demon Barbarian. But the mist cocoon can drink the Weak Water and eat the strange wind, transforming them into a more powerful force!”
“The Weak Water and strange wind have no wisdom. The Demon Barbarian can avoid them by simply blocking them with the power of blood and energy. But this changing mist is the nemesis of the Demon Barbarian! At the same time, it is also extremely lethal to our human race. Like the Weak Water and strange wind, almost no Treasures of Literature can resist it, so it is used to test us.”
As Fang Yun was thinking, he saw a giant wolf made of white mist slowly walking towards him. The shape of the giant wolf was rather vague, but Fang Yun knew that this changing mist was very ferocious, because the habits of the changing mist were related to its common form.
The mist wolf opened its mouth, pounced with a cruel smile. Fang Yun remained motionless, even closing his eyes, his mind entering the Palace of Literature.
The mist wolf pounced on Fang Yun, suddenly exploding into a cloud of mist, surrounding Fang Yun.
Outside Fang Yun’s Palace of Literature, suddenly appeared a hundred thousand small mist wolves. These mist wolves pounced on the Palace of Literature from all directions.
In the eyes of the changing mist, the Palace of Literature of a scholar is food!
“Scram!” Fang Yun shouted. The Courage to Write at the top of the Palace of Literature, as clear as crystal, trembled slightly. A force of absolute determination that could destroy everything spread in all directions. The mist wolves were repelled by the power of the Courage to Write before they could even get close to the Palace of Literature.
Fang Yun’s divine consciousness stood in the Palace of Literature. He slowly recited the “Inscription of the Humble House”: “A mountain does not need to be high, it is famous if there is a saint. Water does not need to be deep, it is spiritual if there is a dragon…”
The “Inscription of the Humble House” was originally a text for refining the Courage to Write. As Fang Yun’s voice sounded, the star in the starry sky of the Palace of Literature representing the “Inscription of the Humble House” suddenly shone brightly. It absorbed an unknown power from somewhere, forming a thick starlight that shone on the Courage to Write.
The Courage to Write immediately made a sound like a light tap on porcelain, and the power of the Courage to Write doubled.
The hundred thousand mist wolves instantly collapsed, turning into countless small droplets of water. Then, all the small droplets gathered together to form a giant wolf of unparalleled size.
But Fang Yun seemed to see nothing, continuing to recite the “Inscription of the Humble House”. The star representing the “Inscription of the Humble House” continuously projected starlight onto the Courage to Write, not only greatly increasing the power of the Courage to Write, but also refining the Courage to Write itself with the starlight.
Fang Yun’s talent was being consumed at an extremely fast rate.
The Heart of Literature on the mural of the Palace of Literature suddenly brightened.
The giant wolf roared, and a force of the same nature as the strange wind appeared. The natural strange wind entered the Palace of Literature from all directions, but the roar of this giant wolf was condensed together, like a sharp sword, easily piercing the Palace of Literature and stabbing at Fang Yun’s Courage to Write.
The total force of this sword was not as great as the strange wind in the previous Strange Wind Canyon, but because it was concentrated together, its destructive power to the Courage to Write was a hundred times greater than the strange wind!
“Confucius said: What is humble about it!” Fang Yun’s voice suddenly doubled, and the Courage to Write immediately burst out with a powerful force. Like a hurricane sweeping across, it met the invisible wolf howl.
The two forces collided, causing the sky to collapse and the earth to crack, and the Palace of Literature shook violently. Fang Yun’s divine consciousness retreated one after another.
The body of the giant wolf exploded again, and then re-condensed, but the speed of condensation was much slower.
After a brief shake, the Palace of Literature was quiet. The light of the Courage to Write was much dimmer, and Fang Yun’s face was pale. But his expression was resolute.
“I didn’t expect to encounter a battle of the Palace of Literature so soon, and I didn’t expect to stimulate the power of the stars of the Palace of Literature, allowing the Courage to Write to be refined in advance! This time, I will take the initiative to attack!”
With a thought from Fang Yun, the Courage to Write trembled slightly, and a stronger power of the Courage to Write rushed towards the giant wolf. The giant wolf had just condensed and had not had time to attack, and it was shattered by the Courage to Write.
Fang Yun’s body swayed slightly, his face even paler, but he gritted his teeth and once again activated the power of the Courage to Write.
This time, the giant wolf was only half condensed when it was shattered.
Fang Yun took a deep breath, the Courage to Write trembled again, and a fearless and brave spirit flashed in the Courage to Write. The power of the Courage to Write, carrying Fang Yun’s unyielding will, once again fell on the water droplets transformed by the changing mist.
Each droplet of changing mist shattered, breaking into more small droplets.
The light of the Courage to Write was extremely dim, and even showed signs of instability. If it was used again, it might crack.
The changing mist was beaten into a rout by Fang Yun’s nearly suicidal method, and those water droplets were actually unable to condense into a giant wolf.Suddenly, the mural of Da Yu controlling the water in Fang Yun’s literary palace seemed to move. Subsequently, the literary palace formed a tremendous suction force, and a few transformed fog droplets were sucked into the literary palace. Some were absorbed by the walls of the literary palace, and some were devoured by The Courage to Write.
“Ah…”
The remaining transformed fog droplets outside suddenly screamed in unison, then fled at an extremely fast speed.
The fog surrounding Fang Yun immediately flew back several feet, then transformed into a fog wolf and fled in panic.
In the literary hall of the Benevolence and Bravery Academy, an old man grumbled, “This damn kid, he actually absorbed dragon energy! If it wasn’t for the test, you wouldn’t have had the chance to absorb the transformed fog! What a loss! A big loss!”
Fang Yun’s consciousness left the literary palace, and he opened his eyes to find that the fog in front of him had completely disappeared. He was back under the blue sky and white clouds, with a grassland in front of him and ten people standing ahead.
“Huh? You didn’t pass out in the Weak Water?” A plump man in the crowd turned his head in surprise to look at Fang Yun.
The rest of the people also looked at him. A young man with loose hair hanging behind him smiled at Fang Yun, his eyes seeming to contain a clear sky, “I knew you would make it here.”
“It’s just luck.” Fang Yun said to Yan Yukong.
The other dozen or so people looked at Fang Yun with various expressions, all with surprise in their eyes, unable to believe that Fang Yun, an Accomplished Scholar, could make it this far.
Fang Yun walked over and found that they seemed to be resting, with a few people looking particularly pale.
In front of everyone was a bridge. On both sides of the bridge were seven pairs of pillars, each with a beast head.
The plump man seemed to be talking to himself, “Just now, a few people got a little hurt when they crossed the beast bridge after the transformed fog, so they came back to rest.”
Fang Yun didn’t act rashly, because this was the last challenge of the Holy Land Road. It sounded simple, just to withstand the blood and energy impact of seven pairs of the Demon Clan, but it was very difficult to achieve.
At this moment, Fang Yun had consumed a lot of literary energy, and The Courage to Write had been used multiple times. He didn’t rush to cross the beast bridge, deciding to rest for a while first.
A very amiable Presented Scholar walked over with a smile, “Are you Fang Zhenguo? I managed to endure the Weak Water and the transformed fog with my Accomplished Scholar’s Courage to Write. Of course, I also used a little bit of my family’s power. But I’m curious about how you dealt with the transformed fog.”
Someone said, “Brother Zong, why don’t you ask me?”
Fang Yun was slightly shocked.
The Semi-Saint of the Miscellaneous School in Qing Nation was surnamed Zong.
Fang Yun looked at this Zong Presented Scholar. He was not outstanding in appearance, but his kind demeanor made people involuntarily let down their guard. He had an unparalleled affinity.
“I was lucky.” Fang Yun smiled, showing no change on the surface.
“It’s possible, but I believe more that you didn’t rely on luck. Also, the Poet King is a generous person, but his disciple died because of you. As a mentor, he can’t let it go. He might cause you trouble at the Mid-Autumn Literary Meeting in the Holy Land tonight.” The Zong Presented Scholar said.
“Thank you, Brother Zong.”
“Why be so polite? The ten nations of the human race are branches of the same tree. Maybe I will need your help in the Holy Land in the future. But, it seems like you don’t care about the Poet King.” Zong Presented Scholar laughed.
“If the Tyrant threatened to make you look bad at the Mid-Autumn Literary Meeting in the Holy Land, you wouldn’t care about the Poet King either.” Fang Yun laughed.
“I almost forgot about that. The ten nations of the human race are branches of the same tree. If he troubles you, I will find my classmates from the Holy Academy to stop him together.” Zong Presented Scholar said.
“Thank you in advance for that. But I still don’t know your full name.”
“Zong Wude.”
“When I heard your surname was Zong, I guessed this name. The Twin Jewels of Qing Nation, Yan Yukong, Zong Wude, your reputations are well-deserved.”
“I’m a bit inferior to Yukong. I just want to be a Great Scholar, but he wants to become a Semi-Saint. Come, let me introduce you to these people.” With that, Zong Wude enthusiastically introduced the other Presented Scholars to Fang Yun. Most of them were very polite, but a few were quite cold.
Fang Yun had heard of every name. Almost all of them had appeared in the “Literary Report” in recent years. Those who hadn’t appeared in the “Literary Report” were from the prominent families. They didn’t need to publicize their literary names.
This place gathered the top Presented Scholars from the ten nations.
Before long, Yan Yukong said, “See you at the literary meeting, everyone.” With that, he walked towards the beast bridge with his hands behind his back.
Every time he passed a pair of beast heads, Yan Yukong’s body would shake once, and his pace would slow down a bit. By the time he reached the last pair of beast heads, his speed was comparable to a tortoise’s.
In the end, Yan Yukong safely crossed the beast bridge. However, when he left the beast bridge, his clothes suddenly turned into fragments, and he had to change into a new Presented Scholar’s robe.
“It’s my turn.” The Mo family disciple who was riding a mechanical elephant controlled the elephant to move forward.
Under everyone’s gaze, the Mo family disciple successfully crossed the beast bridge, but he walked much slower than Yan Yukong. In the end, he simply fell asleep on the mechanical elephant.
Then, a disciple of the Military Strategists suddenly strode across the bridge. His speed was even faster than Yan Yukong’s, and he got faster and faster. However, when he crossed the last pair of beast heads, a trace of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.
“I’ve rested enough.” Zong Wude said and walked towards the beast bridge. After only a few steps, the plump man followed him.
The rest of the people also started to move. The moonlight rewards for the top ten were doubled, which was much more than the rewards for the rest, and could even be a life.
Fang Yun refused to show weakness, he quickly stepped onto the Beast Bridge, competing for the top ten positions with the top Presented Scholars from the ten nations.
A few of them glanced at Fang Yun and gently shook their heads. (To be continued.)