The Path of the Sage

Fang Yun sat in the examination room, waiting for the officials to come and collect the papers, while continuing to ponder the strange scene that had just happened.

Under a tree in the academy, Feng Zimo, the academy lord, said, "The academy is shaking, it's not a small matter. Since the prefectural examination is over, I will report to Lord Li immediately."

After Feng Zimo finished speaking, he held the official seal and infused it with his talent. Numerous black characters flew out of the seal, forming the shape of a goose. The goose flapped its wings and flew above the holy temple, disappearing into thin air.

The officials present were all uneasy, afraid that something big was about to happen.

A hint of mockery flashed in Geng Xuncha's eyes. The bigger the disaster in Jing Kingdom, the happier he was. But then he said, "This matter is indeed not trivial. Perhaps someone cheated in the examination hall, angering all the saints." After speaking, he also sent a message with a goose, reporting this matter to the holy academy.

Prefect Dong had been worried all along and said, "If it was just the academy shaking, it might be that someone failed to write an essay that could be passed down for generations. But if even the holy temple is shaking, it has a significant meaning. I'm afraid that if all the holy temples in various places start shaking, there will be a great change in the world. I will send a message to other prefects to inquire."

Prefect Dong sent a message to Prefect Sun of Dayuan Prefecture. Soon, a goose made up of black characters flew to Prefect Dong and disintegrated, leaving the characters suspended in front of him.

"There is no abnormality in Dayuan Prefecture. I'm afraid this matter is only related to Yuhai Prefecture. Perhaps there has been a change in the dragon clan. I will inform General Zhang immediately." After saying that, Prefect Dong sent a message with a goose to Zhang Poyue, the commander of the Jiangzhou State Army.

After the goose flew into the holy temple, it instantly crossed hundreds of miles under the power of talent and appeared in the sky above a sea area.

Three pirate ships were surrounding a merchant ship flying the flag of the Qing Kingdom.

The three pirate ships consisted of one large ship and two smaller ones. The largest ship was a hundred zhang long, and anyone with some knowledge could recognize it as the famous patrol dragon ship of the Ten Kingdoms.

Although the Ten Kingdoms had a vast sea area, there were only five patrol dragon ships. Two of them were in Jing Kingdom, one belonged to the Jiangzhou State Army and served as the vehicle for Commander Zhang Poyue, and one belonged to the holy academy and was used by Li Wenying for sea voyages.

The patrol dragon ships were a collaboration between the prominent families of the Semi-Saint Mo Family and the Empty Sage Gongshu Family. Each ship could carry a great scholar's article and had the power to confront a powerful demon, equivalent to a great scholar presiding over it.

This patrol dragon ship originally flew the flag of Jing Kingdom, but now it was replaced by a large piece of white cloth. On it was a drawing of a big knife, an extremely ugly big knife that looked like it was drawn by a child with a brush. If real pirates were here, they would burst into laughter.

The people on the Qing Kingdom merchant ship surrounded by the three warships were furious. They had seen pirates before, and even seen official ships pretending to be pirates, but using the only five patrol dragon ships of the Ten Kingdoms as pirate ships was unheard of.

What was even more bizarre was that everyone on the ship was wearing Jing Kingdom uniforms, and the "Jing" characters on the sides of the patrol dragon ship were crossed out, completely disguising whether it was a Jing Kingdom warship or showing off their identity.

On the chair on the bow of the ship, a bearded man was holding a large basin of lychees, peeling and eating them continuously, getting lychee juice all over his beard. At the same time, he smiled and looked at the Qing Kingdom merchant ship ahead, while all the soldiers beside him pretended not to know this person.

Suddenly, a text goose flew out from Zhang Poyue's official seal and landed in front of him, spreading out into a letter.

"Oh? The holy temple is shaking?" Zhang Poyue exhaled and the characters shattered and disappeared.

Zhang Poyue reached out and took a towel, smiling as he wiped his beard and mouth, then looked at the Qing Kingdom merchant ship again, his gaze becoming extremely sharp in an instant, as if he could cut through the sea.

The surrounding soldiers immediately straightened their chests and raised their heads, their expressions serious.

"After sixty breaths, if you don't surrender, we will ram and sink you! If you dare to resist, we will kill you all!" Zhang Poyue said.

"Yes, General!"

A presented scholar shouted loudly, "In consideration of us being of the same human race, our general... no, our leader will give you sixty breaths. If you resist, we will sink you immediately. There are sea monsters waiting nearby, think for yourselves!" His voice spread far and wide under the power of talent.

The people on the Qing Kingdom merchant ship were so angry that they almost vomited blood. A Jing Kingdom official dared to say such things with such righteousness, it was simply infuriating.

A person on the merchant ship shouted loudly at a conch shell, "General Zhang, we of the Hsun Tzu Family are transporting goods and have always abided by the laws of both countries. We have never made any mistakes. I don't understand why General Zhang is treating us, the sea merchants, like this." Although his voice was not as loud as the presented scholar's thunderous voice, under the effect of the special conch shell, the people on the patrol dragon ship could hear it clearly.

Zhang Poyue said indifferently, "Oh, I see. Forty breaths left."

"Accelerate!" a official shouted, and the patrol dragon ship charged straight towards the merchant ship.

"Zhang Poyue, I curse your ancestors!" someone shouted."You have such unique preferences, so I will fulfill your wish and send you to meet them," Zhang Poyue said, and a white light emitted from his mouth. In the blink of an eye, the spear of talent slashed through the air, hitting the person who cursed at him in the head.

With a loud "boom," the person's head was blown up by the spear of talent, and yellow, white, and red splattered in all directions. Unfortunate people either had their faces sprayed or had something splashed into their mouths, causing them to vomit.

"We surrender!" The captain had no choice but to announce their surrender.

Zhang Poyue said, "Board the ship and take everything valuable. Women and children can keep their clothes, but strip all the men!"

"General, those old clothes are worthless."

"Then use them as rags!"

"General, you are truly thrifty. I admire you."

Zhang Poyue said, "There are two preserved demon turtle eggs on this merchant ship. Remember to search carefully and give one to Fang Yun when we return."

"Yes, General."

The captain of the Qing Kingdom merchant ship asked sadly, "General Zhang, I have heard that you are a hero of the human race and a slayer of demons. Why do you have to make things difficult for us? The millennium agreement has ended, and the ten nations of the human race can only compete in literature, not in battle. Why don't you even give us a chance to compete in literature?"

"Go back and ask your boss, Shi Dabo. He knows why. I, Zhang Poyue, am different from Li Wenying. He kills after the happy event, while I seek revenge in advance. Oh, and if your Shi family and Hsun Tzu's family did not harm Fang Yun, the talented scholar of my country, and apologize on my behalf, consider me owing you a shipload of goods. Next time I should plunder, I won't."

The captain did not expect Zhang Poyue to come and plunder without evidence. He rolled his eyes and fainted.

Zhang Poyue looked at the people of the Qing Kingdom as if they were a group of pigs and dogs, without any emotion in his eyes. He said, "If the people of the Qing Kingdom dare to harm the talented individuals of my Jing Kingdom in my jurisdiction again, I will kill a shipload of people for every harm. By the way, Fang Yun is an exception. If he is harmed again, I will kill a hundred ships of people. If he is harmed for the third time, I will throw the corpse of a young dragon into your Qing Kingdom's Tongjing Port."

The people on the Qing Kingdom merchant ship were scared speechless. The dragon race would not avenge the dragons who died in a frontal battle, but if the corpse of a young dragon appeared in Tongjing Port, at least one Dragon Saint would personally seek revenge. If it was a sneak attack, Tongjing Port, with a population of millions, could be flooded in an instant. If the strongest Dragon Saint of the East Sea took action, even the two Semi-Saints of the Qing Kingdom would not be able to stop him.

"After plundering, return to the ship." After Zhang Poyue finished speaking, he returned to his seat and continued eating the lychees, with a smile on his face. In no time, his beard was covered in lychee juice.

After finishing a basin of lychees, Zhang Poyue muttered to himself, "I wonder how Fang Yun did in the exam."

The palace exam was over, and the candidates left one after another. Fang Yun walked out with his book box on his back.

Familiar people walked together in groups, discussing animatedly.

"The saintly words this year were really difficult. I almost wanted to bang my head on the table."

Find the original at "pawread dot com".

"Ah, my saintly words can only get a C grade at most."

"A C grade is not bad! As long as I don't get a D grade, everything will be fine."

"Ah, my interpretation of the classics might be judged as a D grade."

"Why?"

"After the exam, I realized that I wrote too hastily. I had no mistakes in the non-propriety part, but I'm afraid I made mistakes in the part related to righteousness. Sigh..."

Fang Yun walked quickly, not wanting to keep Yang Yuhuan waiting for too long.

Just as he walked out of the main gate of the academy, he saw a crowd of people in front, countless people looking in this direction. Fang Yun glanced at them and was about to walk away when he heard someone loudly say, "Fang Shuangjia, the results will be announced tomorrow. Should we change your name to Fang Wujia?"

This voice was too familiar. Fang Yun didn't even look at the disciple of the poet, and continued walking outside.

However, Shi Dehong quickly approached with a smile and said, "Brother Fang, why are you ignoring me?"

Only then did Fang Yun look at Shi Dehong and said, "Please make way for this person from the Qing Kingdom. I still have to go home for dinner."

When Shi Dehong greeted Fang Yun at the beginning, many people around were already paying attention. Now that they heard Shi Dehong was from the Qing Kingdom, everyone became alert, especially a few hot-tempered middle-aged men and women.

"Fang Shuangjia, you don't have to be afraid. This is the entrance of the Holy Academy. The people from the Qing Kingdom dare not do anything to you! If he dares to touch you, I will tear my clothes and accuse him of indecency!" a middle-aged woman said.

"Is he a presented scholar or an accomplished scholar? I will engage him first and then shut his mouth. I don't believe he can talk eloquently about military strategy!" a middle-aged child scholar said.

"The people from the Qing Kingdom want to harm our little poet? Dream on!" someone said.

Shi Dehong forced a smile and said, "Everyone, you have misunderstood. I am not making things difficult for Fang Yun. I just want to have a detailed conversation with him."

"What good words can you people from the Qing Kingdom have? You are full of evil intentions!"

"Fang Yun, don't pay attention to him. Let's go. We will see you off and then come back to pick up my son."At this moment, Fang Yun heard Tong Li loudly saying from behind, "Fang Yun, how did you do on the exam? I suppose you've written another poem that could stabilize a nation, right? What a pity, the ranking of the Talented Scholar is based on the understanding of classics. You've only been studying the classics for less than three months. I'm really looking forward to seeing what kind of result you'll get." His tone was filled with joy, clearly indicating that he had done well on the exam.

Shi Dehong immediately chimed in, "Poetry values talent, classics value scholarship, and policy essays value capability. Your talent, Fang Yun, surpasses the entire State. If your scholarship could also surpass the State, then you would be a once-in-a-century genius. The talent in the Prefecture exam will reveal itself. How much talent do you have in classics, Fang Yun? If you truly have scholarship, your talent in classics should at least be enough to stand out in the County, right?"

Fang Yun remained silent. The classics paper was very strange, and he couldn't say a word about it. (To be continued.)