The Path of the Sage

Geng Xuncha was overjoyed when he heard this voice. Although this person was not a Semi-Saint of the Wuguo Nation, he had a good relationship with the Semi-Saint of the Shuguo Nation, Mi Fengdian, and also had a deep friendship with the Semi-Saint of the Wuguo Nation in his early years. On the other hand, his relationship with the Semi-Saint of the Jingguo Nation, Chen Guanhai, was average.

Without waiting for Zhou Zhubu to answer, Geng Xuncha immediately shouted, "I, as a scholar, have seen the Sage. The officials of the Jingguo Jiangzhou have formed factions and acted in collusion, disregarding the fairness of the imperial examinations for the sake of an accomplished scholar named Fang Yun. Although Fang Yun has literary talent, his understanding of the classics can only be considered average. However, these three individuals have been praising him excessively, and I suspect that they have ulterior motives. Even if I do not have a high opinion of Fang Yun's understanding of the classics, I would still rank him alongside another person as the top candidates. This is the best choice, but these people are relentless and have brought this matter to the Sage, which is a great sin!"

Unlike Geng Xuncha, who often frequented the Holy Academy, Zhou Zhubu, although he had the courage to speak up, could not calm his mind after feeling the immense and majestic power of the Semi-Saint. Coupled with his anger, he blurted out, "Geng Xuncha has harmed our talented individuals of the Jingguo Nation out of personal grudges. The Sage can see through this!"

After speaking, he regretted it. His words were purely out of temporary indignation and were far less organized than Geng Xuncha's.

Geng Xuncha was pleased in his heart. The Sage did not like weaklings or people who panicked. He favored those who were neither arrogant nor humble. Compared to Zhou Zhubu, he appeared to have more pride as a scholar.

"Oh? Do you think that Fang Yun's understanding of the classics is inferior to that of the others?" Mi Fengdian's voice was calm and gentle, like a spring breeze. Everyone involuntarily thought that he was a good-tempered old man, and they felt relieved. If they had encountered a Semi-Saint with a strange temper, they would have been in trouble.

"Please enlighten me, Mi Sage. I do not think that his understanding of the classics is inferior to others, but..."

Mi Fengdian suddenly interrupted him, saying, "Since his understanding is not inferior to others, why can't he be ranked first?"

A gust of wind blew, causing everyone present to retreat and cover their faces with their arms.

Strangely, the people were blown backward by the wind, but the examination papers and other objects remained motionless.

Everyone was frightened. The gentle Sage had suddenly turned into a raging storm. How could this happen?

Geng Xuncha's heart skipped a beat as he realized that something was wrong. He hurriedly said, "I, as an official, believe that talent is important, which is why I ranked him this way. If there are any mistakes, I ask for the Sage's punishment."

"If you value talent, then let me show you how much talent Fang Yun's understanding of the classics possesses!"

As soon as Mi Fengdian's words fell, an invisible force seemed to dissipate from Fang Yun's understanding of the classics. Then, a thick orange brilliance surged up like a fountain.

One inch, two inches, one foot, two feet... It finally stopped at five feet and five inches.

Four pages of the classics floated up slowly. In the end, they hovered in mid-air, emitting a soft light that calmed people's hearts.

These pages emitted a strange power that spread outward, but it was blocked by an invisible force.

With this text in hand, the Demon Generals would not be able to approach, and even their demonic arts would naturally dissipate.

Above the town, it spread throughout the world!

Initially, everyone in the examination room was shocked by the power of the classics, but under the soothing light, all negative emotions gradually dissipated.

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However, Geng Xuncha's expression was unusually ferocious because he had an undisguised hostility towards this article and a strong desire to kill its owner.

Under the influence of this classic, Geng Xuncha's negative attitude became even stronger. His anger and resentment almost turned him into a madman.

After three breaths, the four pages of the classics fell and landed on the table, shattering it with a loud bang. Then, the four pages of the classics floated down lightly, but they created a large hole in the ground upon impact. It was a resounding crash.

A grand voice suddenly appeared, saying, "Who is weaker in talent than this?"

Before everyone could react, the temperature in the room suddenly dropped rapidly, and then snowflakes appeared out of thin air, falling all around.

Geng Xuncha finally realized when he heard this voice. Mi Fengdian was ultimately a new Sage, and his power was not strong. If it were only a leakage of power, it would not have caused such a drastic change in the entire Yuhai City. The one who was truly angry should be the person in the Eastern Sage Pavilion.

Only someone whose realm was higher than that of the drastic change could be angry enough to turn it into snow, rain, and a gentle spring breeze.

Geng Xuncha's knees went weak, and he knelt on the ground. He was about to speak, but an invisible force stopped him.

Mi Fengdian sighed lightly and said, "If Fang Yun's poetry and essays were spread throughout the world, we would let it be. But this is a classic, written by a mere accomplished scholar. Once it is spread throughout the world, it will inevitably cause a catastrophe. It would not be excessive for the Demon Saint to personally intervene. We have no choice but to seal this anomaly of the classics. After the announcement tomorrow, someone will come to take it away and let the great scholars study it carefully. But who would have thought that your personal desires would be so overwhelming, to the point where your hatred blinded your courage to write, and you attempted to destroy the great talents of our human race!"

As he spoke, the examination room was filled with howling winds and flying snow. Everyone was shivering from the cold.

"Geng Xuncha, do you know your crime?" a stern voice rang out.

This voice had a strange power. Although it was just a question, it made people voluntarily confess their crimes.

"I know my crime! I beg the Sage for mercy and forgiveness for my great sin!" Geng Xuncha suddenly burst into tears, crying with his head in his hands.

"What is your crime?""I... I shouldn't have conspired with others to cause chaos in neighboring nations, nor should I have harmed the great talent of the human race for my personal vendetta."

"What should be your punishment?"

"Execution!" Geng Xuncha cried as he spoke these words, as if they were not under his control.

"Very well."

As the old man's voice fell, Geng Xuncha's head suddenly turned three hundred and sixty degrees, a full circle, and then his head fell off with a thud, landing on the ground.

The place where the neck was severed was incredibly neat, not a drop of blood flowed out.

"This man is guilty of heinous crimes, his descendants are stripped of their literary positions, all three generations of his family are dismissed from office, and they are forbidden to participate in the imperial examination for a hundred years, as a warning to others!"

Everyone present was chilled to the bone. This punishment was too terrifying. No matter what literary position Geng Xuncha's descendants had achieved, they would be directly stripped of it, their literary palace would be abolished, and they would never have the chance to possess talent in this life. All the officials in the three generations of the Geng family would lose their positions, and no one would be allowed to participate in the imperial examination for a hundred years. This family would be completely ruined, with almost no chance of rising again.

This is the divine punishment. Once the sage is provoked to anger, it is not a matter of one or two people dying, but at least one family will suffer greatly.

"Seal their mouths." The voice said again.

When Confucius entered the Grand Temple, he saw a bronze man with three seals on his mouth, and the words engraved on the back of the bronze man read: "The ancient man who was cautious in his words." Confucius had an epiphany and soon obtained a Heart of Literature, named "Seal Their Mouths", which could seal others' words and deeds.

Everyone immediately felt a force entering their bodies, and they were terrified. Because the power of the Half-Sage's "Seal Their Mouths" would always be on them, and they could not utter a word about today's events, nor could they express it.

If they accidentally wanted to speak, they would be stopped by this power. But if they deliberately wanted to speak to harm Fang Yun, the Half-Sage would definitely be alerted and bring down divine punishment.

Then, the violent wind and heavy snow in the room disappeared. Except for Geng Xuncha's corpse, the shattered table, and the four pages of scripture in the pit, everything remained unchanged.

The visions of the four pages of scripture were sealed again, and they looked like four ordinary pieces of paper.

Feng Zimo stared blankly at the scene, his emotions surging.

"No wonder! No wonder! When I learned that Shi Dehong was going to use the imperial examination to harm Fang Yun, I went to report to Grand Academician Li, but not only did Grand Academician Li not take action himself, he even scolded Shi Dehong for being a fool. He even said not to tell Fang Yun and let everything take its course. Now that I think about it, Grand Academician Li probably knew all along."

"Grand Academician Li may not have expected Fang Yun to write a scripture that would be passed down to the world, but he knew that if someone wanted to harm Fang Yun in the imperial examination, it would definitely provoke divine judgment. Half-Sages are born in different nations and have a bias towards their own nations, but in the face of major issues, they would never allow Geng Xuncha to act recklessly."

"If those Half-Sages really watched Fang Yun being harmed with their own eyes, their own Path of the Saints would definitely have a big problem. Moreover, Fang Yun has made great contributions, and all the saints can't wait to protect him, let alone let him be framed during the imperial examination."

Thinking of this, Feng Zimo couldn't help but smile slightly, understanding the cause and effect.

"So that's how it is! The sages won't deliberately save Fang Yun, because in the eyes of all the saints, the dangers Fang Yun encounters are all trials. If there were no enemies, Fang Yun would definitely not grow so fast. However, all the saints have a measure in their hearts. If someone kills Fang Yun through a life-and-death literary competition, or if Fang Yun is killed in the process of killing demons, all the saints will not intervene, because in their view, that is Fang Yun's own choice. But if someone uses despicable means to harm Fang Yun, once it is detected, they will definitely be severely punished."

"However, although all the saints are strong, they can't cover the sky with one hand. Since this matter was instigated by the Hsun Tzu Prominent Family, I'm afraid it will end here. After all, if a prestigious Sub-Sage family is involved in the plot to harm Fang Yun, it will ruin their reputation. However, I always feel that all the saints will not let Shi Dehong get away with it, as he is the one pulling the strings behind the scenes."

"Alas, the prefectural examination is over, and next we have to look at the Book Mountain. Since Fang Yun has bet with Shi Dehong and Tong Li to shatter the literary palace, the sages can't interfere. If Fang Yun fails, his literary palace will definitely be shattered. I hope Fang Yun can at least draw."

Feng Zimo let out a sigh of relief. He had originally made a decision that if Fang Yun could not become a talented scholar, he would use the seal of the academy lord to control the power of the Holy Temple to suppress Geng Xuncha, and then kill him. But now it seems that it's not necessary.

"Have someone clean up and continue grading the papers." Prefect Dong gave the order and then looked at Feng Zimo and Zhou Zhubu.

"How do you two feel?" There was a glint of excitement in Prefect Dong's eyes.

Feng Zimo naturally knew this man's temperament and laughed, "What kind of attitude is this? A Hanlin scholar died, and Fang Yun almost failed to become a talented scholar. What are you happy about?"

"Of course I'm happy!" Prefect Dong rushed to the scripture in three steps, carefully picked it up, and said as he placed it on the table, "Come, let's re-contemplate this world-renowned scripture! Whether I can break through to become a Hanlin scholar depends on it!" (To be continued.)