"It would be interesting if Fang Yun and Yan Yukong were the only ones left in the end."
The two people's resolution pages tilted again.
"Don't gather, don't gather..."
Some scholars from Wu State, Kong City and Shihan Ancient Land kept whispering to themselves, because once the two people's lotus turned into nine petals, the top scholar in their area would most likely fall into the water.
The light shining from the pages of the resolution was even brighter, almost ten times as bright as at the beginning.
After a moment, Fang Yun and Yan Yukong each added a lotus petal.
The lotus has nine petals!
Nine white lotus petals half-surrounded the two people. There were lotuses in front of them and on their left and right, but there was no space behind them.
Everyone in the audience stood up, surprised and delighted. There had never been a situation in the human race's history where two people fought for the head of a nation and the lotus formed nine petals!
"A holy relic! It's definitely a holy relic!"
"If these two can be crowned as Half Saints, they will surely surpass all the Saints!"
"With Mr. Zhishi, the three semi-saints together will surely be able to sweep across the demon world!"
"After Confucius, the second glorious era of the human race is about to come!"
The young men from the Zong and Lei families forced themselves to hold back their discouraging words, because no matter how stupid they were, they knew that if they spoke wildly at this time, they would be attacked by everyone.
Everyone was happy, but the other three top scorers were not.
Kong Delun, who only had four-petal lotus, could no longer withstand the gap of five petals. He fell into the water alone, choking on the water and looking at Fang Yun and Yan Yukong with resentment.
Zeng Nianhai and Sun Naiyong, whose lotus had five petals, almost lay on the lotus leaves, trying their best to avoid falling into the water.
Soon, the wind and waves stopped, and Zeng Nianhai and Sun Naiyong on the lotus leaf were in a hurry to tidy up their clothes and hair.
Sun Naiyong heaved a long sigh of relief, threw the hair that was stuck to his face back, and said, "It's finally over. If I hadn't been able to enter the lava cave, my family would have laughed at me to death."
Zeng Nianhai smiled bitterly and said, "There are exactly four petals between them and the other two. If we are not careful, we will fall into the water. Now there are nine petals. It will be over soon."
Yan Yukong and Fang Yun were like military strategists planning strategies. Amid the deafening sounds of killing outside, the two were playing Go inside the big tent.
The two of them were smiling, but they didn't seem very happy about it. They were calmer than usual.
Fang Yun said, "I can't join the gathering of top scholars from various countries today. Yukong, please drink a glass of wine on my behalf. When I come back from the Blood Mang Ancient Land, I will drink three glasses as punishment."
"Okay, you must come back on time." Yan Yukong said.
"It's a deal."
The two of them were dressed in white, sitting on the green lotus leaves, smiling at each other.
The page of determination tilted again, slowly shedding light.
Most of the people in the stands calmed down, sat down one after another, and watched with a smile, because nine petals was the limit and it was impossible to exceed that.
Yan Yukong's aspiration page stopped first and no longer shed light, but Fang Yun's continued.
The people of Jing laughed heartily. Lianhuachi was determined that Fang Yun was the undisputed first!
Everyone present kept nodding.
Several young people even gently moved their shoulders and necks to prepare for the next round of the lava cave. The lava cave no longer made the pages of the determination glow, but the flying magma burned the pages of the determination. The more times the pages of the determination endured burning, the stronger the determination.
"No!" Jingguo's Minister of Culture Jiang Hechuan stood up suddenly.
Before, the glow of the page of the aspiration-making text only lasted for a few breaths, but now, Fang Yun’s page of the aspiration-making text has not yet ended after five breaths!
Not far away, the left prime minister Liu Shan was stunned and stared at Li Zhiwenye and Fang Yun.
The light stopped and the lotus split into ten petals!
Sun Naiyong and Zeng Nianhai were stunned, Yan Yukong was stunned, and even Fang Yun himself was stunned.
Everyone present was stunned.
There were also a few scholars who had just used official seals to enter the stands and were almost dumbfounded.
"Have the rules been changed in the fight for national supremacy?" a newly arrived old Hanlin murmured to himself.
Ji Zhibai had been holding back. He was fed up with provoking Fang Yun in advance, and was frightened by the stigma of "Three Idiots of Xuehai". He had been holding back and had not said a word during the competition for the top spot, preparing to say a few words to vent his anger if Fang Yun failed to become the top spot.
But now, he felt like his heart was about to explode.
Even if Fang Yun fails in his bid for the head of the nation, the ten-petal lotus is unprecedented and cannot harm him at all.
Amid the crowd's incredulous gazes, wind appeared around Fang Yun.
It’s not a white gust of wind, nor a blue wave, but a gray tornado!
The tornado was ten feet high and expanded rapidly outward.
Sun Naiyong and Zeng Nianhai, who possessed five-petal lotuses, didn't even have time to react before they were thrown several feet away by the tornado and fell into the pool, gulping down water.
Yan Yukong was just one petal away from losing a lotus leaf, so he should have been able to sit firmly on the lotus leaf. However, the tornado was too strong, so Yan Yukong had to lower his head and hold on to the lotus leaf tightly with both hands.
In the gray tornado, Yan Yukong smiled bitterly. How could he meet a pervert like Fang Yun!
If I had known it would be like this, I should have postponed the imperial examination for a year!
After a while, the tornado stopped. Sun Naiyong and Zeng Nianhai vomited out the water in their stomachs and swam towards the edge of the pool, rolling their eyes.
"Next time, please let us lose gracefully!"
Everyone then took a closer look at the two men. Their clothes were torn into shreds, and they were dressed like beggars, revealing their white shoulders and chests.
Everyone couldn't help laughing, especially the top scholars who had fallen into the water on the shore, who had smirks on their faces.
The lotus with ten petals is so amazing that some people still can't believe it and keep blinking.
"As expected of you, you are Fang Xusheng!"
Everyone sighed.
The Lei family and the Zong family kept their mouths shut.
Anyone who dares to say anything now will probably become one of the fools in the literary world.
The page of aspirations written above Yan Yukong disappeared.
However, the page of determination above Fang Yun's head tilted for the eleventh time and emitted light for the eleventh time.
Sun Naiyong muttered quietly: "Will the lotus have eleven petals? If that happens, who will dare to play with Fang Yun in the future?"
"Well, don't ever compete with Fang Yun in anything in the future."
"It's okay to be stupider."
The top scorers were at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
Before everyone could digest the miracle of the lotus growing into ten petals, they saw the eleventh petal appear behind Fang Yun.
Only one petal is missing and the lotus will completely surround Fang Yun!
“This is… so chaotic!” Some scholars were confused and could hardly imagine that such a thing would happen.
A darker tornado appears!
Yan Yukong didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He held onto the lotus leaf tightly and asked loudly in the tornado, "Fang Yun, when will this end?"
"I don't know either." Fang Yun felt that he had overstepped his bounds.
The scholars in the stands were more and more surprised. No one expected that the first step in the fight for the top spot would be so unstoppable. Not only did he surpass his predecessors, but he also surpassed them by so much.
At this moment, everyone had only one question in their mind.
"What is Fang Yun's ambition?"
In an inconspicuous corner of the stands, there were a few old figures. No one noticed their presence, but they nodded to each other as a greeting.
Yan Yukong is indeed a genius who can be compared with Yi Zhishi. Even in the tornado formed by the eleven-petal lotus, he did not fall into the water.
The wind stopped, and no one spoke. They all waited quietly, looking at Fang Yun and his ambition page.
Everyone wants to know how many petals Fang Yun can finally grow into!
Ji Zhibai looked at Fang Yun, and suddenly a feeling of despair arose in his heart.
"I'm so tired..." Ji Zhibai murmured to himself.
The page of determination tilted again.
Everyone's heart was in their throat.
No one was able to sit in the stands anymore. Everyone, including the members of the Zong and Lei families, were standing and instinctively raised their heads and leaned forward, hoping to see more clearly.
Hundreds of thousands of readers leaned forward.
A light as rich as milk fell on Fang Yun.
The scene of the competition for the top spot was silent.
Twelve breaths later, the twelfth petal of the lotus was formed!
A twelve-petal lotus surrounds Fang Yun.
What was strange was that Fang Yun's body slowly rose.
When Fang Yun stopped rising, everyone discovered that the twelve-petal lotus had actually formed a lotus platform!
Fang Yun sat on the lotus platform, his eyes looking into the void and his mind embracing the universe.
Boom…
A huge black tornado with lightning and thunder appeared, connecting the sky and the earth, surrounding Fang Yun like a black dragon.
Yan Yukong could no longer hold on and was instantly swept away by the tornado, falling into the water with a splash.
Yan Yukong's eyes were full of confusion. He didn't care at all that he was gulping down water.
At this moment, Yan Yukong forced himself to remember this date and stay at home on this day every year. Or go to see his mentor Nan Sheng, otherwise he would be in big trouble!
On the tenth day of November, everything is taboo!
Everyone was stunned. Could the fight for the top spot in the country cause such a huge tornado
After a while, the tornado stopped.
Yan Yukong floated on the water with his face up, his eyes dull and he felt like he had lost all desire to live.
Yan Yukong was thinking about a question.
Fang Yun was also thinking about a question.
The top scorers from various countries are thinking about a question.
Everyone in the stands was also thinking about a question.
"The fight for the head of the nation is over?"
Li Fanming threw the fan in his hand and couldn't help asking, "Is this all right?"
"It should be possible." The old scholar on the side looked confused.
"Others can't, but Fang Xusheng can."
"It's incredible!" In a hidden corner of the stands, a skinny old man, wearing tattered clothes, kept stroking his goatee with his hand and sighed in a low voice.
"Now I just want to know what Fang Xusheng has set his mind to!"
"Yes! Please let Fang Xusheng recite the words of determination!"
"Please teach me, Saint Fang Xu!"
Everyone's eyes were filled with anticipation.
The page of determination finally disappeared, indicating the end of the dispute over the Lotus Pond. Fang Yun and the other top scorers also heard the noises outside.
"Fang Yun, stop hiding it and tell me what your ambition is!" Sun Naiyong shouted.
"If you don't tell me, I won't go ashore!" Yan Yukong floated on the water, staring at Fang Yun blankly.
Fang Yun smiled helplessly and said slowly: "Then I will repeat my words of determination."
Everyone held their breath, kept silent, and waited with eyes wide open.
Even enemies like the Zong and Lei families were full of curiosity.
"Establish a mind for the world, and a destiny for the people! Carry forward the lost knowledge of the past sages, and bring peace to the world for all eternity!"
Fang Yun's voice sounded like the beating of thousands of drums and the ringing of thousands of bells, echoing continuously in the sky.
“…bringing peace to the world for eternity…”
Everyone present felt an indescribable shock in their hearts.
It was more shocking than the first time he heard the Holy Word, the first time he saw the Inverted Peak Mountain, and even the first time he saw a semi-saint.
"The greatest leader of the nation!"
Fang Yun’s determination embodies the aspirations of all scholars!
Heaven has gods but they are invisible; Heaven has Tao but they have no heart. However, Fang Yun wants to create a heart for heaven and earth!
This is just the surface meaning.
Heaven is everything. The starry sky, the ocean, the plants, the human race, the monsters and everything else are heaven. The myriad worlds are heaven!
To establish a mind for heaven and earth is to set rules for all realms and let all realms operate according to Fang Yun’s will!
Becoming the Lord of All Worlds or the pinnacle of any race is not as ambitious as this!
.(To be continued..)