"Mr. Dong, don't be polite. I'll just sit in the first seat." Fang Yun said.
"No! If you don't sit at the head, none of us can sit either! The purpose of this banquet is to celebrate me secondarily. It's mainly to thank you." Feng Yuanjun said as he pushed Fang Yun to the main seat.
Fang Yun couldn't refuse, so he had to sit in the main seat. Li Wenying sat next to him, and Feng Yuanjun sat on the other side.
After sitting down, Li Wenying returned to his usual seriousness and spoke very little, while Feng Yuanjun was very happy and talked non-stop.
"Before I went to Wudao River, I firmly believed that Wudao River was extraordinary. After seeing it with my own eyes, I was immediately attracted by this quiet river. It was obviously inconspicuous, but there was a mysterious power that firmly attracted me. I found a quiet place, let my private soldiers guard it, and sat there for three days without eating or drinking."
"I was very calm at first, and my mind was clear, but I gained nothing. I couldn't help but feel a little restless and impatient. On the second day, I suddenly remembered Fang Yun's "Humble House Praise", so I recited all his poems in my mind. I don't know why, but my mentality at that time was like reciting the scriptures of the saints. I recited them silently over and over again, and finally I couldn't help but recite them aloud."
"On the third day, I calmed down and slowly recalled my life. When I recalled Fang Yun writing 'The lotus leaves connecting the sky are endless and green, and the lotus flowers reflecting the sun are particularly red', I suddenly saw a sea of green lotus leaves, and at the same time saw a lotus flower rising slowly in the middle, reflecting the sun. Then I realized that my literary courage had been refined and I had achieved great success!"
After Feng Yuanjun finished speaking, he looked at Fang Yun meaningfully.
The others also looked at Fang Yun. They all knew that it was impossible for Master Feng to have such a high talent. There was no other possibility except that it was because of Fang Yun's poems and the Wudao River.
"I think it is because Mr. Feng has solid knowledge, condensed talent, and strong literary courage that everything came together. The breakthrough at this time has nothing to do with my poetry." Fang Yun said.
Prefect Dong said, "What you said before is correct, Fang Banxiang. Lord Feng certainly has a solid foundation, but your poems and Wudao River may be the spark that awakened him. In many cases, years of hard study are not as good as a few words of guidance. Lord Li's experience is the most convincing in this regard."
Li Wenying nodded.
Fang Yun was speechless. Li Wenying was actually very ordinary when he was young. He didn't even pass the examination when he was nearly 20. But later he met a very ordinary old man who casually said a few words of life experience, which just touched Li Wenying's heart. Li Wenying suddenly became enlightened and couldn't stop from then on.
Feng Yuanjun raised his glass to Fang Yun and said sincerely: "This first glass is for Fang Yun, for his selflessness and willingness to talk about the Enlightenment River. He even mentioned it to me many times, hinting that I should go! People with such a broad mind like the ocean will definitely have a position above the starry sky in the future! Fang Yun, I toast you a glass!"
Fang Yun had no choice at all. He hoped that no one would attain enlightenment in Wudao River again, and then raised his glass and toasted to Feng Yuanjun.
Mr. Feng was very talkative today, and the atmosphere of the banquet was very lively. Fang Yun was particularly silent, but others saw it and nodded in praise.
"Look at him. He clearly has the ability to guide others to breakthroughs, and he is clearly the center of attention at this banquet, but he does not take credit for it at all. Instead, he says that it was all due to Feng Yuanjun's own efforts. Who wouldn't like such a young scholar? If such a person is not a role model for scholars, who is qualified to be one?"
"That's true! Even though I'm thirty years older than him, if I were sitting in his position, I'd be laughing my ass off."
"I used to think Fang Yun was just a great scholar, but now I am sure that if nothing unexpected happens, he will become a semi-saint! Ten years later, he will definitely become one of the four great talents of the next generation!"
"Yes! Fang Yun has such a calm mind. He will become a university scholar within ten years, a great scholar within twenty years, and a semi-saint within fifty years! Just as Feng Yuanjun said, his status is above the starry sky."
Fang Yun sighed in his heart from time to time, these people had too rich imaginations and were too good at talking nonsense.
After a quarter of an hour, Li Wenying asked in a low voice: "Do you have relatives or friends in the Holy Courtyard?"
Fang Yun was stunned for a moment, not understanding why Li Wenying asked this, so he said, "No."
The two people spoke in low voices, but everyone shut their mouths involuntarily. After all, one of them was the undisputed number one in Jiangzhou, and the other was the well-deserved number one scholar in the Ten Countries. With two giants here, no one was willing or dared to say anything else when the two were talking.
Li Wenying didn't care about other people's reactions and said, "That's strange. People from the East Saint Pavilion said that this year's quota for the Holy Ruins is designated for you. It doesn't take up Jingguo's quota, but the quota of the Semi-Saint Family."
"How could this happen?" Fang Yun felt something was not good when he heard that half of the quota was occupied by the Saint Family.
Li Wenying said: "I am not familiar with the people in Dongsheng Pavilion, so I can't guess the mystery."
Feng Yuanjun was stunned, and then said: "After I became a Jinshi, I worked in the Dongsheng Pavilion for half a year."
"Then tell me what happened so he can be prepared." Prefect Dong said immediately.
Everyone looked at Feng Yuanjun nervously, fearing that the people from the dignified Dongsheng Pavilion would target Fang Yun.
Feng Yuanjun said, "This is about something I heard before. Shi Jun, the leader of the four great talents, made a small mistake and was deliberately demoted to the far west by the people of the Eastern Saint Pavilion to fight against the sand barbarians in the desert. But Shi Jun was too outstanding. Not only did he not suffer any losses, his foundation became more and more solid. Then he received a reward, which seemed to be taken from the hands of a semi-saint family, so some disciples of the semi-saint family were unhappy."
Li Wenying nodded, as if to say that this was the case.
Feng Yuanjun continued, "Most of the disciples of the semi-saint families watched from the sidelines, and only a few took action. Most of them wanted to verify Shi Jun's strength. When they found that Shi Jun was qualified for the reward, they stopped halfway, or admitted defeat or praised Shi Jun. However, a few people were unwilling to accept it and continued to cause trouble for Shi Jun. Shi Jun persisted and refused to give in. A month later, those disciples who had caused trouble for him were all exiled to Liangjie Mountain and never returned."
Fang Yun immediately said, "I understand. Lord Feng meant that this is the way the East Saint Pavilion trains people."
Feng Yuanjun said with undisguised envy: "No, it is a means of honing talents! We want to let Dongsheng Pavilion hone us, but we don't have the qualifications."
Everyone agreed. If you are not talented enough, Dongsheng Pavilion will not bother to pay attention to you.
Feng Yuanjun added: "And I also heard that it is not the same for all previous generations of Dongsheng Pavilion, but it is the habit of the current Dongsheng Lord himself. Therefore, I suspect that it was the Dongsheng Lord who handpicked Fang Yun to go to the Holy Ruins, and deliberately let him take the place of the Half-Saint Family."
Fang Yun said helplessly: "You also want to use me to pick out the scum in the semi-saint family."
"Of course I have this plan. Lord Dongsheng has always advocated fighting, but there must be a bottom line. You all know what happened when Lord Dongsheng was young. He used his talent to kill the enemy first, and when his talent was gone, he killed the enemy with a big knife, and said that his saintly way was gained by killing."
Everyone at the banquet wanted to laugh but didn't dare to. Dongsheng Wang Jinglong had a lot of stories about him. Before he became a great scholar, he was very straightforward in doing things. No matter what he did, he said it was his holy way. It was only after he became a great scholar that he cultivated his character. But if anyone angered him, he would immediately turn into the original Wang Jinglong.
Fang Yun asked: "Speaking of the Holy Ruins, I heard that when Confucius was in seclusion, several of his semi-saint disciples discovered a place, and they encountered the demon tribe and died in the battle. That place was destroyed into ruins by the power of the saints, so it was called the Holy Ruins. Is this legend true?"
Most people are calm because this is a widely circulated statement and they all believe it.
Li Wenying remained silent, while a few people felt a little embarrassed.
Feng Yuanjun said: "No one who came today is an outsider. Besides, this matter is not a secret. It doesn't hurt to tell the truth. This matter is the fault of my human race, but my human half-saint entered there by mistake and apologized afterwards, but the demon race refused to give in, and finally we had a life-and-death fight."
"Is there any inside story here?" someone asked curiously.
Feng Yuanjun said: "The Holy Ruins was originally the cemetery of a half-saint of the demon race. Although the half-saint's strength was mediocre, he was very wise. Unlike other demons who only knew how to solve everything with killing, he made great contributions to the demon race and had a high status. The three half-saints of our human race entered there accidentally and did not know that it was the cemetery of the demon saint. After all, the demon cemetery is different from the human cemetery and there is no way to tell them apart."
Many people nodded. Although the demons had their own language, they did not originally have written language. They later learned from humans and created their own demon language. However, very few demons have learned it so far. On the contrary, scholars or people with higher literary status in humans must master it.
"The three semi-saints thought they had discovered a treasure land, and then destroyed the outer perimeter of the Demon Saint's Tomb. They were soon discovered and chased by the three Demon Saints. As you know, demons are usually quite intelligent, but once their blood and qi are strong, they will rely on their instincts to decide everything. The three Demon Saints naturally thought that the human race had violated the thousand-year agreement and deliberately harmed the demon race, so they desperately attacked the three semi-saints. During the battle, my human semi-saint learned the truth and apologized. The semi-saint Zilu even took the initiative to withstand the attack of the demon race without resistance, and one of his arms was broken as an apology."
Many people have already guessed what happened next and are extremely angry.
"The other two semi-saints on our side also stopped, hoping to negotiate with the demon saint. But the demon saint was unyielding and took the opportunity to attack and kill Zilu semi-saint! Those two were fellow disciples of Zilu semi-saint. Seeing their fellow disciple dead, how could they negotiate? So the two semi-saints used up the remaining 90% of their lifespans to turn into red blood and loyalty, and finally died together with the three demon saints. They sent back the news before they died."
Only then did everyone know that Zilu, a semi-saint, had died in such a way, and that such a thing had actually happened in this holy ruins.
“The people from the three semi-saint families were naturally extremely angry, so whenever they found the Saint Ruins open, they would go in and hunt down the demons and barbarians. The demons and barbarians did not show weakness either, and this tradition has continued to this day.”
Fang Yun sighed. Many of Confucius' disciples died prematurely. If they could live to see Confucius' death, there would be at least three more sub-sages. (To be continued...)
ps: Next update will be before 0 o'clock.