When the Black Treasure Mountain was surrounded and swallowed by various tribes bestowed by God on the mountains and seas, the Spring Festival, the grandest festival in Shengyuan Continent, finally arrived.
Every household is decorated with lights, hanging Spring Festival couplets, preparing New Year's goods, and different Spring Festival delicacies are started in various places.
On this day of universal celebration, there are some people whose homes are not so festive.
The families of the great scholars buried in the Holy Valley kept everything simple on this New Year's Eve and spent more time praying rather than celebrating.
On this day, the most lively place for the entire human race was not the densely populated Kongcheng, nor the capital of the Ten Kingdoms, but the place that was renamed Yueyang from Baling.
On the tenth day of the first lunar month, a grand Shengxingwenhui will be held here.
The Shengyuan Continent is vast and different places are far apart from each other. This time, there was no dragon clan to mobilize the sea eye, so scholars from all over the country came many days in advance.
As a result, the city of Yueyang was bustling with traffic and people, all waiting for the Shengxing Literary Meeting, all wanting to compete for a share of the Shengxing blessings, and all wanting to make progress in the holy way.
For most scholars, Shengxing Literary Society is more important than any other literary society.
Yueyang City had guild halls from various countries early on. Scholars whose families were not around could not enjoy reunions, so in order to dispel their homesickness, literary gatherings were held everywhere in Yueyang City.
There are three guild halls of the Qing Kingdom in Yueyang City. The guild hall established by the clan is the smallest, but its location is the most imposing, being a small garden with more than 30 houses.
Different from the bustling crowds in front of other guild halls, there were not many people in front of this Qinghui Guild Hall, but every guest was either rich or noble.
The disciples of great Confucian scholars, the children and grandchildren of cabinet ministers, the sons of aristocratic families, the pride of wealthy families, and the common people who come and go. The lowest rank in literature is Jinshi, and there is not a single Juren or person with a lower rank.
Soon, the guests of honor arrived and the guild hall's national celebration literary gathering officially began.
There were not many guests in the main hall of the guild hall, only about forty people, but the atmosphere was warm and everyone was toasting each other, and soon it was midnight.
However, the host of this literary gathering, Zong Xueyan, the patriarch of the Zong family, dragged his feet and was reluctant to proceed to the last step of the literary gathering, announcing the winner.
Most people at the meeting were calm, but a few young people were a little anxious. They didn't know what Zong Xueyan was up to.
Just after midnight, the voice of a servant was suddenly heard outside.
"Grand Scholar Ji Anchang has arrived."
Some young people at the venue looked puzzled, but those over 30 all looked happy and stood up to greet them.
A young man who was not yet 20 years old hurriedly stood up with his brother and asked in a low voice: "Brother, this person's name sounds familiar, who is he?"
"Have you forgotten the Ji family's story of 'three top scholars in one family, four bachelors in one father and son'?"
"Ah? I remember now! It was the top scholar from more than 20 years ago. He once wrote a war poem that was passed down through the ages. He was a genius. I went to the Holy Temple not long ago to pay my respects to him and learned that war poem. When he went to the ancient deserted city, he was still a Hanlin. I was still young. Now he is a university scholar. I can't remember it for a moment."
"I thought Mr. Zong was acting a bit strange today. He actually came here to wait for this person. It seems he has other intentions. You know, more than 20 years ago, although he was far inferior to Li Wenying in literary battles, he was a dragon across the river in poetry. Even the amazing "Wind and Rain Sword Poem" by Jianmei Gong was overwhelmed by him. In the past, his popularity in Qing Kingdom was no less than Fang Yun's in Jing Kingdom."
The young man said, "I have heard about him. After he was promoted to Grand Secretary, he went deep into the ancient deserted city to hone himself. He has not appeared in the world for many years. I am afraid he has achieved something. But back then he..."
"Shut up, don't mention that incident again! As for him, he has achieved a lot. Look at him carefully. Although he is wearing a worn-out university scholar's green robe, he is actually a great scholar."
"What?"
Many people nearby looked at the newcomer.
The man looked to be in his early thirties, tall and thin, with a fair complexion and a kind look. Even his tattered green robe could not conceal his temperament.
As they looked, it seemed as if there was a towering Sword Mountain standing before them, its shape as thick as a mountain and its meaning as sharp as a sword.
There was a deep scar about an inch long on his left forehead.
Zong Xueyan was only a university scholar. He walked quickly forward and said with a smile, "University scholar? You underestimate Xueyan. He is already a great scholar!"
Ji Anchang bowed slightly and said, "Greetings, Senior Brother Xueyan. After the Shengxing Literature Conference is over, I, your humble disciple, will go to pay homage to our Master!"
The atmosphere at the literary gathering suddenly froze.
Many people then remembered that children of famous families like Ji Anchang often had multiple teachers, and one of his teachers was Qu Hange, one of the ten great Jinshi of the human race.
When Fang Yunwen fought in Xiangzhou, Qu Hange was ranked first among the ten Jinshi. He was the last one to fight with Fang Yun and eventually died at the hands of Fang Yun, thus fulfilling Fang Yunwen's reputation in the battle of Xiangzhou.
Zong Xueyan sighed softly, and then suddenly asked, "I wonder how far Brother Anchang has progressed in his "Song of the Sword of Separation"?"
Many people were immediately filled with curiosity. At that time, Li Wenying's "Sword Poems of Wind and Rain" and "Song of Separation Sword" were known as the two masterpieces of the human race. Although Li Wenying's "Sword Poems of Wind and Rain" had not been passed down, it had taken the lead and was at a higher level. After all, Ji Anchang was young, and his "Song of Separation Sword" was at a lower level.
"I entered the ancient land of the deserted city, practiced asceticism and cultivated my mind. I also often fought with monsters and barbarians. Whenever I fought, I would use the "Song of the Sword of Separation". Now..."
Ji Anchang paused for a moment and raised his head slightly.
"It has reached the fourth level."
The whole room exclaimed.
Ji Anchang smiled slightly and said, "And it turned into jade not long ago."
Everyone was even more surprised. Wen Yu had only appeared recently, and everyone knew how terrifying Wen Yu was. The war poems of the Jinshi in the four realms were equivalent to the war poems of the great Confucian scholars, but were stronger than the war poems of ordinary great Confucian scholars. If it were Wen Yu, he could compose a great Confucian war poem almost every few breaths, which made him an invincible great Confucian scholar.
Zong Xueyan suddenly exclaimed, "Anchang, your aura doesn't seem like that of a newly promoted scholar."
"I have entered a state of self-cultivation."
The whole room was silent.
Zong Xueyan was surprised and laughed: "Hahaha! Good! Good! Good! Anchang, this literary gathering depends entirely on you! It's a pity that Fang Yun is not here, otherwise you would have suppressed Li Wenying first and then suppressed Fang Yun, and you would have been famous all over the world."
Ji Anchang shook his head slightly and said, "I have been practicing hard for many years and have not interacted with others. I only recently learned that there is a Fang Xusheng. This person is indeed better than me when I was young, but he is too young now. If he were here, I would not be able to suppress him, but I could still compete with him. As for Li Wenying..."
A complicated expression appeared on Ji Anchang's face, and then he said with great ambition: "When the Shengxing Literary Conference is held, it will be the day when his literary reputation will be completely destroyed!"
Those who knew what happened kept silent.
When Li Wenying fought against many scholars of Qing Kingdom, Ji Anchang was full of fighting spirit at the beginning, but in the final battle, he became cowardly and fled first, which became a stain on his life.
However, this person was very intelligent and was successfully promoted to Grand Secretary. After that, he entered the ancient land of Huangcheng, determined to surpass Li Wenying. He practiced asceticism in the ancient land, made clear his will and refined his mind. Even after he was promoted to a great scholar, he did not show up until his strength was consolidated at the level of self-cultivation, and then he returned to the human race.
After leaving the ancient deserted city, he immediately came to Yueyang City, without even changing into the purple robe of a great scholar. Li Wenying was also a teacher and friend to Fang Yun. If he could defeat Li Wenying, he would not only avenge the humiliation he suffered from Li Wenying, but also avenge the murder of his teacher.
"When Fang Yun returns from the Holy Burial Valley, he may have become a great scholar. I will definitely fight him in a literary battle and take back Xiangzhou!" Ji Anchang's eyes were filled with fighting spirit.