"You have a deep misunderstanding of my Xun family. You hurt a member of my Xun family. If my Xun family does not investigate and punish you, where is the dignity of the Sub-Sage Family? If you can't even tolerate such a small setback, how can you shoulder the responsibility of the human race in the future?" Xun Long said.
Fang Yun's expression turned cold, and he said, "The Xun family is a sub-sage family, but they didn't even let a mere scholar like me go. It's really chilling. How can they be a role model for our race?"
"You are not a small juren! You are the best of the ten countries, one of the top five and three saints, personally appointed by the Eastern Saint. You are also a big figure on the hunting list of university scholars. How can you be a small juren?" Xun Long said.
Fang Yun immediately said: "You, the Xun family, dare to frame and suppress even those on the Grand Secretary Hunting List. How many people in the world are there that you dare not bully?"
"You do have some eloquence. You want to suppress him at will? Weren't you the one who broke Xun Ye's literary courage?"
"I stood with a knife in hand, ready to kill a pig, and someone wanted to kill me but ran headfirst into the tip of my knife. How can I be considered the murderer!"
"But now no one knows whether it was you who stabbed or the man who bumped into you, so my Xun family is investigating. If my Xun family wanted to suppress you, we would definitely not investigate, but would directly convict you. You are a suspect and should not be allowed to enter the Holy Academy. How can you blame my Xun family?" Xun Long said.
"Mr. Xun is indeed a good talker. Unfortunately, people in the world are not fools. As a sub-sage family, if there is even the slightest evidence, they will immediately deal with me. Even if I am on the Grand Scholar Hunting List, can't a dignified sub-sage family ask the Criminal Court or the Holy Judge? It's because your Xun family knows that you are in the wrong. You know that once the Criminal Court takes action or the Holy Judge, you will definitely lose and the family will lose face! No matter how eloquent you are, you can't hide your Xun family's guilty conscience and arrogance!"
"Ask the emperor for judgment on such a small matter? You are really foolish. Our Xun family only regards it as a personal vendetta between you juniors, but you wish to destroy our Xun family. It is really unbelievable." Xun Long said. From beginning to end, his expression was calm and indifferent, neither happy nor angry.
Li Wenying's voice came from the captain's room: "Xunlong boy. Don't think that you can speak nonsense just because you use the idea of relatives to protect your literary courage. If you dare to confuse right and wrong again, don't blame me for 'acting as a teacher'!"
Xun Long's expression changed slightly, and then he said: "I am a member of the Xun family, so of course I have to speak for the Xun family. I am following the principles of human ethics, so what's wrong with that? Jianmei Gong, you are a famous scholar of the human race. If you bully me and ruin my future, I can only die to prove my mistake!"
"Why can you die for your family, but not for your clan?" Li Wenying's tone was full of regret.
Xun Long's eyes lit up, and he said firmly: "I am a member of the Xun family first, and then a member of the human race! The human race can stand tall among the Ten Kingdoms because of the saints! To die for the Xun family is to die for the saints, and to die for the human race! Between the sub-saint family and Fang Yun, which is more important? I, a mere Jinshi, can tell the difference, but you can't? If everyone can slander the holy name of the sub-saint family, where is the face of the saints? Helping Fang Yun is pointing the sword at the saints family."
Fang Yun's eyes flashed with anger, and he said, "Does it mean that if someone more important than you wants you to die, you should die?"
"I don't know about others. But I know that the reputation of the Sub-Sage Family is more important than the reputation of a scholar. If there is a conflict between the two, the scholar must bow his head and admit his mistake, otherwise he would be ignorant of the overall situation!" Xun Long said.
"Mr. Xun. I didn't expect you to be so unable to distinguish right from wrong! In the eyes of you, the Xun family, my life and death have become just a matter of face!" Fang Yun said angrily.
"I can't tell right from wrong? My Xun family just wanted to investigate you, but before we could do anything, you went to Wendou Xizhou to frame my Xun family. Who is going too far?"
"I never thought that a scholar from the Xun family would be so despicable. If it weren't for your Xun family forcing me to lose the protection of the Holy Academy and put me under the 100-blood bounty of the demon clan, forcing me into a desperate situation, I would never have fought in the whole state!"
"You clearly have a bounty of 100 blood on your person and you still broke Xun Yewen's courage. My Xun family enforces the law impartially. You can only blame it on bad luck. It has nothing to do with my Xun family." Xun Long said coldly.
Fang Yun took a deep breath and said coldly, "Mr. Xun said it well. I said a few months ago that I would fight for a state in Qing as a return gift. Unfortunately, your Xun family is unlucky and ended up in Xizhou, which I chose. You are a dignified Jinshi, but you accuse me of slandering the Xun family. It's really ridiculous."
"The Xun family is unlucky? You used the wrong words. You will definitely lose this literary duel. You can do nothing but highlight the prestige of our Xun family. You underestimate the accumulation of our sub-sage family. I advise you to go to the Xunzi Temple and kowtow three times and nine times after you arrive in Xizhou, and then write an article to commemorate the saint and admit your mistakes. Otherwise, it will be too late when you lose the literary duel."
"Xun Long, you call a horse a deer and fail to distinguish right from wrong. Aren't you afraid of retribution?" Fang Yun said coldly.
"Retribution? I have the protection of the sub-sage ancestor. I have worked hard for the Xun family and have never made any mistakes. I will never suffer retribution! When you fail in the literary competition in a state, you will know who will suffer retribution!" An extremely cold smile emerged on Xun Long's face, and his smile was full of strong self-confidence.
"Since you said so, let's meet in front of Xizhou Academy of Literature! I don't believe that your Xun family can cover up the sky! You are turning logic upside down!" Fang Yun's eyes became extremely sharp.
Zong Wude suddenly laughed and said, "Xun Long, it's a pity that you are practicing Xunzi's theory of the separation of heaven and man. Your eloquent tongue is very suitable for the art of diplomacy, and your thick skin is very suitable for the art of power. If you can practice both the art of diplomacy and the art of power, you will surely be canonized as a saint."
"I will definitely try it when I have the chance. But you, I'm afraid you have forgotten that you are a Qing citizen." Xun Long said.
"Oh? I am different from you. I am a human first, and then a Qing person." Zong Wude said.
"If we have different ideals, we cannot work together." After Xun Long finished speaking, he raised his head slightly and looked at the night sky in the distance with a calm expression and a firm gaze.
"Hmph, even though Xunzi had a dispute with my Master Mo, that was also a dispute over the Holy Way. I didn't expect that his descendants would be such despicable people." Mo Shan said.
"I thought Xun Ye was the only one who forgot his principles for the sake of profit, but I didn't expect there were more than one person." Jia Jing'an shook his head and sighed.
"I don't even bother to pay attention to this kind of person. When Fang Yunwen succeeds in fighting Xizhou, I want to see what he will say!"
"Yes! After passing Moyao Mountain, we will reach Qing Kingdom. I want to see who can surpass Fang Yun in literature!"
"Huh? Look at Mount Moyao."
Everyone immediately looked forward and saw endless rolling mountains in front of them on the left. Above the main peak of Moyao Mountain hundreds of miles away, a huge black vortex appeared in the sky.
Ordinary scholars could not see clearly, but Fang Yun and those university scholars could see it clearly. There were hundreds of thousands of monsters gathered on the main peak of Moyao. Among them, dozens of monsters were extremely huge, and they were either monster kings or great monster kings.
The monsters also looked over and roared at the sky-walking ship.
A gigantic wolf demon that was as tall as a three-story building suddenly opened its mouth, and a silver crescent-shaped light blade that was a hundred feet long appeared, tearing through the sky and flying over. The speed of the hundred-foot-long light blade was immeasurable, and it flew close in the blink of an eye.
Everyone was shocked, and the Grand Secretary of the Kong family subconsciously wanted to mobilize the power of the Sky-walking Ship, but the hundred-foot-long light blade hit an invisible wall of force and disappeared.
Then a black word "thunder" appeared in the sky. The word "thunder" twisted and turned into a huge thunderbolt that struck the giant wolf, turning it into nothing.
"Ah? The Half-Saint has sealed the mountain!"
"It must be Lord Dongsheng! Other half-saints wouldn't be so radical. The Five Demon Mountains are supposed to be an extension of the demon world, so it's inconvenient for the saints to attack casually. Only Lord Dongsheng would do this."
"Look at those monsters, they are trembling with fear."
"So Lord Dongsheng has sealed off the mountain and banned the barbarians. If it were an ordinary place, a semi-saint could seal it off with just a word, preventing people from entering or leaving. But this Five Demon Mountains is different. It connects to the demon world, so a semi-saint would need a lot of power to seal the mountain."
"It looks like the human race will be safe for a while, but I don't know how long it will last."
As everyone continued to discuss, the ship was moving quickly.
The sky-high ship flew over city after city, then slowly slowed down and hovered above a city.
"We have arrived at Changning Mansion and will be arriving soon." The voice of the Grand Secretary of the Kong family came.
The sky-high ship gradually descended, and everyone walked to the side of the ship to watch the night view of Changning Prefecture.
Fang Yun took a quick look and found that Changning Prefecture was not as big as Yuhai City, but much larger than Dayuan Prefecture, the capital of Jiangzhou. It was already night, and the lights in Changning Prefecture were bright, like a city that never sleeps.
The thirty-foot-long sky-walking ship was as big as a parade ground and radiated golden light, making it extremely eye-catching at night. Fang Yun saw countless people from Qing looking up at the sky, children cheering, young people looking up in anticipation, and old people smiling, as if they were telling the legend of the sky-walking ship.
The sky-high ship slowly landed on the square in front of Xizhou Academy of Literature. The square had been cleared early and roadblocks had been set up on both sides to prevent passers-by from approaching.
Fang Yun glanced at Xun Long and said, "I will satisfy you." Then he looked at Li Wenying.
"I want to spread the thunder sound throughout the city, but I am not strong enough. I hope Lord Li can help me."
"Just say it, and I will help you spread your voice to Xizhou!" said Li Wenying.
The people around looked at Li Wenying helplessly, thinking that he was indeed the notorious demon nemesis. Even the Grand Secretary of the Kong family did not dare to do this.
"Thank you, Master Li."
After Fang Yun finished speaking, he took a deep breath and said slowly with a tongue that burst into spring thunder: "In the past, the scholars of Qing country crossed the river to Jing country and competed with the candidates of Jiangzhou in writing. Today, Fang Yun, a candidate of Jing country, has come to visit Xizhou of Qing country to return the courtesy. In front of the Xizhou Academy of Literature, I will meet friends with literature and compete with the candidates of the whole state. I hope that the candidates of Xizhou will give me some advice! I am here to take back what belongs to the people of Jing country!"
Fang Yun was only a juren, so his voice could not be heard far away, but an invisible force attached to Fang Yun's voice, rolling and spreading in all directions, finally covering the entire Xizhou, and even the places surrounding Xizhou could hear Fang Yun's voice.
Everyone on the boat looked at Fang Yun.
The eyes of those who had followed Fang Yun to kill the monsters, enter the Dragon Cliff, and pass the Comet Corridor brightened as they recalled the scenes in the Holy Ruins, remembering how Fang Yun frightened away the monsters despite his serious illness, remembering how Fang Yun killed three thousand soldiers of the Imperial Capital to seize the Mist Butterfly, and remembering how Fang Yun miraculously brought them to the Seventh Corridor.
"Fang Yun will win!" Shi Tang clenched his fists.
"The Wolf Barbarian Saint couldn't stop him, the Demon King's Golden Guard couldn't stop him, the Comet Corridor couldn't stop him, and Xizhou can't stop him either!"
Xun Long said: "You want to suppress my Xun family? Wishful thinking! This place will become a place of shame for Fang Yun, and it will also become a crack in his holy way!"
After saying this, Xun Long stepped on the white clouds and flew away from the sky-walking ship. (To be continued...)