Yuhai Mansion was very quiet in the early morning, but outside the South City Gate it was a different world.
Before the Kongxinglou ship could stop, the officials came like a tide, eager to see the triumphant hero.
Not to mention the scholars on the boat, even the escorting Hanlin and Grand Secretaries were very envious. For Jingguo, Fang Yun had already achieved the ultimate that ordinary literati could achieve. If it were daytime now, the streets of Yuhai City would be deserted and all the people in the city would come out to welcome him.
The Kongxinglou ship came to a steady stop and Fang Yun walked down the stairs. Prefect Dong, the head of the civil servants of Yuhai Prefecture, ran straight towards Fang Yun, but when he arrived in front of Fang Yun, his eyes were wet and he could not utter a word.
The people behind him all had red eyes.
The State of Jing had been bullied by the State of Qing for nearly a hundred years, and in the past decade or so it had been suppressed by the whole country in terms of literature, leaving it powerless to resist. Even a genius like Li Wenying could not stand up alone, and was defeated miserably in every literary battle.
"I... thank you on behalf of the people of Jingguo! The stigma that weighs on hundreds of millions of us, the dirty water that has been thrown on hundreds of millions of us, will all be dispelled tonight! Please accept our greetings!"
Prefect Dong bowed deeply, and behind him, whether it was the head of the prefectural academy of literature or the governor of the state, whether it was a staff clerk in his early twenties or an old man in his seventies or eighties, all bowed together.
"No." Fang Yun hurriedly asked Magistrate Dong to stop him from bowing, but he couldn't stop a famous Jinshi for many years. In the end, he failed to stop him and could only bow in return.
Grand Secretary Kong Shi sighed: "This is what a great scholar has come to do."
Everyone was in awe. A great scholar of the Kong family said that even if the most outstanding person in a country appeared, he would be treated just like this. This could be said to be a higher evaluation than that of a role model for literati.
Fang Yun said: "Everything I have done is nothing more than what a scholar should do. It is not one or two geniuses who support Jingguo, but every scholar."
"But. You are standing at the highest point to support! This literary competition will wipe out the century-old shame of our Jing country and revive the literary reputation of our Jing country. Your contribution will surpass the whole country! I will lead the officials of Yuhai City to jointly recommend merit for you! If I don't give you a state marquis, I will die in the Golden Palace!" Prefect Dong's words were loud and clear.
"We are willing to follow Lord Dong!" Many officials echoed in unison.
There are six titles of nobility, namely king, duke, marquis, earl, viscount and bar, which are divided into nine levels, corresponding to the ninth to first grades. Marquis of Zhou is the third-class title, ranking third grade. The highest three people in a state, namely governor, prince of the state and governor-general, are only of the third grade.
"Thank you all." Fang Yun bowed his hands in thanks. He naturally knew that these officials were not just asking for credit. They were already pointing their swords at the left prime minister. If the left prime minister tried to stop them, they would launch an offensive at all costs.
An official said, "It's a pity that it's night time, so we can't ring the gong to clear the way and have the guard of honor line up. It's not polite, I hope Fang Zhenguo will understand."
Fang Yun smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. It's nothing more than a literary duel. If it gets too exaggerated, I don't know what others will say about us Jing people. In fact, your presence here is already a rare grand occasion."
Li Wenying said, "It's too late to discuss in detail. We'll discuss it at the celebration tomorrow. Fang Yun just came back from the Holy Ruins, so he should go home and rest. This time, the talented people from various countries came straight to the Enlightenment River after leaving the Holy Ruins, so you should receive them well."
"Yes!" the officials responded.
"We have prepared a carriage, Fang Yun can take it home. The other talented people can come with me to the post station to stay temporarily." said Magistrate Dong.
Fang Yun looked at the sky. It had changed from black to dark blue. The sun would rise in an hour and a half at most.
Afterwards, Fang Yun led the way, followed by all the officials of Yuhai City, and they all walked towards the carriages prepared in the city, many of them reading the letters delivered by wild geese as they walked.
Zong Wude complained, "Alas. None of us in the Zong family slept. My uncles and aunts kept sending me letters asking about what happened. I couldn't receive them outside the city, but once I got to the city gate, the wild geese delivering the letters would crush me to death if they were real geese."
"I'm even worse off than you. My family, the Ji family, my old classmates from the Academy of Literature, and my literary and drinking buddies from all over the world are all asking about it."
"I am still foresighted. I see that the situation is not good and I will not accept any letters." Jia Jing'an said with a smile.
"That's why they all come to ask me." Grand Secretary Jia Mingyi rolled his eyes at his nephew.
Everyone laughed.
Li Wenying said, "Fang Yun, someone from Wen Bao is looking for you, why don't you reply?"
"You can see for yourselves." Fang Yun reluctantly disabled the function of the official seal to conceal the letter sent by the carrier pigeons. Everyone took a look and fell silent.
Thousands of wild geese were circling in the sky above Fang Yun, and a large number of them kept flying over. There were really too many of them. Unless one became a great scholar who could transform hundreds of people with one thought, no one would be able to read all the letters sent by the wild geese in a short time.
The various titles and honors such as the former Saint Candidate, the Suspected Star King, the Grand Winner of the Holy Ruins and the Most Powerful Person in Literature in the Qing Kingdom have made Fang Yun the focus of the Shengyuan Continent. Now too many people are contacting him.
"Forget it. I'll turn down the article you were asked to write for Wen Bao. Wen Bao wanted to do a special feature about you right now and publish it in various countries before dawn."
"Is it a supplement?" Fang Yun asked.
"nature."
Everyone showed envy. Needless to say, it must be Wen Douzhou who forced the editorial office of "Wen Bao" to publish a supplement. It was all triggered by Fang Yun. One person leading to the supplement of "Wen Bao" was no less than the three poems in "Sheng Dao" shining together.
As everyone was chatting, the ground suddenly shook slightly. Just when everyone thought it was just an ordinary earthquake, a huge space crack running across the north and south appeared in the sky. The space crack was as black as ink, as if it split the sky of Shengyuan Continent into two, blocking the light of the stars and was particularly eye-catching in the deep blue night sky.
Some debris fell from the cracks, including trees, rubble, river water, and even mountains hundreds of feet high fell down together.
There are some small space cracks around the space rift, which are distributed randomly.
"What's going on!" Everyone was shocked and looked at the terrible crack.
Fang Yun and several scholars were suddenly stunned, because a mountain happened to fall out from the huge space crack. It was clearly the mountain of Longya in the Holy Ruins. Everyone had entered Longya and was very familiar with the shape of the mountain.
However, the strange thing was yet to come. Before the debris could land on the ground, a new space crack appeared in the air, just below the debris, causing all the debris to fall into the new space crack and disappear.
The Shengyuan Continent seems to have become a transit point between two spaces.
Moreover, the new space crack exuded an extremely terrifying aura, and everyone seemed to be trapped in a deep nightmare, not daring to move.
Fang Yun was unable to move, but he noticed that Wudie in his arms moved, and then continued to sleep.
After a while, the space cracks gradually became smaller and everyone's bodies recovered.
"Isn't that Longya's mountain?" Li Fanming asked.
Not only these scholars present had been to Shengxu, but several university scholars such as Li Wenying had also been there and recognized the mountain.
Fang Yun suddenly remembered what he had seen and heard in the Holy Ruins, and the words of the dragon head spirit bone, and whispered: "The Holy Ruins are broken?"
Kong Shi sighed and said, "It's still broken."
Everyone looked at this important figure of the Kong family. Obviously, the Kong family knew more than anyone else. This time, the Holy Academy decided to allow more candidates to enter the Holy Ruins. The Kong family made great efforts and even gave up some places.
"If it is convenient, Brother Kong may explain it in detail." said the Grand Secretary of the Jia family.
Kong Shi said, "It's not really a secret. Many people from aristocratic families should have figured it out. The Holy Ruins have been changing over the years. Two hundred years ago, a great scholar from the Kong family predicted that the Holy Ruins would not last for more than three hundred years. If something unusual happened, the Holy Ruins would be destroyed. First, the Wenqu Star moved, and then the Wenqu Star shone. Such a big change also involves the Holy Ruins, so it's only natural that the Holy Ruins will collapse."
Fang Yun thought of the loyal Star Barbarian Niu Shan. Without the guidance of the Holy Academy, Niu Shan and Quan Xi should still be in the Demon Ancestor's sect, but they both grew up in the Holy Ruins, and it was unknown whether they would be affected by the drastic changes in the Holy Ruins.
In the distant northwest prairie, a space crack hundreds of feet in size appeared in the sky, followed by large pieces of rubble falling down, along with which fell a dog demon general and a handsome bull.
"Help!" a dog demon general shouted.
"Why is the dog barking! Ah... It hurts so much!" Niu Manshuai cried out in pain.
After all the huge rocks fell, two demons crawled out from the pile of rocks. The body of the Bull Demon Commander was bruised and swollen, but there was no bleeding. The Dog Demon Commander was in a miserable state, with wounds all over his body, which he was healing with his blood.
"This... what is this place? Why have I never seen this starry sky? But this moon is the moon of our Holy Ruins." Niu Manshuai said puzzledly.
"Look at the position of Wenquxing. Only the Wenquxing seen in Shengyuan Continent is eternal and unchanging, hanging high in the center. This should be Shengyuan Continent."
Niu Manshuai sniffed and said, "The vitality is thin, but very comfortable, much better than the Holy Ruins. It is very likely the legendary Holy Yuan Continent. Alas, I didn't expect that the Holy Ruins and half of the Demon Ancestor Gate collapsed. I can't go back."
Niu Manshuai sat on the rock in a daze.
The dog demon came over wagging its tail, stretched out its front paws and placed them on Niu Manshuai's legs, saying, "What are you afraid of? We know so many humans, we can just go find them. From what I've observed, humans are much better than blood demons."
"That's right. His Majesty the Moon Emperor is so powerful. We can find out by asking someone."
"But are you sure they won't kill us as blood demons?" said the dog demon general.
Niu Manshuai remained silent.
"I still don't understand what the Moon Emperor's name is. Let's just ask him. Others may not know." said the dog demon general.
Niu Manshuai nodded and said, "I still don't know what his Majesty the Moon Emperor is called. Those people sometimes call me Fang Yun, sometimes Fang Zhenguo, and there are also Fang Shuangjia, Fang Wujia, Fang Shengqian, and Fang Master. I don't know what they mean when they are changed into demon language." Niu Manshuai kept patting his head with his hands, hoping to make himself smarter.
"Let's sneak into the Blood Demon Barbarians first and find a chance to find the Moon Emperor. As long as we don't kill anyone with our own hands, His Majesty the Moon Emperor won't punish us."
"That's true. Let's go and find a Blood Demon Barbarian Tribe to stay in first!"
A minotaur and a large yellow dog left the rubble and walked forward into the night.
"What do you think is the name of His Majesty the Moon Emperor?" Niu Manshuai asked softly, with some sadness in his eyes.
"Don't ask me, I have a dog brain." The dog demon wagged his tail in dissatisfaction. (To be continued...)