When the first question of the first test was announced, Fang Yun seemed to hear many people heaving a sigh of relief. It was obvious that this journey of thousands of miles was very orthodox.
Fang Yun looked to both sides and saw 110 people from 11 academies standing in a line on the flat ground. Except for him and Yan Yukong who were wearing juren robes, all the others were wearing white sword robes.
There is a distance of three meters between each two people.
The sky over Dabiwenjie was azure blue with white clouds, and in front was an endless expanse of yellow land. Strong winds blew, raising dust.
Fang Yun knew that this was a literary world specially used for the Ten Nations Competition. It took at least a half-saint to create a literary world, and the literary world had many wonderful uses.
Someone from the Confucius Academy laughed and said, "Everyone, hurry up and write poems about horses. If you are a step slower, you will fall too far behind Fang Yun and lose face."
Many people laughed kindly.
"Humph, that may not be the case!" a man from Qing country said coldly.
Most of the students from the top five academies smiled without saying a word. They had the pride of a great country. Even if they had doubts about the other party's luck, they never denied everything that the other party showed and always recognized his talent.
A man from Qi State said: "I will just throw out a brick to attract jade, and take the first step. In the westernmost part there is a flying feather, and it is called a flying colt without wings..."
Qiao Juze, who was near Fang Yun, smiled and said, "As expected of Qi State's top scholar, he recites Fan Yu, one of the Eight Steeds, as soon as he opens his mouth. This poem has both form and spirit, and it will surely turn a peerless horse into poetry."
Everyone was not in a hurry, but listened to Liang Zhongdao, the third place winner of the Qiguo Scholarship, continue to write poetry. This kind of journey of thousands of miles is not a matter of a moment, so it is better to think first rather than being too aggressive. Listening to other people's poems first may help in writing their own poems.
After Liang Zhongdao finished reciting a poem, he saw a translucent snow-white horse appear in front of him. The horse raised its head and neighed, and the vital energy around it was vibrating. It was obviously superior to ordinary horses, and its appearance and meaning were similar to those of a demon.
"Goodbye!"
There was a matching saddle on the horse. Liang Zhongdao climbed on the horse and gently gave the horse a push. The white horse immediately ran away.
When the horse started running, Fang Yun suddenly realized that the horse had extremely long hair, and when it ran, the white hair fluttered like bird feathers. No wonder it was named "Fan Yu".
"So fast!" The students from the academies that were ranked lower praised one after another. Qiguo won the first place in the Ten Nations Competition last year, and Liang Zhongdao's early success showed the demeanor of a great country.
Cui Wang said with a chuckle: "Brother Fang, don't wait any longer. We in Jing Country may not be able to compete for first place in the academy, but we hope you can be first among the students!"
"The people of Jing are becoming more and more arrogant!"
"People of Jing. Wait until you can rank among the top five in the academy before you start making big statements!"
"Please don't make any noise, the game is important."
People from various countries spoke up and Cui Wang's face turned red. Although it was true that he was a Jing citizen, Jing was only ranked tenth in the academy, but he said such things. After being accused, he had no power to refute.
"I'll be the second one." Fang Yun wanted to think about it carefully, but his countrymen's kindness was insulted, so he had to step forward in advance.
Everyone stopped thinking about the poem and looked at Fang Yun. Most people's eyes were full of expectation, while a few people cursed Fang Yun for failure in their hearts.
At the same time, the venue outside the Dabiwenjie was packed with nearly 100,000 people sitting on the steps of the venue.
Although the Ten Nations Competition was held in the literary world, everything that happened in the literary world formed a huge light curtain thirty feet high, which was erected in the competition venue of the Confucius Mansion Academy.
This light curtain was like the list of successful candidates or successful scholars issued by the Holy Temple. Anyone within ten miles of the Confucius Mansion and the Academy could see it, except that the people in the venue looked at it more carefully.
Near the Confucius Mansion, countless scholars held today's "Shengdao" and "Wenbao" in their hands, looking up at the big light screen. Countless people were talking in low voices.
"It's Fang Yun! I recognized him. He's even more handsome than he was at the Mid-Autumn Festival Literary Festival!"
"It's a pity for this genius. In a competition where ten people form a team, even if he is extremely talented, he is only one in ten, and only one in a hundred in a competition."
"Jingguo has been weak for many years. He alone cannot save it. The best he can do is rank ninth. It is absolutely impossible for him to advance into the top eight. The gap between the eighth and ninth is almost the gap between the first and sixth. There is no comparison at all."
"He should be first in the first leg of this journey. I wonder how he will perform later."
Not only in Kongcheng did the huge light curtain appear, but also in the counties and prefectures of the ten countries, not only in the ancient land of Shihan and the ancient land of Huangcheng, but even in the dangerous places such as Liangjie Mountain and Zhenyu Sea, as long as there was a holy temple or academy, a huge light curtain would appear outside the door and everyone nearby could watch it.
Billions of people are watching this annual competition.
The Ten-Nation Competition is not the highest level one, but it is the largest in scale and has the widest impact.
Jinshi are not only the backbone of a country's scholars, but also the future of a country's scholars. The strength of a country's Jinshi determines the strength of the country.
Amid the discussions of the crowd, Fang Yun recited Li Bai's "Song of the Heavenly Horse".
"The celestial horse came out of Yuezhi Cave, with tiger patterns on its back and dragon wing bones.
Hissing in the blue sky, shaking the green hair, the blue tendons and the strange power ran away and disappeared.
He soared to the top of Kunlun Mountain and traveled to the westernmost point without a single stumble on his four legs.
The cock crows and the swallows start to feed in Yue, and the god moves with lightning steps in a hurry.
The celestial horse calls, the flying dragon runs, the bright-eyed Chang Geng holds two ducks in his arms.
The tail is like a meteor, the head is a thirsty crow, and the mouth spews red light and sweat.
I once accompanied the dragon of the time on the sky road, and the golden belt was tied to the imperial capital under the moonlight.
The free and elegant spirit is so sharp that it reaches all nine regions; who dares to sell the white jade that is as huge as a mountain
I look back and laugh at Zi Yan, but I feel you are stupid. "
When Fang Yun was reciting this poem, the sky began to become windy and cloudy. White clouds gathered from all directions at an incredible speed. Then they settled, boiled and rolled, and finally condensed into an extremely majestic white horse. Its fur was like tiger stripes, its bones were like dragon wings, red light gushed out of its mouth, and sweat was pouring from its neck like blood.
The horse let out a roar, and the white clouds within a thousand miles were torn apart and dissipated.
When Fang Yun recited half of the ancient poem, all the students in the literary academy held their breath and kept silent. Even the students from Qing and Gu countries who were hostile to Fang Yun did not show any disrespect. The purest scholar's heart deep in their hearts made them maintain the most basic awe for good poetry and prose.
They still hated Fang Yun, but they could not hate the good poetry and prose at all.
"Goodbye!"
Fang Yun turned over and rode on the tiger-patterned dragon-bone horse. He said "Go" softly, and saw the horse's four hooves galloping in the wind, with red light all over its body. It rushed out at a speed more than five times faster than the feathered horse, and it was getting faster and faster.
But in the blink of an eye, the horse's four hooves were actually walking in the air, becoming a real Pegasus.
"As expected of Fang Zhenguo. This poem is divided into two sections. The first section describes this horse as majestic and powerful, like a tiger or a dragon, with a roar that can split the blue sky, and can even easily leap over the towering Kunlun Mountains. In the morning, it is still being brushed in Yanzhou, and in the evening, it has already gone to Yuezhou, tens of thousands of miles away, to eat grass. In the end, the horse is even described as flying like a dragon. The second section describes the glory of this horse, which once illuminated the capital of a country and surpassed all the horses in Shengyuan Continent. Even a mountain of beautiful jade cannot buy it."
"This poem is good. It has both form and spirit, and the rhetoric is excellent. The monster race's divine horse is no better than this."
"This poem seems to have a different purpose, as if it is talking about the other party's own destiny."
"The phrase 'I feel you are stupid', is it mocking our stupidity?"
Many scholars from the academy changed color slightly, and the words "I just feel that you are stupid" immediately became extremely harsh.
Yan Yukong smiled and said, "Not to mention that Fang Yun would never laugh at us. Even if he did, calling us 'Purple Swallow' would be a compliment. It's the really foolish people who take it for granted and call us Purple Swallow which is a compliment."
After hearing this, many of the scholars in the upper house relaxed their expressions. Ziyan was a famous good horse, and it was not a mockery. Besides, Fang Yun did not need to offend so many people.
Before reciting this poem, Fang Yun knew that someone would use it to cause trouble, but he did not change it because this poem is actually a self-metaphorical poem by Li Bai. The whole poem is actually divided into five sections.
Fang Yun only recited the first two paragraphs of the original "Heavenly Horse Song". They describe the appearance, spirit and achievements of the white horse. The third paragraph he did not recite was about the horse being neglected, and the fourth paragraph was about the horse's decline in old age. The fifth paragraph was about the horse's hope to get help from a benevolent person and be re-employed.
When Li Bai wrote this poem, he was pardoned on his way to exile. He believed that the world had become new and he had a chance to be reinstated.
Fang Yun once read this poem and thought of the line from Li Bai's famous poem "A Dream Wandering on Tianmu Mountain and Chanting a Farewell Poem": "How can I bow my head and serve the powerful, and make myself unhappy?" He sighed with regret.
Li Bai has great talent but is not suitable for a career full of intrigues. After Fang Yun arrived in Shengyuan Continent, he would get distracted every time he read Li Bai's poems. He would always think that with Li Bai's talent, he would never be suppressed by any bureaucrats and dignitaries in Shengyuan Continent, and would definitely rise to the top and perhaps become the first person to open up the five realms of war poetry.
So even though Fang Yun knew he would be misunderstood, he still recited those two lines of poetry to pay tribute to Li Bai and thank the Immortal Poet.
Cui Wang raised his head and said, "For this journey of thousands of miles across the plain, Fang Yun must be the first!"
This time no one objected.
Yan Yukong laughed and said, "There is a genius of the same generation for us to pursue. How wonderful! How wonderful! No regrets!"
Afterwards, Yan Yukong recited poems, and the others followed suit, like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each showing their magical powers. The poems turned into horses of different shapes and appearances, galloping across the plain, leaving behind trails of flying dust.
"We may lose to Fang Yun, but the heart of the Holy Way will never surrender!" one person shouted.
"I am willing to follow the destiny and strengthen our human race!"
"May the human race be safe and the holy way prosper forever!"
"Fang Yun, we are here! Go!"
Countless people from all over the ten countries cheered.
Near the literary academies in various places in Qing and Wu, which were opposed to Jing, many civilians watched the scene on the screen with smiles. They could not see the people of the enemy country far ahead, but only saw the human scholars bravely moving forward.
Even though there is a distinction between countries in the hearts of most civilians, under the heavy pressure of monsters and barbarians, they still hope that the human race can turn things around, even if it is people from the enemy country who can do it.
In the past Ten-Nation Competition, there have been repeated voices of discord among the countries. Although the people of the Ten Nations are used to it, many people still feel a little regretful. There were even signs of internal strife at the beginning of this Ten-Nation Competition.
However, when Fang Yun stood out and surpassed all the other competitors, the competition changed. From the previous open and secret fighting, it became a situation where everyone worked together and made progress together, and it became a good situation where one person led the way and everyone followed.
Even though this process may be short, it leaves a glimmer of hope in everyone's heart.
The two-hundred-mile plain seemed far away, but Fang Yun rode on Pegasus and crossed it in less than two quarters of an hour, arriving in front of an endless expanse of water.
Fang Yun didn't know whether to call it the sea or the river, because even the Yangtze River was only a hundred miles wide, and the water ahead was definitely more than two hundred miles. The next journey in the water would be longer than the previous plains.
As soon as Fang Yun got off his horse, he heard a voice. (To be continued...)