Many people shook their heads slightly. Indeed, in the Ninety States of the human race, talents have appeared for thousands of years. There are many crazy people and strange people, but there are really not many people like Fang Yun.
Everyone was no longer paying attention to Fang Yun, but was reading the book in front of them carefully.
A thousand books have difficult and easy parts. After reading five hundred books, almost everyone starts to slow down. It's not because they lack talent, but because it's too tiring to try to understand the meaning of the text at such a fast speed, and their literary energy is depleted.
No one except the second level of Wendan can understand so much content in a short time like Fang Yun.
There was one exception among the other ninety-nine people, and that was Yan Yukong. Although he was a juren, he was already a rare genius in the second level of literary talent. He did not slow down when he read the 500th book.
After reading the 700th book, Yan Yukong's reading speed began to slow down. His talent was consumed too much, while the recovery speed was far lower than the consumption.
Yan Yukong sighed softly. It was the same as last time. At the beginning, his speed was far faster than all the other Jinshi candidates, but in the later stages he was dragged down by his talent.
He casually glanced at Fang Yun and almost rolled his eyes. Before, Fang Yun was reading the books on Qiao Juze's bookshelf, but now Fang Yun was actually reading the books on Yan Zewei's bookshelf!
This means Fang Yun has read at least two thousand books!
"As expected, there is only a wrong name but no wrong nickname. Fang Wenba is truly the best tyrant among the ten countries!" Yan Yukong said in a low voice and continued to study seriously.
Fang Yun's reading speed never slowed down. He had three talents, and the recovery speed of his normal talent alone was three times that of an ordinary scholar. Coupled with the effects of Wenxin, Wengong Starry Sky and Wenqu Starlight, the talent consumed by reading was almost equal to his talent recovery, and it could not be exhausted even after reading for several days.
When Fang Yun finished reading 5,700 books, Kong Deyu of the Confucius Academy finally breathed a sigh of relief and closed the last page.
"Kong Deyu read a thousand books and finished, ranking second, ninth."
"Congratulations, Brother Kong!" Some people congratulated without even raising their heads.
Kong Deyu looked at Fang Yun. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly. Until now, Fang Yun's reading speed has not slowed down.
Kong Deyu discovered that at the beginning he had read one-fourth as many books as Fang Yun, but the ratio between the two had been widening and was now close to six to one.
"Whoever wants to read it can read it. I won't read it!" Kong Deyu said, closed his eyes, and dozed off on the chair, his face full of fatigue.
Some Jinshi shook their heads slightly. Many of them were as talented, witty and courageous as Kong Deyu, but they had read less than 900 books. And their reading speed was getting slower and slower.
In the past Ten Nations Competition, many people had the opportunity to activate the bell when reading ten thousand volumes, so they would try their best to speed up, even if their understanding of the books was very superficial. But now that Fang Yun had activated all ten bells, there was no need to try so hard, because if he was not careful, he might damage his literary talent or lose his memory, resulting in a decrease in the number of chips in the third round, which was not worth the loss.
Fang Yun continued to read quickly, and the more he read, the happier he became. These books were far inferior to the classics of the saints and the scriptures of the great Confucian scholars. It could even be said that many of them were dross, but occasionally there would be some shining points in them, which Fang Yun had never seen even after reading a large number of books.
These authors were of relatively low literary rank, including Juren, Jinshi, Hanlin, and Daxueshi. Their understanding of the Holy Way was very superficial, or even wrong, but Fang Yun felt that these superficial or wrong Holy Ways had great significance.
The correct path may not be suitable for you, but the wrong path is definitely not suitable for you.
Unconsciously, Fang Yun finished reading a full 10,000 books before he felt a little tired and closed the book. The "Ma Zheng Ji Yao" automatically flew up and was about to return to the bookshelf.
Fang Yun was just about to close his eyes and take a rest when an eternal and desolate bell sounded suddenly. This time the bell sounded like the king of the human race and the lord of all realms giving orders to the world, causing Fang Yun's palace to buzz.
Then, Fang Yun heard an old voice ringing in his ears.
"In the spring of the first year, the king's first month. In the third month, the Duke and Zhu Yifu made an alliance at Mie. In the fifth month of summer, Duke Zheng defeated Duan at Yan..."
Fang Yun knew that this was the original text of "Spring and Autumn Annals" compiled by Confucius himself. "Spring and Autumn Annals" recorded the major events of various countries from the first year of Duke Yin of Lu to the fourteenth year of Duke Ai of Lu, spanning two hundred and forty-two years.
It was clearly just a sound, but Fang Yun not only heard grandeur from it, he also heard brightness, majesty, and even the power of the holy way.
Fang Yun's eyes became blurry, and then he found himself entering a colorful light. The light was rushing down like sand and water, and he was swimming upstream along an unknown river of light like a fish.
The river of light contained tremendous pressure. Even the sound of reciting "Spring and Autumn Annals" seemed so small in front of this river. Fang Yun only felt pain all over his body. Every part of his body seemed to be burned by fire, chopped by an axe and pierced by a needle. He was suffering from unspeakable pain. He might be hit into nothingness by the river of light at any time.
Fang Yun could not feel the passage of time, nor could he distinguish up from down, left from right. He only felt that breathing was becoming increasingly difficult and he could die at any time.
Fang Yun found that he had lost all connection with his literary talent and ability, and even felt lonely and abandoned by the world. He didn't know what was going on and panic arose in his heart.
An unknown amount of time had passed before Fang Yun felt himself being drained out of the river by a tremendous force. Then a hazy mist appeared before his eyes and that voice rang out again.
"In the spring of the first year, the king's first month. In the third month, the Duke and Zhu Yifu made an alliance at Mie. In the fifth month of summer, Duke Zheng defeated Duan at Yan..."
This voice was exactly the same as the previous one. Fang Yun's reason told him that the voice was repeated again, but his perception told him that this sentence was actually the same as the previous one and was not a repetition.
Fang Yun found that his perception was extremely absurd. Before he had time to think, he saw the fog in front of him dissipate and a world appeared.
Fang Yun found himself in mid-air, and saw a rather dignified man sitting on a seat in a large hall, with dozens of people kneeling on both sides, discussing state affairs. Fang Yun had never seen such a scene before, but he immediately knew that this was the spring of the first year of Duke Yin of Lu, the first month of the Zhou Dynasty calendar, and the person sitting in front of him was Duke Yin of Lu.
The first paragraph of the original text of "Spring and Autumn Annals" only wrote the time, and did not mention the succession of Duke Yin of Lu at all. However, Fang Yun naturally saw and knew that at this time Duke Hui of Lu had just passed away, and Duke Yin of Lu was only in charge of the state affairs and was a regent, and had not officially become Duke Yin of Lu, so Confucius did not write about it in "Spring and Autumn Annals".
Fang Yun stood in mid-air, watching the process of Duke Yin of Lu taking charge of the State of Lu.
Time passed slowly, and Fang Yun did not miss a single minute. He watched for more than two months without feeling the slightest bit of fatigue or helplessness. It was not until March of the first year that Fang Yun discovered this problem. Thinking about it carefully, the previous two months seemed to be just a moment.
Before Fang Yun could be surprised, the world in front of him arrived at the third month of the first year of Duke Yin of Lu. Fang Yun saw Duke Yin of Lu and Zhu Yifu meeting in Mie, and Fang Yun watched the process of the alliance carefully, without missing a single detail.
Time soon came to May, and the famous "Duke Zheng defeats Duke Duan in Yan" incident took place. Fang Yun even heard Duke Zhuang of Zheng say the famous saying "Those who do too much evil will surely perish by their own doing."
Afterwards, Fang Yun continued to watch all the history recorded in the history book "Spring and Autumn Annals" like an audience, even some events that Confucius deliberately did not mention.
The events of retreating three times, sleeping on firewood and tasting gall, and the friendship between Qin and Jin are all vivid in my mind, and the Battle of Dongmen, the Battle of Changshao, the Battle of Hongshui, etc. are as if I had seen them with my own eyes.
While watching these two hundred years of history, Fang Yun completely lost the concept of time. He didn't even have time to have any distracting thoughts. He just kept watching, observing and thinking about everything and everyone.
"In the spring of the fourteenth year, I caught a unicorn while hunting in the west..."
It was not until the 14th year of the reign of Duke Ai of Lu that Confucius met the Qilin, was canonized as a saint, and the "Spring and Autumn Annals" was officially completed.
The world in front of Fang Yun's eyes gradually became blurred. Through the hazy mist, Fang Yun saw the back of an old man.
The old man was very thin, holding a knife and a pen, silently carving words on the bamboo slips. His hair was all white, and he looked very old, but the hand holding the knife and pen was extremely strong. He carved very slowly, and Fang Yun could not see what he was carving, but he felt that his carving was very smooth and flowing.
Fang Yun looked at the figure that was becoming increasingly fainter. At the moment when the world in front of him completely disappeared, the figure suddenly grew larger, connecting heaven and earth and illuminating all the worlds.
"Hiss..."
Fang Yun felt a black screen in front of his eyes and a chill in his head. He slowly opened his eyes and found that he was still sitting on the chair for the second competition. A book was less than a foot above the table and was flying towards the bookshelf in mid-air.
The words "Ma Zheng Ji Yao" are written on the cover of the book.
Fang Yun clearly remembered that the moment he entered the mysterious river, the book "Chronicles of the Horse Administration" in front of him was about to return to the bookshelf!
Fang Yun was confused, then he tried hard to recall, thinking that he was right, he had clearly spent more than two hundred years in an unknown place, and had carefully read the history of the Spring and Autumn Period for more than two hundred years, but how come only a moment had passed in reality
"Fang Yun, what's wrong with you?" Qiao Juze stopped reading and looked at Fang Yun nervously. He didn't care about wasting time reading. Even the Ten Nations Competition was not as important as Fang Yun's situation.
Many people stopped reading and looked over. Some of them even had joy hidden in their eyes, hoping that something would happen to Fang Yun.
Fang Yun immediately understood that these people had not heard the bell just now, and had no idea what they had experienced, so he smiled and said, "Nothing, I'm just a little tired from reading too much. I'm not going to read anymore, I'll take a break."
"That's good." Qiao Juze observed Fang Yun carefully and was surprised to find that Fang Yun's eyes seemed to flash with brilliance, and Fang Yun's eyes became deeper than before, which made Qiao Juze think that he was looking at an experienced university scholar.
Seeing Fang Yun close his eyes, Qiao Juze didn't ask any more questions. He suppressed his doubts and continued reading.
Students from other countries continued their studies with either happiness or disappointment.
Fang Yun felt that all the strength in his body had been drained away. He lay lazily in the chair, not wanting to think about anything or do anything. He didn't even want to guess what the river was, or think about why he heard the bell again after reading ten thousand books.
Fang Yun's breathing became lighter and lighter, and finally he fell into a peaceful sleep.
"Hoo..." Fang Yun couldn't help snoring, but with just a little sound, he was enveloped by an invisible force, isolating himself from the inside and outside. (To be continued...)