In the Jinshi hunting ground, Jinshi from ten countries were scattered everywhere, looking at each other.
The atmosphere at the scene was a bit weird.
Many Jinshi from the four old great powers, Shu, Qi, Yun and Wu, looked at the other countries with smiles on their faces.
The rankings of the Ten-Nation Competition and the Jinshi Spring Hunt have been very close over the years. For more than a hundred years, the four old major countries have firmly occupied the top four positions.
The Jia, Qing and Yue countries have always been in the middle, while the Jing, Gu and Shen countries have always been at the end as a foil.
But something big happened in last year's Ten-Nation Competition. Qing Kingdom was squeezed out of the middle-level countries and became the lowest-level countries, resulting in a significant reduction in all admission quotas from students to Jinshi this year.
Most people in Qing have a love-hate relationship with Fang Yun. They love him because they respect the strong in their bones, and they are grateful to Fang Yun for improving the overall strength of the human race. They hate Fang Yun because he has caused too much trouble for Qing. Not only did he suppress the whole state in terms of literature, he even pushed Qing out of the list of medium-sized countries, which became a great shame for the scholars in Qing.
Jiaguo was also surpassed by Jingguo, but because it was still ranked among the medium-sized countries, the people of Jiaguo did not have much resentment towards Fang Yun. It was just that the Lei family of Jiaguo hated Fang Yun to the core, and the hatred was too deep to be reversed.
Among the Qing Kingdom's Jinshi, one of them suddenly bowed to Fang Yun and said, "My name is Xun Cong, nice to meet you Fang Xusheng. Not only have I learned all your war poems and courage-building poems, I have also read your masterpieces over and over again. I have no personal grudge against you. For personal reasons, I should respect you, but for the public, we, the Jinshi of Qing, must defeat Jing at all costs! If Qing loses to Jing again in the Spring Hunt, we will surely bear the infamy!"
Li Fanming of Qi State said slowly, "Why bother? You have all heard about Fang Yun's battle at Denglongtai. Although his story at the Heavenly Tree cannot be spread to outsiders, everyone knows it. Although Brother Xun's strength is close to that of the Seven Scholars of the Holy Academy, he is probably a thousand Ji Zhibais behind Fang Yun. In this Spring Hunt, I estimate that Jing State will still surpass you."
The scholars were stunned and looked at Ji Zhibai who was not far from Fang Yun. Most of them tried to control their expressions and not laugh, but those who were on good terms with Fang Yun did not hide their smiles at all.
Especially those who were greatly helped by Fang Yun in the Holy Ruins, who already hated Ji Zhibai, laughed even more wantonly.
Only Ji Shouyu, one of the seven Jinshi of the Holy Academy and a member of King Wen's family, looked into the distance of the hunting ground. The Bagua diagram in his eyes slowly turned without the slightest smile.
No matter how good-tempered Ji Zhibai was, he couldn't remain indifferent. He lowered his head slightly, lowered his eyes, clenched his teeth tightly, and moved the muscles of his face.
"You should say less." Fang Yun said to Li Fanming. Now is not the time to discuss personal grudges. This is the most intense contest between countries, second only to literary battles. Fang Yun can distinguish the priorities.
"Okay." Li Fanming smiled slightly, realizing that it was not appropriate for him to say such things.
Lei Li said, "Little kid from Qi Country, the wind is strong in the ancient deserted city. Be careful not to bite your tongue. Spring hunting is for one country, not just Fang Yun! In last year's Ten Countries Competition, if the Jinshi from Jia Country and Qing Country had not been affected by Fang Yun and performed poorly, how could we fall behind Jing Country again!"
"Lei Shikuang, Senior Lei, I know you are extraordinary and I definitely cannot compare to you. But I can guarantee that this time Jing Kingdom is very likely to successfully rank fifth and become the first medium-sized country after the four great countries!" Li Fanming had a smile on his face.
Lei Li was unmoved. He said, "I know what tricks you are playing, but I won't argue with you. Before the spring hunt, we, the Jinshi of Jia Country, had already made a decision to kill a monster on the mountain! Even if the whole army is annihilated, we will not hesitate!"
Many Jinshi were moved and looked at Jinshi Jiaguo in surprise.
Other places are fine, but the three demon mountains in the hunting ground are different.
If someone is on the verge of death in other places, the power left by the Semi-Saint will rescue them in advance. However, once they enter the Three Demon Mountains, the power left by the Semi-Saint will not rescue them in advance, but will wait until they are injured before rescuing them, which can often be a step late and occasionally lead to death.
This was a deliberate arrangement by the Semi-Saint so that the human scholars could understand how to advance and retreat, and know how to make choices.
Fang Yun looked carefully at the people of Jia Country and found that they had firm eyes and were not surprised at all. They had actually made up their minds.
In the Qing country team, a scholar in his early forties who was about the same age as Lei Li said, "Brother Lei is so heroic, I admire him. Since the scholar from Jia country has such courage, how can our Qing country fall behind? My fellow writers from Qing country, it is not shameful to lose to Fang Xusheng, but we cannot afford to lose to Jing country! Then, we will use the fourth plan for this spring hunt. If our ranking on the literary list is lower than that of Jing country, we will go straight to the Monster Mountain!"
When Fang Yun heard that the other party was Zong Bu, he was shocked, because Zong Bu was a fierce god.
Zong Bu was different from other geniuses. He was mediocre and unremarkable before the age of 30. But after three years of training in Liangjie Mountain, his strength improved by leaps and bounds and he was valued by the Zong family. However, just because he was not from the main family, he was designated as a "Gu Jinshi".
The so-called Gu Jinshi are similar to those Juren who did not participate in the Jinshi exam in order to enter the Holy Ruins. They suppress their realm for some purpose and do not improve. These people may improve their literary status after completing their mission, or their descendants may receive extremely high treatment.
But some people also believe that this is one of the means for the main family to weaken the side branches.
Because there is a difference between Zongbu and the Juren who enter Shengxu, that is, those who enter Shengxu can make great progress in their abilities and lay the foundation for promotion to a higher literary position in the future.
Zong Bu is different from other Jinshi. He has been participating in the Jinshi Spring Hunting for many years. He has gained very little, but the entire Zong family and Qing country have gained huge benefits, which has delayed his own future and the way of the saint.
The reason why Zongbu is called an evil god is because he is bloodthirsty by nature. Killing monsters has become an instinct for him, and he specifically chooses powerful monsters to kill.
Five years ago, Zong Bu killed a holy demon commander!
Three years ago, Zong Bu killed an ordinary demon lord!
Last year, Zong Bu hunted down the Holy Clan Demon Lord alone!
Even when Fang Yun was at the Heavenly Tree, he could only kill the royal demon lord, and he won at the cost of hurting himself, and he was almost killed in return.
Moreover, that royal demon marquis was not a peak demon marquis, but only a second-level demon marquis, equivalent to the second-level Hanlin of the human race.
The human Hanlin has to break through seven palaces, while the demon princes have to break through seven plains. The Hanlin Palace has borrowed the model of the demon race to a certain extent.
Fang Yun suspected that if this Zongbu fought hard, he should be at the level of a Fourth Palace Hanlin, a bit stronger than Lei Li.
After all, Zong Sheng is still alive, which has a great influence on the blood power of the Zong family. If measured by the standards of the demon clan, Zong Bu is not an ordinary demon commander, but a demon commander of the saint clan.
Zong Wude said helplessly: "Uncle, can I not go to the Monster Mountain? I am afraid of death. Yukong, you have the potential to be a semi-saint. If you lose your life in the Monster Mountain, it will be so worthless! Everyone in Qing Country, our Zong family hates Fang Yun to the bone, but you don’t. Who among you has not received benefits from Fang Yun? If you lose, you lose. If you win, you win. Don’t joke with your own life."
Yan Yukong shook his head and said, "No, he lost miserably in the Ten Nations Competition. Judging from his growth rate, this Spring Hunt may be my last chance to defeat him. I can't give up. I'm going to the Monster Mountain."
Xun Zhixing, who had lost to Fang Yun in the literary competition, said with a smile, “Me too!”
Ji Shouyu, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.
"Today's Jinshi hunting ground is different from previous years." (To be continued...)