A Sudden Change

The commotion on Chen Luo's side naturally drew some attention as well. Ji Zhong quietly reminded him at his ear, "Young Master, the Literary Heart has invited you. You should write something. Otherwise, if word gets out, those conservative Confucian scholars who cling to old rules will criticize you..."

Write something? What was he supposed to write?

Chen Luo wore a blank look. I'm not even part of your system, and you still want me to write a report on my ideological thoughts?

What could he write?

Whenever it came to revealing the path in one's heart, other transmigrators would usually flourish their brush and write the Four Sentences of Hengqu, instantly stunning the four corners of the world.

"To establish the heart for heaven and earth, to establish destiny for the people, to continue the lost teachings of the past sages, and to open Taiping for all ages!"

How domineering!

But—

You'd already recited those just now!

What else was there?

"To worry before the world worries, and rejoice after the world rejoices"?

This world already had a Great Scholar named Fan Zhongyan!

The only difference was that he had written Record of the Yunyang Tower instead of Record of the Yueyang Tower.

What was he supposed to do?

He couldn't exactly write, "Fully build a moderately prosperous society and achieve common prosperity," could he?

Even if he did, you people wouldn't understand it...

"I've got it!" A flash of inspiration struck Chen Luo. There seemed to be one sentence this world didn't have.

Once Chen Luo decided to write, he lifted his brush, dipped it in ink, and began to write—

"The rise and fall of the world is the responsibility of every common man!"

The source of this sentence came from Records of Daily Knowledge: Correcting the Beginning, written by the late-Ming, early-Qing thinker Gu Yanwu. The original text was: "Those who protect the state—its ruler, ministers, and those who eat the meat of office—must scheme for it. Those who protect the world—every humble common man bears responsibility for it."

Later, in the late Qing dynasty, Liang Qichao, one of the leaders of the Hundred Days' Reform and a thinker, summarized it into this eight-character formulation.

Just as Chen Luo finished writing, the phantom image of a gigantic tortoise suddenly appeared over the paper, a stone stele carried upon its back.

"Bixi Carrying Stele!" the people around them cried out in alarm. Even Wei Yan turned his head to look, a clear trace of astonishment appearing on his face.

Ji Zhong was overjoyed. "Young Master, this is the Literary Bixi phenomenon. It means your words are sufficient to bear an entire literary path. Regardless of whether it matches this Literary Heart, this article has the potential to establish an immortal saying. Hurry and keep writing! Look, that stone stele is completely bare..."

Chen Luo rolled his eyes at Ji Zhong. You tell me to keep writing, so I'm supposed to keep writing? Don't I have any dignity?

I know these eight words are amazing, of course. The problem is that I only know these eight words. What am I supposed to write next?

What is this, the college entrance exam? Does it need to be at least eight hundred words?

Chen Luo ranted furiously inside, but his face showed nothing unusual. He looked completely confident, as if victory were already in his grasp.

"I'll just treat it as an argumentative essay. The point has already been presented. I'll add a few supporting arguments, then wrap it up with a conclusion..." Before transmigrating, Chen Luo had been a volunteer teacher in a mountainous region, so he had some experience with situations resembling exams.

To be honest, his entire mind was currently focused on finding a path to obtain Red Dust Qi. He truly had never considered the Great Scholar's Literary Heart.

Putting aside the fact that he probably couldn't obtain it, even if he could, he wasn't particularly eager to compete for it.

After all, being a scholar was hard!

Just as Chen Luo was ransacking his mind for famous sayings and allusions from this world that could serve as arguments for those eight words, a sudden "bang" rang out beneath the viewing platform. In the square, a Confucian scholar kicked away the square table formed by the Literary Heart.

The Confucian scholar looked to be around twenty, with an utterly unremarkable appearance. Yet when he opened his mouth, he produced the delicate voice of a young girl, tinged with annoyance. "Hmph! What a lousy Literary Heart! It wouldn't even let this young lady write a single character..."

At the same time, a sinister, hoarse voice rang out of thin air. "Young lady, I told you already. You aren't from Wan'an County's domain. You can't fool the Literary Heart!"

The exchange between the old and young instantly stole Chen Luo's thunder. Every gaze turned toward the Confucian scholar standing in the center of the square. Above the steps, Wei Yan let out a cold snort. "Playing tricks and pretending to be mysterious. I've been waiting for you!"

As Wei Yan spoke, he reached out and grabbed toward the Confucian scholar who had spoken earlier. A book chest suddenly appeared around the scholar, as if it intended to seal him inside. At that moment, the space before the Confucian scholar warped, and an Old Woman with white hair and wrinkled skin emerged from the distorted space.

The Old Woman opened her mouth, and a cloud of black mist flew out, instantly pouncing on the book chest Wei Yan had just formed. The chest visibly began to corrode. Looking closely, one could see that the black cloud was actually composed of densely packed tiny insects, which were gnawing at Wei Yan's Confucian spellbook chest.

"Gu?" Wei Yan's expression changed. "Who are you people?"

The Confucian scholar spoke again. "Who we are is none of Great Scholar Wei's concern. This Literary Heart belongs to us. Today, we're merely returning it to its rightful owner!"

The Confucian scholar raised his right hand high. The square table formed by the Literary Heart in the square once again transformed into wisps of azure light, flying toward his raised hand and condensing into the Literary Heart's former shape. Even the square writing desk before Chen Luo on the viewing platform—and the Bixi phantom atop it—resisted for only a moment before shattering with a boom and transforming into azure light that flew toward the Confucian scholar.

"Protect the Literary Heart!" a Confucian scholar suddenly shouted. A thin layer of azure light radiated from his entire body as he charged toward the strange Confucian scholar and the Old Woman. Once those words were spoken, the other Confucian scholars reacted as well, shouting in unison, "Protect the Literary Heart!" as they surged toward the two in the middle of the square.

The Old Woman waved her sleeve again, and another cloud of black mist shot out, scattering as it rushed toward the Confucian scholars. The black mist was naturally made up of individual Gu worms. They easily broke through the Confucian scholars' Righteous Qi defenses and shot into their bodies. In nearly an instant, more than half of the Confucian scholars collapsed.

"Presumptuous!" Wei Yan roared furiously. He pointed at the two with one hand, and in the blink of an eye, a colossal brush that reached the heavens appeared above the strange Confucian scholar and the Old Woman. Its tip swept across the air, sending a black ink mark flying toward them. In the unseen depths, it seemed that anyone touched by that ink mark would vanish from heaven and earth.

Great Scholar Divine Ability: Annihilation Stroke!

The Old Woman took a deep breath. Three pairs of crystalline insect wings suddenly sprouted from her back, while her body abruptly stretched taller, revealing exquisite curves. She transformed from a frail old woman in her twilight years into a graceful young woman in the prime of life. She leaped into the air to meet the falling ink mark, opened her mouth, and let out a roar—but strangely, no sound emerged.

Yet as she made the motion of roaring, the space around her trembled violently, and the ink mark shattered with a boom amid the quaking air.

The strange Confucian scholar gave a light laugh, still speaking in the crisp voice of a young woman. "Mr. Wei, please don't lose your temper. We don't want trouble either. These Confucian scholars were merely struck by Granny Rong's Sleepy Bugs. Their lives aren't in danger..."

At this moment, Granny Rong, now transformed into a young woman, landed again. Azure light blazed in Wei Yan's eyes as he stared fixedly at her. "Incarnation Gu? The Town Profound Division's intelligence was indeed correct. You actually didn't all die out!"

"That's going too far, Mr. Wei. To be fair, even if you all died out, we could still go dig up your graves..." the Confucian scholar replied. Then he turned to Granny Rong and said, "Granny Rong, we have the Literary Heart. Let's go..."

"Dream on!" Wei Yan reached out again, seemingly about to cast another Confucian spell. At that moment, Granny Rong pointed at him. Wei Yan's body jerked to a halt. He looked at the hand with which he had previously shielded Cai Tongchen from the Nether Energy Death Ray, only to see it rapidly turning black.

"You planted a Gu worm in the Nether Energy Death Ray!" Wei Yan looked toward Granny Rong.

Granny Rong said calmly, "If you immediately circulate your Righteous Qi, you'll naturally be able to force the Gu worm out after an hour. If you want to stop us, then wait for death."

After speaking, Granny Rong turned around and grabbed the strange Confucian scholar, intending to leave. Suddenly, a vast Great Scholar aura erupted, no weaker than Wei Yan's. A majestic voice rang out—

"You two, you'd best stay here..."

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