This August Was Anything but Peaceful

On August 15th of the 351st year of the Great Chu Dynasty, several major events occurred on the Azure Dragon Continent.

The first to be targeted was King Qi Wen, Qi State had reigned for seven hundred years, and was assassinated by the Phantom Organization. However, the assassination attempt failed. At the critical moment King Qi Wen's daughter wielded a semi-divine weapon and killed the assassin in front of the palace, saving the precarious King Qi Wen.

To everyone's surprise, King Qi Wen did not reveal the identity of the assassin, but instead acted as if nothing had happened and suppressed the whole matter.

But from that day on, Qi Wudi Conferred Saint by the Qi State, disappeared without a trace.

Besides the shocking assassination of King Qi Wen, which stunned the Azure Dragon Continent, the Yan State also experienced internal strife in August. The Yan State Chancellor Yuwen Hongdu, openly accused the new Yan Emperor of usurping the throne, harming his brothers, and being unworthy to be the King of Yan State. He demanded that the new emperor return the throne to Prince Yan Xun in the Northern Liang Great Grassland.

The new emperor was furious and ordered the arrest of Yuwen Hongdu. Yuwen Hongdu was prepared and went directly to the Yan Yun Twelve Cities. Subsequently, the Yan Yun Twelve Cities simultaneously declared their independence from the new emperor's rule and recognized Yan Xun as the new emperor of Yan. With the support of the Yan Yun Twelve Cities, Yan Xun joined forces with the Northern Liang Great Grassland and sent an army of 500,000 to invade Yan State. Thus, the Yan State officially began.

During this Yan State, the Sage Yan remained silent and indifferent, neither taking sides, a stance that is quite intriguing.

This August is destined to be an extraordinary one.

With Yan State and the assassination of the Qin Shi Huang of Qi State, Qin Shi Huang, who is determined to unify the Azure Dragon Continent, will certainly take action. Once the Qin State war machine is set in motion, the entire Azure Dragon Continent will usher in the first five-nation war in five thousand years.

However, the Qin State remained completely silent throughout August, which surprised everyone on the Azure Dragon Continent, including within the Qin State itself.

According to the information obtained from the investigation, Qin Shi Huang was very busy during this period and had no interest in state affairs. He would frequently visit a small shop on Chang'an Street in Tianzhu City.

The small shop behind it was naturally discovered to be a branch of the famous Mysterious Bookstore, the Mysterious Bookstore Branch Two, which was renowned throughout the Azure Dragon Continent.

As for why Qin Shi Huang visited the Mysterious Bookstore Branch Two so frequently, that remains unknown.

The world has never lacked intelligent people, and their research into the events that occurred in the Qin, Qi, and Yan states revealed a very strange thing.

The Qi State assassin died at the hands of a semi-divine artifact, which was the Qi State princess's reward from the Epic-grade- quality book "Lotus Lantern" in the Mysterious Bookstore —the semi-divine weapon, the Azure Peak Sword!

The Yan State Chancellor Yuwen Hongdu, openly accused the new emperor of illegitimate accession and treason. According to rumors, Yuwen Hongdu had comprehended the Emperor's Aura in the Mysterious Bookstore "Han Feizi," which gave him the great courage to confront the new emperor head-on.

Qin Shi Huang didn't even need inside information; everyone knew he frequented the Mysterious Bookstore Branch Two every few days.

It can be said that the major events that occurred in the Qin, Qi, and Yan states in August were all related to this small shop that had been open for less than a year.

If the states of Qin, Qi, and Yan were in such a state, one can only imagine what happened to the Chu Kingdom, the headquarters of the Mysterious Bookstore.

In August, the Chu Kingdom announced the completion of the establishment of the Confucian Dao Academy, which would officially open on September 1. Students from various colleges could enroll in the Confucian Dao Academy within this month. The course of study would last for three years, and after three years, these graduates could participate in the triennial imperial examinations established by the Chu Kingdom.

Those who excelled in the imperial examinations would be promoted to high-ranking positions and become the backbone of the Chu Kingdom in the future.

For those students who lacked talent in cultivation but were obsessed with power, this was definitely a path to advancement. So, in August, the scorching sun ignited the enthusiasm of these students, and the Confucian Dao Academy throughout the Chu Kingdom saw a surge in enrollment.

This is also related to the Mysterious Bookstore; the books studied at the Confucian Dao Academy are the 'Four Books and Five Classics' provided by the Mysterious Bookstore.

If we're talking about which of the five kingdoms is still connected to the Mysterious Bookstore, then it's the Zhao State.

Since it has nothing to do with the Mysterious Bookstore, Zhao State naturally can't participate and can only continue to remain in the shadows...

This August was actually far more eventful, exciting, and lively for Dubian Town than for the rest of the five countries.

Under the scorching sun, at the entrance to the Journey to the Journey to the West dungeon in the plum grove Zhenbei, thousands of people were gathered, the crowd dense and the noise deafening.

"The Spirit Saint is leading the team. We're one short. Cultivation level is not limited. The only requirement is that you have read the entire 'Journey to the West' and can remember the plot. No freeloaders allowed, or we'll kill you and not bury you!"

"We have three Spirit Saints, but we need one brother who has read the entire 'Journey to the West.' There are no restrictions on cultivation level; as long as you can pass the written test, you can keep 30% of the profits."

"Buying a Literary Examination Qualification Certificate for five million Spirit Crystal. Brothers who have one to sell, please contact me."

"That's asking for too much! Wouldn't Spirit Emperor realm be enough? I only need 10% of the profits."

"Yes... let me in and broaden my horizons too. I don't want any benefits. Although I'm not very strong, I'll definitely obey." A cultivator at the Spirit Venerable realm pleaded.

But nobody paid them any attention.

"I... I... I happened to go into the Mysterious Bookstore yesterday and read that 'Journey to the West' book. I should still remember it by now." Seven cultivators at the Spirit King realm blushed and raised their hands, shouting.

"Whoosh whoosh"

Then he was dragged away.

"Young man, come to me. If you can lead us to pass the written exam, you'll get thirty percent of the profits," a Spirit Saint figure grabbed his arm and Captivate him.

"Don't listen to Blind Wang, little brother. If you lead them to pass the written test, you'll definitely be kicked out. Come to me. I can give you a ninth-tier spiritual weapon first, and after you pass, the four of you will split 25% of the rewards." Another powerful Spirit Saint grabbed his other arm and said.

This nobody at the Spirit King realm was captured by two Spirit Saints, and he was so happy he almost fainted.

If this had happened ten days ago, these important figures wouldn't have even given him a second glance.

So what is the reason?

Ten days ago, Ma Feifei, the owner of the Mysterious Bookstore, along with his three employees, entered the Journey to the Journey to the West instance under the watchful eyes of many cultivators, holding a Literary Examination Qualification Certificate.

The process was invisible to the public, there was no projection, but after the owner of the Mysterious Bookstore came out, he openly showed everyone the profits.

Two divine artifacts, three Divine Abilities and Spells, and several divine-grade elixirs...

Then the entire Dubian Town was blown up, completely blown up!

The result of the explosion was that the Literary Examination Qualification Certificate was sold for more than five million Spirit Crystal and was in short supply; as a result, the Journey to the West to the West instance ten miles outside the Zhenbei was crowded with people, and important figures entered the Journey to the West instance every day with their Literary Examination Qualification Certificate.

However, they soon discovered that this instance was too difficult, and all the cultivators died in the first stage, the so-called written test.

Faced with the various questions about "Journey to the West"Journey to the West in the written exam, these Tongtian powerful figures were completely baffled, because they had never even read the book!

Then the copy of "Journey to the West" in the Mysterious Bookstore became the most popular book, but only one person could read it per day, and it was impossible to finish reading the whole book.

Including the Literary Examination Qualification Certificate, a total of forty-nine were issued in the previous event. Every time one is used, one is gone. After ten days, it would be good if there were still ten Literary Examination Qualification Certificate left.

So until now, apart from the time with the Mysterious Bookstore owner, no team has been able to clear the Journey to the Journey to the West dungeon.

Although no one was able to complete the game, everyone at least got a basic understanding of the Journey to the Journey to the West instance, knowing that the trials were divided into two stages: the literary test and the martial test. The literary test involved answering questions from Journey to the West, and those who answered correctly would be able to enter the martial test.

The martial arts test is simple; it relies purely on your own strength. The difficulty of the dungeon will be adjusted based on the team's strength, and the team can obtain various artifacts, magic weapons, Divine Abilities and Spells, and other rewards dropped by these monsters after defeating them.

Of course, the cultivation level of the monsters in it is at least at the Spirit Emperor realm; it won't be lowered, it will only be raised.

Therefore, although this instance offers great rewards, due to the restrictions on the Literary Examination Qualification Certificate and cultivation level, it is destined to be a game that only important figures can play.

Unless you can read the book "Journey to the West", there is no hope of getting in. (8)