A Son of a Poor Family

Cold Gate Descendant

Saint Origin Continent, Jing Kingdom, Jiang Prefecture, Dayuan Prefecture, Ji County.

The sky was as clear as jade, the sunlight bright, and birds chirped merrily while fallen leaves and petals scattered by the night's rain littered the ground, brimming with the vibrant breath of spring.

Fang Yun felt chilled to the bone, waking with a sudden start to open his eyes and stare blankly at his surroundings.

Finding himself lying upon the bluestone slabs of a small alley with the ground damp beneath him, Fang Yun scrambled hurriedly to his feet while leaning against the wall, at the same time feeling a fiery, throbbing pain throughout his entire body.

I clearly remember a fire breaking out in the library, and then I jumped out to escape. How did I end up here? What is this place? Fang Yun wondered in perplexity.

Noticing out of the corner of his eye that his clothes were wrong, Fang Yun looked down and his face drained of color—he was actually dressed in ancient coarse hempen garments stained with muddy water and blood, and his arms were thin and small.

A small puddle lay nearby, and when Fang Yun lowered his gaze, the water reflected his features.

Isn't this me at fourteen or fifteen years old?

Suddenly, a splitting headache assailed Fang Yun's brain, making stars dance before his eyes as a vast amount of memories flooded into his mind. Gritting his teeth to the utmost, sweat oozed from his forehead.

Not knowing how much time had passed, Fang Yun finally calmed down, his gaze profoundly complex as he slowly sorted through the extra memories.

So this place is no longer Earth, but the Saint Origin Continent, a place I have never heard of. This youth, also named Fang Yun, has been beaten to death by someone. Could it be that I fell to my death in the library and then fortuitously occupied his body? Is this the legendary resurrection from the dead?

This Fang Yun's deepest desire was to become a Licentiate and possess literary talent to bring honor to his ancestors. This place actually possesses a power called "literary qi," allowing scholars to control the "primordial qi of heaven and earth" through literary qi and gain even greater strength. It is simply unheard of.

Eh? The history here...

Fang Yun discovered that aside from the existence of the Demon Barbarians, the history of the Saint Origin Continent was completely normal prior to the Shang Dynasty, but underwent massive changes starting from the late Shang.

In the twilight of the Shang Dynasty, Marquis Xi of Chang, Ji Chang—later known as King Wen of Zhou—observed the sun, moon, and stars to write the ancient masterpiece, the Book of Changes. Portents manifested in the heavens, literary talent was infused, he was enfeoffed as the Second Saint by Heaven, and he set out from Xiqi to overthrow King Zhou.

The Xiqi army advanced like a broken bamboo, arriving days later beneath Chaoge City, the capital of the Shang Dynasty. The city gates suddenly swung wide open, and one hundred thousand demons, three hundred thousand barbarians, and a million Great Shang soldiers surged forth like a tidal wave, surrounding the two hundred thousand Xiqi troops.

King Zhou of Shang stood atop the city tower embracing the fox demon Daji, cursing the Xiqi troops before giving the order for a general offensive. Just as the Xiqi troops were on the verge of facing annihilation, King Wen of Zhou descended from the sky treading upon azure clouds.

Clad in white robes, King Wen gazed sideways with stern brows as he recounted the ten great sins of King Zhou of Shang. For every single sin spoken, the national fortune of the Great Shang diminished by ten percent, and King Zhou aged ten years. When King Wen finished speaking, the national fortune of the Great Shang shattered into nothingness, and King Zhou stood on the brink of the grave, breathing his last.

King Wen's literary qi transformed into a blazing sun hanging high in the sky. Clutching the sacred Book of Changes, he chanted aloud, and tiny golden characters flew forth from his mouth, growing larger and larger until they reached the size of a man. Countless golden characters orbited the literary qi sun, radiating brilliant light that illuminated the entire realm.

The golden light did not harm the human race, but the one hundred thousand demons and three hundred thousand barbarians suddenly let out shrill, agonizing cries as their bodies split open from the inside out, blood spraying everywhere as they fell dead one after another.

In the end, all five barbarian sages perished, and of the three great demons, only one escaped.

At Muye, blood flowed deep enough to float pestles.

King Zhou collapsed and passed away, and a million Great Shang soldiers surrendered entirely.

Later generations praised King Wen of Zhou: Slaughtering demons and barbarians with a single hand, pacifying the realm in solitary splendor.

Afterward, King Wen passed the throne to King Wu, devoting himself wholeheartedly to the study of the Book of Changes and living to the age of five hundred.

From then on, no one else in the world possessed literary qi until Confucius was born.

When the Saint Confucius was born, his appearance was unseemly and unusual, and he was abandoned in the wilderness. The weather was intensely hot, and a bald eagle descended, beating its wings to fan him and dispel the scorching heat, while a tigress carried Confucius in her jaws back to her lair and suckled him with tiger milk. Thus, later generations said that Confucius was "born of a dragon, raised by a tiger, and fanned by an eagle."

Later, the tigress returned Confucius to his mother, and his mother raised him with meticulous care.

Confucius's mother was a concubine, and after his father passed away, Confucius and his mother were driven out by his father's legitimate wife.

In his youth, Confucius was extremely impoverished, and after being enfeoffed as a saint, he once said to his disciples, "I was lowly in my youth, hence I am skilled in many menial crafts." This meant that he was very poor when he was young, and thus knew many coarse trades and skills.

Confucius was ordinary in his youth, only displaying extraordinary qualities in middle age as he traveled among the various states.

In his old age, Confucius returned to the Lu State to serve as an official, ultimately holding the position of Minister of Crime, one of the highest officials of the Lu State, but he was eventually edged out and resigned from office.

Following his resignation, Confucius re-edited the Book of Songs, Book of Documents, Book of Rites, and Classic of Music, and wrote a preface to King Wen's Book of Changes. Finally, Confucius personally compiled the Spring and Autumn Annals. When the book was completed, literary qi soared to the heavens, Heavenly Flowers Cascading fell, the stars shone in unison, thousands of li of rosy clouds appeared, ten thousand li of thunder rumbled, and the entire world shook as he attained the realm of Second Saint.

Confucius went into seclusion for ten years after his sainthood enfeoffment.

Not long afterward, that snake race demon sage who had fled the War of Shang and Zhou six hundred years prior made further breakthroughs through cultivation to become a great sage, harboring delusions of avenging the annihilation of the demons and barbarians by King Wen, and launched a massive invasion.

The power of a great sage slightly surpassed that of a human Second Saint, something even the King Wen of yesteryear could not quite match.

The allied demon-barbarian forces reached the gates of Jade Sea City, throwing the myriad common folk into panic.

Just as the demons and barbarians were about to attack the city, Confucius arrived flying aboard the literary treasure known as the States Carriage, grasping the Spring and Autumn Book in his left hand and holding the Spring and Autumn Brush in his right. Catching sight of the snake race great sage, he smiled and said, "Food cannot be too fine, minced meat cannot be too thin. I invite the great sage to enter my urn, where raging fires shall cook him."

The million demons and barbarians flew into a rage, but they saw Confucius raise his brush as winds and clouds surged and the colors of heaven and earth shifted. The Spring and Autumn Brush wrote the character "execute" nine times in succession, with each stroke acting as a blade that executed the snake race great sage, splitting him into ten pieces. Confucius then cooked him before the public, consuming the hundred-zhang-long snake race great sage all by himself.

During the cooking process, the million-strong allied demon-barbarian army attempted to flee, but Confucius casually tossed out the literary treasure, the Spring and Autumn Book. It blotted out the heavens for three thousand li, and with a single sweep of the great volume, a million demons and barbarians were rolled up and killed.

The common folk knelt and prostrated, crying out to him as a saint.

Later, Confucius founded the first academy, Qufu Academy, breaking the educational monopoly of that era and enrolling thirty thousand ordinary disciples, three thousand personal disciples, and seventy-two wise disciples.

All those who took Confucius as their master naturally possessed literary qi after their studies.

Later, Confucius made a further breakthrough, attaining the rank of Saint—unprecedented before him, and unsurpassed after him.

The Saint penetrated the mysteries of heaven, perceiving a hidden, catastrophic crisis for the human race. Thus, he rode the States Carriage, going in solitude up the Three Barbarian Regions, down the Four Seas, and ascending the Five Demon Mountains to compel the demon and barbarian races to sign the Millennium Truce.

No one knew the specific details of Confucius going up the Three Barbarian Regions, down the Four Seas, and ascending the Five Mountains, only that after Confucius returned, he visited all the Hundred Schools and thereafter remained in seclusion without coming out.

Following Confucius's seclusion, Mencius, Xunzi, Zengzi, Zisi, and Yan Zi, having received Confucius's personal teachings, successively were enfeoffed as Half-Sages, ranking second only to the Second Saint.

Disciples of the Confucian School no longer stood in antagonism against the other Hundred Schools. Confucius's grandson Zisi even put forward the concept of "taking the Hundred Schools as teachers," actively seeking instruction from the Hundred Schools and assisting them in learning literary qi. Mozi of the Mohist School, Han Feizi of the Legalist School, Lü Buwei of the Miscellaneous School, Xu Xing of the Agricultural School, and Sun Tzu of the School of War were successively enfeoffed as Half-Sages.

It was not until Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang beheaded the white snake demon and raised the banner of rebellion that the disciples realized Confucius was about to pass away.

When Confucius passed away, his saint body transformed into a pillar of literary qi smoke that shot straight into the clouds, lingering long without dispersing, visible to everyone in the world. Three days later, the pillar of literary qi smoke split into three parts: one entered Qufu Academy, one entered the thirty thousand disciples, and one entered the world at large.

The five Half-Sages—Mencius, Xunzi, Zengzi, Zisi, and Yan Zi—made a further breakthrough as a result, becoming Second Sages.

From then on, the Age of Literary Qi was ushered in.

From then on, the Contention of a Hundred Schools ultimately converged upon Confucianism.

Without the tragedy of the Suppression of the Hundred Schools, the human race flourished greatly.

Following the death of Confucius, Qufu Academy was renamed the "Sacred Academy," holding a transcendent status.

The Sacred Academy gradually perfected the power of literary qi, carrying out the unfulfilled will of Confucius by absorbing the essence of the Hundred Schools, promoting people solely on the basis of talent, and establishing the ten literary ranks: Licentiate, Academy Student, Provincial Graduate, Metropolitan Graduate, Hanlin Academician, Grand Academician, Great Scholar, Half-Sage, Second Saint, and Saint.

The higher a scholar's literary rank, the more literary qi they possessed, and the stronger the primordial qi of heaven and earth they could control.

Fang Yun's heart surged with tumultuous waves; he had never imagined such a miraculous world could exist.

As long as one becomes a Licentiate, they can possess the most basic "literary qi" while receiving a heavenly gift of literary rank. A Licentiate's heavenly gift is "Night Vision," allowing one to see clearly in the dark and study at night without lighting an oil lamp. Becoming an Academy Student is even more extraordinary, granting the ability for "War on Paper." This is not a mocking phrase, but rather the war poetry and war prose written by Academy Students that can transform characters into reality, forming formidable power. Once one's literary rank is higher, there are even more unimaginable heavenly gifted powers.

Fang Yun recalled once more that the Saint Origin Continent had likewise experienced the Qin, Han, and Three Kingdoms periods, and currently, there were ten nations in total upon the Saint Origin Continent. Judging by recent historical figures, he deduced that the current Saint Origin Continent roughly existed prior to the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

Fang Yun mentally tallied the prominent figures recently enfeoffed as saints.

Wang Xizhi, known as the Calligraphy Saint, was enfeoffed as a Half-Sage based on the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion, Peace Note, and Funeral and Disorder Note, ranking second to the Second Saint.

Tao Yuanming was enfeoffed as a Half-Sage relying on The Peach Blossom Spring, Biography of Mr. Five Willows, and Return to the Fields.

Zu Chongzhi was enfeoffed as a Half-Sage by virtue of Methods of Interpolation, Great Bright Calendar, and Meaning of the Changes.

Li Daoyuan was enfeoffed as a Half-Sage by virtue of the Commentary on the Water Classic and the Original Gazetteer.

Fan Zhen was enfeoffed as a Great Scholar—ranking second to a Half-Sage—with his Treatise on the Extinction of the Soul.

Yet, there was no Li Bai! There was no Du Fu!

There was no Bai Juyi! There was no Wang Changling!

There was no Li Shangyin! There was no Wen Tingyun!

There was no Wang Wei! There was no Du Mu!

There was no Han Yu! There was no Liu Zongyuan!

There was no Yan Zhenqing! There was no Liu Gongquan!

There was no Su Dongpo! There was no Ouyang Xiu!

There was no Lu You! There was no Li Qingzhao!

There was no Lu Jiuyuan! There was no Cheng Yi or Cheng Hao! There was no Zhu Xi! There was no Wang Yangming!

Not a single prominent figure from the Sui Dynasty and afterward existed here!

Taking a deep breath, Fang Yun knew that without a doubt, for him, this might just be the greatest of eras!

Suddenly, Fang Yun's expression shifted slightly, for he only now remembered his current identity and today's date.

This Fang Yun came from an impoverished background with his parents long deceased, leaving him with only a child bride named Yuhuan who was three years his senior.

The Fang family had originally been unable to afford a child bride, but Yuhuan had been brought along by her father while fleeing famine and was taken in by the Fang family. Her father stole what little money the Fang family had to gamble, but after losing and resorting to cheating, he was beaten to within an inch of his life. Before dying, he said he was selling Yuhuan to the Fang family as a child bride to repay the debt owed to them.

Yuhuan had been a budding beauty since childhood, and grew up to be exceptionally lovely, hailed by the neighbors as the "Xishi of Jiang Prefecture." Even though the family lacked money and she wore only the simplest of coarse cloth skirts, it could not conceal her peerless grace.

After his parents passed away, Fang Yun and Yuhuan depended on each other for survival, with Yuhuan being dexterous with her hands and earning a living by doing needlework.

Fang Yun studied at a private school in the morning and began working as a laborer at the Auspicious Restaurant at noon to make a living, single-mindedly wishing to pass the Licentiate examination.