Li Fanming secretly sent Fang Yun a message through Literary Qi. "I don't know whether you've read the records of previous visits to the Sea of Learning, but very few second poems have ever achieved an effect like this! It would easily rank among the top ten!"
Fang Yun replied, "Lei Mo is a Grand Academician, after all. However gifted his predecessors were, they were only Metropolitan Graduates. They might have had nothing to fear in a contest of Literary Qi, but learning poems also test one's understanding of principles, where experience offers a greater advantage. The higher the Literary Rank, the greater the advantage. If we were writing essays or Classic Interpretations, there would be no question-that Dumb Great Scholar would gallop ahead in a cloud of dust, leaving us far behind."
"Yes, Lei Mo already performed admirably with his Poem on Exhorting Learning, and this cherishing learning poem has taken him another step higher. This man... if he gains benefits from the Sea of Learning, then with the additional help of Wenqu Descent, he'll probably become a Great Scholar for certain. The other Grand Academicians aren't weak, either. You're practically racing against several Great Scholars. Besides, learning poems have many different effects. Some help with fishing but might do little for the race, and that's beyond your control. Even if you could control it, focusing on speed at the expense of fishing might cost you many good Literary Heart Fish."
"There's still some distance to the Outer Sea. Let me think it over," Fang Yun said.
Just then, someone suddenly cried out in excitement, "Brother Li caught a Literary Heart Fish!"
Fang Yun hurriedly looked over. On an ordinary sailboat, a middle-aged Metropolitan Graduate gripped his fishing rod tightly in his right hand while reaching with his left