Everyone froze. They had never expected that, even at a time like this, Fang Yun would show neither fear nor discouragement. He remained just as he had always been.
Ge Yiming laughed in anger. "Void Sage Fang, oh, Void Sage Fang, no one can rival your skill at talking tough. If all the scholars under heaven held a literary contest in sitting unmoved as a storm approached, you would unquestionably take first place. Things have come to this, and you still intend to continue the literary assembly? This assembly ended the moment we arrived! You still haven't answered my question. You, Fang Yun-what can you do to me?"
Countless people from the Jing Kingdom flew into a rage, and many scholars rose angrily to their feet. Everyone knew Ge Yiming was deliberately provoking Fang Yun, trying to force him into making a fool of himself, but this provocation had gone far too far. One was a Metropolitan Graduate, the other a Grand Academician; one held an idle official post, the other was a Void Sage. To provoke someone so vastly superior in status and standing bordered on a breach of propriety.
People from the other kingdoms frowned at Ge Yiming, their faces showing disgust. Earlier, his position might have obliged him to attack Fang Yun. Now, however, the outcome was all but settled, and the Qing Kingdom's side could practically celebrate its victory in advance. Yet Ge Yiming remained relentlessly aggressive, and the man he was pressing was the only living Void Sage.
Many people shook their heads gently. They had initially assumed Ge Yiming was simply young and hotheaded, but on a stage as grand as the Ten Kingdoms, they finally saw that, in his bones, he was still a pampered wastrel who thought highly of himself but was