The instant Fang Yun finished writing the poem's title, Gu Mingzhou, Minister of Personnel, said coldly, "Void Sage Fang, the journey north is arduous, and returning will not be easy. Do not bring ruin upon yourself!"
Gu Mingzhou's voice reverberated through the air. He had actually invoked the power of a Grand Academician to threaten Fang Yun.
Many scholars shouted for him to stop, but none dared use Tongue Blossoms Thunder, fearing they might disturb Fang Yun.
Fang Yun turned a deaf ear to him and slowly continued writing.
What did I care if my head fell today?
Founding a great cause was hard, its battles beyond count.
I would go to the realm of the dead and summon my old troops,
With a hundred thousand banners, behead Yama!
Every stroke seemed to ring with the clang of metal, as though giving voice to Fang Yun's feelings at that moment.
Establishing great deeds required countless battles. The process of slaughtering demons and destroying barbarians was fraught with hardship, but what did it matter if he was killed now? Even if he died in battle, he would gather his fallen comrades in the Underworld. Beneath fluttering banners, he would lead all his old troops to slay the lord of the Underworld, continue building his great cause, and continue fighting the Demon Barbarians there.
Everyone had already realized that this might be an extraordinary poem, but reading it in full astonished them even more.
If the preceding poem, The River All Red, had brimmed with fierce devotion to defending the nation and confidence in certain victory, then Heading North to Subdue the Barbarians, with a Poem for Chancellor Liu brimmed with the spirit of facing death as though returning home and resisting to the very end.
"Even after dying in battle, he