Although Fang Yun's filing copy was only two or three hundred words long, Registrar Zhou read it three times in a row before stopping, his expression growing sadder with every reading.
Fang Yun found it baffling. He knew that this Antithetical Rhymes would have an incomparably enormous effect on this world, especially in this age that vigorously developed War Poetry, but why had Registrar Zhou suddenly become so sorrowful?
Registrar Zhou sighed deeply. "If I had obtained this text back then, how could my poetry have failed to enter the hall of Greater Odes all these years? I thought poetry had ruined my life, but today I learned that my teacher was not Fang Nation-Queller! Why was I not allowed to study this Antithetical Rhymes thirty years ago? Why?!"
Registrar Zhou nearly beat his chest and stamped his feet, barely stopping himself from bursting into loud sobs.
Fang Yun could only persuade him. "Actually, it is not too late for Registrar Zhou to study poetry now."
But Registrar Zhou said, "Too late! Our hearts are covered in dust, our Literary Guts have dimmed. Even if we learn this Antithetical Rhymes, we cannot obtain the spiritual grace of poetry. Our best years have already passed. We now have only two paths: continue walking the great paths of 'benevolence,' 'righteousness,' 'courage,' and the like, until one day our deep accumulation erupts in sudden brilliance and our Literary Rank rises again and again. Or pursue fame, wealth, and rank, secure riches and honor for our descendants, and hope that future generations can walk farther along the path of Literary Rank."
"You chose deep accumulation and sudden breakthrough?" Fang Yun asked.
"I chose the latter. Or rather, more than eighty percent of people would choose the latter. The reason the Left Prime Minister possessed