Chapter Summaries

Fang Yun entered the Mountain-Moving Pavilion and found Wei Yu battling a vast Barbarian army by shifting mountains and unleashing floodwaters. After unsettling Wei Yu with news of his earlier success, Fang Yun studied the terrain and prepared to use a powerful strategy that would bring two rivers together against the barbarians.

• Fang Yun entered the fifth pavilion and saw that he and Wei Yu had become giants overlooking mountain ranges, while a Barbarian army attacked Wei Yu.
• Wei Yu shifted mountains to delay the barbarians, then unleashed a flood that swept away thousands of them.
• Wei Yu predicted Fang Yun would lack enough Literary Qi to pass the pavilion, but Fang Yun mentioned how he had disrupted the young State Duke and the Kang and Willow Wind societies in the previous pavilion.
• Wei Yu was distracted and wasted Literary Qi, allowing the barbarians to climb a mountain that disrupted his plan.
• Fang Yun studied the pavilion’s 283 peaks, rivers, and strategic terrain, drawing on his knowledge of Go and military history.
• Fang Yun settled on the mountain-moving method Two Rivers Converging, twin dragons annihilating the barbarians.

Fang Yun used his strategic knowledge and abundant Literary Qi to reshape the mountains and prepare a deadly Two Rivers Converging trap for the Barbarian army. Wei Yu recognized Fang Yun’s careful planning and began to regret underestimating him, while the arriving students speculated about Fang Yun’s restored Literary Qi.

• Fang Yun began moving mountains before the Barbarian army arrived, while Wei Yu watched and wondered why he seemed to be acting randomly.
• Fang Yun redirected the second river through a winding channel and then altered the first river so the two rivers converged in a reservoir surrounded by mountains.
• Wei Yu realized Fang Yun had prepared traps using submerged trees, rolling logs, and sharp stone ridges to kill the Demon Barbarians.
• Wei Yu abandoned his contempt for Fang Yun and regretted underestimating the strategic ability behind his plans.
• The students who entered speculated that Fang Yun’s damaged Literary Heart of Erupting Inspiration had restored enough Literary Qi for him to use Two Rivers Converging.

Fang Yun used Two Rivers Converging to wipe out the Barbarian army in the Mountain-Moving Pavilion, impressing the students with the speed and scale of his attack. He refused Wei Yu’s plea to leave the Academy voluntarily, telling him that Chang Dongyun awaited him at the frontier and Fang Yun would confront him at the sixth pavilion.

• Fang Yun entered the Mountain-Moving Pavilion as the surviving Provincial Graduates conceded that they could not pass it.
• Fang Yun lured the Barbarians into a canyon and unleashed a devastating flood that killed most of their army.
• Fang Yun used the mountains and ceaseless river to finish off the surviving Barbarians, drawing praise from the students.
• Wei Yu begged Fang Yun to let him leave the Academy voluntarily rather than be expelled.
• Fang Yun told Wei Yu that Chang Dongyun was waiting at the frontier and that he was waiting at the sixth pavilion.

Fang Yun entered the Ink Sword Pavilion and carefully examined its brushes before choosing an ordinary wolf-hair brush that transformed the pavilion into a vast lecture hall. Meanwhile, Wei Yu entered the pavilion determined to defeat Fang Yun at any cost.

• The students discussed the Lei Family’s search for a powerful treasure within the Dragon Ascension Platform, and Wei Yu claimed the family’s ties to the Dragon Race would protect it.
• Wei Yu declared that he would use any means necessary to defeat Fang Yun in the Ink Sword Pavilion, then vanished from the Mountain-Moving Pavilion.
• Fang Yun entered the Ink Sword Pavilion and inspected every enormous brush, studying their handles and bristles.
• Fang Yun selected a plain wolf-hair brush, causing the other brushes to vanish and revealing a spacious lecture hall filled with meditation cushions.

Fang Yun entered the Ink Sword Pavilion and studied the calligraphy of its famed predecessors before facing Wei Yu in a contest. Wei Yu revealed a powerful “Yong” character modeled on Chen Guanhai’s brush intent, and Fang Yun began answering with a technique he had learned by watching the Enlightenment River.

• Fang Yun examined the Ink Sword Pavilion’s twenty-seven perfect-score calligraphy works and found inspiration in one of the earlier pieces.
• Wei Yu arrived with a brush and challenged Fang Yun, declaring that he had sacrificed his ambitions to defeat him.
• Wei Yu wrote the character “Yong” using Chen Guanhai’s calligraphic foundations and revealed a powerful watery brush intent.
• Fang Yun criticized Wei Yu for copying Chen Guanhai’s characters without capturing his intent, then began writing his own “Yong” with a technique inspired by the Enlightenment River.

Fang Yun defeated Wei Yu in the Ink Sword Pavilion with his calligraphy, producing two Calligraphy Monuments and leaving Wei Yu wounded and despairing. Qiao Juze arrived and recognized the extraordinary potential in Fang Yun’s writing.

• Fang Yun wrote the character "Yong" with perilous, masterful brushwork, and Wei Yu recognized his potential for the Fourth Calligraphy Realm.
• Fang Yun’s completed "Yong" shattered Wei Yu’s character and formed a Calligraphy Monument.
• Wei Yu wrote a line praising dragons, tigers, swords, and crossbows, but Fang Yun countered with Zhao Mengfu’s words, which overwhelmed Wei Yu’s literary intent.
• Fang Yun’s twelve characters transformed into ink snakes that bit Wei Yu, and a second Calligraphy Monument appeared.
• Qiao Juze entered, praised Fang Yun’s brush methods, and marveled that his written sentence seemed to point toward the Calligraphy Sacred Way.

Fang Yun faced Wei Yu in the Ink Sword Pavilion after Wei Yu chose to use Inklessness, sacrificing his Calligraphy Way to gain power. Fang Yun’s new Regular Script produced overwhelming Ink Swords, and Wei Yu was left crippled after admitting defeat.

• Wei Yu refused to concede, revealing that he intended to use Inklessness and believed the Lei Family would protect him.
• Wei Yu wrote The Great River Flows, pouring out his Calligraphy Way power and transforming his characters into metallic venomous snakes.
• Fang Yun began writing Stele of the Divine Strategy Army in a new Regular Script, and his characters transformed into golden Ink Swords that overwhelmed Wei Yu’s snakes.
• Fang Yun’s Ink Swords pierced Wei Yu and shattered his will; Wei Yu admitted defeat and begged Fang Yun to stop.
• Fang Yun continued writing until Wei Yu’s body and Literary Palace were riddled with wounds, then said he had offered Wei Yu a chance to concede.

Fang Yun defeated Wei Yu in Ink Sword Pavilion with an Ink Sword Blood Stele, while his calligraphy and sword power stunned the students outside. After learning that the Lei Family had lost its wager over the Dragon-Climbing Stone, Lei Yue ordered the family to give it to Fang Yun when the Dragon Ascension Platform opened.

• Fang Yun's Ink Swords formed a bloodstained Calligraphy Monument, and Wei Yu admitted defeat before fainting.
• Qiao Juze praised Fang Yun's three inscriptions, while You Nian learned the details and confirmed that Fang Yun had transformed characters into swords.
• Wei Yu emerged from Lingyan Pavilion, and the swords hidden in his wounds severed several of Lei Yuanting's fingers when he tried to help him.
• You Nian told the gathered students that Fang Yun had nearly killed Wei Yu and that Wei Yu would need two Life-Bestowing Fruits to survive.
• Lei Yuanting reported the defeat to the Lei Family, and Lei Yue ordered that the family give Fang Yun its Dragon-Climbing Stone.

The Lei Family accepted that Fang Yun had won its Dragon-Climbing Stone, but some elders plotted to undermine his reputation during the Ten-Kingdom Competition and punish him inside the Dragon Ascension Platform. Meanwhile, Fang Yun entered the Color-Poem Pavilion, advanced into the First Realm of Painting Way, and worked toward a perfect score with a landscape painting.

• Lei Yue declared that the Lei Family would accept its loss and obtain another Dragon-Climbing Stone, while several elders refused to let the matter rest.
• The elders planned to blame Fang Yun for Jing Kingdom's defeat in the Ten-Kingdom Competition and considered punishing him within the Dragon Ascension Platform.
• Fang Yun entered the Color-Poem Pavilion, where he had to combine poetry and painting to earn the highest score.
• Fang Yun chose to paint a stream landscape and used Wang Wei's and Mi Fu's texture-stroke methods to depict its rocks.
• Fang Yun broke through into the First Realm of Painting Way and added Xia Gui's water-painting methods, bringing the landscape close to a nine-point result.

Fang Yun passed all seven pavilions of Lingyan Pavilion with ten points in each, then entered the gate to claim his reward and chose a star that struck his forehead, leaving him unconscious. His sudden appearance on the plaza made onlookers think he had failed, but an orange pillar of Literary Qi rose from Lingyan Pavilion and silenced Lei Yuanting.

• Fang Yun painted the Pine Grove and Stream Painting and completed it with Wang Wei's poem, bringing the scenery to life through the resonance of poetry and painting.
• Lingyan Pavilion awarded Fang Yun ten points in Color-Poem Pavilion, giving him ten points in all seven pavilions and forming a golden staircase to a reward gate.
• Fang Yun entered the gate, saw stars representing Literary Hearts, chose one, and fainted when it struck his glabella.
• Lingyan Pavilion sent the unconscious Fang Yun to the plaza, where students feared he had failed and Lei Yuanting mocked him.
• An orange pillar of Literary Qi burst from Lingyan Pavilion, cutting off Lei Yuanting's taunts.

After Fang Yun earned perfect scores in all seven Lingyan Pavilion trials, the Literary Qi of the Ten Kingdoms converged on Jing, strengthening its scholars and raising its pillar to sixth place. As Fang Yun awoke to the celebration, members of the Kang Society abandoned Prince Kang’s side in droves, while the young State Duke cursed him from the Middle Residence.

• The orange Literary Qi pillars from the other kingdoms converged on Jing, and Fang Yun’s portrait climbed to first place on Lingyan Pavilion’s Ten Sons rankings with perfect scores in all seven trials.
• The heavens changed in response to Fang Yun’s talent, then Lingyan Pavilion vanished as tens of thousands of students hailed Jing Kingdom’s victory.
• Fang Yun awoke and learned from Qiao Juze that the Talent Convergence in Jing would benefit scholars throughout the kingdom, whose Literary Qi pillar now ranked sixth.
• Four Kang Society Metropolitan Graduates apologized to Fang Yun and withdrew from the society, prompting many others, including students from Prince Kang’s fief in Yan Prefecture, to follow.
• The Kang Society dwindled to fewer than seventy members, and the young State Duke cursed Fang Yun from the Middle Residence.

Fang Yun’s success at Lingyan Pavilion caused students to abandon the Kang Society and Willow Wind Society, while scholars celebrated his achievements and gathered to hear him explain the Zither, Calligraphy, and Painting Ways. With Soaring Clouds Tower overwhelmed by the crowd, Literary Prime Minister Jiang Hechuan announced that Fang Yun would lecture at the Delight in Learning Institute the next morning.

• Dozens of Kang Society members left after the young State Duke failed to suppress Fang Yun, weakening Prince Kang's Residence’s influence in Yan Prefecture.
• Qin Ting, Miao Danian, and other students withdrew from the Willow Wind Society, which fell from a first-rate literary society to a second-rate one.
• Qiao Juze praised Fang Yun’s accomplishments and led a crowd to Soaring Clouds Tower to celebrate and ask him to explain his new techniques.
• Scholars packed Soaring Clouds Tower after hearing Fang Yun would lecture, and its manager pleaded with Fang Yun to move the event because the building was being damaged by the crowd.
• Literary Prime Minister Jiang Hechuan announced that Fang Yun would lecture at the Delight in Learning Institute the next morning.

Fang Yun learned that the Demon Race might use the Moon Tree Divine Punishment against him, but he continued preparing for the Ten-Kingdom Competition. The chapter ended with news that Ji Zhibai had withdrawn from the Academy after an alleged battle with the Barbarian Race, leaving Jing Kingdom's prospects uncertain.

• Fang Yun received Zeng Yuan's warning that his rising place on the Grand Academician Hunting List could prompt the Demon Race to unleash the Moon Tree Divine Punishment.
• Fang Yun told Zeng Yuan he would keep studying and prepare for the Ten-Kingdom Competition before the Metropolitan Graduate Examination.
• Zeng Yuan reported that Ji Zhibai had requested to leave the Academy after claiming the Barbarian Race had damaged his Literary Guts.
• Fang Yun asked who could verify Ji Zhibai's withdrawal, and Qiao Juze and the other students sought confirmation.
• A Metropolitan Graduate confirmed Ji Zhibai had withdrawn, reportedly after sacrificing his Literary Guts and Literary Palace to save soldiers and officers from the Barbarian Race.

Fang Yun discussed Jing Kingdom’s prospects in the Ten-Kingdom Competition and the rewards and connections awaiting him, then returned home to spend time with Yang Yuhuan. After reviewing the day’s events, he discovered the value of recalling what he had learned and resolved to make it a daily practice.

• At Soaring Clouds Tower, Qiao Juze and the other scholars discussed Ji Zhibai’s absence and Jing Kingdom’s weakened chances in the Ten-Kingdom Competition.
• Fang Yun and the scholars considered how competition results might affect his rewards, while Fang Yun described his plans to find Demon Barbarian private soldiers through Zeng Yuan.
• The gathering turned to fears about the Barbarian Race’s invasion of the north, then toasted Fang Yun’s first lecture before dispersing late at night.
• At home, Fang Yun talked with Yang Yuhuan about gifts and household matters, while Nunu eagerly sought his attention.
• Fang Yun recalled the day’s events and realized that reviewing them revealed new understanding, so he resolved to do so each night.

Fang Yun prepared for his first lecture at the Delight in Learning Institute while Qiao Juze warned him that powerful masters connected to his enemies would attend. The huge audience entered the institute as Fang Yun approached the Literary Platform, and a group began bringing offerings for the ceremony.

• Fang Yun studied through the night and prepared lesson plans before receiving instruction in lecture etiquette.
• Qiao Juze warned Fang Yun that Mo Zhibi, Jiao Song, and Ruan Ling had been invited to scrutinize his lecture on behalf of his political enemies.
• Fang Yun and Qiao Juze arrived at the Delight in Learning Institute, where tens of thousands of people had gathered to hear him.
• Elder Flower Lord greeted Fang Yun and urged him to join him for flower wine after the lecture.
• The gates opened, and Fang Yun walked toward the Literary Platform as attendants carried sacrificial offerings through a side gate.

Fang Yun gave his first lecture at the Delight in Learning Institute, teaching new zither fingering and Liu Style calligraphy while inviting written questions from the audience. As he prepared to lecture on painting, Little State Duke exposed the presence of the Jia Kingdom master Ruan Ling, forcing a confrontation into view.

• Fang Yun entered the Delight in Learning Institute and began the ceremony honoring Sage Kong before addressing the packed audience.
• Fang Yun introduced a rule allowing listeners to submit written questions, then taught three unfamiliar left-hand zither techniques and answered selected questions.
• A Metropolitan Graduate asked about the battle-tune fingerings Fang Yun had used at Plucking Waves Pavilion, and Fang Yun said he would explain them in next month's Sacred Way.
• Fang Yun taught Liu Style calligraphy, and the audience praised his brushwork as many listeners began practicing it.
• Little State Duke announced that Ruan Ling, a renowned Third Realm Painting Dao master from Jia Kingdom, was present, and Fang Yun smiled at Ruan Ling without replying.

Fang Yun taught the Broken-Ink and Axe-Split Texture-Stroke methods, astonishing the Painting Way masters and bringing about Heavenly Flowers Cascading. The lecture left scholars transformed and even Ruan Ling asking Fang Yun for instruction, while the young State Duke suffered a devastating backlash.

• Ruan Ling calmly defended his visit, but the presiding Grand Academician silenced the young State Duke and hurled him beyond the courtyard wall.
• Fang Yun began his Painting Way lecture by demonstrating the Broken-Ink Method and explaining how it could be used to paint landscapes.
• Fang Yun painted Mount Tai with the unprecedented Axe-Split Texture-Stroke Method, drawing Grand Academicians into the sky to watch and then teaching the technique.
• Heavenly Flowers Cascading began during Fang Yun's lecture, helping scholars understand the methods and prompting Yang Yuhuan and Little Fox to absorb the flowers as well.
• A listener who had mocked the lecture gained understanding, renounced the Left Prime Minister's faction, and bowed to Fang Yun; the young State Duke saw the flowers and suffered shattered Literary Guts and a broken Literary Palace.
• Ruan Ling's disciple decided to ask Fang Yun a question, only to discover that Ruan Ling was already writing down a question of his own.

Fang Yun’s lecture on texture strokes brought cascading heavenly flowers, earned the gratitude of the crowd, and raised his Literary Qi to the peak of Provincial Graduate. He then headed to an Upper Lodge gathering at Soaring Clouds Tower, where he reflected on his new, incomplete Dual-Mindedness Literary Heart.

• Fang Yun answered the Painting Way masters’ questions and explained the Axe-Splitting Texture Stroke until the afternoon, then ended his lecture by admitting he had used his third possibility to deceive them.
• Tens of thousands thanked Fang Yun as he left the Delight in Learning Institute, while the attendees gathered to discuss his teachings and record them from memory.
• Fang Yun received messages congratulating him on the lecture and telling him that the Upper Lodge students were gathering at Soaring Clouds Tower after Ji Zhibai withdrew and Cui Wang took his place.
• Fang Yun redirected his carriage to Soaring Clouds Tower, where he waited in the Earth-Grade Room and examined his Literary Palace.
• Fang Yun saw that his three streams of Literary Qi had reached ten inches and that his new Dual-Mindedness Literary Heart was dim, incomplete, and likely to dissipate.

Fang Yun realized that Lei Jiu had come to Jing Kingdom over the Dragon-Climbing Stone Fang Yun had taken, and Lei Jiu challenged the gathered Upper Lodge Metropolitan Graduates at Soaring Clouds Tower. The group refused to answer his provocation and sat drinking tea as Lei Jiu and Lei Yuanting approached their room.

• Fang Yun recognized that Lei Yuanting was welcoming Lei Jiu, the Lei Family genius whose chance to enter Dragon Ascension Platform had been damaged by the loss of the family’s Dragon-Climbing Stone.
• Qiao Juze brought Fang Yun together with eight other Upper Lodge Metropolitan Graduates to discuss the Ten-Kingdom Competition, and they met Cui Wang.
• Lei Yuanting used Tongue Blossoms Thunder to demand that Soaring Clouds Tower’s guests leave, but Qiao Juze warned Manager Jiang not to get involved.
• Lei Jiu’s Cold Flood Dragon Sword Tone froze the room until Qiao Juze, Chen Lile, and Gongyang Yu joined forces to suppress it.
• Lei Jiu challenged Qiao Juze, Chen Lile, and Gongyang Yu to a literary contest and invited everyone else in the room to join; Fang Yun and the others stayed silent and drank tea.

Lei Jiu challenged the Jing Kingdom scholars to a literary contest at Soaring Clouds Tower, unaware that Fang Yun was answering from inside the room. After Fang Yun stumped the Lei Family with an unmatchable couplet, Lei Yuanting recognized him and fled with Lei Jiu, leaving their rivalry unresolved.

• Zhang Chengyu and the other Metropolitan Graduates agreed to confront the Lei Family, and Fang Yun nodded to You Nian’s request for support.
• Lei Jiu challenged the scholars with a couplet about a parrot and a phoenix, and Fang Yun answered that a clever spider could not compare to a silkworm.
• Fang Yun supplied the first line “Smoke Locks the Pond Willows,” whose five characters used the radicals for the five elements, and Lei Jiu failed to find a match.
• After Qiao Juze and the others mocked the Lei Family for delaying, Lei Yuanting kicked open the room’s door and saw Fang Yun.
• Lei Yuanting grabbed Lei Jiu and escaped over the railing, explaining that Fang Yun had been waiting inside and warning him against competing with him.
• Lei Jiu told Lei Yuanting to stop discussing the matter, while Lei Yuanting suggested future contests at the Dragon Ascension Platform and the Sacred Academy’s Metropolitan Graduate Spring Hunt.