Chapter Summaries

Fang Yun reflected on the Spring and Autumn World’s history and gained a deeper understanding of the Sacred Way before falling asleep. The next morning, Yan Zewei was missing, threatening Jing Kingdom’s chances in the Sea of Ten Thousand Questions, and Fang Yun vowed to challenge Qing Kingdom if they lost.

• Fang Yun watched the Spring and Autumn World’s historical events and began to understand the principles of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and the Sacred Way.
• Qiao Juze and the other Metropolitan Graduates discovered that Yan Zewei had disappeared, and Qiao Juze went to report it to the Grand Academician in charge.
• You Nian suspected that Qing Kingdom had arranged to delay Yan Zewei, while the group feared his absence would cost Jing Kingdom the competition.
• Fang Yun agreed to join a Literary Battle against Qing Kingdom if Jing Kingdom lost, declaring that he could endure defeat but not humiliation.
• Qiao Juze reported that Grand Academician Guo had asked the Kong Family to investigate, but the search was unlikely to find Yan Zewei before the contest began.
• Fang Yun led the group toward the competition venue, hoping Yan Zewei might still arrive in time.

Fang Yun and the eight remaining Jing Kingdom students arrived for the Ten-Kingdom Competition’s final round amid accusations over Yan Zewei’s disappearance. In the Literary World, Xun Li and Lei Thirteen taunted Fang Yun over Jing Kingdom’s missing contestant, while Fang Yun stood firm as Xun Li revealed his intent to damage Fang Yun’s Literary Guts.

• Fang Yun led the eight other Jing Kingdom students into the venue after news spread that Yan Zewei had vanished, prompting a Great Scholar to silence the crowd with Subtle Words, Profound Meaning.
• Lu Guiyue questioned Xun Li about Yan Zewei’s absence, but Xun Li denied knowing anything and warned Lu to remember his ties to Qing Kingdom.
• The host sent the nine kingdoms’ students through a gate of light into the Literary World, where they faced an ocean of examination papers.
• Xun Li and Lei Thirteen mocked Fang Yun for having to answer questions for the missing contestant, and Fang Yun warned them not to be too confident about Qing Kingdom’s victory.
• Kong Deyu and Qiao Juze cautioned Fang Yun that public humiliation could damage his Literary Guts, but Fang Yun said he was not afraid of losing face because he had done his best.
• Xun Li declared that Qing Kingdom would defeat Jing Kingdom and damage Fang Yun’s Literary Guts, hoping to gain the Xun Household’s favor.

Fang Yun used Dual-Mindedness to answer questions at two tables simultaneously, stunning the competitors and shaking Qing Kingdom's students. He raced through the test until he encountered a notoriously difficult abandonment question, then chose to answer it rather than skip it.

• Fang Yun vowed to answer Yan Zewei's thousand questions and challenged Qing Kingdom to a Literary Battle for Xiang Prefecture after the examination.
• Qiao Juze, Chen Lile, You Nian, and other Jing Kingdom students pledged to risk Literary Guts collisions against Qing Kingdom.
• Fang Yun used both hands and his Literary Hearts to answer questions at his own table and Yan Zewei's vacant table at once.
• Fang Yun's display unsettled the competitors, and many students from Qing Kingdom and Jia Kingdom answered the first question incorrectly.
• Xun Li urged Qing Kingdom's students to ignore Fang Yun, arguing that his methods would consume too much Literary Qi to last two hours.
• After answering hundreds of questions at remarkable speed, Fang Yun reached a difficult multiple abandonment question and began working it out.

Fang Yun answered the grand competition questions with flawless speed, while rivals and enemies across the Ten Kingdoms prepared to face him at the Dragon Ascension Platform. As he neared the end of the exam, Xun Li feared Jing Kingdom would defeat Qing Kingdom and saw white mist appear around his Literary Guts.

• After Fang Yun answered question 161 in two breaths, powerful figures across the Ten Kingdoms recognized his extraordinary ability, and several rivals vowed to challenge him at the Dragon Ascension Platform.
• Sun Renbing ended a battle against five thousand Barbarians by ordering his Human Race troops to retreat after completing their training.
• As Fang Yun passed six hundred questions without a single wrong or abandoned answer, Xun Li realized Fang Yun might have lured him into risking his reputation and Literary Guts.
• Kong Deyu saw Fang Yun had more than fourteen hundred correct papers and gave up competing with him, hoping his cousin would challenge Fang Yun later.
• Qiao Juze announced that Fang Yun had fewer than a hundred questions remaining, and Xun Li's calculations alternated between a Qing Kingdom loss and a narrow win.
• Xun Li continued answering questions while faint white mist appeared around his Literary Guts.

Fang Yun completed all two thousand questions in the Sea of Ten Thousand Questions without error, earning twenty tally points and the chance to choose a Great Scholar True Text for Dao Listening Intensive Study. As the competition continued, Xun Li and Lei Thirteen’s Literary Guts cracked under the strain, leaving the final standings still to be decided.

• Xun Li and Lei Thirteen struggled as Dust-Covered Literary Guts slowed their thinking and answers.
• Fang Yun finished all two thousand questions with no errors and earned twenty tally points and a Dao Listening Intensive Study reward.
• The students learned that Fang Yun could choose any Great Scholar True Text in the Classics Institute for intensive study.
• Xun Li discovered that his stack of examination papers was smaller than several Jing Kingdom students’ stacks, and Yan Yukong said his Literary Guts had gathered dust.
• Xun Li’s Literary Guts cracked, and Kong Deyu said Xun Li had damaged himself by trying to ruin Fang Yun’s literary reputation.
• Cui Wang pointed out that Lei Thirteen also had few examination papers, and Lei Thirteen’s Literary Guts cracked as well.

The Ten-Kingdom Competition ended with Jing Kingdom taking seventh place, ahead of Jia Kingdom and Qing Kingdom, after Fang Yun helped turn the tide. Xun Li’s Literary Guts shattered under the loss and Qing Kingdom’s condemnation, while Fang Yun accepted Ji Shouyu’s challenge for the Dragon Ascension Platform.

• Xun Li frantically answered questions after the bell, then learned from the scores that Jing Kingdom had overtaken Jia Kingdom and Qing Kingdom.
• Kong Deyu congratulated Fang Yun for earning forty points, and Hu Shang thanked him for helping Yue Kingdom secure sixth place.
• The final rankings placed Qi Kingdom Academy first, Yue Kingdom Academy sixth, Jing Kingdom Academy seventh, Jia Kingdom Academy eighth, and Qing Kingdom Academy ninth.
• People across Jing Kingdom cheered Fang Yun, while Qing Kingdom citizens blamed and cursed Xun Li for the defeat.
• Xun Li heard Qing Kingdom’s curses, lost its National Fortune, and shattered his Literary Guts; Lei Thirteen’s Literary Guts cracked but did not break.
• Li Fanming told Fang Yun that Ji Shouyu wanted to compete with him over who killed more Sacred Race Demon Barbarians on the Dragon Ascension Platform, and Fang Yun accepted.

After Fang Yun’s achievement raised Jing Kingdom’s standing, Li Fanming warned him about the Lei Family’s Dragon-Race connections and the dangers awaiting him on the Dragon Ascension Platform. Fang Yun prepared to face the Demon Barbarians and other threats, though he remained wary of the Lei Family.

• Fang Yun accepted congratulations from the other Metropolitan Graduates, while Qing Kingdom and Jia Kingdom’s students showed no hostility toward him.
• Qiao Juze and Chen Lile said Jing Kingdom’s rise to sixth in the Ten-Kingdom Pagoda would greatly strengthen its National Fortune and could help suppress Sage Chen’s injuries.
• Fang Yun told his companions that the Left Prime Minister’s faction would likely obstruct any effort to grant him a Three Dukes title.
• Li Fanming warned Fang Yun that Lei Jiu had gained the Sima Xiangru Aristocratic Clan’s Half-Sage will and might become one of the strongest Human Race Metropolitan Graduates after entering the Dragon Ascension Platform.
• Li Fanming said the Lei Family’s Dragon-Race ties might reach back to the Ancestral Dragon, and cautioned Fang Yun that the family possessed powerful treasures.
• Li Fanming explained that Fang Yun’s chief dangers on the Dragon Ascension Platform were the Demon Barbarians, while the Xun Household’s strongest Metropolitan Graduates had become Hanlin Academicians and could not enter.

Fang Yun learned how Dragon Qi and Dragon Patterns could strengthen a Lip Spear and Tongue Sword, then focused on preparing for the Dragon Ascension Platform. Meanwhile, Yan Zewei admitted fault over his absence from the competition and chose exile in the border army, while Fang Yun headed to the Ten-Kingdom Literary Assembly.

• Li Fanming explained the value of Dragon Eggs, Ancestral Dragon Relics, and Dragon Qi, including the distinction between Void and True Dragon Patterns.
• Fang Yun learned that his prepared Sword Gestation material was a genuine True Dragon Bone, not an ordinary Flood Dragon Bone.
• Yan Zewei accused Ai Jia of drugging him, but Cui Wang, Qiao Juze, and Chen Lile questioned his loyalty and condemned his failure to compete.
• Yan Zewei admitted he was in the wrong, withdrew from Jing Kingdom Academy, and vowed to serve in the border army for ten years.
• Fang Yun declined Qiao Juze's invitation to sightsee and spent the day reading before going with the others to Riverside Pavilion for the Ten-Kingdom Literary Assembly.

Fang Yun attended the Ten-Kingdom Literary Assembly in Kong City, where scholars from across the kingdoms treated him with great respect. The assembly began with a suspiciously difficult draw for Jing Kingdom: Chinese medicine.

• Fang Yun and the Jing Kingdom Metropolitan Graduates arrived at Riverside Pavilion and were greeted by scholars who hailed Fang Yun as the Nation-Queller and Literary Marquis.
• Metropolitan Graduates from across the Ten Kingdoms visited Jing Kingdom’s room to toast Fang Yun and his companions, while Kong Deming warned that Gu Kingdom was hosting the assembly.
• Fang Yun reflected on how his ambitions had shifted from seeking literary fame toward contributing to the Human Race, and felt his Literary Guts respond.
• An Upper Lodge Metropolitan Graduate from Gu Kingdom opened the assembly and announced that kingdom representatives would draw topics for poems or lyrics suited to the setting.
• Qing Kingdom drew “trees,” Shu Kingdom drew “flowers,” and Jing Kingdom drew “Chinese medicine,” prompting mockery from rival kingdoms and concern among Jing Kingdom’s scholars.

Fang Yun helped Jing Kingdom’s Metropolitan Graduates find medicinal tune titles and submitted his own lyric, but at the Ten Kingdoms Literary Assembly the pouch bearing his name was empty. The host asked him to recite the missing work, and Fang Yun realized Gu Kingdom had arranged the theft.

• Fang Yun listed medicinal tune titles that avoided the previously used themes of trees, flowers, and birds, helping Jing Kingdom’s Metropolitan Graduates compose lyrics.
• Fang Yun wrote a lyric using the tune title “Looking South at the River” and placed it in a red pouch marked with his name and Jing Kingdom’s character.
• Yang Tang’s poem “Autumn Thoughts” received 1,426 Literary-Acumen Sword Tones during the assembly’s evaluations.
• The host read Tong Xing’an’s “Looking South at the River,” and Fang Yun noticed it closely resembled the lyric he had written.
• When the host opened Fang Yun’s pouch, it contained no poem, and Qiao Juze accused someone of stealing the manuscript.
• The host asked Fang Yun to recite his missing lyric, and Fang Yun understood that Gu Kingdom had orchestrated the theft.

Fang Yun foiled the Gu Kingdom's attempt to embarrass him by reciting a moving second version of “Looking South at the River,” then returned to the capital and resumed his studies and training. He continued building strength for Dragon Ascension Platform as Mist Butterfly joined his household.

• Fang Yun confronted Tong Xing'an over their matching poems and invited him to a banquet in Jing Kingdom if he returned to the capital.
• Fang Yun persuaded the Gu Kingdom host to let him discard his first poem, then recited his second “Looking South at the River” and stunned the assembly.
• Fang Yun donated the three-thousand-tael prize to Kong City's charitable hall and left Riverside Pavilion with Jing Kingdom's Metropolitan Graduates.
• The next day, the presiding Grand Academician led the Jing Kingdom group back to the capital, where Fang Yun resumed classes and began regularly tempering his War Poetry.
• Mist Butterfly woke from her slumber and joined Fang Yun's household, though she usually slept in his arms or on his shoulder.

Fang Yun learned that the Dragon Ascension Platform was nearing its opening and was summoned to spar with Jing Kingdom’s Upper Lodge students to prepare for battle against Demon Marshals. He entered the Literary Battle Arena and was set to face Cui Wang under rules that gave Fang Yun every method while limiting Cui Wang to his Lip Spear and Tongue Sword.

• The Mist Butterfly continued to perch on Fang Yun’s qin, though Fang Yun could find no detailed records explaining the Rare Object.
• Ji Zhibai was named Jing Kingdom’s Zhuangyuan, but most students ignored his return because rumors accused him of helping Qing Kingdom and Fang Yun’s achievements overshadowed his.
• Ji Zhibai warned that he would wait for Fang Yun at the Spring Hunt if Fang Yun survived the Dragon Ascension Platform and could take part in the Metropolitan Graduate Examination.
• After the Dragon Ascension Platform’s gates loosened, Guo Zitong summoned Jing Kingdom’s ten Upper Lodge students to the Literary Battle Arena to train Fang Yun.
• Guo Zitong ordered Cui Wang to spar with Fang Yun, allowing Fang Yun every method while restricting Cui Wang to one Lip Spear and Tongue Sword.

Fang Yun defeated Cui Wang in a literary battle by using Superior Contradictory Speech to turn a protective poem into an attack, then showed that his Literary Guts and Arrow in the Stone could overwhelm Cui Wang’s Lip Spear and Tongue Sword. The Upper Lodge Metropolitan Graduates continued sparring with Fang Yun to learn from their setbacks and improve their techniques.

• Fang Yun and Cui Wang began a literary battle, with Fang Yun using Canglang Journey and a Literary Treasure to test Cui Wang’s defenses.
• Cui Wang attacked with his Lip Spear and Tongue Sword and began reciting Tiger's Roar, while Fang Yun appeared to recite Mountain Rhapsody for protection.
• Fang Yun used Superior Contradictory Speech to change the final line into Arrow in the Stone, forcing Cui Wang to concede before the arrow struck him.
• Cui Wang and the other Metropolitan Graduates recognized Fang Yun’s Superior Contradictory Speech and discussed how his abilities could counter opponents of his rank.
• Fang Yun used repeated, sharply turning Arrow in the Stone attacks in a second sparring match, prompting Cui Wang to surrender again.
• Cui Wang reflected on his shortcomings, and Chen Lile and the other Upper Lodge Metropolitan Graduates agreed to spar with Fang Yun to learn from their setbacks.

After sparring with Chen Lile and learning from his Lip Spear and Tongue Sword techniques, Fang Yun was granted early access to the Temple of Sages to restore his Literary Qi. He entered the capital’s ancient temple and prepared to recite the Classics of the Sages, where his words could resonate with the sages’ thoughts.

• Chen Lile demonstrated his Lip Spear and Tongue Sword attacks while Fang Yun and the other Upper Lodge Metropolitan Graduates studied and sparred with him.
• Guo Zitong ordered everyone to keep the day’s events secret and arranged for Fang Yun to spar with the Metropolitan Graduates and recite classics in the Temple of Sages.
• Guo Zitong told Fang Yun he could claim his temple-recitation reward early with the Literary Chancellor’s approval.
• Fang Yun entered the Temple of Sages through its side door and examined its ancient statues, murals, and Sage Tablets.

Fang Yun studied the Spring and Autumn Annals at the Temple of Sages and triggered a Sage Brush Autograph, drawing the attention of the Eastern Sage Pavilion and causing turmoil in the Kong Family. After days of sparring and rapid improvement, he set out with Guo Zitong for the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace, where they faced repeated Demon Race ambushes.

• Fang Yun recited the Spring and Autumn Annals and received a Sage Brush Autograph, while an old man at the Eastern Sage Pavilion praised him and the Kong Family discovered that a drop of Sage Kong’s true blood had dimmed.
• Fang Yun restored his Literary Qi by reciting the Spring and Autumn Annals and sparred with the Upper Lodge Metropolitan Graduates, eventually resisting their attacks without using Mist Butterfly’s power.
• A Dragon Sage decree summoned qualified participants to the Dragon Ascension Platform, and Fang Yun left with Guo Zitong for the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace.
• Demon Race forces repeatedly attacked Fang Yun and Guo Zitong on their journey, and Guo Zitong killed them with Great Scholar True Text and Lip Spear and Tongue Sword.
• Two Great Demon King Poison Flood Dragons activated Demon Sage blood near the Eastern Sea, but Guo Zitong unleashed a Half-Sage True Text that shattered them.

Guo Zitong escorted Fang Yun to the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace so he could participate in the Dragon Ascension Platform. After traveling through a Sea Eye, they reached the palace gates and waited while a walrus guard went to report Fang Yun’s arrival.

• Guo Zitong gathered the remains of two Great Demon Kings, and Fang Yun stored them in his River-Drinking Shell.
• Guo Zitong and Fang Yun traveled to Crouching Dragon Island and entered its Sea Eye after the Whale Demon King granted them passage.
• Fang Yun and Guo Zitong emerged near the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace and crossed its dangerous undercurrent zone.
• Guo Zitong told the walrus guards that he had brought Fang Yun to participate in the Dragon Ascension Platform.
• One walrus guard went inside to report Fang Yun’s arrival while the other asked them to wait.

When the Dragon Palace delayed Fang Yun and Guo Zitong at its gates, Fang Yun began writing Journey to the West to draw the dragons’ attention. The novel gathered the Water Race and brought the Green-Robed Dragon Marquis and other dragons to escort Fang Yun into the palace, where the chapter ended with many sea creatures glowing faintly.

• Fang Yun and Guo Zitong suspected that a dragon son allied with the Demon Race had prevented the elephant warrior from admitting them, but they feared making a scene and being cast into the Prison-Suppressing Sea.
• Fang Yun decided to use a story to cause trouble and began writing Journey to the West, describing Sun Wukong’s origins and his violent raid on the Dragon Palace for a weapon.
• The sound of Fang Yun’s writing drew Guo Zitong, the elephant warrior, the guards, and hundreds of thousands of sea creatures to listen.
• The Green-Robed Dragon Marquis and other dragons appeared, urged Fang Yun to continue writing, and revealed that they would escort him into the Dragon Palace and let him ascend the Dragon Ascension Platform.
• The dragons sent the gathered sea creatures away, and Fang Yun noticed that many of them were surrounded by a faint glow.

Fang Yun arrived at the Dragon Palace with a group of dragon descendants while the Sacred Academy’s seven Metropolitan Graduates and other elites waited in a side hall. As they prepared to enter the Dragon Ascension Platform, Lei Jiu and his allies dismissed Fang Yun’s chances of joining them, unaware that he had arrived.

• Green-Robed Dragon Marquis brushed aside Little Yellow Dragon and led Fang Yun and the dragon descendants into the Dragon Palace, while Guo Zitong followed nervously.
• Guo Zitong was startled when Little Yellow Dragon rested on his shoulder, then watched the little dragon dart ahead.
• The chapter introduced the Sacred Academy’s seven Metropolitan Graduates and their formidable abilities as they waited in a Dragon Palace side hall.
• Lei Jiu claimed he would not compete for a place among the seven Metropolitan Graduates, and Li Longxiao rebuked him for calling Fang Yun’s Dragon-Climbing Stone a swindle.
• Zong Ji and Xun Rui discussed rumors that Demon Barbarians and their allies were trying to prevent Fang Yun from entering the Dragon Ascension Platform.
• Ji Shouyu recalled Fang Yun’s earlier achievements, but Lei Jiu dismissed him as someone who would not take part in the platform.

Fang Yun arrived at the Dragon Palace and reunited with the Human Race Metropolitan Graduates, embarrassing Lei Jiu and his allies after their attempt to leave him behind. As the group prepared to enter the Dragon Ascension Platform, Green-Robed Dragon Marquis explained its restrictions and handed out Dragon-Climbing Stones.

• Lei Jiu, Zong Ji, and Xun Rui urged the others to enter the main hall without waiting for Fang Yun, but Kong Detian had asked the Turtle Demon King for more time.
• The scholars entered the Dragon Palace main hall and saw the Myriad Saints Painting, which contained twenty-eight sealed Demon Barbarian sages.
• Fang Yun arrived among the dragon sons and descendants, greeted the Metropolitan Graduates, and agreed to compete with Li Longxiao in hunting and archery.
• Little Yellow Dragon mocked Lei Jiu over his failed couplet, then bargained with Green-Robed Dragon Marquis for Ice-Sea Dragon Shells.
• Green-Robed Dragon Marquis warned that the Dragon Ascension Platform suppressed powers such as Sacred Blood and Great Scholar True Text, then gave each Metropolitan Graduate and Fang Yun a Dragon-Climbing Stone.

Fang Yun entered the Dragon Ascension Platform, discovered that his Dragon-Climbing Stone could become a flying Dragon Qi Cloud, and found a place to cultivate after sensing his Literary Qi might advance. Meanwhile, Little Yellow Dragon killed a Tiger Clan holy son and a cloaked Human Race Metropolitan Graduate revealed he was hunting Fang Yun.

• Fang Yun and the others were drawn from the Dragon Palace into the Dragon Ascension Platform, where his Dragon-Climbing Stone transformed into a controllable Dragon Qi Cloud.
• Fang Yun surveyed the countless Floating Cloud Lands, sensed true Dragon Qi in the air, and noticed signs that his Literary Qi was about to advance.
• Fang Yun landed beside a mountain, hid beneath an overhang, and entered his Literary Palace to cultivate.
• Little Yellow Dragon killed a Tiger Clan holy son with one blow, then sensed Fang Yun nearby but flew away to search for the Ancestral Dragon Relic.
• A cloaked Human Race Metropolitan Graduate on a Floating Cloud Land three thousand li away said he had come for Fang Yun.