Chapter Summaries

At the Farewell Spring Literary Gathering, new students faced a timed poetry contest, and Yan Yukong’s table was chosen first. Yan Yukong composed a spring poem, and Fang Yun praised its craft while being pressed to identify its flaws.

• Zhang Zhixing explained the gathering’s rules and announced a random draw to decide which table would submit first.
• Zhang Zhixing and Sun Renbing drew the numbers seven and twenty-one, selecting Yan Yukong’s table.
• Yan Yukong and his tablemates wrote and submitted their work within the hundred-breath limit.
• Zhang Zhixing chose Yan Yukong’s poem, which described spring waters, grass, people, wine, birds, and song, and the gathering applauded it.
• Zhang Zhixing asked Fang Yun to critique the poem’s strengths and flaws, and Fang Yun praised its unusual repetition and concise imagery before saying he would have to pick bones out of an egg.

At the Farewell Spring Literary Gathering, Fang Yun critiqued Yan Yukong’s poem and helped keep the teasing lighthearted. He left the gathering after the Sacred Academy summoned him to a Grand Academicians’ Council about coordinating defenses against the Barbarian Race.

• Fang Yun pointed out that Yan Yukong’s opening line was redundant and suggested a more concise revision, which Yan Yukong accepted.
• When Ning Meng demanded further criticism, Fang Yun challenged him to offer his own, and Ning Meng backed down.
• Zhang Zhixing read the poems by Yan Yukong’s tablemates and later reviewed work from five more tables, finding few outstanding pieces.
• Duan Qing collected the students’ papers before the meal, and Fang Yun realized the seating arrangement was meant to encourage connections among scholars.
• Fang Yun received notice that the War Hall was convening a council about coordinating Sage Kong’s Literary World army with Two Worlds Mountain and planning against Barbarian attacks with the Four Seas Dragon Clan.
• Fang Yun explained his departure to his tablemates and Zhang Zhixing, then left Chang Hong Courtyard for the meeting.

Fang Yun left the Farewell Spring Literary Gathering to attend the Grand Academicians' Council, and Ning Meng tried to use the gathering's rules to demand his work. The chapter ended as someone searched the papers and raised one of Fang Yun's sheets, leaving the contents unrevealed.

• Fang Yun's departure for the Grand Academicians' Council drew attention and sparked envy among Sacred Academy students.
• Ning Meng demanded that Fang Yun's writing be presented, alarming Duan Qing and the others because Fang Yun might have left his work unfinished.
• Duan Qing argued that Fang Yun had withdrawn from the gathering, and Zhang Zhixing ruled that Fang Yun's work would not be judged.
• Ning Meng challenged Zhang Zhixing's decision and threatened to petition the Eastern Sage Pavilion, while Duan Qing, Zhang Zhixing, and Sun Renbing defended Fang Yun.
• Someone at a nearby table snatched up the stack of papers, searched through it, and held one sheet aloft.

At the Farewell Spring Literary Gathering, Zong Yun used Fang Yun’s unfinished-looking manuscript to challenge the host’s ruling and turn more than a thousand students against Fang Yun. Yan Yukong defended the ten characters as a complete poem, leaving the crowd divided over their meaning.

• A man from Gu Kingdom snatched Fang Yun’s manuscript and announced that it held only ten characters, prompting Zhang Zhixing to condemn him.
• Zong Yun argued that Fang Yun had failed to finish a poem and persuaded more than a thousand students to stand in protest.
• Sun Renbing challenged Zong Yun to a Life-and-Death Literary Battle, but Zong Yun refused and demanded a judgment from the Sacred Academy.
• Zhang Zhixing insisted that Chongwen Academy had authority over the gathering, while Zong Yun threatened a demonstration.
• Yan Yukong declared that Fang Yun had finished a poem and argued that its ten characters fulfilled the prompt’s requirement for simplicity.
• Zong Yun laughed at Yan Yukong’s defense, though a few students studied the characters with furrowed brows.

Yan Yukong revealed that Fang Yun’s ten characters formed a reversible poem that could be read as both five-character and seven-character verse, silencing Zong Yun’s criticism. The gathering recognized the seven-character version as an exceptional poem that might reach Nation-Quelling, while Zong Yun and others faced the damage to their literary reputations.

• Yan Yukong identified Fang Yun’s ten characters as a reversible poem, and Duan Qing demonstrated how they read forward and backward as five-character verse.
• Zong Yun praised the first two lines but condemned the reversed five-character lines as poor poetry, leaving Duan Qing and Zhang Zhixing unable to answer.
• Yan Yukong recited a seven-character version formed from the same ten characters, and Duan Qing wrote it out for the gathering.
• The scholars praised the seven-character poem’s vivid imagery and unusual reversible form, judging that it could reach State-Ringing and perhaps Nation-Quelling.
• Zong Yun realized he had failed to recognize a potentially Nation-Quelling poem and feared his reputation would be stained in history.
• The scholars who had stood to challenge Fang Yun sat down in shame, and several suffered cracks in their literary guts.

After Fang Yun’s poem won the Farewell Spring Literary Gathering, Zong Yun challenged whether Fang Yun had knowingly written a palindrome and set off for the War Hall to confront him. Zhang Zhixing and Yan Yukong followed with thousands of students, who gathered outside as the War Hall doors opened.

• The judges ranked Fang Yun’s Ten-Character Palindromic Poem first, and Zong Yun tried to speak after Zhang Zhixing declared the gathering over.
• Zong Yun claimed Fang Yun might not know the ten characters formed a palindrome and said he would relinquish his Sacred Academy status and go to Two Worlds Mountain if Fang Yun answered his questions.
• Zhang Zhixing refused to let Zong Yun pursue the matter, but Zong Yun headed to the War Hall and revealed that the Eastern Sage Pavilion had blocked communications with Fang Yun.
• Yan Yukong and Zhang Zhixing joined several thousand students traveling to the War Hall, while Zhang Zhixing tried to contact the head of Chongwen Academy.
• The crowd reached the War Hall courtyard gates, where Eastern Sage Pavilion officials blocked messages, and the main hall doors slowly opened.

Fang Yun faced Zong Yun’s challenge to complete his poem from the Farewell Spring Literary Gathering and revealed that he had composed palindromes for all four seasons. Zong Yun admitted defeat and promised to shout that he was a pig before exiling himself to Two Worlds Mountain, while Zhang Zhixing planned to record the humiliation.

• Zhang Zhixing challenged Zong Yun to shout that he was a pig ten times if Fang Yun’s poem proved valid, and Zong Yun agreed.
• Fang Yun explained that his ten characters formed a complete palindrome poem, then recited it as Zong Yun’s questioning was exposed.
• After Sun Renbing recounted the literary gathering, Fang Yun said he had composed four seasonal palindromes and recited the Four Seasons Palindromic Poem.
• The Great Scholars praised Fang Yun’s poems, and Zong Yun promised to shout that he was a pig and exile himself to Two Worlds Mountain until he rendered great service.
• Zhang Zhixing asked Fang Yun to lend him the Illusory Tower Pearl so he could record Zong Yun’s humiliation.

After the Farewell Spring Literary Gathering, Fang Yun’s victory over the northern crisis earned him widespread praise, but he chose to strengthen his foundations rather than challenge Lei Zhongmo in the Infinite Battle Hall. Zong Yun was publicly humiliated and sent to Two Worlds Mountain, while Fang Yun remained out of the public eye until after the Ghost Festival, when he resumed attending Literary Assemblies.

• The Eastern Sea Dragon Clan’s reinforcements helped the Human Race defeat the barbarians, and Fang Yun received honors from the Jing Kingdom and requested aquatic troops for the Bloodmang Realm.
• Lei Zhongmo broke the Infinite Battle Hall record by reaching the fifty-first hall, prompting Fang Yun to postpone his own challenge and focus on tempering himself for Saint Enfeoffment and Book Mountain.
• Fang Yun declined Zhang Zhixing’s invitation to watch Zong Yun, who was forced by Tongue Blossoms Thunder to shout that he was a pig and was later projected above Kong City for its residents to see.
• Zong Yun and eleven Sacred Academy students whose status had been revoked prepared to go to Two Worlds Mountain to fight the Demon Barbarians and redeem their names.
• Fang Yun avoided public appearances and did not enter the Infinite Battle Hall before it closed on the Ghost Festival, then returned to Literary Assemblies after the festival.

Fang Yun attended nightly literary assemblies and postponed one to spend time with Yang Yuhuan, then apologized to the scholars gathered at the Wu Family estate for arriving late. The displeased Grand Academician accepted his apology and spirit tea.

• Fang Yun attended many literary assemblies, debated with scholars, and reviewed their discussions in the Strange Book World.
• Yang Yuhuan showed wistful reproach over Fang Yun's busy schedule, so Fang Yun postponed an assembly and spent private time with her.
• Fang Yun traveled to the Wu Family estate for a Summoning Troops Battle Poem Literary Gathering and learned that a Grand Academician from the School of War resented his delay.
• Fang Yun apologized to the gathering and offered spirit tea from the Bloodmang Realm, softening the Grand Academician's expression.

Fang Yun reconciled with Grand Academician Zhang by sharing Flower Flame spirit tea, then joined a literary assembly on troop-summoning war poetry. The debate ended with Fang Yun and Zhang Chengxuan arguing over whether speed or steadiness mattered more.

• Fang Yun offered spirit tea from the Bloodmang Realm to apologize, and Zhang Chengxuan brewed it for the gathered scholars.
• Fang Yun explained the tea's name and how its flavor changed after the teapot spouted flames, and the scholars spent an hour savoring it.
• The Wu Family patriarch led a discussion on how Hanlin and Grand Academician war poems could obstruct powerful enemies.
• Fang Yun joined the scholars' debates and argued that steadiness mattered more than speed in summoning war poems.
• Fang Yun and Zhang Chengxuan began their third clash of the literary assembly over speed versus steadiness.

Fang Yun and Zhang Chengxuan debated whether speed or steadiness mattered more in warfare, then agreed to settle the argument with a Literary Battle Arena match. Zhang Chengxuan overwhelmed the field with numbers, while Fang Yun fortified his smaller cavalry force as the battle began.

• Fang Yun and Zhang Chengxuan argued over the merits of speed and steadiness, impressing the Hanlin Academicians with their contrasting styles.
• The Wu Family head proposed a Literary Battle Arena contest using only War Poetry that summoned soldiers, and both men agreed to the rules.
• At the Confucius Academy arena, Fang Yun began summoning Cold-Iron Cavalry and generals while Zhang Chengxuan rapidly summoned more than ten thousand soldiers.
• Fang Yun strengthened his fifteen hundred Cold-Iron Cavalry with War Poems and recited Ode to Chrysanthemums, coating them in golden light and weakening nearby enemies with its fragrance.

Fang Yun tested his command of War-Poem Soldiers against Zhang Chengxuan, whose larger army gradually gained the advantage. Fang Yun then revealed a way to restore Ode to Chrysanthemums to full power in summer by linking it with a new poem.

• Fang Yun summoned and strengthened Cold-Iron Knights, but Zhang Chengxuan's much larger force surrounded them and steadily wore down his troops.
• Zhang Chengxuan explained that Fang Yun's smaller army and the summer weakness of Ode to Chrysanthemums put him at a disadvantage.
• Fang Yun said Ode to Chrysanthemums could exert its full power in every season and summoned another two thousand Cold-Iron Knights.
• Fang Yun composed Inscription on Chrysanthemums and appended Ode to Chrysanthemums, creating layered poetry with the power of two Son of Heaven poems.
• Zhang Chengxuan recognized the connection between the poems and murmured that he had learned something new.

Fang Yun empowered the Cold-Iron Cavalry with Ode to Chrysanthemums and defeated Zhang Chengxuan in a battlefield contest, then discussed the coming war and his plans. As the Human Race prepared for escalating conflicts, Lei Zhongmo broke his Infinite Battle Hall record, and Fang Yun arrived to enter the hall himself.

• Fang Yun transformed the Cold-Iron Cavalry with his poem, and they overwhelmed Zhang Chengxuan's war-poem army until he conceded defeat.
• Fang Yun asked the scholars to critique his command, and Zhang Chengxuan announced that he would leave for Two Worlds Mountain in three days.
• Fang Yun said he planned to ascend Book Mountain in September and later fight the Barbarian Race in the Jing Kingdom if Two Worlds Mountain did not summon him first.
• A confidential Sacred Academy bulletin described worsening battles at Two Worlds Mountain and the Prison-Suppressing Sea, as well as developments involving Sage Kong's Literary World, the Ancient Demons, and the Bloodmang Realm.
• Zhao Hongzhuang accepted Fang Yun's invitation and went to Kong City to strengthen the Heroine Society, while Fang Yun's effort to establish Heroine Academy branches across nations stalled.
• Lei Zhongmo reached the fifty-fifth hall of the Infinite Battle Hall and broke his record, and Fang Yun arrived at the hall on August twentieth.

Fang Yun entered the Infinite Battle Hall and fought a peak Tiger Demon Marquis, using his Dragon Sage Star Position and Demon Ancestor Star Position to prevent the beast from recovering. After killing it, he analyzed his mistakes and prepared for the next fight as two more Tiger Demon Marquises appeared.

• Fang Yun entered the Infinite Battle Hall and began its trial in an arena beneath a sea of stars.
• A peak Tiger Demon Marquis charged Fang Yun, who used his True Dragon Ancient Sword and Ink Sword to sever its leg and tail.
• Fang Yun’s Dragon Sage Star Position and Demon Ancestor Star Position weakened the Tiger Demon Marquis’s recovery, and his sword killed it.
• Fang Yun reviewed the battle, identified flaws in his attack, and calculated how to improve against demon opponents.
• The stars marked the next round, and two Tiger Demon Marquises appeared before Fang Yun.

Fang Yun fought through increasingly difficult waves in the Infinite Battle Hall, learning to conserve his literary qi and counter the demons’ tactics. He reached the twenty-first battle, where an Elephant Demon Marquis joined the Tiger and Wolf Demon Marquises and forced him to rely on overwhelming strength.

• Fang Yun defeated two Tiger Demon Marquises with summoned War Poem Generals, then adapted his tactics as the arena added more opponents.
• When ten Tiger Demon Marquises appeared with a Blood-Qi Demon Banner, Fang Yun used his Wind-and-Rain Dream Battle, but a Celestial-Aspect Strike broke through his river and destroyed some Cold-Iron Knights.
• Fang Yun baited the ten Tiger Demon Marquises into spending their Celestial-Aspect Strikes, using Deceiving Heaven to Cross the Sea to draw out the final three, then defeated them one by one.
• Fang Yun faced growing numbers of Tiger and Wolf Demon Marquises and relied on Dual-Mindedness to fight while planning against the wolves.
• In the twenty-first battle, Fang Yun faced ten Tiger Demon Marquises, ten Wolf Demon Marquises, and an enormous Elephant Demon Marquis.

Fang Yun fought through the Infinite Battle Hall’s fortieth floor, adapting to waves of Demon Marquises while conserving his strongest techniques. On the forty-first floor, a Leopard Demon Marquis appeared, and Fang Yun summoned War-Poem Soldiers to help contain the growing threat.

• Fang Yun used Walking the Blue Clouds to blunt the Elephant Demon Marquises’ Blood-Qi Trample and fought through the first thirty floors.
• Fang Yun killed an Eagle Demon Marquis by severing its wings with four swords, then continued defeating the remaining demons.
• Fang Yun reached the fortieth floor with torn clothes, shallow wounds, heavy breathing, and two of his five literary-qi smoke pillars exhausted.
• A Leopard Demon Marquis with the Wind Body innate ability appeared on the forty-first floor, where the arena expanded to five li on each side.
• Fang Yun used Wind-and-Rain Dream Battle repeatedly to summon War-Poem Soldiers and block the Demon Marquises.

Fang Yun fought the Demon Marquises in the forty-first battle and used Break Loulan to bury them in blinding sand and stones. He wore down their defenses, exploited their failed coordination, and killed the Leopard Demon Marquis along with the others.

• Fang Yun summoned lance cavalry and mounted archers, then wrote Break Loulan as the Demon Marquises approached.
• The sandstorm blinded the demons, and an Elephant Demon Marquis’s Celestial-Aspect Strike cleared the sand briefly but injured several of his allies.
• Fang Yun’s Break Loulan quickly filled the battlefield with sand again, steadily draining the Demon Marquises’ demon baleful intent and blood qi.
• The Demon Marquises took turns using Celestial-Aspect Strikes and demonic arts to clear paths, while Fang Yun replaced his cavalry with mounted archers and attacked from the air.
• The Demon Marquises launched an all-out attack, but Fang Yun exploited their disorganized formation and defeated them one by one.
• The Leopard Demon Marquis could find no opening in the sandstorm, so he fought Fang Yun head-on and was easily killed.

Fang Yun faced fifty Demon Marquises who used the Infinite Battle Hall’s knowledge of his abilities to evade Break Loulan and drain his literary qi. He strengthened the poem and launched a counterattack, but the Demon Marquises coordinated five Celestial-Aspect Strikes to trap his True Dragon Ancient Swords.

• Fang Yun realized the Demon Marquises were waiting outside Break Loulan’s range to force him to waste literary qi, so he advanced toward them and rewrote the poem at close range.
• Break Loulan weakened the Demon Marquises’ defenses by thirty percent and doubled their consumption of demon baleful intent and blood qi.
• Fang Yun sent his two True Dragon Ancient Swords after an Elephant Demon Marquis, who used Celestial-Aspect Strike and forced the swords to evade.
• Fang Yun targeted another Elephant Demon Marquis while three thousand Frost-Iron Cavalry troops fired arrows at the group.
• Two Eagle Demon Marquises, two Leopard Demon Marquises, and an Elephant Demon Marquis unleashed five Celestial-Aspect Strikes together to block the swords’ escape routes.

Fang Yun swiftly defeated the Demon Marquises in the Infinite Battle Hall and broke the record by reaching the sixty-first round. There, he faced a Bear Demon King and lured it into unleashing a Sage Aspect Strike.

• Fang Yun used Crossing the River in Secret and Sorrowful Burial of Swords to kill the Demon Marquises in the fiftieth round, then advanced through the Snake Demon Marquis’s illusions and poison arts.
• Fang Yun restored his literary qi with Literary Thoughts Gushing as he fought through the rounds and reached the fifty-sixth level.
• The Infinite Stone Wall appeared, and Fang Yun surpassed Lei Zhongmo’s record of fifty-five rounds as spectators gathered and speculated about the challenger.
• Fang Yun encountered a Bear Demon King among the enemies in the sixty-first round and killed Demon Marquises while the Bear Demon King held back.
• Fang Yun feigned a mistake to draw out the Bear Demon King’s Sage Aspect Strike, then activated Living Bookcase to release one of his stored War Poems.

Fang Yun fought through the sixty-ninth round of the Infinite Battle Hall and set a new first-place record, far surpassing Lei Zhongmo. After leaving exhausted, he learned that his repeated first-place finishes had earned him fourteen Literary Platform Awls, and Yan Yukong worried that none would be left for him.

• Fang Yun used “Red Dust Kill” to assassinate a Bear Demon King, then turned the demons’ attacks against them and killed seven Demon Marquises.
• Fang Yun defeated successive waves from the sixty-second through the sixty-eighth rounds by using his poison, literary powers, ancient sword, dragon and demon star positions, and Poetry Cauldron.
• Fang Yun exhausted his literary qi and literary guts in the sixty-ninth round, ending his run at the Infinite Battle Hall.
• Fang Yun’s score of sixty-nine settled at first place on the Infinite Stone Wall, fourteen levels above Lei Zhongmo’s fifty-five.
• Fang Yun contacted Ao Qingyue to arrange the repair and delivery of the Dragon Might Battle Body, then learned that his repeated first-place records entitled him to fourteen Literary Platform Awls.
• Yan Yukong wrote to Fang Yun, worried that Fang Yun’s record had left no Literary Platform Awl for him, and Fang Yun promised to delay his next challenge.