"Perhaps Young Master Lin has other strengths..."
A girl muttered under her breath, but no one paid her any mind.
Strengths?
An especially long face? Or was something else especially long?
But no matter how long it was, his opponent was Qi Ye!
The son of the Minister of Rites-that was the Minister of Rites!
"Don't any of you believe in my dear brother?" Pan Xiaowu appeared just then, holding a freshly made cup of milk tea.
Since so many people had come out to watch the show, there was no queue at Shopkeeper Tong's, so Pan Xiaowu had gone to get milk tea before coming over.
"Believe? On what grounds?" someone answered Pan Xiaowu. "Qi Ye is an Intent-Communing Martial Artist. Even without using his martial power, he's still a Confucian Scholar. And what is Lin Ke?"
"I won't let you talk about my dear brother like that!" Pan Xiaowu snapped. "I simply have to ask, what will it take for you to leave my dear brother alone? Are you little haters?"
"Little haters? Labeling what I just said with 'hate' and 'little' is rather inappropriate. I'm not smearing him, merely stating the facts." The person speaking with Pan Xiaowu shook his head.
"My dear brother may only have Servile Status, but he can still beat Qi Ye, and this fellow from the Left Secretary of the Capital Prefecture's household!" Pan Xiaowu cared nothing for any of that and defended Lin Ke at every turn.
The young man was left exasperated. "You have no idea how ordinary people differ from those in the Intent-Communing Realm!"
"As everyone knows, the path of us scholars is divided into nine realms: Confucian Scholar, Cultivated Talent, Confucian Adept, Man of Letters, Great Confucian, Noble Gentleman, Half-Saint, Second Sage, and Sage.
"Though no path outside the Three Venerable Registries has a ninth realm, the eight realms of martial cultivation are no less impressive: Martial Student, Body-Communing, Intent-Communing, Spirit-Communing, Martial King, Dao-Communing, Unity, and Majestic."
At this point, the young man pointed behind him. "Although Qi Ye is only in the third realm, the Intent-Communing Realm, within five paces he can even rival someone in the Confucian Adept Realm. Not to mention that he's also a Confucian Scholar..."
"So what?!" Pan Xiaowu had understood none of what the young man was saying. "I know some scholars. Ergouzi next door is one. He spends all day reading a book, and I could slap him dead with one hand!"
As she spoke, Pan Xiaowu swung her thick arms, stirring up a whooshing wind and making the people around her hastily retreat.
"They're different, miss." The young man shook his head again. "A scholar and someone who has read books are not the same thing."
He sighed. "In the Confucian Scholar Realm, one can repel an attacking enemy with a single spoken word. A Cultivated Talent has a lucid mind and eyes blazing like torches; those outside the imperial court cannot easily harm them. In the Confucian Adept Realm, speech and writing are no longer restricted. Eloquent words can become spears of the lips and swords of the tongue, brilliant phrases can fall like strings of pearls, and a single line of poetry can make its words come true..."
"Under those circumstances, an Intent-Communing Martial Artist can withstand, even rival, a Confucian Adept with physical strength alone. Wouldn't you call that formidable?"
"Besides, when the time comes, I'm afraid Young Master Lin won't even be able to withstand a single 'Begone' from Qi Ye in the Confucian Scholar Realm!"
Having finished, the young man paid Pan Xiaowu no further attention and turned back toward the Tongfu Grand Restaurant. "This milk tea stuff is pretty good. I need to drink more before Lin Ke loses..."
Pan Xiaowu's fury instantly blazed three yards high. "Stop right there! What did you just say?!"
While Pan Xiaowu was talking with that unknown young master, however, the atmosphere between Lin Ke and the young man from the Left Secretary of the Capital Prefecture's household on the Hanging Mountain Tea Shop's platform had already become one of drawn swords and taut bows.
Butcher Zhang was also watching closely, afraid Lin Ke might get hurt.
After all, this now involved a literary contest. As someone who counted as an elder, it was difficult for him to interfere in a contest between juniors.
Most importantly, Lin Ke did not seem afraid of the young man.
"Lin Ke, if you recite your poems now, what will you compete with later?"
The Immortal Realm Painting Studio stood beside the Hanging Mountain Tea Shop, and the voice came from Wang Lin.
"It's fine." Lin Ke shook his head slightly. "Poetry comes where inspiration leads; it needs no painstaking carving and polishing. Today, I wish to compete in letters. Why should I fear having none within me?"
Wang Lin raised her eyebrows and said no more.
Her concern was that this young man had come with an agenda, most likely to exhaust the poems Lin Ke had stored within him.
The aim was to leave Lin Ke with no poems to use in his contest with Qi Ye a month later!
But seeing how confident Lin Ke was, she did not question him further.
When young people refused to heed their elders, it was either confidence or conceit.
She did not think Lin Ke was conceited. He had always been humble.
Lin Ke looked at the young man who claimed to be the son of the Left Secretary of the Capital Prefecture, his gaze calm. "Whatever kind of poetry you want to compete in, set any topic you like. I'll take it on!"
An uproar swept through the crowd.
"Holy shit, he's so handsome and commanding! I love it!"
"Indeed, Brother Lin's bearing is worthy of his reputation for Divine Case-Solving!"
"Hmph, such shameless boasting. His opponent is in the Confucian Scholar Realm..."
"Ah! This mediocre, overconfident man actually dared call Brother Lin a shameless boaster! Girlfriends, who understands..."
Hearing Lin Ke's words, the young man narrowed his eyes at him. No one could compose poetry off the cuff. Many who could speak in polished verse only managed it because they had prepared drafts beforehand.
Thus, he believed Lin Ke might have something to him, but not much!
A person's talent was finite.
"Well?" The son of the Left Secretary of the Capital Prefecture looked at Lin Ke and narrowed his eyes. "Don't dare?"
Naturally, he had not come to fight Lin Ke, nor was he merely looking for trouble.
Just as Wang Lin had said, he only wanted to deplete Lin Ke's literary talent ahead of time.
"What is the topic?" Lin Ke's eyes remained as still as an ancient well.
He had agreed!
Lin Ke had agreed!
The spectators' faces lit up with excitement.
An expert investigator with Servile Status was actually going to compete in poetry with a Confucian Scholar of the Confucian Registry?
The young man's smile widened as well. "Since you have Servile Status, let 'Servile Status' be the topic. Seven-character regulated verse. Can you manage?"
"Yes." Lin Ke answered at once. "You first, or me?"
"Since I proposed it, of course I'll go first." The young man began reciting straightaway.
"Born ants, they fool themselves and others still;"
"Their lowly wives are whores, yet pardons spill."
"With bitter, grieving faces toward the clay,"
"How match the sages who shepherd all each day?"
As his words fell, a wind sprang up of its own accord, setting the young man's robes fluttering without a breeze.
At the same time, a force suddenly descended over the surrounding hundred li.
"This... this is a Manifestation?!"
Someone cried out in astonishment.
Now, a mysterious force descended, gust after gust suddenly swept through the surrounding hundred li, and dense storm clouds appeared overhead, pressing down.
Everyone immediately experienced a strange sensation.
Those of commoner status felt little.
But those of the Noble Registry and those with Servile Status each felt a pronounced effect.
Those of the Noble Registry felt their bodies grow slightly lighter, as though they stood atop the clouds.
Those with Servile Status felt as though the dense black clouds were about to crush their legs.
At the same time, an invisible aura enveloped them. Those with Servile Status could only feel their bodies growing heavy, as though their strength were being drained away.
Those of the Noble Registry, however, seemed to draw strength from those with Servile Status.
"This is... a Manifestation!"
"The hundred-li resonance phenomenon?!"
Someone cried out, pointing at the young man, too astonished to speak further.
Lin Ke, meanwhile, froze.
Hundred-Li Echo?
What kind of lousy name was that...
Why did it sound like the name of a firecracker?
At the same time, Lin Ke felt the strength being drawn from his body. Focusing his mind, he took a step forward.
Before you continue