Chapter 1319: Poem Competition
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Good poem, good poem.” Fairy Tian Lu laughed charmingly: “Especially the last line, my dream beauty is here under the moon, it was truly beautiful. I think it is definitely talking about me, hehe.”
She improvised a humorous remark, easing the atmosphere in the pavilion.
Lun Fei gave a helpless and bitter smile, sitting down again: “Please don’t mind my crude creation, it is hardly presentable.”
“Lun Fei, you are too modest, I have a poem as well.” Luo Mu Zi said.
“Oh? We would love to hear it.” Qiao Si Liu smiled, looking at Luo Mu Zi with anticipation.
Luo Mu Zi turned silent for a moment before slowly reciting.
Climbed mountains to seek immortality,
Danger present in every step.
Dust specks float like light,
Dark Gu lurk in heart.
A dream like golden jade,
Thousands of years of loneliness.
Five regions and nine heavens,
Everything is in one breath.
The concept and imagination in this poem with five words in each line immediately moved the Gu Immortals.
They carefully savored it.
Climbed mountains to seek immortality, referred to a Gu Immortal’s cultivation.
Danger present in every step, Gu Immortals needed to deal with calamities and tribulations in their cultivation, devoting all their effort in managing their immortal aperture. It was like climbing a mountain, the higher they reached, the more dangerous it became.
Dust specks float like light, the meaning was that time was always passing by, and in the mortal world, dust gathered on people and people were like floating dust.
Dark Gu lurk in heart, on the surface, it referred to Gu Immortals storing Immortal Gu and mortal Gu in their immortal apertures. But the Gu Immortals present had deep background in literature, they could already savor the deeper meaning.
Dark Gu referred to darkness, setbacks, failures, compromises, disappointments, and other negative feelings.
Mortals thought immortals had good lives, but immortals faced difficulties they did not know. Just look at the living beings in the world, who was truly free and unfettered?
Gu Immortals endured huge pressure in their cultivation, it was unavoidable for them to have negative feelings, even Immortal Venerables and Demon Venerables were not an exception.
Climbed mountains to seek immortality, danger present in every step. Dust specks float like light, dark Gu lurk in heart. These phrases were brief but contained profound meaning, which when carefully considered, resonated greatly with Gu Immortals.
The lines after this, ‘a dream like golden jade, thousands of years of loneliness’; it referred to gold and jade, all kinds of wealth, being superficial objects and just like dreams. As time passes, love, hatred, and all feelings disappear. It showed how the poet looked indifferently at the changes in the world, that their mind was free from mortal emotions.
The final phrase ‘five regions and nine heavens, everything is in one breath’ was filled with vigor and majesty, sweeping away the gloominess and heaviness from the previous lines. There were several other meanings to it, as long as humans had one breath left in them they were living, when they lose this breath, they would die. People strived and fought for that one breath. Using the world as an analogy, Gu Immortal cultivation was just like the pillars holding up the five regions and nine heavens, everyone was just working hard to support themselves.
The entire poem was slow at first before it became faster in momentum, creating a majestic scene that filled the listeners with admiration.
For a moment, the pavilion was filled with silence, the immortals quietly ruminating over this poem.
Qiao Si Liu thought to herself: “Strange, from my understanding of Luo Mu Zi, how could he create such a poem with his nature? He probably stole someone else’s work, hmm, he also did not say it was his creation.”
She sized up Luo Mu Zi.
Luo Mu Zi looked calm on the surface, sitting upright as he quietly drank his tea, but the smile on his lips gave away his inner feelings.
Qiao Si Liu inwardly smiled, but did not expose him.
She then turned her sight towards Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan’s expression was unexpectedly strange!
“This is Qi Jue’s Five Words Poem? How is it possible! Didn’t Demon Immortal Qi Jue’s grotto-heaven only appear when dream realms flourished in the five regions chaotic war?”
‘Strange! Strange! Strange!’
Demon Immortal Qi Jue was a great expert from the Olden Antiquity Era, a rank eight Gu Immortal with immense battle strength who had once fought Limitless Demon Venerable three times, the results were a win, a draw, and a loss.
Naturally, the first two battles were when Limitless Demon Venerable had yet to advance to rank nine.
And, in the final battle, Limitless Demon Venerable had advanced to rank nine, surpassing Demon Immortal Qi Jue. But the battle had still lasted for nine days and nine nights, before the latter was defeated. However, Limitless Demon Venerable did not kill Demon Immortal Qi Jue and let him go.
Limitless Demon Venerable had said this at the time: “You were my biggest enemy, but without you, I would not have trained so desperately. You also had a hand in pushing me towards my current cultivation level.”
Having received the recognition and praise of a grand Demon Venerable, Demon Immortal Qi Jue’s name was marked in history.
The grotto-heaven left after his death had lasted until the present.
In Fang Yuan’s first life, dream realms manifested one after another during the five regions chaotic war, regional walls disappeared and the five regions turned into one. Such a huge change created a turbulence in heaven and earth qi, exposing many hidden blessed lands and grotto-heavens to the outside world.
Demon Immortal Qi Jue’s grotto heaven was revealed in such a situation.
Undoubtedly, the moment it appeared, it caused an uproar in the five regions.
“That shouldn’t be.”
“Simple logic is that Qi Jue’s Five Words Poem was engraved in Qi Jue grotto heaven. How did Luo Mu Zi know of it at this time?”
‘Could it be, he has already entered Qi Jue grotto heaven?!’
Fang Yuan’s thoughts became somewhat chaotic for a moment.
Qi Jue grotto heaven contained the Demon Immortal’s true inheritance. This Demon Immortal was on the same level as Sword Immortal Bo Qing, even Hei Fan paled in comparison to him!
“If I could obtain this true inheritance…”
“Will I obtain Qi Jue’s true inheritance by killing this Luo Mu Zi?”
Intense killing intent rose in Fang Yuan’s mind once again.
Without knowing Fang Yuan’s thoughts, Luo Mu Zi gave a challenging glance to Fang Yuan: “I wonder what great work Wu Yi Hai has? We are really looking forward to it.”
“That is natural.” Lun Fei quickly chipped in: “Lord Wu Yi Hai’s origin is not ordinary, he has plenty of experiences and what’s more, Eastern Sea is very rich in resources. I can’t compare to the scholarly attainment of Wu Yi Hai.”
These two praised Fang Yuan with pleasant words, but their thoughts were anything but good.
Qiao Si Liu was well aware of it, at this moment, she did not protect Fang Yuan but stared at Fang Yuan and encouraged him: “I also really want to listen to your poem, I am sure it will definitely be interesting and special.”
“Yes, yes.” Fairy Tian Lu quickly agreed.
For a moment, Fang Yuan was pressured by everyone, he rubbed his nose and gave a forced smile: “Friends, you are all overestimating me, how could I have poems, I don’t know how to make any.”
“Wu Yi Hai, you are modest! Too modest!” Luo Mu Zi laughed.
Fang Yuan shrugged: “I am telling the truth, I did not even know we would have to recite poems to appreciate the moon.”
“Since that is the case, Wu Yi Hai, why don’t you make one right now, it should be a wonderful work, don’t worry if it takes a bit of time, we are all willing to wait.” Lun Fei said, not letting Fang Yuan off.
Fang Yuan heaved a deep sigh.
Of course, he had a lot of poems in his head.
There was many poems praised since ancient times from Earth, he could casually copy any of those famous stanzas, it would be enough for this occasion and resolve the difficulties from these Gu Immortals.
But…
But so what?
Fang Yuan gazed around.
Luo Mu Zi and Lun Fei loved Qiao Si Liu, they naturally considered Fang Yuan an eyesore, both had come to a tacit agreement to work together and knock down their rival. What good would it do for him to contend with such losers?
Fairy Tian Lu was Qiao Si Liu’s best friend and was indeed working hard, helping Qiao Si Liu wholeheartedly. As for her lover, he did not speak much and was silent most of the time, quietly drinking tea from the side, this showed how astute he was.
As for Qiao Si Liu…
This fairy had both appearance and background, and was one of the three great beauties of Southern Border, she naturally had her pride.
Qiao clan might have ordered her to approach Fang Yuan, but she had her own methods.
She had thought meticulously in hosting this moon festival today. She had thought out everything, not only taking care of small details like seating order, she had also brought her best friend to help her, and an even more brilliant move was that she had invited Lun Fei and Luo Mu Zi to take part in the event.
When two men compete with each other over a girl, even if she was a pig, they would think she is awesome. Only when one wins and the other is out of the competition, and when the victor looks at this pig, he will then realize: oh, this was a pig after all!
This was rather exaggerated, but the logic was similar.
When a competitor appears, it would make the girl who is being pursued seem even more precious and more valuable.
Qiao Si Liu was well aware of this logic, so she made this arrangement to evoke Fang Yuan’s thoughts and make him take the initiative to pursue her, then she could conveniently agree and hook Fang Yuan in.
If it were the real Wu Yi Hai, perhaps he might have already fallen into the planning of beauty.
Unfortunately, the one she was facing was Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan remained unmoved the whole time because he knew the relation between Wu clan and Qiao clan, and also the scheme of Qiao clan’s higher-ups.
With this understanding, Fang Yuan was in a strategically superior and stable position, while Luo Mu Zi and Lun Fei were no more than roadside clowns.
When Fang Yuan sized up the Gu Immortals in the pavilion, the Gu Immortals were also focusing their gazes on him.
There was silence in the pavilion, this silence was no doubt a kind of pressure.
“Luo Mu Zi and Lun Fei want to embarrass me. Qiao Si Liu also wants me to accept the challenge, hmm….maybe she is feeling a little upset. After all, for such a beauty, the seawater was too rude. As for Fairy Tian Lu, she is completely on Qiao Si Liu’s side, and is nothing to worry about…”
Fang Yuan thought of all this, smiling inwardly as he said: “Then let me recite one, don’t laugh at me.”
“We are all ears!”
“We are looking forward to it!”
Luo Mu Zi and Lun Fei were all smiles.
At the next moment, the immortals heard Fang Yuan’s poem —
“Oh great sea, you are made of water.”
“Oh horse, you have four legs.”
“Oh beauty, you have large eyes and a mouth!”
The poem ended.
The entire pavilion was silent!
Everyone’s expression seemed to have stiffened.
Even Qiao Si Liu and Fairy Tian Lu were no exception.
“This, this, this… what the f*ck!”
“This is a poem? This is rubbish!!”
“This Wu Yi Hai is an utter boor.”
“What nonsense is this? Appreciating the moon and reciting poems, it was an elegant event, now it is completely ruined!”
The Gu Immortals were unanimously screaming internally.
Fang Yuan was all smiles as he looked at Qiao Si Liu: “I wonder if Fairy Si Liu is satisfied?”
“Satisfied? Screw you!”
“You still have the nerves to ask this question? You are simply too outrageous!!”
Luo Mu Zi and Lun Fei roared inwardly, but being mindful of their bearing, they showed nothing on the surface. The pavilion was still a scene of silence.
“Heh… hehe…” Qiao Si Liu laughed, even though it sounded very forced: “This poem is really special, to tell the truth, I… I have never heard such a poem. It is indeed worthy of being your creation… now that I carefully consider it, it is actually quite funny.”
Luo Mu Zi:”…”
Lun Fei:”…”