The two walked side-by-side, with the other Middle-Grade Cultivators surrounding them.
"Zhou Chunfeng, I’ll rip your ears off today!" the Elephant King Baiya trumpeted, raising his trunk.
King Shujiao advanced unhurriedly. Powerful gusts of wind rippled around his body. The dust covering the ground should have swirled up, but his power pinned it an inch from the surface, making it rise and fall as if it were boiling.
King Shujiao’s deer-like antlers swayed gently. Suddenly, the dark clouds in the sky split open, and beams of starlight, each ten feet thick, pierced through and fell upon his head.
His body slowly expanded, growing to a height of five hundred feet in the blink of an eye.
A single demon, as large as a city.
However, a look of doubt appeared in King Shujiao’s eyes.
"Be careful. That nine-colored rainbow hasn’t formed a Battle Poem yet, but we must remain vigilant," King Shujiao said.
"Perhaps it’s just the power of a Cultural Treasure. It might only be for defense or some other purpose, not for attacking us," said the Elephant King Baiya.
The intense pressure from King Shujiao coalesced into a physical gale that blew from afar, all the way to the city walls.
The refined-looking Songg Yunjing remained calm and composed, letting the gale whip at his white-streaked hair. With his left hand, he tossed a Dragon Pattern Cyan Jade Paperweight into the air. Before him, the Black-Handled Silver Brush hovered. He then raised his head and loudly recited a new Battle Poem, and the silver brush transformed his voice into words in mid-air.
"Yellow clouds drift north, stirring the winds; Nine white-capped streams from Kunlun flow. The Great River from the west divides heaven and earth; Roaring for ten thousand miles, it strikes Dragon Gate!"
His voice boomed like a dragon.
The Cyan Cloud Paperweight shattered, releasing a ball of white light that shot straight into the sky.
The four lines of verse, written in the air by the silver brush, merged into a silver stream of light and flew toward the sky.
Songg Yunjing stood in the heart of the gale, his robes whipping about him. Above his head rose the Four Phases: the glittering golden Wencai Pen, Celestial River Ink, Vast Paper, and Sea Storage Inkstone. The next instant, the Four Phases merged, splitting into three transparent flowers that hovered over his head. A burst of cyan light erupted from behind him, intertwining with the white and silver lights as it ascended.
All the humans present were overjoyed. With the fusion of the Four Phases and the Three Flowers suspended above him, Songg Yunjing had actually broken through to the Third Grade at this very moment.
The Celestial Starlight from the sky had originally been shining on King Shujiao, but an invisible force twisted the space high above, redirecting the light to shine upon Songg Yunjing instead.
Everyone on the city wall was bathed in the starlight.
Li Qingxian felt a slight stir in his Spirit Platform. Both the Thunder Dragon Fire Seal and the four Children were absorbing the Celestial Starlight.
An instant later, a nine-colored rainbow shone across the sky.
The white, cyan, and silver streams of light soared straight up, crashing into the nine-colored rainbow.
BOOM...
An earth-shattering sound echoed between heaven and earth. To the west, a brilliant light suddenly flared, tens of thousands of feet high.
Everyone squinted, looking toward the western horizon. There, nine identical Snow Mountains rose from the earth, shimmering with a brilliance that connected heaven and earth, as if they had existed since time immemorial.
The surfaces of the Snow Mountains flashed. The mountains stirred, and avalanches of churning white snow instantly converged into nine gleaming white long rivers, flying forth from the horizon.
As they flew, the nine long rivers began to transform.
In the blink of an eye, they drew near. The nine white rivers had become nine white dragons. Their scale armor shimmered, their five claws glinted with a cold light, their long whiskers drifted, and their eyes were filled with majestic power. A crushing pressure swept out, completely obliterating the ferocious aura of King Shujiao.
"What Battle Poem is this?!"
The three Demon Kings hastily retreated, focusing all their energy on defense.
Suddenly, the dark clouds high above exploded.
Everyone looked up to see two mountain peaks falling in unison over the heads of the three Demon Kings. Their summits were connected, forming a massive, arched gate.
Dragon Gate Mountain plummeted down, smashing into the ground. It covered an area a thousand zhang in radius, and all the Demon Race forces north of the city were caught beneath it.
BOOM!
Countless members of the Demon Race looked up at the descending black shadow, and before they could even scream, they were instantly reduced to dust and gore.
The three Demon Kings were right in the middle of the Giant Gate formed by the two mountains. The Elephant King Baiya and the Snake King Heiwenn were slammed into the earth as if struck by the palm of a Celestial God, their bodies cracking apart along with the surrounding ground.
The fluid white antlers on King Shujiao’s head pulsed frantically, resisting the suppression of Dragon Gate. But his flesh split open, and beads of blood erupted all over his body.
"Insignificant Human Race, how dare you..."
The nine thousand-zhang-long white dragons roared to the heavens and shot forward, crashing in unison into the Dragon Gate where the three Demon Kings were trapped.
BOOM!
The Nine Dragons slammed furiously into Dragon Gate Mountain.
Heaven and earth shook. A blazing white pillar of light shot into the sky before exploding, a mushroom cloud blooming high above. A violent, ring-shaped shockwave of white energy swept out in all directions.
Wherever it passed, righteous qi cleansed all filth. Demon blood ignited, and the bodies of Evil Demons were incinerated.
In contrast, when the shockwave hit the humans, they only felt a vibration on their skin, which then penetrated deep into their blood, muscles, and marrow. An indescribably pleasant sensation spread through their bodies, as if they were soaking in a hot spring in the dead of winter.
Songg Baige was both shocked and delighted, murmuring to himself, "A First-Grade Battle Poem... Righteous Qi to Uphold the Universe..."
The people nearby watched Songg Yunjing’s back with envy.
With the appearance of this phenomenon, Songg Yunjing had become a leader of the Scholarly Community and a model for all in Literature Cultivation.
’Righteous Qi to Uphold the Universe... the makings of a Grand Chancellor...’ Li Qingxian hadn’t expected Songg Yunjing to be this incredible.
Outside Beichen City, where the Dragon Gate had fallen, a massive, dark crater smoked.
Not a single bone of the Demon Race remained.
Suddenly, an indescribably terrifying aura surged into the sky, shaking the hearts and minds of everyone present.
"You forced me to use my Saint Ancestor’s Essence Blood! I swear I will not rest until I have my revenge!"
A streak of blood-red light shot into the sky and fled north. Within the light, one could faintly make out the mangled, fleshy form of a deer, missing its antlers and legs.
Everyone looked around. The Demon Race to the north had been annihilated by the Dragon Gate’s descent. The demons on the other three sides had been struck by the roar of the Nine Dragons and the wave of righteous qi. Most were dead, with only a few scattered Fourth and Fifth Grade demons stumbling away, their steps faltering.
A few Middle-Grade Officers leaped from the city walls to give chase.
"Two Third-Grade Demon Kings have been slain, and hundreds of thousands of demons killed! A great victory!" Songg Yunjing announced, turning to face the crowd.
The crowd’s blood boiled with excitement. They all roared in unison, "Victory! Victory! Victory!"
Songg Yunjing walked up to Li Qingxian, cupped his fists, and said in a clear voice, "This disciple, Songg Yunjing, pays his respects to the Poetry Master."
After speaking, he bent ninety degrees at the waist in a deep bow before everyone.
"You mustn’t..." Li Qingxian reached out to help him up, but a surging wall of Literary Qi blocked his path.
The crowd gazed at Li Qingxian, an indescribable envy welling up inside them. To become a First-Grade Poet Master at such a young age and help someone ascend to the rank of Grand Scholar... setting aside everything else, just the connections of the new Grand Scholar, Songg Yunjing, would bring endless benefits.
Songg Yunjing finished his bow and straightened up. A gentle smile touched his refined face as he said, "You revised my poem into a First-Grade masterpiece and helped me ascend to Grand Scholar. You fully deserve that bow."
Li Qingxian said, "Uncle Songg, you’re too kind. Next time something like this happens, you don’t have to move a muscle. Just have Brother Songg perform the three kneelings and nine prostrations."
Everyone burst out laughing.
"If you help me turn my poem into a First-Grade one, I’ll kowtow to you every day!" Songg Baige said nonchalantly.
"With that shoddy poetry of yours, you have the nerve to even bring it up?" Li Qingxian retorted.
"Everyone else praises my poetry! Uncle Zhou, you be the judge," Songg Baige said, getting flustered.
Zhou Chunfeng smiled. "Songg Baige’s poetry and Li Qingxian’s calligraphy—the twin jades of Daqi."
The crowd’s eyes fell on the page of poetry Li Qingxian had written, and they couldn’t help but chuckle.
"Uncle Zhou..." Songg Baige whined, a look of grievance on his face.
Songg Yunjing carefully took the page with the Child Poems and Verses written by Li Qingxian. "I will treasure this poem and keep it as a family heirloom. The calligraphy is a bit lacking, but the spirit is strong."
Songg Baige looked at Li Qingxian doubtfully and asked, "What you said before you wrote the poem... was it true?"
"What did he say?" Zhou Chunfeng asked.
Li Qingxian said seriously, "It was true. At that moment..."
Li Qingxian recounted the entire process.
After hearing it, Zhou Henn was dumbfounded, his imagination running wild.
Zhou Chunfeng paused for a moment, a smile touching his eyes.
Most of the people exchanged glances and began to praise the Emperor.
Songg Baige opened his mouth, but didn’t dare to speak.