Chapter 55 Don't Regret It Later Then

Gu Fangchen narrowed his eyes and reached out his hand to catch the falling rain.

Before the raindrops could touch him, however, they automatically retreated, turning into a hazy mist in mid-air that refracted the multicolored radiance all around his body.

In an instant, Gu Fangchen was enveloped in a brilliant five-colored glow, and the lotuses blooming all around him lowered their heads slightly toward him.

It was both miraculous and dreamlike.

Inside Qionglin Garden, more than half of the people had become drenched rats due to the sudden torrential downpour.

At this very moment, however, no one cared about that anymore.

All of them stared in a trance at Gu Fangchen. Quite a few slumped down onto the ground, muttering the few poems Gu Fangchen had just recited, feeling as though the sky itself had collapsed!

As mentioned before, cultivators in this world had only two paths: the divine path and the martial path. Any other means were merely skills.

For the scholars present, their skill was literary talent.

Talent qi existed between heaven and earth, and the highest recognition of a scholar's literary talent was the manifestation of a wondrous phenomenon in the heavens and earth induced by talent qi.

Whether poetry, songs, prose, or essays, as long as it gained the recognition of heaven and earth, it could invoke wondrous phenomena for reinforcement, and these phenomena could also be used as means of attack.

Just like the "Poetry Immortal" Li Wangji slaying a ghost general with a sword, he had relied on a single poem of his own to transform his sword into a cyan serpent.

However, if it were a lyrical poem describing scenery or objects, even if it triggered a wondrous phenomenon, it would only add some special effects to oneself.

If one's own cultivation was insufficient, the power of the heavenly and earthly phenomenon would also be limited.

In the *Mirror in the Dust*, players could similarly trigger heavenly and earthly phenomena by engaging in poetry battles with NPCs, which was considered a rather fun little easter egg.

Any single poem used by Gu Fangchen was sufficient to induce a heavenly and earthly phenomenon.

In theory, though, it wouldn't be this exaggerated; at most, it would just be a full pond of lotus flowers blooming.

Instead, he had directly unleashed six of them in a row!

This quantity directly caused a qualitative change, elevating the special effects to the extent of changing the colors of heaven and earth, gathering winds and clouds, and filling the air with misty radiance.

Right now, the entire Imperial Capital City could witness this wondrous phenomenon.

Amidst their shock, everyone's gazes inevitably fell upon the desolate and absent-minded Gu Youren, carrying a very subtle expression.

Gu Yuandao's face turned ashen as he stared fixedly at the five-colored halo on Gu Fangchen's body.

Even he, up until now, had only ever had two essays trigger the talent-qi-induced heavenly and earthly phenomenon... Even so, he was already considered a peerless prodigy of the current era, with very few who could rival him.

What was even more terrifying was that those few poems were impeccably flawless.

Even if the "Poetry Immortal" himself were to come and evaluate them, the verdict would remain the same!

The appearance of the heavenly and earthly phenomenon not only proved the immense value of these poems but also proved that they were making their debut in the world today.

In other words, before today, no one had ever spoken them aloud...

If someone else had told these to Gu Fangchen, then the moment they were spoken, the poems would be completed, and the wondrous phenomenon would have appeared accordingly.

Furthermore, who possessed such capability to compose a full six poems themed around lotus flowers in one breath, all of which could trigger wondrous phenomena?

Whether Gu Fangchen could do it aside, anyway... Liu Xuan certainly could not.

Gu Youren had miscalculated once again, turning into the very person she despised the most—someone who failed to distinguish right from wrong and turned black into white.

"Impossible... It's not like that..."

She sat blankly in her seat, letting the rain beat down upon her, and muttered:

*Flowers enter the golden basin while leaves turn to dust... Could it be, could it be that I was wrong?*

Someone nearby cried out in alarm:

"Lord Lin! Lord Lin! What's wrong with you, Lord Lin!"

It turned out that the elderly official who had made a wager with Gu Fangchen had rolled his eyes and fainted straight away, carried out hastily by the students on both sides.

Whether he was truly unconscious or faking it remained unknown...

One could only say that the reaction of an old veteran in officialdom was still remarkably swift.

Gu Yuandao looked at the chaotic and overturned Qionglin Garden, took a deep breath, and realized in his heart that if he didn't make a move now, today's banquet would probably turn entirely into Gu Fangchen's solo show.

He walked up to Liu Xuan and said in a deep voice:

"Senior Brother Liu, I am deeply sorry. This matter was due to my eldest sister's arbitrariness."

Liu Xuan waved his hand with a cold face and said:

"I indeed had my soul leave my body earlier, so it is understandable that Mr. Gu misunderstood. Just as the Top Scholar Gu said earlier, knowing one's errors and being able to reform is the greatest of virtues."

"However, the person the two of you truly ought to apologize to is His Highness the Heir."

Hearing this, Gu Yuandao paused. With a gloomy and concentrated gaze, a forced, malicious smile plastered on his face, he muttered in a low voice:

"That is assuming he survives this hurdle..."

Liu Xuan frowned deeply, suddenly feeling somewhat uncomfortable inside.

Although he had long heard of the dispute between the true and false heirs of the Prince of Zhenbei's Estate, the conflict seemed even deeper than he had imagined.

It appeared that today's Qionglin Banquet was deliberately set up as a death trap specifically for Gu Fangchen.

Everyone in the Prince of Zhenbei's Estate wished to get rid of him quickly.

Given Gu Fangchen's past temperament and style, such an attitude from the estate seemed a matter of course, but looking closely today, this Heir Apparent had probably been concealing his true abilities all along.

No matter what, though... at least his own problem had been resolved.

Liu Xuan let out a long breath, took out his teacher's congratulatory gift box, and walked over to Gu Fangchen, who had just leaped down from the table.

He proclaimed in a clear voice:

"This is my teacher's former personal sword, named 'The Very Best'. Today, seeing Your Highness the Heir recite six poems praising lotuses and bring down colored rosy clouds from the heavens, I am borrowing flowers to present to the Buddha, and hereby gift this sword to Your Highness!"

Gu Fangchen glanced at the sword inside the box.

This sword was indeed a fine sword, except that...

"Brother Liu, do not act rashly."

Gu Fangchen appeared very modest and tactfully said:

"Since this sword comes from the academy, it must be a congratulatory gift for the Top Scholar. You should give it to Gu Yuandao instead."

"?"

Wasn't you the arrogant person who just stepped directly onto the table a moment ago?

Liu Xuan was extremely bewildered, but he still insisted:

"Your Highness the Heir's poetic talent is rare in this world, and you are fully worthy of this 'Very Best'!"

After the misunderstanding just now, transferring this congratulatory gift to Gu Fangchen appeared entirely reasonable.

Gu Fangchen picked up the long sword, pondered for a moment, and said:

"Then you mustn't regret this later."

Liu Xuan spoke with heroic spirit reaching the clouds:

"Naturally, I won't!"

Discussions rose from the side.

"Isn't that the personal sword of the 'Poetry Immortal', 'The Very Best'? I heard this wasn't a congratulatory gift meant for the Top Scholar? How did it end up with Gu Fangchen..."

"Presenting a congratulatory gift is about saving face, but after everyone mistook him for cheating, why give it at all?"

"Putting everything else aside, once the Heir's six poems came out, let alone the younger generation, even among the older generation, how many people could compare to him? This 'Very Best' is truly well-deserved."

"On the contrary, this Top Scholar..."

Gu Yuandao took a deep breath, suppressed the anger bubbling in his heart, raised his voice, and shouted:

"Everyone!"

"Since there has been a misunderstanding, it naturally must be cleared up! What human strength cannot determine as true or false shall be left to 'The Rules' to adjudicate!"

"Gu Fangchen, you previously asked if I dared, so now, do you dare let 'The Rules' question your heart?"

The dagger was finally revealed from its wrapper.

Gu Fangchen looked around and raised an eyebrow:

"Why wouldn't I dare? If you dare, I dare."

As a disciple of a sage, Gu Yuandao naturally had the means to summon the spiritual beast left behind by the sage, not to mention that he had already reported this to Xie Qian beforehand.

Soon, two academy scholars respectfully brought forward a giant stone turtle carrying a stone tablet.

The stone turtle was extremely heavy, but its shell was covered in scriptures, shimmering with dark green spiritual patterns. Its eyes were half-closed, radiating a profound and abstruse aura.

Gu Fangchen stepped forward.

It raised its head, spoke with a human voice, and said indifferently:

"I question this with 'The Rules'—"

Changing its tone, it asked:

"Are you the biological bloodline of the Prince of Zhenbei?"

Gu Fangchen stood firm. Unable to resist following his true heart, he shook his head and replied:

"No."

Gu Yuandao instantly hooked the corners of his lips, almost unable to hold back his loud laughter. It was the expected result; everything was finally settled!

A gasp of astonishment had already rippled through the crowd below.

Gu Fangchen raised an eyebrow:

"Then I happen to have a question for you as well."

The spiritual turtle was momentarily stunned. It saw the gold-embroidered bird-shaped hidden pattern on Gu Fangchen's clothes suddenly ignite, quickly transforming into a cluster of golden flames that expanded outward, blocking everyone around them.

He clenched his fists and flashed a grin:

"Since when has our Demonic Sect ever cared about rules?"

Gu Fangchen circulated his spiritual power, causing the marks left by the Demon-Suppressing Nails on his arm to light up. The blood-red traces connected with one another, forming a mysterious pattern resembling a star chart.

He leaped forward, drew "The Very Best" with his right hand, and thrust it straight into the spiritual turtle's mouth, prying out one of its teeth.

His other hand immediately grasped the tooth, and the "Measuring" mark on his hand flashed, carrying him directly into the "Latitude and Longitude Realm".

Liu Xuan stood below, dumbfounded, and before he could react, Gu Fangchen's figure had already vanished...

Only then did he finally understand.

What it meant by "you mustn't regret this later."