Great Zhou Wensheng

Chapter 7 A Hundred Threads of Elixir, Every Tree a Soldier [Bow Shadow Cup] Wen Bao
"Thank you!"

Jiang Xingzhou bowed and stepped into the solemn and dignified Confucian temple.

Above the main hall hangs a plaque that reads "Teacher for All Ages".

Inside the main hall, seventy-two bronze statues of saints stand majestically on the four walls, crowned with the sun and moon. Before them burns seventy-two ever-burning lamps.

There were sages from various schools of thought, as well as founding heroes of the Zhou Dynasty.

The bronze statues of the saints, with their piercing gazes, look down upon the young student who has entered the Confucian Temple.

"Disciple Xingzhou has come to the Mountain of Books to test his understanding of the Dao!"

Jiang Xingzhou bowed to the assembled saints and felt an invisible pressure.

The seventy-two lamps, their flames burning softly, instantly coalesced into a beam of light that fell upon him.

"Boom~!"

In an instant, he disappeared from the Confucian Temple in Jiangyin County, swallowed by the power of the Confucian Temple's Book Mountain, and entered the trial enlightenment realm.

Jiang Xingzhou was astonished to find that he had stepped into the virtual realm of the mountain of books.

In the vast white expanse of heaven and earth, a majestic mountain of books rises abruptly from the ground.

Millions of ancient tortoise shells, books, bamboo slips, scrolls, jade slips, and fragments were piled up layer upon layer, resembling a towering mountain range that pierced the clouds.

The Han Dynasty bamboo slips in the mountains stand upright like dragon scales, and the scholar's ink marks on the bamboo slips condense into fireflies that flicker on and off, while the clouds and rosy clouds in the sky unfurl and roll.

The blue steps beneath my feet are paved with countless hard oracle bone characters.

"This is a giant space created by the power of literature and Taoism—the Book Mountain of the Confucian Temple in Jiangyin County!"

Jiang Xingzhou looked up and saw stone steps leading to the sky, straight into the swirling clouds.

At the eleventh pass of the mountain of books, countless seal script characters swirl around, and thousands of scrolls turn into illusory shadows in the rosy light, appearing and disappearing like a fairyland.

Jiang Xingzhou took a deep breath. The rich cultural heritage of Jiangyin County was hidden here. He climbed the stone steps to reach the top of the mountain.

At the foot of the mountain, the first challenge of the bronze gate: "Deconstructing the text and deciphering the characters - quick deconstruction!"
Jiang Xingzhou pushed open the heavy mountain gate of the pass.

"How dare a mere novice venture into the mountain of books?"

A sword-wielding, armored guard, materialized from a phantom image, coldly declared: "Anyone attempting this trial must decipher ten characters within sixty seconds to pass. If even one character falls to the ground undeciphered, the attempt fails!"

As soon as he finished speaking, ten "Mei" characters descended from the sky and floated down to the ground one after another.

The "[Battle]" strategy.

A murderous aura surged into the sky, like a dark, shadowy corpse.

Within the [War] incantation, it seems that an ancient Qin soldier, alone with his spear, carries the banners of the six states, blows a horn, and the strings of the bow resound across the sky. The spear tips are rusted by the sands of the Warring States period, and countless soldiers clash with each other.

Jiang Xingzhou's eyes narrowed, and he shouted:

“战, '斗', is the shape of a '戈' and the sound of a '单'.

The character 单 (dān) is a phonetic component, representing the sound of horns blown in ancient battles, a sound like tearing silk and ripping the sky.

The halberd, a symbolic representation, depicts a lone soldier holding a halberd standing in a scorched field. Those without support who wield their halberds face either death or life!

"boom"

With a clear shout from Jiang Xingzhou, the [Battle] technique was dissected and deconstructed, exploding into ashes.

Level completed: 1/10.

"drought demon"

"The Ba is a drought demon, a ghost in form, a vocalization! A red-haired female corpse, its eyes spewing sulfurous smoke, splitting the earth and instantly covering a thousand miles!"

"Bang!" The "Ba" spell exploded.

Level completed: 2/10.

Jiang Xingzhou poked at the air with his fingertips, pointing at the seal characters falling from mid-air. As he touched them, they shattered, scattering into dust and falling to the ground ashes.

Sixty seconds!
He quickly deconstructed ten extremely complex and difficult word combinations.

"Boom!"

Successfully cleared the level!

The reward for completing the first level of the "Book Mountain Pass" event also follows.

Three low-grade talent pills suddenly appeared in Jiang Xingzhou's palm.

[Hundred-Thread Pill: Refined from century-old locust fruit and spiritual dew, its shell has a locust-green hue. Consuming it can rapidly replenish one hundred threads of literary energy. A low-grade literary pill, suitable for beginners and novice scholars.]

Jiang Xingzhou accepted the Talent Pill and ascended the steps. After a while, he arrived at the massive bronze gate of the second level of the towering Book Mountain.

The Guardian of Light and Shadow coldly said, "This level is a sand table simulation of literary arts, all theoretical. I will use word spells to attack, and you will use word spells to defend. The time limit is ten seconds!"

In an instant, a virtual sand table appeared before my eyes.

The guardian of light and shadow exclaimed, "[川] character technique! Floodwaters become rivers, rushing for thousands of miles!"

Jiang Xingzhou responded without hesitation: "The art of the character '壅'! Use fortifications as dikes to resist the flood!" As the sand table was being used for simulation, one character after another rose up from the ground.

The ink characters transformed into the weapons of both sides, engaging in fierce combat. The battle between the flood and the dike raged wildly on the sand table.

Ten moments later, the guardian of light and shadow fell silent.

Jiang Xingzhou completely thwarted his literary skills.

Cleared!

Jiang Xingzhou passed the second level of the Book Mountain, "Talking About War on Paper," and received the reward—the literary skill "Seeing Every Bush and Tree as an Enemy."

Suddenly, all the trees in his consciousness transformed into soldiers, and in an instant, he had grasped the true essence of this literary art.

[Newly Acquired Literary Skill - [All Plants and Trees as Soldiers]: Can transform plants and trees into wooden puppet soldiers, each with 100 health points, lasting for one hour. Proficiency: 0/100.]

After passing the second level of the mountain of books, Jiang Xingzhou did not expend any of his talent, but he was extremely mentally exhausted and felt a bit hungry.

He took out some millet cakes from the cloth bag, ate a few pieces, and drank a little well water from the bamboo tube.

I rested on the stone steps for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, and regained my energy.

Then, Jiang Xingzhou climbed the steps and arrived at the third level: "Word Technique Guardian".

The luminous guardian coldly said, "This level is a real battle! I will release a spell, and you must hold out for ten seconds to pass."

With a wave of his hand, the guard revealed a series of suspended seal characters.

The characters "Wind" cracked blades, "Ice" splashed frost spears, and "Bow" shot out in a sky, all attacking Jiang Xingzhou in an instant.

Jiang Xingzhou was taken aback and hurriedly raised his hand to release a series of spells to resist the opponent's frenzied attack.

"Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding~!"

As the ice spear thrust forward, he flicked his sleeve, conjuring a ball of fire.

As the wind blades slashed down, he met them with an earthen shield.

In the rush, he didn't have time to respond with spells, and he was even forced to throw out the prepared runes from his pocket to counter the opponent's spells.

Ten moments, time's up!

The guards at the mountain of books have ceased their duties.

Jiang Xingzhou stared intently at the guardian of light and shadow, his breathing rapid and his hands and feet trembling.

The stone steps around him were covered with ice shards, wind blades, and fire marks. In just ten seconds, the Light and Shadow Guardian unleashed ten spells in one go.

Fortunately, despite the difficulties, we still managed to pass through safely!

[Bow Shadow Cup: A literary treasure capable of storing fifty strands of talent. It comes with the 'Cup and Bow Reflecting a Snake' spell; when the cup is summoned, a bow and snake will appear, lasting for one quarter of an hour!]

Jiang Xingzhou was surprised to see that he now held a delicate, transparent cup in his hand.

After resting for a while.

Jiang Xingzhou put the Wenbao into his bosom and climbed the mountain again, arriving at the fourth gate halfway up the mountain.

In fact, by the third level, his talent had been exhausted, making it very difficult for him to deal with single-word spells.

However, since we're already here...
He definitely needs to check out the fourth level.

The phantom guard, holding a cup, hovered in mid-air. He flung the cup away and shouted, "[Cup and Snake Reflection], kill—!"

Suddenly, a cup began to spin rapidly, and a ten-foot-long, twisted, ethereal snake burst forth from the shadows, baring its fangs and emitting a bloody stench, lunging towards him.

"Damn it!"

Jiang Xingzhou's face turned deathly pale.

Without the strength of a child prodigy, how could he withstand such a terrifying four-character incantation technique?

In an instant, a burst of azure light erupted from the Hanlin Academic Certificate at his waist, protecting his entire body.

The illusory snake collided with the ball of light and dissipated with a "whoosh".

The entire mountain of books suddenly trembled.

“Swoosh~!”

A flash of light flashed.

Jiang Xingzhou left the mountain of books and staggered into the Confucian temple.

Jiang Xingzhou, with his Mengsheng Wenwei position, ventured into the Confucian Temple Book Mountain. After passing the first 3 levels, his cultivation level increased by 3000!

Rewards for the Three Trials of the Book Mountain: [Hundred Threads Pill] Talent Pill, [Every Bush and Tree a Soldier] Literary Skill, [Bow Shadow Cup] Literary Treasure!

"This mountain of books in the Confucian temple, which should only be accessible to those who have passed the preliminary stage of the imperial examinations, was conquered by a student who had only completed three stages?!"

The old gatekeeper was drinking tea in the Confucian temple.
Withered fingers were still laboriously calculating how long Jiang Xingzhou could hold out in the Book Mountain. Looking at the boy who staggered out of the Book Mountain barrier, a look of horror appeared in his eyes.

(End of this chapter)