I am a winner with Chinese poetry

Gu Yunzhou took the invitation with suspicion, unfolded it, and saw the words written on it in a flamboyant style: "Lin Buyu of the Lin family of Chuyanguo sincerely invites Jiang Liunian and Gu Yunzhou to join us at Tianxing Tower tonight!"

The meaning was concise and clear. Gu Yunzhou was not completely unfamiliar with this Lin Buyu. Chuyan Kingdom ranked sixth among the seven human nations, and its strength should not be underestimated. The Lin family was a well-known and prestigious family in Chuyan Kingdom.

Lin Buyu is a young man, less than 30 years old, but he is already a fifth-rank Confucian scholar. What is even more amazing is his attainments in Go, which has reached the point where he can control it as easily as with one's own arm. It can be said that he is quite powerful and is also well-known among the entire human race.

"Yunzhou, Lin Buyu came to us probably to form an alliance. It seems that our plan to go out for a stroll today is going to be ruined!" Jiang Liunian saw the reason at a glance. The Shushan Holy Land is a place full of dangers. Before entering, everyone would spontaneously form a team in order to overcome difficulties together.

Gu Yunzhou nodded slightly, his expression calm but with a hint of consideration: "It's worth a meeting. After all, in this mountain of powerful people, it's difficult for you and me to shake the situation alone. If the alliance is truly beneficial, it's not a bad idea to join."

As a seventh-rank scholar, he knew his cultivation was near the bottom of the pack among the participants in this trial, and that Jiang Liunian alone would be unable to hold his own. He secretly considered that forming an alliance might improve their chances of success in this trial ground. He possessed a special skill that could quickly restore the spiritual energy of his teammates, so joining a team shouldn't be difficult.

After the two reached a consensus, they did not stop for a moment and headed straight for the Tianxing Tower marked on the invitation.

The nature of Tianxing Tower was similar to that of Qionghua Pavilion, a place where scholars could enjoy tea, watch operas, and converse. However, compared to Qionghua Pavilion, Tianxing Tower, nestled in the sacred land of literature, was even more magnificent and grand. Its decoration alone was on a different level. As Gu Yunzhou stepped inside, he was filled with rare cultural treasures and exotic flowers, skillfully integrated into the décor, lending the pavilion a certain air of transcendence.

Led by a gentle maid, the two soon arrived at the private room where Lin Zhiyu was. It was very lively inside. A rough count showed that there were about a dozen people, with a young man in gorgeous clothes at the head of the group as the center.

"Brother Jiang and Brother Gu, you are here. Please take a seat. Let me introduce you all. This one is Jiang Liunian, the young master of the Jiang family who came all the way from Yang Country. And this one is even more extraordinary. He is a rare genius among our generation, Gu Yunzhou. When he examines his heart, he can resonate with heaven and earth, and the literary aura naturally enters his body. It is truly astonishing!" The young man at the head saw the two men come in and immediately stood up to greet them warmly. He introduced them to the rest of the people in the room with a warm smile.

Everyone cast their gazes, some with curiosity, some with indifference, carefully examining Gu Yunzhou and the other two.

"Brother Jiang, Brother Gu, it's a pleasure to meet you. However, I have a question in my mind that I truly cannot understand. How did this friend, who is only a seventh-rank scholar yet is hailed as a prodigy, secure a precious place in the Holy Land of Books? To be honest, I have a cousin who, at only twenty-seven, is already a peak fifth-rank scholar. His talent is immense, and his poems are highly praised, yet he has yet to secure a place in the Holy Land of Books."

After the two of them sat down and everyone exchanged a few pleasantries, a young man in a snow-white brocade robe suddenly asked a question that caught them off guard. As soon as he said this, the box suddenly became quiet, followed by the voices of several people echoing him.

"That's right. I had the same suspicion, but it's a pity that Brother Liu got there first!"

"That's right, everyone knows that the places in the Book Mountain Holy Land are extremely precious. Every year, hundreds of thousands of Confucian scholars compete for these 500 places. We have finally obtained this precious place after going through numerous tests. To be frank, the lowest level of cultivation here is a sixth-rank Confucian scholar. I just don't know how our Brother Gu was able to obtain this place with a mere seventh-rank cultivation!"

Everyone's eyes were filled with amusement. Even the previously enthusiastic Lin Buyu quietly lowered his head, sipping the wine from his cup, seemingly oblivious to the changing circumstances around him. Everything was self-explanatory. Even if a commoner of ordinary background had some talent, without strength, it was all in vain.

If it were Jiang Liunian, no one would have dared to confront him directly. However, Gu Yunzhou's background meant that these self-righteous prodigies were unlikely to give him the same attention. The reason they invited Gu Yunzhou to attend was, firstly, out of curiosity about the legendary prodigy who only appears once every hundred years, and secondly, to understand how he had earned a spot in the Book Mountain Holy Land.

"Haha, you are a bunch of guys who can only talk big. When we were fighting bloody battles on the front line and fighting the monsters to the death, you were hiding in the back, enjoying a comfortable life with fine clothes and food, and ordering servants around. What's wrong with you now? You eat when you pick up the bowl, and curse when you put it down? You are dissatisfied in your hearts, but we are not willing to accompany you. Yunzhou, let's go. We thought you were a group of like-minded friends, but you turned out to be a group of arrogant guys. We don't want to accompany you anymore!" Without waiting for Gu Yunzhou to speak, Jiang Liunian had already retorted with an ugly face.

Gu Yunzhou was about to blurt out the words but was forced to hold them back. He looked at Jiang Liunian, who looked like someone had stepped on his tail and was so angry that his hair stood on end, with both emotion and amusement. He never expected that the guy who usually looked simple and easy to bully would not be at all inferior when he confronted others.

"You are so unreasonable and vulgar. I believe you have been associating with lowly mortals. You really disgrace the character of a descendant of the Jiang family!"

"That's right, that's right. I originally wanted to invite you to join our team and help each other in the maze of the Book Mountain Holy Land. But now, looking at your actions, I see that you are extremely foolish and it is unacceptable for you to be with us!"

The guys who had spoken the most violently just now could no longer sit still. Who could accept being scolded like this? They immediately slammed the table with red faces and thick necks and looked at Jiang Liunian, staring at him. If they were not afraid of the power behind the Jiang family, this would not be a simple verbal provocation.

"Time flies by. Summer insects can't talk about ice, well frogs can't talk about the sea, and ordinary people can't talk about the Tao. Why waste your time getting angry over these guys? As for how I got this position, what does it have to do with you? If you don't know, you might mistake me for a bunch of gossipy women with nothing better to do than pry into other people's privacy and gossip. If you could use that energy to read a few more books, I'm afraid when you speak, you won't be so shallow and ignorant."