After his recital, three more people stepped up.
One was a strong man wearing a golden mask, he was shining in a glaring golden light.
There was an old man wearing a cone hat, he was holding a cane as a green light moved around him.
There was also a woman, she had a slim body and wore a pink dress, her face was covered by a veil, after her recital, butterflies flew around her, it was a beautiful sight.
These three had created famed poems on the same level as Li Xiao Bai’s moonlit night.
Li Xiao Bai let out a sigh of relief: “This world has Gu worms to assist with poem creation. Gu Masters are also able to extend their lifespan and gain more experience in life. Thus, famed poems are more likely to appear than on Earth.”
On Earth, moonlit night was a rare creation. But in Profound Literature grotto-heaven, it would not be unmatched.
Including Li Xiao Bai, the four of them had their own territory as they looked at each other.
The strong man, old man, and woman placed their gazes on Li Xiao Bai.
They knew each other, they had some sort of understanding towards their works, but Li Xiao Bai was a newcomer.
“Who is this young man?”
“His talent qi is not dense, how can he create such a famed poem?”
“Hehe, interesting guy.”
Li Xiao Bai’s teacher, Teacher Jiang, also saw his student’s performance. He nodded in satisfaction: “Very good, Li Xiao Bai, it seems you are performing well today. Continue working hard.”
In the end, no accidents happened, Li Xiao Bai moved to the next round and was teleported away.
After he regained his senses, he arrived in another arena.
“This is the fifth round, scholars, please wait patiently.” Li Xiao Bai heard a voice in his mind.
Li Xiao Bai understood at once: “So the advancement has differences as well. The poem I made is enough to pass three rounds and directly reach the fifth round.”
“This is quite a logical rule.”
“But this means that the Gu Masters who reached this round are all people who created famed poems. Only half of these people can pass, the pressure has intensified now.”
Li Xiao Bai looked around, he found two familiar faces.
It was the strong man and the woman from earlier.
After noticing Li Xiao Bai’s gaze, the woman nodded at him, she seemed to be smiling under the veil. Meanwhile, the strong man had an air of arrogance, after giving Li Xiao Bai a glance, he started to shut his eyes and meditate.
In the fifth round, there was only the three of them now.
“I wonder which round that old man went to.”
“I should pretend to rest now.”
When scholars made poems, they had to think with all their effort, but he only had to select a suitable poem for his use. This was too easy, he had to conceal the fact.
After waiting for several minutes in the fifth round arena, the second competition began.
He had more than twenty competitors, Li Xiao Bai felt a certain level of pressure in his heart.
The theme of the second competition was out — Travel, the time limit was the same as before.
“Travel? This question is the same as spring, it is so broad and easy to write, but creating a famed poem will be very hard!” The strong man sighed to himself.
The woman was thinking: “I am not well versed in this, what should I do?”
Li Xiao Bai was also contemplating: “Which poem do I copy?”
After thinking for a while, he felt that he could not use a classic poem, the effect would be too overwhelming, but he could not use a bad poem. Otherwise, he would fail to advance and be kicked back to the previous round.
Li Xiao Bai was a little troubled, it was not easy to gauge this situation.
He knew his own ability, but he did not know about others, he did not know what sort of poem to use to win but not gain too much attention.
“In the first round, I went overboard. I should not try for first place now.” Li Xiao Bai told himself.
He waited patiently.
After a few minutes, some scholars already created their poems. After that, a few more started to recite their poems, colorful lights appeared.
Li Xiao Bai sighed to himself, thinking: “It seems that famed poems are not easy to create, these people did well in the first round but currently, they are only performing at an average level.”
Li Xiao Bai soon had an idea of the situation but he did not start working, he was still waiting.
As the time limit was about to be up, he finally saw some famed poems.
One from the strong man.
He recited a poem with great battle intent, resembling the march of horses and spears, his entire body was flickering with golden light, one could hear the clash of spears and blades.
The second famed poem came from the woman.
She created a gentle poem, describing a young lady looking outside her room’s window, listening to the stories of travelers outside, imagining her own travel journey, it was quite impressive.
“Alright, it is my turn now.” Li Xiao Bai coughed as he recited:
Date flowers fall on the villagers’ clothes,
The sound of reeling carts heard from every household,
Old men dressed in simple clothes sell cucumbers under the willow tree.
Feeling drunk and drowsy from the long journey,
The bright sun makes my throat dry, I thirst for a refreshing drink,
I knock on the door of a mortal house, hoping to request for some tea.
He had copied Su Shi’s Silk-washing Stream.
After the recital, be it the strong man or the woman, they were evidently moved as they analyzed the poem.
“Good poem! This poem starts with description of the scenery and actions at the back, with the fusion of both, one can feel interested in the event.”
“Even though he is writing about a scenery, he uses his voice to create an image, compared to normal descriptions, this is very vivid. The emotional part is also very interesting. This kid might be a Gu Master but he is very polite and courteous, he does not barge into a mortal’s house, he is truly a gentleman and has incomparable elegance.”
“Reading his poem shows his nature. This young scholar is really promising!”
The surrounding scholars looked at Li Xiao Bai with a different gaze now.
Li Xiao Bai let out a breath of air, pretending that he was extremely exhausted.
“After this round, I should be able to advance. Not just that, my performance was really good, I did not gain too much attention but I also did not show inability.”
Li Xiao Bai was quite satisfied with himself, after waiting for a while, the time limit was up.
He became stunned.
Most scholars failed to create a poem.
“This is the world poetry competition, I need to display my best abilities. If I use any inferior work, it will be too shameful.”
“I did my best but could not create a satisfactory poem, even if I fail, I will not regret it!”
“This trip was worth my time, I got to hear three famed poems.”
“Haha, in the worst case scenario, I might fall to the first round, so what? Goodbye!”
Those scholars that did not create a poem left in a carefree manner, while those scholars who made inferior poems showed shameful expressions.
Li Xiao Bai was calm on the outside but internally flummoxed: “How can you guys act so graciously?”
Even though he advanced, he had gained too much attention again. Earlier, he was quite satisfied with the situation, but to think these scholars would be so useless.
“Hmph, I had overestimated them.” Li Xiao Bai thought.
There was nothing to say, he successfully advanced to the ninth round.
After patiently waiting for a while, the people gathered. This time, there was less than ten of them.
Many of them were famous scholars, they knew each other and greeted politely, they were calm and elegant on the outside, but were all feeling nervous internally.
At this point, the pressure of these competitors intensified again.
“I need to be stable, I cannot create a commotion again!” Li Xiao Bai clenched his fists, he kept reminding himself.
But this time, his opponents all performed well, more than half of the Gu Masters created famed poems.
Li Xiao Bai was the last one left.
Li Xiao Bai had a nervous expression but he was calm internally, he recited the poem that he had already prepared in advance.
With some flickering light, his cultivation level rose to rank four, he gained a new Gu worm.
This time, he planned meticulously, the poem he created was just borderline in the middle, he managed to advance successfully but he was at the bottom of the batch.
Right when Li Xiao Bai was feeling happy.
Cough!
Someone coughed out a mouthful of blood.
Ugh.
Someone fainted on the ground.
The strong man shook as he sat down with difficulty. The woman coughed for a long time with a pale expression.
Only Li Xiao Bai was left standing on the spot, unaffected.
At once, everyone’s gazes were on him again.
“This young man is very strong! Currently speaking, he has already created three famed poems.”
“He did not get injured at all, it seems that he had not gone all out when he made his poem earlier.”
“Impressive! After this competition, I need to befriend him!”
Li Xiao Bai: “…”
He was speechless.
Oh heavens, why did everyone overexert themselves?!
Wasn’t it just a poem competition, why were they risking their lives?
He wanted to pretend to cough blood too but it was too late now, he could not disguise himself anymore.
Li Xiao Bai had to continue moving to the next round with a plain expression.
