The sages roared in pain, causing a commotion. They ranted all sorts of things. The five hundred million observers, the various factions, and cultural cultivators had long been utterly stupefied.
Nearly everyone had the same thought: Gu Hai is finished.
You still want to compete? You made the sages responsible for judging pregnant in front of so many people, yet you still want to continue competing? It is impossible even if you have the Qian Nation to help you cheat. You have gone overboard this time.
Overboard? As countless people thought about it, they started to feel headaches. What were you doing?!
Countless officials of the Qian Nation opened their eyes wide, apparently furious at what Gu Hai did. We supported you with all our resources; our emperor even helped you. Yet, this is what you show the sages?
They glared at Gu Hai, then looked anxiously towards the Qian Heavenly Emperor.
The Qian Heavenly Emperor had selected this person, so the officials did not know what to do.
The Qian Heavenly Emperor remained calm on his throne, not showing anything strange on his face.
Suddenly, a beam of white light flew to the Qian Heavenly Emperor.
Whoosh!
The guards wanted to attack this uninvited guest.
However, the Qian Heavenly Emperor raised his hand, forestalling them.
Bang!
It was a child wearing loose, white robes. The white robes had a kun fish on the front and a peng bird on the back.
[TL Note: Here is the Wikipedia entry for the peng bird: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peng_(mythology). It also explains a little about the kun. A common translation for peng or the kunpeng is roc. While they are not actually the same, that is the closest English equivalent we have. There are some variations on the kunpeng legend. Some say that a kun fish evolves into a peng/kunpeng, others say that a kunpeng can take either form as it pleases.]
“Your Holy Eminence, what is the situation? Hahaha!” The white-robed child burst into laughter.
“Lifespan Beiming, how is Wanyu?” the Qian Heavenly Emperor asked.
[TL Note: The Bei in Beiming means north.]
“Don’t worry. She is fine. Everything is normal; she is just asleep now,” Lifespan Beiming, the white-robed child, replied with a smile.
“Alright. She worked hard this time.” The Qian Heavenly Emperor nodded.
“This is Gu Hai? What is the situation? Gu Hai managed to make these smug and self-righteous sages pregnant? Hahahaha!” Lifespan Beiming guffawed.
The Qian Heavenly Emperor looked at the sky again. This time, he appeared more relaxed.
“I hate you! Argh!”
“I will never recommend you! Argh!”
“Ow! Ow! Ow! You want to get into the Sage Palace? Forget about it! You can forget about it for the rest of your life! Argh! It hurts! It hurts! Ow!”
The agonized sages roared with hatred.
Those one hundred sages showed ferocious expressions, glaring at Gu Hai as though they wanted to swallow him alive.
“Mister Gu, sorry. Perhaps I might have…” Longevity looked at Gu Hai bitterly.
Even these sages do not know how to appreciate my work. I seem to have spoiled Gu Hai’s plan.
“Mister Longevity, there’s no need to blame yourself.” Gu Hai shook his head.
The raging sages no longer shouted, too drained of energy to keep it up.
“Expel this person from the competition!” the earlier Medical Music Sage yelled, pointing at Gu Hai.
“Expel him!” the other sages shouted.
The one hundred thousand participants on the plaza felt schadenfreude. The five hundred million observers felt anxious.
The Supreme Genesis, the Grand Mohist, the Future Buddha, and the experts of the three holy lands did not say anything, showing strange expressions.
This is the first time in history that the sages wanted to expel someone from the Ten Thousand Sages Convention. You have left your name in history.
Sima Changkong and the others who were prepared to help Gu Hai showed bitter expressions. How did this matter turn so problematic?
However, the eyes of the Qian Nation participants lit up. The sages are expelling Gu Hai? Doesn’t that mean that we have a chance?
The Qian Nation participants looked at the Qian Heavenly Emperor on the platform with anticipation in their eyes.
Founding Dynasty, Venerable Liu Nian, Gongyang Sheng, and Ninth Young Master looked to the Qian Heavenly Emperor, waiting to see how the Qian Heavenly Emperor would decide.
The Qian Heavenly Emperor’s expression did not change, neither did he say a word.
Clearly, the Qian Heavenly Emperor still supported Gu Hai.
“Expel him!” the sages continued shouting.
Gongyang Sheng showed a solemn expression. “Sages, sorry. We are the Ten Thousand Sages Convention’s hosts. You are just the judges. Expulsion of a participant is beyond the sages’ purview.”
“Huh?” The sages all glared at Gongyang Sheng.
Gongyang Sheng bowed slightly. Clearly, he did not want to expel Gu Hai.
“Argh! Argh!”
The one hundred sages seemed to have fainted from the pain.
“Even so, we cannot possibly give our recommendations to this person. Humph!” the Medical Music Sage snorted coldly.
“Alright. Since we are the judges, then everyone start together. Music, Go, calligraphy, and painting. Everyone, bring out your skills! Humph!” a sage said.
“If we do that—” Gongyang Sheng was about to say something when the Medical Music Sage cut him off.
“Humph! Since we are the judges, we will handle the judging. Hosts? Just maintain the flow of the event. We will give the topic. Give an answer according to the topic!” the Medical Music Sage suddenly shouted.
“That’s right. We will set the topic!” the sages shouted.
The eyes of some among the one hundred thousand participants lit up while the faces of others sank.
If they followed the flow of the past, they would just show what they were best at for the sages to see. If the sages thought it was good, they would give a recommendation. As a result, several cultural cultivators had already prepared what they wanted to show before the Ten Thousand Sages Convention. Rather, the works they planned to show were something they had been practicing for a long time, something they had honed to perfection.
However, it suddenly became a topical exhibition today. Given that, their preparations were now useless.
The participants became anxious. However, many felt celebratory. Given this, the Qian Nation would not have an advantage.
Anyway, it seemed like the Qian Nation was cheating to help Gu Hai. Now, the sages were incensed at Gu Hai, refusing to recommend him. Given that, it would be over for Gu Hai.
Gongyang Sheng’s face sank. He turned his head to look at the nearby Qian Heavenly Emperor.
However, the Qian Heavenly Emperor remained seated on his throne, not saying a word.
“Very well. I invite the sages to issue their topic!” Gongyang Sheng said gravely.
One of the sages said, “We are the ones responsible for the calligraphy Dao’s evaluation. For the calligraphy Dao, we will use the word ‘qi’ as the topic. When the sky changes, that is the weather [sky qi]. Different terrains have different earthly energy [earth qi]. When water evaporates, there is vapor [water qi]. When fire burns, there is fire energy [fire qi]. Corpses produce noxious gas [filthy qi]. Urine and sweat contain vital energy [human qi]. When the sun is high in the sky, there is Yang-attributed energy [solar/yang qi]. Late at night, there is Yin-attributed energy [sinister/yin qi]. After one is humiliated, there is fury [anger qi]. Using ‘qi’ as the topic, you may write a poem, a song, or an essay.”
[TL Note: The word “qi” has many meanings. The meaning varies based on what other word it is compounded with or the context of its usage. The word for aura contains it; qi is also the basic word for the mystical energy used to cultivate in most cultivation novels. The following are some of the meanings of the word qi: gas, air, smell, weather, anger, annoy, energy, and breath. These are the more common usage; there might be more.]
After that calligraphy Dao sage shouted, countless calligraphy Dao cultivators answered, “Yes!”
However, those who paid attention could tell that the sage placed heavy emphasis on the final “fury.” After one is humiliated, there is “fury”?
This was a hint that the sages were asking for a character assassination. Countless cultivators looked at Gu Hai.
“We shall go with the calligraphy Dao sages and use the word ‘qi’ as the topic for the calligraphy Dao,” Gongyang Sheng said gravely.
Another sage said, “We are the ones responsible for the Go Dao’s evaluation. The Go Dao is simple. According to your participant number, face each other in Go. We will think about recommending the final victor.”
That Go Dao sage’s meaning was very clear: Fight among yourself until the last person is left. Then, we will think about whether we will recommend the final winner.
“We will go with the Go Dao sages. After the final victor emerges, we will bring the winner forward for the sages to evaluate!” Ninth Young Master said.
“We are the judges for the painting Dao. One hundred sages suffered from a vile person’s assassination. Humph! We shall use ‘vile person’ as the topic. Paint him as the subject, and we will judge it!” the painting Dao sages said.
“We shall go with the painting Dao sages and use ‘vile person’ as the painting subject!” Venerable Liu Nian said respectfully.
“We are the judges for the music Dao. Use ‘vile person’ as the theme to compose a song. We will judge that song!” the Medical Music Sage said.
“We shall go with the music Dao sages and use ‘vile person’ as the theme to compose a song!” Founding Dynasty said respectfully.
The sages’ hate for Gu Hai could no longer be described as rage or anger.
The calligraphy Dao sages used fury, and the painting Dao and music Dao sages used vile person. However, there was no way for the Go Dao sages to target Gu Hai, so they could only declare that they would evaluate the final winner.
Nearly all the sages excluded Gu Hai.
Nearby, Yehua, Xuan En, and Seven Kills showed expressions of schadenfreude. This is your own doing! It serves you right!
However, the Azure Emperor and Emperor Kong frowned at the Qian Heavenly Emperor.
The Azure Emperor, Emperor Kong, the Supreme Genesis, the Grand Mohist, and the Future Buddha could tell that the Qian Nation had poured all their resources into Gu Hai. However, how was the Qian Nation going to do that now?
One hundred sages had fainted, and the other sages were furious with Gu Hai. This was practically a desperate situation. Would the Qian Heavenly Emperor give up on Gu Hai?
Before the Qian Heavenly Emperor spoke, the officials behind him were already incredibly anxious.
“Eminent Father, Gu Hai has incurred the hatred of all the sages. They now reject him. How are we to continue supporting him?” Long Shenwu asked with a frown.
“Indeed, Your Holy Eminence. There is no helping Gu Hai now. He cannot possibly accomplish anything in this Ten Thousand Sages Convention. Fortunately, it has only just started. Please quickly choose another person.”
“Your Holy Eminence, Gu Hai is already…”
The officials anxiously implored Long Zhanguo.
However, Long Zhanguo did not say anything. At the side, Lifespan Beiming said indifferently, “Since when has His Holy Eminence ever changed his mind on something he decided?”
“Huh?” The officials’ expressions turned stiff.
“This is something for His Holy Eminence to decide. It is not your place to interfere,” Lifespan Beiming added indifferently.
“Yes!” The officials immediately lowered their heads, not daring to say anything more.
The Qian Heavenly Emperor showed no intention of changing the target of their support. How could they ask for it?
Gongyang Sheng and the others glanced at Gu Hai. After taking a deep breath, they continued hosting their events.
“Go Dao participants, register here and start playing against each other!” Ninth Young Master called out.
Many Qian Nation attendants quickly brought over Go boards. Then, they designated a region for the Go Dao cultivators to play Go.
Search h0sted n0vel for the original.
“Calligraphy Dao cultivators, you may write here. Take your time and think about ‘qi’ as the topic!” Gongyang Sheng shouted.
Many attendants moved desks, brushes, ink, and paper over.
Of course, the purpose of the topic was a character assassination of Gu Hai, using all sorts of refined words to vilify him.
“Music Dao participants, you may think about your composition. When you are ready, play it for the sages to evaluate!” Founding Dynasty said seriously.
“Painting Dao participants, you may start painting. When your painting is ready, you may present it to the sages for evaluation!” Venerable Liu Nian likewise said seriously.
“Yes!” everyone answered.
Be it painting, poetry, or songs, they were all intended to attack Gu Hai and help the sages vent their anger. It seemed like Gu Hai now faced all the cultural cultivators, facing attacks from them all.
One hundred thousand cultural cultivators of music, Go, calligraphy, and painting would attack Gu Hai at the same time.
Gu Hai became everyone’s target.
Countless observers in the surroundings looked at Gu Hai. They could not help feeling worried. Of all the things to draw, you drew something that made the sages pregnant. Well, this is great.
Trying to fight against one hundred thousand cultural cultivators alone? Isn’t that just seeking death?
