[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-ink-saint-of-great-zhou":3,"chapter-the-ink-saint-of-great-zhou-the-ink-saint-of-great-zhou-chapter-208":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Ink Saint of Great Zhou",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2292171,4481,"Chapter 208","the-ink-saint-of-great-zhou-chapter-208",208,"\u003Cp>“Has anyone here heard of the Great Zhou’s Marquis of Literary Crown? Earlier, that hawk demon seemed to think the elder was him.” Bei Tian asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Five Precepts monk shook his head, saying, “I’ve been in the Scorched Lands for nearly a year, and our region is too far from Great Zhou—I’ve never heard of this Marquis of Literary Crown.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan smiled bitterly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It seems neither of you has returned to Luo Sha Country recently. Though you haven’t heard the title of the Great Zhou’s Marquis of Literary Crown.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bei Tian and the Five Precepts monk turned their gazes squarely toward Jiang Yuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan gathered her thoughts, then spoke calmly: “The Great Zhou’s Marquis of Literary Crown, Lu Fang, recently served as Great Zhou’s envoy to Luo Sha Country. The poem ‘When Will the Bright Moon Appear?’ hanging above the Celestial Palace was written by him.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bei Tian and the Five Precepts monk exclaimed in confusion:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“‘When Will the Bright Moon Appear?’”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is that a poem?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan had returned to Luo Sha Country not long ago; upon entering the city, she was immediately drawn to the eternal “Manifestation”-grade verse of ‘When Will the Bright Moon Appear?’ hanging above the Celestial Palace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its exquisite imagery inspired awe and reverence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not just her—nearly all her friends had praised this poem. In their voices, the Great Zhou’s Marquis of Literary Crown shone brilliantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was barely in his twenties, even younger than her, yet already a marquis of Great Zhou, born from a humble merchant family.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the time, Jiang Yuan had been deeply curious about this legendary figure everyone spoke of, thinking it all sounded exaggerated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So she deliberately sought out information.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What she learned left her stunned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The deeds of this Marquis of Literary Crown were nothing short of legendary—he was prophesied by the demon race seer Wan Shu Wang as the “Omen-Bearer,” composed several poems of the “Manifestation” grade, and his master was Xu Han Yi, the greatest cultivator beneath Great Zhou’s Sage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Within a year, he penned multiple refined essays, each imbued with a unique transcendent power—the Fragrant Qi—which only humans could comprehend.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thanks to this Marquis of Literary Crown, many in Great Zhou had unlocked extraordinary transcendent powers from his essays, elevating their combat strength beyond measure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If such a person isn’t legendary,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>then Jiang Yuan truly didn’t know who else deserved the word “legend.” Thinking this, she recited ‘When Will the Bright Moon Appear?’ aloud, and before Bei Tian and the Five Precepts monk’s stunned expressions, revealed everything she knew about the Marquis of Literary Crown.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Are you certain all this is true?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bei Tian shook his head repeatedly, eyes nearly bulging.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had spent years with Jiang Yuan and knew her well—she was not the type to lie, especially under such circumstances.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason he struggled to accept it now was simply that Lu Fang’s deeds were too astonishing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was more than genius.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a sage born once in ten thousand years!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Five Precepts monk sighed, frowning: “He doesn’t seem like it at all. The elder is indeed powerful, but if he were truly the Marquis, he’d be stronger—even at the fourth-rank, he’d surpass us. He wouldn’t need us to stay and help.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I just feel something’s off, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wait—didn’t the elder deny being him?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan nodded in agreement: “The image I know of the Great Zhou’s Marquis of Literary Crown does differ from that bearded elder. Also, the Marquis isn’t a fourth-rank Confucian—he’s a sixth-rank, second and third-grade Confucian.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“His appearance might resemble the former Young Master Fang more.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She hesitated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bei Tian glanced toward the entrance, then sighed: “To be safe, we should leave here quickly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three exchanged glances and swiftly retreated into the distance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the other side, Lu Fang had not gone far. He stopped at a secluded spot; the storage pouch of the Bai Yuying demon held many rare treasures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More unexpectedly, he found a handwritten journal, recording something akin to Bai Yuying’s diary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In its latest entry, a few hurried paragraphs detailed their entry into this place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This incursion by the demon barbarians was aimed at locating the entrance to the Lesser Upper Realm. The reason their strongest were only fourth-rank was\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>not because only fourth-rank demon barbarians existed in the Scorched Lands, but because stronger beings could not enter this place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Fang frowned upon reading this—he and Jiang Yuan’s group had entered without noticing this restriction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But after a moment’s thought, it became clear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lesser Upper Realms usually have rank restrictions. Though this area was merely the periphery of an unknown Lesser Upper Realm, it clearly had unusual properties.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He hadn’t considered it before, perhaps because he’d never encountered anyone unable to enter—he and Jiang Yuan’s group were all within the fourth-rank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No wonder the demon barbarians’ strongest are only fourth-rank.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Fang sighed, his gaze lingering on the name “Song Ce” in the journal. The Bai Yuying demon had mentioned Song Ce briefly, finding the human detestable and wondering why the demon barbarians entrusted such an important task to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It also noted that being paired with Song Ce for this mission had left it deeply resentful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From this journal, it was clear Bai Yuying and Song Ce were co-leaders of the demon barbarian group; under certain conditions, Song Ce, though human, held higher status.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only thing puzzling Lu Fang was that the journal mentioned nothing substantial about the unknown Lesser Upper Realm—only a passing note that it was vital to the demon barbarians, capable of reversing the outcome of the Northern-Southern Front.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How could a single Lesser Upper Realm possibly reverse the Northern-Southern Front?” Lu Fang frowned tightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he saw Song Ce here, he knew it was no ordinary matter—so when they met, he had threatened him with the authority of Great Zhou’s imperial court.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he never imagined the unknown Lesser Upper Realm was this significant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he failed to understand what was truly happening, Lu Fang couldn’t bear the unease. Though he didn’t know Song Ce’s or the demon barbarians’ true intentions, if they succeeded—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>and this matter truly affected the Northern-Southern Front—he couldn’t ignore it. It would gnaw at him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If this truly influenced the battlefield, tens of thousands—even hundreds of thousands—of soldiers would die on the frontier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just imagining it made Lu Fang’s breath quicken. He stood still for a long while, then devised an extremely bold plan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had slain the Bai Yuying demon, and it was the leader of this demon barbarian group. Why not use his transcendent power—Deceive Heaven and Steal Earth—to impersonate its appearance and demonic aura and investigate further?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the timing was right, he could do even more.\u003C\u002Fp>",1131,"2026-06-20T03:56:22.339Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","fe0709b8c7653e949c25ff683a5dd069a38c0d200ac93911b941e8ff19ec332f","the-ink-saint-of-great-zhou-chapter-209","the-ink-saint-of-great-zhou-chapter-207",289,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-ink-saint-of-great-zhou-cover.jpg"]