Chapter 57: Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Ancient Land

Pei Kuang steadied himself on the Clan Destiny Whale and walked toward Lu Fang, smiling sincerely: “Lord Wenguan, I have not disgraced your trust!”

Twenty-one others remained.

Someone excitedly patted the Clan Destiny Whale beneath him: “My heavens! Is this the Clan Destiny Whale? The light beams feel so soothing on my skin—I heard its cry from afar, and every hair on my body stood on end!”

Others wore solemn expressions: “Lord Wenguan, what do we do next?”

Wang Teng, notorious in the capital for his arrogant demeanor, waddled forward with his protruding belly and pigeon-toed gait, reaching the tail of the Clan Destiny Whale to mock the barbarians:

“My friends! Why don’t you keep shouting? Weren’t you just so energetic? This is hilarious! Our Great Zhou’s Lord Wenguan merely played a small trick, and you followed like dogs—uncivilized barbarians, hahaha…”

How delighted Wang Teng was!

How nauseated the barbarians felt.

“This is unbearable—I want to bite off his head!”

Bai Jinghu growled fiercely.

Earlier, when Lu Fang pretended to be enraged and shouted, it was she who laughed the loudest and retaliated with the loudest voice.

Yet he had only feigned anger to mask his approach to the Clan Destiny Whale.

The so-called rage was entirely staged.

To be publicly fooled before so many eyes—this was too humiliating for “demons”!

The Golden-Haired Demon Ape curled its lips, eyes icy: “Only twenty-two people? What storm can they stir? Even your human Clan Destiny Whale hasn’t grown much in fortune. Let’s wait and see who laughs last!”

…

The addition of twenty-two people had indeed done little to bolster their fortune.

It was true!

The group gathered, murmuring among themselves.

Those who considered themselves talented stepped forward to test the Fortune Stone Tablet.

Almost everyone tried—but none could leave a character on the tablet; even as they wrote, the previous characters vanished.

Pei Kuang was deep in thought when he caught Lu Fang’s faint smile; he ventured: “Lord Wenguan, you look so confident—have you already composed an excellent poem?”

He Zixuan sighed: “Brother Pei, you don’t know—before you arrived, he already composed a Manifest-Level verse, but it was useless.”

“Oh? What verse?”

The talented woman Tao Yidie asked.

He Zixuan cleared his throat and recited loudly: “‘Fu Zhuangci!’ Drunk, I lift the lamp to gaze at my sword; in dreams I return to the camp where horns sound. Eight hundred li of meat is shared among the troops; fifty strings play the sounds of the northern frontier; autumn on the battlefield, troops reviewed…”

“Brilliant verse!”

Wang Teng clapped loudly with both hands.

“Such a bold verse—only Lord Wenguan could have written it. Yet even this masterpiece cannot be inscribed on the Fortune Stone Tablet—what kind of poem can enter it? I am too foolish to imagine.”

Pan Youzhi sighed.

Several confident Confucians paced before the Fortune Stone Tablet, lost in thought; upon hearing Lu Fang’s verse, they hung their heads and shook them in despair.

“If neither side’s Clan Destiny Whale can swallow the other, and both fall together, won’t we still have to fight the barbarians?”

Wang Teng’s laugh was forced.

Seeing the group’s heavy sighs and grim expressions,

Xue Luo Sha stepped forward two paces, puffed out her chest, and shouted: “What’s to fear? We’ll just fight them to the death—they only outnumber us by… three hundred?”

She startled herself.

The gap seemed… too large…

Lu Fang laughed in annoyance, pushing past Xue Luo Sha: “Calm down, everyone. Last night I thought long and hard—Manifest-Level verses fail to enter the tablet because they don’t match the theme. I already have a plan. Give me a moment to think.”

All eyes turned to Lu Fang, filled with anticipation.

He thought for a full incense stick’s time.

Lu Fang rose and walked to the Fortune Stone Tablet. He had long settled on a poem—or rather, a song—but needed revisions; he had now perfected it in his mind.

He picked up his brush and wrote:

“Master Meng said: ‘I cultivate the vast righteous qi.’ That qi has seven forms; mine is one. With one to oppose seven, what do I fear? For righteous qi is the true qi of heaven and earth.”

“Compose a Song of Righteous Qi.”

“Heaven and earth possess righteous qi, manifesting in all forms. Below, it becomes rivers and mountains; above, sun and stars. In humans, it is called vast righteous qi, filling the boundless void. When the imperial path is clear and peaceful, harmony flows from the bright court. In times of crisis, virtue shines forth, etched forever in ink and paint…”

“My heart grieves endlessly—how endless is the blue sky? Wise sages grow distant, yet their examples remain from old. Beneath the eaves, I unroll scrolls to read; the ancient way illuminates their faces.”

The moment Lu Fang set down his brush, dark light rose from the Fortune Stone Tablet, flowing like water over its mere four hundred characters.

Simultaneously, vast righteous qi and a scroll unfurled above him.

Another Manifest-Level masterpiece!

“Wu wu wu…”

The human Clan Destiny Whale let out a cry.

The Song of Righteous Qi on the tablet, wrapped in mist-like dark light, surged upward and plunged into the body of the Clan Destiny Whale.

Boom!

The Clan Destiny Whale swelled by one-third!

“It worked!” Wang Teng leapt three feet into the air.

Everyone’s faces lit up with joy!

This phenomenon caused the barbarians to fall silent, staring in disbelief—the Great Zhou’s Lord Wenguan had truly inscribed characters on the Fortune Stone Tablet!

“Prophetic Human?”

Man Jue and Bai Jinghu spoke in unison.

The Golden-Haired Demon Ape’s expression turned grave; he growled:

“No wonder the Son of Heaven named him Lord Wenguan—this boy must be eliminated, or he will bring endless trouble! Listen well! The fortune they’ve gained cannot swallow our Clan Destiny Whale.”

“When the Whales fall, none of you interfere.”

“You must kill the Great Zhou’s Lord Wenguan right here!”

No sooner had he finished speaking

than Lu Fang unleashed his Supernatural Power: Soul-Herald, shouting loudly:

“Master Meng said: ‘I cultivate the vast righteous qi.’ That qi has seven forms; mine is one. With one to oppose seven, what do I fear? For righteous qi is the true qi of heaven and earth…”

A miraculous sight appeared!

The human Clan Destiny Whale swelled another one-sixth!

As Lu Fang recited the Song of Righteous Qi a second time, He Zixuan, Xue Luo Sha, Shui Yao, Pan Youzhi, Tao Yidie, Wang Teng… everyone shouted together:

“Master Meng said: ‘I cultivate the vast righteous qi.’ That qi has seven forms; mine is one…”

The human Clan Destiny Whale—BOOM!—swelled another one-third!

“Wu wu wu…”

The merged barbarian Clan Destiny Whale let out a mournful cry—it had just been devoured by the human Whale in a great gulp.

Nearly four hundred barbarians stood frozen, eyes bulging.

The human Clan Destiny Whale, as if divinely aided, chased the barbarian Whale, swallowing a mouthful nearly every incense stick’s time!

“How is this possible!”

“No good! If this continues…”

“What do we do?”

All the barbarians turned to Man Jue, Bai Jinghu, and the Golden-Haired Demon Ape—but all three had knitted brows and could not utter a word!

“Wu wu wu…”

As the merged barbarian Clan Destiny Whale was reduced to less than ten zhang,

large numbers of barbarians began falling off; those unwilling to descend fought desperately among themselves, scrambling for a place.

The scene was magnificent!

Like a rain of “barbarians” falling from the sky.

Screams, shouts, cries, howls, roars, yells, shrieks, wails—all merged into a symphony of “comedy.”

Wang Teng laughed until he doubled over, unable to straighten up.

When the barbarian Clan Destiny Whale shrank to less than ten zhang, even fewer barbarians remained on its back.

“We’ve won!”

Lu Fang clenched his fist tightly!

Xue Luo Sha joyfully grabbed Shui Yao and bounced up and down.

He Zixuan and the others embraced, tears in their eyes— their perseverance had not been in vain; they had succeeded!

Just as everyone believed the barbarian Clan Destiny Whale would be fully devoured,

the human Clan Destiny Whale suddenly stopped chasing, instead swaying its head and tail, radiating waves of dark light.

The chaotic, disordered stone pillars resembled an ancient painting, the ripples of dark light peeling back a new layer—

—the Ancient Land!