After the citizens laughed, they no longer held any respect for the sages. The pressure from the sages immediately lessened significantly. The citizens even felt repulsed by it.
“Mister Gu, there is still the calligraphy Dao! Deal them a blow in the calligraphy Dao too!” some spectators called out excitedly.
Deal them a blow in the calligraphy Dao too?
The sages were no fools. After experiencing three surprises, how could there be more surprises? All of them looked down coldly.
“Are those of the calligraphy Dao ready?” the calligraphy Dao sages shouted.
“I have already finished composing. I can write it out at the command of the sages,” some calligraphy Dao participants called out.
“I’m done as well!”
“I’m also done!”
The calligraphy Dao participants immediately glared at Gu Hai.
The sages fixed their attention on Gu Hai.
Purple Subtlety, a heavenly-grade brush, now walked in Gu Hai’s direction after wandering around.
“Purple Subtlety, how is it?” Longevity asked.
“They did not write. What can I do?” Purple Subtlety replied while shrugging.
“Another heaven-grade brush? Calligraphy Dao sages, be careful!” the painting Dao and music Dao sages immediately called out.
Longevity’s egg and Ensnaring Performance’s song practically caused the sages to crumble. How could the sages underestimate Purple Subtlety, another heaven-grade brush?
Now they kept their guard up against Purple Subtlety.
“Since the calligraphy Dao participants are ready, then start writing!” Gongyang Sheng shouted.
Gongyang Sheng had everyone start writing. The Azure Emperor looked at Gu Hai before narrowing his eyes at the Qian Heavenly Emperor. Suddenly, he said, “Host Gongyang!”
“Huh?” Gongyang Sheng frowned as he looked over.
The surrounding people turned to the Azure Emperor in confusion.
“My Yan Heavenly Dynasty forfeits this Ten Thousand Sages Convention!” the Azure Emperor said gravely.
Boom!
This announcement set the surrounding participants abuzz.
Forfeits? The Yan Heavenly Dynasty is forfeiting?
The Yan Heavenly Dynasty participants felt confused. However, since the Azure Emperor had spoken, no one dared to object.
“Sure!” Gongyang Sheng nodded.
“Let’s go!” The Azure Emperor flung his sleeves out and walked away.
Countless spectators in the surroundings appeared confused. Then, another voice rang out.
“Host Gongyang!”
“Huh?” Gongyang Sheng looked over.
It was the Huang Heavenly Dynasty’s Emperor Kong.
“My Huang Heavenly Dynasty is forfeiting this Ten Thousand Sages Convention!” Emperor Kong said gravely.
After speaking, Emperor Kong flung his sleeves out and left with the Huang Heavenly Dynasty participants.
The expressions of the participants immediately turned complicated.
The Yan Heavenly Dynasty and the Huang Heavenly Dynasty? Why did they suddenly forfeit?
The sages appeared confused as well.
“The Huang Heavenly Dynasty? The Yan Heavenly Dynasty? Humph!”
“How unfortunate! That Azure Emperor’s ‘Azure Poem’ was excellent. Yet, he forfeited?”
“Same for that Emperor Kong. His ‘Confucian Maxims’ was filled with righteousness. Why is he doing this today?”
The sages felt confused.
The people of the three holy lands narrowed their eyes.
“Veritable Lord, do the Azure Emperor and Emperor Kong not dare to go against Gu Hai’s uncanny luck? Are they afraid of being embarrassed?” a six-winged angel asked, feeling curious.
The Supreme Genesis shook his head and looked at the Qian Heavenly Emperor. He replied softly, “Gu Hai is not that capable. They are not afraid of Gu Hai. Instead, they are paving the way for the Qian Heavenly Emperor.”
In the south, a Supreme Ascendant Dao disciple frowned and asked, “Grand Mohist, are the two heavenly dynasties paving the way for the Qian Heavenly Emperor? Are they letting the Qian Heavenly Dynasty clash head-on with our three holy lands?”
“Humph! Emperor Kong? Azure Emperor? Do they really think that highly of the Qian Heavenly Emperor’s plan? In tens of thousands of years, only Old Mister Guan Qi was the exception, and that by trickery. The Cultural Dao Sage Palace? That is the domain of my three holy lands. It is not for a heavenly dynasty that has been around for only a few thousand years to enter,” the Grand Mohist said coldly.
In the west, a bodhisattva asked curiously, “Lord Buddha, why are the Azure Emperor and Emperor Kong so confident in the Qian Heavenly Emperor?”
The Future Buddha shook his head and remained silent.
“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.’ Quickly start writing!” Gongyang Sheng shouted.
With that shout, the calligraphy Dao participants started writing.
Although the calligraphy Dao sages did not use ‘vile person’ as the topic, the last line of “After one is humiliated, there is fury” said everything. It said that the calligraphy Dao sages felt Gu Hai had humiliated them and were furious.
Of course, even a fool could tell that Gu Hai had thoroughly offended the sages. By writing poetry that insulted Gu Hai, they could get the favor of the sages.
The calligraphy Dao participants immediately started writing compositions mocking Gu Hai.
“Mister Gu, you should write one as well.” Gongyang Sheng looked at Gu Hai.
Gu Hai showed a faint, bitter smile as he nodded.
“Mister Gu, I’ll help you write. I’ll write whatever you want!” Purple Subtlety volunteered.
“Be careful! Be careful of that fatty!” The sages glared at Purple Subtlety.
Gu Hai did not rush to write. Instead, he looked at the surrounding calligraphy Dao participants.
Boom!
Sima Changkong, Yehua, and thousands of calligraphy Dao cultivators started writing. Strong winds suddenly blew as everyone wrote frantically. Dark clouds covered the place, lightning flashed, and thunder roared. These were all experts of the calligraphy Dao.
As everyone wrote, surging noble spirit suddenly poured out like long rivers flowing towards the noble spirit sea in the sky.
The noble spirit sea churned as the rivers of noble spirit poured in.
However, the noble spirit coming from the calligraphy Dao experts’ brushes slowly changed color.
“Look! I know that red-clad calligraphy Dao cultivator. He is writing about fire energy. The noble spirit coming from his brush turned red. Do you see it? Fire blazing bright, flaring restlessly!”
“That blue-clad calligraphy Dao cultivator is writing about water vapor! His noble spirit has turned blue. Look, it is dyeing the white noble spirit sea above somewhat blue!”
“Is that Yehua? He is writing about noxious gas; his noble spirit turned gray. What a stench! Is he insulting Mister Gu?”
The spectators felt shocked as they saw noble spirit pillars of all colors coming from the various papers, dyeing the noble spirit sea in multicolor.
“Mister Gu, look! Many of them are insulting you. They are not finished yet, so there are only pillars of noble spirit. When they are done, those compositions would immediately rush to you. At that time, all sorts of filthy words would pour into you. Once the compositions spread, they will ruin your reputation!” Purple Subtlety said anxiously.
“Indeed, Mister Gu. The wind and rain from those compositions will result in the poem manifesting crying supernatural beings. Countless calligraphy Dao cultivators will spread them out in the world. It would be too late to salvage the situation then.” Longevity nodded.
“Master, how about you write a song as well?” Ensnaring Performance asked worriedly.
The calligraphy Dao cultivators were writing poems insulting Gu Hai. Fortunately, they were not done yet. Hence, there was still no harm. Was Gu Hai just going to watch as they vilified him?
“Alright. I’ll dictate. Mister Purple Subtlety, you write.” Gu Hai nodded.
When Gu Hai said that he was going to compose, the sages turned restless.
There were many calligraphy Dao experts in the venue, but the sages paid no attention to them. The sages merely glanced at them before staring at Gu Hai.
With the earlier events as precedent, the sages kept their guard up against Gu Hai. They had been careless and fell for Gu Hai’s tricks. Could they be careless now?
“Quickly look! That fatty is about to write!”
“What is he writing?”
“Be careful. Don’t look all at once. The sages who got pregnant earlier are an example!”
Some sages looked over in worry, but others did not dare to look.
The Supreme Genesis and the Grand Mohist narrowed their eyes. After all, they had heard about Gu Hai’s calligraphy Dao before. “Chivalrous Legends,” “Bring in the Wine,” the “Great Compassion Mantra,” and “Bodhi” had caused pretty big commotions. They wondered what Gu Hai was going to write.
Even the host, Gongyang Sheng, looked over curiously.
Gu Hai dictated, and Purple Subtlety started writing.
“May I ask, in what are you superior?”
Purple Subtlety immediately wrote this down.
The moment Purple Subtlety wrote, white noble spirit soared into the sky. A mild breeze blew, appearing very gentle. The pillar formed by the noble spirit seemed extremely thin, not strong at all.
“Huh?”
Surprised sounds came from the surroundings. After all, this did not seem like Gu Hai’s style. This line did not show any strong momentum.
“May I ask, in what are you superior?” It meant “what was one good at?”
Was this poetry? The lyrics of a song? An essay? No. It was just a question. What stood out about it?
Just as the surrounding calligraphy Dao cultivators felt puzzled, Gu Hai recited the second line.
“Answer: I understand language, and I am good at nourishing my noble spirit.”
Purple Subtlety wrote.
“May I ask, what do you mean by noble spirit?” Gu Hai said.
Purple Subtlety continued to write.
“This is not a poem, a song, or an essay. Instead, it takes a question-and-answer format? Gu Hai asking and Gu Hai answering?” The Supreme Genesis frowned slightly.
In the south, the Grand Mohist showed a cold smile. “Question and answer? Questions and answers regarding noble spirit? How bold of this Gu Hai! Can he answer such questions?”
In the west, the Future Buddha raised his eyebrows slightly. He held his palms together and said, “Amitābha! Water vapor, fury, noxious gas, Yang-attributed energy, and Yin-attributed energy. They are all manifestations of the world. There is form, and they are tangible. There is cause and effect. Only noble spirit appears out of nowhere. There is no basis for it. It is ethereal and unfixed. There is no former life or future life, no cause and no effect. Nonetheless, it is the foundation of the calligraphy Dao. No one would dare to explain the foundation of the calligraphy Dao, yet this Gu Hai wants to explain noble spirit? He is overreaching!”
“You overestimate yourself!” Yehua, who was writing, sneered at Gu Hai.
