Chapter 1825

Li Xiao Bai greets both teachers on the stage. Teacher Jiang asks if he has any poems, worried because this Xiao Bai is very ordinary in talent. A disappointing show before Great Scholar Shen would tell the world that Jiang cannot teach young talents himself. Li Xiao Bai answers confidently that he has a poem prepared, which is not strange in Profound Literature grotto-heaven, where heaven and earth reward good poems and most scholars keep good lines in reserve. ^{ch. 1825}

Li Xiao Bai reasons that poems famous on Earth are a problem, because almost everyone in this information path grotto-heaven can observe literary qi and talent qi, and he lacks both. A world shocking poem would bring suspicion and investigation, and exposure as dishonest would make everyone despise him. That lack is the clone’s, not from any lack in Fang Yuan’s own talents, and Fang Yuan planned for many situations before infiltrating. However, Li Xiao Bai holds many famous poems in memory, from Earth and from Fang Yuan’s own creations. He recites one. Teacher Jiang judges it quite well constructed and barely up to the competition’s standard, while classmates remark that it is beyond his usual standards. ^{ch. 1825}

When the drums stop, the red flower lands on Li Xiao Bai’s table again, to the dismay of the elite students who had prepared precious poems. Great Scholar Shen says the rules are the rules, and Li Xiao Bai recites a second poem of the same level. Teacher Jiang relaxes, judging that the student is not as talented but very hardworking, with two poems stored as backup. On the third round the flower stops at Li Xiao Bai once more, and the dazed Great Scholar Shen asks why it is him again. Li Xiao Bai apologizes to his classmates for reciting three times, and their anger dissipates while some feel pity. Teacher Jiang laughs and tells him to begin. ^{ch. 1825}

The third poem is ordinary, but its final line is quite impressive, and Great Scholar Shen laughs and praises it. Li Xiao Bai admits that the poem had three lines and he added the last when anxious. Great Scholar Shen calls him very honest, having secretly inspected his literary qi and talent qi and found ordinary talent. He judges a flash of inspiration nothing rare, so he has no suspicions. Teacher Jiang reassesses him as hardworking and promising, then realizes that Li Xiao Bai, who took all three chances, will become famous as his student, and devious people might target the student to affect Jiang. He decides to tutor Li Xiao Bai secretly. Their reputations are already tied, so he resolves to make Li Xiao Bai a proper scholar even at a huge cost in effort and resources. ^{ch. 1825}

At Fei He mountain in Central Continent, Gu Liu Ru stops his killer move, having shifted the immortal aperture time of Gu Yue Fang Zheng to its limit. Fang Zheng will now face calamities and tribulations very often. Qin Ding Ling, inspecting luck with a killer move, finds that his luck, once like a lush squarish hill, now looks like a pot lid. Gu Liu Ru is perplexed, and Qin Ding Ling, troubled, cannot understand it in the short term. Two months later, news makes Fang Yuan’s main body stop cultivating: he has found the location of Dragon Palace. Having basically learned all the qi path methods, he resolves to steal this Immortal Gu House in secret before Heavenly Court does. ^{ch. 1825}