Li Xiao Bai's Inner Conflic
After Li Xiao Bai’s recital, a masked strong man, an old man in a cone hat and a veiled woman each create a famed poem on the level of his moonlit night. He reasons that Gu worms and the longer lives of Gu Masters make famed poems more common than on Earth. The three wonder who this newcomer is and how he made such a poem when his talent qi is not dense. Li Xiao Bai’s teacher, Teacher Jiang, watches and nods in satisfaction. ch. 1977
Li Xiao Bai advances and is teleported to a fifth round arena, where he learns that his poem let him skip three rounds and that only half of the Gu Masters here can pass. The strong man and the woman are there too, but the old man is not. Li Xiao Bai decides to pretend to rest, since he only has to select a suitable poem. The second competition has the theme Travel and more than twenty competitors. He is a little troubled, because a classic poem would be too overwhelming and a bad one would send him back, so after going overboard in the first round he decides not to try for first place. ch. 1977
Late in the time limit, the strong man recites a famed poem of battle intent and the woman one about a young lady imagining her own journey. Li Xiao Bai then recites a copy of Su Shi’s Silk-washing Stream. The strong man and the woman, moved, praise it as very vivid and very interesting, and call its author a truly polite gentleman and a really promising young scholar. Li Xiao Bai pretends to be extremely exhausted, believing his performance was really good without gaining too much attention. When time ends, most scholars have failed to create a poem, and Li Xiao Bai finds he has gained too much attention again. He advances to the ninth round. ch. 1977
In the ninth round fewer than ten scholars gather, and Li Xiao Bai resolves to cause no commotion. More than half of his opponents create famed poems, and he goes last. He recites a poem prepared in advance, his cultivation rises to rank four, and he gains a new Gu worm. Having planned meticulously, he lands borderline in the middle and advances at the bottom of the batch. ch. 1977
Then one scholar coughs blood and another faints, the strong man sits down with difficulty, and the woman coughs, pale. Only Li Xiao Bai is left standing unaffected, and all gazes return to him. They say he is very strong, with three famed poems already, and seems not to have gone all out earlier. One resolves to befriend him after the competition. Speechless that everyone overexerted themselves, Li Xiao Bai wants to pretend to cough blood too, but it is too late, and he moves on to the next round with a plain expression. ch. 1977
