"Whether it be the four arts of zither, Go, calligraphy, and painting, or poetry and essays, or even the battle prowess in scholarly arts, let it come as it may."
Chang Qing spoke with an indifferent tone, "Let me see what extraordinary skills the court lineage possesses."
The many Confucian cultivators present were astonished at this arrogant statement.
They had witnessed the strength of Chang Qing’s scholarly arts.
Entering the path through the four arts, his poetry shook the heavens; in purely scholarly accomplishments, none could rival Su Changqing.
But this final round, it was a contest of scholarly battle prowess!
Could Chang Qing, who was only at the Spirit Stage, be a match for Mu Yun, who was at the peak of Divine Law?
Especially when the opponent had nine others on their side!
"Arrogant!"
Mu Yun laughed in fury, "Do you think this is still the Forum of Fortune?"
"Is there so much fortune for you to use?"
"Your aptitude in scholarly arts is strong! But today, it’s about individual battle prowess!"
"Furthermore..."
His voice paused, and with a mocking look in his eyes, he said, "With your current status, how dare you challenge us?"
"Now Su Changqing, you’re a criminal of the scholarly arts! What face have you to ascend the literary platform!"
Mu Yun’s objective today was not only to defeat Chang Qing but to also see him utterly disgraced!
"A criminal?"
Chang Qing’s sword-like brows raised, "I would like to hear more."
"Humph!"
Seeing Chang Qing’s calmness, Mu Yun snorted coldly, his vast voice resonating from the sky,
"Your first crime, Su Changqing! Causing the loss of the Forum of Fortune and cutting off the future of the scholarly arts, this is heartless!"
"Second crime! Blocking the scholarly arts from entering the court, delaying its grand development; this is disloyal!"
"Third crime! Being a member of the scholarly arts, yet turning to darkness, causing shame to the scholarly arts and the Confucian Immortal; this is unjust and unfilial!"
The vast voice resounded throughout Central Province City.
Mu Yun looked at Chang Qing, his gaze icy, his tone chilling as he shouted in a rage,
"Someone as disloyal, unjust, heartless, and unfilial as you, how dare you step on the scholarly literary platform!"
"Get off!"
This roar seemed to ignite the anger of all the Confucian cultivators present.
A unanimous and earth-shattering shout erupted almost simultaneously.
"Get off!"
The momentum was overwhelming, the sound waves surged.
Chang Qing’s black hair danced wildly in the howling wind.
At this moment, he seemed to stand in opposition to everyone, pointed at by a thousand fingers, cursed by ten thousand voices.
"Chang Qing..."
In the deepest part of the sky, Ye Shu’s eyes filled with tears as she watched the lone young man standing on the high platform, sobbing softly.
She looked at the son scorned by the world, unable to hold back any longer.
"Let me go!"
Ye Shu knew she couldn’t help much, but... she just wanted to hug that wronged boy.
"It’s not time yet."
Su Nan tightly gripped Ye Shu’s hand, looking at the young man below, murmuring,
"This is the academy’s matter, others cannot intervene."
"Rest assured, the Chang Qing now... is enough to face these."
Though he said this.
Yet no one saw the immense anger in Su Nan’s eyes, along with the boundless chilling murderous intent.
...
"Not at all!"
"Chang Qing is not like what you say at all!"
The shouts and curses drowned everything, including the voice from the crowd in the corner defending Chang Qing.
Xian Banmeng’s fair face was flushed with anger.
Looking at the silent young man on stage, she felt even more wronged for him, her eyes moistening.
She couldn’t do much.
All she could do was voice her weak yet resolute defense amid the world’s angry curses.
Entropy An did not speak, nor did he look at Chang Qing.
His eyes were fixed on the angry, blushing face of the woman beside him.
"Is this what they call love..."
Entropy An slowly lowered his head, looking at his own hands, a hint of confusion and contemplation flashing through his eyes.
...
The shouts and curses rang out incessantly, the endless malice surged forth.
Chang Qing’s posture remained upright, his expression calm in the face of everything.
When the voices gradually subsided, he slowly spoke, "Whether I can step onto this literary platform is not for you to decide."
"Whether I, Su Changqing, am a criminal, you also have no right to judge."
"Heartless, unjust, disloyal, unfilial..."
Chang Qing seemed to laugh self-mockingly, "I didn’t expect there would be a day others would see me this way."
"Am I wrong?"
Listening to the curses in his ears, Mu Yun felt a sense of satisfaction, mocking him:
"On the Forum of Fortune, if it weren’t for you, how would the scholarly arts lose such an opportunity?"
"If you had remained on the side of the scholarly arts, how would it have come to this!"
"Preventing the countless cultivators of the scholarly arts from experiencing prosperity, is this not heartless!"
Chang Qing did not refute, but looked at the many Confucian cultivators below and asked:
"Do you think the same?"
As soon as he spoke, the crowd below roared in anger.
"Isn’t it so! Leaving the Forum of Fortune without permission caused us to miss the prosperity, is this not a crime!"
"The countless people of the scholarly arts! You heartlessly abandoned them, with no compassion, isn’t this heartless!"
"That’s right! You, Su Changqing, are the greatest sinner of the scholarly arts..."
The indignant voices echoed, a grudge against Su Changqing simmered in the hearts of all the Confucian cultivators.
This grudge stemmed from the loss of a pivotal platform for the scholarly arts due to Su Changqing’s actions.
For other cultivators, this might have been beneficial.
But for those of the scholarly arts, it was too cruel.
To call this act heartless on Su Changqing’s part is not an exaggeration!
"Hahahahaha!"
However, rather than getting angry at the insults in his ears, Chang Qing burst into laughter.
In his laughter, there was a sense of powerlessness and understanding.
The Heavenly Dao is indeed observant; how could such scholarly arts be worthy of great fortune?
Li Qingchen had already seen through it, which is why he directly bestowed upon Su Changqing the ’kill’ character as his life path’s seal.
Perhaps, when the Confucian Immortal was present, he thought about educating these people but ultimately gave up.