Chapter 141
The water of Myriad Red River was still greenish blue as usual . The red leaves and colorful flowers still bore the same passion, rolling and tumbling on the surface of the water down the lower reaches .
Today, not even a single floating restaurant could be seen operating on the water of Myriad Red River . The patrolling boats of Great Yan Dynasty's Waterborne Forces were cruising back and forth on the water, completely barring off any unauthorized access to the river itself . In the middle of the river was a floating wooden platform built using expensive woods . It stretched for nearly one hundred acres, with a few pavilions and covered corridors constructed on it . There were even places paved with soils and planted with many exotic flowers, which looked no different from ordinary gardens on the land . A few thousand young men, each clad in the same white robe and a tall crown of goose feather on their head, were seen sitting on the platform with a solemn expression . They were listening attentively to a young girl, who sat on her heels in the center of the platform while reading out a scroll of poem .
The voice of this young girl sounded flat and colorless, and no rise or fall could be heard from her tone . It was just like the water of Myriad Red River underneath them, crystal clear, yet taking a hue of green that struck a chill to one's heart . She was clad in the same white robe with a tall crown of goose feather mounted on her head . Every time she moved her glance, a strong scholarly air would immediately caress towards that direction . Her appearance could only be considered as ordinary, and in this world where beautiful girls were everywhere, it was an outlook of a lower grade . Yet, because of her extraordinary temperament that was completely different from the surrounding young men, it made her look like a swan who was flying aloft in the sky, while all the men around her had become a pool of toads .
All those pretty maids who were walking amidst the crowds, serving tea and water to the attendees, when compared to this young girl were like a flock of sparrows standing facing a Phoenix; the color of their feathers seemed to have faded away completely . Although the young girl's appearance was not enough to overthrow cities and ruin states, yet the description of 'unsurpassed beauty of a generation', 'a girl with graceful bearing', were most probably used for someone like her .
A long, green string was tied to a corner of the table in front of this young girl . On the other end of the string was a kite the shape of a folding fan . On the surface of the kite made using pure white paper were a few young swallows flying around willow branches drawn with rather light and gentle strokes of ink . Although they were formed with merely a few seemingly insignificant strokes of the brush, yet the liveliness and vigor of the young swallows were being perfectly reproduced . It looked like a few real swallows with genuine blood and flesh were spreading their wings and flying on the kite .
Suddenly, the young girl lowered down the scroll of poem in her hand, picked up a jade paperweight and gently patted on the surface of the table in front of her .
*Pap!* A crystal-clear sound rang out . With that, over a few thousand young men sitting on the platform bowed their heads at the same time, tilted their head slightly to one side and listening attentively to the young girl's explanation . Using the surprisingly bright eyes of hers, the young girl threw a glance at the crowd of young men, nodded her head and begun speaking slowly, "The poem composed by young mister Yuhen, 'The Journey of an Immortal', has portrayed a splendid scene . The words used are rich and beautiful, and it gives off an elegant and spiritual air of the Human Immortal realm, dignified, and sumptuous . However, there is one question lingering in Qianqian's mind . Could young mister Yuhen provide an answer to my question?"
Among the front rows of the crowd, a young man with an imposing and handsome appearance rose to his feet . He cupped his fist and bowed deeply towards the young girl, saying with a smile, "Please enlighten me, young miss Qianqian . " Out of nowhere, there was a drizzle of tiny raindrops that appeared on top of this young man's head, and the breeze on the river kept blowing them a few miles away before they gently fell to the ground . While they were drifting through the air, they left numerous tiny, long, and deep marks of sword on the surface of the water .
Impressively, this young man was also a Human Immortal who had attained the cultivation of Gold Core realm .
The young girl smiled, looking at the young man and asked with a warm tone, "Young mister Yuhen, as you have not met with a real Immortal before, how do you know the Heavenly Palace of Immortal looks like the one used by the emperor of the mortal realm? Are they really as magnificent, luxurious, mighty and lofty as the one we saw in this world? Or perhaps, the residence for Immortals is just like the one used by those ordinary civilians of Great Yan Dynasty, with walls erected from soils and ordinary roof tiles? Or maybe, they are simply built with weeds and wood planks?"
The young man was struck dumb . He kept staring at the young girl and could not come out with any words . He bowed his head and pondered for a brief moment, then only cupped his fist, bowed deeply once again and said, "You're right with the lecture, young miss Qianqian . Shangguan Yuhen was being overconfident, too impatient to jump to a conclusion about the magnificent world of Immortals . You're right, those legendary Immortals who wander about at leisure outside the mortal world would not carry themselves like how ordinary mortals would, by living in a tall and lofty building which is luxuriously decorated . "
He breathed out a long sigh, walked slowly towards the table placed in front of the young girl and picked up the scroll of poem . After that, he casually tossed it into the air . Countless droplets of rain coiled back down, enveloped the scroll and ripped it into thousand pieces . Shangguan Yuhen said, "Although Yuhen had spent the past three years in studying and pondering, yet what I've got is a paper full of nonsense . This is so embarrassing . " After letting out a few words of self-mockery, he again bowed deeply toward the young girl, took a few steps back slowly and returned to his seat .
A faint smile emerged on the young girl's face . She looked at Shangguan Yuhen, nodded slowly and said, "Please don't look down on yourself, young mister Yuhen . Compared to three years ago, young mister's skill and style in writing have improved greatly . As young mister has to focus primarily on cultivating the Dao of swords, being able to improve your knowledge in Dao of poems at the same time has proved that young mister is an extraordinary man . "
Upon hearing the positive comment from the young girl, the fair face of Shangguan Yuhen immediately beamed with energy, and even had his back straightened up .
The young girl then giggled and cried out, "Are there any more great works composed by any young misters? Please have them submitted to me now . If there aren’t any more poems left for Qianqian to review, Qianqian will announce the new subject for today, so that all of you can show us your style of writing . " With her witty eyes, the young girl glanced around, chuckled and said, "The rule remains the same as last year . If any young mister can eventually excel with his poem, after this meeting of poem is concluded, he can accompany Qianqian to an outing for three whole days . "
It seemed like this young girl did have a pretty good cultivation base, and even though she did not say with a loud voice, her words had gently drifted through the air and reached to a distance of several dozen miles away . Even all the soldiers of the waterborne forces standing guard on the patrolling boats could hear her words loud and clear, which made them unable to help but throw their glances over to the wooden platform . Naturally, Princess Zhang Le, who was riding on a ferry and sailing fast toward the wooden platform, had heard the words of this young girl as well .
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