#53 - The river tower is eternal, the moon shadow is eternal

The Sage of Poetry.

He looked like an old man in his sixties.

He wore a white shirt that didn't quite fit, appearing too large.

He held a wine gourd in his hand and walked with a slightly unsteady gait.

His eyes were slightly glazed, and he emanated the scent of alcohol.

He appeared to be drunk.

For many powerful individuals, they would never get drunk if they didn't want to.

But they enjoyed the feeling of being drunk.

And even if they looked drunk, they could instantly sober up.

Even so, he still gave off an unfathomable aura that transcended the mortal realm.

"Senior Sage of Poetry."

The crowd greeted him respectfully.

The Sage of Poetry waved his hand: "No need for formalities, no need for formalities. Today, I am just a spectator here to appreciate poetry, hahaha."

The Sage of Poetry laughed freely, tilting his head back to take several large gulps of fine wine.

"Little friend Gu Changsheng, a pleasure to meet you. Care for a drink?" The Sage of Poetry swayed slightly as he approached Gu Changsheng, asking with a smile and glazed eyes.

Gu Changsheng bowed: "This junior will pass on the drink."

"Hahaha, where is the Qingzhu lass?"

Lin Qingzhu curtsied: "Senior Sage of Poetry."

"Hahaha, good, good indeed."

Whoosh—

He then leaped forward, arriving in front of Holy Empress Yao and the others.

"Your Majesty the Empress, Old Wei, Old Zhuge, a pleasure, a pleasure."

Zhuge Chen: "Has something good happened to you, Your Excellency the Sage of Poetry?"

"Hahaha, to be honest, everyone, I passed by the Poetry Tower of the World, and I went upstairs for a quick glance. There was a first line that caught my eye, and I spent some time composing a few second lines to match it, so I'm a little late."

Holy Empress Yao raised a delicate eyebrow: "Your Excellency the Sage of Poetry, I wonder what the first line is?"

The Sage of Poetry stood up, raised a hand, and his eyes instantly transformed from glazed to clear and profound.

His hand waved continuously in the air.

A line of elegant and exquisite characters, formed from spiritual energy, appeared.

"Viewing River Pavilion, viewing river flow, viewing river flow beneath Viewing River Pavilion, the river pavilion is eternal, the river flow is eternal."

Xu Fengqiu: "…"

As soon as this line appeared, the crowd frowned deeply.

"Exquisite! Genius!"

"This line originated from the Poetry Tower of the World? Truly exquisite, this Poetry Tower of the World is indeed located on the river surface."

"From this, it can be seen that this line must have been composed spontaneously after the author saw the Poetry Tower of the World. Such talent is truly admirable."

"…"

"What a line! Extremely beautiful." Zhuge Chen stroked his beard and sighed.

"Senior Sage of Poetry, may I ask who composed this line?" Gu Changsheng bowed and asked.

The Sage of Poetry shook his head: "This line does not have a signature."

Holy Empress Yao inquired: "If one wants to compose a second line to match this in a short amount of time, the difficulty can be imagined. I wonder what the second line composed by Your Excellency the Sage of Poetry is?"

"Hahaha!"

The Sage of Poetry laughed loudly, quickly writing the second line he had composed below the first line in the air.

"Poetry Competition Platform, poetry competition talent, poetry competition talent on Poetry Competition Platform, the poetry platform is peerless, the poetry talent is peerless."

"Good! What a 'poetry talent is peerless'! As expected of Your Excellency the Sage of Poetry! Admirable! Admirable!" Wei Yannian stood up, his face flushed with excitement, and praised.

Because those of them with great talent had already started composing second lines in their minds after seeing the first line.

After composing for a while, they realized it didn't seem so easy.

Then, upon seeing the Sage of Poetry's second line, which was extremely well-matched, they couldn't help but admire it.

The Sage of Poetry shook his head: "It is indeed well-matched, but the beauty of the first line is such that it is a beautiful scene that one can immediately associate with, and 'poetry talent' and 'eternity' are not parallel in meaning. Therefore, the second line I composed is still lacking."

Zhuge Chen said: "In that case, how about we start today's poetry gathering with this first line from Viewing River Pavilion?"

"Wonderful, wonderful indeed."

"But this line is really difficult to match. This old man pondered for a while and found it difficult." Cao Lao, a master of poetry, sighed.

"Even Your Excellency the Sage of Poetry is stumped, we can only find it even more difficult. Let's brainstorm, everyone is a talented individual, surely someone can come up with a matching line today, right? Hahaha."

Li Mufeng smiled and looked at Xu Fengqiu: "Brother Xu, you have a deep understanding of poetry, what do you think? Care to show us?"

The crowd looked at Xu Fengqiu with a mindset of watching a good show.

They didn't dare to provoke, didn't dare to speak, but they still dared to watch a good show, right?

Gu Changsheng was overjoyed!

This Li Mufeng came at the perfect time.

The sudden arrival of the Sage of Poetry had interrupted their progress in making Xu Fengqiu lose face.

Now, he was back again.

Xu Fengqiu did not respond, but simply placed his left hand behind his back, raised his right hand, and waved it quickly in the air.

One character after another gradually appeared below the first line.

"Reflecting Moon Well, reflecting moon shadow, reflecting moon shadow in Reflecting Moon Well, the moon well is ten thousand years, the moon shadow is ten thousand years."

The crowd had initially looked at Xu Fengqiu's second line with the mentality of watching a joke.

However, in the next second, their expressions instantly became solemn.

The Sage of Poetry tilted his head back, took a breath, and squinted at Xu Fengqiu's second line.

The glazed look in his eyes instantly became serious again.

His movements froze, and he couldn't help but recite: "Reflecting Moon Well, reflecting moon shadow, reflecting moon shadow in Reflecting Moon Well, the moon well is ten thousand years, the moon shadow is ten thousand years…"

Then, a flash of brilliance appeared in his eyes: "This second line is absolutely wonderful!"

Whoa—

The crowd widened their eyes in an uproar.

Zhuge Chen stood up and couldn't help but exclaim: "This second line is truly wonderful! 'River pavilion' and 'moon well', 'eternity' and 'ten thousand years' are all perfectly matched."

"This is exactly what Senior Sage of Poetry meant by a scene that one can immediately see," one person said.

"This?"

"…"

"What!"

Li Mufeng, who had wanted to see Xu Fengqiu make a fool of himself, was utterly shocked.

What was going on?

He could compose such a well-matched line?

How was that possible!

Wasn't Xu Fengqiu ignorant of poetry and prose?

How could he compose such a well-matched and beautiful second line in such a short amount of time?

Huh?

Gu Changsheng frowned deeply.

Was this real?

Did this brute really have such talent?

Even the line composed by the Sage of Poetry wasn't so well-matched.

Ji Bochang and Li Sheng exchanged a glance, then looked at Gu Changsheng.

The meaning was clear.

Huh? Is this the Xu Fengqiu with no talent that Young Master Gu was talking about?

Lin Qingzhu looked up at Xu Fengqiu's second line and couldn't help but sigh softly: "'River pavilion is eternal, moon shadow is ten thousand years', so beautiful."

"Ding… Lin Qingzhu's affection for you +5."

"Good! Good! Good! What a 'Reflecting Moon Well', what a 'moon shadow is ten thousand years'!"

The Sage of Poetry's eyes flashed with brilliance, then he looked at Xu Fengqiu: "Little friend Xu? May I ask where you are from?"

Xu Fengqiu clasped his fist: "This junior is Xu Fengqiu, greetings, Senior Sage of Poetry."

"Xu Fengqiu." The Sage of Poetry nodded slightly as he looked at Xu Fengqiu: "I have always heard that little friend Xu has outstanding talent, but I have never heard that little friend Xu also possesses such talent. You have truly impressed this old man. I wonder if you can compose another second line? This old man is full of anticipation."

Gu Changsheng gritted his teeth.

Damn it!

He was supposed to become a disciple of the Sage of Poetry at today's poetry gathering.

Instead, this Xu Fengqiu had stolen the spotlight?

Was this real or fake?

Could this Xu Fengqiu really have such talent?

Xu Fengqiu said: "This junior is untalented, but this first line was composed by this junior."

Whoa—

The scene erupted in an uproar.