166: Then I started

“The bright moon shines on my hometown, its silver glow sprinkles over the full courtyard, osmanthus flowers fragrant, autumn wind refreshing, looking afar at the distant clouds drifting, myriad thoughts surge in my heart… ”

The old scholar began to speak fluently, and it indeed sounded like he possessed some knowledge, composing a poem of several dozen characters as soon as he opened his mouth.

After the old scholar finished his composition, he immediately received applause from the entire hall.

“Isn’t that Master Zhang from Qingfeng Academy!”

At this moment, someone in the crowd recognized him.

“What is Qingfeng Academy?”

“You don’t know this? Qingfeng Academy is a new academy established by Qingfeng Sect in Qian Yuan City on Qingfeng Mountain, specifically selecting children around ten years old to go to Qingfeng Mountain to cultivate immortality!”

The crowd was buzzing with discussion. After Wei Xun heard this with his Auspicious Wind Ears, he immediately used his Spirit Seeking Eyes to examine the person.

The old scholar looked ordinary, but he had quite a few Spiritual Qi light spots on him.

He was at least at the second or third layer of the Qi Refining Realm.

“So it’s Master Zhang, no wonder he could compose such a wonderful poem!” The madam also heard the discussions in the crowd, so she immediately turned to Miss Yan'er behind her and asked, “Yan'er, what do you think?”

Miss Yan'er nodded slightly after hearing this: “The poetic style is smooth and catchy, truly excellent! But I still want to hear if anyone else has a poem to compose!”

“Miss Yan'er said she still wants to hear other compositions!” The madam immediately turned back and repeated: “If there are none, then the top spot will belong to Master Zhang!”

As soon as the madam said this, everyone present began to discuss animatedly.

“Didn’t you read for a few years? Go on!”

“I did read, but I can’t even memorize a few poems. You want me to compose one now?”

“And this is Master Zhang! Even if I rack my brains, I couldn’t possibly compose one better than his!”

Hearing the crowd’s discussion, Master Zhang smiled confidently, stroking the beard on his chin with a very pleased expression.

Seeing that no one in the crowd continued to compose, the madam was about to announce Master Zhang as the winner.

“Wait a moment!”

A shout came from a private room on the second floor.

Hearing this voice, everyone’s gaze turned towards Wei Xun’s direction, wanting to see who wanted to compose.

Wei Xun walked to the railing on the second floor and spoke to the madam on the stage: “I also have a poem here, even better than the one Master Zhang composed!”

As soon as these words came out, some people below the stage couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise.

“Who is that person? How dare he speak so arrogantly!”

“Never seen him before, but being able to sit in a private box on the second floor means he must be quite rich!”

“What kind of person is Master Zhang? Even the city lord respects him greatly. How dare this person say he can compose better than him?”

“That person looks so young, clearly uneducated. He’s probably just a foolish son from a wealthy family in another place!”

Someone in the crowd said this, immediately causing the crowd to burst into laughter.

Master Zhang looked back at Wei Xun standing by the railing on the second floor, then smiled at the corner of his mouth: “Young brother, compose if you want, no one is stopping you, but don’t be too confident, otherwise if no one applauds your composition later, you’ll truly be humiliated!”

“Don’t be too confident yourself!” Wei Xun remained calm and said: “My poem hasn’t been composed yet, how do you know I’ll be humiliated?”

“Then compose it, I’ll see what you can come up with!” Master Zhang smiled coldly, seemingly not putting Wei Xun in his eyes.

“Then I’ll begin!”

Wei Xun opened the paper fan in his hand and fanned himself lightly, then slowly began to speak.

“When will the bright moon appear? Raising my cup, I ask the blue sky. I wonder what year it is tonight in the heavenly palace…”

“Why is he singing now!”

“Don’t talk, he’s got something…”

As soon as Wei Xun opened his mouth, muscle memory actually made him sing the poem out.

Hearing the “Prelude to Water Melody” sung by Wei Xun, everyone present was shocked.

Wei Xun had a talent for singing; he even won second place in the singing group of the school's art performance when he was in school.

So, amidst Wei Xun's long and melodious singing, everyone present was stunned.

This poem can be sung like this?

“People have sorrow and joy, separation and reunion, the moon has its waxing and waning, this has been difficult to perfect since ancient times. May we all live long, and share the beauty of the moon, though a thousand miles apart…”

When Master Zhang heard this line, he was completely dumbfounded.

At first, he had underestimated this young man, but now that he heard it, his own composition was no match for this poem, and couldn't even be placed on the same stage.

Miss Yan'er, upon hearing it, her fingers stroking the zither strings trembled slightly, and her pupils also quivered slightly.

“You…!” Master Zhang turned around, pointing at Wei Xun and questioned: “Where did you copy this poem from? How could you possibly compose such a poem!”

“Hey!” Wei Xun looked at Master Zhang and couldn’t help but laugh: “Why can’t I compose this poem? This poem was just composed by me, who else could have composed it?”

“I don’t believe it!” Master Zhang glared at Wei Xun, then said: “If this poem was composed by you, then you must be able to compose another one. If you can compose another poem of similar quality, I will believe that this poem was composed by you!”

“Why should I listen to you?” Wei Xun sneered: “You say I should compose, and I compose? Who are you?”

“It seems you are just a fame-seeker, who happened to see this poem somewhere and used it today!” Master Zhang, seeing Wei Xun not taking the bait, immediately began to mock him.

“I am the Reincarnation of a Poetry Immortal; as long as I wish, there is nothing I cannot compose!” Wei Xun, however, ignored Master Zhang’s words and turned to the madam, asking: “Excuse me, Madam, is Miss Yan'er satisfied with my poem?”

“Arrogant words!” Master Zhang remained relentless: “You, the Reincarnation of a Poetry Immortal? I think you’re just an idiot!”

“If I’m an idiot, then you’re a pile of dung from a cow that ate grass!”

Wei Xun immediately retorted.

Just as an argument was about to break out below the stage, Miss Yan'er spoke: “I am more satisfied with the poem composed by the gentleman upstairs. Please, both of you, stop arguing.”

Hearing this, Wei Xun rolled his eyes at Master Zhang and said: “Did you hear that? If I were you, I would have left long ago. How can you still have the face to pester here!”

Master Zhang also noticed that everyone was watching him, so he just waved his robe dismissively and said: “We’ll see!”

Then he strode out of the building.

“Congratulations, young sir, for winning the top prize!” Although the madam was not very educated, she could tell from the audience’s reaction that no one had a composition more impressive than Wei Xun’s.

“Then when can I have dinner with Miss Yan'er?” Wei Xun asked.

“Right now!” The madam immediately told the maids below to prepare: “Young sir, please follow me!”

Then the madam also left the stage with Miss Yan'er, and immediately arranged for other girls to continue performing on stage.

Although these women were not as popular as Yan'er, they were still considered the next best in Tianxiang Tower after Yan'er.

They could still make the men below the stage cheer endlessly.