"Hmm?"
Sun Mo frowned slightly. Why did he have a feeling that he was about to be taken advantage of? "Your Majesty, I'd better go back to the hotel. I have something to deal with."
"Oh!"
Qi King thought about it. In any case, he still had to admire the paintings tonight and wouldn't have time to chat with Sun Mo. Hence, he agreed.
"Sect Leader, farewell!"
Sun Mo clasped his hands.
"Teacher Sun, please wait!"
Su Taiqing smiled. "I'm here to ask your disciple for that Starry Sea Map. I wonder if you're willing to part with it?"
Although the Qi King said that he didn't want it, the painting was drawn by Li Ziqi after all. It was better to ask the owner first.
Hiss!
Upon hearing this, everyone was extremely astonished. So, the sect lord came to Western Capital for Li Ziqi's famous painting!
Didn't this mean that the Princess of the Great Tang wanted to defeat Xia Taikang?
However, the result of the painting battle was that Li Ziqi's ranking wasn't up to par.
The faces of Zeng Gongnian and his crew darkened immediately. They were the judges, and Su Taiqing's actions implied that they were blind.
Just think about it, for a painting to be admired by the number one master teacher of the Nine Provinces, how outstanding must it be?
"You should ask Ziqi about this."
Although Sun Mo could make the decision, the chance to do a favor was still left to the little sunny egg.
"Teacher Li, are you willing to part with it?"
Su Taiqing had addressed her as Teacher Li. Just this form of address alone was enough to increase Li Ziqi's prestige.
Looking at the princes and princesses of the five countries, other than Li Ziqi, no one else had such prestige.
…
The painting battle finally came to an end. The onlookers had watched a great show and were very satisfied. They talked as they went home.
The civil battle had ended. Great Xia and the Great Tang had won two rounds each and were evenly matched. Now, the key was the martial arts battle.
Three days later, the martial arts competition would begin at the Flying Swallow Drill Ground on the outskirts of Xijing.
After bidding farewell to the various major characters, Sun Mo returned to the hotel.
"Senior Sister Zhiruo, what's wrong?"
Xian Yuwei saw Lu Zhiruo turning back three times with every step, not knowing what she was looking at. She felt a little puzzled. "Did you lose your wallet?"
"No!"
Lu Zhiruo hurriedly shook her head and sneaked a glance at Su Taiqing who was talking to the Qi King.
Father didn't seem to want to talk to me.
Shall I go and pay my respects?
Because she had snuck out, Lu Zhiruo was very worried that she would be punished. Naturally, she was most afraid that her father would bring her back to the Saint Gate.
If that's the case, I won't be able to learn by Teacher's side!
Thinking of this, the mascot decided to be a coward. Out of sight, out of mind, out of mind. Thus, he quickened his pace. "I'll go first. Ask the hotel owner to prepare food and hot water."
"Eldest Senior Sister, as long as you continue this performance, your reputation in the country will surpass Li Xuan's even if you don't get first place in the debate."
Qin Yaoguang's eyes lit up. "When the time comes, we can even fight for the throne!"
"I will not seize the throne!"
Li Ziqi shook her head. If that was the case, the Great Tang Empire would definitely erupt in internal chaos.
…
Over the course of three days, the process of the literary battle was rapidly fermenting. The main reason was that there were too many brilliant and exciting scenes in this year's competition.
This was especially so for Great Tang's Princess Li Ziqi, the youngest great teacher in the history of the Nine Provinces.
In the zither battle, she played seven solos, and all of them were famous pieces. In the end, she even comprehended the Great Melody Hope Sound, a great teacher halo that countless musicians dreamed of.
It could be said that Li Ziqi was already a music saint.
After that, in the chess battle, everyone knew the reason why Qing Wuzi became the Chess Saint. They also knew about the grudge between him and the spiritual chess spirit. However, all of this seemed to be overshadowed by the news that three ancient sages had appeared in Sun Mo's sect.
After all, no matter how good one was at playing chess, it could only cultivate one's character and prove that one's intelligence was extremely high. It wouldn't be of much help to the development of the country and the world. However, ancient sage halos were different.
This was a great teacher halo that could summon over 1,000 ancient sages. Those who could comprehend it would be considered to have the potential to become saints.
After that, it was the book battle. There weren't too many highlights, but at the royal palace's banquet, Li Ziqi wrote a hundred poems in a drunken stupor, shocking the world.
What was more amazing was that she had comprehended a brand new great teacher halo!
In the fourth round of the painting battle, famous paintings appeared one after another. Putting aside Xia Taikang and Li Ziqi's paintings, just Sun Mo alone showed off. Not only did he create two famous paintings in a day, but each of them were rare treasures. If all the famous paintings in the Nine Provinces were added up, Sun Mo's Hungry People Painting and Jinling Wind Moon Painting could be ranked in the top ten.
The Hungry People Painting had its own great teacher halo and was filled with educational meaning. It could make emperors, kings, generals, and ministers become benevolent. However, everyone wasn't interested. Instead, they focused their attention on the Wind Moon Painting.
It was said that Great Teacher Sun had drawn 100 beauties, and the details were off the charts. Each character had a story.
In any case, after the literary battle ended, Sun Mo and Li Ziqi became completely famous.
The former was even acknowledged by Su Taiqing as the Painting and Calligraphy Saint, the only one in the world!
Hence, many people who weren't interested in the Five Countries War also set off for Western Capital, wanting to catch a glimpse of Sun Mo and Li Ziqi's glory.
...
The time for rest was fleeting.
The martial battle began.
The Flying Swallow Drill Ground occupied an extremely vast area. Flags fluttered in the wind.
This was the encampment of the Flying Swallow Army. Jiang Yuzhen could be considered to be fighting on her home ground.
Early in the morning, tens of thousands of people rushed into the drill ground, filling up the spectator area that was temporarily set up.
"A ticket actually costs 1,000 taels of silver. This is simply eating people alive!"
"Oi oi, people will die in the martial battle. It's not a loss to spend 1,000 taels of silver to watch the war game!"
"That's right, I heard that the martial battle of each batch would be extremely bloody!"
As the capital of Qi Country, there were many wealthy people in Western Capital.
Qi King naturally wouldn't let go of such an opportunity to earn money openly. If it wasn't for the ministers doing their best to dissuade him, he would have set the ticket price at 10,000 taels of silver.
"You guys don't understand. What I want is precisely a wealthy audience!"
Qi King felt that these ministers were very stupid.
For a battle like this, it would be a lifetime regret if they didn't watch it. Hence, many wealthy people would grit their teeth and pay for it.
The generals and schools of Grand Qi helped maintain order and guided the participating groups into the preparation area.
"I wonder what the results of the lots are?"
Ying Baiwu felt a little worried.
There were a total of three rounds in the martial battle. They were the group battle, the commander-in-chief battle, and the individual battle!
The first round of the group battle, as the name suggested, was a battle between troops!
Each diplomatic group could send out two troops, each with at least 500 people. They were the main team and the secondary team. After that, these ten troops would draw lots and fight one-on-one. They would be ranked according to their winning percentage.
Allowing two teams to fight was to prevent people from performing poorly and give them a chance to make up for it.
"Quickly look, Li Xuan and the others are back!"
After Qin Yaoguang spoke, the Calabash Brothers already went up to welcome them.
"Eldest Princess, what's the result?"
Sun Mo asked.
"Li Xuan drew Great Chu. Ziqi is a little unlucky and drew Great Xia!"
Li Xiu silently sighed. Ziqi definitely wouldn't be able to win this round. After all, Great Xia's troops were very strong.
"Aunt, it's fine. I will fight my way into the finals!"
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