The sage was determined to die.

"Have you already acquired literary talent?"

Chu Xi was completely confused.

He scratched his head and said, "That's not what that person said before he died."

Chu Ze fumbled for the compass in his hand, glanced at him sideways, and said, "Even among the same human race, nations scheme against each other. You actually believe that a scholar from Qi could move an examiner?"

Chu Xi couldn't help but think of the two scholars from small countries he had just killed. They had both entered the mountain of books, but he hadn't even remembered their names.

He shrugged and said, "True."

"But," Chu Ze asked疑惑地, "why would that person want them to publicize Ji Bai's name? Was it to make him a target of public criticism, or was there some other purpose...?"

Chu Xi kicked a small pebble on the ground and casually ruffled his hair into a mess. He hated his brother's deep-thinking state the most, as he couldn't get a word in edgewise.

Chu Xi looked up at the sky for a while, and seeing that her brother had thought it over, she finally spoke up: "Brother, what do you think? Should we send more people in?"

"No rush."

Chu Ze looked at the Puppet Forest and said, "The Puppet Forest is not as simple as we imagine. With their current manpower and speed, if no one dies, it will take them at least half a month to dig up corpses to give birth to Wenxin."

"but--"

Chu Ze raised his head, revealing a cryptic smile: "Let's spread our manpower around and help this Ji Bai make a name for himself first."

……

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.

To the east of Shushan Mountain lies the encampment of the State of Chen, which also served as a hiding place for scholars from the State of Qi who had passed the imperial examinations.

The State of Chen valued martial prowess, and even the scholars selected for the Imperial Examination were all eight feet tall on average. Just standing there, they resembled a small mountain.

As the country with the most entries into the Book Mountain this year, Chen Kingdom possesses the strongest dominance in terms of population, making it a force that no other country dares to easily provoke.

Not actively provoking someone doesn't mean you can avoid it.

In front of a steep mountain peak.

The people of Chen Kingdom all stared solemnly at the man at the front. He had bronze skin, was much taller than the others, and had a scar running across his face. He looked more like a warrior than a scholar.

At this very moment, he is undergoing the final test of the mountain of books.

He reached out and picked up the man who was covered in bruises on the ground. The man had already been beaten black and blue and was covered in wounds.

The man gripped the other man's neck tightly, as if strangling a rabbit. The man's face turned from flushed to bluish-purple. He pounded the hand in front of him, uttering his last words of resentment: "Chen Ji...you will...get your retribution..."

Before he could finish speaking, his neck was completely snapped.

The man called Chen Ji tossed the body aside as if it were trash; the ground was already littered with corpses. He took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped his fingers, saying, "This is probably the easiest test in the mountain of books."

You have successfully killed one hundred creatures.

You now possess the third-grade literary skill, "Killing Without Teaching."

Hearing the cold words in his mind, Chen Ji forcibly suppressed his laughter, closed his eyes, and began to enjoy the most wonderful moment in the world.

It was as if a pool of fresh water had been added to his heart, and abundant vitality surged into it. He could feel his lifespan increasing, and he was no longer an ordinary mortal who could only live for a few decades.

He opened his eyes after an unknown amount of time.

He stared at his hand, feeling the unique power it brought him after possessing the Wenxin.

"Killing someone without teaching them..."

Chen Ji suddenly looked at the person next to him, his deep eyes resembling those of a wolf that had just devoured its prey, carrying a cruel, beast-like quality.

"What's wrong?" The person next to him was startled by his gaze.

"Biographies are people. I have completed the test of the mountain of books and killed a hundred people."

He clutched his heart, feeling its vibrant beating. "But I've already won Wenxin's heart, so why do I still want to kill? Is it because I'm familiar with someone I know?"

"What a pity." Chen Ji clicked his tongue at this point. "We didn't even find any Qi people this time. Those bastards really know how to hide."

"They've all entered the mountain of books, yet they haven't killed two or three Qi people as a sacrifice to the flag."

Chen Ji shrugged and said, "None of this excites me anymore."

"There aren't many people from Qi who have come this time, and the few who have come are all incompetent. However, there is one person we should pay close attention to."

The person next to Chen Ji frowned slightly and said, "News from the west says that there is a scholar named Ji Bai from the State of Qi who chose to act alone as soon as he entered the Book Mountain. He killed many people in the west all by himself and obtained the Wenxin first."

Chen Ji was silent for a moment: "Really?"

The person next to him shook his head. "It was passed down from the Chu people. You know those two brothers from Chu are always very cunning, but they wouldn't make something out of nothing."

"If that's true, then that's interesting."

Suppressing his murderous intent, Chen Ji grinned widely, glanced at the others, and called out, "Let's go."

The people of Chen came quickly and left quickly.

Just after their people had completely left, the scorched earth beneath the ground loosened slightly, and after a while, a hand with distinct knuckles reached out from the ground.

Yan Ming and his companions crawled out of the ground in a disheveled state, their bodies aching and slumped on the ground, panting heavily. At this moment, they had no regard for the etiquette of noble families, only the relief of escaping a calamity.

"Luckily, I obtained a seventh-grade literary heart first, which allows us to hide underground, otherwise we would definitely be dead," Yan Ming said thankfully.

The group wiped the dirt off their faces and looked at Yan Ming with gratitude in their eyes.

"We are truly grateful to Brother Yan for saving our lives."

Yan Ming waved his hand and gritted his teeth, saying, "You all heard what that Chen man said just now, didn't you?"

"Damn Ji Bai, he took so much money from us, but disappeared without a trace as soon as he entered the Book Mountain."

"I was worried at first that he might have been teleported to the wrong place, but it turns out he went to earn Wenxin all by himself." Yan Ming gritted his teeth in hatred.

"I should never have trusted him in the first place."

"A liar, he really is a liar."

Yan Ming forced himself to sit up and made a move to walk west, muttering to himself, "Let's go, let's settle accounts with him."

"Brother Yan, please wait a moment."

One of them tugged at Yan Ming's sleeve, pursing his lips, and said, "That man from Chen said that Ji Bai killed many people in the west. Brother Yan, do you really think Ji Bai could have done that alone?"

Yan Ming's mind flashed with Ji Bai's hateful face, and he said, "Difficult."

"Brother Yan, have you considered that if this message is false, it means it's a trap, and Ji Bai is probably already dead at their hands?"

"But if it's true—"

Yan Ming looked at his own group, who were covered in dust and dirt, and seeing their conflicted expression, said:

"Ji Bai has already killed so many people, are you sure you won't kill us too?"