The sage was determined to die.

"Achoo!"

Ji Bai suddenly sneezed.

He rubbed his aching neck and looked at the old lady beside him with some suspicion, wondering if she was secretly cursing him in her heart.

It's no wonder he thought that way. At this moment, the old lady had a stern face, and her eyes were filled with barely concealed anger. She stared intently at the men moving stones in the lake, muttering repeatedly, "Impossible, why aren't any new people coming..."

"Why is that impossible?"

Ji Bai leaned against a shady tree, slowly yawned, and analyzed, "If those two successfully escaped, they would naturally go to other places to look for Wenxin. Why would they bring people back here?"

"If you're unlucky, you might get killed as soon as you go out."

A strange emotion flashed in Ji Bai's eyes. He said, "Maybe the people who killed them are waiting outside right now. Since they know this place is strange, of course they won't send anyone in to deliver food."

Upon hearing this, the old lady looked at him with resentful eyes: "In the end, it's all your fault. If you had just followed the old methods, you wouldn't have had to go through so much trouble to water it."

Ji Bai glanced at the few people who were exhausted and said, "We're just supervising here. They're the ones who are working hard."

old lady:"……"

"and--"

Ji Bai suddenly spoke up: "Book Mountain, Wenxin, everyone I've met tells me that I have to kill enough people to obtain Wenxin. Is this really the only way to obtain Wenxin?"

Moreover, even if he obtained Wenxin, it would only be for the purpose of killing more people. Ji Bai thought about this in his heart, but did not say it aloud.

The old woman's eyes flickered: "What do you mean by that?"

Before Ji Bai could reply, she continued, "Ever since I became a guardian of the Book Mountain, everyone who has gained literary talent has risen to power by stepping on the corpses of others. Hasn't this always been the way of the world?"

"Just because it's always been this way, does that mean it's right?"

Ji Bai continued to argue, "Take this Wenxin for example. If it's successfully born in a few days, how are you going to steal it? By killing people?"

The old lady fell silent.

It wasn't that she had nothing to say in rebuttal, but she suddenly realized that the reason Ji Bai had been staying here was precisely for her Wenxin.

Haha, how could she let him find out such a secret?

He pretended to be completely uninterested in Wenxin all day long.

Pshaw, who would believe that?

At this moment, no one noticed that the sapling, which had not eaten a single living person's flesh and blood and had been fed only stones for four consecutive days, had quietly undergone a transformation.

[Congratulations on triggering the hidden route in the Mountain of Books]

[The hidden test of Wenxin's "Iron Wall" is now beginning]

Gongsun Yang did not stop the two men from leaving, but he also did not expect that after the two men left, their work would be assigned to them.

He was watering the saplings with stones when he heard the familiar, cold voice. Suddenly, upon hearing the familiar voice in his mind, he subconsciously looked at the others.

The two examiners noticed nothing amiss, and the others around him were working diligently. He licked his dry, cracked lips and thought to himself, "Was I the only one who heard it? So I'm the chosen one after all?"

At that very moment, the sapling in front of me had fully grown and bore a bright green fruit.

The fruit's exterior resembles a heart and emits a faint green glow.

Gongsun Yang heard his own heart pounding wildly.

Without the slightest hesitation, he swallowed the fruit whole.

Then, he experienced the most wonderful moment of his life.

The fruit became one with his heart.

"No wonder the people of Chu went to such lengths to obtain this Literary Heart." Gongsun Yang forced a smile, exclaiming in surprise, "So this is actually the legendary First-Rank Literary Heart."

He waved his arms, feeling as if an invisible armor protected his entire body, making it impossible for the enemy to harm him in the slightest, no matter what kind of swords, spears, or halberds they used.

"Don't be ostentatious; it's always best to be cautious in life."

Despite possessing literary talent, Gongsun Yang's personality did not change drastically. He picked up the tree branch that could cut iron like mud and quietly lurked behind a scholar who had passed the imperial examination.

Fortunately, the other party did not notice him. Without hesitation, he covered the other party's mouth from behind and watched as the other party bit his hand hard, but without leaving any marks. Instead, he broke two of his own teeth. Only then did he use the tree branch to pierce the other party's heart.

"I never expected that this Wenxin could provide me with such meticulous protection."

Gongsun Yang gradually became bolder, and his gaze turned to the two examiners who took pleasure in tormenting them.

Moments later, the examiner died.

As Gongsun Yang grew more confident, he walked out of the puppet forest. As expected, the Chu people had been lying in ambush outside for a long time. When Chu Ze saw him, he almost thrust his sword at him.

He reached out and blocked it, his arm becoming the sharpest armor in the world.

Under the incredulous gaze of the other party, the sword broke in two. Gongsun Yang grabbed the prince by the throat and said, "Doesn't the Chu Kingdom always like to bully small countries like us? Remember my name, I will kill all the people of Chu."

The prince of Chu died unwillingly.

Having obtained the First-Rank Literary Heart, Gongsun Yang's killing spree did not end there...

.

[Congratulations on triggering the hidden route in the Mountain of Books]

[The hidden test of Wenxin's "Iron Wall" is now beginning]

Ji Bai opened his eyes.

Hearing the familiar voice from the system in his mind and looking at the bright green fruit before him, he suddenly asked, "Was I asleep just now? But why am I awake here now?"

He didn't rush to pick the fruit, but slowly got up and walked over to observe the others.

Gongsun Yang was grinning foolishly with his eyes closed, his mouth stretching almost to his ears. The other person next to him was convulsing on the ground with his eyes closed, as if he had been stabbed. The others were in similar states...

"As expected, this assessment wasn't just for me."

He returned to his original spot, stared at the green fruit, and his expression suddenly became indescribable.

"If everyone hears the same voice and thinks that eating this fruit will grant them literary talent, then, if they're shameless enough, they might even believe they are the chosen one selected by heaven."

Ji Bai suddenly covered his nose and kept his distance from the green fruit.

"Wouldn't that mean everyone ate it? Wouldn't it be covered in everyone's saliva?"

Ji Bai sighed and said, "Well, although I'm a little curious about what Wenxin tastes like, I'd better not eat things that other people have already eaten."

For some reason, Ji Bai seemed to hear the sound of something breaking in the air.