Chapter 191: Act A: Massive Wave Of Toughness!
Translator: Translation Nation Editor: Translation Nation
By the second day, the name "Li Bai of the Heavenly Explosion Faction" had spread like wildfire within the entire Imperial City.
First, this was because the leader of the four great students, young master Zhao was wearing a note on his body as he walked around the entire Imperial City. The note read, "Zhao Wu is not match for Li Bai of the Heavenly Explosion Faction!"
Secondly, it was because of the word game which Xu Que had played. He referred to Zhao Wu as Zhao Ri Tian, which thus became a cruel nickname for him.
Soon after, all the students who were present for Madam Ya’s banquet started recounting the details of the banquet to everyone.
A person told ten other people. Ten people told a hundred others. In the span of a single night, almost the entire Imperial City was speaking about Li Bai of the Heavenly Explosion Faction!
Of course, the tales which spread to the furthest were of the poems recited by Xu Que.
"Good rain knows its time well, and will fall once spring arrives. With the wind it steals the night, and silently dampens all things. This is such a good poem. This Li Bai must truly be a genius to come up with such great lines!"
"There was also, ‘as sounded the wind and rain o’ernight, I wonder how many blooms alight’, that is truly a masterpiece!"
"It’s unfathomable how a person would recite so many masterpieces within the span of a single night. And he even composed all these poems in ten steps. Such talents is truly worthy of admiration!"
"He has my respects. The rest of us highly qualified students won’t even be able to hold our own in the presence of such a great talent!"
"Actually, the one which benefited me the most was, ‘these drops of rain were born of the heavens but died here on earth. Their lives spanned the entire duration it took for the raindrops to land.’"
Many talented scholars and cultivators, and even the commoners were all talking about Xu Que’s poems!
Even the female students would sit around and recite the poems composed by Xu Que.
"On a cold night within a small building, the sweet sound of autumn rain could be heard. Deep within an alley, a merchant sold flowers in herds. What a genius Li Bai!"
"Of the four hundred and eighty temples built in the Southern Dynasties, most were shrouded in the hail of mists and rain. I wonder what caliber of genius did it take for someone to come up with something as impressive as that? I truly wish for the chance to interact with him!"
"While others are teasing my madness, I am laughing at their shortsightedness! Only someone with extraordinary skills could ever think of such lines!"
Without even realizing it, Xu Que had a female fan club dedicated to reciting his poems!
What was most impressive was the fact that he came up with the couplet, ‘smoke seals the willows over the lake’. This attracted the attention of many well learned students, both old and young as they attempted to find a reply worthy of the first half.
Indeed, nobody was able to come up with a proper reply to his couplet.
Something funny that happened was the fact that many paintings had circulated within the Imperial City and were titled . Many students had purchased the paintings for themselves and hung it in their homes, proudly showing their guests this piece of art.
There were even fans who picked up Xu Que’s songs and were singing them everywhere they went, "It’s so lonely to be peerless!"
Everyone was also trying to find the stick which the great genius Li Bai had in his mouth. They were unsure of what it was, and only knew it was called a ‘cigarette’. But how does one smoke a cigarette? And what were cigarettes made of?
To give the genius Li Bai so much inspiration, this cigarette has to be something good.
Apart from the cigarettes, another powerful catchphrase which had begun circulating was, "With cigarettes and beers, my powers have no peers". This caused many cultivators around to go crazy deciphering its meaning.
Within a short span of time, the entire city of refined and cultured students, who enjoyed experimenting with new ideas, were all on the streets looking for cigarettes and beers.
However, even though they’ve combed the entire city, nobody was able to get a good understanding of what those items were.
By afternoon, Madam Ya had brought the packet of cigarettes when she visited the wives of other nobilities. After the first puff, everyone was astounded by how good it felt.
Even some of the generals asked for a stick as they inhaled and exhaled in glee. Before long, everyone was begging for cigarettes from Madam Ya.
Not even an hour later, all the cigarettes which Xu Que had given Madam Ya had finished!
Hence by nightfall, many of these generals were finding hard to sleep and were feeling extremely uncomfortable and edgy. This was because they were already addicted to the cigarettes!
Xu Que was sleeping soundly within his inn while Tang Liu Feng went out to have some drinks. While he was out, he was being asked so many questions up till the time he returned back.
Since nobody disturbed him, Xu Que slept soundly for two consecutive nights. He seemed to be unaware that just by attending a single banquet, he had turned the entire city upside down.
Within his mind, the system detected that the host was asleep and thus didn’t give any notifications. But his act tough points were accumulating rapidly!
Three days after the banquet, Xu Que finally woke up and stretched himself. He opened the system interface and saw more than 8,000 act tough points and was stumped!
When he left his room and decided to head downstairs for some food, he was surrounded by an entire group of people who clearly idolized him. Only then did he find out what had happened while he was asleep.
There was even a student who took a copy of and asked him to write a poem on it.
Xu Que didn’t even hesitate. After all, it was madness not to act tough when an opportunity arose. He then wrote, "I hold the universe in my hand, like me, there is no man."
Signed by: Li Bai, Heavenly Explosion Faction!
Soon after, the group of fans were starstruck by his poem. After hearing the system beeps in his head, Xu Que decided to return to his room where he burst out laughing uncontrollably.
"Hahaha! My acting tough points have increased so much that I can even smile in my dreams. I shall continue to act tough this way the next place I go to!"
He then ordered the waiter to deliver some hot water to his room, where he cleaned himself up and took a bath.
Xu Que then put on a fresh set of black robes as he pulled out his Dark Buster Sword and left the room.
It wasn’t that he no longer wanted to become a student. It was that he was afraid students would continually stop him for poems. Hence he wore his black robes and dressed like a rouge cultivator as he made his way to the Imperial Palace.
As Xu Que had enquired earlier, the Flaming Sun Princess would choose her Prince Consort tomorrow and the venue was in the palace.
Hence, he decided to go earlier to find Zi Xuan and the Flaming Sun Princess and ask them for the map of the Imperial Tombs. He can then find out more about the Prince Consort matter.
Because tomorrow, he was going to act a mighty wave of toughness!
He wanted the Fire Emperor to look foolish before the huge swarm of people.
However, such matters required good planning. The Fire Emperor was of the Infant Transformation Stage, level 6. Hence, Xu Que had to make sufficient preparations so that he will successfully act tough instead of eating grass when the time arose.
As he walked down several alleys towards the Imperial Palace, he could hear people discussing Li Bai and his talents. Everyone was reciting the poems which he had composed.
Since Xu Que was dressed in his black robes, nobody could tell who he was. Thus he arrived before the palace without obstruction.
He then started thinking of an excuse to enter.
Just before he could approach the entrance, an Original Infant Staged guard step forward and extended a hand outwards, speaking coldly, "This is the Imperial Palace. Entrance is prohibited for people who have no business here!"
"Haha! No business here? I advise you to inform the Flaming Sun Princess of my arrival." Xu Que laughed coldly.
"Tell her, that Hua Wu Que of the Heavenly Explosion Faction is here!"