In the River View Tower, the luxurious decorations immediately caught their eyes.
The roof of the tower was covered by jade green tiles. All of the pillars were carved with dragons and phoenixes. High quality sticks of sandalwood were burnt in every corner of the place, making the scent very refreshing.
The River View Tower had five floors.
The private rooms were located on the fifth floor. Each private room was separated from each other for privacy and silence.
Qian Qiye was right, the waitresses in the River View Tower were absolutely stunning. When they came to the fifth floor, the eight gorgeous waitresses were already waiting for them while sweetly smiling.
However, the moment they saw Lu Changsheng, they were stunned by the young man's face alongside his celestial bearing!
When they came back to their senses, they hurriedly welcomed Lu Changsheng and led him into the room.
Qian Qiye was a bit disappointed.
"You should get used to it. All the women who laid their eyes on Eldest Senior Brother would start to like him. However, you look quite different. You don't have a crush on him?" Liu Qingfeng wasn't surprised at all.
"Get away!" Qian Qiye gave Liu Qingfeng a short answer and followed the waitresses into the room.
Fresh fruits and nice wine had already been prepared.
Qian Qiye took it for granted that she should be the one sitting beside the window. After taking the seat, she started pouring wine for Lu Changsheng.
"Teacher, you're respected as the Saint Scholar. Will you join the competition?" Qian Qiye asked.
"Eldest Senior Brother won't join such a competition between ordinary people." Liu Qingfeng answered this question for Lu Changsheng.
Lu Changsheng silently took a sip of the wine.
"That's understandable, although the winner will be awarded with fifty thousand kilograms of spirit stones, I think it's still nothing for Teacher Changsheng." Qian Qiye nodded and agreed with him.
What?
Fifty thousand kilograms?
Lu Changsheng knew the value of a spirit stone.
In the world of cultivation, the spirit stones were regarded as hard currency. Although they were usually measured in kilograms, but because of its high density, the size of a spirit stone was very small. A spirit stone weighing five hundred grams was only close to the size of a fingernail.
In this world, the spirit stones were even more widely used than gold or silver.
It was easy for Lu Changsheng to get some spirit stones. He could sell the treasures in the ring, or perhaps he could simply ask Qian Qiye to give him some.
However, Lu Changsheng was too proud to ask just like that. If he really needed help, he would rather turn to the Zenith Land.
It wasn't a big deal owing someone a favor, but Lu Changsheng didn't want to fall into karma.
After hearing the prize, Lu Changsheng took another sip of the wine and said to Liu Qingfeng, "I can't agree with you, Junior Brother. When it comes to studying, nobody is inferior or superior. In my hometown, there's a famous saying. Do you want to hear it?" Lu Changsheng said in a peaceful tone.
"What is it?" Both Qian Qiye and Liu Qingfeng were curious.
"The saying is—since we're already here…" Lu Changsheng said in a serious tone.
Liu Qingfeng: ???
Qian Qiye: ???
At first, they didn't quite understand, but it somehow sounded very reasonable.
'Clang!'
'Clang!'
'Clang!'
At this time, the three rings officially started the competition.
In the middle of the square, an elderly man announced with a big smile on his face and a jade roll in his hand, "This year's competition is sponsored by the Empire of Da Qian, Thousand Treasure, AliRich, and the Goose Trade House. An hour ago, the Grand Preceptor decided the theme!
"Listen to me carefully.
"Please develop a seven-character quatrain using the following images: Green grass, light rain, spring, and the Imperial Capital. You will have an hour to prepare. When you finish writing down your poem, please leave your poem on the shelf. The chief scholars from the Imperial Academy will be judging the poems. The top three poems will then be available in two hours time."
The elderly man's voice was very loud, it seemed he was also a cultivator.
Immediately, the participants set their wits to work.
Green grass!
Light rain!
Spring!
The Imperial Capital!
Lu Changsheng searched in his mind for the most appropriate poem from the Tang Dynasty.
"I have one!" Liu Qingfeng smacked his lap.
"One what?" Qian Qiye wondered what he was talking about.
"A poem!" Liu Qingfeng exclaimed.
"You can write a poem?" Qian Qiye showed her suspicions clearly on her face.
"Of course! I've spent so much time with Eldest Senior Brother. After studying under Eldest Senior Brother, even a pig can be a poet!" Liu Qingfeng's tone was slightly bitter. However, after saying this, he realized that it wasn't a very proper argument.
Liu Qingfeng waved his hands and said, "You should listen to it first!"
"Alright." Qian Qiye nodded.
Liu Qingfeng cleared his throat to get ready, he then stood up and started to recite his poem,
"The green grass is glossy; The light rain never ends. Spring is arriving early, and the Imperial Capital is happy!
"Do you like it?" Liu Qingfeng was very excited.
'Puff!'
Tea spurted out of Lu Changsheng's mouth.
Liu Qingfeng called this a poem?
Is he serious?
He must be kidding!
All he did was just basically connecting the words together.
However, to Lu Changsheng's surprise, Qian Qiye, whose tongue was usually quite wicked, nodded and said, "This isn't bad, but you only have five characters in a line. The poem isn't qualified.".
Lu Changsheng really couldn't believe his ears. He asked Qian Qiye, "Did you really mean what you just said?"
"Really mean what?" Qian Qiye didn't understand him.
"Did you think the poem was good?" Lu Changsheng asked once more.
"Don't get me wrong. Although I don't like him, his poem wasn't bad." Qian Qiye nodded seriously.
The first half of the answer annoyed Liu Qingfeng, but the feeling instantly disappeared when he heard her praise him. Qian Qiye was the first person who complimented on his poetry after all.
"I see." Lu Changsheng didn't know what else to say.
This world was filled with amazing things, but the development of arts was too low.
This was a poem?
Even a good poem at that?
Interesting.
"Do you think we should add something?" Liu Qingfeng asked Qian Qiye.
"Let me see…" Qian Qiye started to ponder about it carefully.
Lu Changsheng, on the other hand, didn't want to waste his time on them.
Instead, he spent his time on searching for a really good poem.
After a while, a lightbulb struck Lu Changsheng's brain.
"Bring me a paper and a brush pen," Lu Changsheng said.
The waitress gave him what he needed.
Lu Changsheng picked up the brush pen and wrote down, "The royal streets are moistened by a creamlike rain;
"Green grass can be perceived afar but not nearby.
"It's the best time of a year—"
"Absolutely better than the time hazy willows becloud the Imperial Capital."
Lu Changsheng wrote down this poem without a single pause.
This poem was very famous and it fit the theme very well.
Green grass, light rain, spring, and the Imperial Capital.
Good. Very good!
It was a good poem and it even fit the scene perfectly.
Liu Qingfeng and Qian Qiye came closer to read the poem he just wrote.
"This is a masterpiece! Excellent! Only Eldest Senior Brother can produce such a masterpiece! Your poem is ten times better than mine! The gap between you and me is too wide!" Liu Qingfeng started flattering Lu Changsheng.
"The poem is very good, but I can't understand. It's a bit complicated, it isn't as simple as the one written by Liu Qingfeng." Qian Qiye gave Lu Changsheng a very honest answer.
"Send the poem."
After Lu Changsheng left his name at the bottom. A waitress in the River View Tower brought the poem to the shelf.
An hour passed by very quickly.
The singers and dancers started to bring the audience excellent performances on the square.
The result would be available in two hours after all, this was mainly just to kill time.
Two hours later, the last performance ended.
The elderly man came back to the stage with the best poems they found. In a loud voice, he announced, "Thank you all for your passionate participation! The top three poems are now in my hand. Please let me read these three poems for all of you."
The audience broke into a big round of applause!