“I don’t know about this, but it was divined by Master, who said it was in our Wan Family. I thought about it for a long time. Among the magic treasures of the Wan Family, the only one that fits the description is that broken zither.”
Wan Yitong was also puzzled. He touched his chin and continued, “There was not a single string on that broken zither. No one has touched it when it was left in the attic for so many years. It was only because I ran into the attic by mistake when I was a child that I remembered this zither.”
Yan Tianhen: “Take me to see it later.”
Wan Yitong: “Okay.”
If that stringless zither really was useful for killing evil Qi cultivators, he should be able to recognize its use quickly. After all, as an evil Qi cultivator, Yan Tianhen could sense that could suppress evil Qi.
As the first in line successor of the Royal Heavenly Capital’s Yan family, Yan Tianhen naturally wanted to receive visitors from all regions in place of King Ye. However, although King Ye was the leader this time, the location was Myriad Dao Academy.
The sect, as the host, also sent many disciples and elders to meet the people who came to the meeting, so Yan Tianhen’s presence wasn’t too important.
Yan Tianhen found King Zhang, who took the initiative to meet with the head of the Wan family. He winked at Wan Yitong and said, “Someone can help us. Let’s go now.”
Wan Yitong took Yan Tianhen to look for Esteemed Lan Yue.
Esteemed Lan Yue always liked peace and quiet, so he did not come out to welcome the guests at this time.
When Yan Tianhen and Wan Yitong came to Esteemed Lan Yue’s residence, he happened to be holding the stringless zither that Bei Shitian gave.
Esteemed Lan Yue saw Yan Tianhen. “You are here. Let’s see what’s particular about this zither.”
The stringless zither was dark all over, like a dense fog that never melts. It looked like a pipa, but it didn’t have any strings. It looked bare and heavy. One could tell at first glance that it had existed for a long time.
Yan Tianhen felt his eyes water, and there was an unspeakable feeling in his heart.
He was naturally very familiar with this zither, and Lin Xuanzhi would be very familiar with it as well.
This stringless zither, Immortal Joy, was something that Dao Zu often played in the past.
The name of this zither was simply Immortal Joy.
Dao Zu was proficient in the music path and had extremely high attainments. At first, he would sit on the peak of Spirit Sect and play the zither, attracting all the butterflies and kingfishers in the southeast to fly and sing. Even the famous Phoenix Emperor, who was born in the Kunlun Ruins and was never involved in worldly affairs, would pay a visit in order to sing with Dao Zu.
Lingyu also tried to play Dao Zu’s zither.
However, while Dao Zu played the stringless zither like the sound of mountains and rivers, Lingyu seemed to be playing on cotton, emitting crackling and beeping sounds, which sounded extremely unpleasant.
Dao Zu once said with a smile, “This Immortal Joy is a divine tool created by Heaven and Earth. Only those who have fate with it can play it. It’s normal that you can’t play it well, since your fates have yet to cross.”
How many years had it been since he last saw this zither?
Yan Tianhen’s mood was extremely complicated. When Dao Zu died, the stringless zither disappeared. Unexpectedly, after all these years, it fell into the hands of the Wan family, a clan specialized in the law and music paths.
He didn’t know if it was just a coincidence, or if Dao Zu had arranged for it in advance.
“I’ve tried a lot of methods, but this zither can’t be played,” Wan Yitong said.
Yan Tianhen took the zither and looked at it. When he moved it to a certain angle in the sun, he could see the golden flowing pattern on the zither’s surface. “This zither can only be played with strings.”
Bei Shitian asked, “But how do we add the strings? Ah Tong and I tried all kinds of strings, but none of them fit. The strings all broke as soon as we played it.”
Yan Tianhen held the zither in his left hand and spread open his right hand. Suddenly– five strings supported by spiritual energy ran across the two ends of the zither like strands of silk. The whole stringless zither seemed to come alive, and the radiance and color lingered around. Yan Tianhen’s robe was floating, his posture was like jade, holding the zither and playing the strings. He had the posture of an immortal. It was awe inspiring.
He plucked the strings, but it only gave a buzzing sound.
“Creak–“
Yan Tianhen: “….”
He played a few more times incredulously.
“Creak–“
“Creak, creak, creak!”
“Creak, creak!”
This is fucking embarrassing.
Wan Yitong covered his ears and wailed, “Just stop! My ears are bleeding!”
Bei Shitian also couldn’t bear to look straight at this mess.
Yan Tianhen touched his nose and said with some embarrassment, “Anyways, that’s how it’s played. This stringless zither probably doesn’t like me, so it won’t listen to me.”
Wan Yitong couldn’t bear to look straight at this. He grabbed the stringless zither and held it in his arms to prevent Yan Tianhen from desecrating a divine treasure any further.
Esteemed Lan Yue looked at the stringless zither. “It’s really a tool of creation. It’s really magical.”
Wan Yitong also tried to pull out the strings with spiritual energy, but his strings were very thin, and it broke when it was plucked lightly. No sound came out at all.
Bei Shitian also tried, then shook his head, “It’s hard to control.”
Esteemed Lan Yue also tried. He could barely control the strings, but he found some problems when plucking the strings.
“What’s the use of this stringless zither?” Esteemed Lan Yue paused and asked.
“Ah? It just sounds good.” Yan Tianhen was still a little emotional. He looked at Esteemed Lan Yue admiringly, swallowed and said, “Master, you are too amazing, you can actually make a sound.”
Esteemed Lan Yue’s technique was natural and flowed like water. Although it couldn’t compare with Dao Zu’s music, which had reached the state of perfection, it still sounded good and made people feel happy, which was a rare achievement for anyone trying to play this zither.
However, Esteemed Lan Yue stared at the zither and frowned slightly. “This magic treasure has a mysterious feeling when it’s plucked. It seems that it can communicate with the spiritual Qi between Heaven and Earth, but I still need to think about the specific situation.”
Yan Tianhen was surprised. “But I didn’t feel anything like that when I played it.”
Wan Yitong sighed. “You didn’t feel it, but I felt it. It was truly a demonic sound that pierced one’s ears. It made me want to smash myself to death with a piece of tofu.”
Yan Tianhen: “….”
Esteemed Lan Yue wanted to study the stringless zither more. After a few hours, when everyone arrived, he would discuss the eradication of evil spirits.
Yan Tianhen no longer disturbed Esteemed Lan Yue and wandered around Myriad Dao Academy with Wan Yitong.
All the sects and Divine Clans were led to the largest conference hall of Myriad Dao Academy. The conference hall could accommodate several thousand people sitting around, and it was so tall that the ceiling couldn’t be seen. The surroundings were richly ornamented, and runes were carved on the entire hall’s walls and floors. The ethereal sound of immortals came in bursts, making people feel relaxed and happy as soon as they entered.
As soon as all the guests took their seats, some of them made a special trip to find acquaintances to sit together with. For a moment, there was a buzz in the hall.
“It’s said that His Highness King Ye took the lead in this conference to eradicate evil spirits, but he doesn’t seem to be here?”
“The original location was the Purple Emperor’s Heavenly Capital, but later it was changed here somehow. King Ye probably stayed in the Royal Heavenly Capital because of pressing matters.”
“Sigh, wonder what kind of urgent matters we’re discussing today. He just had to summon me from the west at this time. Eradicating evil spirits — isn’t that the North Land’s problem?”
“I heard… Prince Ye is also an evil Qi cultivator. One of my clan uncles was invited to help a disciple of the Longyao clan when the Longyao family chose the Crown Prince. He saw with his own eyes that Prince Ye could control the evil spirits in the Dragon Tomb Holy Land!”
“What? That rumor’s actually true?”
“What rumor?”
“Some people say that this killing of evil spirits conference is King Ye’s conspiracy. He wants to trap us here together and take control of all of the Nine Lands!”
“That’s a little ridiculous. Where will he get so much strength? This time, all the famous powerhouses in the Nine Lands have arrived. Even if King Ye is powerful, he still can’t oppose so many people at the same time.”
“Hehe, don’t forget that King Ye’s Consort is a demon and one of the three Demon Venerables of the Demon Realm. Who knows what the demon clan is scheming?”
“Shh– you can’t casually say things like this. King Ye’s family is now dominant and prosperous. Behind Prince Ye, there is the support of Grandmaster Venerable. Huarong Sword Venerable is a nominal elder of Myriad Dao Academy. This Prince Ye’s power is truly…Tsk tsk tsk…”
Everyone chatted with each other, and all kinds of things were said.
The last one to come was the West Land’s Yue family.
The Yue family still didn’t know that Feng Jingyu had already returned. They were still arrogant and believed that they could replace the phoenix clan and take control of the entire West Land.
When several elders and disciples of the Yue family in full dress took their seats in turn, Myriad Dao Academy’s three Hall Masters and Deans of the Four Courtyards also took their seats in turn.
Although Yan Tianhen represented King Ye, he still let King Zhang sit at the top, while he sat with Lin Xuanzhi.
Myriad Dao Academy didn’t have a sect master. Normally, all major events were discussed jointly by the Three Halls and Four Courtyards. Now, in preparation for the evil spirits eradication conference, Myriad Dao Academy elected an acting Sect Master: the Hall Master of Sword God Hall, Tianshu Sword Saint.
After Tianshu Sword Saint was seated, he looked around and spoke, “Seniors from all walks of life have come all the way here. It shows that they attach importance to the eradication of evil spirits and trust in King Ye. I admire it. If every matter in the Nine Lands is handled like this, I think the orthodox Dao will remain united and prosperous forever.”
A major sect’s elder in front cupped his hand and said, “Tianshu Sword Saint is too polite. Eradicating evil spirits is a matter within my generation. Naturally, we won’t ignore it.”
Tianshu Sword Saint’s eyes fell on Zhan Fengting, who came to represent the Longyao family. “I think everyone has heard about what happened to the North Land’s Longyao family. Please tell us the details.”
Zhan Fengting stood up and turned to face the people present. His gaze was calm. “Not only in the Longyao family, but from the northern border’s Northern Liang City all the way to the Imperial City in the North Land, all of these places have now become victims of Heaven’s Wail. Everyone can look at the specific scenes from the recorded images.”
With that, he waved his hand gently, and a records wall stood in the middle of the air. The picture wall exuded a faint and soft light. Zhan Fengting uttered a spell, and the picture wall showed the current sky in the North Land.
The sky and earth were full of cracks, which could be seen everywhere. The sky was purple and black, like a heavy dark cloud pressing on the top. Purple evil Qi leaked out from the cracks on the ground. Everywhere it went, the plants withered and there were mountains of corpses.
“Hiss–“ Somebody gasped.
“How can it be so terrifying?”
“What on earth is this evil Qi? Where does it come from?”
“Did the North Land do anything to cause the current tragedy?”
Comments