Just one note of the zither.
It was like a stream of light, turning into ripples on a lake, manifesting into waves as they crashed right at the String Master!
The note did not look fast, but everyone could feel that it encompassed everything. Like a boat in the sea, there was no way to avoid the rise and fall of the waves.
“This, this is…”
When that energy appeared on Qin Manyun’s body, the String Master was dumbfounded. At that moment, his lifetime’s worth of cultivation felt like it had met it’s natural predator, and started to seclude itself without hesitation. Goosebumps could be felt all over his body and he could not stop himself from shaking.
“What kind of zither music is this, it managed to resonate so much with the Dao!”
He was in disbelief, and his eyes bulged, filled with horror, confusion, panic and other feelings. He did not know what to do.
He merely stared at everything that was happening. He wanted to fight back, but a sense of helplessness filled his heart.
He was too insignificant. He had been conceited for his whole life, and lived without a care for countless years. He had never been attacked like that in his whole life. He never expected that there would be a day where he felt so insignificant.
The speed of the Dao was not quick, but it did not seem worried that the String Master would escape. It seemed to be giving him enough to think, allowing him to quietly feel the hopelessness that came before death.
It felt like an emperor had sentenced someone to death, and the sentence was on its way to being executed, the result had already been set.
“Impossible, how could you have such an extraordinary power on you?!”
The String Master let out his final cry, and his hands shook due to the horror. With all his might, he started to play the zither!
He had gone crazy.
Waves of music began to shoot out, unworried about the consequences as he merely wanted to unleash the strongest attacks he could.
Normally, that action would cause the world to shake, and even the Area of the Gods would see significant waves. Large parts of space would be wiped away, and all the living beings would be eliminated.
At that moment, he was playing the zither like a crazed man without any cultivation, and everything he did was being suppressed, unable to even cause the slightest ripple.
“You, you…there’s a Wisdom Realm Deity behind you? He, he…”
The String Master seemed to have thought of something terrifying, and his voice trembled. However, before he could finish speaking, under everyone’s gazes, the Dao patterns flowed actress his body like a river.
The String Master stopped moving.
His body and his zither, under the gazes of everyone, disappeared without a trace alongside the flow of the Dao, as if they had not existed in the first place.
If they had not seen everything from start to end, everyone would have thought that the String Master was just a dream.
It had been too easy, too dream-like.
The great String Master, easily disappeared just like wiping away chalk from a blackboard…
That shocking scene had caused everyone to widen their eyes, forgetting to even breathe as they turned into statues, their minds constantly replaying the earlier scene.
As for the man that had been next to the String Master. After the shock, he had turned mute. He widened his mouth, trembling as he pointed at the spot where the String Master had disappeared…
“Ah…”
‘What happened to the master I follow?’
‘My strong, undefeatable, amazing master disappeared just like that?’
‘Is this an illusion?’
‘I’ve definitely been caught in an illusion!’
Nuwa and the others jerked, and immediately raised their hands at the same time, sending their spells right at the String Master’s subordinate, saving Taishang Elder.
The man was still considered an expert about Chaos Daluo Golden Immortals, but with Nuwa and the others working together, he naturally could not hold them back. Furthermore, his heart had already fallen, and he was already on the brink of collapse, so there was no resistance.
Taishang Elder had his eyes on Qin Manyun the whole time, even as he was being saved. His expression was dazed, thinking that he was dreaming.
If he had not been dreaming, then how could a Daluo Golden Immortal unleash such a terrifying attack?
The changes in his hometown were a bit too excessive…
“Elder!”
The Jade Emperor shouted at the elder, causing him to snap back to reality.
He looked at the Jade Emperor, his expression was at a loss as his lips trembled. Countless questions popped up on his mind at the same time, and he did not know where to start.
The old friends met each other again, and tears fell. There were no words shared between them, only countless tears.
Thousands of words were condensed into one sentence by Cultivator Junjun. “It’s good that you’re back, it’s good that you’re back!”
The elder looked at the Jade Emperor, and finally asked the question he cared the most about. “Jade Emperor, your cultivation seems to have exceeded mine?”
“It doesn’t just seem that way.”
The Jade Emperor smiled softly, waving his hand as he said, “It’s a long story, but I had a few chance encounters and made a breakthrough. There’s nothing to gloat about.”
The elder said nothing, and suddenly felt a sense of sorrow.
He had wandered the Chaos, going through life and death. Relying on his pill refinement, he had become a subordinate, living among the cracks. Yet, now that he was back, he realized that the people who had stayed back were all better off that he was?
He had been a saint in the Eldritch World. After the passage of time, in front of his old friends, he suddenly felt like a little brother.
‘Why did I leave the Eldritch World back then?!’
“Congratulations.”
The elder did not want his old friends to see his weakness, so he forced out a smile before respectfully looking at Qin Manyun, saying softly, “Then… this is?”
He had been shocked by Qin Manyun’s talent earlier, and had wanted to have her as a disciple. And now, he started to admire his past self for having such a crazy idea.
That woman…could not be offended!
Cultivator Junjun deliberately said in a mysterious manner, “Her origins are not so simple, it’s no longer something you can imagine. Let’s go, we’ll introduce you, you have to remember to be respectful.”
Taishang Elder had no suspicions, and hurriedly said, “I naturally know my place.”
He had not had a good time in the Chaos, and had long since learnt how to act when facing his superiors. Only those who wanted to die would be ostentatious.
Did the String Master who had never lost not just die off like that? And his death had been way too strange, so strange that no one would believe it.
In the vast Chaos, there were hidden geniuses everywhere, one could not allow their ego to get too big.
At that moment, Qin Manyun was also stunned herself, her mind constantly repeating one sentence, ‘I just killed a Heavenly Realm Deity with one pluck of my string just now?!’
‘I’m way too cool!’
Junjun did not dare put on any airs in front of Qin Manyun, and respectfully said, “Fairy Manyun, this is an old saint of the Eldritch World, Taishang Elder.”
“Taishang Elder? I’m happy to meet you, I’ve heard Mr. Li mentioning you before.”
QIn Manyun immediately bowed to the Taishang Elder respectfully. When she listened to Li Nianfan talk about the Eldritch, she was quite familiar with the few Saints.
“Thank you, I wouldn’t dare.” Taishang Elder immediately waved his hands, praising her, “You’re the true hero of the Eldritch. The battle earlier really impressed me. I managed to see an impossible miracle in my hopelessness. That final moment was impossible to describe, I don’t think it can be replicated even within the whole Chaos!
“Thank you for saving my life, please accept a bow from me!”
As he said that, the elder gave an incredibly respectful bow.
“You praise me too much, that last attack was just the Wisdom that Mr. Li left in me when he was teaching me.” Qin Manyun said apologetically.
Cultivator Junjun and the others had a moment of realisation, “So it was the expert’s plan.”
Qin Manyun was full of sincerity as she nodded. “That’s right, before I came, Mr. Li had taught me for a whole day, and played the zither himself while resonating with me. I had thought that he was just guiding me, but he actually transferred a lot of Wisdom onto me, to protect me.”
“That’s not just protecting you.”
Nuwa shook her head, saying with certainty, “I think that the expert already expected the String Master to do what he did, and had purposely left something on your body. He had clearly saved us again!”
The Jade Emperor agreed, “Nuwa is right.”
Taishang Elder listened by the side, and suddenly felt like he was out of the loop, and on a separate wavelength as everyone else. He could not help but ask, “Could I please ask, who is this expert that Manyun is talking about?”
Qin Manyun said, “It’s Mr. Li. I’m lucky enough to be a student next to him.”
“A…student?”
Taishang Elder’s mind went blank, unwilling to believe his ears as he stood on the ground stunned.
A girl that managed to hold back the String Master with just one song, was actually willing to be a student?
Furthermore, it was not hard to discern from their earlier conversation that Qin Manyun did what she did earlier all from a day of tutelage from the expert!
The most important thing was, that finally horrifying attack was from that expert!
What sort of godly existence was that?
Thinking about it was enough to fill whim with horror!
His face started to twist in shock, and he did not know what kind of expression he needed to adopt with all the conflict in his mind.
He looked at the calm Jade Emperor, asking, “You…are all of you not shocked?”
The Jade Emperor said, “You’re already used to it. You don’t really understand how impressive the expert is.”
Taishang Elder said, stunned, “I really don’t, it’s already outside of my realm of comprehension.”
“That’s right, I have good news for all of you.”
Yao Mengji suddenly said, a mysterious smile suddenly showing itself on his face.
“Oh? What’s the news?” It invited the interest of everyone.
Yun shu smiled and said, “Is it related to the expert?”
“Hahaha, smart! I came from the expert’s place with Manyun, so the news is naturally related to the expert.”
Yao Mengji toyed with his beard, and finally said after putting on a show, “Before I left, the expert gave me something, and said it was a gift for us.”
When he said that, the Jade Emperor and the others all saw their eyes light up like lightbulbs, their anticipations rising.
Gifts from the expert were never ordinary, looking at the show Yao Mengji was putting on, it would definitely not be anything simple!
QIn Manyun said with some amusement, “Alright, you shouldn’t play with them anymore, hurry up and tell them.”
Yao Mengji’s smile grew bigger as he took out a bag, saying loudly, “Please look! Tadaa!”
In a flash, all of their gazes were attracted, then their pupils constricted.
Nuwa took in a cold breath, stammering excitedly, “This, this is…”
“Dumplings, they’re dumplings!”
Qin Zhongshan and Bei Chen said at the same time, their faces filled with happiness.
Cultivator Junjun shook as well, gulping and refusing to take his eyes off the dumpling. “Could it be those dumplings?”
Last time, Nuwa had accompanied Blackie in fighting the Taotie. They had not followed because they needed to protect the Heavenly Palace. Listening to Nuwa describe the taste of the grilled Taotie filled them with envy. Naturally, Nuwa had mentioned that the expert was going to turn the Taotie into dumplings.
Then those dumplings…were probably made of Taotie meat!
Suddenly being greeted by such a dream-like surprise, how could they not be emotional?
“Dumplings…”
The Jade emperor’s eyes widened, saying meaningfully, “If I’m not mistaken, in the mortal realm, dumplings are a sign of reunion.”
As he said that, everyone’s hearts jumped suddenly feeling the deeper meaning within.
“The expert…already knew that the elder would come back, so he gave us the dumplings in celebration of our reunion?”
“Everything really is within his control.”
“Ah, what did we ever do to deserve being taken care of by an expert like this!”
Everyone’s excited state suddenly stopped as tears started to fall from their eyes, they were way too touched.
‘How do I repay you? Expert!’
Taishang Elder looked around, and could not help but purse his lips. “That…I’m sorry, but aren’t you exaggerating things? It’s just some dumplings, you don’t have to…”
After so long of not meeting them, he never expected that, not only did their skills increase by a lot, even their acting skills had improved. They had all become fans of the expert, and sang him praises for no reason.
“Stop speaking!”
Cultivator Junjun suddenly shouted, his expression serious, “Elder, you’re too presumptions. You’ve wandered the Chaos for so many years, there are some things that can’t be understood, so you should hold your mouth! Don’t casually give your criticisms!”
Taishang Elder jumped in fright, and did not dare to speak back.
“Elder, you’ll understand in a moment.”
Jade Emperor clapped Taishang Elder’s shoulder, still eyeing the dumplings as he said, “Quickly, let’s not betray the expert’s kindness. While it’s still fresh, let’s eat.”
Those words were naturally agreed by everyone, and they all flew back to the Heavenly Palace.
They set up a fire, boiled the water, and put in the dumplings…
After that, they all had their chopsticks in hand, surrounding the pot as they stared inside, waiting for the dumplings to start floating.
A group of old cultivators had quickly tossed aside their images, and were like children excitedly staring at their favorite foods.
With the amount of saliva they were producing, the gulping sounds started to form a rhythm…
