Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After Qian Shanmu arrived, he walked to where the people from the Donghua Clan were at. Standing quietly in the crowd, he looked at the beautiful lady in the pavilion. At the moment, Qin Mengruo, who was in the pavilion, looked elegant. Her slender fingers stroked the guqin, and its strings started to move. The music was melodious and sweet.
The music had an extraordinary artistic conception, which seemed to shed a strand of colored light onto Qin Mengruo, granting her a sacred and noble temperament. As she played the guqin, her body seemed to be filled with a wonderful hue, like the sunlight and the breeze, bright and graceful.
It was a very easy piece of music. The beating notes depicted a peaceful and beautiful scene. The music, just like her own temperament, was noble and elegant, peaceful and glorious.
There seemed to be nothing special about the music. It was simple yet pleasant.
At the moment, in the Donghua Clan zone, a green object appeared in Qian Shanmu’s hands. It was a bamboo flute. Qian Shanmu put the bamboo flute near his lips and then started to play it slowly.
The sound of the flute accompanied the music from the guqin, but did not destroy the artistic conception of the music at all. Instead, it complemented the music. The gentle breeze blew and the leaves of the trees swayed, and yet another artistic conception appeared which seemed to be describing a natural scenery. On the picture in everyone’s minds, there were not only sunlight and breeze, but they could also vaguely see flying butterflies and running fawns.
Suddenly, the music of the guqin changed and was no longer peaceful and happy; it became rapid and sharp. Only at this moment, Qin Mengruo was like a noble princess who was holding a sword, one that could fight on a battlefield and command thousands of horses and soldiers. She was the female general of the battlefield who was holy, noble and inviolable.
The sound of the flute similarly changed; it became sharp but without losing grace. He was like a knight on the battlefield who was invincible.
The style of the guqin’s music and the flute’s music changed continuously, and the artistic conception they were revealing also continued to blur. At the start, everyone could clearly feel the artistic conception expressed by the music, but later, no pictures could appear in their minds. Naturally, they would not doubt the musical attainments of Qin Mengruo and Qian Shanmu. Maybe they were too accomplished, so much so that they could not feel that artistic conception in the music.
From the beginning to the end, Ye Futian had been listening quietly, as if he was enjoying the music. It was indeed pleasurable to hear the two cooperating to perform the music. It was only that there was a fly in the ointment…
Finally, the music from the guqin and from the flute stopped gradually. The entire place still seemed to be silent: nobody made any sound, as if they were still immersed in the artistic conception before.
Everyone raised their heads and looked at Qin Mengruo. Someone marveled uncontrollably, “The music from the princess is really engaging.”
“The music contains so many different artistic conceptions which were switched so easily and perfectly.”
“Qian Shanmu could fit the sound of the flute so perfectly into the music of the guqin. He deserves to be called the most skilled musician in the young generation of the Eastern Barren Territory,” a monk marveled. He was from the Qianqiu Temple. He was not flattering Qian Shanmu. Even though Qian Shanmu was one of the brightest geniuses among the young generation, nobody in the place would need to flatter him. Everyone present was from top forces, so they did not need to please Qian Shanmu. Nevertheless, his play was indeed good and deserved compliments.
Ye Futian similarly felt that it was good. The words of the monk from the Qianqiu Temple were true. It was not difficult to play a good piece of music; the difficult part was that Qian Shanmu had always been following the rhythm of Qin Mengruo’s music and was never detached. The sound of the flute and the music of the guqin merged with each other perfectly, as if they were just one in the first place. This was the most difficult thing.
Although Ye Futian was adept at playing the guqin, he knew that he still could not cooperate with another person. This would require an extremely accomplished musician.
He who is famous definitely has the abilities. Since Qian Shanmu was reputed to be the best musician among the young generation in the Eastern Barren Territory, he undoubtedly had the skills.
Qin Mengruo raised her head and nodded lightly at Qian Shanmu. Her eyes were filled with a gentle smile, causing even the scenery around to be paled into insignificance.
“It’s my pleasure to be able to play with the princess.” Qian Shanmu nodded to return the salute. His voice was very mild, like a modest gentleman.
“Maybe the event today can become a favorite tale in the future,” someone from the Donghua Clan said with laughter.
Everyone’s eyes sparkled, and they all had a special feeling. Indeed, just like what the person from the Donghua Clan had said, all the people from the various top forces witnessed the event on that day: the princess from the Qin Dynasty was absolutely beautiful and unparalleled at playing music, while Qian Shanmu from the Donghua Clan, being the best musician, was glorious and played the flute with Qin Mengruo’s guqin. This could indeed become a nice story.
“Please don’t laugh at me if I have performed poorly. If there are any flaws, I hope that you will point out to me.” Qin Mengruo smiled and looked at everyone. She was noble and elegant but without losing her humbleness.
“How do you feel about it?” Liu Feiyang asked Ye Futian. He was not good at music, so he was unable to comment on anything. He only knew that Qian Shanmu and Qin Mengruo were very skilled at playing music, but did not know specifically how good they were. After all, it was only a normal piece of music, and not released in the form of a musical spell. If it was a spell, their abilities could be judged by the powers of the spell.
“Very strong. It is extremely hard for Qian Shanmu to continuously complement Qin Mengruo’s music. If he plays his own music, he can easily cause people to be absorbed into his artistic conception,” Ye Futian said. Qian Shanmu was indeed strong. Although he had a poor impression of the Donghua Clan, he would not deliberately belittle the people there.
Liu Feiyang smiled and glanced at Ye Futian. This arrogant guy also knows how to praise others. However, this was normal, as Qian Shanmu was the best musician among the young generation in the Eastern Barren Territory after all. How could such an outstanding person be weak?
“Qian Shanmu is not only good at the bamboo flute. He is proficient in any type of music, and is very adept at playing the guqin as well,” Liu Feiyang said softly. Ye Futian nodded gently.
“Princess, your music is impeccable,” Qian Shanmu said. As the best musician, he naturally had the authority to say so.
“I’m flattered,” Qin Mengruo smiled and said. “I heard that Gu Biyue from the Witch Clan and the Cottage disciple, Ye Futian, are also experts in music. They must be very outstanding as well.”
“I am but Mr. Ye’s defeated opponent,” the witch Gu Biyue said as she smiled gently. She looked at Ye Futian as if she did not mind the defeat at all.
Everyone turned their heads and looked at Ye Futian. At that time in the Ancient Barren World, Ye Futian was already famous and attracted the attention of many before Xiao Wuji even appeared. That was precisely because he had made the witch Gu Biyue from the Witch Clan his servant. The reason was that Gu Biyue lost to Ye Futian in terms of music. Subsequently, when Ye Futian became famous in the Ancient Barren World, many people knew about this. Naturally, they also knew that Ye Futian was good at music.
Just now, many people might have purposely or unintentionally ignored Ye Futian, but the words from Qin Mengruo and Gu Biyue drew everyone’s gaze towards him.
The looks of the people from the different forces were not the same. The people from the Fuyun Sword Clan came from the first summit, and the expressions of Li Daoyun and Li Daoqing were clearly unhappy, especially Li Daoyun. One of his arms was broken by Ye Futian, forcing him to change to a left-hand sword. Furthermore, Liu Chenyu, the lady that he liked, was also beside Ye Futian at the moment. It would then be easy to imagine Li Daoyun’s hatred towards Ye Futian.
Qin Mengruo looked at Ye Futian with her charming eyes.
Ye Futian smiled and said, “I only have some knowledge about music, and am not very skilled at it. Princess, your music is excellent. You don’t need my advice.”
“Mr. Ye, you are being too humble. In the Ancient Barren World, you displayed outstanding talent, and the world knew about you in just one day. Many different forces went and wanted you to join as their disciple. In the end, you entered the Cottage,” Qin Mengruo smiled and said. “The Cottage only has seven disciples. Including you, there are only eight. Now, many people in the Ancient Barren World say that after you cultivate for a few more years, you will probably become unparalleled among your peers.”
A strange look appeared in Ye Futian’s eyes. The king’s grandson, Qin Li, devalued him openly, but Qin Mengruo praised him like this in public. What did that mean?
Many people turned and looked at Ye Futian one after another. Many people did not fully agree that Ye Futian would become unparalleled among his peers.
How many geniuses are there in the Eastern Barren Territory? Who can say that he is unparalleled? People like Qian Shanmu only dared to call himself unparalleled in terms of music.
“The people in the world claim that the Cottage only takes in unparalleled figures. In the Ancient Barren World, Ye Futian has displayed excellent talents, but we do not know how strong he is. Now that we have the chance, our Donghua Clan would like to know more,” someone in the Donghua Clan zone said slowly. It seemed that he wanted to challenge Ye Futian publicly.
The people from the other forces all seemed to be interested. Qin Mengruo praised Ye Futian, saying that he would be unparalleled. Then, the Donghua Clan wanted to challenge him. Did they want to prove themselves? Did they want to flatter Ye Futian and then defeat him?
Ye Futian’s eyes sparkled. The fifth brother had said that the Qin Dynasty and the Donghua Clan had teamed up. Now, Qin Mengruo had played guqin at this location. He had also realized something.
The scene at the moment seemed like they were trying to flatter and then defeat him.
The words from Qin Mengruo had lifted him to such a high position. If he was defeated in the fight, the legend of the Cottage would also be crushed from then on. If he won, that would just be expected, and it would not have any effects on the Donghua Clan, because he was a Cottage disciple.
“Today, I have come here to enjoy the play from the princess. Wouldn’t a battle be inelegant?” Ye Futian smiled and did not bother about the challenge.
He actually rejected it. A weird expression appeared on the face of everyone. He should have heard the words from Qin Li, the king’s grandson. Doesn’t he want to prove his own strength?
“Are you too afraid to fight?” Li Daoqing said in a cold voice.
“You still have the face to speak?” Yu Sheng glanced at Li Daoqing. Seeing Yu Sheng, Li Daoqing’s face darkened. He still vividly recalled Yu Sheng beating him violently in the Ancient Barren World on that day.
“The people in the world are already comparing you to the best geniuses in the Ancient Barren World. Today, right here, Qian Shanmu from the Donghua Clan has already displayed his musical attainments. As a Cottage disciple, if you avoid the battle, wouldn’t it attract much criticism from others?”
Qin Mengruo’s voice was gentle and her face was filled with a smile, appearing to be extremely polite. However, when her words fell in Ye Futian’s ears, it sounded very aggressive. Was she alluding that if he avoided the battle and did not perform, he would not be qualified to compare with Qian Shanmu from the Donghua Clan?
Ye Futian smiled and said, “Princess, today you have played the guqin here, and the people from the different forces have come here to enjoy. At first, it is a pleasurable event. However, because something else has been added to it, the event is no longer that nice anymore.”
A doubtful expression appeared on everyone’s face. What does this mean?
“Mr. Ye, what do you mean?” Qin Mengruo asked.
“Princess, just now, you asked me to advise you on your music?” Ye Futian smiled and said.
“If there are any inadequacies, please advise,” Qin Mengruo smiled and said.
“Alright.” Ye Futian nodded, after which he smiled and said, “If the two of you want to use music to date each other, go ahead. Don’t drag me into it.” After speaking, he turned around and left.
One of the top three beauties in the Eastern Barren Territory? So what? It’s none of my business!
