Zither Emperor

[C84] ZE Chapter 21.4

Pfft. Giggling, Rolande’s grief turned into happiness. “I was so terrifying that he actually sprinted away. Only—that story was really moving! He’s advising me to lose weight? Or did I just really bother him? Hn, I want to be beautiful.” Saying this, the smile on her face couldn’t help but increase in intensity. The grudges she held against Ye Yin Zhu in her heart quietly disappeared. Resembling a mature woman, her original mood easily showed changes. As she left regretfully, she realized that Ye Yin Zhu no longer seemed irritating.

In fact, when Mei Ying had told this tale to Ye Yin Zhu, she’d told him at the end that if he happened to come across a girl he wanted to live for, he should bring her back home.

✶

The highly anticipated second semifinal match was held in the afternoon. The Summon division didn’t have any trouble prevailing over the Heavy Sword division, thus advancing towards the finals with the Divine Music division. The next day would be spent renovating the training field. The day after that, the final battle will be underway.

Ye Yin Zhu was now a little depressed, possibly because he was embarrassed and at a complete loss about the conversation earlier. When he returned to his dormitory, he’d discovered that the dormitory was already bustling with noise and excitement at an unprecedented level. The beautiful ladies of the Divine Music division in the same academic year as him, along with Hai Yang and Xiang Luan, were here. These ten girls giggled and chatted as they waited for him.

Upon seeing Ye Yin Zhu’s return, all of the girls surrounded him at the same time.

“Wow! Yin Zhu, you were really awesome today! You got rid of that gorilla; so, you’re very powerful. It would be better if I’m your girlfriend.” An excited girl whose name Ye Yin Zhu didn’t know threw herself at him,

“I disagree! That’s out of the question; Ye Yin Zhu is everyone’s property. How can you alone benefit? Don’t forget; he is the sole blade of grass among ten thousand flowers of our Divine Music division. As the first young, cute boy of our Divine Music division, you can’t monopolize him.”

“En, this makes sense. How about we each get him for one day?

“Not bad; that’s a good plan.”

“Eh…, fellow students, what are you doing?” Ye Yin Zhu finally found the chance for him to interrupt. At this moment, his face had already flushed bright red because of the crowd of girls encircling him. Although a number of fragrant scents surrounded him, he didn’t enjoy it very much. He much preferred when it was only him and Sura.

Xiang Luan and Hai Yang stood to the side, smiling, as their delicate bodies lightly trembled. They didn’t know why, but they thought Ye Yin Zhu’s embarrassed manner seemed very adorable.

“Yin Zhu, pretend to faint. Quickly!” A quiet voice echoed in Ye Yin Zhu’s ear. It may have been because of this highly forceful and challenging situation that Ye Yin Zhu’s reaction was near instantaneous. His eyes closed shut, and his body immediately collapsed to the floor, causing cries of alarm to ring out.

Sura appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Ye Yin Zhu. He frowned and said, “Leave. You’re too noisy, and Yin Zhu had just finished a battle. Allow him to rest, okay?”

The dormitory calmed at last. Sura’s strong suggestion made each and every one of the Divine Music division’s beautiful ladies leave.

Xiang Luan and Hai Yang were the last to depart. As they passed by Ye Yin Zhu, Xiang Luan looked down and softly whispered into Ye Yin Zhu’s ear, “Your acting is very clumsy. I promise I won’t forget my commitment and will seek an opportunity to fulfill it.” Finished speaking, her stunning, delicate face flushed red as she tugged at Hai Yang to leave quickly.

The sound of the door closing echoed. Ye Yin Zhu immediately bounced out of Sura’s embrace, taking in huge mouthfuls of air. He faked a smile and said, “Sura, what I experienced earlier when surrounded by them seemed more exhausting than my battle with Nesta. Luckily, you caught my attention. Otherwise, I don’t know how long they would’ve stayed.”

Sura groaned and said, “If you aren’t cautious, then being surrounded by those excited beauties will only anger the other males.”

Looking at the closed dormitory door, Ye Yin Zhu thought he felt his ear itch. Xiang Luan had left behind a faint fragrance that made his heart speed up yet again. A promise, what had she promised? Was it to dance the << Raiment of Rainbows and Feathers >>? The anticipation in his heart quietly rose. Grimacing at Sura, he hastily returned to his room to rest.

✶

In order to be at his best during the finals, Ye Yin Zhu didn’t go to work at the Floating Orchid Pavilion the next day, meaning Sura went and requested a vacation day for him. Alone, Ye Yin Zhu cultivated at home.

Courageous Zither Heart; after cultivating for 16 years, he had at last broken through to the Courageous Zither Heart Realm. Imperceptibly, his attitude matured somewhat. So much so that while playing the zither, his musical aura had also experienced great changes. His previous zither music could be said to be soft and gentle, brimming with an innocent harmony. His zither music had now become peaceful, pure, and honest—resembling aged wine with its faint and unceasingly pleasant lingering effect.

Qin Shang once told him that when he entered the Courageous Zither Heart Realm, he would also enter a phase of rapid zither magic improvement. This increased speed was even quicker than his practice with the Pure Zither Heart. That kind of situation would continue until he reached the bottleneck of the Courageous Heart, stopping at its peak.

Zither magic cultivation in the Zither Sect was distinctly different from a typical Divine Music mage’s cultivation, one difference being that its cultivation speed was clearly quicker. An ordinary person practicing zither magic from childhood would require approximately 10 to 15 years to complete the nine levels of the first realm for zither magic cultivation. Later, upon entering the Courageous Zither Heart Realm, their cultivation speed would significantly decrease. Qin Shang took 50 years to break through the bottleneck of the Courageous Zither Heart Realm and enter the Profound Violet Zither Heart Realm.

Ye Yin Zhu’s circumstances were different. He was the first in Zither Sect history to successfully cultivate a Pure Zither Heart. This Pure Zither Heart was the most challenging Zither Sect introduction to cultivation method. Its requirement for each aspect was incredibly high. But while the Pure Zither Heart was challenging, it also led to a stronger foundation.

To an ordinary person, it was near impossible to imagine maintaining such a selfless heart for 16 years. Ye Yin Zhu’s genius and natural eight fingers allowed his zither music to possess an inherent spiritual comprehension. This talent had allowed him to make a successful breakthrough within 16 years time. In any case, that Pure Zither Heart cultivation was a success. But to break through to the Profound Violet Zither Heart Realm, Ye Yin Zhu must cultivate and step onto a long road. He could clearly sense that his zither magic had slightly improved with each zither song he played. Previously, this would’ve been impossible to imagine. The advantages of the Pure Zither Heart have at last begun to slowly emerge.

A day of just zither practice was but another regular day for Ye Yin Zhu. When the day of the finals arrived, he had completely recovered. Even Ferguson didn’t know that his new disciple had already reached the Green Rank or higher in both magic and martial arts.

The magnanimous and exceedingly talented Summon division emerged as the Divine Music division’s opponent in the final match.

Both parties of five arrived at the central training field. An individual in the middle of the Summon division’s team appeared to be a first year, a 17 to 18-year-old youth. With a delicate and pretty appearance, his two eyes appeared extremely clever. He did not have the aloof and remote aura seen in other mages.

“Hello, I am the general of the Summon division, Ma Liang. First year.” Very amiable, he extended his right hand out.

Ye Yin Zhu reached out to grasp the hand. This time, he unexpectedly felt something against his palm. He looked with astonishment at Ma Liang. Ma Liang was also thinking deeply as he stared back before nodding.

“Divine Music division general, Ye Yin Zhu—first year.” Ye Yin Zhu automatically released the other’s hand, but Ma Liang stopped him long enough to close Yin Zhu’s fingers around an object. It appeared to be a slip of paper.

Ma Liang smiled slightly and said, “The students of our Magic Department have talked it over, and we agreed that we do not wish for the noble, beautiful ladies of your division to be hurt. It would be better if the finals today became a match between the both of us as representatives of our divisions. One battle to determine victory or defeat, how about it?”

Ye Yin Zhu stared at his counterpart blankly. This type of choice was clearly a great convenience for Yin Zhu’s side. Apart from him and the rest of Divine Music division members, only Hai Yang had the strength to fight. From the calm gazes of the other sides’ five members in the face of their performance, Yin Zhu determined that they were all at least Yellow Rank Advanced Mages. When he looked at Ma Liang, he felt this man was no less of a threat than Nesta.

“Wouldn’t this be too disadvantageous for you? It would be better to use wolfpack style.” Ye Yin Zhu didn’t desire a handicap from the other side.

Ma Liang shook his head and said, “No. You are confident, but I am equally as confident.” As he spoke, he abruptly took a step forward so only Ye Yin Zhu could hear him. He whispered softly, “As a matter of fact, this Freshman Competition is not just a contest between our divisions. At the same time, it is also one between our Zither Sect and Painting Sect, no?”

Ye Yin Zhu’s heart jolted. Painting Sect? The Eastern Dragon Sect of Painting?