Zither Emperor

Nina quietly faced the Six-Point Star as the melodious music echoed throughout the classroom. She watched as it opened and split into two halves, revealing an expansive passageway which led downwards. Yin Zhu and the other three astonishedly followed Nina and entered this unknown area.

The ceiling in this passageway was embedded with a magical milky white gem every 10 meters. These gems emitted a gentle radiance, enveloping the passageway in a soft light. The air here was still fresh and clear, which meant the gradual descent wasn’t stifling in the slightest.

About a hundred meters up ahead, there was a simple carved door that blocked their path. Nina stopped walking and said faintly, “After you leave, forget everything you saw here today.” She then began chanting an incantation similar to the one from before. No one in the group knew when it happened, but a hexagonal gem appeared in the palm of her hand. She inserted this gem into the door, sending a wave of violet light radiating outwards. Everyone aside from Nina stiffened and felt suffocated as the magic instantly fluctuated and rippled out.

The door opened inward, revealing a room that was approximately 50 square meters large. Though the wall with the entrance was normal, the other three walls in the room possessed several grids that were carved into them. It was unknown how they were created, but the carvings seemed to blend seamlessly into the wall they were a part of. Within the grids on the left wall were all kinds of musical instruments. Their ancient looks revealed their age. On the wall to the right were various magical items: robes, staves, armor, weapons, etc. The wall directly opposite to the entrance had the largest gridwork. Within these grids were gems, magical gems. There was a large fluctuation in energy over here, most likely due to the hundreds of magical gems. This place was simply a treasure trove. Unlike Yin Zhu, the girls were attracted to the gems almost immediately after entering through the door. Their eyes shined with a strange light. Even the arrogant Kong Que was unable to conceal her strong obsession.

Ye Yin Zhu spotted a zither over to the left and focused his gaze in its direction—the Divine Music division’s only zither within the treasure trove. With a chestnut shell lacquer, broken streams of grains, and a lustrous glossy finish, it radiated a proud and aloof aura. Out of all the musical instruments laid out, it was seated right in the center, far from all the other instruments. It was like a monarch reigning over its feudal court.

Almost subconsciously, Yin Zhu forgot the others’ existences and began walking step by step towards that zither. It seemed to pull at his heart. Once he drew closer, he could clearly see the zither flicker with a faint rays of light. He stared at the pearl inlay, the 13 zither crests which resembled small moons, and the zither itself which rested harmoniously upon a pillow.

Within the Divine Music division’s treasure-trove there was another person who was stunned by what they saw, it was Nina. After leading the four students here, she turned around for just a moment and found Ye Yin Zhu walking uncontrollably towards the zither with an infatuated gaze. At this moment, her mind froze. An intense feeling of compassion instantly arose from deep within her heart and spread through every inch of her body. Before, Dean Nina brimmed with an imposing aura, but at this moment her body could only tremble.

“Truly… you truly do resemble him greatly. You even arrived here in the exact same way he had. Neither of you had been enchanted by the gems, your eyes only fell on the zither.”

Nina’s figure appeared in front of Ye Yin Zhu, obstructing his vision. Having lost sight of the zither, Ye Yin Zhu woke from the infatuation that had clouded his mind. He looked at Nina with a dull gaze.

A long, violet xiao fell into her hands. It emitted a faint and chilling aura. Nina mumbled to herself.

“Gather the long strands of escaping fragrance as shadowless clouds float. The bird chirps upon a slender finger.

Gazing at the moon from the other end of the world, thoughts are naturally contaminated with the Moon and Tides’ Clear Brilliance. The heart is unable to forget about this, and even harder to forget about is perhaps the wine of sorrow.

The frost of the bright moon piled up, as if collecting thoughts of yearning on the brows and heart.

Tonight, this xiao returns.

A cold, violet jade xiao. A figure stands behind and to the side of this string of jade pearls. Now will you come?

When the lonely starlight is woven together and the song comes to an end, I wave farewell and keep watch beside the zither under the moon. You know, I’ve been waiting a long time, an extremely long time…”

Wu——, the sorrowful sound of the xiao, filled with resentment and endless yearning, echoed and broke the silence. Numerous cyan rays of light spiraled around Nina, instantly illuminating the entirety of the hidden treasure trove. During all this, tears streamed silently down Nina’s face.

At almost the same time, the three girls who had been obsessed with the gems fell over. Their eyes brimmed with pain as tears flowed uncontrollably down their faces. Their hearts were torn to shreds by the sorrowful xiao music.

Ye Yin Zhu’s situation wasn’t much better. The distance between his and Nina’s spiritual power was simply too great. In addition, he was close enough to her that he could understand her current mood. There were no words to describe the pain that flooded his heart as his complexion paled. Luckily, his clear Pure Zither Heart supported him, so he didn’t completely lose himself in the xiao music.

He violently bit the tip of his tongue, causing the chaos that enveloped his mind to clear somewhat. Faint yellow rays of light enveloped his body. Yin Zhu, as if driven by a strange illusion, took a large step forward and moved past Nina. A large dark red radiance blazed as all eight of his fingers simultaneously stroked the seven strings that glittered with a cyan light. A string of bright, clear zither notes blended together like a maelstrom, leaving behind a lingering charm. He took advantage of the xiao’s momentary silence and forcibly interrupted the music.

Nina realized what she had just done when her mood went out of control. She unexpectedly used asonic boom, possibly traumatizing those children and dealing troublesome spiritual wounds.

A sonic boom was a brief explosion of sound waves with penetrative power. It was the equivalent to the instantaneous magic that the other divisions’ mages used, and it was something a Divine Music mage could fully use after reaching Green Rank. Yin Zhu’s actual strength was still one rank away from being able to use sonic boom.

After hurriedly putting away the cold, violet jade xiao in her hand, Nina quickly walked towards the three girls. She faintly released waves of spiritual power as she touched each of them to examine their condition.

The spiritual power foundations of all three girls were still alright. It appeared that Ye Yin Zhu had interrupted her sonic boom just in time. Nina’s expression relaxed significantly as a result. Although they received some spiritual damage, it was nothing severe. To recover, all they would need was some rest.

Nina’s gaze sharpened as she abruptly turned her body to face Ye Yin Zhu. “Ye Yin Zhu, tell me, how are you related to Qin Shang?”

“Eh?” Yin Zhu’s shaken spiritual power had just recovered, so he didn’t respond for a moment.

“You don’t need to hide it. It would’ve been absolutely impossible for you to resist my Cyan Rank spiritual power unless you cultivated the same zither magic as Qin Shang to the Red Rank. No wonder you weren’t influenced by Hai Yang’s guzheng song when you performed with her that day. You are just like that scoundrel in the fact that your Red Rank strength is not applicable to the three-level, nine-rank system.”

“Grandfather Qin is no scoundrel,” Ye Yin Zhu said angrily. He unconsciously embraced the guqin and held it close to his chest. To a zither mage, the guqin was like his flesh and blood; he was unwilling to part with it.

“Grandfather Qin? You are his grandson?” Nina’s complexion became deathly pale as her body swayed. She seemed as though she would collapse at any second.

Ye Yin Zhu shook his head and said, “No, I am Grandfather Qin’s disciple.”

Nina stared blankly, her complexion seemed to have slightly improved. “Did he tell you to find me when you came here?”

Ye Yin Zhu recalled his departure from Desolate Jade Sea and what Qin Shang told him. He then replied, “Yes! Grandfather Qin gave me a letter to give to the Dean of the Divine Music division, whom I believe is you.”

“Letter?” Nina impatiently asked. She was standing only a few steps away from Yin Zhu, her breathing erratic.

“Lost.”

“What? How could this be?”