Chapter 19: The Music of the Nine Immortals (Part 2)

  Although Hailong was bitter in his heart, he didn't dare to refute her words. After all, she was much stronger than him in terms of cultivation. He could only swallow his anger and say: "Alright then, I'll accompany my sister to capture that lecherous thief before continuing on our journey. Humph, don't let me catch him, or else I'll cut off his limbs for framing me." Thinking about how the gray-robed man had wronged him so badly, Hailong couldn't help but grit his teeth in anger.

  The girl slightly paused and said: "Five limbs? People only have four limbs, where does the fifth limb come from?"

  The dragon chuckled and said, "This, this I also heard from a demonic sect member, he said at the time that he wanted to cut off my five limbs, I didn't understand either. Later, after hearing his explanation, I realized that the fifth limb is only possessed by us men, sister, do you understand?"

  The girl was not foolish and immediately understood what the dragon king meant. Her pretty face suddenly turned bright red, and she stomped her foot saying: "You can say such a thing, humph, you don't look like a righteous person at all."

  "Hai Long muttered: 'Isn't this method of cutting off the five limbs just right for dealing with that lecher? Eldest sister, what's going on here?! You tell me first, and I'll help you catch the person.'"

  The girl glanced at the sea dragon and nodded. She then recounted what had happened. It turned out that she was a disciple of Qian Hui Valley who had gone out to practice, named Tian Qin. Although she had only been practicing for sixty years, she had already reached the middle stage of the fetal formation realm. Among her fellow disciples, she was the first to be allowed to leave the mountain, while others would typically need to reach a higher realm before being permitted to do so. The main reason was that she was the closed-door disciple of the Qian Hui Valley master and possessed multiple high-quality magical tools. In her youth, she had also consumed many spiritual products, which allowed her to maintain her youthful appearance without needing to reach a high level of cultivation. Relying on her strong foundation and the protection of her numerous magical tools, she was exceptionally approved to leave the mountain ahead of schedule. It had only been a month or so since then. During her travels, she arrived at this Tong Yuan City and, seeing that night was falling, checked into a clean inn. However, just as she was about to meditate, she heard strange noises coming from a nearby room. Driven by curiosity, she went to investigate and saw something that made her furious - a lecherous man had used despicable means to knock out a young girl and was about to assault her. In her rage, Tian Qin suddenly struck out. However, the lecherous man was slippery and also a cultivator with around the initial stage of fetal formation realm. Although he was injured by Tian Qin, he managed to escape from the inn using his strange magical treasure. This led to the scene where the sea dragon was misunderstood.

  Hai Long exclaimed in surprise: "We cultivators of the truth are not most concerned with our hearts, how can there be such a lecherous person?" In his heart, all cultivators should be associated with bitter practice, suddenly hearing these words from Tian Qin's mouth, he couldn't help but feel a little strange, secretly thinking that it seems that cultivation is not something that can't be done after all.

  "He snorted, saying: 'When he was fighting me, he revealed his true form. He's skilled with a long spear, judging from this, he should be from the Qīng Tiān sect. Hmph, the Qīng Tiān sect is supposed to be upright and just, yet they produced such a disciple, it's truly shameful. However, it's also possible that he betrayed his sect. When I catch him, I'll definitely ask him clearly. Fundamentally speaking, the Qīng Tiān sect's cultivation method has problems. Our true cultivation should be pure and effortless, but they're too aggressive and emphasize dual cultivation to an extreme degree, making it difficult for them to achieve great success. A disciple with a weak will who comes into contact with dual cultivation will inevitably have their will affected. If we cultivators harm the mortal world, we'll be rejected by heaven's principles. I must eliminate him."

  Hailong looked at her with an envious expression, saying: "Elder sister, you're not that old, yet you know so many things and your cultivation is profound, far surpassing mine."

  Tianqin said in a bad tone, "Less flattery, I'm not as great as you say. Those things were all told to me by my master. Speaking of which, among our seven major sects, the Tianxun and Yuan Yue sects are the ones I dislike the most. On the surface, they seem righteous, but in reality, they're all rascals."

  Hai Long said: "Master sister, will that scoundrel run away now? If he took advantage of the opportunity when you caught me just now to leave Tongyuan City, I'm afraid it won't be easy for us to find him." He secretly sighed in his heart. If this so-called master sister couldn't catch that scoundrel, then he would have no way to escape either. Now he was furious with that damned scoundrel. If it weren't for him, how would he have been dragged into this?

  A cold glint flashed in Tianqin's eyes as she said calmly, "Thinking of running? I'm afraid it won't be that easy. Just stay put and let me show you the secret techniques of Qianhui Valley."

  Hailong's eyes lit up with joy as soon as he heard that she had a way, and he stepped aside, taking out his own small iron rod from his bosom. His understanding of the small iron rod had increased a lot by now. This magical treasure only needed to be swung lightly to release great power. Hailong had once tried using it to strike a rock, and as a result, the boulder with a diameter of one meter turned into powder. Hailong was shocked at that time, his mouth agape, because he hadn't even mobilized his spiritual energy, just a light swing was all it took. From then on, he had a lot more confidence in this magical treasure of his.

  Tianqin's body gradually rose with a layer of silver light, and she was wrapped in the silver light, wearing a pink dress, adding a few points to her noble aura. Hailong felt a warmth in his chest, and the protective mirror on his chest seemed to sense the energy on Tianqin's body, slowly releasing a gentle heat. To know, this is after all a magical artifact, with Hailong's cultivation it is impossible to suppress the spiritual energy contained within it, if it were not for the fact that this artifact had merged with him before, it would have flown out and combined with Tianqin by now. Even so, because it was used by the cultivators of Qianhui Valley for a long time, it still has a strong resonance with their techniques, so when Tianqin cast her spell, it produced a certain resonance.

  Tianqin slowly raised her left hand, palm up and horizontal in front of her chest, with her right hand supporting it from underneath. "High mountains stop at the sky, flowing water flows like clouds, the law of a thousand blessings, the harmony of heaven and earth." A silver light suddenly brightened, and a silver nine-stringed ancient zither appeared in front of her, its body amber-colored, with a soft glow slowly circulating around it. The nine strings were red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black, and white. Although he had heard of it before, this was the first time Haicheng saw the appearance of the zither, and his eyes widened in surprise. Tianqin seemed to be very cautious, her hands gently stroking the strings, pressing down on the red and orange strings respectively. A clear sound rang out, like celestial music echoing through the air, causing Haicheng's body to tremble violently, his spirit completely absorbed by the zither's sound. Tianqin's fingers moved lightly, plucking three or two notes at a time, the melody not yet formed but already full of emotion. The sound was like a gentle brook babbling over jade stones, with big and small pearls falling onto a jade plate, amidst the flowers and trees swaying gently in the breeze. The sound seemed to be weeping and complaining, causing Haicheng's eyes to flash with various illusions, from his childhood in the village to later entering the Lianyun Sect to cultivate his true self, then to the Fanxin Sect, and even encountering the demonic creature Mo Gui. A faint sense of sadness flowed through his heart, and before he knew it, tears had already fallen from his face. At this moment, he had forgotten everything, completely immersed in the incomparably beautiful zither sound. Suddenly, the music changed, like a silver vase shattering, filling the air with the sounds of gold armor and iron horses. The powerful and sonorous zither sound caused Haicheng's heart to beat violently, trembling intensely, the sound like a golden drum beating in unison, stirring up the bloodlust in people. Ding! A clear and crisp sound rang out, the music stopping abruptly, the world falling silent for an instant, all the sounds of insects chirping and birds calling disappearing simultaneously, leaving only the bright moon in the sky shining more clearly than before.

  The dragon stood there in a daze, this was the first time he had ever heard the sound of music, that incomparable shock made his heart unable to calm down for a long time, staring blankly at the heavenly zither, his heart filled with an indescribable feeling. The heavenly zither exhaled a breath, a flash of silver light, and the nine-stringed ancient zither along with the silver glow on her body disappeared simultaneously, her expression looked somewhat tired, lightly panting.

  For a while, neither of them spoke, standing silently in the quiet night. Tianqin's eyes showed a hint of tenderness as she turned her back to Hailong and asked: "Is my zither music pleasant to hear?"

  Hailong nodded thoughtlessly and muttered, "Although I've never heard any other tunes, I'm afraid there's no other melody in this world that can surpass the one you just played."

  Tianqin's face revealed a heartfelt smile, and she turned around to say: "Thank you for your evaluation. I now know the whereabouts of that scoundrel, but I need to rest first, can you help me guard? When I wake up, it will be the end of that scoundrel."

  The dragon king slightly paused and subconsciously said, "Do you trust me? Aren't you afraid that I'll launch a sneak attack on you or escape while you're cultivating?"

  Tianqin smiled slightly and said, "Of course I'm not afraid. You've already passed the test under my Jiuxianqin's detection. If you weren't a kind-hearted or sentimental person, how could you have withstood the two songs 'Níu Qián' and 'Jīn Gē'? Alright, to prevent that guy from escaping, I'll start now. Everything will have to wait until my powers recover." After finishing speaking, she sat down cross-legged on the ground, her hands once again assuming their previous position as she began to cultivate within the silver light. Watching her, Hailong blinked his eyes, knowing that although Tianqin was far inferior to the ethereal Daozun in terms of temperament, the beauty of her performance earlier was something he would never be able to forget. In his eyes, Tianqin was no longer the unreasonable girl she had been before; a strange feeling had quietly risen from the bottom of his heart.

  Half an hour had passed, and Tianqin slowly opened her eyes. She was surprised to find that Hailong was squatting beside her, staring at herself in a daze. His somewhat silly appearance made Tianqin's heart tremble slightly, and she bit her lip. Tianqin thought to herself, what's wrong with me? How could my decades of cultivation have caused such a disturbance in my Dao heart? Standing up, she called out to Hailong: "We should go."

  Hai Long finally came to his senses, let out a cry of surprise, stood up and silently walked over to Tian Qin's side. Tian Qin glanced at him and asked: "Were you watching me the whole time?" Indeed, during Tian Qin's cultivation process, Hai Long had been staring straight at her without blinking. When he heard the question, Hai Long's face suddenly turned red and he couldn't utter a word, stuttering awkwardly.

  The feeling of unease grew stronger, and Tianqin was also strange, wondering why she had asked such a question. She shook her head, forcing herself to throw away the chaotic thoughts, urging her flying sword to move forward, and with a pull, she floated upwards into the quiet night sky. For the second time being taken by Tianqin for a flight, Hailong's feeling was clearly different. The slippery sensation transmitted from Tianqin's small hand grasping his shoulder made Hailong's heart restless. Tianqin wasn't much better than him; the heat on Hailong's shoulder continuously impacted her heart through the meridians, causing her to lose control of the flying sword, making it extremely difficult for her to control its speed and direction, and the sword was constantly trembling as if it might fall at any moment.

  Hai Long's mind shook, and he finally realized his current situation. He took a deep breath and hurriedly activated the mixed magic within him to calm his mind. "Sister, how did you know where that scoundrel was? Was it because of those two songs you played?" Tian Qin's body trembled slightly, and her lost composure was re-established. Her flying sword also stabilized at the same time. She nodded slightly, her face expressionless, and said calmly: "Yes, the Nine Immortal Zither is one of the three treasures that secure the mountain of my Thousand Blessings Valley. Its power is immense. The two songs I played earlier, the first one 'Rainbow Dress' can locate a person within a thousand miles based on the aura I sensed earlier, and the second one 'Golden Sword' can temporarily restrain the found person within a thousand miles, so I could really focus on my cultivation."

  Hailong's eyes widened in surprise and he exclaimed: "Is there really such a magical artifact? With it, aren't you invincible?"

  Tianqin shook his head and said, "It's not that easy. Although the Nine Immortal Piano is powerful, with my current cultivation level, I still can't bring out its full power. If my opponent's cultivation level is much higher than mine, what use is it for me to detect their position? Moreover, cultivators with high and profound cultivation levels all have the ability to hide themselves, so even the Rainbow Robe may not be able to detect them. As for the Golden Sword Melody, it can only restrain those whose cultivation level is weaker than mine. It has no effect on powerful opponents whatsoever. When will I reach the realm of unpredictability and be able to control the first seven strings of the Nine Immortal Piano? Only then can I truly master it. According to our sect's records, if all nine strings of the Nine Immortal Piano are played simultaneously, they will produce a power that rivals the Heavenly Tribulation. However, in the history of our Qianhui Valley, there have only been three people who could control seven strings."