Chapter 51: Tianqin's Sound Training (Part 1)

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  "Ah! You're being too polite, miss. What are you doing?"

  "Tell me, where has your companion gone? Hand him over quickly, otherwise I'll take your life immediately."

  "What companion? I'm alone, where did this companion come from?! Miss, have you misunderstood?"

  "You're in cahoots with that scoundrel, aren't you? Why else would you block my way for him? Spit out his whereabouts, or don't blame me for being rude!"

  …………

  "Why?"

  "What's the reason?"

  "Why give me the Inverse Heaven Mirror? You should know that once a divine artifact has acknowledged you as its master, forcibly expelling it from your body will cause immense harm to yourself. I'm afraid you'll need at least a hundred years of cultivation to recover your original abilities. Is this worth it?"

  "There's nothing that's worth or not worth it. I wanted to do this, so I did. Qin, I owe you too much. For me, you've suffered so much, although you never said anything, but I know. Tian Liu and Yuan Yue will always see you as a thorn in their hearts, they need to get rid of you to feel at ease, if you had the Inverse Heaven Mirror, it would naturally be safer for you. For the sake of our Orthodox Seven Sects' relationship, I can't acknowledge anything, this is the only thing I can do for you. No other meaning, just repaying a debt."

  …………

  Everything was still so clear, and it seemed like he was with Tianqin just yesterday, but she's already dead, and her beautiful voice could no longer be heard. The overwhelming resentment in his heart turned into a deafening roar as Hailong erupted. The spiritual energy within him surged violently, and an enormous divine power flooded his body and mind. Hailong let out a thunderous roar towards the sky, and a burst of golden light suddenly exploded forth, destroying the seal that Xiezu had placed on him. The golden light flashed, and with all his might, Hailong wielded the Thousand Ton Rod, shouting: "Invert... Suspend... Old... Gentleman... Furnace..." An unimaginably vast divine power surged forth under the rod's stimulation, left one strike, right one strike, instantly sealing off all of Xiezu's possible escape routes. The Thousand Ton Rod suddenly grew ten times larger, and with Hailong's explosive divine power driving it forward, it heavily smashed towards Xiezu's skull.

  The silver light suddenly burst forth, a circular silver halo floating up, it didn't collide with the Thousand Ton Rod head-on, but instead drew an arc, striking the energy emitted by the Thousand Ton Rod from the side. The Sea Dragon felt the divine power within him surge out, this majestic and domineering blow was actually deflected by the opponent, and that circular silver light he was more familiar with than anything else, that treasure which had saved his life like a protective mirror! Not continuing to attack, the Sea Dragon stood frozen in place, "Heaven-Defying Mirror, why, why is Heaven's Lament's Heaven-Defying Mirror in your hands, has she really already died? Did you kill her, yes or no?"

  The evil ancestor let out a long sigh and said, "No, you're wrong. I didn't kill her, she killed herself. She's been dead for three hundred years. If you want to know about her, first tell me why you haven't died. What happened to you over these three hundred years? When I confirm that you are indeed the real Sea Dragon, I will naturally tell you about Tianqin's situation."

  At this time, in the eyes of the Sea Dragon, the other party was no longer the master of any evil sect. He began to recount his experiences after waking up in the cave of Xianzhao Peak without hesitation. As he listened to the Sea Dragon's narrative, the Evil Ancestor's body trembled constantly, and the surrounding bloody misty aura also fluctuated between strong and weak. Finally, the Sea Dragon stopped talking about himself returning to Lianyun Sect. He painfully lowered his head, "I always thought that Tianqin had long forgotten me, but I never expected that she would die in such a short period of time. Now you can tell me, what did Tianqin encounter after leaving Xianzhao Mountain? Why did she die? With her cultivation and the sacred instruments Jiuxianqin and Ntianjing, even if she encountered the couple Cixing again, as long as she was prepared, escaping would not be a problem. Why, why did she have to die?" From the moment he heard of Tianqin's death, the Sea Dragon had been in an extremely agitated state. Only now did he realize that Tianqin also occupied an irreplaceable position in his heart. The beautiful and melodious sound of her zither seemed to still linger in his ears, but at this time, she herself was nowhere to be seen. The Sea Dragon's heart was bleeding, and he yearned to see Tianqin again.

  The evil ancestor stood there for over five minutes before speaking, his emotions seemingly calm. He said faintly, "So you're really not dead. If Tianqin were still alive, she would be thrilled to know this news. Over 300 years ago, after your death, Tianqin was heartbroken and gazed at your corpse, saying, 'My dear, you've fallen asleep. I know you're tired, so rest well. No one will disturb you here. Don't worry, I'll take care of the tasks you entrusted to me.' As a disciple of Qianhuagu, Tianqin swore that her sole goal in life would be to eradicate Xun Tian and Yuan Yue flows. She vowed that as long as she lived, these two flows would perish. 'Hailong, wait for me. I'll return after destroying Xun Tian and Yuan Yue flows.' Tianqin's body and heart belonged only to you. I've become your wife. I love you, forever and always, unchanging. I must go now. Sleep tight, and when you wake up, I'll be by your side.' The evil ancestor's voice changed, becoming identical to Tianqin's, even mimicking her tone and speech patterns from back then. Hailong stood there, stunned, his heart aching as tears streamed down his face. He muttered to himself, "Tianqin, my wife... are you really willing to be my wife?"

  Xie Zu's voice returned to its usual low tone as he said, "Yes, she is willing to be your wife. In fact, when you both fell off the cliff together, Tian Qin's heart had already completely belonged to you. You were willing to give up your own chance of survival to save her, and you used all your strength to send your spiritual energy to her without holding back. All this moved Tian Qin deeply. She loves you with all her heart. Do you know? Your death almost drove Tian Qin mad, and it made her stray from the righteous path. At that time, Tian Qin's heart was filled with hatred."

  "What? By the way, into magic? Tianqin she, she..." The evil ancestor said: "Yes, she has been by the way into magic. She ran wildly, not distinguishing between east and south, until she consumed all her magical powers and fell heavily to the ground before stopping. When she woke up, she would run again, and when her magical powers disappeared, she would fall to the ground and faint again. This continued on and on, and even she herself didn't know how long she had been running, until she met me. When I saw her, her body had already been consumed to the limit, and the life force in her body was extremely weak. I originally belonged to the evil sect, and I hid myself to avoid the heavenly calamity and control my cultivation. As an evil person like me, I naturally wouldn't have any good intentions. When I saw Tianqin, she had already lost her beautiful appearance, like a withered flower, but the Nine Immortal Zither and the Inverse Heaven Mirror on her body were treasures that I coveted. Unfortunately, these two treasures had already merged with her, unless she was willing to give them up, otherwise, even if I killed her, the treasures would not be mine to use. I used my evil powers to revive her, carefully treating her, using all the spiritual medicine on the mountain, and after three months, I finally pulled her back from the gates of hell. Unfortunately, her life force had been consumed too much, and even if she lived, she wouldn't live for more than three years. During that time, due to my careful care, she gradually trusted me and told me everything about her past. I'm not a good person, I only saved her because I coveted her treasures, but when I heard her story, my heart ached so much. In the past, my lover was also killed by enemies, although I killed the enemy, but my lover would never come back. The taste of losing a loved one is something I know, it's an unbearable pain, and I sympathized with her. Immediately, I dispelled the idea of deceiving her for her treasures and told her my original intentions. Tianqin suddenly became excited when she knew my original thoughts, she said that she was willing to give me the two treasures, but there was a condition, which was to eliminate the Wen Tian Flow and the Yuan Yue Flow. As soon as she finished speaking, she didn't wait for my agreement, using her newly recovered magical powers to forcefully break the life-and-death bond with the Nine Immortal Zither and the Inverse Heaven Mirror. Her life force rapidly weakened, and no matter what I did, I couldn't save her life. At the moment of her death, she kept repeating your name, saying that she would soon meet you underground, telling you to wait for her, wait for her..." By this point, the evil ancestor's voice had become completely choked with sobs.

  Hailong's body kept trembling, tears pouring down, "Tianqin is dead, she really died? Why was she so stupid! If she had come back to Xianzhao Mountain to see me once more, none of this would have happened. Senior, tell me, where is Tianqin's corpse? I want to go see her, I must go see her."

  Xie Zu took a deep breath and said, "Let me finish my story first. Tian Qin is dead, I cremated her body and returned to the Xie Sect immediately after activating the Wan Xie Blood Curse. With the help of the Inverse Heaven Mirror and the Nine Immortal Zither, two sacred treasures of the immortal family, I temporarily don't have to worry about the heavenly tribulation. Within a short span of three hundred years, I was able to raise my evil powers to their limits. After leaving seclusion, the first thing I did was bring her back to the cave where you died. To my surprise, your corpse had vanished. I scattered Tian Qin's ashes in that cave, and later searched all over Xian Zhao Mountain but couldn't find your body anywhere. By telling you this, I want to let you know that Tian Qin never forgot about you for a single moment, she only thought of you until her death."

  "Hai Long self-deprecatingly laughed, 'Yes! Tianqin never gave up on me, it was I who had a petty heart and treated her with a gentleman's kindness. Tianqin, you died for someone as insignificant as me, was it worth it? Was it worth it?!' He roared towards the sky, his entire skeletal system crackling loudly, the Ren Dan in his body surging to its limits, the protective power of the gods suddenly bursting forth, and in this moment, he had actually advanced from the initial stage of Not Falling to the middle stage realm."

  Xie Zu murmured: "It's worth it. In her heart, dying for you is worth it. Hailong, is it true or false that you have become a couple with the Piaoyu Dao Zun?"

  "Hai Long smiled miserably: 'Of course it's true, when I returned to Lianyun Sect again, Piaomiao no longer rejected me, we have already established our relationship. In my heart, Piaomiao's weight is as important as Tianqin.'"

  After hearing the words of Hailong, the Evil Ancestor was visibly shaken all over, saying: "I should have thought of it earlier, yes! It seems that only you can make the respected Piaoyu Dao move his heart. You two are a match made in heaven, so go ahead and love your current wife well. I believe that if Tianqin's soul is still around, she will also bless you both, after all, loving someone means hoping they can be happy. I got two of Tianqin's magical artifacts, this one I'll give to you as an exchange gift. After all, in this world, only you can represent her now, from now on, I don't owe you anything." A flash of white light appeared in front of Hailong, and there was something extra - the old Junluo that had disappeared earlier. Hailong's whole body shook, saying: "You're giving me the Junluo? Don't you want to use it to get through the heavenly tribulation?"

  The evil ancestor snorted, saying: "You don't need to worry about this anymore. I'll let you out now, and at the same time, I'll help seal away your wandering soul. You take her and leave immediately. From now on, I never want to see you two again."

  Hailong put away the old gentleman's recording and returned it to the Qiankun seal, suppressing the sadness in his heart. He said firmly: "No, I won't leave. If I just let her drift away like this, she'll hate me for the rest of her life. Senior, since you can spare us, why can't you spare all the righteous people here? As long as you subdue the Demon Sect and the Yao Sect, no one in the Divine State will be able to rival you."

  Xie Zu said coldly, "Hai Long, have you forgotten how Yuan Yue Liu and Wen Tian Liu treated you and Tian Qin in the past? Letting them off is absolutely impossible. I need to give an account to my subordinates."

  The dragon's emotions gradually calmed down, and he said: "Tianqin is already dead. Our feud with Yuan Yue Liu and Wen Tian Liu will not be avenged through the hands of outsiders. Although my current cultivation is still not high enough, I want to personally go kill Xing Tian and Xuanyu to avenge myself. If it weren't for them, how would I and Tianqin have ended up in this situation? I know I'm far from being your match, but if you insist on killing righteous people, then kill me first. Dying with Piaomiao, who knows, we might still be able to see Tianqin underground."

  Xie Zu snorted, saying: "Hai Long, although I owe Tian Qin a favor, you shouldn't be too excessive. You should know that I am the master of Xie Sect, not those hypocrites from the righteous path. If you anger me, I will kill you just the same." Suddenly, he wondered, "How did they come here?" Hai Long only felt a flash of red light in front of him, and a massive force struck his chest, causing his entire body to feel like it was being torn apart. The surrounding red light dissipated, and he found himself back at the top of Tian Gang Mountain. At this moment, the evil energy raging within him burst out, and Hai Long couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.

  A new year has begun, wishing everyone a smooth work, good health and all the best.