Book 3: Chapter 23: Commander
Book 3: Chapter 23: Commander
The vast sound filled the place. The sound of “Sonata Pathétique” was incredibly majestic.
When the entire city played together, the boundless fighting spirit seemed to turn into an ocean or a huge towering beast charging ferociously at the dark clouds of fate.
Boom!
A deafening, earthshaking impact rang out. The dark clouds of fate shook again. A hole tore open in the gloom, allowing the countless cultivators to see the dazzling sunlight on the other side for an instant.
That was no ordinary sunlight. That was the hope of the entire city, the dawn of a new era for the entire city. That was the victorious light of dawn after fighting against fate in the dark.
However, dark clouds quickly closed that hole up; countless storms rushed at the entire city from the dark clouds.
Rumble…!
The guqin in Fairy Waner’s hands shook as she suffered a backlash that made her flush red.
“That’s impossible! That’s impossible! There are no openings in my ‘Miserable World. No one can break it, what more a newly composed piece? I don’t believe it! I don’t believe it!” A ferocious look flashed in Fairy Waner’s eyes as she played increasingly faster and sharper.
The intensifying zither music exacerbated “Miserable World.” Roiling dark clouds gathered again and became thicker, manifesting a pitch-black evil dragon coiling around the dark clouds. It opened its jaws and roared at the people below.
“Again!” Gu Hai shouted.
“Alright!” nearly all the zitherists in the city responded loudly.
The entire city shook as everyone saw hope. Everyone had seen the light.
Fate? Fate was not irresistible. One needed to persist in struggling, keep up the hard work.
Dang! Dang dang! Dang dang! Dang dang dang…
Ding! Ding ding! Ding ding! Ding ding ding…
Zithers rang out in the entire city as Gu Hai played. This time, the city was even more confident, giving off an even stronger fighting spirit that formed an ocean. Then, the fighting spirit aura rode the storm, charging towards the dark clouds of fate in the sky.
If what the dark clouds of fate manifested was a black evil dragon, then the ocean of fighting spirit manifested a golden divine dragon.
“Roar!”
“Roar!”
Both sides roared mightily.
Fairy Waner showed a ferocious expression, but all the zitherists in the city showed equally ferocious expressions as the two sides clashed.
“Break!”
Boom!
An earthshaking clash took place, the opening salvo in a fight to the death.
The golden-divine-dragon-like ocean of fighting spirit suddenly bit the neck of the black evil dragon and charged to the center of the dark clouds, sweeping through everything in its path like dry sticks.
Rumble…!
The strong fighting spirit aura easily broke a massive hole in the dark clouds of fate.
This hole was so massive that the dark clouds would have difficulty recovering their initial form.
When the massive hole appeared, boundless sunlight shone down. The instant the sunlight appeared, the blinded cultivators suddenly could see again.
“I can see! I can see! Gu Hai, you succeeded!” Long Wanqing cried out excitedly.
It was not just the zitherists. Nearly everyone suddenly recovered their sight.
The people emerged victorious. Countless cultivators cheered in excitement.
——
Blargh!
The strong rebound caused Fairy Waner to vomit a mouthful of blood.
“No! That’s impossible! My ‘Miserable World’ is the most perfect piece! The most perfect!” Fairy Waner glared at Gu Hai across the street. Incredulity flashed in her eyes; she was apparently unreconciled to this outcome.
Gu Hai broke my “Miserable World”? No. He is just a fellow that I did not think much of earlier. How could he break my “Miserable World”?
“Many thanks, Master Gu!”
“Many thanks, Mister Gu! I can see again, and my five senses are slowly recovering!”
“Master Gu’s ‘Sonata Pathétique’ fills me with boundless fighting spirit!”
Many grateful cries rang out.
“The battle is not over yet, and you are already celebrating? Again! We will completely clear out all the remaining artistic conception of ‘Miserable World.
Gu Hai’s voice spread out using the sound amplification ritual array and the manor lord’s zither technique.
“Alright!”
All the zitherists in the city immediately agreed. The loud response seemed like it could completely overturn the entire Silver Moon City.
——
World’s Best Zither Pavilion:
The World’s Best Zither Pavilion was already completely smashed up.
Lu An’s and Jiang Tianyi’s deteriorated five senses also slowly recovered.
When Jiang Tianyi saw the sorry state of the World’s Best Zither Pavilion and heard the one hundred million people responding to Gu Hai, he revealed despair.
“The World’s Best Zither Pavilion is over. This Street’s Best Zither Pavilion? This Street’s Best Zither Pavilion? Ha! He did not just buy my World’s Best Zither Pavilion. If we cannot outcompete it, we could just reopen on another street. However, he is now going to eliminate my World’s Best Zither Pavilion altogether?” Jiang Tianyi said despondently.
Lu An, however, looked at Gu Hai on the other side with bitter resentment.
Gu Hai did not care about what others thought; he started playing another rendition of “Sonata Pathétique.”
He led an army of tens of millions of zitherists in playing this fighting-spirit-filled piece together.
Dang! Dang dang! Dang dang! Dang dang dang…
Ding! Ding ding! Ding ding! Ding ding ding…
The golden-divine-dragon-like ocean of fighting spirit roared again.
On the other hand, the dark clouds of fate in the sky had already scattered significantly, in a sorry state.
The golden divine dragon roared ferociously and charged into the sky. Like a hurricane sweeping fallen leaves aside, it swept away the remnants of the dark clouds of fate everywhere it passed.
The artistic conception of “Miserable World” crumbled completely. Fighting spirit filled the sky, displaying a vibrant lifeforce.
The entire Silver Moon City erupted with the excitement of countless zitherists’ exultant cheers.
——
In a small courtyard near the World’s Best Zither Pavilion:
Sima Changkong stood upright with his hands behind his back. As he witnessed this scene of heaven-defying might, he let out a long breath.
“Gu Hai? Oh, Gu Hai, I still underestimated you. You are not just a business genius but also a genius at commanding. Ten million zitherists with you as the commander? Activating a ten-million-strong zitherist army to follow you into overturning an impossible situation? If you were on the battlefield, this move alone could break a vast army,” Sima Changkong sighed.
——
At the same time, the many zitherists outside the Silver Moon Mountain Manor cheered.
“It broke! It broke! Hahaha! My fighting spirit broke ‘Miserable World
“There’s mine as well. We shattered the dark clouds of fate filling the sky.”
“I feel that my music Dao is full of fighting spirit!”
“Me too. Previously, my music Dao lacked vitality. With this piece, I feel that I made a breakthrough!”
“Sonata Pathétique. Sonata Pathétique. An excellent Sonata Pathétique!”
The zitherists outside the Silver Moon Mountain Manor cheered wildly. Inside the Silver Moon Mountain Manor, the disciples were also pleasantly surprised.
All the disciples looked thrilled when they saw their efforts scattering the roiling dark clouds.
“Manor Lord, we broke ‘Miserable World Yun Mo turned to the manor lord excitedly.
The manor lord smiled faintly and said, “You understand now, right?”
“Yes. Manor Lord previously said that artistic conception is easy to express, but excellent pieces are hard to find. At that time, I did not quite understand. I thought that playing the zither was evaluated based on artistic conception. When Gu Hai played the Canon, and Manor Lord sent me to deliver the invitation, I still had doubts. Now, I finally understand how important an excellent piece is. It can affect one’s soul and drive one’s spirit. It is a power that surpasses the physical!” Yun Mo said through clenched teeth.
“Indeed. Gu Hai’s piano playing does not have an artistic conception, but so what? No matter how well one plays, one can only be called a master player. A master zitherist can never compare to a true music Dao master, even if the music Dao master’s playing is poor. This is because music Dao masters pursue the Dao,” the manor lord said while shaking his head.
“Yes!”
“Go get two event invitations and deliver them to the composers of ‘Miserable World’ and ‘Sonata Pathétique, the manor lord said softly.
“Oh? Manor Lord, we are delivering one to the composer of ‘Miserable World And didn’t we already give one to Gu Hai previously?” Yun Mo said, feeling confused.
“Composing ‘Miserable World’ qualifies her to attend the zither bestowal event. She only wanted a zither duel with me. Unexpectedly, Gu Hai appeared. As for Gu Hai, we did give him one before, but ‘Sonata Pathétique’ is worth giving him another one,” the manor lord said.
“Yes!”
——
The World’s Best Zither Pavilion:
Blargh!
Since the artistic conception of “Miserable World” was so strong, the rebound from its breaking could not be weak. The instant the dark clouds of fate completely shattered, the immense rebound struck Fairy Waner, causing her to vomit another mouthful of blood.
Fairy Waner’s veil was already red. Blood even seeped out from the tips of her fingers.
She stared at the deck across the street with an expression of disbelief, unreconciled with the situation.
Gu Hai stopped playing.
Long Wanqing clutched Gu Hai’s arm in joy, with exultation and gratitude on her face.
Mu Chenfeng looked at Gu Hai. Now, he no longer showed the disdain that he had before. Instead, there was deep shock.
That earlier scene left a deep impression. The ocean of fighting spirit manifested a golden divine dragon and smashed the artistic conception of “Miserable World” entirely. When playing “Sonata Pathétique,” Gu Hai had been like the commander of a vast army.
Gu Hao had commanded all the zitherists in the entire city, with an air like that of a vast army’s commander. No one dared disobey his command.
“Many thanks, Master Gu!”
“Many thanks, Mister Gu!”
“Master Gu, ‘Sonata Pathétique’ is excellent. It helped me make a breakthrough. Many thanks, Master Gu!”
Voices filled with gratitude rang out everywhere under the deck. It was not just in the surroundings; the entire city felt grateful to Gu Hai.
Gu Hai lifted his hands from the piano and stood up. He showed a faint smile as he looked at the surrounding cultivators.
——
“Humph! An inferior person intoxicated by success!” Fairy Waner snorted coldly on the other side.
Clearly, she was still unreconciled with losing to Gu Hai.
Fairy Waner was a music Dao expert, yet she actually lost to a person who could not even bring out an artistic conception? She could not accept it. She simply could not accept it.