Chapter 7 007 Touching a Little Hand
Master Mo Shubai introduced himself and then began to explain some musical theory, such as the five notes of the pentatonic scale (gong, shang, jue, zheng, yu). He gave a brief overview and then asked his disciples with a smile if they knew how to play the zither.
"Yes!" the disciples hurriedly replied.
Those who come to the Azure Sword Sect to study music have likely been playing instruments since a very young age. The zither and pipa, in particular, are deadly weapons for music cultivators. Therefore, these two instruments are compulsory subjects!
At that moment, Mo Shubai set out his zither, and all the disciples also showed off their own zithers.
Even sword cultivators like Dai Jia and Tianji Sect cultivators like Qi Zhenmo can play the zither.
Qi Zhenmo's zither is even more valuable than Song Chi's. His zither has a clear and bright high note and a deep and resonant low note, which is truly rare. In his previous life, Song Chi did have such a fine zither, but in this life, his family can't afford one that's so expensive.
But it didn't matter to her. She could handle even an ordinary zither with ease. After all, she truly loved music from the bottom of her heart. She had felt that way in both her lives. The zither mentioned here was the guzheng. It's said that the guzheng requires at least a golden core to kill with its music.
In her previous life, Song Chi majored in the pipa, and minored in the guzheng, zhongruan, and liuqin. Of course, because she had a wide range of interests and was the kind of person who didn't settle down, she also played many other instruments. In short, Song Chi lived a very good life in her previous life, basically immersing herself in the music she loved. Perhaps her life was too easy, and Heaven couldn't bear to see it, so it sent her to the cultivation world at a young age.
But, hey, she still plays music in this life. In fact, she plays it on a bigger scale this time, using music to kill—something she wouldn't have dared to even imagine in her past life.
The first piece that Master Mo Shubai taught his disciples to play was a comfortable and gentle melody that resembled flowing spring water. From the style of the music, one could hear the babbling of the wind and the warm spring scenery of a gentle breeze.
Moreover, the sheet music that was distributed was indeed titled "Spring Water Flows," and the sheet music included instructions on the use of spiritual energy for each note. Furthermore, there were various requirements regarding the circulation of spiritual energy through the acupoints.
Although it's a simple piece, it's not easy to play.
Song Chi suddenly understood why, even when she infused her spiritual energy into playing the zither at home, she couldn't even make a sound like a breeze, let alone kill with her music. Now, after seeing this score, she realized how many intricacies it contained.
However, the Azure Sword Sect is also a bit stingy; they tend to distribute one sheet of music per lesson for even simple pieces like this, rather than all at once. Fortunately, "Spring Flowing Water" is perfect for accepting tasks related to watering spiritual plants, as this piece is rich in the use of water elemental energy.
Because the application of spiritual power for each note is different, the spiritual power of the three spiritual roots needs to be coordinated with each other. Otherwise, if there is even the slightest mistake, the melody will change.
Therefore, after Mo Shubai played a piece, he asked his disciples to try playing it.
Suddenly, the classroom erupted in chaos, the cacophony of voices leaving Song Chi both amused and exasperated.
On her end… well, she played flawlessly. After all, while others need to adjust their playing based on their own spiritual power, she only needs to follow the score, adjusting which spiritual root has more spiritual power and which has less. This highlights the importance of balancing the three spiritual roots.
She played with remarkable steadiness, and it wasn't much different from how she usually played the piano.
Given Song Chi's hearing ability, no one else in the entire classroom could match her level. Of course, those with limited hearing probably couldn't tell the difference between the playing of those gifted disciples.
For example, the two new disciples in front of her, both absolute geniuses, also had several notes that were slightly off-key. The average person could easily tell.
But it couldn't escape her ears. After all, she was one of the few people with perfect pitch, both in her life. Her music had color in her mind.
After the disciples finished playing their piece, Mo Shubai pressed down with his beautiful hand, signaling everyone to stop.
Then, a name was called. "Jiang Linyue, come up to the stage."
Jiang Linyue was sitting right in front of Song Chi. He had indeed only made two slight mistakes and was the best player in the class.
The immortal master probably wanted him to go on stage to demonstrate, but Song Chi had a feeling that she would be the next one to be called on.
She quickly looked away as soon as Mo Shubai's gaze flickered over. Seriously? If this good-for-nothing were to surpass these geniuses, how could she possibly survive?
No one can prove that a genius disciple will necessarily be broad-minded.
"Song Chi, come up on stage too." In the end, Mo Shubai still called on him.
The classroom buzzed with surprise, many people were astonished. But they quickly burst into laughter. They probably thought she was just there to make up the scene, and because she played the worst. After all, many people knew about her spiritual talent.
Although Song Chi was extremely unwilling, he dared not disobey the immortal master and had no choice but to take his zither to the front desk.
The two instruments were placed side by side.
"Lin Yue, you play a tune first," Mo Shubai gestured.
Jiang Linyue then played "Spring Water Flows" once. This time, he was very quick to make up for the mistake he made before, but there was still one slightly wrong one.
"Song Chi, come here."
Song Chi immediately thought, "Why don't I just make three or five mistakes? I have to give a genius face."
As a result, she only played one wrong note. Mo Shubai suddenly pressed down on her string with his fingers, "Play well!" His tone was flat and gentle, and he was still as handsome as a fairy, but there was a hint of sternness in his eyes.
Song Chi: "..." Then play it well. This time she didn't play a single wrong note.
After she finished playing, Mo Shubai asked a pointed question: "Who do you think played better between the two of them?"
"This..." The disciples looked between the two, and many naturally felt that a genius disciple like Jiang Linyue was better.
But since the immortal master had asked such a question, they dared not answer.
Mo Shubai then asked Jiang Linyue, "Linyue, what do you think of your zither compared to Song Chi's?"
Jiang Linyue remained as elegant as bamboo, glancing at Song Chi with a smile. "Of course, Junior Sister Song is better."
"What's so good about it?"
"I mispronounced a note and used too little wood elemental power." His water elemental root was originally 97, which was slightly low, so he used too much water elemental power.
"Okay, play it again."
Jiang Linyue played this time, but she missed the note again. This time she used less spiritual energy, so she stopped and bowed to Song Chi.
"Junior Sister Song, could you please enlighten me and play another piece?"
He was so polite and courteous, how could Song Chi dare to refuse?
The problem is that Jiang Linyue's so-called explanation to him was that when she played that note, she suddenly said "excuse me" and covered her hand with hers.
At that moment, the whole classroom let out a gasp, and many people smiled.
Song Chi stopped after gliding over this section. Jiang Linyue, with an expression of nonchalance, smiled gently. "I see, I used the spiritual energy conversion one note too early incorrectly." Then she cupped her hands in a salute, "Thank you for pointing this out, Junior Sister Song."
"Wake me up, you idiot!" Song Chi managed to keep from rolling his eyes.
Mo Shubai pursed his lips slightly. "You may all leave."
Song Chi and Jiang Linyue returned to their seats, and Mo Shubai played the instrument again. He then instructed the disciples to continue practicing.
This time, he began to tour the entire area again, pointing out to each disciple where the pronunciation was wrong or where the spiritual energy conversion was incorrect.
And so he captivated a whole bunch of girls' hearts. Now, several girls in the next class were blushing and almost fainted.
Song Chi once again felt a pang of worry for the Daoist resolve of the female disciples present.
Of course, she continued playing the piece. Mo Shubai checked on her and stood beside her for a while, listening intently. Song Chi pretended to be shy and wanted to make a wrong note to show respect for the genius, but she was stared at by Mo Shubai's beautiful eyes, so she had no choice but to keep quiet.
Qi Zhenmo chuckled softly to himself. He probably found it amusing to see her make a fool of herself.
Qi Zhenmo actually played terribly because he didn't have a wood elemental root, and wood elemental power needed to be converted from water elemental power. As a weakling in the Qi Refining stage, he couldn't possibly do that, hence his incredibly poor playing.
Mo Shubai merely glanced at him, then shook his head with a smile. He didn't even offer any guidance, knowing full well that this kid would eventually join the Heavenly Mystery Sect. His being here right now was purely a lapse in judgment.
He then played the piece for an entire hour. Some people dared to ask Mo Shubai why he played it that way, and why the spiritual energy was arranged in this way.
Song Chi thought to herself, "Great!" She just wanted to ask about the principle behind it so she could go back and figure it out herself.
To everyone's surprise, Mo Shubai simply smiled. "Those things depend on your own understanding."
"You big-headed devil!" Song Chi was so angry that he mispronounced a word.
One thing about the cultivation world that left her speechless was that, regardless of the cultivation method, it was all based on experience and instruction; no one seemed to delve into the underlying principles. This was actually quite unscientific.
However, later textbooks also began to incorporate anti-self-learning systems. A book might spend a lot of time explaining the meaning of learning, but it wouldn't carefully teach you the methods.
The cultivation world is quite straightforward; everything depends on a disciple's comprehension to shut them up.
Since Song Chi was a nobody and his words carried little weight, he let it go after a moment of anger.
Then, around 3:30 PM, the bell rang, signaling the end of school. Mo Shubai walked to the classroom door and bumped into the immortal master next door, who was also a sound cultivator. He was very gentle and refined, with a somewhat maternal air about him.
Song Chi knew that this was the immortal master from the Gengshen class next door, named Shen Wenyan. His spiritual root must be quite good, because he was an outer disciple of Venerable Tonghua. To become an outer disciple of a Venerable, one must be a prodigy of the inner sect.
The two were talking by the door, so no one in the entire classroom dared to go out.
But many disciples from other dormitories had already dropped out. Song Chi was one of those who needed to go to Qingyun Pavilion to grab missions, and with the spirit of earning as many spirit stones as possible, she quietly slipped out through the back door.
At that time, all I heard was someone from the Guihai class saying, "How dare she? The Immortal Master hasn't left yet."
"Perhaps he thought he played the zither well and that the immortal master liked it, so he got a little arrogant."
"Even the best instrument is only good for the initial stage. It will be difficult to develop this talent later on."
These words were only whispered by a few people at the back door.
Song Chi didn't take it seriously. What these people said wasn't wrong; with her aptitude, there was no problem in the early stages, but things would become clear after reaching the sixth level of Qi Refining. As for becoming arrogant, she didn't admit it; she was just a working-class person rushing out to grab missions.
Shen Wenyan watched as his friend chased the little girl who had darted away along the wall all the way to the gate of Qingxue Palace. The girl's slightly smiling face made him smile involuntarily, and he whispered something to her.
"What, Brother Shubai, have you been tempted by worldly desires, which is why you've come to Qingxue Palace to teach new disciples?"
Upon hearing this, Mo Shubai smiled and shook his head.
"How could this be? I've just been a little frustrated with my cultivation lately, and since I have nothing else to do, I thought I'd share some of the sect's burdens."
Shen Wenyan knew this was true, but it was just a joke.
"That young girl is intelligent and beautiful. I just listened to her music, and she is quite good at it. It's just a pity that she doesn't have the right spiritual root aptitude."
He sighed softly. It was on that day, in front of the council hall at the mountain gate, that he witnessed Song Chi testing his spiritual roots.
Mo Shubai sighed slightly upon hearing this. For cultivators, comprehension is secondary; aptitude is indeed paramount. That child's voice was exceptionally clear and bright, indicating a talent for music. But this aptitude… destined him for a limited future in the path of cultivation.
Of course, there was another reason why he paid so much attention to this young disciple. His little cousin, Jiang Linyue, had been all lovey-dovey since arriving at the Azure Sword Sect, and when asked, he said he'd met someone in Baijiangcheng the previous night and was deeply in love with him. And this person he admired was none other than the young girl, Song Chi.
However, it seems this kid didn't win her favor. Although he tried to touch the girl's hand during break today, he was clearly rejected.
Mo Shubai couldn't help but smile at that moment.
A note from the author:
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