"Master, you think I'm jealous of Yang Cheng?"
Yang Xiu felt like he'd been struck by lightning. His pride took a serious blow.
"If you're not jealous of him," Lin Xinglan said, "then why did you join hands with outsiders to go against your own brother?"
"I told you long ago, he's the Crown Prince. He's the biggest obstacle on my path. That's the real reason I have to eliminate him," Yang Xiu clenched his fists. "As long as he lives, I'll never have a shot at the Great Zhou throne."
"Everything in this world follows fate. Since you're Heaven's Mandate, you should go with the flow, not force it," Lin Xinglan said. "If the Great Zhou throne is meant for you, then it will be yours. If not, forcing it will only backfire. Enough. A master leads the way, but cultivation is up to the disciple. I've told you the truth. Whether you listen or not is up to you. Now focus and attune yourself to the Qingqiu realm. Stop getting distracted."
Even she didn't notice how her tone had grown impatient when teaching Yang Xiu.
But this was exactly what Yang Cheng had intended.
The better he performed in front of Lin Xinglan, the worse Yang Xiu looked in comparison.
Especially since Yang Cheng had once said he wanted Lin Xinglan to abandon Yang Xiu and support him instead.
Through constant contrast, Lin Xinglan's disappointment in Yang Xiu would keep building. And that disappointment, while not obvious at first, would accumulate over time until it became irreversible.
Yang Xiu's heart chilled.
He'd been by Lin Xinglan's side for over seven years.
For more than seven years, he'd always shown her utmost respect.
And yet just a few conversations with Yang Cheng were enough to make her favor him and grow increasingly harsh toward himself.
'Master, you talk big, but in the end you're just biased. You think Yang Cheng's talent is greater than mine, so you side with him.'
Of course, Yang Xiu wasn't foolish. He'd never say that out loud.
Still, he felt utterly wronged. Lin Xinglan always talked about him being the Heaven's Mandate Emperor, but if he couldn't even inherit the throne, then what kind of Heaven's Mandate was that?
But he didn't dare let her down again. He hurried to close his eyes, sat cross-legged, and began focusing on attuning to the realm.
Meanwhile.
Yang Cheng had arrived at the place where his Myriad-Wonder Musical Heart sensed something unusual.
It was a deep valley.
At the center of the valley stood a bamboo house.
The thing that had triggered his musical heart's reaction was inside that house.
As he got closer, he heard a graceful zither melody, flowing like water from within.
But this music wasn't ordinary—it carried a seductive power, subtly pulling Yang Cheng's spirit into an illusion.
However, his Myriad-Wonder Musical Heart gave him powerful resistance against such effects.
Then, he spotted a familiar figure standing in front of the bamboo house—it was Chu Xianyin.
Her expression showed pain, and she stood frozen, clearly caught in the illusion.
That gave Yang Cheng a faint idea of what had happened to her in his past life.
Suddenly, another figure appeared outside the valley.
It was Yao Qingxiao.
He glanced into the valley, seemingly guessing what was going on, and immediately stuffed something into his ears.
Then, after making sure no one else was around, he quickly approached Chu Xianyin.
"Senior Sister?"
He called out to test her.
Seeing that Chu Xianyin didn't respond, his eyes lit up with a burning desire.
He stepped closer, reaching toward her face.
Chu Xianyin seemed to sense something and said coldly, "Stay away from me."
She was clearly trapped between illusion and reality, her spirit caught in a struggle.
"Senior Sister, I've been obsessed with you for so long. Please, just give me this one chance," Yao Qingxiao said, clearly excited. "We're both devoted to the zither. If we were together, we could pursue the Dao of the Zither side by side. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"
"Get lost. Now."
Her voice was laced with killing intent.
That pushed Yao Qingxiao over the edge.
He couldn't hear her words, but he saw the disgust in her eyes—pure revulsion.
"I'm not leaving. You're just too perfect, Senior Sister. If I miss this chance, I'll never have another," he muttered, hand trembling as he reached for her collar. "Don't hate me. I just love you too much."
Buzz!
A piercing sound split the air.
A Crimson Flood Dragon Divine Fist surged through the sky.
Yao Qingxiao had no time to react—he was blasted away by the punch.
Then, a figure stepped out.
Chu Xianyin blinked in surprise.
Yao Qingxiao's eyes turned red. "You!"
Yang Cheng ignored both of them and walked toward the bamboo house.
The closer he got, the stronger the pressure he felt.
At the same time, the pressure on Chu Xianyin lessened.
By the time he reached the doorway, her gaze had fully cleared.
"Senior Sister, I lost control for a moment," Yao Qingxiao sensed things were going wrong.
Chu Xianyin's expression was ice-cold. She held her zither close and began to pluck the strings.
A sharp, killing melody burst forth.
Yao Qingxiao coughed up blood instantly.
He'd already been injured by Yang Cheng—this was just more fuel to the fire.
"No, Senior Sister! Please spare me! I was wrong! I get it now!" he begged.
"You're not sorry because you understand. You're sorry because you know you're about to die."
Chu Xianyin's gaze was cold.
Whoosh!
She plucked the final note.
The soundwaves from the zither turned into a sharp blade of sound that sliced across Yao Qingxiao's throat.
His body froze. Then he collapsed to the ground.
Blood sprayed violently from his neck.
Chu Xianyin didn't spare him another look. She turned her gaze toward the bamboo house.
Yang Cheng had already stepped inside.
Inside, an ancient zither sat quietly.
Ding!
[Host has once again entered a danger zone and encountered the Qingqiu Zither.]
[Four hundred ninety-three years ago, the Qingqiu Zither suppressed Jade Zither Pavilion's Senior Sister Chu Xianyin, which led to her being assaulted and killed by Yao Qingxiao.]
[Filled with resentment, Chu Xianyin's soul fused into the Qingqiu Zither, becoming the spirit of the Heavenly Profound Zither. Over time, the Qingqiu Zither was gradually corrupted and eventually became the infamous Demon Zither feared across the zither world.]
[Host must resolve the Demon Zither crisis. This mission is extremely difficult. The Demon Zither has killed over one hundred True Gods, including a peak Shattering God.]
[Mission reward: Zither Dao—Initiation.]
Yang Cheng walked up to the Qingqiu Zither and easily reached out to touch the strings.
The music stopped instantly.
With the Myriad-Wonder Musical Heart, Yang Cheng completely suppressed it.
[What's going on? Host subdued the Demon Zither so easily—this defies all logic.]
[Host has not only completed the mission, but far exceeded its requirements. The mission reward is now being adjusted.]
[Zither Dao—Initiation is upgraded to Zither Dao—Great Achievement.]
"Your Zither Dao..." a stunned voice spoke up.
Yang Cheng turned and saw Chu Xianyin.
"You want to compete with me for it?" he asked casually.
Chu Xianyin shook her head. "My Zither Dao isn't strong enough to control this zither. If it weren't for you earlier, I would've been doomed."
"Then move aside," Yang Cheng said.
Chu Xianyin stepped aside.
Yang Cheng walked past her and headed out.
"This secret realm holds two inheritance marks. One has vanished, and the other is inside the Qingqiu Zither," Chu Xianyin said.
That surprised Yang Cheng. He truly hadn't known that.
"Why tell me?"
He stopped in his tracks.
"This may not repay the debt I owe you for saving my life, but at least it eases my heart a little," Chu Xianyin replied.
Yang Cheng chuckled. "Chu Xianyin, the others from Jade Zither Pavilion might be annoying, but you… you're kind of interesting."
Buzz!
Before his voice even faded, the space around them warped.
The next moment, all the young geniuses inside the secret realm were pulled back to the Great Zhou's Imperial Supreme Hall.
"Cheng'er!"
Yun Liyue rushed to Yang Cheng's side and grabbed his arm, anxiously checking him over.
Only after confirming he was unharmed did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Just then, everyone from the other factions noticed that more than a dozen geniuses were missing.
One of them was Yao Qingxiao from Jade Zither Pavilion.
But since everything happened inside the secret realm, there was no way to investigate.
Those dead geniuses had died in vain.
Soon after, all eyes shifted to a bronze ancient token planted in the ground.
Yang Xiu suddenly stepped forward, full of confidence. He reached toward the token and said, "Receive!"
Buzz!
The bronze token actually trembled.
"What's going on?"
"That's the Qingqiu Token—the key to the ancient Qingqiu Secret Realm!"
"Whoever holds this token has unimaginable destiny!"
"Could it be that the Sixth Prince of Great Zhou is the true bearer of Heaven's Fortune?"
People's perception of Yang Xiu began to change.
But at that moment, Yang Cheng also sensed a faint connection to the Qingqiu Token.
He remembered that he had subdued the Qingqiu Zither, and Chu Xianyin said the zither contained one of the inheritance marks.
A thought struck him, and he reached toward the Qingqiu Token as well.
"Big Brother Crown Prince, what are you doing? Do you really think you can do anything?" Yang Xiu mocked. "Too bad. This Qingqiu Token is mine. It has nothing to do with you—"
Before he could finish, the Qingqiu Token split in two.
One half flew into Yang Xiu's hand, and the other into Yang Cheng's.
Yang Xiu stood frozen in shock.
Even though getting half was still better than the others, he didn't feel happy at all.
"Master, why did this happen?" he asked Lin Xinglan inwardly.
"I understand now," Lin Xinglan sighed. "There were indeed two Qingqiu inheritance marks—one in my possession, the other inside the Qingqiu Zither. The fact that Yang Cheng received half of the token means he successfully subdued the zither. Unbelievable."
"Xiu'er… Even if he had the other inheritance mark, with my help, you would've been able to obtain the full Qingqiu Token. But you burned half of your mark's power inside the secret realm. Even with my help, I couldn't fully suppress Yang Cheng. That's why you only ended up with half."
Yang Xiu felt like he'd been struck by lightning.
"Xiu'er, this is karma," Lin Xinglan said. "You wronged Yang Cheng inside the secret realm, and this is the backlash. That's why you lost half of the Qingqiu Token. Remember this lesson."
Yang Cheng didn't care what Yang Xiu was thinking.
He stored the token, swept his gaze across all the gathered geniuses from every major faction, and said calmly:
"Now, does anyone still dare defy this Crown Prince?"