Once Chu Kuangren had spoken, that white-robed guqin master immediately felt intimidated.
Li Changyin looked toward Chu Kuangren and said calmly, "Brother Chu, I think your comment is too unjust. We just wanted to admire Brother Murong's guqin skills."
"Oh, even when he said he can't, he must still oblige to your demands?"
"We're here at the guqin festival to share our guqin skills. If he doesn't know how to, what is he even doing here?" the white-robed guqin master said.
"We can eat or sleep wherever we want. What's in it for you to control what we do? Even the host, Lady Yang, has not said a single word. What makes you think you've earned the right to call the shots here?"
Chu Kuangren stared at the white-robed guqin master.
In that instant, the white-robed guqin master felt as if he was glared at by an archaic wild beast. An inexplicable coldness shot through his bones.
"Alright, alright. These fellows are my friends. On my behalf, I wish everyone can bury the hatchet, shall we?"
Yang Xiyun interfered.
With that, all of them stopped arguing, and this conflict finally came to a rest.
s
Very soon, the festival was approaching its end too.
Chu Kuangren's visit here this time could only be described with one word — disappointment.
Out of so many guqin cultivators here, besides Yang Xiyun and Li Changyin, the rest of them were mere lowly, incapable people.
Even both Yang Xiyun and Li Changyin did not come close to matching his level.
Nevertheless, Murong Xuan's appearance was a pleasant surprise for him. The few of them gathered in a lounge and began to share their recent encounters.
"Quick, spill the tea. How the hell did you get on with someone like Yang Xiyun?" Chu Kuangren's eyes gleamed brightly. The gossip trait in him was ignited.
Murong Xuan's face blushed slightly when he heard that. "Sect Leader, Lady Yang and I are innocent."
"Innocent? Both of you kept stealing glances at each other in front of the public. How am I supposed to buy what you just said?"
"Ahem. Is it really that obvious?"
"Are you for real, kid? I can't believe you have the audacity to ask that. Both of you almost had the words 'in love' written on top of your foreheads. You're telling me that it's not obvious?"
"Actually, what happened was…"
Chu Kuangren and Shang Qingxue listened intently.
As it turned out, when Murong Xuan first entered the Emperor Road, he was teleported by the spatial energy into a forest.
There were a lot of beasts inside the forest, and Murong Xuan could not find his way out even after several days. That was when he met Yang Xiyun, who happened to be there for her cultivation journey. When she was attacked by the beasts, Murong Xuan was the one who helped save her, after which they spent a significant amount of time together inside the forest…
A flame sparked between the two of them during that period, and since Murong Xuan was still new to this place, he followed Yang Xiyun back to Melodious Void Sect.
Their story continued until today when they met Chu Kuangren and Shang Qingxue.
After he finished the story, Chu Kuangren was rather disappointed. "That's all??"
"Um, yes. What else were you expecting, Sect Leader?" Murong Xuan replied in annoyance.
"D*mn you, kid. Fortune has really smiled upon you, for you to have met such an innocent girl. You've managed to win her heart with such a cliché act of a hero saving a damsel in distress."
Murong Xuan blushed.
Chu Kuangren was just poking fun at him.
Just then, some knocks were heard from the front door.
Yang Xiyun walked in and smiled at them gently. "Brother Murong, why don't we invite Sect Leader Chu and Sister Shang back to Melodious Void Sect?"
Murong Xuan glanced at Chu Kuangren and Shang Qingxue.
"If you don't mind, we'll tag along." Chu Kuangren smiled back.
"No worries."
Under Yang Xiyun's invitation, Chu Kuangren and Shang Qingxue arrived at Melodious Void Sect.
Melodious Void Sect Master welcomed Chu Kuangen and his companion in.
The Melodious Void Sect Master was a middle-aged woman. She had a few faint crow's feet at the edge of her eyebrows, giving her a somewhat mature charm.
After being told that Chu Kuangren was Murong Xuan's Sect Leader, her attitude seemed a little cold. She merely arranged for her people to allocate two empty rooms for them.
"Sect Leader, the Melodious Void Sect Master may not have said it explicitly, but it feels like she doesn't enjoy our company here." Shang Qingxue remarked.
"I think her problem is not with us, but with Murong Xuan. Just think about it. She has painstakingly brought up a disciple like Yang Xiyun, only for her to be drawn away by some random outsider. Do you think she would be fine with that?" Chu Kuangren smiled in response.
"Is that really the case?"
"I do hope that I'm right. Otherwise, Murong Xuan could really be in deep trouble."
Time passed by in a flash. Soon, it was already time for the Infinity Guqin Banquet to begin.
The Infinity Guqin Banquet was held at a spacious square in the middle of Seven Chord City.
On this day, the scene at the square was buzzing, with countless guqin cultivators looking forward to the event.
Everybody was waiting for the Emperor Weapon to show itself.
These people were mostly guqin cultivators.
Among the crowd were Li Changyin, Yang Xiyun, Ji Xiaoyao, and a few young outstanding talents of Seven Chord City.
Suddenly, three figures dashed in from a distance away, landing at the very middle of the square.
"It's the three presidents of the Seven Chord Guqin Association."
"Melodious Void Sect Master, Phantasmic Melody Sect Master, and Ji Clan Leader. These three are not only the household names of the musical world but also renowned top-notch elites on Emperor Road. I think only they are qualified to host this Infinity Guqin Banquet."
"After all, the Emperor Weapon will select its owner today. Surely there must be a few powerhouses as hosts here."
All the guqin cultivators were engaged in their own discussions.
Meanwhile, the three presidents swept their gazes over every single person in the crowd.
They wanted to see if there were any guqin elites there that were worth noting.
"Guqin Sage Beihai is here too."
"Not just him, but Master Daoist Liuli, who has been living in isolation in the Lapis Lazuli Mountain for so many years is also here."
Just then, a sword ray swooped down from the sky above.
The sword ray landed at the square, and a gush of sword qi swept across the whole area like a hurricane. A handsome young man was seen slowly stepping through the air, toward the square.
This man arrived in front of the sword ray and pulled out his longsword. Strapped behind his back was a black guqin.
"Such appearance, this must be Sword Tribe's sky pride, Jian Changfeng, who is regarded as a master of both sword and guqin."
"I didn't expect even the Sword Tribe people would join in the Infinity Guqin Banquet."
"I think almost all cultivators who are skilled in guqin Dao are here."
Jian Changfeng was one of the top sky-prides among Emperor Road's younger generation, and his power was weaker than only outlawed sky-prides.
Rumor had it he was so strong that he could hold a steady ground even when battling a Boundary Emperor.
After Jian Changfeng arrived, many other sky-prides who were experts at guqin Dao appeared as well.
Each one of them was a big name themselves. Seeing these people, the normal guqin cultivators begin to feel double the pressure.
With their skill level, hoping to gain the Emperor Weapon from these people would be like building castles in the air.
"Forget it. I don't have any high hopes of succeeding here anyway. I'll just take it as an experience."
Some of the guqin cultivators started consoling themselves.
When Ji Clan Leader, one of the three honorable presidents, saw that the crowd was complete, he stroked his goatee and announced, "Lo and behold, the Emperor Weapon!"
After that, dark ominous clouds of grotesque shapes amassed atop the sky.
s
Amongst the clouds, a flash of azure blue lightning dazzled frenziedly, emitting an incredibly powerful domineering aura.
Immediately following that, a bolt of lightning struck down!
After the lightning rays dissipated, what met the crowd's eyes was an entirely azure, almost crystal-like, resplendent guqin!
This guqin was the Emperor Weapon that so many cultivators yearned for!
"This guqin is called… Springtime Lightning!!"