A jolt of lightning suddenly struck down from the sky and turned into a blue guqin that had a crystal-like surface.
There were seven strings on it, which radiated brilliantly. It looked extraordinary.
"This guqin is known as the… Springtime Lightning!"
The Emperor Weapon, Springtime Lightning!
Following the Ji Clan Leader's announcement, the coveting gazes of every guqin cultivator landed onto that guqin with desire burning in their eyes.
"So this is the Emperor Weapon. It's truly remarkable."
"Rumor has it that when this guqin emerged, dark clouds shadowed the sky and cackles of lightning incessantly for three days straight. Is this how it got the name, Springtime Lightning?"
"Springtime Lightning. Lightning that strikes down during the spring season is usually majestic and can also serve to symbolize the birth of all things."
The guqin cultivators stared at the Springtime Lightning. They wanted so badly to go ahead and touch it.
However, because the three presidents of the Seven Chord Guqin Association were there, no one dared to make a move like that.
s
"Now that the Emperor Weapon has appeared, it is the time for all of you to display your skills and win the Emperor Weapon's acknowledgment. Please, go ahead."
The Phantasmic Melody Sect Master said.
The three presidents of the association had already attempted this before, but none of them had gotten this Emperor Weapon's acknowledgment.
They even started a fight over the ownership of this Emperor Weapon. That was why the Great Guqin Banquet was organized. It was to allow the Emperor Weapon, Springtime Lightning to choose a master on its own.
"Seeing that we need to gain the acknowledgment of a Guqin Dao Emperor Weapon, I suppose we'll need to display a level of guqin cultivation that is on par with it. I shall have a go then."
A white-robed guqin master stepped out and took out a guqin. With his fingers plucking on the guqin, he sped through a few melodies, hoping to gain the acknowledgment of the Emperor Weapon.
However, no matter how many songs he played, the Emperor Weapon Springtime Lightning had no reaction at all.
Not wishing to give up, the white-robed guqin master's fingers continued plucking and playing the guqin frantically until his fingers were cut. Even so, he was oblivious to it, and he looked increasingly like a madman the more he played.
A Guqin Dao Emperor Weapon was just too rare, making it a priceless treasure to any cultivators specializing in guqin Dao.
With a treasure like that right before the white-robed guqin master's eyes, how could he possibly give up the chance to obtain it?
"That level of guqin cultivation you have is never going to be enough."
At this moment, Jian Changfeng of the Sword Tribe commented. He raised his hand and unleashed a great burst of spiritual power, immediately sending that white-robed guqin master flying.
When the white-robed guqin master tried to get up and fight back after crashing on the ground, he felt a chilling sword intent lock on to him. It felt as if a cold bucket of water had been poured all over him, causing him to return to his senses. He no longer dared to make any move as he looked at Jian Changfeng of the Sword Tribe.
Then, he glanced at the Springtime Lightning, knowing that Emperor Weapon and he were not meant to be.
Jian Changfang ignored the white-robed guqin master and looked at the Springtime Lightning in front of him. He said, "This Emperor Weapon has appeared for me."
Following that, he took out the black guqin he had on his back, placed it on his lap, and started to play it.
Known to be a master in both the art of guqin music and swordsmanship, his guqin music was filled with a razor-sharp aura, like his sword.
Waves of guqin music reverberated with sounds of metal clanging.
It was as if there were thousands of infantry and horses clashing and charging before everyone.
"What splendid guqin music! Such refined skill!"
Some of the guqin masters could not help but praise.
Everyone looked towards the Emperor Weapon Springtime Lightning. All they saw was a light tremble, but there was no movement from it after that.
Jina Changfeng frowned slightly, not expecting that the Emperor Weapon would not acknowledge him despite all he did.
"This is undoubtedly an Emperor Weapon. However, you must be mine today!"
Jian Changfeng snorted coldly and immediately plucked his fingers on the strings, raising his guqin music Daoist Rhyme to a higher level.
"Let us all give it a go, then."
"If we go at it one by one, who knows when our turn will arrive."
"If we want to get the Emperor Weapon's acknowledgment, we must do our best with our abilities!"
The crowd of guqin cultivators could not wait any longer as everyone took out their guqins and started playing.
Other guqin cultivators like Li Changyin, Yang Xiyun, and Ji Xiaoyao did the same as well.
At that moment, the entire square was filled with countless melodies of guqin music reverberating, and the sky was emanating with various Daoist Rhymes.
Thousands of guqin music sounded as thousands of guqin strings were plucked.
Every guqin cultivator was unleashing their style of guqin music Daoist Rhyme, attempting to gain a reaction from the Emperor Weapon.
Several surges of guqin music stood out amongst the sea of music.
Besides Jian Changfeng's guqin music, the sky-prides from the Seven Chord City like Li Changyin stood out a little more.
Among them, Li Changyin's guqin music sounded slightly hallucinatory, as if it was the ethereal clouds that were high up in the sky.
Yang Xiyin of the Melodious Void Sect was remarkable as well. Compared to the sentimental melody she played at the Cloudveil Pavilion a few days ago, the song she played today was wonderful. Her music was profound and boundless, like a never-ending landscape that was slowly unfolding itself.
On the other hand, Ji Xiaoyao's guqin music was extremely firm and powerful despite her petite figure. It felt as if she had used all her strength to play every single note, which unleashed a majestic presence. This was the famed song that had been passed down through generations in the Ji clan, the Limitless Song.
The guqin music from these few people overpowered most of the guqin cultivators' guqin music.
This even made some of the guqin masters mess up their tempo, and they did not know how to continue playing after that.
No matter how the guqin cultivators tried, their music did not resonate with the Emperor Weapon, let alone get it to acknowledge them as its master.
"D*mn it. It really is difficult to obtain the Emperor Weapon's acknowledgment."
"We have already done our best to play the best songs we could in our arsenal, yet it was to no avail?"
Just when everyone was almost exhausted in their attempts to gain the Emperor Weapon acknowledgment, a burst of laughter suddenly rang from amidst the clouds.
"Haha…"
That exhilarating laughter contained an extremely strong spiritual power as echoed in the clouds.
The guqin music that filled the whole square was instantly suppressed by that laughter!
"It seems that there's no formidable guqin Dao cultivator in this generation. I can't believe no one can obtain the Emperor Weapon's acknowledgment."
Two people stepped down from the clouds.
It was two elderly men.
One of them had a guqin on his back, while the other had a large drawing brush on his back. They were both emanating a surge of powerful Boundary Emperor's Aura.
The Guqin Association's three presidents were shocked to see the two people.
"It's them! The Guqin Demon and Art Ghoul!"
"Why are those two here?"
Guqin Demon and Art Ghoul were legendary names in the Emperor Road.
Among those two, one chose their path of Dao through the guqin, while the other delved within the Dao through art. Both of them were top-notched beings in the Boundary Emperor realm.
However, those two did not have a good reputation in the Emperor Road.
Guqin Demon liked to collect famous guqins. Whenever he had his eyes on a well-known guqin, he must definitely obtain it for himself, regardless of whether the guqin had an owner or not.
Art Ghoul was more or less the same, with the only difference being that he liked collecting famous paintings and art all over the world to remake copies instead. After copying, he would always destroy the original and intentionally spread his copies throughout the world. Due to his superb drawing skills, only a few could see through its authenticity.
He relished the feeling of toying with artists and painters all over the world.
Nevertheless, if anyone managed to see through his fakery, he would immediately seek them out and kill them.
That was why no one dared to point out that Art Ghoul's painting was a copy even if it could recognize its forgery.
This gave both Guqin Demon and Art Ghoul a bad reputation in the Emperor Road. One could say that their reputation was infamous instead.
Even so, no one could do anything about it because they were both incredibly powerful.
Later, the two of them seemed to have gone into hiding, and they had not appeared in the past thousand years.
s
It was the appearance of the Emperor Weapon Springtime Lightning that attracted both of their appearances again.
"It seems that this generation really has no one formidable in guqin Dao. Since no one can obtain this Emperor Weapon's acknowledgment, then I shall help myself to it then."
The one that spoke was the Guqin Demon.
His black hair swayed in the air as he took out a black guqin that emanated a creepy and gloomy aura.
That was the Guqin Demon's most treasured item in his collection, the Yin Demon Guqin.