CHAPTER 431: CHAPTER 407: QIONG YU’S QIN

"Little Junior Sister." Ling Yun immediately became happy: "In this way, we are family now."

Shi Nian just nodded obediently and cleverly. She said, "Senior Sister, I didn’t intentionally withhold the information about the Magic Treasure previously, I..."

Shi Nian genuinely liked this Senior Sister and thought of making up a reason to explain in order to avoid Ling Yun having any future misconceptions about her being cunning.

Ling Yun waved her hand, not caring in the least: "Whatever methods were used, passing is passing! Besides, there’s no rule that forbids the use of Magic Treasures! In any case, Junior Sister, you indeed passed, and I was indeed able to return to the Sect because of you, so I actually owe you a favor!"

This...

Shi Nian blinked, also unsure of what to say.

"Master, I will take Junior Sister to tour the Jade Pavilion first," said Ling Yun.

Emperor Qiong Yu was clearly very lenient towards her own disciples, simply smiling and nodding: "Good, bring Little Hua to meet me in three days, I’ve prepared some gifts for the occasion."

"Master, there’s no need for gifts, I..." Shi Nian wanted to decline.

Qiong Yu said sternly, "My disciples must receive the treatment they deserve. Little Hua, you just focus on your cultivation in the Jade Pavilion and don’t worry about anything else."

Qiong Yu was concerned that Shi Nian might be disheartened by the incident with those five Immortal Emperors, so she added encouragingly, "We are just temporarily relying on Magic Treasures. If we cultivate diligently, perhaps in the future we can be strong enough even without them, right?"

The Master is too kind and tender-hearted, Shi Nian could only obediently and cleverly respond, "Master, I will work hard."

She was young, and playing cute suited her. Emperor Qiong Yu’s gaze softened even more.

"Alright, go have fun with your Senior Sister Ling," Qiong Yu said.

Shi Nian responded with a yes, obediently following Ling Yun as they left.

Ling Yun led Shi Nian to meet the other disciples of Qiong Yu.

"In the Immortals Sect, Master has the most disciples, totaling thirty-five, and all are girls. I am ranked fifth," Ling Yun explained. "I have four Senior Sisters above me, I will take you to visit them."

Thirty-five disciples...

Shi Nian was astounded and couldn’t help but ask, "Can Master manage so many disciples?"

Ling Yun coughed lightly, "Many of the Junior Sisters aren’t particularly talented, if they were not under Master’s mentorship, they would only be ordinary disciples. Master is softhearted and usually brings back a few disciples each time she goes out, and so, the number keeps growing. In recent years, she simply stopped going out, which is why the number of disciples hasn’t continued to expand."

Shi Nian felt helpless.

To cultivate to the Immortal Emperor Realm usually means possessing tens of thousands of years of cultivation. After all these years, it’s remarkable that Emperor Qiong Yu has maintained such an innocent mindset; she truly is a rare kind."

But then again, if it weren’t because of Qiong Yu’s nature, I couldn’t have become her disciple.

One might say, it’s all about fate.

Next, Ling Yun led Shi Nian to visit the other Senior and Junior Sisters one by one.

Shi Nian didn’t consider herself particularly cunning, but after meeting others, she realized the saying ’Birds of a feather flock together’ was true.

She suspected that if there were 999 crafty thoughts in the Jade Pavilion, at least 998 of them would be hers. The rest just shared the remaining one.

Life in the Jade Pavilion was very simple.

It was all about admiring flowers, sipping tea, and learning calligraphy, painting, and music whenever there was nothing else to do.

As for going out?

That was out of the question. The Senior Sisters here, unless absolutely necessary, would never step out of the Jade Pavilion.

Shi Nian’s previously taut mindset gradually relaxed in this place.

Only...

After all, she had a mission to fulfill, and she couldn’t possibly stay hidden indefinitely.

One day.

Emperor Qiong Yu had a private meeting with Shi Nian and presented her with a set of gifts.

All sorts of Magic Treasures, from head to toe, were prepared for her, and the quality of each was extraordinarily good, showing that Emperor Qiong Yu had truly put her heart into it.

"Xiao Hua, Ling Yun might have mentioned to you before, I am not adept at cultivation. Even I am surprised that I could break through to become an Immortal Emperor," sighed Qiong Yu. "I just play the zither, and while playing, I suddenly broke through. So, I don’t really have any cultivation guidance to offer you, but your other senior sisters said that listening to my zither helps their cultivation progress. How about I play a piece for you?"

Shi Nian actually knew nothing about the art of zither, but since Emperor Qiong Yu said so, she naturally nodded repeatedly.

Emperor Qiong Yu waved her hand, and a guqin suddenly appeared in front of her.

This guqin was very simple, the guqin body didn’t have a single decorative pattern, just the most primitive wood color.

Shi Nian sat down obediently.

Emperor Qiong Yu’s hand gently touched the zither strings.

The next moment.

The sound of the zither began.

Shi Nian had originally prepared herself for potentially feeling bored.

However, as soon as the sound of the zither played, her entire body involuntarily shuddered.

Shi Nian’s cultivation was already at the Peak of the Immortal Emperor, just a step away from the Immortal Venerate Realm.

Yet, at the moment she heard the zither music, she was so engrossed that she even forgot the time of day.

It was just an instant, but her cultivation was far beyond that of Emperor Qiong Yu!

Shi Nian’s heart tightened, and she hurriedly pretended to be completely immersed, afraid that she would expose herself.

"Eh?" Xiao Tong suddenly popped out. "Host, this Emperor Qiong Yu, is quite unusual."

"Oh?" Shi Nian quickly inquired.

Xiao Tong said, "When she’s not playing the zither, her Soul Power is at the normal level of an early-stage Immortal Emperor. But, when she starts playing, her Soul Power surges to the late stage of the Immortal Emperor."

For Soul Power to surge like this, Emperor Qiong Yu is indeed an extraordinary figure.

"What’s going on with her?" Shi Nian couldn’t help but wonder.

After some thought, Xiao Tong said, "Humans have a saying that skill can be akin to Dao. When a skill is refined to the utmost, it can even touch the Heavenly Dao. Emperor Qiong Yu has entrusted all of herself to the zither, her zither art has surpassed the realm of mere skill and has become a Dao. Without the zither, she is just an ordinary Immortal Emperor, but with the zither, she is a master of the Zither Dao, a true unparalleled genius."

Xiao Tong couldn’t help but marvel.

And the growth of Soul Power is a kind of reward from the Heavenly Dao Power.

After all, refining a skill to the apex is not a simple matter.

Xiao Tong also suspected that when Qiong Yu performed for others in the Immortals Sect, she probably had not been fully immersed, and thus did not exhibit this unique ability.

Otherwise, the others in the Immortals Sect would not have overlooked her.

A talent who controls a complete Dao is not to be taken lightly!

"Dao..." Shi Nian frowned. To be honest, this was the first time she encountered this term.

Xiao Tong explained, "There are myriad Daos in the world, among which, the Space Dao and Time Dao are the most fundamental. Thereafter, there are various other Daos such as the Sword Dao and Sword Dao, and now Emperor Qiong Yu’s Zither Dao, all are forms of Dao. Usually, this is a realm touched upon only when one reaches the Immortal Venerate Realm. But Emperor Qiong Yu has touched it while still an Immortal Emperor, so I say she’s a true unparalleled genius."