Chapter 281: Legend of the Saint of the Zither, the Heavenly Enchantress
Following that, Jian Chen rarely ventured out of his room and continued to cultivate. He could rarely be seen by the other members and would only occasionally spar with Qin Xiao.
He was always constantly reminded of Elder Wu who hadn’t come to bother him any more. It was almost as if he had disappeared from the Tianqin clan and was no longer seen by Jian Chen.
This pattern continued for a month. With the assistance of the monster cores, Jian Chen was able to make a breakthrough to become a Peak Great Saint Master.
After, Jian Chen had spent another large amount of time to stabilize his newfound power and to eliminate any of the hidden dangers brought by the monster cores in his body. After all that was done, he continued to cultivate with the monster cores once more.
Soon, another half month had past. News of the Multicolored Stone had already lost its interest in the Tianqin clan since everyone had already forgotten about it.
Similarly, Ming Dong hadn’t been idle and followed Jian Chen’s lead by shutting himself in his room and earnestly cultivated his own strength with the help of a monster core.
Ten days later in the morning, Jian Chen finally opened the door to his room and walked out.
Looking at the nearby room of Ming Dong, Jian Chen could detect even behind the closed door a small and obscure fluctuation of energy; Ming Dong was still cultivating at this moment.
Slowly taking in a deep breath of the morning air, Jian Chen muttered, “We’ve been here for two months now. Not too long from now, the Tianqin clan will surely send men to Mercenary City.” Looking at Qin Xiao’s residence some distance away, Jian Chen hesitated for a moment before finally deciding to walk over. The definite time for when this would happen needed to be verified by Qin Xiao.
Just as Jian Chen was about to enter the isolated compound of Qin Xiao, a guard standing by the gates blocked him.
“Fellow brother, is Qin Xiao currently inside?” Jian Chen cupped his hands respectfully.
“The young lord went to the training grounds earlier, he is no longer inside his compound.” The guard replied.
Afterward, Jian Chen headed for the training grounds. After these past few weeks, Jian Chen had traveled with Qin Xiao to the training grounds multiple times, so he was familiar with the way to the area.
Just as Jian Chen was crossing by a garden, the sweet melody of a zither being played could be heard in a nearby pavilion. Almost as if the song had an enchanting ability, the moment anyone heard this melody would feel as if their heart strings were resonating along with the zither.
TL Note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zither
The moment Jian Chen heard the sound of the zither, he unconsciously stopped walking and turned to looked toward the source. He could only see a woman wearing a white colored pao robe with her back facing Jian Chen in the pavilion. Her jade white fingers could be seen dancing along the strings of the zither as the sweet melodies rang throughout the area.
Walking toward the pavilion, Jian Chen quickly approached the back of the white robed woman. Her black hair hung behind her shoulders down to her back. A white veil covered her face so that Jian Chen couldn’t see her appearance.
The part of the woman’s face that could be seen could only be described as quite heavenly, almost devastatingly beautiful.
The woman playing the zither was the second sister of the Tianqin clan.
In a flash, she finished playing the ballad and turned to look at Jian Chen. “Does my lord enjoy the sound of the zither as well?” The second sister was fairly nice sounding, capable of being as enchanting as a skylark so that anyone who listened to her would be enchanted. If one wasn’t strong enough, then they would go mad after hearing her voice.
With a light smile, Jian Chen replied, “The second sister’s ability with the zither is quite amazing. Although I do not understand how the zither works, I still found myself attracted by it’s song.”
Smiling sweetly, she spoke with a gentle voice, “I thank the lord for his praise.”
Jian Chen continued to smile at her, “Second sister’s skill at the zither has already reached the realm of perfection and befits the song of an immortal. This one truly admires your skill, and couldn’t help feel my own heart be moved.”
“I am quite fond of the four arts and studied them studiously when I was young, but I am still far from the realm of perfection, while the sounds of my zither are quite beautiful, it was mostly because of the zither itself.” The second sister’s delicate white finger stroked a string on the zither as she muttered, “Although this zither is a copy of the Zither of the Demonic Cry, it uses a variety of expensive looking ingredients. Even then, the inside of this holy zither contains the Saint Force of the Heavenly Enchantress, so the music that comes out of this instrument can move people’s soul so much that it could absorb it.
“Saint of the Zither? Heavenly Enchantress?” Jian Chen asked with confusion, “Second sister, just who is this Heavenly Enchantress of the Zither supposed to be?”
The second sister of the Tianqin clan looked at Jian Chen with a strange look before relief filled her face. A look of worship was on her face as she spoke, “Since lord Jian Chen came from a kingdom far away from here, it is natural to not know about the Saint of the Zither, the Heavenly Enchantress. In this kingdom, she is a well known figure who wields the Zither of the Demonic Cry to a terrifying degree that even the experts of the continent will be affected. The Heavenly Enchantress uses her zither as her weapon in a way that cannot be defended against. Not many can last long under her zither, and when she uses it, she can cause those affected by the music to become lost in an illusion. Her zither has the ability to erase one’s spirit and even the body so that they become an incorporeal being after death.”
“The Heavenly Enchantress’ ability with the zither has already reached the realm of utmost perfection. When she plays her zither, then even the weather can change. Legend has it that ten years ago, she alone was able to prevent the war between two kingdoms by playing her zither on the battlefield. In a short moment, she had caused hundreds of thousand soldiers to fall into a deep sleep that they could only wake up from after three days and three nights.”
The second sister truly did worship this Heavenly Enchantress. The very moment she started to talk about the Heavenly Enchantress, her eyes began to light up with a strange light.
“A single ballad from the zither was enough cause two entire armies to fall asleep for three days and three nights, just how terrifying is this Heavenly Enchantress?” Jian Chen spoke with uncontained shock.
“The Heavenly Enchantress’ ability to play the zither can be said to be unparalleled and her songs fit to be called the songs of the immortals.” The second sister spoke. Since she loved the four arts, she had long since set the Heavenly Enchantress as her goal.
“Ah, the Heavenly Enchantress is indeed magical. If given the chance, this one would love to be familiarized with her music.” Jian Chen spoke.
“The Heavenly Enchantress is already a saint, she is not an easy to see person.” The second sister looked at Jian Chen with a curious look, “Lord Jian Chen, I’ve heard that you wish to join the Gathering of the Mercenaries?”
Jian Chen sat down on a nearby stool and replied, “Correct! I have decided to participate in the next Gathering of the Mercenaries.”
“I’ve never seen the Gathering of the Mercenaries myself, but I have heard that it is quite perilous. Rumors have it that the chances of a man surviving is about ten percent. Even an Earth Saint Master is not guaranteed to survive there. Lord Jian Chen must take care of himself.” The second sister spoke gently.
“I thank the second sister for her advice, I will take care of myself.”
After talking with the second sister for a while, Jian Chen left the pavilion to continue toward the training grounds.
The training grounds of the Tianqin clan was an elevated platform that was two hundred feet long. The moment Jian Chen arrived, he could see Qin Xiao just jumping off from the platform while five guard captains were all laying on the ground with a pale faces.
Taking a towel offered to him by a guard, Qin Xiao wiped off his sweat before laughing at Jian Chen, “Brother Jian Chen, what brings you here, did you want to spar with me?”
Jian Chen smiled back at Qin Xiao before replying, “Brother Qin Xiao, I just wished to come and ask when we will be heading for Mercenary City.”
“Don’t worry! There is no rush! Right there is still three months until the Gathering of the Mercenaries. We will wait for until half a month before setting off.” Qin Xiao said.
Hearing this, Jian Chen had some hesitation, “Brother Qin Xiao. I have to leave for a small moment of time, but I will be back by then.”
Jian Chen’s strength had already reached the Peak Great Saint Master realm, and the Gathering of the Mercenaries will surely have plenty of talented geniuses at the Earth Saint Master level. So before the Gathering of the Mercenaries, Jian Chen wanted to cultivate until he could make the breakthrough to become an Earth Saint Master. This way, the Gathering of the Mercenaries would be an even easier event to win.
Qin Xiao didn’t ask what Jian Chen was up to, instead, he had only warned Jian Chen not to miss the date. Thus, Jian Chen left the Tianqin clan by himself on a magical beast out of Walaurent City.
“Jian Chen has left the clan compound possibly to head to a faraway place. Go and report that to Elder Wu.” A guard standing by the gates spoke to the other as they watched Jian Chen leave the compound.
Within a separated courtyard, Elder Wu and another man around the same age as him sat together at the same table.
“Elder Wu, your loyal servant has some news to report!” Suddenly, a guard ran into the courtyard straight toward Elder Wu.
Hearing this, the elder’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the guard with an annoyed look, “Don’t you know that it is prohibited to disturb me as I play chess with another?” The elder spoke with anger.
“Elder Wu, this was a command that you personally instructed for us to do of the highest priority. No matter what time, you said for us to report it straight away.” The guard spoke.
At this, the elder’s heart skipped a beat as he called out to the guard, “You may come in.”, allowing the guard to enter into the inner courtyard.
“Old man Wu, just what could be so important? Could it not wait for our chess game to be finished?” The elder by Elder Wu’s side asked.
“Elder He, I have some pressing matters to attend to, the chess game will have to wait.” Elder Wu spoke without turning to look as he followed the guard out.
As he exited the courtyard, Elder Wu turned to look at the guard. Without even needing to be asked, the guard immediately replied, “Elder Wu, Jian Chen just left the compounds headed toward the outside city area.”
Elder Wu’s eyes began to shine, “What direction is he headed in?”
“The eastern city gates.”