"Un— You have improved a lot compared to yesterday's practice, Disciple Fei," Yuan said to her with an approving smile on his face after another day of practice, resembling a lecturer.
"Thank you…" Fei Yuyan said in a slightly dejected voice, unsure of how she should feel about her situation.
On one hand, her zither skills were improving at a rapid rate that she has never experienced before, but on the other hand, she was being taught by a junior disciple who had less experience than her with the zither, putting her 'senior' status to question and even subtly slapping her in the face with his godlike talents.
'It appears that I am the only one who's really benefiting from this practice…' Fei Yuyan sighed inwardly, feeling slightly ashamed of herself.
"At this rate, Yuan might win the entire competition by himself even without needing your help, Disciple Fei," Xuan Wuhan said to her with a smile.
Fei Yuyan wanted to refute Xuan Wuhan's words, but there was nothing she could say, as she also believed that Yuan has the capability to carry her to third place even if her performance turns out to be lacking.
Sometime later, once the practice was over, Min Li returned to her home next door whilst everyone else went to do their own things.
"Don't tell me you're going to stay here again tonight? I thought it was only for last night," Fei Yuyan said to Xuan Wuhan who was casually laying in her bed and had no intention of leaving anytime soon.
"Did I say it was only for a single night? Since I am already here, it shouldn't matter if I stayed here for another day or a couple more days." Xuan Wuhan said in a shameless voice.
Fei Yuyan shook her head and ignored Xuan Wuhan, almost like she was already getting used to her behavior.
The following day, Yuan and Fei Yuyan went to the backyard early in the morning to practice their zithers with Xuan Wuhan as a spectator as well as Min Li, who was ignoring her daily routine and practice just to spend more time around Yuan so she doesn't fall behind these two top beauties who were already ahead of her in terms of relationship and intimacy.
If her family knew about this, they would definitely scold her, but fortunately for her, she was the only one from the Min Family in the Dragon Essence Temple while her siblings were at the other and more powerful elite sects.
Sometime later, their fourth day of practice came to an end.
However, right as everyone there prepared to leave the backyard, a familiar-sounding voice resounded, "Disciple Fei! I'm coming in!"
Elder Shan did not even wait for one of them to open the door and opened the door with her own keys before appearing in front of them a moment later.
"Master? What's the matter? Did something happen?" Fei Yuyan looked at her with a puzzled face, wondering why Elder Shan appeared to be so excited.
"You haven't heard? The judges for the zither competition have been announced and you won't believe who'll be judging this year's competition!" Elder Shan said.
"Who?" Fei Yuyan asked with a slightly dazed look on her face, as she has never seen Elder Shan so excited before.
"The Sect Master of Heavenly Melody Academy— Senior Song Ling'er!" Elder Shan said with a smile on her face.
"WHAT?! SENIOR SONG LING'ER?!" Fei Yuyan exclaimed in a shocked voice, startling Yuan and the other two.
"Senior Song Ling'er? Who's that?" Yuan decided to ask her.
"Y-You don't know Senior Song? The number one zither expert in the Lower Heavens? She's even called the Goddess of Music!"
"Goddess of Music?" Yuan raised his eyebrows, unsure of how to feel about such an overbearing title.
"The Heavenly Melody Academy is an elite sect that purely focuses on instruments with most of if not all of their disciples using instruments as their weapons, and their Sect Master, Senior Song Ling'er, has mastered over a dozen instruments with the zither being her favorite," Elder Shan explained to Yuan.
"Honestly, I wanted to join the Heavenly Melody Academy at first before the Dragon Essence Temple, but I wasn't determined enough to focus on the zither at that time so I went with the Dragon Essence Temple instead." Fei Yuyan shrugged.
"Do you regret it?" Elder Shan suddenly asked her. "You could've definitely become a Core Disciple there as well with your zither skills."
"I would be lying if I say that I don't since there are times when I wonder if I would've done better as a disciple at the Heavenly Melody Academy, but I am mostly glad that I'd joined the Dragon Essence Temple, Master." Fei Yuyan said.
Elder Shan nodded with a smile on her face, and she continued, "Anyway, there will be two more judges alongside Senior Song, but they might as well not be there with Senior Song's presence there! If you can impress her, it will greatly benefit you and maybe even the Dragon Essence Temple's relationship with the Heavenly Melody Academy."
"Although the Heavenly Melody Academy is vastly different from the other sects, do not underestimate their prowess, as they are ranked the 3rd strongest sect in the Lower Heavens."
"What about our Dragon Essence Temple? Where do we rank?" Yuan suddenly asked.
A bittersweet smile appeared on Elder Shan's face, and she responded, "During our Founder's era, our Dragon Essence Temple was number one, but alas, ever since his disappearance, we have slowly dropped in the ranks, and we're now only 7th in the ranking."
"7th? That's already very good, no?" Yuan raised his eyebrows.
"Of course, but compared to our former glory, it's quite shameful and a slap to our Ancestors' faces…" Elder Shan sighed.
"Anyway, I believe that our ranking will soon change for the better so it's all good." Elder Shan winked her pretty eyes at Yuan, dumbfounding the three ladies there, and they silently wondered what else Yuan was hiding from them.