"I was told that if someone could play this zither, they would get to keep it. Is that true?" Yuan asked Senior Zou sometime later.
Senior Zou laughed out loud after seeing Yuan's eyes that were filled with anticipation, and he nodded, "Yes, that's right."
Yuan immediately smiled behind the black jade mask.
"However, before I can give it to you, I want to know at least the face of the person I am giving this treasure to." Senior Zou suddenly narrowed his eyes at Yuan, seemingly suspicious of Yuan's identity.
Yuan nodded his head and removed the black jade mask without hesitation.
Senior Zou's eyes widened with surprise after seeing Yuan's handsome and young face.
'He's much younger than I'd expected! A true prodigy! He's a true prodigy!' Senior Zou cried inwardly.
After a moment of silence, Senior Zou nodded and said, "Very well. The Soul Ensnaring Zither is now yours, young man."
Almost instantly after Senior Zou said those words, a couple of notifications appeared in front of Yuan.
<Congratulations! You have completed the hidden quest: Zither Goddess's Abandoned Zither>
<You have been rewarded with: Soul Ensnaring Zither>
<Fame +50>
[Soul Ensnaring Zither]
[Rank: N/A]
[Description: A normal zither that turned into a unique treasure after being played by the Zither Goddess for many years. Neither a normal instrument nor a treasure.]
'So it's really not a treasure…' Yuan was not too surprised since Fei Yuyan had already told him about it beforehand. However, it was still very shocking to know that the Zither Goddess had turned a normal instrument into a treasure just by using it to play music.
"By the way, I have been wondering this, but since you're in this city at this time, do you plan on participating in the zither competition?" Senior Zou suddenly asked him.
Yuan nodded and said, "I am participating in the competition with Disciple Fei as my partner."
"Is that so…" A smile appeared on Senior Zou's face, and he said, "Well, I look forward to your performance. With your talents, I won't expect anything less than 1st place!"
"Really?" Fei Yuyan's eyes flickered with excitement.
After all, Senior Zou has participated in the zither competition many times as a judge, so his judgment is highly regarded. If he says that Yuan could achieve first place, there was a very good chance that it might really happen!
Senior Zou turned to look at Fei Yuyan and responded with a smile, "Of course… That is if you also do your part as his partner. After all, this is a paired competition— not a solo."
Fei Yuyan nodded with a serious look on her face.
"Good. Then I shall see you all again tomorrow— as one of the three judges." Senior Zou said with a smile on his face.
Sometime later, after Yuan and the others left, Senior Zou stared at the sky and mumbled in a low voice, "At last… You have found your long-awaited partner…"
After leaving the Zou Family's household, Yuan asked Fei Yuyan, "What should we do now? The competition isn't until tomorrow."
"Yes, but we still have to register for it." Fei Yuyan said.
"Eh? We still haven't registered?" Yuan looked at her with wide eyes.
Normally, one would register for a competition weeks, even months beforehand.
Fei Yuyan nodded and said, "Let's go to the place where the competition will be held."
Thus, Yuan and the others began following Fei Yuyan around again.
Sometime later, they arrived before this massive and spacious gathering area that could easily fit tens of thousands of people at once.
"Are everyone here participating in the competition?" Yuan mumbled in a dazed voice when he saw the sea of people in this area. Not even the biggest competitions he'd attended before had this many participants.
"Not everyone, but most of them. Since this competition requires a partner, it's only obvious that there would be more people." Fei Yuyan said.
"Come with me."
Yuan nodded and followed her to the large building at the end of the gathering hall.
"Hey, look over there! That's Fairy Fei from the Dragon Essence Temple! Looks like she'll be participating in this year's competition as well!"
"Wow! I still remember her performance at the last competition! I cannot wait to see how much she has improved since then!"
"Who do you think is her partner? Could it be one of those two fairies following behind her?"
The people there quickly took notice of Fei Yuyan's presence, even mistaking Xuan Wuhan and Min Li as her partner for the zither competition since there are way more females who pick up the zither than males.
Meanwhile, Yuan looked around the area and the people there with a serious gaze.
'How many of these people here are players?' he wondered inwardly as he tried to pick out those who appeared to be players.
Very quickly, he noticed a group of people that stood out from the rest of the crowd with their unique hairstyles that easily gave away their identity standing not far away.
'They must be players…' Yuan thought to himself.
A few moments later, Yuan noticed a couple more individuals there that were very likely players.
'Wow, there's a lot more players here than I'd expected…' Yuan swallowed nervously when he realized just how many players were there.
While he feels perfectly fine being around NPCs, he would, for some reason, become nervous when there are players around.
"We've arrived at the registration area," Fei Yuyan said to them after entering the building.
A few moments later, once they spotted an empty desk, they approached the worker behind the desk to register.
"We are from the Dragon Essence Temple, and I would like to register for the competition with my partner here." Fei Yuyan said to the worker behind the desk.
"Hm? Oh! Fairy Fei! Welcome back! I was beginning to wonder if you'll skip participating in this year's competition!" The worker easily recognized Fei Yuyan's pretty face and continued, "Give me a moment, I'll register your names right now."