*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*
A few moments after Fei Yuyan played her three music notes, Senior Zou suddenly began clapping his hands, and he spoke in a praising voice, "I don't even know where to begin, Disciple Fei. I have witnessed your performance in the previous competition, and if I had listened to your performance just now while blindfolded, I would have never guessed that it was you playing the zither."
After taking a deep breath, he continued to speak, "If you were to participate in the previous competition in your current condition, I have no doubt that you would be able to achieve first place easily! Ten points from me!"
"Thank you for your praises, Senior Zou." Fei Yuyan stood up and bowed to him.
A few seconds later, Elder Jing said, "While this is my first time seeing you play the zither, I have no qualms claiming that you're as talented as Ai Wan and Wei Kang after listening to those three music notes alone. Ten points from me as well, and I am excited to see what else you have in store for us later."
"Thank you, Elder Jing." Fei Yuyan said to him before turning to look at Song Ling'er, who was staring at her with a profound expression.
After a moment of silence, Song Ling'er spoke, "You… Where did you learn to play the zither?"
"Eh?"
To her surprise, as well as everyone there, Song Ling'er had asked her a question instead of giving her verdict.
"I learned to play the zither by myself as it was only a hobby at first, Senior Song."
Hearing her response, Song Ling'er continued to ask, "How do you usually practice?"
"I don't have any special practice routines, and I only practice by playing the zither normally— a few hours every week. However, I have changed things up very recently by practicing with my partner, who has contributed a lot to my improvements." Fei Yuyan explained.
'This girl… she's managed to reach such a high level of zither arts without a proper master? And she's also from the Dragon Essence Temple? Why are there so many talented musicians at the Dragon Essence Temple when they don't belong there at all?!?!' Song Ling'er cried inwardly after realizing that Fei Yuyan was mostly another genius with talent equal if not even greater than her current disciples, and her envy towards the Dragon Essence Temple increased some more.
After a moment of silence, Song Ling'er finally gave her verdict, "Nine points from me."
"Thank you, Senior Song!" Fei Yuyan bowed to her.
"Wow! She actually received nine points from Senior Fairy Song! Does this mean Senior Fairy Song recognizes Fairy Fei's talents to be similar to her own disciples?"
"Well, she definitely deserves it!"
"If her partner doesn't drag her down, there's a good chance that her team will become top 10— even top 3!"
Meanwhile, Ai Wan and Wei Kang turned to look at Fei Yuyan with narrowed eyes, wondering if she was the person Song Ling'er was talking about when she warned them of an 'exceptional' genius that will be in the competition.
A few moments later, everybody in the audience turned to look at the next participant— a somewhat slender figure wearing a black jade mask on his face.
"What the heck? Why's he wearing a mask?"
"What an oddball. He's even the only person wearing a mask there."
"This is Fairy Fei's partner? I hope his zither arts won't become a burden."
The people there already began looking down on Yuan before his performance even began.
'Oh boy…' Senior Zou sighed inwardly, wondering what's going to happen now that they've finally reached this unknown prodigy who could defeat even Song Ling'er in a one-on-one battle.
"W-Wait a second! I recognize him! He was at the park yesterday!"
Someone in the crowd suddenly shouted in a surprised voice, dumbfounding the people around him.
"Park? What park?"
"Oh! I was there too! He was the one who was challenged by Senior Fairy Song to a zither battle, even defeating her one-on-one!"
"What kind of nonsense is that? Senior Fairy Song is the number one zither expert in the Lower Heavens! As if someone in this place could defeat her in a one-on-one zither battle!"
"Trust me, I completely understand why you'd be suspicious because I would be too if I didn't witness it for myself, but once you listen to him play the zither, you'll understand what I said is true! I couldn't sleep last night because his zither music was stuck inside my head!"
"..."
Song Ling'er's eyebrows twitched uncontrollably after hearing the crowd's conversation, yet there was nothing she could say about it.
"Ahem!"
Senior Zou suddenly cleared his throat loudly, causing a small ripple to sweep the place, quickly silencing the noise.
"Go ahead. You may begin." Elder Jing said to Yuan shortly after the place calmed down, completely oblivious of the other two judges that were acting slightly strange.
Yuan nodded his head and proceeded to place his fingers gently on the string without actually touching the strings.
After taking a deep breath, Yuan pulled on the string with his fingers, creating three music notes that actually sounded as though it was only one note, almost like he'd played the three notes simultaneously, and an otherworldly sound echoed in the place.
When the audience heard this music note, their eyes immediately widened with surprise, as they could somehow see the image of an incredibly beautiful flower field in front of them.
"W-What the heck? Am I seeing things? Why do I suddenly see flowers?"
"I am seeing it too! The entire area is filled with beautiful flowers!"
"T-This is…"
The judges' eyes widened with shock when they realized what was happening.
"His music note was so profound that it'd created an illusion for anyone that heard it! This level of zither art is simply legendary! And as far as my knowledge goes, only the Zither Goddess has managed to produce this phenomenon before, and he'd managed to achieve this same phenomenon using only an ordinary zither!" Senior Zou unconsciously stood up on the platform and stared at Yuan with a gawking look on his face.