After Senior Zou's verdict, Elder Jing spoke, "Above and beyond— that's all I can say. Ten points from me as well."
Everybody then turned to look at Song Ling'er, who nodded her head and said, "I see that you've finally understood the situation you're in, Wei Kang."
"Yes, Master!" Wei Kang said with a serious look on his face.
"Although there were many mistakes in your performance, I do not expect anyone to play the God Descends from Heaven song perfectly, especially not in a duet. You get nine points from me."
The crowd cheered after hearing Song Ling'er's verdict. Although it was not a perfect score, neither was their performance, so it was fully justified for once.
"Thank you, Master!"
Ai Wan and Wei Kang bowed to her before sitting back down and exchanging satisfied looks with each other. Then they turned to look at Yuan, who was calmly sitting there and staring at his zither with a pondering gaze.
'What's he thinking about?' They couldn't help but wonder to themselves after seeing Yuan's bright eyes that gave them an ominous feeling for some reason.
The competition continued, and just like previously, after Ai Wan and Wei Kang's performance, the rest of the participants appeared to be lacking in their performance, causing the audience to grow bored.
Sometime later, when they finally reached Yuan's team, the audience immediately straightened their backs and widened their eyes with anticipation flickering within.
"It's them! Fairy Fei and her mysterious partner!"
"I wonder what kind of surprise they'll bring this time and how their performance will compare to Ai Wan and Wei Kang's performance!"
Meanwhile, Fei Yuyan asked Yuan, "What song should we play?"
However, almost as though he couldn't hear her, Yuan remained silent and continued staring at his zither with a dazed look on his face.
"Disciple Yuan?" Fei Yuyan called out to him again.
"Eh? I'm sorry, I was thinking about something. What did you just say?" Yuan snapped out of his daze and turned to look at her with a puzzled look on his face.
"It's our turn to perform," Fei Yuyan said with her eyebrows raised, and she continued, "What song should we play? After Senior Song's disciples' performance, it'll be hard for us to compete since we don't know any difficult songs like Gods Descending from Heaven."
Yuan then said, "Do you remember that one song we played during our practice when we stayed up all night? Let's play that song."
Fei Yuyan's eyes widened, and then she said, "A-Are you sure about that? That song… It's too unique. What if the judges don't like it? I think it'd be safer if we played one of my songs."
"It'll be fine. It may be a bit unique compared to the music you're used to, but this is a competition to see how well we can play the song as partners. Anyway, just play as we did during practice— I'll follow your pace." Yuan said to her with a smile behind his mask.
Fei Yuyan nodded with a serious look on her face, and then she turned to look at her zither.
'I cannot be a burden to Yuan…'
After taking a deep breath, Fei Yuyan moved her slender arms and began playing the zither with her fair hands.
Yuan followed Fei Yuyan's movements and played the zither at the exact time she did.
"W-What the? What kind of music is this?"
The audience was immediately taken aback by the unique-sounding music that had a theme they've never heard before.
However, not every single spectator in the audience was unfamiliar with this type of music.
"Wait a second... Why does this music sound so familiar?"
"H-Hey! That's a famous song from our world! Why do they know such a song?!"
The players in the audience were baffled once they realized that this song being played was a song from their modern world, especially the players that were among the participants there!
Unless a fellow player taught them this song, there was only one other reason why they would know this song! One of them was a player! And since most of the NPCs there knew Fei Yuyan, it could only mean that the figure wearing the black jade mask was a player!
'That person was a fellow player this entire time? My god! Why is he so good at the zither already?! Did he pick up the zither the moment he started playing this game?!'
"Just who is behind that black mask?!" The participants that were players wondered.
Meanwhile, the judges were baffled by not only the unique song but also their perfect performance that flowed smoothly and was also flawlessly in sync.
In their eyes, it was almost as though Yuan and Fei Yuyan had become a single entity playing one song.
"T-This is…" Song Ling'er almost couldn't believe her eyes.
'Impossible! The reason they sound so perfectly in sync is not because they are used to playing together— it's because Yuan is following Fei Yuyan's rhythm flawlessly!'
Although most of the people there may not be aware of the situation, Song Ling'er knew exactly how shocking Yuan's performance was.
While Fei Yuyan only needed to play the song at her own pace, Yuan had to imitate Fei Yuyan's movements and follow her pace without making any mistakes; it was an incredibly difficult thing to do even for top experts, and only those who fully grasp their partners' skills would be able to achieve such a thing.
Of course, even Fei Yuyan herself was not aware of this, and she continued to play the zither innocently.
A few minutes later, Fei Yuyan stopped playing the zither, and the music immediately halted without any delays, almost like she was the only one who was playing the zither this entire time.
However, the audience appeared to be a little puzzled afterward.
"Is it just me or was their performance a little bit disappointing? It didn't have the same impact as their previous performance…"
"Right? Although the song was unique and very pleasant-sounding, it wasn't as exciting as I thought it'd be…"
"Compared to Ai Wan and Wei Kang, their performance is definitely lacking."
Completely oblivious to the 'real' performance behind Yuan and Fei Yuyan's show just now, the audience expressed their disappointment.