There hadn’t been many opportunities for Ye Futian to cultivate in peace. So naturally, he did not want to bother with the thought of the challenge. He did not know who Jing Yang was and it did not matter if he was a prodigy. None of this had anything to do with Ye Futian. Defeating Jing Yang would only draw more attention to himself and would have no benefit for him. It might even bring about more problems.
The students of the School of the Flirting Star continued to throw insults at Ye Futian, but he paid them no attention. He was not listening to any of their comments. Unbeknownst to him, Ye Futian broke through another plane while he cultivated silently. He was now a three-starred Glory Plane in both martial and divination arts. During his silent cultivation, he was also able to learn a large number of new spells.
Ye Futian was attempting a battle tactic which was a combination of martial and divination arts in his dorm. He specialized in the sorcery of different elements, so if he was able to incorporate his powerful martial arts abilities into his sorcery, his combat would be able to reach new levels.
Yu Sheng watched him from the side. He said to Ye Futian, “Of the seven elements, you have cultivated in all of them with corresponding spells—all except for the element of water.”
Although Ye Futian could perceive all elements, he did not have a Water Elemental Life Spirit, so his gift in this element was on the weaker side. For the time being, he did not have the ability to cultivate the element of water.
Other than that, he was at the highest level of cultivation in all of the other elements. His Natal Spirit was the World Tree, which was Wood Elemental. He had already begun to cultivate in this element even though he knew that there was a chance that the Natal Spirit would never be released in front of others.
“These are all spells chosen by me. There’s no harm in learning more.” Ye Futian smiled and said, “I have to step out and take care of some things so I might not make it back tonight. Work hard on cultivating and quickly make it to the four-starred Glory Plane.”
“Okay. I should be getting there,” nodded Yu Sheng. His journey in cultivation was no easier than that of Ye Futian.
Ye Futian mounted the black wind eagle and was out of Donghai Academy.
…
The Luo Palace was a palace in the city of Donghai.
It was rumored that the master of the palace, Lord Luo, was a distant relative of the king of the Nandou nation. Other rumors had it that he was in the good graces of the imperial family, and was therefore named a lord.
Regardless of the reason, he was the only person in all of the City of Donghai to be given such a title. Naturally, his status was everything but that of the ordinary.
The Luo Palace was extremely dignified, and was a true family of power.
There was a young man standing in front of the Luo Palace. It was Ye Futian.
Outside the doors of the palace, people were busily scurrying around. The building was well-decorated and there was a festive atmosphere in the air. Ye Futian knew that the master of the palace was having a birthday celebration.
However, none of that mattered to Ye Futian.
The only thing he cared about was Lord Luo. He was the only Arcana Plane healing sorcerer of the Spirit element in all of Donghai City. He was the person that Tang Lan had refused to tell him about.
Investigating this was the only thing Ye Futian did outside of cultivation. He was always thinking about Hua Fengliu’s injuries.
Ye Futian did not understand why Tang Lan had been so sure Lord Luo would refuse to help. He was not completely confident that he could get Lord Luo to agree to help heal Hua Fengliu, but he knew that he couldn’t just sit around and do nothing. He found out that Lord Luo lived an isolated life and cared a lot about his reputation. Every year on his birthday he would hold an extravagant celebration. Ye Futian wanted to find out exactly what kind of person he was, and see if there was a chance to persuade him to help Hua Fengliu.
Ye Futian owed this to Hua Fengliu. This was also what he had promised Hua Jieyu. It did not matter if he succeeded; he had to give it all he had.
The steward noticed Ye Futian. A handsome young man, he thought. With a smile, he asked, “Is there something I can help you with, Young Master?”
“May I ask if there will be dancing and music entertainment at Lord Luo’s birthday celebration? I specialize in performing the guqin. If possible, I would like to play for Lord Luo at his birthday celebration,” said Ye Futian.
The steward smiled and replied, “The palace does not lack a guqin player.”
“I am sure that I am more capable than your present personnel,” Ye Futian continued, “If it’s really not possible, then are you guys lacking in the errand boy department?”
The steward looked at Ye Futian confused. The young man had an aura of elegance, and was obviously not an errand boy.
“Young Master, why are you so adamant on entering the palace?” asked the steward. His eyes squinted with suspicion. The steward was a clever man.
“I just want to witness the extravagance for myself,” Ye Futian said calmly, keeping his composure.
“The palace has no shortage of guqin players or errand boys,” the steward said, rejecting Ye Futian. Although one teenager couldn’t do much harm, he could not simply grant him access to the palace.
“Hey!” At that moment, someone from behind them called out in surprise. Ye Futian turned around and was met with two beautiful girls. The girl walking in front was especially beautiful.
Ye Futian had met both of these girls aboard the ship on his way to the city of Donghai.
“It’s you?” the girl in front asked in surprise. She had thought that they were passing strangers, never to meet again. She would never have expected to run into him again much less at a place like this.
“Young Miss Lin Xiyue, is he a friend of yours?” asked the steward. Could the young man have come for the Young Miss? It couldn’t be. She arrived only yesterday as a guest of the palace.
“Yes,” Lin Xiyue nodded. She smiled at Ye Futian. “What are you doing here?”
“The Young Master says he is a guqin player and wants to perform during Lord Luo’s celebration,” said the steward. Since he was a friend of Lin Xiyue, there was no way he could say that Ye Futian came to be an errand boy.
“Yeah,” Ye Futian agreed.
“Why don’t we give him a chance?” Lin Xiyue asked the steward. The steward smiled helplessly but nodded anyway. “Since Young Miss has spoken, then I guess we can give him a chance. Young Master, this way please.”
The group walked into the palace. Lin Xiyue and Xiao He were on either side of Ye Futian. Lin Xiyue asked, “Didn’t you say you were coming to Donghai City to attend school? Why do you want to be a guqin player at the palace?”
“That’s right! I’m attending Donghai Academy now. I just wanted to come explore the palace and see what it’s like,” replied Ye Futian with a smile.
“You’re lying!” Xiao He snickered, “When you arrived in Donghai City, the Spring Quarter Exams were already over, how could you have gotten into the academy already. Are you making things up to attract Lin Xiyue’s attention?”
“Stop with the nonsense, Xiao He,” said Lin Xiyue while trying to suppress a smile. While this was going on, they failed to notice Ye Futian shrugging his shoulders in defeat. He felt helpless. Every time he told the truth, nobody was willing to believe him.
“Oh right. What are you doing here? Do you live in the Luo Palace?” Ye Futian asked curiously.
Lin Xiyue shook her head. “The elders of my family know Lord Luo, so the younger generation of the family is also familiar with him. I came this time to visit him. I can introduce some people to you!”
“I see,” Ye Futian nodded slightly. It looked like Lin Xiyue was the young miss of a noble family. It was no wonder that her every gesture and way of speech flowed with such elegance.
“What kind of person is Lord Luo?” Ye Futian asked her in a low voice. Tang Lan had said that it was impossible for Lord Luo to agree to help. If it was simply because of his proud and aloof personality, then it was not a problem; but if it was because Lord Luo and Hua Fengliu had some sort of rivalry going on, then maybe it really was impossible to persuade him to help.
“Stern, but kind. It really depends on the situation,” smiled Lin Xiyue.
The group arrived in the garden area. There was a person playing on the guqin, as well as dancers. They seemed to be rehearsing for tonight’s performance. It was obvious that they would not want to make any mistakes at Lord Luo’s birthday celebration. It was best to prepare beforehand.
The steward went to whisper to the guqin player, then turned to Ye Futian. “Would you like to give it a go?”
“Sure,” nodded Ye Futian. The guqin player got up and gave his seat to Ye Futian. When Ye Futian’s fingers finally met with the chords of the guqin, the aura around him shifted. It was now quiet and peaceful. A touch of elegance added on to his already outstanding looks.
His long fingers flew over the chords, strumming them as he moved. The sound of the guqin played and the original guqin player’s expression darkened. The music played softly, and everyone was being drawn in.
“That’s enough. I admit defeat,” the guqin player smiled bitterly and shook his head. Being able to create a certain mood was an important part of playing the instrument. Even though Ye Futian was young, he was able to play as if he had years of experience. Ye Futian played at a level that he could not reach. However, the guqin player had no idea that Ye Futian was a Musical Sorcerer, and was able to surpass ordinary guqin players like himself even without musical spells.
“If it’s like this, then Young Master, you should stay here today and learn the pieces you need to play tomorrow. How does that sound?” asked the steward.
“Alright. Thank you!” Ye Futian smiled.
“Lin Xiyue, what are you doing here?” At that moment, a group of youths approached from afar.
“We were just looking for you. What brings you here to observe the rehearsal?” asked one of the youths in the group.
The group Ye Futian was standing in all turned their heads towards the voices. All of them had a magnificent aura around them. They must all either be from prominent families or the Luo Palace.
“My friend is playing the guqin here, so I came to check it out,” explained Lin Xiyue.
“Your friend?” one of them looked at Ye Futian.
“Yeah, he’s a guqin player. He wants to play at tomorrow’s birthday celebration,” nodded Lin Xiyue.
“Oh, I see,” one of the youths lost interest as soon as he heard ‘guqin player.’ He continued, “Lin Xiyue, let’s go. Someone is coming.”
“Okay,” nodded Lin Xiyue. She turned to give Ye Futian a quick wave goodbye. Ye Futian returned the gesture with a smile.
“Who is it?” Lin Xiyue asked the group of youths as they walked away from Ye Futian.
“Zhou Mu,” replied one of them. Lin Xiyue’s eyes lit up. She heard that Zhou Mu was already a five-starred Glory Plane conjurer. He was highly gifted just as his master had been years ago.
“Oh right, Lin Xiyue. How did you end up making friends with a guqin player?” asked a young woman in the group.
“We met once by chance,” she answered.
“Is it because of his good looks?” teased the young woman.
Lin Xiyue smiled but did not reply. Ye Futian was handsome, even more so when he was playing his instrument but it was unfortunate that he was a mere guqin player. In addition, he seemed to be boastful and a liar, but Lin Xiyue thought that it might be because he was too prideful.
Lin Xiyue did not invite Ye Futian to join the group nor did she introduce him to them. Ye Futian knew that a ‘guqin player’ like himself did not belong in a group with the nobles. However, they had only been strangers to begin with, so Ye Futian really did not mind. Besides, he had not entered the palace to get to know that group of youths anyway.