Techniques and Dao

Chapter 11 Pear Garden Lantern Festival (2)

Stepping into the theater at the heart of the opera house, the open-air space felt even more spacious. Perhaps there were no clouds in the sky tonight; looking up, one could see a magnificent and beautiful starry sky—a truly breathtaking sight!
As Hua Shenggang stepped into the audience aisle, a small orange lantern flew to him, and a thin blue light appeared beneath his feet, with a navigation arrow moving forward like flowing water. He took two steps to the side, and the light on the ground followed his steps, always starting from his feet. He looked around at the audience members who had entered at the same time. Each person was assigned a small lantern for illumination, with a different colored light guiding them, making it impossible to find their seat without knowing their seat number. Once a guest was seated, the lantern automatically flew away to greet other arriving audience members.

Because his living expenses had always been extremely limited since childhood, Hua Sheng's entertainment activities consisted mostly of reading, and he rarely had the opportunity to see large-scale live performances. This was an unprecedented luxury for him.

The performance venue was already about half full. Hua Sheng looked around and saw that the theater was a traditional Chinese wooden building that could accommodate more than 10,000 audience members. Everywhere there were carved beams and painted rafters, and the walls were covered with lifelike woodblock prints.

Hua Sheng looked around, wondering where Wei Yu was, and hoped she would finish her business and come over soon. It would be such a pity to miss the opening music.

She didn't say where she was going. What if she couldn't come? Hua Sheng felt a little uneasy and started to have all sorts of wild thoughts.

Just then, the theater was already full, and the lights gradually dimmed. The entire open-air theater was instantly filled with deafening shouts like a tidal wave, while the exquisite rings in the audience's hands slowly lit up. Hua Sheng looked around and saw that all the exquisite rings in the theater were shining and dancing like fireflies, like glow sticks emitting different lights.

Looking at the exquisite bracelet on her wrist, the title of the song she was about to perform slowly emerged from the engraved pattern – "Unfinished".

The song title reminded Hua Sheng of Wei Yu's name?! Thinking about how she had just said she had something to do, Hua Sheng's heart started racing faster and faster.

No way, could it be?

In an instant, the entire theater was illuminated with a soft glow, and sycamore leaves drifted down from the air. The leaves danced slowly as they fell, disappearing just before reaching the audience's heads.

A spotlight shone on the dark stage, and a figure in an orange dress appeared in the center of the stage.

It really was Wei Yu! Wei Yu was standing on the stage.

Under the spotlight, accompanied by slow music, the rain slowly rose from below the stage.

""not yet"

Streets at dawn, orange ginkgo leaves
No words were spoken; all was silent.

The weather is getting cooler, the leaves are falling, and it's hard to say goodbye to summer.

When we meet, all is silent except for the whispers of our hearts.
Everything is uncertain.
I only hope that we can tie our hair together.

We used to talk about everything; that's a scene from a long time ago.

The peaceful times are no longer what they used to be.

With you by my side,
Like white clouds in spring, or fireworks festivals in summer.

Those who haven't experienced it can hardly understand why it hasn't been forgotten.

Black tea and coffee, it always takes time to get used to them.

They never became a couple, and all that remains is bitterness.

Efforts did not yield the desired results.

The harmonious union of music and poetry has ultimately become a dream.

People say it's not necessarily true, or that it's not mature enough.

But that moment hasn't come yet.
I only believe that it is not yet over.

Let's draw the story of autumn.

Go and possess the memories yet to come.

Like a swirling dance of memories, fallen leaves recall bygone days.

I'm just afraid,
Fate is unresolved, destiny is unclear, and feelings are uncertain.

Would you agree to share this moment with me?
Place this moon-light-like beautiful ring on my head.

future."

Wei Yu softly sang the lyrics as she slowly walked to the front of the stage, seemingly knowing where Hua Sheng was sitting. She intentionally approached and gazed into Hua Sheng's eyes. Hua Sheng, in turn, stared intently at her on the stage, captivated by her voice as if it touched his very soul.

As the song ended, thunderous applause erupted in the theater, causing the ground beneath Hua Sheng's feet to tremble slightly. The audience chanted Wei Yu's name again and again.

"Before it rains! Before it rains! Before it rains!"

She's a singer? This was completely unexpected by Hua Sheng.

He quickly took out the Ruihua Treasure Mirror and sent a message to Taishang Xiaojun: "Is Weiyu, the deputy clerk of our Xiyuan Disciples Association, a celebrity or something?"

Shortly after, Tai Shang Xiao Jun replied.

“I thought you knew. He’s a rising star who’s been on some magazine covers. He’s quite well-known in the Xi Academy. That’s why many disciples voted for him when he was running for vice-chairman of the disciple committee at the beginning of the year.”

Hua Sheng suddenly realized what had happened and couldn't help but smile bitterly to herself, realizing that she had rashly bought tickets to invite a singer to see her own performance.

Just as Hua Sheng was feeling incredibly anxious, Wei Yu had already slowly left the stage. She glanced back at Hua Sheng, who was staring blankly in the stands. She covered her mouth with her sleeve, revealing a mischievous expression and a quirky smile, as if she had successfully pulled off a prank.

At this moment, Hua Sheng felt as if he were deeply immersed in something, unable to extricate himself.

After the warm-up performance, the atmosphere in the theater was immediately ignited, and the audience's shouts reached their peak.

Suddenly, ten golden beams shot into the sky from behind the stage, and the audience shouted, "Ten!"

Then the two golden beams in the center merged into one, accompanied by a drumbeat, and the beams changed color to nine red rays that shone towards the sky. The audience shouted in unison, "Nine!"

Then the two golden rays in the very center merged back into one, transforming into eight green rays.

"Eight!"

The lights continued to merge, each merge accompanied by a thunderous drumbeat that shook the entire audience, who erupted in deafening screams. The lights behind the stage continued to combine until they became three separate beams.

"Three! Two! One!"

As the audience cheered, the ten rays of light merged into a massive golden pillar that shot straight into the sky. The light from the bottom up quickly disappeared, leaving only a huge golden halo in the clouds, with the surrounding clouds radiating layers of light.

Suddenly, a dazzling blue bolt of lightning struck from the halo, hitting the stage on the left side with a deafening roar. A figure with a fox tail appeared within the lightning. The crowd erupted in cheers! Immediately afterward, a red bolt of lightning struck the right side of the stage, and another figure appeared within it.

The audience began chanting, "Le Ying! Le Ying! Le Ying!"

Then, white lightning struck the left side, and purple lightning struck the right side, and two more figures appeared. Following that, a bright silver lightning bolt and a golden lightning bolt struck simultaneously, hitting the very center of the stage.

"Are you all ready to go up to the heavens and down to the earth with us?!" the six figures on stage shouted in unison. The audience below instantly went wild!
"Le Ying! Le Ying! Le Ying!" The deafening shouts echoed through the sky.

Then the stage was instantly illuminated, and a symphony of guqin and heavy metal music filled the air. For a moment, Hua Sheng felt as if he were sitting in a high-speed elevator that was rapidly ascending upwards.

"Wait a minute! What's with this illusion?!"

He quickly looked around, and the audience's attention was focused on the stage as he waved his glowing, delicate bracelet.

Hua Sheng looked up and felt the clouds in the sky rapidly approaching him. Were the clouds descending? No! Hua Sheng quickly realized it wasn't his imagination at all; the entire open-air theater of the Liyuan Music Center was actually taking off at high speed, soaring into the sky!

My goodness! This theater that can hold over ten thousand people is flying?!
But the rushing wind in his ears told Hanamori that this was no illusion. The theater was rapidly ascending! Looking through the gaps between the buildings, Hanamori saw the large lake beside the Academy of Arts and Sciences below receding further and further away. Then, the enormous theater pierced through the clouds and actually flew above them!
The Eagle Orchestra began their performance with the first piece in the air. Various birds outlined by light flew out from the stage, across the audience, across the theater, and soared into the vast Milky Way above.

After the entire theater soared into the air, it began to move forward to the music. Hanamori felt his heart pounding in his chest, just like the theater itself. He quickly searched for a seatbelt. Sure enough, the audience seats were equipped with seatbelts, and he fastened them quickly. In less than a second, Hanamori was overjoyed that he had made the right decision. Because, to the rhythm of the fast-paced music, the entire theater began to plummet like a monorail. The audience around him were thrilled, singing along to the songs on stage.

Hanamori felt a sudden wave of weightlessness wash over her. This wasn't a concert; it was a roller coaster!
Help! Cold sweat poured out like a tap that had been turned on halfway!

The aerial theater descended rapidly through the clouds, getting closer and closer to the lake.

"At this speed! We're going to crash into the lake!" Hua Sheng screamed desperately.

Then, the theater's impact created a massive wave on the lake's surface, and the entire theater was completely submerged in the vast lake. A magical barrier appeared around the open-air theater, making it seem as if the theater was encased in a giant crystal ball, constantly moving and traversing the lakebed. Due to the impact upon entering the lake, some water splashed into the audience seats, with the largest wave pouring towards Hua Sheng's location.

"Hey! Watch out!" Just as Hua Sheng was about to cover his head with his hands, the audience on his left and right sides shouted absentmindedly, "Break!"

The water, which immediately poured down, bypassed the audience on either side of Hua Sheng and poured directly onto him. Hua Sheng had no time to react, but with a splash, he felt himself soaked from his outer clothes to his underwear, completely drenched. He then spat out a mouthful of lake water, speechless for a moment.

"Hey! Why are you so wet?" A girl with half her face covered by a fan walked through the gaps in the audience and walked to Hua Sheng's side. She put down the fan, and it turned out to be Wei Yu, who had changed back into her Xi Yuan uniform.

"Wei Yu! So you were..."

"Quiet down!" Wei Yu quickly used her silk fan to cover Hua Sheng's mouth. "I slipped out from backstage after my performance. Don't let anyone see it was me. If fans come and bother us, I won't be able to watch the show with you!"

Hua Sheng then realized what was happening and lowered her voice, saying, "Why didn't you tell me you were going to perform on stage? I didn't even know you were a singer, have I become an idiot!"

Wei Yu chuckled and said, "Isn't being a fool a good thing? There are too many smart people in this world, and everyone ends up being misled by their own cleverness. Being a fool guarantees you won't suffer any losses."

Hua Sheng wiped the water droplets from her face with a wry smile.

"Did you get wet when you went into the water?" Wei Yu said. "Since you're here to watch a performance that requires magical assistance, you need to react quickly when it's time to use your magic." After saying that, she silently recited a few incantations and gently patted Hua Sheng's back twice.

A wisp of mist instantly rose from Hana's body, and the water droplets on her soaked clothes and hair instantly transformed into a warm mist that dissipated without a trace. After the mist dissipated, her clothes were instantly dry, as if they had just been dried by a fire, still retaining a warm feeling. How utterly delightful!
"Thank you so much! I thought I was going to watch the whole show soaked to the bone," Hanamori said. "You really saved me!"

"Won't you catch a cold watching the performance like this?" Wei Yu said. "You think you're so amazing. I really don't know what you've learned in all this time at the academy! You need to understand the unity of knowledge and action, and you need to use your magic flexibly at any time to help yourself solve problems."

At this moment, the bottom of the lake was illuminated by the theater's lights, transforming it into a giant crystal fish tank. Fish of various colors and species swam around the theater, and the light reflected from the water shimmered all around, presenting a strange and beautiful underwater world, as if one were in a dragon palace.

At this moment, the six members of Leying took off from the stage and flew towards the audience.

"Come on! Hurry up, the medical support phase is about to begin!" Wei Yu said, patting Hua Sheng's hand with her fan.

Hanamori was flustered and asked several questions in a row: "What support? Is it cheering? How do I cheer?"

"Just follow along with everyone!" Wei Yu said. "This requires audience members in different seats to cooperate with the performers. The entire theater is divided into five areas: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. You see, our seats belong to the fire element. So we need to use fire-attribute magic. Don't embarrass the audience in our area!"

Just as the six band members, suspended in mid-air, appeared to be slowly descending, the audience in the "earth" zone collectively raised their wristbands, and instantly six huge floating granite blocks appeared in the air, with the six performers standing right on them. Then, it seemed that there were skilled stone carvers among the audience in the "earth" zone, and various carving patterns quickly appeared on the six granite blocks. In less than a minute, they were magically sculpted into stone beasts, auspicious clouds, and other aerial stone sculptures.

Then, the audience in the "water" area also cast spells, causing ripples to spread from that area. A blue light passed through the magical barrier above the theater, instantly forming a huge illusion of a water dragon at the bottom of the lake. The water dragon then circled the theater once before flying straight into the theater, where it hovered and danced above.

Not to be outdone, the audience in the "Gold" zone immediately added two glittering golden eyeballs to the water dragon's eyes. Hua Sheng couldn't help but exclaim, "What a brilliant finishing touch!" Then, many silver glitters appeared in the air, forming two silver-white cranes that whizzed past the heads of the audience in each zone.

"So beautiful! May I ride the white clouds and be summoned by dragons and cranes! What a wonderful meaning!" Wei Yu exclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly.

Then, an audience member in the "Wood" section conjured a tender sprout in the air, which grew rapidly into a towering, verdant tree. The audience in that section immediately grasped the concept, and countless saplings of various kinds appeared in the air. As the saplings grew, colorful flowers sprouted all around them. In an instant, a sky garden with fluttering butterflies was created above the theater.

At this moment, the audience in the "water" area led the water dragon into the aerial forest. The six members of the Leying team jumped onto the back of the crystal-clear water dragon and rode it through the forest.

"What should we change?" Wei Yu turned to ask Hua Sheng.

At this moment, the entire theater slowly rose away from the water and returned to mid-air.

Upon seeing the theater pass through the water and return to the air, Hanamori slapped his forehead and exclaimed, "Let's set off fireworks together!"

"Alright. Let's combine our incantations and create a massive firework!" Wei Yu grasped Hua Sheng's hand and said, "Just recite the incantations below the Xuanming level, but please don't use Samadhi True Fire again!"

Hua Sheng smiled awkwardly, noticing that he only had the Exquisite Ring in his hand and could only use Xuanming-level immortal techniques. He silently recited a fire-controlling incantation and pointed his finger into the air: "Hurry, hurry, as the law commands! Fire!"

A wisp of red flame shot out from Hua Sheng's hand like a bullet, but perhaps due to his shallow cultivation, the red bullet disappeared into the vast night sky after flying into the air.

Wei Yu raised her silk fan in front of her, smiled, and casually gave Hua Sheng a nickname: "Little Daoist Hua! Let me help you spread this endless bloom of flowers!"

After saying this, Wei Yu gently waved her round fan with her right hand, then reached out her left hand to touch Hua Sheng's right hand. For a moment, Wei Yu paused, as if hesitating. Finally, she took Hua Sheng's hand and said, "How about we try again?"

Hua Sheng's face burned like fire, and with Wei Yu holding her hand tightly, she was completely at a loss and stood there dumbfounded.

"What are you doing? Why aren't you chanting the incantation?" Wei Yu patted his forehead with her fan.

"Oh!" Hua Sheng hurriedly made hand seals and chanted incantations. At the same time, he heard Wei Yu chanting the fire control incantation beside him. Immediately afterward, a heat wave quickly transferred from Wei Yu's left hand to Hua Sheng's right hand, and an energy instantly transferred to the fingertips of Hua Sheng's left hand.

The two shouted at the same time: "Hurry, hurry, as the law commands! Dance! Move! Fireworks!"

A half-meter-wide purplish-red flame rose from Hua Sheng's left hand and shot straight into the night sky. When the flame was a kilometer away from the theater, Wei Yu raised her fan and slowly waved it at the flame, softly saying, "Open!"

The purplish-red flame instantly burst into a burst of seven colors—red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple—its diameter even exceeding that of the entire theater. In an instant, it illuminated the area below as if it were daytime, and at the same time, a loud explosion was heard.

Hua Sheng chanted an incantation, shouting, "Hurry, hurry, as the law commands! Dance! Move! Flowers! Fire!"

Another white flame shot into the air like a bullet, and Wei Yu added, "Open!" Then the white firework bloomed into a white smiling face in the air.

The audience in this section seemed to immediately understand the intention, and as expected, they did not disappoint Hua Sheng and his group. Streams of fireworks shot into the sky from this area. The entire night sky was illuminated by a dazzling display of purple and red, and the aerial theater carried all the spectators back and forth amidst the fireworks, with cheers resounding throughout the air!
Wei Yu looked up at the flowers in the sky, the fireworks outlining his beautiful profile, his long, silver hair, as fine as gossamer, reflected in different colors by the fireworks.

"The fireworks you conjured were quite beautiful!" Wei Yu said. "Speaking of which, the title 'Little Flower Taoist Priest' suits you quite well!"

"These Taoist priests and immortal masters must possess profound Taoist knowledge and skills. How could I possibly be worthy of such titles?"

"Even though people have left the mortal realm, they are still bound by the etiquette and customs of the mundane world," Wei Yu said. "If I call your name, would you dare to answer?"

This seemingly obvious joke made Hua Sheng chuckle. Hearing Wei Yu's voice, Hua Sheng realized he felt like a little monster trapped in a purple-gold gourd.

"Master Xiaohua!"

"Ah! Oh."

"Haha. You said yes, that's fine." Wei Yu laughed so hard she could barely breathe. "I was just kidding. If you really say yes, I'll really call you that!"

"Huh? You're joking?"

“What era are we living in?” Wei Yu said. “Everyone carries too much burden. Little do they know that this Shengping Ning is nothing more than a drop of Guanyin’s tear in the vast East China Sea. Look at this mortal world, this dazzling Milky Way, they are just a speck of dust in the vast starry sky, just like a small drop of water in the ocean.”

“Not many ordinary people can see things this way,” Hua Sheng said.

"That's just how it is. What you see as beauty or ugliness may not be the true beauty or ugliness. Perhaps your eyes are deceiving you. Just like these fireworks, they've simply conjured up clusters of flames. If we use a Xuanming-level immortal technique, the flames will actually exist. Using a Shuhuan-level technique, it might just be an illusion. But as long as you feel it's beautiful, the joy that comes with it is real. Beyond that feeling, what does it matter to you whether it's truly beautiful or whether it truly exists?" Wei Yu looked up at the fireworks.

Hua Sheng said, "Living in Shengpingning, many of your ideas will be different from those in the mortal world."

"Perhaps! I only know that most things aren't absolutely good or bad; it's the environment that influences our judgment. So as long as you're happy, worldly things can hardly hurt you." Wei Yu looked up at the night sky lit up with colorful fireworks. "It's so beautiful! I wish it could go on forever, without ever ending."

The girl's expression was as if she were deep in thought, or as if she were already immersed in the summer night of the Pear Garden Lantern Festival.

(End of this chapter)