The Long Journey to Immortality

This day was the day the piano skills competition was held.

Compared to the chess and beauty pageants, the piano competition is not as eye-catching.

After all, the true spirits and magical beasts in the wilderness are like the cultivators of the Western Regions; they are not particularly enthusiastic about refined art.

Of the Six Arts, chess is the most popular, while magical performances, whose combat aspect has been downplayed, rank second.

Calligraphy ranks third because it can express one's spirit, convey one's understanding of cultivation, and even directly reveal the intent of swordsmanship. It is favored by some true spirits and magical beasts who supplement human cultivation techniques.

The flying competition, which replaced the human race's skill in piloting, was not very popular with birds because it was always won by a few races.

Qin only slightly surpassed "Mathematics", ranking fifth.

Given its prestigious status, only a very small number of guests would participate in the competition.

Including Han Lu, there were only twenty-seven participants who came to the event.

The number of judges is also less than the twenty that were used in beauty pageants.

A mere three judges presided over the competition, deciding who among all the birds was the most skilled in music.

Despite this, the champion's reward was the same as everyone else's.

One of the three judges, Huo Feng, is a fellow enthusiast of Han Lu's in the Three Phoenix Forest. The two phoenixes have even performed together a few times.

His name is Fengqian.

Her skill level is slightly higher than Han Lu's, but not by much.

Having lived for over four thousand years, he was still only in the late stage of the Transformation Realm and had long since lost the ambition to advance to the Nascent Soul Realm and reach a higher level.

He is passionate about music and can play various instruments with great skill, making him a very suitable judge.

Han Lu did not recognize the other two judges, and it was not appropriate to use her divine sense to investigate their races at this time. However, they both had a refined and scholarly demeanor, and it was certain that they were quite accomplished in music to be sitting in these positions.

With little attention and few spectators, the match was naturally conducted rather casually.

It's more like a gathering of bird spirits and Warcraft enthusiasts to discuss music and find kindred spirits than a competition.

Feng Qian stepped onto the stage and explained the rules simply in his pleasant voice. There were a total of 27 contestants, who were arranged in order of their seating in the waiting area, and the competition began immediately.

Han Lu arrived a little late and was scheduled to appear nineteenth.

According to the competition rules, a contestant needs to play three pieces, and the scores from the three pieces are added together to determine the contestant's final score.

Since the comparison is based on music, there are no restrictions on the instruments used.

If a contestant is truly unruly and starts beating drums on stage, that's allowed.

However, the score will definitely not be very high in this way.

After all, compared to instruments like the guqin, the upper limit of drums is slightly lower, and without a famous piece, it is difficult to win the favor of the three judges.

The first contestant to appear came from the Spirit Rhinoceros Insect Clan and was a relative of Wu Tou, a cultivator whom Han Lu was acquainted with.

When it transforms into human form, it has silver hair and a very handsome appearance, making it quite recognizable.

A handsome Zerg man walked onto the stage, but instead of a woman, he took out an erhu (a two-stringed bowed instrument) from his storage bag, which seemed completely out of place with his appearance.

Han Lu noticed that this erhu had the quality of a magical artifact, making it a good magic weapon for fighting and performing spells and secret techniques.

The music competition compares the contestants' musical skills, not their magical abilities. Naturally, this "magic weapon" can only be used as a musical instrument on this stage, and cannot be infused with any spiritual power to perform any spells or secret techniques that make the music pleasant and affect the judges' judgment and thus the final score.

This handsome Zerg guy naturally knew the rules.

Sitting on the soft chair in the center of the stage, he simply played the erhu on his lap using the most ordinary playing techniques.

The piece is not difficult; it's called "Golden Snake Dance".

His cheerful rendition was quite infectious; one of the contestants next to Han Lu even hummed along with the tune as the performer moved the white-maned bow from side to side.

The song ended.

Compared to the relatively "subtle" judging process in beauty pageants, the judging process in piano competitions is much more direct.

The three judges announced their scores one after another, and the phoenix, responsible for calculating the scores, then calculated the average score.

After a contestant scores a point, they then perform the second piece.

And so on, crisp, straightforward, and direct.

A piece of music lasts four to five minutes, and including the scoring time, it took no more than fifteen minutes for this Lingxi insectoid contestant to score a total of 253 points.

This score is neither high nor low, slightly higher than the average score of 245 points in the previous piano competition.

After giving their scores, the judges didn't forget to add a few comments.

There were praises and criticisms, and both were well-reasoned and supported by evidence.

A kind and friendly attitude makes people more accepting.

The participants had expected such scores.

He accepted all the judges' comments.

He took the score and comments as affirmation and encouragement from the judges and happily left the stage.

Several participants in the rest area applauded him in approval.

In this generally harmonious atmosphere, the piano competition proceeded in an orderly manner.

The competition went on from morning to afternoon in the blink of an eye.

It was the hottest time of day, and it was finally Han Lu's turn to take the stage after waiting in the rest area for nearly three hours.

Chapter 986 Right and Wrong

After listening for three hours in the rest area, Han Lu gained a very intuitive and comprehensive understanding of the birds' musical abilities.

The vast majority of the birds that come to participate in the competition have a certain level of musical talent.

Perhaps it's because of the lack of renowned teachers or because the wilderness lacks an atmosphere conducive to music practice.

The vast majority of participants improve their skills entirely by spending time studying in isolation.

In terms of performance level, he can only be considered an average expert, and even inferior to many ordinary musicians.

This is quite different from other arts that are favored by spirits and monsters.

In terms of chess skills, the most powerful True Spirit Beasts far surpass mortals in strength.

In music and musical skills, the most skilled mortals are actually those true spirits and magical beasts who have studied music for hundreds or thousands of years.

With this assessment, Han Lu naturally felt more confident about her excellent results.

After the contestant from the Lingyan tribe, ranked eighteenth, finished playing her third piece, received scores from the three judges, exchanged a few words of greeting and farewell, Han Lu calmly got up and walked onto the stage.

Because she knew Feng Qian, Han Lu felt somewhat guilty on stage, avoiding looking at Feng Qian's face and dodging the gaze that her "confidant" might cast at her.

She hadn't expected that Feng Qian was also somewhat uneasy.

Following the procedure, Feng Qian pretended not to know Han Lu and recited the script in a slightly stiff manner, "Contestant number nineteen, you may begin."

Unexpectedly, another judge interrupted, saying, "Fellow Daoist Feng Qian, Han Lu is the daughter of Clan Chief Feng You, and you are also from the same clan. You won't deliberately give her a high score later to pull strings, will you?"

The judge said this in a joking tone, but anyone could tell he wasn't joking.

Hearing this, Feng Qian, who always prided himself on being a gentleman and considered himself fair and impartial in his scoring, couldn't help but feel a little unhappy, but he didn't show it. He simply asked in return, "Then what does Fellow Daoist want?"

"Perhaps Fellow Daoist Fengqian would like to step aside for a moment, and this time Fellow Daoist Bingyan and I will be the ones to score."

The monster addressed as a fellow cultivator gave this reply.

A female cultivator named Han Bingyan tried to smooth things over.

“Fellow Daoist Xiu Luo, you’re being too harsh. When your clansmen performed on stage just now, Fellow Daoist Feng Qian and I didn’t say a word more than necessary.”

"Fairy Han is an ice phoenix, and Fellow Daoist Feng Qian is a fire phoenix. If we have to talk about relationships, they are not as close as your relationship with your relative."

"Besides, do you not trust Fellow Daoist Feng Qian's character?"

Han Bingyan's words were somewhat impolite, clearly indicating that she disapproved of Xiu Luo's "double standards."

Han Lu sat blankly on the stage, looking helplessly at the three judges who were "performing" on the judging panel. She wondered if she should make a statement to defuse this farce that was ruining the atmosphere.

Hearing Han Bingyan's words, Xiu Luo was slightly embarrassed and reluctantly found a reason to explain his behavior, "Fellow Daoist Feng Qian is, after all, a member of the Phoenix Clan. The taller the tree, the more the wind will blow against it. I naturally do not doubt Fellow Daoist Feng Qian's character, but I am afraid that some people will gossip."

Feng Qian snorted coldly and said unhappily, "Whether it is fair or not will be clear when the scores are given later. If anyone thinks there is a conspiracy, or that I am giving scores randomly and I am not qualified to be a judge, they can go and complain to the three clan leaders."

"I believe that all of you music lovers here have a discerning ear and can tell what kind of music to play in order to get a high score."

Han Bingyan chimed in, "I trust Fellow Daoist Feng Qian's character. Besides, if only two people are giving scores, it's impossible to guarantee fairness. Let's do as Fellow Daoist Feng Qian says."

Hearing this, Xiu Luo was secretly delighted, but pretended to be embarrassed and said, "Okay, okay, I was overthinking and being rash. Let's continue according to the original plan. I look forward to Han Lu giving us an excellent performance."

Despite all this commotion, Xiu Luo seemed to have gained nothing, but he was confident that he had achieved the result he wanted.

Because of its "unpopular" nature, the Qin (a type of Chinese stringed instrument) competition is naturally more likely to be coveted by certain monks who crave honor, who believe that they can more easily win the championship in this niche event.

The Zerg are hoping to win their first championship at the Bird Festival through the musical competition.

Xiu Luo hoped that one of his close disciples could win the qin (a seven-stringed zither) competition, gain an honor worth showing off, prove his disciple's achievements in music, and demonstrate his ability to train his disciple.

That disciple was not the same clansman that Han Bingyan had mentioned before, and would appear after Han Lu.

Now that things have escalated like this, Xiu Luo feels that he can disturb Feng Qian's mind and make him hesitate when giving Han Lu a high score.

As for why Xiu Luo considers Han Lu to be his disciple's biggest competitor for the championship.

On the one hand, because of Han Lu's identity, he was indeed worried that it would attract the initiative of the two judges next to him to show their favor. At that time, as long as Han Lu's performance level was not too bad, she would naturally be able to win the championship legally and compliantly.

Secondly, it was because he had once interacted with the high priest of the Western Regions, and the two could be considered friends to some extent.

The High Priest had mentioned Han Lu to Xiu Luo before, praising Han Lu's musical skills highly.

At that time, although the High Priest did not directly mention Han Lu's name to Xiu Luo, when he mentioned Huan Feng of the Central Plains, even if Xiu Luo was not well-informed, he could guess that he was talking about Feng You's daughter, Han Lu.

For various reasons, this farce that ruined the atmosphere occurred.

Whether this farce actually disturbed Feng Qian's mind is unknown for now, but it certainly upset Han Lu.

Being accused of "getting in through connections" for no reason is something no one would be happy about, let alone Han Lu, who came to participate with pure intentions.

While I wouldn't say I was burning with anger, it certainly left a knot in my heart.

Despite her displeasure, Han Lu had no chance to vent her anger. She could only suppress her frustration and hope that she could perform well later and get a high score to show this judge named Xiu Luo.