Having cultivated myself into an immortal, all I want to do is raise female disciples.

Nobody would believe that!

Qin Shishi seemed to sense that Wei Teng was about to explode, and whispered to Lin Yuan, "Yuan'er, is what you said true?"

"Of course it's true."

Lin Yuan was a little puzzled as to why this ninth-level qin master had such a bad expression. Had she said something wrong?

Completely unaware of the turbulent waves her seemingly normal event had stirred in the hearts of the two great musicians, Lin Yuan still tilted her head, her face full of confusion.

A moment later, the little girl suddenly clapped her hands and said with a sudden realization.

"I know! You definitely don't believe Yuan'er!"

Wei Teng's lips twitched, thinking to himself that this girl had finally come to her senses. Facing Lin Yuan, he still maintained the most basic smile, "It's not that I don't believe you, it's just that what you said is really hard to believe."

"Hmm... Yuan'er didn't say anything exaggerated."

You think this isn't an exaggeration?!

Things that take other people ten days or half a month to barely see any improvement, you solved in half a day. If this were true, would it leave no room for others to live?

Yuan'er glanced at Qin Shishi's thoughtful face, then at Wei Teng's smug smile, and immediately puffed out her cheeks and snorted coldly.

With her side ponytail swinging back and forth, Lin Yuan seemed to be angered by the distrust of the two. She immediately took out paper and pen from her storage ring and began to write.

What is she doing?

Driven by curiosity, Qin Shishi and Wei Teng craned their necks to peek inside.

They were terrified when they saw it; their very souls nearly jumped out of their throats.

This girl... is silently reading sheet music!

—No way, this girl can really recite it from memory?

"If I Go Mad" is unlike other scores. If played at a normal speed, the entire piece can last for a full fifteen minutes. Within those fifteen minutes, there are no fewer than eighteen rhythmic changes and at least a thousand different musical techniques. The most basic string notes are so numerous that they can intimidate anyone who sees the score for the first time, and many will give up at the first glance.

But Lin Yuan is now being forced to memorize this sheet music? Memorize a piece of music she's only had a brief encounter with for a few days?!

*gulp*—swallowing saliva.

Qin Shishi knew that Lin Yuan was talented, but she had never truly understood Lin Yuan's almost terrifying talent. Only today did she truly realize the gap between herself and a genius.

Perhaps within the Qin Sect, I could barely be considered a genius. Before I was even a hundred years old, I had advanced to the seventh-level Qin Master and become one of the Qin Sect's assessors. Not only was I showered with honors, but my talent in the Qin arts was also at the very top of the Qin Sect's pyramid.

But now... what she sees is a monster that seems to stand far beyond the pyramids, seemingly suspended in the heavens.

Swish swish!

Lin Yuan was incredibly fast, leaving Qin Shishi and Wei Teng speechless. They had thought that with the little girl's memory, even if she were to memorize something, it would be a slow and hesitant process.

Instead of as she does now, as if she already knows it by heart and can recite it backwards, the ink brush turns into a dragon, without the slightest pause, silently writing down all the strings and musical notes in a smooth and flowing manner.

Furthermore, even Wei Teng, who was very familiar with "If Madness", could not find any mistakes!

Seven minutes later.

The pen is put down, and the musical score appears.

Neat and tidy, without a single mistake, the entire score looks exactly like the original except for the different handwriting and the different backing paper!

Wei Teng looked through the entire score with a sense of horror, and finally, somewhat helplessly, put it down.

"There are no mistakes at all...it's perfect."

"Hmph~" Lin Yuan put her hands on her hips and raised her little head. "Yuan'er wouldn't lie. Yuan'er said that Yuan'er has already memorized the sheet music!"

A few minutes ago, both Wei Teng and Qin Shishi would have dismissed these words as mere childish whims.

Now that the facts are right in front of him, Wei Teng cannot deny that this is not an illusion.

But this is too... too weird, isn't it?

Such talent is beyond the reach of even the thirty-six Qin Immortals of yesteryear, let alone Wei Teng!

If I had to say, there is only one person who can compare to Lin Yuan in front of me.

That person who exists only in legends.

He scratched his head, staring intently at Lin Yuan, his eyes flashing with complex emotions.

Finally, in the silence, he uttered a sentence.

"Young lady, you wouldn't happen to be Emperor Wen's disciple, would you...?"

"Eh?!"

Ye Yuchan was startled and almost cried out.

"what happened?"

Wei Teng glanced at Ye Yuchan with some curiosity, wondering why she had suddenly made a sound.

Ye Yuchan was a little dazed at the moment, covering her mouth and shaking her head repeatedly.

"N-nothing..."

—A muffled sound came from between the fingers.

Wei Teng frowned, but didn't ask any more questions. In the end, he turned his attention back to Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan blinked, her expression unchanged. "Isn't Emperor Wen already dead? How could Yuan'er be Emperor Wen's disciple?"

“That’s true…” Wei Teng sighed. “I think the only person with such terrifying talent is probably that guy’s apprentice.”

"However, Emperor Wen is indeed dead. If he were still alive, I would definitely consider you to be his disciple, because in this world, perhaps only he could have cultivated such a... monstrous talent."

At this point, Wei Teng couldn't help but sigh, as if he were lamenting the death of Emperor Wen.

Ye Yuchan breathed a sigh of relief.

She thought Wei Teng knew that old rogue!

However, to be fair, Wei Teng was quite accurate. Actually, our Senior Sister Lin Yuan—

He was indeed Emperor Wen's disciple.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Writing late at night is the most dangerous thing.

If only we could also ride the tail end of this month's hot sales!

(In a few more chapters, the old rogue will officially return.)

(Get ready for the first-ever grand competition at Yuntian Academy—a contest for male and female disciples to cultivate together, fostering relationships and achieving harmonious progress!)

(What the hell is that name...)

52. Black Bead

Wei Teng is having a stomachache right now.

He originally thought that he could use his understanding of the mysterious zither techniques in the song "If I'm Mad" to persuade the little girl Lin Yuan to become his disciple. Having multiple lovely female disciples would be a wonderful thing in itself.

However, Wei Teng had to admit that this little guy, who looked no more than eleven or twelve years old, was very likely to have a talent comparable to that of the legendary Emperor Wen, who opened up the path of literature and proved his Dao with the Four Absolutes.

Thinking about it this way, Wei Teng felt somewhat lost.

Because he couldn't teach Lin Yuan.

To be precise, there was very little he could teach Lin Yuan, only his familiarity with and experience of ancient musical scores. Although to outsiders, Wei Teng, as a ninth-level master musician, must be exceptionally talented, beyond the reach of ordinary people.

But only Wei Teng knew that Lin Yuan was a true monster, fundamentally different from a fake like him.

"Ugh--"

The young man sitting in front of the guqin had a worried look on his face. He secretly weighed his options for a moment, and finally took out a crystal-clear, black pearl from his storage ring.

In an instant, everyone's attention was drawn to the precious pearl.

"Mr. Wei... what's going on?"

Qin Shishi stared at the black bead in bewilderment, her divine sense sweeping back and forth within it, but she could not detect any strange fluctuations.

It looks like an ordinary black gem, which would be worth no more than five gold coins to a jeweler.

However, Wei Teng reached out and stroked the smooth surface of the black bead with a sense of nostalgia and reluctance in his eyes.

“Little girl—” He looked down at Lin Yuan in front of him, “You said that the only thing you’re missing from reaching the pinnacle of playing is the inability to comprehend the meaning of the music, right?”

"Well, that's about it... I really don't understand why this piece was created, or what the musician was thinking when it was created... I don't understand."

“It’s normal not to understand.” Wei Teng’s lips curled up slightly, as if recalling some pleasant memories. “Whether it’s this piece of music or the story between Moonlit Saint Ye Sheng and the Martial Emperor, it’s very difficult to play the meaning of ‘If I’m Mad’ without personally witnessing that history.”

After speaking, Lin Yuan saw Wei Teng, looking like he had a stomachache, hand the black bead in his hand to her.

The moment Lin Yuan received this unremarkable black bead, Wei Teng's usually calm lips twitched violently, as if he were heartbroken.

"This black bead is a product of someone's memories, and it also contains a trace of someone's soul. Although it is so weak that it is about to be annihilated, the memories inside can still be explored."

Wei Teng pressed his hands on the strings, and for some reason, suddenly let out a long sigh.

He waved his hand, signaling Lin Yuan to put the black bead into her storage ring, and then said, "Little girl, once you see those memory fragments, you will know why the Moonlit Saint played this piece on the day of his ascension to sainthood."

Fragments of memory.

Lin Yuan gazed at the unremarkable black bead. For some reason, she could vaguely see a graceful, dark figure dancing inside the bead, surrounded by endless stars, as if...

She is like the bright moon surrounded by stars.

Lin Yuan raised her head in confusion, and the phantom before her eyes slowly disappeared.

"Sister Shishi—"

The little girl turned around, stared at Qin Shishi, and suddenly blurted out, "That Moonlit Saint... Ye Sheng, is he a girl?"

"what?"

Qin Shishi's mind went blank for a moment. She wondered why Lin Yuan would suddenly ask such a strange question, and the image of Yueye Shengye immediately popped into her mind.

—A hunched-over old scoundrel with a thick beard, drinking strong liquor and spewing vulgarities.

Yes, this is the Moonlit Saint in Qin Shishi's memory, and also the Moonlit Saint in the memory of most people.

"It shouldn't be... Ye Sheng is one of Emperor Wu Gu Tianren's right-hand men. The two are like brothers and address each other as brothers. These things are all recorded. Theoretically speaking, Ye Sheng cannot be a woman."