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

She had only just passed the front hall and hadn't walked far when she heard the sound of strings.

With her hearing, although the string sound was rather faint, she immediately recognized it based on her experience—

"Is this 'The Gathering of Flowers'—the famous piece by the Zhongxing Qin Immortal? Why would they be playing this?"

"Is this piece of music strange?" the Queen's personality asked.

“Hmm…not surprising.” Lin Yuan shook her head, a hint of doubt on her face: “This piece is often played during festivals; it’s a very festive piece.”

That's right.

It's a very festive tune, much like the song "Good Luck" that Yunping taught me back then.

This is a piece that is only played on major holidays and very celebratory banquets. It is also quite difficult. Musicians below the seventh level may not even be able to capture the essence of the piece, let alone embarrass themselves in front of others.

The piece "Gathering of Flowers" that she was hearing now was played by a player whose skill level was by no means low. The combination of the piano notes and the strings was extremely perfect and smooth, indicating that the player was definitely not an ordinary person.

Speaking of celebration, Lin Yuan also noticed it.

Although the mountain gate had not changed much, as Lin Yuan went deeper, she found that almost all the pavilions on all four sides were decorated with brightly colored lanterns, and the closed red wooden doors were covered with auspicious red paper, some of which were also printed with runes, and they always emitted a very pleasant fragrance.

There was still no one around. It seemed that the people of the Qin Sect had all gathered somewhere, most likely to be celebrating some important festival.

Lin Yuan touched her head, her bright eyes filled with confusion: "What holiday is it today... I don't know."

In short, let's go and see where the sound is coming from.

"Ah."

Lin Yuan agreed with the little queen's words and, driven by her curiosity, headed toward the source of the sound.

But just as she had barely circled the long, narrow path and pushed open the crimson gate leading to the main hall of the Qin Sect, a figure flashed right before her eyes.

Not only did Lin Yuan see the other person, but the figure also saw the petite and exceptionally eye-catching beauty.

"Yuan'er?!"

The other person quickly turned back, looking at the blank-faced red-haired loli with a face full of surprise.

Lin Yuan looked up, and because her height was completely suppressed, she could only crane her neck to see the other person's face clearly.

Upon seeing this, she couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Sister Shishi?!"

Qin Shishi.

If we were to ask who Lin Yuan had the best relationship with within this vast Qin Sect, it would undoubtedly be Sister Shishi, who had taken good care of her from the very beginning.

As one of the pillars of the Qin Sect, Qin Shishi is now an eighth-level Qin Master. Although she is slightly inferior to Yuan'er, her status in the Qin Sect is still quite high. Moreover, she is the senior who personally mentored Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan never expected to see Qin Shishi here. The last time they met was when she advanced to the ninth level of Qin Master. Since then, the two had no chance to contact each other.

When Qin Shishi saw Lin Yuan, she was overjoyed and immediately put down what she was holding, hugging the exquisite and adorable little girl in front of her like a porcelain doll.

She rubbed against Xiao Lin Yuan's fair and smooth skin, a lewd smile on her face: "Hehehe... Long time no see, Sister Shishi missed you so much!"

"Wait……"

Lin Yuan struggled a couple of times in Qin Shishi's arms, after all, the other woman's ample breasts were really squeezing her uncomfortable: "Sister Shishi...don't...it's too tight."

Those two mounds of flesh rubbing against my body... their size is worlds apart from that of one of my junior sisters.

Just watching those two fleshy mounds sway back and forth made Lin Yuan feel dizzy.

Qin Shishi seemed to realize that Lin Yuan seemed quite resistant, but before letting go of Yuan'er, she rubbed against her a couple more times with a hint of reluctance before finally putting our little Yuan'er down.

Lin Yuan, whose feet had landed again, swayed unsteadily in place, her eyes filled with tiny, elusive stars. She was in a daze for a while before she came to her senses.

“Sister Shishi…” She glanced at Qin Shishi’s rather frighteningly full chest, swallowed hard, her face turning pale, and said, “Why did everyone disappear along the way, Yuan’er?”

"Ah~ Everyone is in the main hall. You're a little late. All the guests have arrived."

"Late? A guest?" Yuan'er was completely confused.

Realizing that Lin Yuan's confusion was genuine, Qin Shishi covered her mouth in surprise and asked, puzzled, "Yuan'er, you don't know?"

"Know what?"

"..."

Qin Shishi remained silent for a while, then seemed to understand something, and her expression turned slightly gloomy.

"Looks like those old geezers are trying to exclude you, that's why they didn't send you an invitation..."

"Tsk, I told them a thousand times, but those old men are still so shameless."

Qin Shishi spoke as if she were talking about something very unfair, her tone full of resentment.

Yuan'er, still unable to understand anything, reached out and gently tugged at Qin Shishi's sleeve: "Sister Shishi, you haven't told Yuan'er what happened yet?"

"Ah, is that so?"

Seeing Yuan'er's adorable and obedient appearance, Qin Shishi swallowed her displeasure and patiently explained, "Yuan'er, you may not know, but today is a big day for our Qin Sect."

"A big day?" Lin Yuan tilted her head, but couldn't think of any holiday worth celebrating.

"Of course you don't know. The last time you came to the Qin Sect was several years ago. You didn't even recognize all the important figures in the Qin Sect."

Qin Shishi smiled and patted Lin Yuan's head, then said, "Today is the 300th birthday of our Qin Sect's Nine-Fingered Grandma."

"Grandma Nine Fingers?!"

This person's name is known to everyone in the world who studies the art of playing the zither.

This Nine-Fingered Grandma is the head of the Qin Sect and one of the Thirty-Six Qin Immortals!

In today's turbulent world, as time goes by, of the original thirty-six Qin Immortals, only five remain. Three of them are from the Qin Sect itself, while the whereabouts of the other two are unknown.

Among the three Qin Immortals of the Qin Sect, only Grandma Nine Fingers' Qin skills are superior to the other two, which is why she was elected as the current leader of the Qin Sect!

There are even rumors that this Nine-Fingered Grandma inherited the good fortune of Emperor Wen Xuan Lei and obtained the musical score left by Emperor Wen Xuan Lei in a mysterious place! That is why she has such great musical skills today!

Lin Yuan naturally wanted to get to know this senior figure in the art of playing the zither and discuss her insights on the art.

But this time, that wasn't her main purpose.

Even so—

"In any case, please come in first. Grandma Nine Fingers is quite interested in you. Although there is no invitation, I'm sure she will invite you to her birthday banquet."

“Eh? I…”

Lin Yuan hadn't finished speaking yet—

"Alright, let's go inside and talk first." Qin Shishi turned around and gave Lin Yuan a sweet smile: "I know you have something to do, but don't just stand here. Let's go inside and talk first."

"Otherwise, it will be troublesome when those guests arrive later."

"Other...guests?"

Lin Yuan hesitated for a moment, but decided to follow Qin Shishi's footsteps first.

Qin Shishi nodded slightly, but her expression didn't improve when the matter was mentioned.

She responded calmly:

"They're some very troublesome..."

"uninvited guest."

12. Qin Shishi's dog-skin plaster

Step into the main hall.

Surrounded by thirty-six red pillars, the vast hall, capable of holding at least ten thousand people, was adorned with red lanterns symbolizing celebration. A large, soft, plush carpet covered the floor, and a lotus platform stood in the center, surrounded by layers of light gauze curtains. Seating arrangements were set up at the four corners of the hall.

Most of those attending this birthday celebration were disciples of the Qin Sect. Looking around, Lin Yuan recognized quite a few Qin players. Even those who had been famous for a long time and had been traveling outside for several years had returned to the Qin Sect today because of Grandma Nine Fingers' great name to attend this grand birthday celebration.

Looking up, there was a portrait engraved on the ceiling above. It is said that when the Qin Sect was first established, the first leader of the Qin Sect invited the leader of the Painting Sect to come to the Qin Sect and paint this picture on the top of the main hall of the Qin Sect.

The painting depicts a young man in white robes sitting alone on the edge of a cliff atop a mountain. Before him stand various cultivators wielding knives, spears, swords, and halberds, their fierce and malevolent forms resembling ghosts, exuding malevolent energy as if they were about to sever the young man's head at any moment.

The young man, however, remained unfazed, sitting cross-legged on the edge of the cliff, a brown ancient zither in his hand, a smile playing on his lips. Behind him, countless mysterious musical techniques were faintly visible. Although it was a still painting, it gave people the feeling that he was playing a masterpiece of poetry.

Lin Yuan remembered this painting. When she first came to the Qin Sect, she asked others who the man in the painting was.

Others told her that it was Emperor Wen's Xuan Lei.

Legend has it that when Emperor Wen was only at the Transformation Peak Realm, he once offended a sect and was chased to the brink of death by the sect's Opening Origin Realm experts. At that time, however, he sat cross-legged and played the zither, temporarily breaking through to the Transformation God Realm, and used his unparalleled zither skills to kill hundreds of pursuers at the same time in an instant.

The legend of killing someone with the zither skill when one's cultivation level is far-fetched, but when it comes to Emperor Wen Xuan Lei, it seems to make sense.

Lin Yuan shifted her gaze from the portrait above her head, her feet treading on the soft red carpet, following closely behind Qin Shishi, constantly looking around.

She saw several female disciples of the Qin Sect dressed in bright colors and slightly revealing outfits not far away, tidying up their clothes and hair. Each of them had a blue ribbon wrapped around their hand, and they looked very much like Wu Lian, whom Lin Yuan had seen in the restaurant.

Generally speaking, disciples of the Qin School rarely dance, but today is indeed different—

In the distance, the old woman sitting on the ancient wooden bench had a happy expression on her face. Her hair was white and her face was covered with wrinkles of time. Her skin looked like it was simply skin stuck to flesh, and the flesh on her jaw sagged down. She looked as old as a centenarian among ordinary people.

Those thin, withered hands rested lightly on the armrests of the chair, which resembled the body of a zither. Behind them was a screen made of red copper, on which was carved an ancient zither with crimson strings.

Upon closer inspection, one can see that the old woman's right middle finger is missing most of its length, leaving only a small piece of protruding flesh. Perhaps this is why she is known as the Nine-Fingered Grandma.

Lin Yuan stared at the old woman for a while; she had only seen Grandma Nine Fingers a few times.

It's hard to imagine how someone with a body that looks like it could faint at any moment could play one piece after another with such profound artistic conception.

However, Yuan'er did not stare at it for too long before taking her seat with Qin Shishi.

Qin Shishi chose a relatively remote location, quite a distance away from the group of well-known high-level qin players and qin sect elders.

To put it simply, I chose a quiet little corner to sit down.

"Yuan'er—"

Qin Shishi originally wanted to exchange a few more pleasantries, but seeing Lin Yuan's slightly solemn expression, she gave up the idea.

She straightened her posture and then asked, "After so long, you've come to our Qin Sect. I don't think you've come for me, your elder sister, have you?"

"Eh..." Lin Yuan glanced at Qin Shishi somewhat embarrassedly, scratched her little face, "Well... if I really have to say, Yuan'er does have something to ask Sister Shishi."

"Oh? Is it about your musical skills?"

"No."

Lin Yuan's answer surprised Qin Shishi.