Chapter 30: The Sound of the Guqin Counterattacks!

  Liu Yuanzhen didn't care about the expressions of his disciples below the stage, and directly sat down behind the piano case in the center of the stage. He carefully untied the rope tied to the scroll, viewed it once, adjusted the piano sound, and looked down at the stage, where a crowd of people were silent, almost to the point where you could hear a pin drop.

  At this time, just like an English listening test, no one dared to make any sound, and all anyone could hear was the sound of their own breathing.

  "This tune is called 'Happy Little Melody'!"

  Liu Yuanzhan said a word, and immediately placed his ten fingers on the strings of the guqin. He lightly plucked the strings, so that each of his disciples could hear their own sound. Liu Yuanzhan used his heroic spirit, and the pleasant sound of the guqin immediately spread out, enveloping the entire square in an instant.

  The tune is quite lively, and as soon as the piano sound starts, it makes people's ears and eyes shine brightly. Many disciples were stunned for a while before they came back to their senses, realizing that this was an assessment. They quickly perked up their ears to listen carefully, while simultaneously picking up their brushes to record rapidly on paper.

  Recognizing the melody was Xiao Yun's specialty, and he wasn't worried. It was just a common tune, after all. Even if he didn't use his gift of recognizing melodies, he could still do it flawlessly with his own abilities. After all, he had been playing music for half his life.

  Without any rules or norms, acting on impulse, although it's hard to enter the realm of elegance and refinement, it's not a heavenly music either. However, upon careful appreciation, there is still a sense of self-satisfaction and joy!

  This melody is like gold and stone, played by the musician's hands, it can easily move people's emotions, involuntarily recalling happy memories, very delightful. A common tune, performed to such a level, is already rare.

  Xiao Yun quietly listened, as he was not accustomed to the traditional five-tone score, so he first converted the melody into a five-line staff and memorized it in his mind. Until the music stopped, he then took out pen, ink, paper, and inkstone from under the piano case, and quickly transcribed the five-line staff in his memory into a five-tone score, like clouds flowing with water.

  "Hmm? This place seems a bit off?"

  As he wrote halfway, Xiao Yun paused for a moment, feeling that one of the notes was somewhat unusual. The whole song was very cheerful from start to finish, but when it came to this point, there was suddenly a note that changed tone, and the cheerful atmosphere that had been accumulated before weakened instantly. Although this turning point was very slight, it was still captured by Xiao Yun's sensitive ears, and he could be sure that the melody he heard was not wrong.

  "Was it a problem with the score, or did that old man play out of tune?"

  Xiao Yun thought for a moment, but then felt that it was not very possible. This was just a common tune, and it was also made by Xie Tianxi himself, who was in the realm of music. How could he make such a low-level mistake? If Liu Yuanchen played it wrong, it would be even more impossible. He was a master of the musician's realm, how could he still make mistakes with such a simple tune?

  Xiao Yun was very puzzled in his heart, thought for a moment, and immediately picked up his brush. On the symbol representing "Yu Xian Qi Hui" (the seventh note of the Yu Xian scale), he drew a circle and annotated it with a line of small characters: "This should be changed to 'Gong Xian Qi Hui' for the best effect."

  A satisfied smile flashed across his face, and he continued to write the next score. After reviewing it again and again, he found a total of three mistakes, including the previous wrong note, one missing note, and one extra note. Xiao Yun was puzzled, but he made the corrections one by one to ensure that there would be no errors.

  After finishing the score, Xiao Yun hummed it silently in her heart according to the sheet music. The whole song had a total of 365 notes, and there shouldn't be any problems with that.

  Looking ahead, the man and woman had also stopped writing and were carefully checking. Many of their disciples were scratching their ears and cheeks. The melody was only played once, but it wasn't like a vulgar tune that would linger in one's ear for a long time after the sound faded away. The more time dragged on, the easier it was to forget, so they had to seize every minute and second.

  "Alright, curtain call!"

  About twenty minutes later, Liu Yuanchen shouted loudly and ten disciples walked out from the high platform to collect the papers. Xiao Yun hastily wrote his name on it and handed it over to the collecting senior brother.

  Before long, thousands of examination papers were gathered in Liu Yuanjian's hands, sealed with several sealed bags and handed over to an elder of the Transmission Hall.

  "The results of the music exam will be announced tomorrow morning, at which time you can check your scores on the Heavenly Music Billboard in front of the mountain gate." Liu Yuanchen said to the crowd of disciples, then sat back down in front of the guqin case. "Now, let's move on to the second item, the martial exam. In a moment, I will play our sect's signature piece 'High Mountain and Flowing Water'. You must all respond with your own guqin playing, and we will judge based on how long you can sustain it. Only the top 60 will be counted."

  As soon as the voice fell, everyone sat up straight, each looking serious and tense. Xiao Yun was somewhat awakened at this moment, realizing why Lin Chuoyin said that sitting in the front row would be disadvantageous - it was referring to this situation.

  This question not only tests the skills of the disciples, but also tests the music rhythm and piano sound resistance. This is a relatively common method among music cultivators. To avoid being injured by the opponent's piano sound, one must keep their own tone consistent with the opponent's. If there is any slight difference, the two piano sounds will conflict with each other, and the weaker side will inevitably be injured.

  Xiao Yun sat in the second row, and it could be said that he was extremely close to Liu Yuanqu. When the sound of the guqin rose up, these disciples who were closer would definitely bear the brunt of the impact, taking on a huge part of the shockwave. This was why many disciples rushed to move to the back, increasing their distance from Liu Yuanqu and reducing the impact they received by quite a bit. The amount of time they could persist would also be longer. Even if it was just a difference of one second, it might allow them to rise in ranking.

  At this moment, Xiao Yun only thought clearly about the problem, but now it's too late to go back, and besides, there is no more space in the back. Turning his head to look at Lin Chuoyin, Lin Chuoyin handed Xiao Yun a wry smile, it can be seen that her heart is also very tense at this moment.

  "Give you half a moment to prepare, remember, if you can't resist, don't try to hold on, especially for those who have just become disciples of Le Tong. If the spiritual platform is shattered, it will be too late to regret." Liu Yuanshan said.

  As soon as the voice fell, the tense atmosphere immediately rose, and many disciples began to actively prepare. Some were busy tuning their instruments and testing the sound, while others were busy circulating their vital energy, striving to adjust every part of their body to its best state.

  Xiao Yun also moved his ten fingers, competing with the master of the music realm, not allowing any slight carelessness, and if he was not careful, he would easily get hurt.

  "Hiss!"

  A burst of torn silk came from beside her ear, and Xiao Yun turned her head to see Qin Yu tearing off a piece or two of his sleeve, rubbing it, and directly stuffing it into his ears, as if preparing to resist Liu Yuanqu's piano sound by blocking his ears.

  Is this useful? Looking at others, there are also many people busy blocking their ears. Xiao Yun can't help but despise this kind of opportunistic and dishonest method, which is always shameful.

  "Clang!"

  Half a moment passed quickly, and Liu Yuanzhan did not stop Qin Yu and others from covering their ears, but instead lightly plucked the strings of the guqin, using the sound of the guqin to tell everyone that the assessment had begun.

  "Clang... Clang... Clang..."

  The sound of the qin was like flowing water, pouring out in all directions. The other disciples also hurriedly plucked their strings, playing "High Mountain and Flowing Water" to harmonize with him. At first, the music was very calm and didn't have any dramatic changes, so most of the disciples could keep up with Liu Yuanzhan's rhythm. Only those who had not yet awakened were at a loss, and soon automatically dropped out.

  Xiao Yun had secretly learned this song from Mu Tian'en, and it was even a high-level score. With his skilled technique and good psychological quality, it was easy to follow Liu Yuanqu's rhythm, and at the beginning, he didn't feel any difficulty at all.

  "Clang!"

  The smooth rhythm suddenly became clear and bright, Liu Yuanshuang violently plucked a string on the guqin, a formless sound wave instantly spread out in all directions from him, surging towards the crowd of disciples on the square.

  "Clang!"

  Hundreds of disciples simultaneously plucked the strings, sending out a wave of sound that clashed with the sound waves released by Liu Yuanqu. The two waves cancelled each other out in an instant, but some disciples with lower cultivation levels were unable to keep up with the rhythm and were forced into disarray by the sound waves, their internal energy surging wildly as they suddenly turned red-faced and ear-red. Those who were more determined managed to hold on, while those who were weaker in willpower directly collapsed, lying on the guqin case and panting heavily.