Chapter 32: Time to Change Instruments!

  Entering the elite academy means that Qin Yu's heart is very clear, it represents Xiao Yun no longer being a lowly person, and if he wants to move him again, he will have to think carefully.

  Bitterness, anger, hatred, helplessness, and various emotions intertwined. Qin Yu had an urge to vomit blood again, he wanted to stop Xiao Yun, but the opportunity had already slipped away, like a dead fish that had turned over, he had no chance at all.

  "Clang, clang, clang!"

  Pressure came from all sides, Xiao Yun's whole body was surging with energy, and he had a faint feeling of being unable to catch his breath, but his consciousness was still relatively clear, and he could barely keep up with the rhythm.

  "What a pity that my qin is a five-stringed one. If it were a seven-stringed one, I could still counterattack with the two strings of Shaoyang and Shangshang. Now, however, I can only resist forcibly." Xiao Yun thought to himself, feeling regretful. At this moment, he had to highly concentrate his attention. If he was slightly careless, if just one note's rhythm couldn't keep up, he would immediately be out of the game.

  The man and woman in front were not doing much better, their clothes drenched with sweat as they tried to keep up with the musicians' skilled performance. It was clearly no easy task, and both of their bodies were trembling slightly. To be fair, Xiao Yun had a slight advantage, being in the second row, while the man and woman were right at the front.

  "Clang! Clang! Clang!"

  Liu Yuanqu's qin sound became more and more urgent, the ten fingers plucking the strings almost formed a phantom, the sound was sometimes like a silver river falling, sometimes like a mountain collapse, deafening and fascinating, drawing people in.

  His whole body's energy was like a pot of boiling oil, his body felt as if it had been pressed under a great mountain, every breath was so difficult. Xiao Yun lightly bit the tip of her tongue to ensure her mind was clear, her ten fingers moved in sync with Liu Yuanzhan's rhythm, wildly dancing on the strings.

  "Bang"

  Accompanied by a piercing sound, Liu Yuanshu's guqin sound had just arrived when Xiao Yun's guqin sound suddenly stopped. Xiao Yun couldn't hold back his momentum and stumbled, almost falling flat on his face.

  "Huh?"

  The surrounding area was filled with whispers, and every tone carried a hint of regret.

  Xiao Yun was stunned, looking at his paulownia wood guqin, and after a while, he revealed a wry smile. This paulownia wood guqin was really too inferior, and at the critical moment, it couldn't withstand the impact and broke its strings.

  A white light flashed up, and two characters appeared in the upper right corner of the guqin case: "Bing Yin".

  At this moment, including the elders on stage, many people felt a little regretful about this result. If the strings hadn't broken, Xiao Yun would have been able to hold on for a while longer.

  Xiao Yun sighed silently, well, third place is already not bad, although he can still hold on, but the man and woman in front are not easy to deal with, it's hard to say if they can be surpassed.

  "It seems like it's time for a good piano!"

  This paulownia wood zither was once easy to play, but as Xiao Yun's skills improved, it became increasingly crude. The reason is that this zither was bought by Xiao Shan with his savings, and Xiao Yun couldn't bear to throw it away. However, in just a few days, the strings have broken for the second time, and even if he didn't want to change, it's no longer possible.

  ——

  "Alas, what a pity! If not for the broken string, the position of Jiazi would have been his. " Xie Tianxi's face was filled with regret, and Xiao Yun's timely breaking of the string had indeed exceeded his expectations.

  Mu Tian'en just shook his head and didn't say a word.

  Xie Tianci turned his face to look at Mu Tianen, "Brother, isn't your Jiuxiao useless now? Why not give it to him?"

  Mu Tian'en heard this and directly threw a white eye at him, "Is your eye useless for looking at me? The Jiuxiao was given by my master, how can it be easily given to others?"

  Xie Tianxi opened his mouth, but didn't say anything more. He was just a little curious in his heart - if Xiao Yun's strings hadn't broken, he wondered how long she could have held on? Could she have suppressed these two disciples that he had carefully trained?

  ——

  As Liu Yuanqu's qin sound became more urgent, the man and woman in front of him could no longer hold on. Soon after Xiao Yun was eliminated, they also gave up one after another. The woman was slightly stronger and took the "Jiazi" position, while the "Yichou" position was taken by the man.

  Both of them were drenched in sweat and panting heavily, as if they had just recovered from a serious illness. They immediately sat down cross-legged and began to regulate their breathing.

  Liu Yuanzhen pressed down on the strings, and the sound of the guqin came to an abrupt halt. His gaze fell upon the two individuals, his face filled with satisfaction. The fact that they had managed to hold on until he was almost finished playing the piece was no easy feat, a testament to their exceptional skill and musical prowess, making them the cream of the crop among young disciples.

  Daoyi returns to the origin, Liu Yuanchen lightly strokes his beard and stands up. "The second round of assessment has ended, and Xǔ Wǎnjūn, a disciple of Jingying Academy, has won the first place in the Jiazi position. The total score of this assessment will be posted on the Tianyin List tomorrow morning. You can go to check it out yourself. The top 12 disciples from outside the academy can enter Jingying Academy for further cultivation."

  He looked back at Xie Tianci, and Xie Tianci shook his head to indicate that there was nothing more to say. Liu Yuanchen then turned to the disciples below the stage and said, "Today's assessment ends here. The top ten overall scores on the Heavenly Music List will undergo a third piano skills assessment tomorrow to determine the final ranking. If there are no objections, disperse!"

  The sound fell, the elders left, and many disciples also picked up their own zithers and slowly left the square. Some were excited, some were disappointed. Lin Chuyin and Luo Qing walked over.

  "Congratulations, Senior Xiao! You actually made it into the top three in the martial arts exam. You'll definitely be able to get into the Elite Academy now." Lin Chuoyin said.

  "Congratulations on successfully breaking through the Joyful Labor Boundary. If nothing unexpected happens, both of you will also be able to enter the Elite Academy." Xiao Yun said with a smile.

  "It's hard to say, you and Shijie will definitely be able to enter the Elite Academy, but I'm still uncertain, I don't know how my liberal arts exam scores are yet." Luo Qing said.

  Xiao Yun smiled suddenly, "You'd better stop pretending, I can see that you're actually delighted inside!"

  "Where is it?" The feigned humility was seen through by Xiao Yun, and Luo Qing looked a bit embarrassed.

  The first item was the music test, and Luo Qing didn't have much confidence in it. Fortunately, he made it into the top 60 in the martial arts test and even got a good score of 37th place. The disciples who ranked after 60th in the martial arts test did not have any scores, so this was a great advantage for Luo Qing, adding an extra scoring item. As long as his literature test score was passable, it shouldn't be too difficult to get into the top 12 of Wai Institute.

  Lin Chunyin also smiled, her eyes falling on Xiao Yun's broken-stringed paulownia wood zither, and said with some regret, "Xiao Shixiong, it's really time for you to change this zither."

  "If one wants to do a good job, he must first sharpen his tools. This broken lute of yours is due for a change." said Luo Qing.

  Xiao Yun smiled wryly and was about to speak when a soft, melodious voice came from beside him, "May I ask the honorable brother's surname?"

  Xiao Yun turned his face, a woman was standing beside him looking at him, wearing a pale pink light gauze long dress, two strands of sweaty long hair floating on her cheeks, delicate facial features, not extremely beautiful, but looked very elegant, holding an ancient zither, with a kind of elegant temperament, judging from her figure, it should be the woman who just sat in front of him.

  "In the lower Xiao Yun." said Xiao Yun.

  The woman stared at Xiao Yun for a while, politely nodded and smiled at him, then turned around and left under his inexplicable gaze.

  This pickup line is quite unique! Just asking for a name and leaving, Xiao Yun was stunned for a moment, feeling a bit bewildered.

  "Xiao Shixiong, you're too amazing! She actually took the initiative to talk to you." Luo Qing said excitedly as he saw the woman leave.

  Xiao Yun looked somewhat puzzled, "Is she very famous?"

  Lin Chuoyin said, "Her name is Xu Wanjun. It's said that she's the only one in Tianyin Sect, apart from the sect leader, who has a top-notch root bone with three highs and two lows. Her talent is extremely clever, and her attainments in music are outstanding. It's even said that she once composed a four-stage battle song!"

  "Fourth Movement of War?"

  Xiao Yun heard this, and his face also flashed a hint of surprise. The Four Stages of War Chant was already a low-level Lingering Melody. To know that if Xiao Yun abandoned the memories of those tunes and let himself compose music, with his current realm, he could only compose high-level Heart Tunes at best.

  Just this point alone can show how strong the woman's talent is in music, and as his gaze fell on the woman's receding back, Xiao Yun was somewhat distracted.

  Luo Qing said, "However, this Shifu's personality is a bit eccentric and doesn't like to interact with people. This time she actually took the initiative to come and chat with Xiao Shifu, in my opinion, she must think that winning against him earlier was not honorable."