268: Chapter 267 Harmonious Melody: May I play a duet with you, young master?

A gentle breeze swept through the hall, causing the pearl curtain to rustle with fine sounds.

Xu Chen's eyes were slightly lowered, his aura completely internalized, as his long fingertips danced lightly over the tone holes of the purple bamboo long flute.

A clear, melodious flute sound, like a warm ray of early spring sun, quietly rippled across the second floor of Listening to Rain Pavilion.

This flute music contained not a trace of sharp killing intent, nor was it deliberately crafted to evoke sorrow or joy; it was as pure as a clear spring naturally flowing in a deep mountain, gentle and embracing all things.

The moment the flute sound entered her ears, Gong Yu, seated opposite him, stiffened abruptly.

Her Seven Orifices Exquisite Zither Heart began to beat violently at that moment. In her mind's eye, the walls of the teahouse, the noisy street, and even her own damaged eyes seemed to cease to exist.

For eighteen years, her world had been nothing but cold, biting darkness. She had locked herself in this darkness, using her zither music as a sword, stubbornly fighting against fate, covered in scars yet refusing to yield.

At this moment, Xu Chen's flute music was like a strong yet gentle large hand, lightly pushing open the rusty iron door that had been tightly shut in her heart.

Gong Yu 'saw' a vast and boundless emerald grassland.

She felt the softness of the breeze brushing against her cheek, smelled the faint fragrance emanating from the earth, and even touched the warm, dazzling sun hanging high above the Nine Heavens.

This was the Great Dao World within the heart of this white-robed Young Master.

Vast, profound, and teeming with vitality.

In comparison, her previous piece, the self-destructive 'Vast Cold Chant,' was like the desperate cry of a frog in a well facing the boundless starry sky, appearing so narrow and laughable.

Those heavy shackles pressing upon her heart, the inferiority and loneliness born from her blindness, melted away quietly under the cleansing effect of this ethereal flute music, like residual snow in spring.

A single tune of the flute was like the supreme sound of the Great Dao.

All the tea patrons on the second floor of the entire teahouse had long fallen into a state of stupefaction.

They forgot to breathe, only feeling that their entire Meridians had been cleansed anew under the resonance of the flute music.

Several elderly Loose Cultivators who had been stuck at a Bottleneck for years had flushed faces, their Spiritual Qi circulating spontaneously; they were actually faintly touching the threshold of breakthrough within this single piece.

When the last note of the flute music slowly dissipated into the wind...

Gong Yu's cheeks were already covered in crisscrossing clear tears without her knowing when.

She did not reach out to wipe them away, but sat quietly in place, allowing the unprecedented ease and relief to spread through her limbs and bones.

The nerve that had been taut for a full eighteen years finally relaxed completely.

Along with her long-stagnant Early Stage Dragon Transformation Realm cultivation, she took a significant step forward at this moment, spiritual light flashing around her body, directly stepping into the Middle Stage of the Dragon Transformation Realm.

Emerging from the cocoon to become a butterfly, her state of mind achieved Perfection.

Gong Yu took a deep breath. The sorrow and arrogance that had originally lingered on her delicate and transcendent face vanished without a trace, replaced by a composure and freedom that had seen through the Mortal World.

She extended her jade-like hands, as white as scallions, and gently placed them back on the mottled ancient zither resting on her lap.

"The Young Master's flute music is like that of an immortal; Gong Yu has learned much."

Gong Yu slightly turned her head; her empty eyes, which lacked focus, held an unprecedented brightness. A stunning, faint smile curved her lips, like a secluded orchid emerging after the rain.

"The malevolent energy in these zither strings has dissipated. I wonder, Young Master, if I might dare to perform a duet with you?"

Xu Chen lowered the purple bamboo long flute in his hand, looking at the blind girl before him who had completed her transformation, a hint of appreciation flashing in his eyes.

His deep eyes revealed a confidence of having everything under control.

This dusty piece of unpolished jade had finally been carved by his own hands into the most perfect luster.

He spun the long flute around his fingertips, brought it back to his lips, and gave the most direct answer with his action.

"Please."

Zheng.

Gong Yu's fingertips lightly plucked, and a clear, lively zither note leaped from the strings like a startled rabbit.

This zither music no longer held any trace of resentment or heaviness; it was as light as a spiritual bird playing in the mountains, full of love and longing for this world.

Immediately following, Xu Chen's flute sound precisely cut into it.

Harmony between zither and flute, flowing water meeting high mountains.

This was an ultimate tacit understanding that required absolutely no verbal communication.

Xu Chen's flute music was deep and vast, like towering mountains. Gong Yu's zither music was ethereal and melodious, resembling the clear spring water gurgling in the mountain stream.

The two complemented each other, with one in the other, pushing their comprehension of the Great Dao of Music to a brand new Peak.

Although the two sat on meditation cushions with an ancient zither between them, without any substantial physical contact, on the level of Soul and Great Dao, they were undergoing the deepest kind of fusion.

Through the flute music, Xu Chen guided Gong Yu's Seven Orifices Exquisite Zither Heart to explore the broader Laws of the world.

Gong Yu completely opened her heart, unreservedly accepting the foundation of the Great Dao transmitted through Xu Chen's Divine Sense.

In this process, the figure of the white-robed youth was deeply imprinted in her Soul like a brand, becoming the only light she would pursue in this life.

This was a spiritual resonance far more Advanced and deadly than physical union.

As the duet progressed, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi above Listening to Rain Pavilion began to gather frantically.

This massive fluctuation of Spiritual Qi instantly alarmed all the Music Cultivators in Tianyin City.

On the bustling streets, in the teahouses and taverns, countless Cultivators carrying musical instruments stopped in their tracks.

They looked up in shock, casting their gazes toward the inconspicuous wooden teahouse in the deep purple bamboo alley.

Above the roof of Listening to Rain Pavilion, the previously light blue Music Spiritual Qi had now interwoven into a magnificent five-colored rosy glow.

Within the rosy glow, countless phantom images of flying birds condensed from the Law of the Great Dao materialized out of thin air.

There were agile green sparrows, noble white cranes, and light swallows. Thousands upon thousands of phantom birds circled and danced around the teahouse, emitting crisp and pleasant chirps.

And in the very center of the flock, the Spiritual Qi converged to its extreme, and a lifelike phantom of a Fire Phoenix, radiating endless majesty, spread its wings and soared high, bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun.

"A celestial phenomenon, a Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix!"

On the main street, an old Zither Master with white hair pointed a trembling hand at the sky, shaking with excitement, even his beard trembling.

"This is the supreme divine miracle legends say can only be triggered when two Music Great Grandmasters are perfectly attuned and their Great Daos resonate! Which two Seniors are playing the zither and flute inside Listening to Rain Pavilion?"

Tianyin City was completely shaken.

Hundreds upon hundreds of Music Cultivators surged towards the direction of the purple bamboo alley like pilgrims, all to experience up close this rare afterglow of the Great Dao that occurred once in a century.

And in the private room on the second floor of Listening to Rain Pavilion...

Xu Chen and Gong Yu had completely shielded themselves from the clamor of the outside world, completely immersed in this Soul symphony.

The melody gradually rose, and finally, as the phantom Phoenix let out a high-pitched cry, the music of the zither and flute abruptly stopped in an extremely perfect chord.

The celestial phenomenon in the sky slowly receded, turning into scattered points of light that sprinkled over the entire city.

The teahouse was still dead silent, where one could hear a pin drop.

Gong Yu gently pressed the trembling zither strings with her hands, her chest rising and falling with her breath.

A captivating blush rose on her usually cold and pale face. A fine layer of fragrant sweat beaded on her nose; this was the trace left after intense mental concentration and fusion.

Although she could not see anything, her eyes were fixed firmly on the direction where Xu Chen was, and the expression of yearning and attachment in her eyes was so intense it could not possibly dissolve.

Xu Chen calmly put away the purple bamboo long flute and returned it to his storage ring.

He faced Gong Yu's affectionate 'gaze,' a gentle smile on his lips, just about to utter a few words of praise for the girl's outstanding Comprehension Ability.

At the staircase, a slightly disorderly and arrogant sound of footsteps abruptly shattered this rare elegant tranquility.