Number One Under Heaven

“Tian Yi… is your name?”

Tang Yi did not miss it when Qiu Heng spoke to him.

They had the same given name… was this a coincidence… or was this fate?

“Then Junior Brother Tian, what was it about my performance that did you not find satisfying?” she asked him.

Tian Yi looked at her with a strange face. What did he do to get caught up in this? Where did she get this idea of him not finding it not satisfying?

Although he was confused at her actions, he still sort of knew what she was trying to ask.

“Your zither playing… was not bad---”

The muscle on Tang Yi’s face uncontrollably twitched. Not bad? Just not bad? All she had done was just ‘not bad’?!

The audience went into an uproar when they heard that. Not bad?! Their ears were literally getting orgasms from experiencing her zither play and all he said was ‘not bad’? If he’s not deaf, then who in this world can be considered deaf?!

Little did they know that ‘not bad’ was already a very good compliment from somebody like him.

Tian Yi ignored the uproar and continued, “It’s not bad, but… what are you confused about?” he asked her.

Tang Yi lifted her eyebrows in surprise, “Confused? You are saying that I am confused?”

He nodded, “Your skills are no doubt better than the girls behind you, but if I had to compare you two, then I would say I had gotten more enjoyment from them.”

Tang Yi frowned upon hearing that. She was better than her fellow disciples yet he liked their performance better than hers? What was the logic in that?

The girls behind her were a bit shocked when they heard that he enjoyed their performance better than their senior apprentice-sister Tang. That was truly something they had never expected to hear.

Maybe this kid was extremely bad at comparing things? Maybe he's piss poor with his judgment? They could not help but doubt his words.

The audience also could not help but laugh at his words.

“Fairy Tang is worse than the others? Are you deaf? Hahaha!”

They were indeed worse than Tang Yi, and it was a fact. Yet the girls still frowned upon hearing that. While they were aware of such facts, it still did not feel good to hear such statements. They rather listen to this young man bullshit than hear the audience speaking of facts.

“Can you elaborate? What do you mean by that?” Tang Yi asked him.

Tian Yi nodded, “Their music brought joy, sorrow, excitement, and all sorts of emotions within their notes, yet yours… they were nothing but empty notes. No happiness, joy, or excitement could be felt from your notes---”

“Bullshit! I was excited when I heard Fairy Tang’s songs!”

“Yeah! What empty notes? Your words are empty!”

“Silence!”

Tang Yi shouted, silencing the audience.

A serious expression hung on her fairy-like face, and she continued, “Even if what you said is true… t-that m-my notes are e-empty… how does that make me confused?” she had a hard time calling her own notes ‘empty’.

Tian Yi shrugged his shoulders at her question, “Just a feeling,” he said nonchalantly.

“...”

A vein unknowingly bulged on Tang Yi’s forehead, she was clearly mad at that half-assed answer.

“That answer will not cut it. I played all those songs just for you, and you give me such a half-assed answer? Are you making fun of me?” she said.

“What?! She played all those songs specifically for him?! How fucking lucky does he have to be?!”

The audience began feeling both envy and hatred towards Tian Yi.

Tian Yi did not know whether to laugh or cry. Who had told her to play for him? Definitely not him.

“Fairy Tang, do not mind this idiot whose ears are only for display. Your zither play was heavenly and divine, definitely the best of the best. If you claim to be number two under heaven, then nobody will dare to claim number one.”

“Ah, Fairy Tang, why are you wasting your time and effort on this kid who doesn’t even know how to play the zither? If you cannot satisfy him, then who can?”

“His words are as empty as farts at best.”

The audience were mocking Tian Yi while wheedling Tang Yi.

Tian Yi’s face was still calm while listening to all the mockery shooting at him, it was as if he did not hear them.

Tang Yi, on the other hand, was frowning.

Did he really have hearing problems? Although she had wasted a lot of time and energy on trying to satisfy his ears, she also gained a lot of insights regarding her zither play, increasing her already perfect mastery even higher.

“T-Tian Yi…”

Qiu Heng and Xuan Wanshan looked at him with worrying eyes.

How was he going to get out of this one? He may be a genius, but he cannot compare to the cultivators from the Holy Continent!

Look at the door servant for example. She was already Spirit Lord at her young age, someone who would be considered a Phoenix among chickens in the Jin Continent yet she was only qualified as a servant in the Holy Continent!

Qiu Heng did not want a fellow disciple to get caught up with the Holy Continent, so he stood up and spoke, “Fairy Tang, I----”

His words were caught in his throat before he could even start the sentence.

Tian Yi finally stood up, his calm gaze staring into Tang Yi’s emerald-like eyes.

“Very rarely do I get to play in front of others, but since I have a chance now, why not?”

A smile appeared on his face as he walked onto the stage.

Tang Yi frowned when he stood next to her, side by side.

This was the first time someone had dared to stand so close to her, and a male at that!

Their height was about the same, and Tang Yi did not move and only looked at his ordinary-looking face.

Seeing the smile on his face, she had a feeling that something as massive… no, something even more terrifying than a huge boulder falling from the sky was about to hit her.

Tian Yi looked at the jade chair on the stage and then Tang Yi, “Do you mind?” he asked her.

‘He’s going to play?’ she asked herself.

Since he had the nerve to say her notes were empty, then he should have at least some skills, right?

Tang Yi silently nodded, agreeing to give her seat to him, another thing she has never done before.

Tian Yi thanked her with a smile before sitting down.

“....”

His eyebrows lifted a bit when Tang Yi walked in front of him, blocking his view of the audience.

‘What is she doing?’

Even the audience was puzzled at her actions. Unless she was deaf too, was there really a need to stand so close to him?

Out of all the things the audiences had expected her to do, Tang Yi did something nobody there had expected.

She pulled out another jade chair and placed it right in front of Tian Yi before sitting down and staring at him with a serious face.

“Go ahead and play, do not mind me,” she spoke nonchalantly.

“....”

Still with a calm face, Tian Yi nodded.

The audience was shocked.

He's going to play the zither in that situation? How was that even possible? No male would be able to think properly with someone as beautiful as Tang Yi staring at their soul, let alone play a freaking zither!

Xuan Wanshan was frowning at the situation. She did not like where this was going and she definitely did not like how close Tang Yi was sitting to Tian Yi.

Cold sweat soaked Qiu Heng’s robes when he saw Xuan Wanshans’ expression and Tian Yi on the stage.

How can something like this even happen?

‘If I could turn back time, I would definitely have come here by myself,’ he cried to himself.

“I could feel confusion in your music, but you do not know why… right?”

Tian Yi asked the girl sitting in front of him.

“I do not recall agreeing to your statement,” she replied with a frown.

“That is fine too… then allow me to show you---”

He stopped speaking halfway through and turned silent.

“What is it this time?” Tang Yi asked him.

Feeling a bit awkward, he said, “I do not have my zither with me right now… can I borrow yours?”

Tang Yi stared at him with wide eyes.

He walked up the stage without a zither on him? What the hell?

Tang Yi’s gaze fell on her own zither.

This zither has been with her since forever. She does not even remember the last time someone else other than her had touched it. Was she willing to let some Mortal that had even looked down on her borrow it?

Before she could even reply, a low voice came from behind Tian Yi.

“U-Umm… you can use mine…”

It was one of the girls on the stage.

Not minding Tang Yi anymore, Tian Yi stood back up and walked to the girl standing on the far right.

“Thank you, I will make sure it will be happy before I return it to you,” he said.

“Huh?”

The girls were surprised and confused at his words. Was he talking about the zither being happy or himself? What does he mean by that?

And while Tian Yi did look down on their senior appreciate-sister Tang, he still had said that they were better than her, giving them a somewhat good impression on him. If it were not for that, would this girl even let him touch her zither let alone borrowing it?

The girl carefully held the zither in front of her chest, offering it to Tian Yi.

It was a wooden zither with strange symbols engraved on the top.

He accepted the zither and the moment his skin touched the cold, hard surface…

The entire zither began trembling in excitement!

“What?!” The owner of the zither cried out in shock.

Her zither was actually physically trembling! She has never heard of this phenomenon before let alone witnessing it happen to her zither.

A warm smile appeared on Tian Yi’s face as he gently brushed the silky strings with his fingers.

7 ripples corresponding to the number of strings on the zither swept through the entire room in that instant.

The moment these 7 ripples appeared, it swept through the room and continued outside, sweeping through the entire Jin Long Continent, creating a phenomenon where both humans and nature itself had turned quiet! The humans halted in their steps, the beasts no longer roamed, nature itself had shut down, there was no longer wind traversing the world, there were no longer waves in the ocean, it was as if time itself had stopped!

The entire Continent was silent at this moment so one can imagine how quiet the red room was currently.

The owner of the zither stared at the zither in Tian Yi’s hand with wide eyes and a loose jaw.

She did not know her zither was capable of making profound sounds like that!

“A fine piece of treasure…”

Tian Yi’s murmurs could be heard even from the end of the room because it was just that quiet.

Under the dumbfounded gazes of everybody, Tian Yi walked back to the jade chair and sat down in front of the stupefied Tang Yi.

Looking into her wide eyes that flickered nonstop with shock, he said, “Very rarely do I get the chance to play for others… and now that I have the chance… it would be a shame to just keep it within this room.”

Closing his eyes, he takes a deep breath before moving his fingers closer to the still trembling zither strings.

The next second, a massive ripple swept through the Four Continents, the Holy Continent, the entire Mortal's Realm, leaving no corners untouched!