Chapter 1189 - Great Teacher Halo, Loudest Silence!

Translator: Lordbluefire

The Dao that Xia Taikang was pursuing was one of iron-bloodedness.

(Either I win or I die.)

In his philosophy, there were only two choices. Hence, his music was like his personality, courageously advancing forward like a rainbow that spanned across the sky, ruthlessly entering the ears of the audience.

At this moment, many people felt a splitting headache.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

His zither sound seemed to transform into heavily-armed soldiers that tore apart the smoke and blood of the battlefield, entering the minds of everyone. They then started to transform into demons and monsters that ran rampant through the world. Those who saw them chose to flee immediately.

Some felt chills in their heart, some felt cowardice. Some even wanted to submit.

Li Guinian’s expression changed as he stared at Xia Taikang’s guzheng!

(There’s a problem with this guzheng!)

“Oh no, Li Ziqi is going to lose!”

Xiang Zhao’s hands subconsciously wanted to strum his pipa to aid the little sunny egg. But almost immediately, he recalled that this was a competition and decided to remain neutral.

Ding!

Jiang Yuzheng’s zither music was now in chaos.

For the same melody style that was one of decisive killing, the Flying Swallow Princess couldn’t defeat Xia Taikang.

“Victory has been decided!”

Many great teachers silently judged. Although Li Ziqi’s zither skills were good, her style wasn’t clear yet. Xia Taikang was different. He clearly displayed his demeanor for everyone to see.

“Teacher!”

Lu Zhiruo was worried and grabbed hold of Sun Mo’s shirt.

The current Li Xuan stared at his royal sister while feeling extremely complicated in his heart. He wanted her to win for the sake of Great Tang’s glory, but he also wanted her to lose because this victory wasn’t earned by him!

On the stage, Li Ziqi had long since forgotten everything else. She was completely immersed in the beautiful music, enjoying the world she created.

But at this moment, Xia Taikang’s tyrannical music was like the charge of a war chariot, tearing apart her music notes in a crude manner.

The little sunny egg’s beautiful brows frowned as she changed to yet another music piece!

Ding!

The smooth flowing music sprang from her fingers, levitating into the clouds and transforming into the Great Sage Equal to the Heavens, slaying all demons and devils!

It was the Immortal Music Above Cloud Palace!

When she first heard this music piece, Li Ziqi was deeply entranced. She felt that only it could perfectly encapsulate everything the Monkey King stood for, perfectly representing their journey to the West to obtain the Buddhist scriptures.

Now, even if demons, ghosts, and monsters rushed over, they would all be slain!

Li Ziqi cast a glance at Xia Taikang before closing her eyes again. Her fair and dainty fingers slowly played the melodious and impassioned tune.

At the climax, Li Ziqi recalled the memories from the Soul Imprint her teacher had used on her. That female singer’s expression and emotions when she sang this song caused Li Ziqi to involuntarily start singing to it as well.

Ah…

“This…”

Li Guinian stood up due to shock.

Usually speaking, it was difficult to create a melody and it was even harder to fill in the lyrics. Only when both matched perfectly would the song have the qualifications to be known as a divine music piece. The majority of the time, the music piece would feel unfinished.

Either the melody wasn’t good enough or the lyrics weren’t good enough. It was truly lacking and regretful.

The song Li Ziqi was playing was extremely good in both aspects. Logically speaking, the ‘Ah, ah, ah~’ part of the song was usually very hard to perform with the appropriate emotions, and many people would surely fail. However, when Li Ziqi sang that, she immediately elevated this song to a higher level.

An ethereal, magical, and magnificent atmosphere manifested.

Li Guinian instinctively thought of the [Journey to the West] he had read before. This music piece was a perfect match for it.

“Damn, I want to win!”

Xia Taikang’s countenance turned malevolent. He knew that if he activated the ancient zither once more, things might very well be exposed. However, his intense desire for victory didn’t permit him to lose.

“Damn, erupt for me. Unleash all your strength!”

Xia Taikang roared mentally. After that, the zither strings moved automatically.

Zeng! Zeng! Zeng!

The zither music rang out like angry waves, slamming toward Li Ziqi. In fact, visible waves actually appeared in the air. This could already be considered a mental-type attack.

Boom!

The first series of waves slammed into Li Ziqi and caused her to tremble as her face lost color. She then coughed up a mouthful of blood from the impact.

“Eldest martial sister!”

Lu Zhiruo and Xianyu Wei were both very nervous because Li Ziqi was tottering and seemed on the verge of collapse. But at this moment, the little sunny egg’s potential erupted forth.

These waves were like a spark from a flint striking a pile of tinder. They ignited her inspiration.

Boom!

Li Ziqi’s mind suddenly trembled violently. Her years of life flowed before her eyes and were like a series of musical notes that gathered and formed into a music tune. After that, with a ‘ding’ sound, it suddenly erupted forth.

Swish~

A halo with a platinum glow sprang forth from Li Ziqi’s body.

Pak!

Xia Taikang’s zither strings broke.

Swish~

Li Guinian who had just sat down stood up from shock again. His wrinkled face was filled with astonishment, shock, and intense puzzlement.

This…

(Could this be Loudest Silence? How is it possible a young girl in her teens like her could comprehend this?)

Several high star-ranking great teachers were stunned too. This young girl actually comprehended a great teacher halo in the midst of a zither battle?

And it was actually the extremely rare Loudest Silence!

As the saying goes, the largest object has no shape, while the loudest sound is silence. At the highest level of music, it was silence winning against sounds!

Great teachers usually wouldn’t be able to comprehend this halo because although everyone loved music, it was just a hobby. They wouldn’t treat it as their main profession.

Although music sages didn’t have that high of a status, one still required several decades of effort as well as innate talent before they could comprehend this.

Yet, Li Ziqi actually comprehended it now. This also meant that she had extraordinary talent in the field of music.

The ordinary audience didn’t care about these. They only knew that Li Ziqi had won. Those who betted on the victory of the Great Tang’s prince group immediately cheered wildly.

On the stage, only Li Ziqi remained.

“Oh yay, we won!”

Lu Zhiruo leaped happily. After that, she high-fived the plains-girl.

“I...is this Loudest Silence?”

Li Xiu asked in shock.

As this halo illuminated forth, the zither music of her niece became even nicer and caused people to feel the impulse to sink into intoxication, not wanting it to end forever.

“Mn!”

Sun Mo wasn’t surprised. This was because when he was teaching Li Ziqi about music, he had seen her talent.

No one had such an excellent sense of music other than her.

If Li Ziqi was in the modern era, her fame would definitely make her famous throughout the whole world.

“I...isn’t this halo the symbol of a music sage?”

Prince Consort Qi was curious.

“Distinctionless Education is also the symbol of saints!”

Sun Mo chortled.

When Han Cangshui heard this, he couldn’t help but glance at Sun Mo. (What do you mean by this? Li Ziqi has comprehended Distinctionless Education? No. That shouldn’t be the case! This halo needs one’s thinking to reach a certain level and many secondary sages couldn’t even achieve this.)

If a great teacher wanted to comprehend a great teacher halo, they had to have a matching mental state and inspiration. This was something that couldn’t be faked. It was useless even if one said that they had ‘comprehended’ it. Only by being able to activate that halo could you prove that you had truly comprehended it.

Xia Taikang’s zither strings had broken apart and Li Ziqi had obtained the victory. Just when she wanted to conclude her play, a sense of mischief rose in her heart and her ten fingers strummed her zither strings swiftly.

Bzz! Bzz! Bzz!

The zither strings trembled, resembling wild bees flying in the air. The sounds easily scared children, and some women even subconsciously covered their heads as they were afraid of being stung by bees.

“This is…”

The audience was shocked. Li Ziqi’s hand speed was too quick and the spectators could only see the shadows of her fingers flashing. In the end, the zither strings actually ignited into flames with a loud boom.

Li Ziqi then stood up and bowed to convey her thanks to the audience below.

“We won!”

The little sunny egg panted and her expression was calm. However, the little her in her heart already started cheering.

(My teacher is number one in the world!)

Without Sun Mo’s guidance, Li Ziqi would find it impossible to win in this zither battle.

On the stage, the famous zither burned. Below the stage, all the audience was dumbstruck.

The atmosphere in the extremely large public square was silent for a few minutes before thunderous applause began to ring and continued without end.

“The music pieces played by this princess from Great Tang are truly awesome!”

“What is her name?”

“Li Ziqi. She’s also a great teacher!”

The audience started discussing and started to make Li Ziqi’s name known to everyone.

In the past, music was a high-class and elegant art that common people couldn’t understand, and they wouldn’t even have a chance to admire it. But today, they understood it.

Alright, maybe they didn’t understand it, but they finally tasted the charm of music. At the very least, when those musical notes rang out, their emotions fluttered involuntarily with them.

Li Guinian stood up and started to applaud!

Meanwhile, Li Xuan’s expression was extremely complicated. He felt some regret now. Back then, if he had accepted Sun Mo’s training, he would have been the one in the limelight today.

“Your highness Ziqi, congratulations!”

Xiang Zhao congratulated her.

The zither battle consisted of the combined results of the two rounds. Although Li Xuan had performed not very well in the first round, Li Ziqi’s performance in the second round was simply too shocking.

Not only did she play very well, but the new music pieces she had played would also bring a great impact to the music world of the Nine Provinces.

Oh right, she had even comprehended Loudest Silence. None other than her deserved the first place!

“Congratulations!”

Jiang Yuzhen was very well-mannered. She had conceded before needing the judge to evaluate.

“Hmph!”

Xia Taikang coldly snorted. He turned and walked down the stage. Even someone as tyrannical as him wouldn’t be unreasonable after losing a competition.

“Thanks, but the final result can only be known after the judge has spoken!”

Li Ziqi was modest.

“For this round, everyone can bear witness. Li Ziqi is undoubtedly the victor!”

Li Guinian spoke, “But I’m very curious where did you learn all these music pieces from?”

“I naturally learned them from my teacher!”

Li Ziqi’s tone was as it should be by right.

“Eh?!”

Li Guinian started. He changed his way of asking. “I naturally know that you must have learned them from a music teacher. What is your music teacher’s name?”

“I only have one personal teacher!”

Li Ziqi explained.

“What?” Li Guinian was completely dumbstruck. “You mean Sun Mo?”

“Yup!”

Li Ziqi smiled sweetly. Honestly speaking, back when her teacher had said that he wanted to tutor her in zither, she didn’t believe it either. However, the truth had proven that her teacher was capable enough to do something like this.

“Isn’t he a great ancestor-level spirit runist?”

Li Guinian asked in shock.

“It is alright to be proficient in both subjects, right?”

Li Ziqi teasingly spoke.

“No, from your ability, I can see that your music teacher is a grandmaster-level musician. But isn’t Sun Mo a great ancestor-level spirit runist?”

Although Li Guinian’s words weren’t that clear, everyone understood what he was saying.

Sun Mo was so young but actually had so many achievements? Wasn’t this too much of an exaggeration?

(You have to give an explanation, right?)