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Chapter 896: Chapter 896: Must Pluck the Hanhai Zither Oneself
Kaitian Academy was situated upon a vast expanse of mountainous land.
The palace complexes stood clustered together, surrounded by ancient woods, with flying springs and flowing waters, majestic yet without losing a sense of refined elegance.
Occasionally, the sound of a zither would continuously emanate from within the academy.
The zither music was melodious and pleasing to the ear, and when the music ceased, there would be the sound of applause and cheers.
Kaitian Academy was divided into the Zither, Game of Go, Painting, and Literary Institutes.
Within each institute, disciples would often compete in their zither arts and Go skills.
As Yang Xiaotian approached the mountain gate of Kaitian Academy and was about to greet the gatekeeping disciples with clasped hands, suddenly, he saw a group of disciples coming out from the academy.
"It’s you!" The emergent, those disciples he had encountered at Taibai Mountain some days ago, and the one who had demanded that Xiaotian kneel down, recognized him at a glance and glared at Xiaotian furiously.
"What’s going on?" Another disciple from the Painting Institute approached from a distance.
"Senior Brother Zhao, it’s him!" The disciple pointed at Xiaotian, "It’s him who lost us the White Dragon Marten we were going to capture at Taibai Mountain a few days ago!"
"He’s also the one who injured us!"
This disciple, recognized as Senior Brother, was Zhou Fang, the foremost Inner Sect Disciple of the Painting Institute, a disciple with the best strength and talent among the Inner Sect Disciples of the institute.
Zhou Fang, upon hearing that it was this young man in blue who had injured his junior brothers and sisters at Taibai Mountain days ago, was very surprised and looked at Yang Xiaotian with astonishment.
He dared to come to Kaitian Academy after injuring their academy’s disciples?
As Zhou Fang was caught by surprise, another group of disciples flew over from a distance, led by none other than the disciple of the Kaitian Dominator, Young Master Jiusheng.
Young Master Jiusheng and a group of disciples had just returned from an excursion.
Seeing the return of Young Master Jiusheng, Zhou Fang and the rest quickly bowed in salute, "Junior Academy Head, we pay our respects."
However, it seemed as though Young Master Jiusheng did not even notice Zhou Fang and others. Instead, he looked at Yang Xiaotian in astonishment, "Yang Xiaotian!"
Yang Xiaotian?!
Hearing Young Master Jiusheng address the young man in blue as Yang Xiaotian, Zhou Fang and those disciples from Taibai Mountain were all shocked, especially the group from Taibai Mountain whose faces changed color.
If their Junior Academy Head calls him Yang Xiaotian, then could he be?
"Deng Shupeng." Yang Xiaotian looked at Young Master Jiusheng and said, "I am here to claim the Time Divine Stele as promised."
Hearing Yang Xiaotian also addressing him by his name, Young Master Jiusheng was taken aback but then laughed, "For these days, I and the academy’s disciples have been waiting for the Young Mansion Master to come. It’s almost been two years, and we thought you wouldn’t come."
The Time Divine Stele was within their Ancestral Palace at Step-Snow Lake, and to enter their Ancestral Palace, one must play the Hanhai Zither.
It would be normal if Yang Xiaotian did not come.
After all, even their Academy Head and many ancestors could not play the Hanhai Zither.
But Yang Xiaotian simply smiled, "Senior Zhu asked me to retrieve the Time Divine Stele, so of course, I must come."
He was also a successor to Liang Li. If put into perspective, even the Kaitian Dominator would be considered his Senior Brother, so shouldn’t Young Master Jiusheng call him ’Senior Uncle’?
Young Master Jiusheng smiled, "Since the Young Mansion Master insists on retrieving the Time Divine Stele, I will take you there."
"Good," Yang Xiaotian said.
How could Yang Xiaotian not know the thoughts of the other party?
The other party just wanted to see him make a fool of himself, after all. Each string of the Hanhai Zither had restrictions branded by Liang Li himself, and anyone who failed to play the zither would be repelled by the force of the restrictions.
Many disciples of the academy had been sent sprawling embarrassingly.
Thus, Young Master Jiusheng led Yang Xiaotian towards the palace where Liang Li used to live and cultivate.
Zhou Fang and a group of disciples followed them as well.
"Just wait, Yang Xiaotian is definitely going to get blasted by the Hanhai Zither until he eats dirt!"
"He might even get blasted until he vomits blood."
The disciples from Taibai Mountain whispered to each other.
They whispered without worrying about Yang Xiaotian overhearing them.
Yang Xiaotian couldn’t help but glance at those Taibai Mountain disciples.
He saw several faces that could barely hide their glee at his misfortune.
Soon, the news that Yang Xiaotian had come to take the Time Divine Stele spread.
"Yang Xiaotian has come to Hanhai Palace to take the Time Divine Stele!"
"Let’s hurry over!"
Immediately, scores of disciples rushed towards Hanhai Palace.
Zhang Xian, the foremost Inner Sect Disciple of the Game of Go, and Zeng Shuyin, the foremost Inner Sect Disciple of Kaitian Academy, were analyzing the Game of Go and calligraphy together. Upon learning of Yang Xiaotian’s arrival, they both got up and hurried to Hanhai Palace.
The battle between Yang Xiaotian of the Heaven and Earth Divine Mansion and Lin Wei, along with the birth of the Chaos King Divine Constitution, astonished the entire world.
Over the years, the Divine Domain had been spreading legends about Yang Xiaotian, especially after his zither contest with Young Master Jiusheng, making him seem even more mysterious.
Zhang Xian and Zeng Shuyin, of course, wanted to see if Yang Xiaotian was as miraculous as the legends suggested.
"Yang Xiaotian knows the Heavenly Void Divine Hand, and he has already reached the Great Accomplishment Realm, so maybe he really could play the Hanhai Zither," Zhang Xian said, his eyes twinkling on the way.
"Perhaps, he might be able to play one or two strings," Zeng Shuyin said. "But even if he could play one or two, it would be useless."
The Hanhai Zither is different from ordinary ancient zithers, having nineteen strings in total. To enter Hanhai Palace, one must play all nineteen strings to break the Palace’s restrictions.
"Chaos King Divine Constitution!" Zhang Xian exclaimed. "Sometimes, I really want to see whether his Sword Dao is as formidable as the rumors say."
As the foremost Inner Sect Disciple of the Game of Go with peak late-stage ten layers Divine King strength, he was not only unparalleled in the Game of Go but also extremely proficient in Sword Dao, being one of the top two swordsmen among his peers in Kaitian Academy.
Meanwhile, the Kaitian Dominator was also informed of Yang Xiaotian’s arrival.
Upon hearing the news, the Kaitian Dominator simply nodded with a calm expression, "Good, I know."
Although Yang Xiaotian possessed astonishing talent in zither arts, the Dominator did not believe Yang Xiaotian could play the Hanhai Zither, so he did not take Yang Xiaotian’s arrival to heart.
Soon, Zhang Xian, Zeng Shuyin, and a crowd of disciples arrived at Hanhai Palace. At the same time they arrived, Young Master Jiusheng led Yang Xiaotian to Hanhai Palace as well.
In front of the great gate of Hanhai Palace, there stood a large ancient zither, twice the size of a regular zither and the very one crafted by Liang Li—the Hanhai Zither.
The Hanhai Zither was emanating wave-like glimmers of light, forming protective restrictions all over Hanhai Palace.
"Young Mansion Master, this is Hanhai Palace," Young Master Jiusheng said to Yang Xiaotian with a smile, then pointed to the Hanhai Zither, "You must already know that we cannot take you into Hanhai Palace. If you want to enter, you must play the Hanhai Zither by yourself."
"Please do."
After speaking, he made a polite, inviting gesture.
Yang Xiaotian could detect the mockery in the other’s manner and walked towards the Hanhai Zither.
Thousands of Kaitian Academy disciples were watching Yang Xiaotian.
Under everyone’s gaze, Yang Xiaotian approached the Hanhai Zither, looked at the quietly radiating waves of light, and spoke, "It’s been many years; you must have felt quite lonely." 𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑝𝑢𝘣.𝘤𝑜𝘮
Then he reached out, gently stroking the Hanhai Zither as if caressing the body of a peerless beauty.
Maybe it was an illusion, but it seemed to everyone that the Hanhai Zither shone with a different kind of light.
Yang Xiaotian raised his hand and began to pluck the first string.
