Chapter 548: Something Strange

A delicate lady, dressed in ice-blue robes, gently strummed a guqin[1] as swallows frolicked in the black bamboo grove.

The heavenly sound of the guqin flowed from her fingertips, filling the black bamboo grove with music. The melody was so beautiful that it calmed the mind and pleased the spirit of whoever listened in, transporting their minds to the realm of immortals.

Four men dressed in black stood nearby, watching the blue-robed lady in silence.

They had been passing by the bamboo grove when they heard the enchanting music. Unable to resist, they entered the bamboo grove to find out who was playing the guqin, and what they saw was that mesmerizing scene.

The blue-robed lady looked like a celestial being as she sat on the ground, playing her guqin in the breeze. Her music and visuals combined to make such a captivating and harmonious scene that it made the men feel as if they had stepped into a paradise in the immortal realm. So, they stood there for a long time, unwilling to disrupt her.

When the blue-robed young lady’s song was about to end, she finally raised her gaze and looked at the four men.

Suddenly, another person emerged from the dense forest beside them—a towering, muscular woman. She was so burly that she looked like two strong men put together.

With a wide nose and face, fierce eyebrows, and large eyes, this shockingly mighty and domineering woman charged toward the four men.

The four men were startled, and the tranquility of the scene was shattered. It reminded them of where they were—the battlefield of the Competition of the Hundred Sects!

The burly woman carried a huge drum in her left hand. She even brought a stand to hold it up.[2] Yet, the drum looked like a mere toy in her hand.

She set it up on the ground with a bang.

In response, the four men made hand seals and tried to activate them, but the moment they circulated their foundational qi a little, they felt weak all over. Their Sea of Qi was blocked, and they couldn't muster any strength to fight.

The burly woman pulled out a thick purple-gold mallet with her right hand and struck the drum fiercely.

Boom.

The sound of the drum was like a clap of thunder, and in that moment, it was like an earthquake had struck. The burly woman smashed the purple-gold mallet down onto the Kui Ox Drum[3] with earth-shattering force.

The four men were sent flying dozens of zhang. With battered muscles and broken bones, blood poured from their orifices.

Before they could even think of fleeing, the notes of a flute rang out swiftly and fiercely, sending countless razor-like sonic blades flying with the wind. The sonic blades instantly sliced the four men to shreds, turning them into soul crystals.

"

Heheheh!

" The burly woman laughed loudly as she strode forward and collected the soul crystals. "With the addition of these four, we've gathered twenty soul crystals in just three days. The effect of Lingxue's 'Drunken Immortal Melody of Spring' was amazing!"

The blue-robed lady put away her guqin and walked over slowly. "It's all thanks to your Kui Ox Drum. I was merely supporting from the side."

Two more women emerged from the bamboo grove.

These four women were the South Melody Conservatory's core disciples: Xue Lingxue, Shen Qingyan, Yu Xiang'er, and Tie Chui[4], who had been specially trained to become a combat musician.

During the three days that these four women had spent in the illusory realm, they had been using the illusion effects of the "Drunken Immortal Melody of Spring" to lure people into the black bamboo grove and then swiftly kill them.

The South Melody Conservatory team had seamless teamwork, and their tactic was simple and straightforward. If Tie Chui's attack and Shen Qingyan's follow-up attack didn't finish off their opponents, Yu Xiang'er would wait for the right timing to launch a surprise attack on them from the dense forest.

The common perception was that musicians weren't skilled in combat, but truly gifted musicians were terrifying existences. Regardless of whether they cultivated combat-type or support-type divine skills, most of those divine skills were meant to be used in groups. The more people there were involved in the battle, the more powerful the effects would be.

"Okay, Lingxue, no need to be so modest," Shen Qingyan said with a smile. "You'll always be our best support member that we can never do without."

"Especially when you're going for a matchmaking session, right?" Xue Lingxue replied with a grin.

"Oh, come on." Shen Qingyan blushed. "I didn't have a choice."

Xue Lingxue teased, "So you had to make me the bad guy and get me to offend the future crown prince."

The four young women walked back into the bamboo grove, chatting and laughing.

As it turned out, Shen Qingyan and Xue Lingxue were the closest among the four core disciples of the South Melody Conservatory. When their sect arranged for Shen Qingyan to attend the banquet at the Celestial Observatory Pavilion to meet the Second Prince, Shen Qingyan had been unable to refuse, so she brought Xue Lingxue along.

She had specifically asked Xue Lingxue to help stop the Second Prince from getting too close to her. If Xue Lingxue could not do it, then Shen Qingyan would need an excuse to leave without disrespecting the imperial family or placing herself in a difficult position.

…

After the South Melody Conservatory's team concluded their battle, the scene that was being shown on the projection shifted to another location.

The spectators at the foot of the mountain shouted with dissatisfaction.

"We want to see Shen Qingyan!"

"Just stay focused on the South Melody Conservatory! Who wants to watch those big men fight?"

"It would be nice even if we're just listening to Xue Lingxue play the guqin!"

The screen time for the South Melody Conservatory team had been pitifully short. Their fans made up a large proportion of the crowd, and many of them had been waiting for days just to catch a glimpse of their beloved young ladies. It was no surprise that they were disheartened when the focus shifted.

However, the South Melody Conservatory was not the main attraction in the Assembly of Immortal Sects, so Immortal Jiuyi paid no attention to those complaints. After all, there were plenty of chances to see beautiful women. Right now, he had more pressing matters to attend to.

No one had noticed that Immortal Jiuyi’s expression grew increasingly tense as the Assembly of Immortal Sects progressed into its third day.

At this moment, the team from the Fog-Hidden Mountain of Immortals was still drifting out at sea, casually playing mahjong.

Li Guanlong, their eldest senior brother, had covered his face with white strips of paper. He was sitting there, dozing off with mahjong tiles in his hands.

His junior brothers exchanged glances and sneakily craned their necks to peek at his tiles.

Suddenly, Li Guanlong opened his eyes and yelled, "I knew you'd try to peek while I was asleep! Caught you red-handed!"

His junior brothers panicked, scrambling their minds to defend themselves.

Right then, a thunderous voice rang in their ears. "Enough!"

"Sect Leader?"

As soon as they heard the voice, the disciples of Fog-Hidden Mountain of Immortals fell quiet, becoming more well behaved.

The voice in their ears belonged to their sect leader, Immortal Jiuyi.

However, sect elders were strictly forbidden from getting involved in the second round of the Assembly of Immortal Sects. As the master of the Divine Mirror, Immortal Jiuyi was supposed to be a mere observer. Just speaking to his disciples was a violation of the rules.

"According to the rules, I shouldn't be speaking to you, but there's an urgent matter I need you to handle," Immortal Jiuyi said. "I suspect someone has infiltrated the illusory realm. They are capable of evading my detection, so I can't see what they're doing. Go search for any strange occurrences. Notify me immediately if you find anything."

Immortal Jiuyi had sensed something was amiss from the start, but now that feeling was growing stronger. He used his senses to scan all of the illusory realm in an instant, yet he still couldn't detect anything unusual.

If there were indeed strange occurrences, it could only mean one thing: the person causing them was capable of blocking his senses. That meant they were at least as powerful as he was.

Immortal Jiuyi did not want to prematurely interrupt the Assembly of Immortal Sects, so he decided to send his sect's disciples to investigate. This way, he could confirm if something strange was happening without avoiding alarming the intruder.

If the intruder truly was a powerful cultivator of Immortal Jiuyi's level, that would explain why they could evade Immortal Jiuyi's detection. However, since the intruder was inside the Divine Mirror of the Eight Trigrams, their cultivation level was probably suppressed by a realm due to the maximum cultivation level that was allowed inside the illusory realm. So, even though Immortal Jiuyi couldn't see the intruder from outside the illusory realm, his disciples who were inside the illusory realm might be able to.

If some evil force intended to cause trouble on the Emperor's Mound during this time, it would be sheer suicide. Powerful cultivators of the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten had gathered there for the Assembly of Immortal Sects. This union of righteous forces was powerful enough to make any force of evil tremble in fear.

Nonetheless, since this illusory realm was constructed inside the Divine Mirror of the Eight Trigrams, the intruder could be interfering with the event from a remote location. If Immortal Jiuyi hastily and aggressively intervened, the intruder could easily escape by swiftly leaving the illusory realm.

Upon hearing Immortal Jiuyi's instructions, the disciples of the Fog-Hidden Mountain of Immortals stopped playing around and became serious. Once their sect leader was done talking, they all stood up.

They had been playing mahjong on the sea for days, but they weren't weaklings who had retreated to the sea out of fear. If they needed to act, they would do it without much hesitation.

Li Guanlong said, "Sect Leader has given us an order. We mustn't slack off. Let's check the entire illusory realm quickly."

"Eldest Senior Brother, I don't think we need to go to all that trouble," Zhuge Guanxing replied, raising his hand and pointing toward a shore in the distance. "We should start by checking there."

A massive black monster was rising on that distant shore.

1. A stringed instrument similar to a zither. ☜

2. See translator's thoughts for pic. ☜

3. It's a legendary drum that the Yellow Emperor was said to have made from the hide of a Kui (that mythical one-legged creature that might look like a dragon or an ox that you probably don't remember me talking about some chapters ago) Ox (which apparently could also be a wild yak or buffalo. It's not very specific in Chinese, as the same character is used for all bovine.). It's supposed to be a very powerful drum, capable of reverberating its sound for very long distances, inciting fear and awe. Have a look here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kui_(Chinese_mythology)#Shanhaijing for more info. ☜

4. This means iron hammer. She's the drummer. ☜

GLTD Alternate Universe's Thoughts

Translator: LD

The Kun Ox Drum probably looks something like this.