Zither Emperor

Chapter 9 – The Divine Music Division Treasure Trove(II)

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While listening to Nina’s speech, Ye Yin Zhu couldn’t help but feel exulted in his heart. Three hundred gold coins would be enough to pay for his expenses for a very long time. He would also receive an instrument. Before Yin Zhu could become too happy, however, he heard Nina say, “Ye Yin Zhu is excluded from this. He is a new student who, on the first day of school, clashed with a student from another division. Normally he wouldn’t be allowed to participate in the tournament as a form of punishment.”

“Grandma Nina, please don’t,” Yin Zhu cried out piteously. Without realizing, he had offended Nina again by opposing her words.

“Well, I have made my decision. If you cannot bring the Divine Music division to victory, then your tuition fee will be doubled.”

“Eh?” Only now did Yin Zhu find out just how terrifying Grandmother Nina could be. In the future, he had to be sure to watch his tongue around her. He kept silent with a bitter face.

Xue Ling lowered her head and giggled. She said, “Your dejected appearance is just too adorable.”

Ye Yin Zhu replied helplessly, “Men shouldn’t be called adorable.”

At this moment, a girl at the front of the classroom stood up and said, “Dean Nina, I will also participate.”

She was tall, beautiful, and appeared to be a bit older than Xue Ling and Lan Xi. Her temperament was prominent and slightly arrogant, giving her a noble aura. The most eye-catching part of her body were the two long legs peeking out from beneath her school uniform.

Lan Xi lowered her voice and whispered into Yin Zhu’s ear, “Her name is Kong Que, and her musical instrument is the pipa. Also, she seems to be at the Advanced Level Red Rank, making her more powerful than Xue Ling and me.”

“Just a moment ago, Grandmother Nina said our Divine Music division is the best division in Milan Institution for Magic and Martial Arts. This is not true. Don’t all of the other divisions call us trash?”

Lan Xi giggled and replied, “That’s true, but the claim is about our status, not our strength. During our Divine Music division’s most valiant period, there were nine princesses—one from each country. Naturally, out of all the school’s divisions, these princesses were the best. Thus the claim of being the best division is well-deserved.”

“Ah! What about you? What’s your position?”

Lan Xi said secretively, “You can’t ask that. The identity of each and every Divine Music division student is kept highly confidential. After all, the mainland countries don’t have a harmonious relationship with each other. Here everyone is merely a student.”

Dean Nina clapped her hands together and said, “You may use the next few days before school officially begins to make arrangements and practice as you wish. As for you four, come with me.”

Dean Nina led the participants into the Spiritual Magic education center—which was located on the first floor. This was an even larger classroom that was capable of holding up to a hundred people. The interior walls of the classroom were made up of a special material, which improved the room’s acoustics.

“Good tools are required to do a good job. The reason I brought all of you here today was to help you choose instruments for yourselves. This will be the first time the Divine Music division participates in the Freshman Competition. We absolutely must not suffer a crushing defeat.” Nina appeared to be somewhat pained as she said this. She sighed and continued, “Perhaps our Divine Music division shouldn’t be classified under magical arts. Almost every student who comes here has a love for music. Due to the lack of offensive power, however, the students and teachers from the other divisions always seem to hate us, despite us being Milan Institution for Magic and Martial Arts’ best division superficially. Although Yin Zhu’s earlier incident was accidental, I still want to use this chance to let the other divisions know that what they assume about our division is wrong. All of you will be shouldering the glory of the Divine Music division.”

Lan Xi hesitantly spoke up, “But Dean Nina… can we really win? Our music magic…”

Nina interrupted her and said indifferently, “Until now, almost everyone believed that the Divine Music division didn’t have a single redeeming feature. They are actually gravely mistaken. A genuine Divine Music mage is incomparably powerful. In fact, they are even the most powerful type of spiritual mage. It’s just that cultivating as a Divine Music mage is simply too challenging. Which is why only a few people are aware of this secret. On the mainland, a single Divine Music mage is capable of simultaneously defeating six other mages from different divisions. Aside from Spiritual mages, our Divine Music mages are the bane of all other divisions. Who can tell me what it means to be a Divine Music mage?”

Kong Que spoke up, “It means to imbue spiritual power inside music in order to resonate with other people.”

Nina said, “Correct. Through our music, spiritual power can be released on a large-scale. You can say that Divine Music mages are the only ones with magic of this nature. In addition, music is pervasive; it isn’t something that you can protect yourself from or resist. You can only stop it by moving out of the range of the emitted sounds. As long as you have enough spiritual power, you can rely on music to control your opponent’s mood. With this, there is no need compare ourselves to others. Under normal circumstances, the only ones able to even hold a candle to our level of spiritual strength are other Spiritual division mages. The mages from the other divisions don’t stand a chance. Ye Yin Zhu, tell me: what is the weakness of a Divine Music mage?”

“It lies in the duration of the musical performance. Generally speaking, a Divine Music mage must be at least a third of the way into the song before the music imbued with spiritual power can show its effects. Compared to the incantations of other division’s mages, which can be cast instantly, we are too slow.” This was the explanation Qin Shang gave to him. Yin Zhu remembered it awfully well.

His words surprised Nina. “One third? You spoke inaccurately. Unless you are Cyan Rank or higher, you need to be at least halfway through the song for the effects to show.” Yin Zhu was an exception to this, however, as he was cultivating the Pure Zither Heart. Because of this, he only needed to play a third of a song on the zither for the effects to arise. But how was Nina to know this?

“At the Freshman Competition, the magic level of each division’s chosen candidates are generally between the Advanced Level Red Rank and the Primary Level Yellow Rank. Furthermore, the team’s leader cannot exceed the Advanced Level Yellow Rank. As a result, so long as you settle the issue with how long it takes to compose music, then under Hai Yang’s lead you’ll definitely have a chance. Even if the opposing mages are one to two levels above Hai Yang, they will still have a hard time surpassing her in spiritual power. Which is why you’ll need to work as a team to battle your opponents in the competition. You four need to hinder your opponents until Hai Yang’s music comes into effect. They must not be allowed to disturb Hai Yang.” Nina’s eyes flickered with light. She had evidently thought up these tactics long ago.

“No, I am not cannon fodder. As a noble Divine Music mage, I will never be cannon fodder.” Kong Que pridefully stuck out her large chest. Undeniably, she had the best figure among the new students.

Nina wrinkled her brows. “You really think you’re better than Hai Yang? Kong Que, if you cannot lead the team to victory and earn first place, then you need not participate in this Freshman Competition.” The intangible imposing aura she released made the arrogant Kong Que falter.

Nina walked behind the platform and stood in front of the magical Six-Point Star painting. She extended her right hand and pressed the center of the Six-Point Star while quietly reciting a rhythmic incantation. Ye Yin Zhu and the other four girls, however, were unable to make out what Nina was chanting. Intense cyan rays of light emerged from the Dean’s hand, rendering the Six-Point Star completely cyan in an instant. This was, to say the least, a Mid-Grade Magic Transmittance Emblem. Even if you searched the entirety of the mainland, you would still be hard pressed to find any Divine Music mages who had cultivated to such a level.