“Indeed!” Prince Tianyu’s eyes flashed with sharp light as he stared intently at Ye Chu. To have a close relationship with that person from the Ancient Demon Forbidden Land, one needed considerable talent. But he had not expected that the other party also possessed intent patterns with heavenly phenomena.
“Brother Chen, since he wants your guidance, just agree to it!” Prince Tianyu wanted to see Ye Chu clearly, and having someone probe him was the best way.
Tan Chen’s gaze fell on Ye Chu. Seeing Tan Miao Tong looking at him with her clear and lively eyes, Tan Chen smiled. “Then may I ask how Your Excellency wishes to compare?”
Ye Chu also wanted to recognise what grade his own heavenly phenomenon intent patterns truly were. Smiling at Tan Chen, he said, “I just heard that Your Excellency played a piece earlier, which was truly astonishing. I am untalented, but I would like Your Excellency to offer some pointers.”
That single sentence made both Ji Die and Ye Jingyun look at Ye Chu strangely. Ye Chu had always been ignorant and unskilled, fearing and hating the arts of qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting like tigers. Even literacy had been forced on him by his grandfather. He understood nothing of qin music at all. Yet now he wanted to compete with Tan Chen through the qin. Was this not a joke?
“When did you learn the qin?” Ye Jingyun asked curiously, looking at Ye Chu. “In these three years, did you even have time to practise qin music?”
“Of course not!” Ye Chu replied. “But I knew it since I was young. Geniuses cannot be judged by ordinary standards.”
“…” Ye Jingyun looked at Ye Chu, treating it as a joke, thinking to herself that she would see how he embarrassed himself later.
Ye Chu naturally noticed the looks from Ye Jingyun and Ji Die. He smiled but offered no explanation. As a modern person, Ye Chu was not particularly proficient in the ancient qin, but he had occasionally learnt a bit from a group of worthless friends.
This skill had little use in modern times, except when picking up girls. Imagine in a noisy bar where everyone was playing rock, and you suddenly went up to play Gao Shan Liu Shui. Would that not stand out and attract attention?
Ye Chu had no interest in much else, but he had dabbled in all sorts of romantic and flirtatious techniques. He had once done something unbelievable: just so he could understand adult films, he spent time learning Japanese and achieved quite a bit, even surpassing some Japanese majors.
That incident had once made Ye Chu famous throughout the entire dormitory building.
“Hehe, since Your Excellency is willing to teach, I am happy to accompany you!” Tan Chen said with a laugh, gesturing for a nearby cultivator to bring an ancient qin to Ye Chu.
Ye Chu looked at the ancient qin placed before him. Although it differed slightly from the ones he had seen in his previous life, it was no major issue. He casually plucked a few strings, and those minor differences became clear to him.
“You really know how to play the ancient qin?” Ye Jingyun saw that Ye Chu’s plucking movements were quite skilled, not like a beginner at all. She could not help asking curiously, wondering if this guy had truly learnt the qin in the years they had not seen each other.
“You think I’m joking?” Ye Chu gave Ye Jingyun a sideways glance. His fingers moved across the strings, producing a pleasant sound that vibrated and spread around them.
To adapt to the ancient qin, Ye Chu casually played a piece, a very famous one called Gao Shan Liu Shui.
Ji Die listened from the side. She had never heard this piece before, but she had to admit its excellence. It even made her frown slightly, finding it hard to believe that someone like him back then could one day play such a piece.
Tan Miao Tong gazed at Ye Chu with bright eyes. Seeing him smile and nod at her while playing, her face immediately flushed red. How could she not understand what Ye Chu meant?
Looking at the charming and enchanting Tan Miao Tong, Ye Chu almost could not resist playing a piece of Feng Qiu Huang. If that melody came out, who knew how shy this woman would become, surely looking breathtakingly beautiful. But if he really tried to flirt with Tan Miao Tong in front of all the young talents of the Tan family, they would probably rush up and kill him. In the end, Ye Chu gave up the idea!
“Good piece! But it lacks artistic conception!” When the piece finished, Tan Chen spoke first with a smile. “Since Your Excellency is playing, why not add some artistic conception into it?”
“It has been a long time since I last played the ancient qin, so I was just warming up my fingers. That was merely casual playing. I hope everyone will forgive the poor performance.” Ye Chu said with a smile.
Tan Chen and the others nodded. The piece just now was indeed a good one, but Ye Chu’s playing level was truly not very high. It was a waste of such a fine melody.
“Would Your Excellency join me in playing a piece together?” Tan Chen smiled at Ye Chu. As he spoke, melodious qin sounds began to flow from his fingers. Ripples of sound waves spread out, carrying a long and distant artistic conception. Those who listened felt entranced, as if they would sink into the music.
The sound waves vibrated and landed in front of Ye Chu, as though trying to pull him into following the other’s artistic conception and playing the same melody.
Ye Chu’s fingers moved, and as the strings vibrated, a sound of clashing weapons and galloping horses burst forth. Compared to Tan Chen’s serene and refined music, it was completely opposite. This time, Ye Chu used his own artistic conception to manifest through the qin, as though war drums were shaking the heavens, resounding across the sky.
One side was serene and leisurely, the other was hot-blooded and surging. The two qin sounds created ripples that spread out. With those ripples vibrating, everyone present felt as though they were caught in a contradictory space, one still and one moving, making their minds drift along with it.
Tan Miao Tong, Ji Die, and the others all watched Ye Chu, listening to the music the two produced. Both were probing each other. Their artistic conceptions were not strong, and although the qin sounds created vibrating ripples, they did not affect much.
But this situation soon changed. The speed of their playing gradually increased, and the ripples vibrating from between their fingers grew denser and denser. Ye Chu’s music of clashing weapons and horses surged powerfully, while Tan Chen’s calm and transcendent sounds became even more prolonged and lingering.
As both men’s fingers danced, the qin music gave outsiders a unique feeling. Although there were flaws in the playing, the artistic conception was clearly felt.
Prince Tianyu saw that although artistic conceptions were surging between the two, they had not reached their limits at all. If they continued like this, no one knew how long it would take to get serious.
“You two, it is getting late. Why keep probing each other? Why not fight it out quickly and decide the winner? Wouldn’t that be better?” Prince Tianyu spoke from the side. His words carried his own artistic conception. Though it was advice, one could still sense a domineering tone within it.
Neither Ye Chu nor Tan Chen was affected by his artistic conception. They continued to pluck the strings. Ye Chu’s qin technique was not particularly outstanding, but what they were comparing now was artistic conception. Technique came second. With artistic conception surging, it made up for the shortcomings in skill.
“This is really strange. This guy’s qin technique is not that brilliant, but it is still decent. Three years ago, if someone said he would play the qin in the future, I would have thought it less believable than a sow climbing a tree. Who could have imagined this scoundrel actually learnt even this.”
Ye Jingyun shook her head and let out a soft breath, thinking that Ye Chu had truly changed completely from three years ago.