After Li Hongling's death, the only true disciple Mu Zhao had left was Wen Yao.
And this time, Mu Zhao had spent a full month restructuring the entire Ancient Battlefield of Meditation, even going so far as to gamble the future of the Martial Saint Pavilion, all to help Wen Yao ascend directly to Sainthood.
It was truly a case of "succeed or perish."
Mu Zhao, naturally, was filled with confidence in this.
He believed that this true disciple of his would live up to his expectations, would understand his painstaking efforts, and would walk the shortcut he had paved.
This Path of "Only the Self" was brutal, yes, but it stood even above the Tyrant Path. He believed that his disciple would not disappoint him.
However...
Mu Zhao had never told his disciple one truth: in this world, when it came to the Dao, all similar paths could ultimately lead to only one.
Because to advance to Canliao, one had to seize a true Great Dao from heaven and earth!
And the Great Dao, there could only be one!
Whether it was the "Only the Self" path, or the "Tyrant Path," all paths ultimately led to that singular One.
The Dao gives birth to One.
The One gives birth to Two.
The Two give birth to Three.
And the Three give birth to the Ten Thousand Things...
That One was the origin of all creation, the ultimate truth of the cosmos!
The first time Mu Zhao laid eyes upon that Great Dao in the Ancient Battlefield of Meditation, his heart had surged with uncontainable joy.
What thrilled him was the certainty that the path he had chosen, his Dao, was without question the true Dao of the Mysterious, a superior path.
But the greater his joy at that moment, the deeper his frustration when he later discovered that the road ahead was already cut off.
The true Great Dao of this world, capable of allowing a cultivator to unify myriad paths and seize the Mandate of Heaven itself, had forever disappeared.
The Celestial Vastness Realm was truly an insurmountable end!
Mu Zhao had felt something close to despair.
But soon, he came up with an idea.
If Heaven would not grant it to him, then he would take it himself!
All he needed to do was artificially create enough similar Dao-paths, and from the very beginning, ensure all those Dao-paths were born under the control of his Tyrant Path.
Then... once those "Daos" matured, he could easily merge them into his own Dao!
Wen Yao was his first test subject!
But now... it had failed.
A plan that should have been flawless, was shattered by Wen Yao's death!
Who was it, who could kill even someone partially imbued with the power of the Celestial Vastness Realm?!
Mu Zhao's Domain of the Dao still partially existed within the Ancient Battlefield of Meditation, as well as in Wen Yao's body. As such, he very quickly saw the face of the killer..
The Mistflower Silk could block the perception of cultivators of the Middle Third Rank, but against those in the Upper Third Rank, it was as useless as thin air.
Mu Zhao took a deep breath, and for the first time, his expression lost all composure. It could only be described as ferocious.
"Chen-! Kuang-!"
He wasn't dead?!
Not only was he alive, he had killed yet another one of Mu Zhao's true disciples, after Li Hongling!
"Very well... Very- very well..."
Mu Zhao closed his eyes, his chest heaving several times before his expression suddenly went eerily calm.
He opened his eyes, stood up, looked toward the direction of the Ancient Battlefield of Meditation, and then suddenly launched into the air, transforming into a streak of light.
Boom!
Below him, half of the Martial Saint Pavilion crumbled in an instant.
Even Mount Tai itself, towering and majestic beneath it, split open with a thunderous roar, revealing a massive fissure!
The members of the Martial Saint Pavilion who remained inside the compound were instantly thrown into alarm, flying up into the sky to investigate.
Wen Hongsheng was among them.
He had initially been puzzled by Mu Zhao's sudden outburst of fury. But soon, he saw the two nameplates atop the only intact pavilion building, both of them shattered.
Wen Hongsheng's face turned deathly pale, then flushed with a sickly red.
Finally, he clutched his chest, and with a pu, spat out a mouthful of blood!
He collapsed to the ground.
The crowd cried out in panic:
"Pavilion Master?! Pavilion Master!!"
The daylight dimmed. Thunder rolled in the distance... As that streak of light tore through the sky, darkness blanketed the heavens.
The wind and rain were coming.
...
Chen Kuang and the young zither player stood there, eyes wide as they stared at one another.
Once Chen Kuang calmed down, he stroked his chin, looking with great interest at the young Xi Mengquan before him.
Most likely, he had been swept into the Dao of Time again, traveling once more through time. Whether by coincidence or inevitability due to his glance earlier, he wasn't sure.
But in any case... he now found himself standing before Xi Mengquan, who was still just a... Qi Opening Realm cultivator.
The Xi Mengquan in front of him was only about twelve or thirteen years old, roughly the same age as the Dragon Gum Zither in his arms. Holding the zither looked like a bit of a struggle for him.
The wide-eyed youth had a refined, even overly delicate face, his features almost feminine.
He looked nothing like the grizzled old bastard Chen Kuang had known, which made the contrast difficult to accept.
Chen Kuang did a quick estimation in his mind. If the legends about the zither's creation were accurate, then this must be 2,300 years in the past.
The location... should be within the now-destroyed Great Qi Dynasty.
"Looks like... Xi Mengquan was from Great Qi?" Chen Kuang furrowed his brow. "Then why would he have taken part in destroying his own nation? I've never heard that the kings of Great Qi were tyrants. On the contrary, everyone said it was an age of prosperity."
He looked at the youth before him, falling into thought.
The young Xi Mengquan tightened his grip on the zither, a little nervous. He could sense with great clarity that the man in front of him possessed a cultivation level far beyond his own, and so didn't dare act rashly.
Appearing suddenly, with unclear intentions... He'd heard the Night Barbarians had sent spies into the Central Domain. Could it be that he had encountered one of them?
But Chen Kuang had stayed silent for so long that Xi Mengquan couldn't help but ask,
"Did you come looking for me?"
He did his best to maintain a stern face. "If you have a purpose, you might as well just say it."
How novel... he never imagined that one day, he would be the one playing the riddle-speaker in front of Xi Mengquan.
Truly, the wheel of fate turns for all. Heaven spares no one!
Chen Kuang chuckled inwardly, then nodded. "Yes, I did come to find you... As for my purpose, well, it's quite simple."
Xi Mengquan tensed up. "What is it?"
Chen Kuang flashed a brilliant, toothy grin. "To beat you up."
Xi Mengquan: "???"
...
"Hiss..."
Xi Mengquan clutched his swollen cheek, his eyes now ringed with two purplish-black bruises. He sat back down on the small stool he'd made himself, casting a pitiful look at Chen Kuang, who was casually toying with the zither he had only recently finished crafting.
Chen Kuang examined the instrument in his hands. From the look of it, the bright red lacquer had only recently been applied. At its core, the zither was just a piece of wood.
It was now abundantly clear, every single so-called "legend" about the Dragon Gum Zither was complete nonsense...
That old bastard never spoke a single honest word.
The "Dragon Gum Zither" was something he had carved himself from wood when he was twelve or thirteen!
Still, likely after centuries of use and being carried around by a Saint, it had long since transformed. The later incarnation of the Dragon Gum had become seamless and of a substance neither metal nor wood, clearly no longer a mortal object.
But at this moment, this instrument was just an ordinary zither. Nothing more.
Xi Mengquan looked sullenly at him. "Do you have a grudge against me or something?"
Chen Kuang shook his head. "Not really."
Xi Mengquan followed up, "Then why did you hit me?"
Chen Kuang said flatly, "Why not? Do I need to pick an auspicious day to do it?"
Xi Mengquan: "..."
Had he run into a madman?!
Xi Mengquan took a deep breath, silently reminding himself that he was no match for the guy. After calming down, he said:
"If you're here for money, I'm from a poor family. We barely have enough to eat."
"The only thing of value I own is the zither in your hands. If you want it, you can have it."
Chen Kuang raised an eyebrow and said, "You can barely afford food, and yet you've opened nine of your spiritual orifices?"
Though Chen Kuang had opened his own with no effort, for the average person, the early absorption of Spiritual Energy was far from sufficient. External energy sources were essential.
In other words, a mortal martial artist hoping to cultivate would absolutely need to consume large quantities of meat.
If someone couldn't even guarantee enough food to eat, it was clearly impossible for them to reach this level.
Especially for someone like Xi Mengquan, who appeared to be only twelve or thirteen, to have already opened nine orifice, if not through meat consumption, then it must have been due to some other fortuitous encounter.
Xi Mengquan's expression changed. He realized he had let something slip.
Though in the future he would be known as the Music Saint who could calculate all things, right now he was just a brat barely into his teens.
His expression shifted slightly as he weighed his options. In the end, he decided to hand over the strange little bowl that had granted him this stroke of fortune...
But Chen Kuang strummed the strings of the zither a few times and suddenly laughed:
"Your fortuitous encounter is your own business. I'm not here for that."
Seeing such a cautious version of Xi Mengquan... might be something only he could witness.
At this thought, Chen Kuang's expression turned subtly complicated.
Could it be... that Xi Mengquan still remembered this incident later on, and that's why he ended up scheming against him?
Xi Mengquan was silent for a while, now thoroughly confused.
"Then what exactly are you here for?"
Chen Kuang replied with an inscrutable air, "You'll know in the future."
Xi Mengquan: "..."
The youth clenched his fists, grinding his molars.
If only he could beat him...
Chen Kuang himself wasn't sure why he had ended up here. What was on his mind now was how to get back.
"Surely I won't have to just stay here for the next two thousand years until I rejoin the timeline, right?"
Chen Kuang muttered internally, already feeling a headache coming on.
Then, he suddenly thought of everything he had experienced inside the Great Void Illusion Realm. A spark of realization struck him.
Right, this Ancient Battlefield of Meditation existed even 2,300 years ago!
As long as he could re-enter the long river of "Time," he could naturally return to the future!
But which sects currently held power over the Ancient Battlefield of Meditation?
He definitely couldn't approach them with his real identity, who knew what kind of butterfly effect that would create...
Chen Kuang turned his gaze toward Xi Mengquan.
This guy's life history was practically a mystery!
Which meant... maybe he could groom him to enter one of Great Qi's sects, then later use the same method to take over his spot...
The only issue was getting Xi Mengquan to agree willingly.
Chen Kuang suddenly smiled and asked, "You've got some decent talent. Ever considered joining a sect?"
This was nothing but shameless talk.
But the person before him wasn't the Music Saint, just a brat who hadn't even reached the Innate Stage. Conning him brought no psychological burden whatsoever.
Xi Mengquan's expression was hard to describe.
This stranger's thought process was erratic, his behavior utterly bizarre, definitely not normal.
Yet, the depth of his cultivation that nearly suffocated him, and the profound ease of his zither-playing... all pointed to the likelihood that this man was a master of musical cultivation.
Could it be... he wanted to take a disciple?
With a mix of nervousness and anticipation, Xi Mengquan said:
"The major sects tend to be arrogant and jealously guard their own. Someone like me..."
Chen Kuang interrupted without a care, "I think Heavenly Sound Pavilion is a good choice. What do you think?"
Xi Mengquan: "..."
He hesitantly replied, "It's certainly a fine sect, but..."
But if you're not planning to take me in, this makes me sound like I'm desperate for attention...
Chen Kuang clapped his hands. "Good, if you think it's good, then that's settled."
He stood up, stuffed the "Dragon Gum" back into Xi Mengquan's arms, grabbed him, and in a flash, the two of them turned into a streak of light flying straight toward the direction of Heavenly Sound Pavilion.
Xi Mengquan could no longer remain calm. Experiencing flight for the first time, his face turned ghostly pale in sheer terror, and he gripped Chen Kuang's arm for dear life.
Chen Kuang, seeing him in this sorry state, couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Hearing Chen Kuang's hearty laughter, Xi Mengquan's adolescent pride kicked in. Forcing himself to calm down, he let go of Chen Kuang's arm with trembling hands and allowed himself to be carried by the collar in silence.
When they finally landed atop a mountain, Xi Mengquan stumbled, nearly collapsing to his knees as his legs gave out. His stomach churned violently.
Chen Kuang reached out, pressed a hand to the Dragon Gum's strings, and played a few notes.
"Zheng!"
A mysterious, invisible soundwave rippled outward. In an instant, all the birds and insects in the area fell silent, the wind ceased, the clouds halted, everything around them seemed to freeze in place.
Xi Mengquan's wildly beating heart and blank mind were both calmed and soothed by those notes.
He blinked in astonishment and quickly asked, "What was that?"
He had taught himself entirely on his own, guided only by his late mortal father, who had passed away the previous year.
Since starting cultivation, he had only recently begun trying to fuse music with his spiritual path, but had never managed to grasp the key.
Those few notes Chen Kuang had played,like the toll of a mighty bell, or the peal of thunder, instantly pierced through the fog in his mind like lightning.
Xi Mengquan felt as though the path ahead had opened up, he just needed to hear a few more notes!
But Chen Kuang stopped playing. Instead, he said, "Whatever you heard, that's what it is."
The technique he had just used came from the Calming the Winds and Waves, which Xi Mengquan had passed on to him. But the musical scale he used was entirely improvised, completely unrelated to the written score.
...What the hell was he even talking about?!
Xi Mengquan scratched at his head in frustration, face flushed red with urgency and anxiety, terrified that the insight he'd gained would vanish at any moment.
He immediately sat cross-legged, placed the Dragon Gum on his lap, took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and began to recreate what he had heard.
Chen Kuang watched with great interest from the side.
As he watched, he could feel a faint, curious ripple of energy beginning to form around Xi Mengquan. He couldn't help but marvel.
The Music Saint was indeed the Music Saint, just hearing a few notes was enough to trigger an epiphany...
That epiphany lasted for seven full days.
Xi Mengquan sat atop that mountain without sleeping, without eating, without rest, playing the zither over and over...
Until finally, what he played was completely identical to the Calming the Winds and Waves that Chen Kuang had learned!
Xi Mengquan finished the piece, then promptly passed out.
Chen Kuang immediately used Pearl-Wielding Serpent Transformation to revive him.
As soon as Xi Mengquan opened his eyes, he didn't even have time to feel grateful before Chen Kuang nodded in approval and said:
"Mm... Not bad. Take that piece to Heavenly Sound Pavilion, and even the Pavilion Master would have to call you a prodigious genius."
He patted Xi Mengquan on the shoulder, grinning mischievously.
"Come on, let's go perform a talent show at their doorstep."