Chapter 54 - The Challenge

"Indeed, the harmony of the flute and zither were commanded to such height, but it lacked some essence," Shen Lian held the cup on the table as he said this softly.

"What is the essence?" the owner asked.

"It is not something that can be heard or smelled, but it can only be felt by the heart." Shen Lian turned around and spoke to one of the beautiful servants playing the zither, "This lady, can you lend me your zither, to allow me to present the 'essence' to your master."

The beautiful servant did not react to what Shen Lian said.

The owner nodded, as his eyes landed on the beautiful servant, he made a signal.

The beautiful servant then passed him the zither.

Shen Lian was paying great attention – from the moment he started speaking, to the moment the zither was passed over, she had no change in expressions, not even from her eyes, as if she was a robot.

The zither had seven strings. Shen Lian went through the strings lightly, beautiful melody flowed like a gushing stream.

The motion of Shen Lian's fingers got quicker and quicker, and the pitch of the music increased along with speed. In terms of skills, Shen Lian merely had the benefit of nimble fingers. There was nothing special about his playing, and nobody could feel any essence.

When Shen Lian's pitch reached a certain level. Neither Xiao Zhu nor Kuhui could hear anything anymore.

However, it was apparent that Shen Lian's fingers were still on the zither, flickering at an impossible speed as if he grew extra tentacles.

Shen Lian looked like he was in pain, but he did not stop his fingers.

The beautiful servants started to deform, and the plates on the table vibrated lightly.

Shen Lian lied; he did not have anything to show when he offered to present the essence through the playing of the zither.

This world was, in fact, a more incredible place compared to earth, but it was not perfect.

Shen Lian used to study physics. When the frequency of a sound went beyond a certain level, human beings would not be able to hear it.

It was known as 'supersonic', which was often used by the bats to locate themselves.

The was not the only function of supersonic.

The reason why Shen Lian went beyond his physical limits to produce this high-frequency sound was to deliver energy; the servants were not real.

As the supersonic waves went through their body, the internal structure that held them together started to vibrate.

It was as if a bubble had been popped, burst, and wet the arbor.

The gorgeous ladies were all an imagery created by water. It was surreal.

The strings broke. Shen Lian's hands were bloodied.

He silently moved his hands away from the zither. Without looking at his hands, he sighed.

The owner's expression was unreadable. He asked, "Boy, are you not afraid that I will punish you?"

"I am a mere swallow compared to you, an eagle, a predator. If you were to get rid of me, it will not be an effect of anger as I do not deserve your attention as such." Shen Lian's blood dripped onto his pants. As the cuts contracted, they finally stopped bleeding.

It was a horrendous sight, which would send shivers down one's spine just by looking at it.

Xiao Zhu could not understand why Shen Lian did that. While the owner was not god or Buddha, he was amongst the demons. Offending the owner could mean that there would not be an afterlife for him.

"In this filthy world, it is rare for a cultivation ' seed 1 ' to be born. What is your name?" the owner asked.

There was no such thing as free lunch in this world. From the beginning, they had no choice but to oblige to the owner's command.

Power was the absolute truth.

Three of them did not even have a chance to decide on something as insignificant as the accompanying music.

At the same time, the three of them decided not to attempt going against his will.

The heart of Dao, while endangered, it was not for fear but caution.

If one lost the heart, regardless of whether it was about learning Kung Fu or Celestialism, one could only give up the forest for a tree.

If Shen Lian did not have the determination to seek for the road to immortality, why would he leave the Shen family where he could easily attain wealth and peace? Would it not be better?

His previous behavior, while extremely rude and seemingly a death wish, he only did it to fulfill his wish.

At the same time, just as he said, the opponent was a predator and he was merely a prey.

Their differences were like heaven and earth. If the owner were to give him a hard time, he would never be able to run away from it. It was then better to behave unexpectedly and try to understand the opponent's real intention.

"I like what you just said. The two of you are just ordinary people. You can leave now. The boy will stay."

He waved his hand, sending Xiao Zhu and Kuhui away to somewhere unknown. It was as if they were riding on the wind.

Inside the arbor, there were only the owner and Shen Lian left.

"I owed someone a favor years ago and he asked me to teach you swordcraft. It was not as easy as that, so I need to test you out. For the other two, well, it was destiny. If any of you three passes my challenge, I will teach all of you swordcraft. If you do not pass, it is even better as I can have a laugh at that guy who wasted his favor."

The owner let out a cold laugh as if he did not quite like the guy who used his favor for Shen Lian.

"Can I refuse to learn?" Shen Lian laughed.

"Boy, not everything is up to you. If you want to be the master of your own fate, you are still far from it," the owner replied in a disdained manner.

"Please teach me now so we would not waste each other's time." Shen Lian looked at the owner without fear.

"Do you think my swordcraft is something so easy? Even if you scr.a.p.e the surface of it, you will be able to stay safe before you reach longevity. I was just testing your guts. If you do not even possess courage, you will only be a ghoul keeper." He started coughing again.

"You do not look too well yourself. I can tell you are sick."

"What do you know? Nine out of ten of the cultivators in Daoism wish they could have my disease. The human world is filthy, only us who have stepped into the clean state will not be able to adapt to the environment. Each breathing in of the filth is extremely uncomfortable. You are rather talented. Regardless of which path you choose, it is not going to be too hard for you to reach the state. However, you might not be able to reach even my heel by the end if your life."

When the owner said it, he did not sound particularly full of himself. It was natural.

Shen Lian thought in his head, 'Given that he talks big, he must be famous in the world of Celestialism. I wonder who could have asked him to teach me swordcraft. Could it be the Xin father-daughter?'

He did not know anyone in the celestial world, and he also had no idea how powerful the person in front of him was. He was also clueless about the capability of Xin Shisiniang's father-daughter.

"Given that I have no choice, please continue with the challenge." Shen Lian smiled.

...

It was a small hill thirty miles away from Shang Jia Bao, the Shang's Fort.

The Gobi trio was at the foothills. Xiao Zhu and Kuhui were not far from each other.

Xiao Zhu asked coldly, "Master Kuhui, you have met people from all walks of life, do you know who the guy is?"

Kuhui replied, "Lady Xiao, your family is a branch of the northern sea Flying Celestial Island. You should know this better than us."

"You manage to find out even that information. It seems like you are really seeking the path of Celestialism. I do not understand what is so great about it. Even on Flying Celestial Island, no one has achieved immortality." In this case, it is an expression Chinese use to describe 'a person with potential (to grow, like a seed)'.