"Zither Goddess’s Ethernal Art, huh? Are you sure that you want to name it after me?" The Zither Goddess asked him afterward.
Yuan nodded, "I’m sure."
The Zither Goddess smiled, and then she said, "There is nothing left for me to teach you, and I hope you get to meet the real me outside one day. Perhaps you might be able to reignite my passion for the zither once again. Until then, Zither God."
"Eh? What did you just call me?" Yuan’s eyes widened with surprise when the Zither Goddess suddenly called him the ’Zither God’, but alas, before he could get an answer, the scenery changed, and the young lady with otherworldly beauty disappeared from his sight.
Yuan slowly opened his eyes, and he could still see the Soul Ensnaring Zither before him. However, the Zither Goddess was nowhere to be seen, and he could only see Fei Yuyan’s shocked face beside him.
<You have learned ’Zither Goddess’s Ethereal Arts’>
<Rank: Unknown>
<Mastery Level: 1>
<Description: A Zither Art created by ’Yuan’ after receiving enlightenment from the Zither Goddess>
<Congratulations! You have created your first unique skill!>
<You have gained the title ’Novice Technique Creator’>
Meanwhile, two system announcements appeared back to back for the players to see.
<Congratulations! Player Yuan has created a new skill!>
<Congratulations! Player Yuan has become the first Player to create a new skill!>
"What the heck? You can create your own skills in this game?"
The players around the world were baffled by this new discovery. How does one even create their own skill?
"D-Disciple Yuan!" Fei Yuyan suddenly spoke in a loud voice filled with excitement after she snapped out of her daze.
"Y-You did it! You actually managed to play the Soul Ensnaring Zither!"
"Eh?" Yuan raised his eyebrows.
He then turned to look at the Soul Ensnaring Zither for a moment before reaching for one of the strings.
Ting~
A heavenly sound echoed in the small room after Yuan pulled the string with the Zither Goddess’s Ethereal Arts in mind.
"How did you do it?! What’s the secret to playing this zither?! I also want to try playing it!" Fei Yuyan suddenly approached him with anticipation in her eyes.
"Uhhh... I’m not sure how to explain it... But you need a certain technique to play this zither, and I don’t know if I can teach you this technique since even I don’t know how it works. If I could teach you, I would definitely do it in a heartbeat!" Yuan said.
"Is that so..." Fei Yuyan sighed in a dejected manner.
A few moments of silence later, she continued, "Anyway, now that we know you can play this zither, we must let the owner of this zither know so he can give you the zither!"
"Wait... I can keep the zither if I can play it?" Yuan said with a dumbfounded look on his face.
"According to the owner of the zither, he will be willing to give the zither to whoever can play it properly. After all, what’s the point of keeping something that cannot be played? Might as well give it to someone who can actually use it!" Fei Yuyan said to him.
"Where can we find this person?" Yuan asked, mostly because he also wanted to keep the Soul Ensnaring Zither.
"He’s actually in this city. We can make an appointment with him today and meet him tomorrow," Fei Yuyan said.
"Then that’s what we shall do." Yuan nodded.
A few moments later, Yuan left the room with Fei Yuyan, leaving the Soul Ensnaring Zither behind.
"Hey, let Senior Zou know that we’ll be visiting him tomorrow." Fei Yuyan said to the guards outside.
"Eh?" The guards looked at her with raised eyebrows.
Fei Yuyan then pointed at Yuan and said with a beautiful smile on her face, "We’ve finally found the person who can play the Soul Ensnaring Zither."
"WHAT?!"
"IS THAT TRUE?!"
Both guards shouted simultaneously.
Fei Yuyan nodded with a prideful expression on her face, acting like she was the one who can play the zither, "That’s right!"
"I-I will let Master Zou know about this! Please go see him tomorrow!"
"This is huge news! Master Zou will be exhilarated to hear this!"
Sometime later, Fei Yuyan and Yuan returned to the others’ side.
"What happened?" Xuan Wuhan asked them after they returned.
"Nothing much." Fei Yuyan said with a mysterious smile on her face.
She then turned to look at Elder Shan and said, "Master, Yuan and I must visit Senior Zou tomorrow."
"The Zither Master, Senior Zou? Why?" Elder Shan asked with slightly wide eyes.
"Un." Fei Yuyan nodded, "That’s right. And it’s related to the zither. You’ll understand tomorrow, Master."
"You can’t tell us now?" Elder Xuan raised his eyebrows.
"It’d ruin the fun!" Fei Yuyan giggled.
"Anyways, we’re done here. Let’s walk around the city until it’s time to retire for the night!"
Elder Xuan and Elder Shan looked at each other with perplexed expressions on their faces, unsure of how they should feel about surprises when it’s related to Yuan.
Sometime later, Fei Yuyan and the others began strolling through the city. And because of their prestigious uniforms that were easily recognizable, they encountered little to no trouble at all throughout their entire tour with the exception of a few idiots that couldn’t recognize their background and approached the ladies, hoping to gain something from it.
But alas, the only thing these ignorant individuals got was cold and somewhat murderous glares from the three young ladies.
Yuan and the others returned to the Royal Blossom Hotel after walking for a few hours.
Meanwhile, at the Zou Family’s household, the two guards from the Divine Melody stood before an old man.
"Are you certain about this information? That someone who can play the Soul Ensnaring Zither has finally appeared?" The old man, Senior Zou, asked for confirmation with a serious frown on his face.
"Although we didn’t witness it for ourselves, there’s no reason for Fairy Fei Yuyan to lie to us about such a matter," said one of the guards.
"Fei Yuyan... That young lady from the Dragon Essence Temple who placed 7th place last competition, huh?" Senior Zou caressed his long white beard with a profound look on his face.