Deep within the Celestial Origin Saint Palace.
This place was even deeper than the Tianyuan Nine Immortal Palace.
Xue Yao slowly descended into a bamboo forest with Ye Xiu, and all they could see around them were tall, green bamboo.
"Sister Xue Yao, where are we going?" Ye Xiu asked.
This place was much deeper than the Tianyuan Nine Immortal Palace. It wasn't hard to imagine that it must be an extremely important area.
Xue Yao glared at Ye Xiu. "Be serious. I'm taking you to meet my master."
Ye Xiu was shocked and hurried to catch up, walking shoulder to shoulder with Xue Yao.
Meet her master? This meant he was going to meet an elder!
Ye Xiu laughed, "Sister Xue Yao, don't worry. Meeting the grandmaster, I will definitely be on my best behavior."
Xue Yao thought to herself, to be honest, she didn't believe him at all. This guy didn't seem respectable at all.
"Sister Xue Yao, is the grandmaster nice?"
"Sister Xue Yao, is the grandmaster powerful?"
"Sister Xue Yao, why are we meeting the grandmaster?"
Facing Ye Xiu's barrage of questions, Xue Yao felt her head was about to explode.
"Watch it, keep running your mouth and your head will burst when we go in!" Xue Yao rolled her eyes.
Ye Xiu couldn't help but shudder, but he was still excited inside. For the sake of his future happiness, he had to make a good impression meeting this elder.
Continuing down the stone path, they pushed through the dense bamboo into a simple courtyard.
Although this courtyard was tiny compared to the outer palaces, it gave Ye Xiu an unfathomable feeling of transcendence and detachment from the mundane world at just a glance.
Only a hidden master of incredible power would find a quiet place like this to retreat from the world.
One look and you could tell it belonged to someone beyond the mortal realm.
"Master, disciple Xue Yao pays her respects!" Xue Yao clasped her hands respectfully.
"Enter," a voice that seemed to come from the heavens echoed through the bamboo forest, and with just one word, a gust of wind rippled through the entire bamboo forest.
The courtyard gate opened.
Xue Yao led Ye Xiu inside.
Upon entering the courtyard, they were hit with an unimaginably strong aura of stellar forces.
Looking around, the courtyard was simple - just a medium-sized pond with a pavilion over it, and little else.
But what attracted the most attention was the ancient zither placed in the center of the courtyard, depicting a soaring dragon that looked almost lifelike, shaking the heavens with its roar and giving off a strong visual impact.
Ye Xiu looked around as he followed Xue Yao toward the pavilion.
Inside the pavilion were several zithers placed around.
In the center, seated on a stone chair, was an old woman with long white hair flowing down. With just a glance, Ye Xiu was drawn in.
Although her hair was all white, her skin was as smooth and delicate as a newborn baby's, white and translucent.
In her youth she must have been a peerless beauty.
Xue Yao glared at Ye Xiu when she saw he was spacing out. This guy was actually ogling her master!
Ye Xiu was startled and quickly smiled and clasped his hands. "Disciple Ye Xiu pays his respects to Grandmaster."
The old woman was named Bai Qin. She had been Xue Yao's master since Xue Yao entered the Celestial Origin Saint Palace.
Seeing Ye Xiu's casual, carefree manner, Bai Qin felt a little chaotic inside.
She glanced at Xue Yao. What was this girl thinking, not accepting a disciple for 300 years, then finally taking in this sort of person?
Seeing the distaste in Bai Qin's eyes, Xue Yao wanted to do Ye Xiu in right there. This guy really had no decency, he was like this when they first met and now also to her master!
"Xue Yao, come here a moment." Bai Qin slowly stood up and turned around, leaning on the railing with a worried look.
"Master." Xue Yao walked over lightly.
Ye Xiu watched the two, full of questions. What was going on? Whispering as soon as they just got here?
Bai Qin looked at Xue Yao and said gravely, "Xue Yao, I know you haven't found a suitable candidate in 300 years and you're impatient, but zither cultivation is different from martial cultivation. There are many talented martial artists in the world, but zither cultivators need calmness and tranquility. This boy's behavior is strange and restless. He doesn't seem like someone who can calm his heart and cultivate the zither." Bai Qin sighed. She had only accepted one disciple, Xue Yao, in nearly a thousand years.
Although Xue Yao looked young and pampered, when she played the zither she could instantly calm her heart.
But Ye Xiu was completely unlike someone who could calm his heart, which was taboo in zither cultivation.
Xue Yao looked back at Ye Xiu, then turned and smiled. "Master, you misunderstand. It's not as you imagine."
"Oh? Could he have outstanding talents?" Bai Qin asked.
Xue Yao said, "At first I thought the same as Master, that Ye Xiu didn't seem like a proper person and there was no way he could calmly cultivate the zither. But on the day he entered, he comprehended the meaning of the zither from the inscription stone, grasping it in an instant. And the time he took to comprehend was only a moment."
Hearing this, Bai Qin of course didn't believe it. After all, who in the world without any zither skills could comprehend the meaning of the zither in an instant? Such a person simply didn't exist.
Xue Yao went on, "Not long ago, without me teaching Ye Xiu any zither skills or techniques, he was able to further comprehend the meaning of the zither from the natural scenery. By now, Ye Xiu has already reached the minor accomplishment stage in comprehending the meaning of the zither."
Hearing this, Bai Qin was even more incredulous.
A few days?
Minor accomplishment in comprehending the zither's meaning?
And without any guidance at all? Even with guidance, it would be absolutely impossible to reach minor accomplishment in just a few days.
Without at least ten years, even decades of daily accumulation, it couldn't be achieved.
Bai Qin looked seriously at Xue Yao. "Xue Yao, you must not deceive your master."
Clang!
Before Bai Qin could finish speaking, a chaotic zither note suddenly drifted over!
In that instant, Bai Qin froze, and her expression changed dramatically. She slowly turned around.
There she saw Ye Xiu squatting in front of a zither, plucking its string with one finger!
Xue Yao smiled wryly. Perhaps this guy really was an anomaly.