Gu Qingfeng said this while sitting on the Four-Steed Grand Carriage, picking through a jumble of crystals with Little Jin'er.
His tone was casual, as casual as if a few people were arguing about who should go eat, and he had simply said, "Let's all go together."
However.
It was precisely this casual tone that made Tu Gao, Ling Feng, Huo Dong, and the others, who were in the midst of their dispute, pause for a moment before their expressions turned to anger and killing intent.
Because this wasn't a matter of who should go eat. Although Gu Qingfeng's words were spoken lightly, that very lightness made it feel as if he didn't take these Little Hidden Dragons—or even Situ Zhengnan—seriously in the slightest.
This wasn't arrogance, nor was it insolence. It was a sense of indifference.
The feeling was like: fighting one is fighting, fighting ten is also fighting, fighting a thousand is still fighting. Since that's the case, then let's not bother with the trouble—just fight them all together.
That was truly the feeling.
That indifferent tone was so grand it was almost unbelievable, and it infuriated the Little Hidden Dragons to no end. They were individuals with great status, great backgrounds, and great fortunes. Under normal circumstances, when they said one, no one dared to say two. To be so utterly disregarded by a mysterious fraud like this was naturally intolerable. If Su Hua weren't standing before them, they would have attacked without hesitation.
"Young Lord Chiyan, your tone is truly impressive!"
Situ Zhengnan looked at Gu Qingfeng, his expression slightly dark. Clearly, Gu Qingfeng's earlier words had also displeased him, one of the Twelve Kings.
"Can't help it. My tone's never been ordinary since I was little. After so many years, I'm used to it. Can't change it even if I wanted to."
Gu Qingfeng tilted his head back and drank a cup of wine, then finally lifted his eyes to look at the crowd, smiling. "Alright, enough dawdling. Didn't you say you wanted to test my Musical Arts? Who's first? Hurry up."
"Pretentious fraud! This young master wants to see how long you can keep up this act!"
Tu Gao stepped forward first, pointing at Gu Qingfeng and shouting angrily, "Since you claim your mastery of the Musical Arts is peerless under heaven, then this young master would very much like to hear you play 'Wind Spirit Bosuo.'"
Melodies are the symbols of the Musical Arts.
Any musical piece is composed of various melodies.
Each melody, in turn, is composed of techniques, spirit, spiritual seals, and more.
Different levels of mastery in the Musical Arts result in different Profound Mysteries when playing a melody. Therefore, from a single melody, one can completely judge a person's level of mastery in the Musical Arts. It's the same principle as judging a person's calligraphy skill from a single character.
Similarly.
To verify whether the arrogant fraud before them truly modified Fairy Su Hua's Little Blue Flower Language, one only needed to test him with a few high-difficulty melodies. Truth cannot be falsified, and falsehood cannot be made true.
Sitting on the Four-Steed Grand Carriage, chatting idly with Little Jin'er, Gu Qingfeng raised an eyebrow upon hearing "Wind Spirit Bosuo," because he had never heard of this melody. Thinking carefully, he was sure he didn't know it. He looked up and asked, "What the heck is Wind Spirit Bosuo?"
Gu Qingfeng's question caused the entire crowd to burst into laughter.
"Big Brother, you don't know Wind Spirit Bosuo?"
The innocent and naive Little Jin'er asked in confusion, making Gu Qingfeng quite embarrassed. He looked at Huo Dong beside him and asked, "Is there such a melody? How come I've never heard of it?"
"Wind Spirit Bosuo is a new melody created by Fairy Su Hua a few years ago. You've been gone for so long, it'd be strange if you had heard of it!"
"So it's a newly created melody? That explains it."
Gu Qingfeng had left this world for nearly three hundred years. If someone had created a new melody, he naturally wouldn't know about it, let alone have heard it.
Looking at the crowd roaring with laughter, Huo Dong also felt embarrassed for Gu Qingfeng. His old face couldn't help but flush red as he shot a glare over. "You had to boast so big, didn't you? Now it's blown up in your face, embarrassing yourself. You think it's still the old days?"
Gu Qingfeng was speechless. He shook his head and smiled helplessly, thinking that this time his boast had indeed been a bit too big. Especially under Little Jin'er's doubtful gaze, he felt genuinely awkward.
The crowd, discovering that Gu Qingfeng didn't even know the melody Wind Spirit Bosuo, laughed at his ignorance.
In this world, anyone familiar with the Musical Arts knew that Wind Spirit Bosuo was a classic melody created by Fairy Su Hua.
The Wind Spirit Bosuo melody contained the Profound Mystery of wind spirits. When played, it was as if a gentle breeze had arrived, with spiritual sounds rustling—extremely profound. It was hailed as one of the famous classic melodies of the Present-Ancient Era.
If someone didn't even know such a famous melody of the Present-Ancient Era, how could such a person possibly have the skill to modify Fairy Su Hua's Little Blue Flower Language? The crowd laughed uproariously.
"This is killing me! He doesn't even know the Wind Spirit Bosuo melody, yet dares to claim his Musical Arts are peerless under heaven!"
"Hmph! I thought this guy had at least some ability, but he doesn't even know the Fairy's Wind Spirit Bosuo!"
"Exactly! Those frauds impersonating the Monarch's Heir at least have some real skill. This guy... doesn't even know Wind Spirit Bosuo, yet dares to impersonate the Monarch's Heir. How utterly ignorant!"
In the crowd.
Huo Wu Chenyue looked at Gu Qingfeng, deeply puzzled. Because she had once heard Gu Qingfeng play Phoenix Seeks Phoenix, yet now he didn't even know Wind Spirit Bosuo. She couldn't make sense of it. It was like a master of immortal arts not knowing the most basic spell—utterly incomprehensible. At the same time, she began to suspect: Could it be that the Phoenix Seeks Phoenix this guy played that day was actually a fabricated artistic conception using spirit energy?
It absolutely was!
Thinking this, Huo Wu Chenyue inwardly cursed: Big fraud! Damn it! This fraud! He actually dared to deceive this young lady, even made this young lady dance and give him a massage!
What made Huo Wu Chenyue even more frustrated was that she had just stood up to vouch for this guy. Thinking back on it now, she really regretted it and felt utterly humiliated!
She felt humiliated.
Meanwhile, Lan Fei'er beside her wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Because Gu Qingfeng was the Monarch's Heir recognized by several of the Chixiao elders from their Fengyun Branch. Although she didn't agree with it, she had to admit one fact: Gu Qingfeng's words and actions today also represented their Fengyun Branch.
Earlier, this Heir had claimed in front of everyone that his mastery of the Musical Arts was peerless under heaven, already making their Fengyun Branch a laughingstock.
Now, this guy didn't even know Wind Spirit Bosuo, created by Fairy Su Hua. Lan Fei'er was so embarrassed she couldn't even lift her head. The last shred of hope she had held for Gu Qingfeng was utterly shattered at this moment.
Yes.
The last shred of hope.
In her mind, the several Chixiao elders couldn't have recognized Gu Qingfeng as the Monarch's Heir for no reason. Huo Wu Chenyue couldn't have claimed for no reason that he played the World-Honored Empress's Phoenix Seeks Phoenix. This guy couldn't have so coincidentally picked up a modified score of Little Blue Flower Language left by some elder.
She had been comforting herself with these thoughts, even though she didn't believe them herself. But she had kept comforting herself.
Only, at this moment, she could no longer deceive herself with such comfort.
Wind Spirit Bosuo was a melody created by Fairy Su Hua, a recognized classic of the Present-Ancient Era, widely used in many musical pieces. Almost anyone who understood the Musical Arts knew of it.
Perhaps many couldn't play the Profound Mystery of Wind Spirit Bosuo.
But they could definitely play it.
Even if they couldn't play it, they at least knew how to play it.
But this guy? Forget the Profound Mystery of Wind Spirit Bosuo, forget playing it—he hadn't even heard of it.
What else could such a person be but a fraud?
Lan Fei'er was on the verge of collapse. She screamed inwardly.
If you want to impersonate the Monarch's Heir, then impersonate him! Those other frauds impersonating the Monarch at least have some real skill, enough to pass off the false as genuine and fool others.
But you? You don't even know Wind Spirit Bosuo, yet you dare impersonate the Monarch's Heir? You dare claim to be peerless under heaven in front of so many people? How did those words even come out of your mouth? Aren't you ashamed?
Do you know that your humiliation makes our Fengyun Branch lose face too!
Collapsed!
Lan Fei'er lowered her head, squatted on the ground, and covered her face. She truly had no face to see anyone. Right now, she only hoped this fraud would admit it himself—at least that would leave some dignity for their Fengyun Branch.