The Five-Color Garden was packed with a sea of people.
At the moment, the area before the high platform was especially crowded, everyone discussing a certain classic masterpiece.
It was titled 'Wind Rises Over Daqing Mountain'.
As was widely known, this was one of the classic masterpieces left behind by the ancient overlord, the Chixiao Monarch.
Many people could play this piece, but that was all they could do—merely play it. As for the artistic conception, the imposing momentum, and the Profound Mysteries contained within the music, those who could actually bring them forth through their playing were exceedingly rare.
The reason everyone was discussing this piece today was because Old Master Kumu had displayed the musical score for Wind Rises Over Daqing Mountain.
If it were just an ordinary score, it wouldn't have sparked such widespread discussion.
The truth was, the score the old master displayed was the one personally handwritten by the Chixiao Monarch back in the day.
Under the vast heavens, this was the one and only copy; there was no second one anywhere else.
As for why the Monarch's personally handwritten score ended up in the old master's possession, that story had to start from the Monarch's youth. Back when the Monarch was twelve or thirteen, he was picking five-color petals at the foot of Wuse Mountain when Liu Qingyan saved his life. Later, when the Monarch grew up, at the age of twenty, he came to Wuse Mountain hoping to repay Liu Qingyan for saving him all those years ago.
Alas, Liu Qingyan was away on a training journey and not at Wuse Mountain.
Although the Monarch failed to meet the goddess of his youth, through the Musical Arts he became acquainted with Old Master Kumu. The two hit it off exceptionally well, becoming friends despite the age gap—a relationship that was both mentor and friend. Back then, seeing the Monarch possessed extraordinary talent in the Musical Arts, the old master would often offer him pointers. The Monarch's mastery of the Musical Arts advanced by leaps and bounds, and it was during that period that he composed this very piece, Wind Rises Over Daqing Mountain.
Anyone proficient in the Musical Arts knew that this piece wasn't originally called Wind Rises Over Daqing Mountain, but rather 'Chixiao's Wind, Clouds, and Thunder Stir'.
It was only because the Chixiao Monarch later used this piece to slaughter thousands from over a dozen sects on Daqing Mountain that later generations began calling it Wind Rises Over Daqing Mountain.
It was said,
when the Chixiao Monarch played this piece back then, the wind and clouds changed color for it, and Chixiao itself was moved, descending with tens of millions of crimson lightning bolts. In the blink of an eye, Daqing Mountain was annihilated.
This Wind Rises Over Daqing Mountain contained the artistic conception of 'Chixiao's Wind, Clouds, and Thunder Stir'.
The momentum of the shifting wind and clouds.
A full nine hundred and ninety-nine layers of crimson thunder Profound Mysteries.
Unfortunately,
to this day, forget about the artistic conception of 'Chixiao's Wind, Clouds, and Thunder Stir', forget about the momentum of shifting wind and clouds—even the numerous Profound Mysteries contained within the piece, those who could play them out were few and far between.
Today, Old Master Kumu's willingness to display the original, personally handwritten musical score from the Monarch's era moved many people, and they held his selfless spirit in particularly high esteem.
One must know,
in the market, anything related to the Monarch's music, regardless of what it was, was worth a fortune.
A musician who could play even one or two of the Profound Mysteries within a Monarch's piece would see their value skyrocket, their performance fees soaring several times higher than other musicians.
And that was just for playing out the Profound Mysteries.
If someone could transcribe a Monarch's piece into a musical score, and the spirit infused during the transcription could allow others to comprehend even one or two of its Profound Mysteries, the value of such a score was so high it was often beyond price—meaning even having money might not buy it.
And now, the score the old master displayed was the original, personally handwritten true copy from the Monarch's era.
Its value was unimaginable; likely, the entire Wuse Mountain might not be as valuable as this single musical score.
Exaggerated?
No!
Not in the slightest.
On the market, even ordinary characters written by the Monarch fetched astronomical prices, let alone this musical score which contained spirit he had infused. More importantly, since Wind Rises Over Daqing Mountain was created by the Monarch, in other words, the spirit the Monarch infused between the lines of the original score naturally contained a complete comprehension of all the Profound Mysteries within the piece.
Not just the Profound Mysteries.
But also the momentum the piece contained, and even its artistic conception were all within it.
It was no exaggeration to say,
if anyone wished to play Wind Rises Over Daqing Mountain and bring forth the nine hundred and ninety-nine layers of crimson thunder Profound Mysteries, the momentum of shifting wind and clouds, and the artistic conception of 'Chixiao's Wind, Clouds, and Thunder Stir', they could only gain insight from this original copy. There was no other place under heaven to gain such insight.
This was the one and only under heaven.
It was said that for centuries, many had tried to buy this original copy of Wind Rises Over Daqing Mountain from the old master. Among them were experts renowned throughout the world, Earth Immortals, and even great powers who had undergone reincarnation. Even people from the Immortal Dynasty had offered tempting conditions, but in the end, the old master refused them all.
And the old master did not hoard this original copy privately.
If he had kept it hidden, he wouldn't have displayed it today at the Wuse Flower Festival.
To be precise,
this was not the first time the old master had displayed the original of Wind Rises Over Daqing Mountain. In the past, he would display it periodically at the Wuse Flower Festival for those who loved the Musical Arts to study and gain insight.
Whether they were master musicians or prodigies with exceptional talent in the Musical Arts, those present were not seeing the original score of Wind Rises Over Daqing Mountain for the first time. Many attended the Wuse Flower Festival every year, coming each time the old master displayed this original to study and gain insight.
Yet, despite all their studying and insight-seeking, to this day, none had managed to comprehend the Profound Mysteries within the piece.
The master musicians and musical prodigies present might be able to play out some of the Profound Mysteries, but only a scant few layers.
Take, for example, Cold Leaf Flying from Yaoyue Palace, Ding Rui from Hunyuan Sect, and Wang Han from the Tiger Might Wang Clan—all were musical prodigies known throughout the Great Northwest. They weren't incapable of playing out the Profound Mysteries of Wind Rises Over Daqing Mountain, but they could only manage ten or twenty layers at most.
Wei Chaoqun, one of the Twenty-Four Immortal Prodigies of the Immortal Manor, was somewhat stronger, but only somewhat. He could play out fifty or sixty layers of crimson thunder Profound Mysteries. And that was already considered remarkable. One must know, besides them, many master musicians from the Great Northwest region were also present. Each had delved into the field of Musical Arts for a thousand years or even longer. Some couldn't even play out a single Profound Mystery from Wind Rises Over Daqing Mountain; others, like these musical prodigies, could only manage several dozen, at most a little over a hundred layers of crimson thunder Profound Mysteries.
Rumor had it that even Old Master Kumu himself, once one of the top master musicians in the Great Northwest who had even given pointers to the Monarch in the Musical Arts back in the day, could only play out a little over two hundred layers of crimson thunder Profound Mysteries.
It was said that Miss Qingxi had already surpassed Old Master Kumu in the number of Profound Mysteries she could play several years ago. As for by how much, no one knew, and no one had ever seen or heard it.
Just as the crowd was discussing, the sound of a zither arose. The player was none other than Chi Yu, one of the Nine Dragons of the Changhong Branch.
Chi Yu had previously been beaten black and blue by Lord Kui, but after healing spells, he had long since recovered. At the moment, he was sitting properly in a pavilion, a slight smile on his face as his hands plucked the strings of an exquisite and ornate white jade zither. And the piece he was playing was none other than the Monarch's Wind Rises Over Daqing Mountain.