"I'm sure you are not here just to hear me talk, so let's get things started already," Mushan Zi said before nodding towards his companions.
All of them nodded in response and, with a flick of their wrists, summoned their respective instruments from their spatial items.
As famous performers, they were naturally very particular about their instruments, so they always brought their own no matter where they went.
Of course, they were more than capable of playing at an extremely high level even with generic instruments, but the minute differences between instruments would inevitably still have a slight impact on the final outcome. In fact, even if another instrument was objectively better, the fact that they were not used to it could result in a worse result as well.
While most would not be able to pick up on such subtle differences, their pride as performers would not allow for that, especially when performing in a formal setting like this.
In the blink of an eye, the audiences found Mushan Zi seated behind his zither, Lian Keqin seated while holding a flute to her mouth, and Jin Cilang seated with an erhu in hand. Apart from them, Ran Tianqi and Hui Qianxue stood to the side, all ready to show off their famous vocals.
The sight of this immediately silenced the crowds. Everyone in the audience held their breaths in anticipation of the performance that was to come.
And then it began.
As soon as the group began their performance, the Monolith Square was seemingly transformed into a completely different world.
The crisp melodies from the zither greatly complemented the lively tunes of the flute, with the erhu adding a new layer of depth to the music. The tones of the vocals matched the music with absolute perfection, creating an invisible masterpiece for the ears.
Their music gave rise to a feeling that resembled an ambiguous mix of serenity and clarity, allowing listeners to clear all other thoughts and truly immerse themselves in the moment.
It immediately became clear to everyone, especially those who knew a thing or two about music – these people were on a level of their own!
As their keen anticipation received an even greater answer than they had initially expected, the excitement in everyone's hearts instantly skyrocketed. A passionate fervour rose up from within them, to the extent that it could almost be seen in the eyes of many.
There were also those who directly closed their eyes, wanting to focus solely on enjoying this superior level of music without any visual distractions.
Even Zhao Yunxiao could not help but feel goosebumps appearing all over his body, amazed by the sheer quality of the performance playing out before him right now.
No, not just that.
Apart from pure enjoyment, he could also feel the flow of essence energy within him speeding up just a little. If he was not mistaken, the Sentient Light Performance Group's music was even capable of increasing his rate of cultivation!
This was not a direct effect of the performance, but an indirect effect created by relaxing the listeners. By clearing the clouded minds of others, it would naturally improve their possibility of enlightenment.
Nevertheless, for a mere performance to bestow such wondrous benefits upon others... it was no wonder that the Sentient Light Performance Group had been sweeping across the Duyuan Empire in recent years!
In fact, he had heard the songs of the Sentient Light Performance Group in the past, albeit covered by other performers. The songs themselves sounded amazing even when performed by others, which made him acknowledge the composing capabilities of the famous performance group.
But it was only today that he realised music composition was not even their main strength.
Now that the Sentient Light Performance Group was personally performing their songs, the difference between them and other performance groups immediately became as clear as day.
And they were doing it in a way that made everything look so effortless as well!
As he thought back to how proud he had been of the Flying Shell Performance Group's past performances, Zhao Yunxiao could not help but blush a little in embarrassment.
They might have drawn a lot of attention during the New Year performances, but that was mainly due to Lu Zhiying's surprisingly enchanting dance. In terms of the actual music performance, they were lightyears behind the Sentient Light Performance Group!
That said, it was not impossible to catch up.
Now that they knew how much they were lacking, all they had to do was identify areas for improvement and work on them diligently. If they were willing to do that, while they might not necessarily be able to become just as good as Sentient Light, it might not be impossible for them to be recognised as a local powerhouse in their own right!
With that thought in mind, Zhao Yunxiao stopped simply relishing in the moment. Instead, he started to focus his energy on observing the performance group, not missing a single detail as he tried to identify the areas that they could learn or emulate.
Unfortunately, good times always seemed to pass quickly. Before they knew it, silence had fallen upon the Monolith Square.
The first song had ended, much to the disappointment of the audience.
Thankfully, they did not have to stay disappointed for long either.
Mushan Zi silently swept his gaze across the audience, finally stopping on Kang Fuping before letting out a smile.
After Kang Fuping nodded in response, Mushan Zi promptly raised his hands over the zither once more.
Deng-!
With a single strum of the zither string, Mushan Zi sent a crisp note reverberating across the entire Monolith Square. It was obviously just a single note, yet somehow seemed to encompass as much meaning as an entire verse. With just that one note, an imaginary setting directly appeared in everyone's mind.
Zhao Yunxiao did not know for certain if the image that appeared for others was the same as his, but he suddenly found himself seated before a great waterfall, on a rock that protruded out of the water surface from beneath the plunge pool.
The presence of this huge waterfall exerted a strong spiritual pressure upon him, while the serenity of the pool bank also granted a strange calmness to his heart.
He could not help but feel impressed. For a single strum of the zither strings to create such a scene – Mushan Zi was truly incredible!
Deng-!
The second note arrived, and the pressure suddenly intensified. The waterfall in his mind immediately grew taller and wider, creating thunderous claps as water slammed into the plunge pool below. At the same time, the strange calmness around him similarly grew stronger, tempting him to back away from the waterfall and retreat into the safety of the pool bank.
And with each successive note, Zhao Yunxiao found it more and more difficult just to stay conscious.
The desire to retreat from the waterfall kept on intensifying, along with the belief that staying at the bank of the pool would grant comfort and safety. Yet one thing was clear – by retreating to the bank of the pool, he would essentially be temporarily giving up his consciousness.
Something was wrong. This was no ordinary music.
There must be some trick within, making it a special lullaby that not only induced sleep but also exerted an invisible pressure on those who resisted!
Zhao Yunxiao quickly scanned the surroundings with his spiritual sense, and was relieved to see that he was not the only one feeling this way.
Most present had lost their previous looks of excitement, replaced by a solemn expression of focus. There were many who had already started activating all sorts of mental and defensive techniques, all in a bid to retain their senses.
The outer disciples present looked far worse, with cold sweat quickly forming on their foreheads as they tried to withstand this invisible pressure.
It was at this point that the light hymn of the flute joined the mix. And with that, the waterfall transformed entirely. The water falling from above quickly changed in not just colour, but also its temperature. Burning lava replaced the water, turning the serene sight into one of sheer devastation.
In just an instant, the spiritual pressure almost doubled all at once before continuing its climb.
And one by one, those present started to succumb to the mounting pressure.
Ou Fengtian of the Black Rose slowly closed her eyes, her previously tense expression slowly easing up as the pressure on her vanished all of a sudden, allowing her to enter some sort of deep sleep while seated.
It was not just her either.
Not many present were at the Foundation Building realm, but those who were simply could not stand up to this pressure for long. And the moment their defence faltered, they would immediately drift off into sleep.
Lu Zhiying was no exception.
That said, it was rather impressive that she actually managed to fight the pressure until the very end – until she was the very last Foundation Building realm cultivator left awake. Only then did her tense shoulders finally drop, her serious expression lightening up as she entered a state of deep sleep.
By now, Zhao Yunxiao had no doubt about what was going on – this had to be planned by Kang Fuping and the Sentient Light Performance Group.
At the same time, there was no way that Kang Fuping would try to harm the inner disciples, or at least not in such an open and unbridled manner here on Purple Plum Mountain. Therefore, this had to be a way of either testing, or simply tempering, the inner disciples prior to the Meeting of the Great Symbols.
It just so happened that the outer disciples invited, including the Flying Shell Performance Group, ended up getting caught up in it as well despite having nothing to do with the upcoming event.
Some might see this as an unfortunate turn of events, but Zhao Yunxiao could not help but feel excited. In a way, he was able to experience something reserved for the inner disciples, so how could he not feel that way?
So, basically a test of resistance against spiritual pressure and temptations?
Zhao Yunxiao was definitely confident in his mental fortitude, but that was only in comparison with his peers. On the other hand, this was a test meant for inner disciples, so he was not nearly arrogant enough to think that he would be able to last through this without employing a few tricks of his own.
As for the tricks he possessed, the first thing that came to mind was the Dragon Aspect of the Zodiac Scripture. After all, the Sentient Light Performance Group was doing this through music, and sound could also be considered energy, right?
If that were the case, then the Dragon Aspect that counteracted energy should be able to work on it. Wait, come to think of it, the Dragon Aspect operated on sound energy as well, so surely it would work!
Unfortunately, this was neither the time nor place for him to reveal his knowledge of the Dragon Aspect.
The Black Tortoise Sect had close ties with the Armed Ape Tower, and the execution of the Dragon Aspect was far too prominent. If he were to really execute the technique, probably every single person here would be able to recognise it. At that point, he would have a very hard time trying to explain how he managed to learn this move from the Zodiac Scripture.
Yet even though the Dragon Aspect was out of the question, there was still the Divine Tether.
When it came to the Divine Tether, there was no need to doubt its effectiveness. After all, it was designed to be capable of sealing anything under the sun in the first place. No, Zhao Yunxiao was almost certain that had the Untethered Sage wanted to do so, he could even seal away the sun itself!
It was also likely that nobody here would be able to recognise the Divine Tether. The only issue was whether testing his limits against this special lullaby would be worth revealing that he had this card up his sleeve.
Zhao Yunxiao knew the answer right from the start – it was not worth it.
Not only was there no element of danger, but there was also no explicit reward for doing well here. In fact, if he accidentally overdid it, he could even incur the ire of the inner disciples for trying to compete against them!
On top of that, Zhao Yunxiao was rather curious about where the limits of his mental fortitude lay, and this seemed to be the perfect opportunity to get an answer to that.
It would be a shame to let it go to waste!
With that decided, Zhao Yunxiao closed his eyes in focus, resolving to resist this special lullaby to the best of his ability!