Vol 2 Chapter 14.1 (2/2)

At this moment, Ye Yin Zhu once more gazed into Xiang Luan’s encouraging eyes. Unconsciously, his whole body seemed to brim with endless strength and surging, boundless confidence.

‘She’s looking at me; she’s cheering me on? Win. I must lead the Divine Music division to victory.’

“Hey, stop looking! Haven’t you stared long enough!” Xue Ling’s rebuking voice roused Ye Yin Zhu from his daze.

“Ah! I…” The pure Ye Yin Zhu couldn’t stop his face from burning up.

Xue Ling groaned. Moving closer to Ye Yin Zhu’s side, she whispered, “Stop looking. It’s useless to look. Do you know how many men are chasing after Senior Xiang Luan in our inst.i.tution? To say the least, even if she really took a fancy to you, you, unfortunately, could not enjoy it.”

“Why?” Ye Yin Zhu automatically asked.

Xue Ling elaborated, “Don’t tell me you want to be the target of our entire inst.i.tution? It’s time to compete. Focus.”

Ye Yin Zhu sucked in a deep breath. No longer looking at Xiang Luan to the side, he regathered his mind and examined his opponent across from him. He looked at Luo Lan again. Today, she wore a Milan Inst.i.tution for Magic and Martial Arts school uniform. Although she was very beautiful, Ye Yin Zhu was practically immune to her beauty after meeting the stunning Xiang Luan and the numerous beautiful ladies of the Divine Music division. He originally joined the Freshman Compet.i.tion to prove himself; Luo Lan could be said to be the originator of this desire.

As the Wind division general, Luo Lan’s complexion appeared somewhat gloomy. She indeed didn’t expect that Ye Yin Zhu could actually lead Divine Music division to partic.i.p.ate in the compet.i.tion. Not only that, he also acquired a perfect victory record.

“Luo Lan, we meet again.” As the Divine Music division general, Ye Yin Zhu walked up to face Luo Lan.

Luo Lan coldly snorted. “I didn’t expect a pauper like you to have skill, but your victory streak ends here. I’m personally going to show you what true magic and true strength are.”

These days, Ye Yin Zhu had already learned many things at college. In addition to his naturally gentle disposition, his childhood musical education, mentality, and temperament made him all in all difficult to infuriate. Smiling slightly, he said, “Then let’s begin. We choose team battle.” Instead of pointless arguing, he would use facts to proves that ability was everything.

The five student compet.i.tors of the Wind division were all male, except Luo Lan. In the split second after the referee formally declared the start of the match, five spheres of yellow light immediately shone simultaneously. Following after the Dark Magic division and Light division, the Divine Music division again ran across a situation where their five compet.i.tors were all Yellow Rank.

Luo Lan and two students had reached the Primary Level Yellow Rank while the other two students had reached the highest level in the Wind division. Wind magic didn’t have the strongest offensive magic, but it absolutely had the best agility magic. Sharp, ear-piercing whistles broke the silence within the first few moments of the match. Ten red wind bladesscattered out from the magical staves of the five compet.i.tors, flying towards Ye Yin Zhu and his team like an avalanche.

Milky white rays of light shone brilliantly. Just as in the past, the Divine Celestial Protection quietly manifested, protecting Ye Yin Zhu’s team of five. Today they chose to play the song < white snow =””>>. Like before, the song brimmed with sorrow. To a Divine Music mage, it was easiest to influence others and to channel spiritual power to control the their opponents’ moods through sad songs. In case their magical rank was lower compared to other magic departments, Nina arranged for them to play sad songs throughout the compet.i.tion.

In order to withstand the attacks of the opponents, Ye Yin Zhu took several precautions. The first notes of < white=”” snow=””>> arose from Hai Yang’s guzheng, the clear and bright guzheng notes echoing immediately.

Suddenly, the air changed as the wind blades advanced towards them. When the ten wind blades were only a few meters away from them, they suddenly changed directions. They collided against each other at high speeds. Their sharp, ear-piercing clashes immediately disrupted the rhythm of the music. Hai Yang slowed down her hands when < white=”” snow=””>> was unexpectedly cut short in a split second.

Xue Ling, Lan Xi, and Kong Que’s complexions changed. This song was the Divine Music division’s only chance to win. It was clearly not a good omen for the whistling wind to disrupt it the moment they began.

The wind blades colliding in the sky didn’t stop. The ear-piercing, whistling wind continued to resonate. Apart from Luo Lan and the other Advanced Level Yellow Rank Wind division student, the remaining three students continuously casted instantaneous wind blades. They didn’t attack the Divine Celestial Protection, instead creating unceasing collisions against each other outside of the protection’s bounds. Through the wind blade collisions and the violent cacophony, they cut off the Divine Music division’s four-female ensemble.

(‘Ode of the G.o.ddess of the Luo River’ and its art counterpart ‘G.o.ddess of the Luo River’ — Gu Kai Zhi (Minford 314) — translated by Burton Watson; “All eight of these elements (birds, dragon, chrysanthemum, pine, moon, snow, sun, lotus) that describe the G.o.ddess’ beauty are visually present in the first scene of the scroll; Gu Kaizhi literally ill.u.s.trates the similes found in the poem that define the G.o.ddess (Chen 10). It is also in this scene where the viewer is confronted with symbols that represent the contrast between the world of humans and the world of the spirits. The G.o.ddess, surrounded by these eight elements of nature and the supernatural, faces the prince who is surrounded by elements of the world of man, his attendants, their royal garments and belongings. This encounter between the natural world and the world of man foreshadows the difficult truth that is to come, the man and deity cannot break the barrier that separates them (Chen 12).”)

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