Chapter 142: Seven Kills Zither Completed

Chapter 142: Chapter 142: Seven Kills Zither Completed

The Lin Family had an extraordinary origin and harbored a great secret.

Lin Qingfeng saw that Lu Yuan was exceptional and likely harbored secrets of his own. He wanted to test him. If Lu Yuan could truly cultivate the Four Symbols Sacred Technique, it would undoubtedly prove his divine, peerless talent. He would take out a portion of the Lin Family’s resources to fully support Lu Yuan’s cultivation and help him achieve the First Grade. Only a First Grade expert could truly help the Lin Family and become a major asset.

"Thick Earth Divine Skill... Five Elements..."

For the first time, Lu Yuan had truly gotten close to the Lin Family and seemed to have touched upon some of their core secrets.

"I’ll do my best. I will try not to disappoint you, Uncle," Lu Yuan said.

"Mm." Lin Qingfeng patted Lu Yuan on the shoulder and turned to enter the house.

"Brother Yuan, there’s no need to force it. It doesn’t matter if you don’t cultivate the Four Symbols Sacred Technique. It’s an old antique anyway. Many modern techniques are even more powerful than those Ancient Techniques..." Lin Siyao consoled him.

In ancient times, the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi was so dense that it almost liquefied, and heavenly treasures were everywhere. Ancient Techniques were bold and expansive, possessing tremendous power, but now, Primordial Qi was so thin that it wasn’t even one percent of what it used to be. If executed in the current environment, they would reveal many flaws and weaknesses. One had to cultivate them to the absolute limit—achieving flawless Perfection—which required extreme talent.

As for the Four Symbols Sacred Technique, only when all four symbols were fully cultivated would one become truly invincible and unstoppable. Combined with the Thick Earth Divine Skill to complete the Five Elements, its potential would be limitless.

But it was too difficult. Cultivating just one sacred technique to great mastery was incredibly hard, let alone four!

The key was time! How many years would it take to cultivate the Four Symbols Sacred Technique and the Thick Earth Divine Skill? It was probably impossible to achieve before the age of thirty. Even a peerless genius would need to be over forty...

If one succeeded, it would be fine, and everything would be worth it. But what if they failed?

"Mm, I understand. Don’t worry," Lu Yuan smiled.

Ancient methods were majestic and profound, while modern methods were precise and refined. Each had its pros and cons. But he had the system. Once cultivated to Perfection, they were all about the same. The Four Symbols Sacred Technique, with all Five Elements complete—he was actually quite looking forward to it!

"Brother Yuan~~" Lin Siyao felt a little dissatisfied. She felt like Brother Yuan had been fooled by her father.

With Chen Qiang gone, Lu Yuan, Jianng Hongfei, Mu Lingche, and the rest no longer had a team, meaning they wouldn’t be assigned any tasks. The strength Lu Yuan had displayed meant he didn’t need to punch in every day or report on time. Moreover, no one would be foolish enough to provoke him.

The good news was that Liu Lianyue had gathered all the materials he needed. Although they were all fine goods, even top-tier items, this was the Jade Capital—the center of the Daqian Dynasty—where nothing was lacking. Even so, managing to gather everything in just two short days was no simple feat. The Liu Family had definitely spent a fortune.

Lu Yuan asked his senior brother Yan Qing to help him forge the Seven Kills Zither because it required Primordial Qi... Yan Qing was very interested in this and more than happy to help.

Thus, the two martial brothers joined forces. Lu Yuan acted as the designer and chief commander, while Yan Qing was the sculptor, inscriber, array master, and even the refiner... In short, all the difficult parts involving Primordial Qi were handled by Yan Qing.

"I’ve become a beast of burden! This is slave labor!" Yan Qing complained.

"You are my good senior brother!" Lu Yuan offered his consolation. "Once I successfully break through to the Seventh Grade, I’ll do all this hard, tiring work myself. I won’t need you to do it anymore."

"Controlling Qi with the Zither to break through to the Seventh Grade... are you truly confident?" Yan Qing asked. He knew it was feasible, but he harbored some doubts about Lu Yuan’s actual execution. Many things worked for some people, but completely failed for others because they involved countless details, and those details were the key to success or failure.

"Of course. I am absolutely confident. You can come and watch when the time comes, Senior Brother," Lu Yuan nodded. After all, he had already cultivated the Seven Kills Order to Perfection.

"Can I?" Yan Qing’s eyes immediately lit up. If he could observe from the sidelines, that would undoubtedly be for the best. He could also act as a guardian for his junior brother, just in case something went wrong...

"Naturally. Would I joke with you about something like this?" Lu Yuan smiled. Only those without confidence would be afraid of others watching, fearing failure or worrying about sabotage. He had no such fears. As long as he had the zither, he was fine.

"Then I absolutely must go!" Yan Qing said without hesitation.

"You kid, I always find an inexplicable, boundless confidence in you," Uncle Yuann said, looking at Lu Yuan with a peculiar gaze.

"Geniuses are just confident by nature," Lu Yuan shrugged.

Uncle Yuann looked at himself with suspicion. He wondered, "Was I not a genius back in the day?"

"The body of the zither is carved. See if this works?" Yan Qing handed a long, fiery red piece of wood to Lu Yuan. It had already been shaped into the body of the zither, carved with intricate patterns, runes, and the veined pathways of a Magic Array.

"Mm." Lu Yuan took it and inspected it, tracing his fingers carefully over the surface before nodding in satisfaction. "Very good. You’ve done a fantastic job. As expected of my senior brother."

"It’s the result of over ten years of craftsmanship," Yan Qing smiled, tilting his head back proudly as he stretched.

"Then there’s one more," Lu Yuan pointed at another piece.

"Ugh..." Yan Qing instantly froze, overwhelmed with agony. "You might as well work me to death."

"Just work hard for a bit. I’ll pay you extra; it’s not like I’m asking you to do this for free," Lu Yuan said, going over to check the zither strings.

For a seven-stringed zither, the body was important, but the strings were even more so. They were the core of the entire instrument, and the materials required special processing. For instance, the Fire-Scaled Python Sinew and the Golden Mastiff Beard were both too thick. They needed to be thinned down using special methods, while also becoming tougher, strengthening their innate attributes, and increasing their Primordial Qi conductivity. Only then would they become qualified Seven Kills Zither Strings.

Lu Yuan spent an entire day meticulously processing everything before finally assembling the Seven Kills Zither.

"It’s done! Let me try it!" Yan Qing wiped his hands, completely unable to wait.

"Here." Lu Yuan handed it over.

"Never mind," Yan Qing abruptly stopped. This was a Profound Weapon that his junior brother had specially forged for himself. It wouldn’t be appropriate for an outsider to touch it, especially since it was the very first one. Besides, he didn’t want to make a fool of himself with his mediocre zither skills. "You should try it yourself. My zither skills are only average."

"Mm." Lu Yuan placed the zither on a table and gently plucked the strings with his fingers.

THRUM—

The crisp sound of the zither was like the tinkling of a mountain spring. The tone was absolutely perfect. Then, Lu Yuan’s ten fingers glided across the strings, plucking them in rapid succession. The surrounding air swiftly settled into tranquility. Everything within a mile radius gradually grew quiet.

Uncle Yuann sighed in admiration. He thought, "This kid really does have some skill..."

There were even more gasps of amazement outside.

Soon, the song came to an end, and Lu Yuan stopped playing. He hadn’t activated the Primordial Qi Array; this was just a simple sound test.

"I am never playing the zither again." Yan Qing’s face was a mixture of complex emotions. It was too demoralizing; the gap in their skills was simply too vast.

"Senior Brother, you shouldn’t have that kind of mindset. You should grow braver with every setback and remain indomitable," Lu Yuan teased as he took out a piece of red silk to wrap the zither.

"I’m not a masochist. Why would I grow braver with every setback and remain indomitable...?" Yan Qing rolled his eyes. That was something ordinary people had to go through. Geniuses didn’t need to!

"Senior Brother, I’ll leave the rest to you." Lu Yuan strapped the zither to his back and picked up the Wind Thunder Saber. "Come find me at the Lu Family’s home in the morning three days from now."

"Three days from now..." Yan Qing was full of anticipation. To time it so precisely, his junior brother truly had absolute confidence. If he actually succeeded, Yan Qing would truly prostrate himself in complete admiration from then on.

He thought, "I need to prepare a gift for Junior Brother!"

After returning home, Lu Yuan did not leave the house again. He wanted to bring his Gang Qi to Perfection. Because of the Innate Pill, Lu Yuan’s entire body was already pure and unobstructed. However, the purity of his Gang Qi was still slightly lacking. At this point, he only needed one word: train.

He had to exert his strength and utilize martial arts to apply immense internal pressure on himself. Of course, it would be even better if he had external assistance, such as water pressure, or a Magic Array...

Lu Yuan chose water pressure, swiftly immersing himself within it.