A rendition of the Guangling Melody

By now, one of the most remarkable scenes since the competition began had already unfolded outside the Purple Cloud Tower.

Almost all of the spectators had gathered on the eastern side where Li Zhi was seated.

His opponent, faced with the scant handful of listeners below, had already lost the heart to continue playing.

The vast gulf in skill had dealt Li Zhi’s opponent a severe blow.

He had already made up his mind that he would never take up the zither again.

A little later, his performance finally came to an end.

Without even bowing to the few people listening below, the student fled back inside with a face full of shame.

The listeners on the ground did not much care about such things.

They had stayed here in the first place simply because they were too tired from all the moving about and wanted to rest a while.

After Li Zhi won this match by an overwhelming margin, he returned amid the cheers of the crowd to continue his game of go.

By now he had lost interest in these contests and only wanted to finish everything as quickly as possible so he could complete the task assigned by his three teachers.

What Li Zhi had not expected was that his fourth-round opponent in go would be Fang Yizhi.

After the two exchanged a glance, Fang Yizhi gave a wry smile and said, "Your Highness, please show mercy and do not let me lose too miserably."

Li Zhi smiled. "That depends on Brother Fang’s strength at the board."

Hearing this, Fang Yizhi could only pretend to sigh in sorrow before saying, "Then please make the first move, Your Highness."

Li Zhi shook his head with a smile. "Today I shall be a little presumptuous and let Brother Fang take the first move."

Fang Yizhi smiled. "Your Highness had better even let your elder brother have two stones. That way, I may still be able to hold on a little longer."

Li Zhi smiled as well. "Brother Fang need not keep trying to mislead me. Since Brother Fang has managed to last until this round, how could your skills be poor?"

Fang Yizhi had his thoughts laid bare by Li Zhi and immediately felt awkward.

He laughed it off at Li Zhi and said, "I did not expect Your Highness to see through me."

Then he raised a hand in invitation. "Please, Your Highness."

Once they were seated, the two soon began their battle.

Fang Yizhi’s skill at go was clearly much stronger than Li Zhi’s previous opponents.

The two of them traded moves for the better part of an incense stick before Li Zhi finally won by the narrowest of margins.

After losing, Fang Yizhi looked at Li Zhi with a complicated expression and said, "Your Highness’s skill is indeed superb. I thank you for this."

He was truly convinced by Li Zhi now.

From the very beginning, the entire game had been completely under Li Zhi’s control.

The reason it had ended as it did was entirely because Li Zhi had done so deliberately.

The poor souls watching from the side were still discussing the game with great seriousness, even believing that they had merely suffered a close defeat.

After exchanging a few more polite words with Fang Yizhi, Li Zhi rushed outside to continue the zither competition.

A few more rounds later, both events were finally advanced smoothly into the final.

In go, Li Zhi’s last opponent was once again a student from the Imperial College.

Besides him, two other students from the college had also achieved excellent results.

This alone showed that education throughout Great Tang was still far behind that of the Imperial College.

This time, Li Zhi no longer held back. He defeated his opponent cleanly within the time it took to drink a cup of tea.

In a way, this also gave Fang Yizhi a great deal of face by association.

The Imperial College student, however, felt deeply shaken.

He had originally believed that reaching the final meant he must be a master of the game.

He never imagined he would lose so quickly before Li Zhi.

For a moment, he even wondered whether all his previous victories had been an illusion.

But Li Zhi had no time to concern himself with the young man’s feelings.

He was busy putting on an act with Li Tai in front of everyone.

Li Zhi’s final opponent in the zither contest was Li Tai.

This was also the first time the two brothers had formally met in competition.

Like two smiling tigers, they praised and encouraged one another inside the Purple Cloud Tower.

It seemed that victory in this match held no value in either of their hearts, and nothing was more important than the bond between them.

Even the judges, including Yan Liben, nearly fell for the two men’s performance.

For a time, they truly believed these brothers had always been as harmonious as brothers ought to be.

Unfortunately, the whole performance would reveal its true face in the contests that followed.

Both of them brought out their very best to face the match.

Coincidentally, they also both chose the most difficult piece to perform: The Guangling Melody.

This piece carried a heavy atmosphere of slaughter and strife, entirely out of place amid the lively mood of the day.

So when the two performances had only just begun, the judges, including Yan Liben, exchanged helpless glances and smiled bitterly.

The soldiers of the Dragon Cavalry Army had chosen from the start to stand on the side where Li Zhi sat.

The Guangling Melody was the piece most suited to their ears.

The murderous spirit and battle cadence within it quickly stirred the soldiers’ memories.

They recalled the hardships of training, the danger of facing beasts alone in the deep mountains and old forests.

They also remembered how, in sparring with their comrades, they had been thrown down time and again before scrambling back to their feet.

And they recalled all too vividly the despair of being suspended by ropes at the edge of a cliff by their instructors.

As Li Zhi’s performance gradually entered the central section, the piece’s mood shifted from bleak sorrow and indignation into seething, unresolved rage.

By that point, the difference in skill between Li Zhi and Li Tai had become unmistakable.

Li Tai clearly did not understand the piece deeply enough.

He was completely unable to immerse himself in the emotions of the protagonist, who endured ten years of restraint after his father’s murder, all for the sake of revenge.

Meanwhile, most of the audience had unknowingly drifted to Li Zhi’s side.

As he played, Li Zhi had already placed himself fully within the protagonist’s circumstances.

It was as if he himself had become Nie Zheng, avenging his father.

He had disfigured his own face and retired to the mountains, practiced the zither in bitter seclusion, and concealed a sword within the instrument.

When he played the scene in which Nie Zheng drew his sword and assassinated the King of Han, the Dragon Cavalry soldiers standing below suddenly shouted in unison: Kill!

That cry carried defiance, determination, and a tragic resolve to act even knowing death was certain.

After hearing that shout, Li Tai abruptly ceased playing in defeat.

He knew that he had already lost.

Li Tai rose from his seat and, while carefully listening to Li Zhi’s performance, slowly walked toward him.

By the time he reached Li Zhi’s side, the piece had just entered its final notes.

And he himself seemed to have witnessed with his own eyes the tragic scene of Nie Zheng’s mother crying until her veins burst.

At that moment, Li Tai, like the audience below, unknowingly clenched his fists and in an instant was reduced to tears.

Only much later did a choked cry of "Excellent" ring out from within the Purple Cloud Tower.

Then the crowd, roused from their trance, saw Zhao Yeli and the other three judges, all with tears on their faces, standing together before the railing.

The grand master Zhao Yeli, in full view of everyone, bowed deeply to Li Zhi.