Chapter 1273: The Shocked Mermaid Princess

Wang Jianqiang is indeed of considerable net worth.

But there are too few Cultivators who practice the path of Qin Music, so few that this is the first time he has encountered one until now.

As for Magic Treasures of the zither type, he has yet to obtain a single one to this day.

Before meeting the Mermaid Princess, he had not even seen a single Cultivator of the path of Qin Music.

Hearing Wang Jianqiang's words, the Mermaid Princess was stunned, "You have no zither? Then how did you practice this Zither Music Technique?"

Wang Jianqiang coughed dryly, "Well, I practiced it by relying on imagination."

The Mermaid Princess frowned, "Are you joking with me?"

Wang Jianqiang was not flustered in the slightest, shaking his head as he said, "Princess, how would I dare to deceive you?"

"I am telling the truth; I really have already learned it."

"If you do not believe me, you only need to lend me a zither to let me try it once, and the truth will naturally be revealed."

The Mermaid Princess stared at Wang Jianqiang for quite a while.

With a wave of her palm, a wooden zither appeared in front of Wang Jianqiang.

"I hope you are not lying to me."

Her tone remained calm, but Wang Jianqiang could hear from the sound of her voice that she seemed to be somewhat dissatisfied already.

The Mermaid Princess was indeed a bit angry.

Tianyu's words were truly too outrageous.

Practice in the path of Qin Music relies on constant practice, and achieving the zither arts comes from continuously correcting mistakes.

To comprehend the Zither Music Technique solely by relying on imagination?

This is simply impossible!

It completely defies common sense.

Tianyu was clearly deceiving her.

And she, most of all, hated being deceived.

If not for the sake of Mermaid's Love, which made her feel favorably toward Tianyu, she would probably have been unable to resist chasing him away by now.

Even so, the dissatisfaction in her heart had already temporarily suppressed her favorable impression of Tianyu.

Upon sensing the Mermaid Princess's dissatisfaction, Wang Jianqiang did not explain anything.

"Many thanks, Princess."

He bowed to the Mermaid Princess with cupped fists, then placed the wooden zither in front of him.

He then sat cross-legged beside the wooden zither and began to pluck the strings with his fingers.

The next moment.

A burst of pleasant zither music rang out.

Upon hearing the zither music, the Mermaid Princess froze, the dissatisfaction on her face gradually disappearing, replaced by a look of dull shock.

Immediately following...

The dull shock turned into astonishment.

He actually...

Really succeeded in practicing it!

And every note of this zither music was extremely accurate; the performance could be called perfect.

Even if she were to play this piece herself right now, she would likely be unable to reach such a perfect level!

This guy...

Has he really never come into contact with the path of Qin Music?

Immediately after, when she noticed the fingering Wang Jianqiang used to play the zither, the doubts in her heart instantly found an answer.

The zither music played by this Tianyu had invincible pitch and rhythm, but this fingering...

It was truly too ugly!

A normal Cultivator of the zither path uses all ten fingers simultaneously when playing, with graceful and unhurried fingering.

But Tianyu was focused, head lowered, staring at the strings, his body rigid, with each hand extending a single middle finger.

It was just like a "one-finger Zen."

Relying only on the middle fingers of both hands to pluck the strings, the speed was so fast that afterimages appeared.

Relying entirely on hand speed, he forcibly completed the task of ten fingers with only two.

It looked like a comical scene of frantic scrambling.

It formed a sharp contrast with the near-perfect zither music.

This scene caused the suspicion in the Mermaid Princess's heart to instantly dissipate.

This kind of clumsy fingering performance was no longer a simple matter of whether he had come into contact with the zither path or not, but rather that he had never touched a zither at all.

Thinking of this, the shock in her heart became even more intense.

A Cultivator who had never touched a zither and was completely unfamiliar with it had actually learned that Zither Music Technique within half a day!

This was even more shocking than someone familiar with zither laws learning it in half a day.

At this moment, she could no longer maintain her calm.

Her red lips parted slightly, her beautiful eyes widened.

Even until Wang Jianqiang stopped playing, she still had not recovered her senses.

Wang Jianqiang stood up and, with a flick of his finger, sent the wooden zither back in front of the Mermaid Princess.

"Princess, I have finished playing."

"I wonder... how was my performance? Is the Princess satisfied?"

As he spoke, Wang Jianqiang looked at the Mermaid Princess with a face full of anticipation.

The Mermaid Princess seemed not to have heard, still looking at Wang Jianqiang with a blank expression.

"Princess?"

Wang Jianqiang called out once more.

The Mermaid Princess awoke as if from a dream, "Ah~ what did you just say?"

Wang Jianqiang smiled and repeated himself, "I said, are you satisfied with the music I played, Princess?"

The Mermaid Princess suppressed the shock in her heart and nodded, "Not bad, very good."

As she spoke, she looked at Wang Jianqiang.

Deep within her eyes, there still remained a sense of disbelief.

Could there really be such a genius in this world?

With Tianyu's talent in the path of Qin Music, his future achievements would likely be unimaginably high.

Originally...

Her plan was to improve herself as quickly as possible.

Once her strength was sufficient to handle everything, she would then reveal the matter of the Mermaid's Love and be together with Tianyu.

But that would surely consume a great deal of time.

She could afford to wait, but Tianyu might not.

But now.

The talent Tianyu had displayed in the path of Qin Music had given her a new hope.

Such a heaven-defying talent.

It might not be impossible for the Mermaid Clan to make an exception and agree to her affair with Tianyu.

Even if the Mermaid Clan remained stubborn, with such talent, it would be much easier for them to be together.

At this moment.

Her heart suddenly felt much more relaxed.

A faint smile also appeared on her face.

In an instant.

It was like a hundred flowers blooming, beautiful beyond compare.

Wang Jianqiang's gaze could not help but linger on her face for a moment longer.

Sensing "Tianyu's" gaze, her heart skipped a beat; fearing she might be seen through, she hurriedly withdrew her smile.

Using coldness to mask the panic in her heart, she said indifferently, "What are you looking at?"

"Tianyu" immediately came to his senses, a look of panic appearing on his face, "Forgive me, Princess, you are too beautiful, I~ I was just somewhat~~ unable to restrain myself~"

Hearing "Tianyu's" words, a flash of shyness crossed the Mermaid Princess's eyes.

Immediately, this shyness was quickly concealed, and she nodded faintly, "Let this not happen again."

"Tianyu" let out a long sigh of relief, then a flash of excitement crossed his face, "Princess, about the matter of the Zither Attendant you mentioned earlier..."

The Mermaid Princess was taken aback, feeling somewhat troubled in her heart.

She had indeed said back then that if Tianyu could master this Zither Music Technique within ten years, she would take him as a Zither Attendant.

It was just that...

At that time, she had never imagined she would cast the Mermaid's Love on Tianyu.

After casting the Mermaid's Love, not only would she instinctively develop feelings for Tianyu, but these feelings would become increasingly intense the more she interacted with him.

If she wanted to keep the fact that she had cast the Mermaid's Love on Tianyu a secret.

She had to minimize her contact with Tianyu as much as possible.

Taking him as a Zither Attendant—wouldn't that contradict this plan?