Since the Lishang played jointly by the Nanzhao musician and the merman Nangong Jun hadn’t been able to take the Great Gu Master away, why was she here now?

Ziqing’s mind was full of doubt. She couldn’t help but recall everything she’d witnessed from the cliff a few days ago—those crashing waves, that turbulent surge.

Could it be connected to this?

“Human gu cultivation nurtures not just a poisonous constitution, but the mind as well. The Great Gu Master’s self-cultivation achieved both to the extreme. Lishang is an illusion melody—it can seize both souls and bodies. But the Great Gu Master’s spiritual power is simply too strong; she’s barely affected by Lishang at all.”

Xinyun paused here, a flicker of heartache crossing her eyes, before continuing after a long moment. “Back then, as Lishang was nearing its end, Nangong Jun made a decision—to draw the isolated island, along with the Great Gu Master, into the death vortex. But who would have thought…”

Xinyun paused again, about to continue, when the Great Gu Master—who had been silently observing them all this while—suddenly interrupted. “Xinyun, didn’t I tell you? As long as you behave yourself, I won’t make things difficult for you.”

This was the first time Ziqing had heard the Great Gu Master’s voice—indeed a woman’s voice, clear and sweet, yet anyone could tell that beneath the sweetness lurked something sinister and vicious.

She spoke to Xinyun with unmistakable menace.

Yet though Xinyun feared her, she wasn’t weak either. Precisely because the Great Gu Master forbade her from speaking, she insisted on speaking, seemingly deliberately provoking her. With exaggerated motion, she turned to face Ziqing and asked, “Han Ziqing, do you know why she’s here?”

Ziqing was exasperated—this woman was clearly scared out of her wits, yet still trying to act tough here.

“No, I don’t,” Ziqing answered honestly.

“Because right now, she’s nothing but a lone spirit, just like me. The poison aura on her is nothing but an empty scent—she doesn’t possess a body that can neither be harmed nor die!” Xinyun said loudly.

“So her soul was seized in the end too?” Ziqing was puzzled. Lishang’s true power lay in its climax—if even that hadn’t been enough to seize the Great Gu Master’s soul as it neared its end, then why was her spirit here now?

“Even the Nanzhao musician who composed Lishang never anticipated this—Lishang’s true power lies in its final passage, and not when played as a duet, but when played alone on the blood zither. Back then, Nangong Jun summoned the largest death vortex in the South Sea, intending to draw her into it. But he never expected that his own departure would turn Lishang from a duet into a solo—and rather than weakening its power, this only increased it. At that moment, she was already distracted, struggling against the death vortex. Before Lishang reached its end, as she and the isolated island were being drawn into the death vortex together, her soul was seized, while her true body sank with the isolated island to the ocean floor.”

At this point, Xinyun’s voice, which had grown increasingly agitated, suddenly turned somber. But before she could continue, the Great Gu Master beside them sneered coldly. “And didn’t Nangong Jun come in along with you as well? Even without my true body here, what exactly can the two of you do to me?”

Xinyun clenched her fists tightly, her fury at this moment clearly surpassing her fear of the Great Gu Master.

As they spoke, Ziqing finally understood.

The Nanzhao musician’s willpower must have far exceeded that of ordinary people—naturally he could escape the soul-seizing effect of a piece he himself had composed. That was why everyone else had vanished, drawn into the Lishang illusion realm, leaving only the Nanzhao musician behind.

Reflecting on this, Ziqing finally understood everything—Lishang hadn’t been composed by the Nanzhao musician afterward at all; it had been created long, long before.

He had harbored a secret unknown even to the Nanzhao royal family, using the pretext of traveling the world in search of creative inspiration—when in truth, he had simply been leaving traces of himself everywhere he went!

Those sounds of nature—he had already heard them all long before.

The twelve-note melody of the Qinse Sea Valley had been left there by him, and surely those rumors about the isolated island had been left by him too.

Only after his execution had his spirit entered the Lishang illusion realm.

So then, what exactly had he intended by leaving these clues for those who came after him?