He asked, "What kind of person is Jiang Nianshu?"

Hongyu replied, "The best musician in Great Li."

Dou Jianbai answered, "A top-tier expert whose music stirs three hundred cities."

"Indeed. Precisely because she is supremely skilled in music, even making it a symbol of her life, she can resonate with famous compositions, delivering the true meaning within the music. Why even mention the zither? I believe, with just a few strands of cotton thread, Jiang Nianshu could also convey the essence of the music," Fan Wubing paused a moment, then smiled at the two, "This is the way of the Great Dao."

These words were like a wake-up call to the two, piercing deeply into their understanding.

Dou Jianbai mused that the path of the Great Dao is like this; the further you walk, the simpler and more straightforward the people and things of the world appear.

What Hongyu thought of was music—if a true meaning exists in music, then it is the sound of all things. A rainstorm can be an instrument, a great river can be an instrument, mountains and canyons alike...

It is not the instrument that confines a person, but imagination and mastery of the Great Dao.

The lament of the Bao Li grew softer.

Fan Wubing gently caressed the Bao Li again, and it no longer resisted.

He laughed quietly, "I know you miss Jiang Nianshu very much. But the past is gone, never to return. A thousand sails pass by the side of a sunken ship, and a thousand trees bloom anew before a dying tree. Are you thinking of holding onto Jiang Nianshu's essence, wallowing forever in this dark little room until people forget you, or do you wish to come with me, standing upon old ground, playing new melodies for the world?"

Before Bao Li could answer, Hongyu trembled all over. As a lover of music, she could most deeply feel the charm of Fan Wubing's words. She thought, this young man possesses the breadth to swallow all things and the subtlety to smell the roses.

Dou Jianbai, however, thought, this... is indeed the Purple Dragon Guest.

The vision of the Heaven and Earth Bank will not be wrong.

Bao Li fell silent. Its cracked body seemed so fragile, as if it could turn to decaying wood at any moment.

A sense of mourning gradually emerged.

Hongyu asked, "What is this?"

Fan Wubing said, "It is mourning for Jiang Nianshu."

"Mourning?"

"Indeed, settling old emotions, revitalizing a new state."

"So..." Hongyu said excitedly, "Does it wish to go with you?"

Fan Wubing, without false modesty, smiled and said, "It's not that it wishes to go with me. It's that I agree to reshape its body."

A swell of emotion surged in Hongyu's heart, her face reddening.

Fan Wubing's eyes revealed a distant expression, "I suppose. The Bao Li Zither must have had strings at first. Perhaps on an occasion when Jiang Nianshu played it, her spirit felt inspired and emotions followed, breaking the zither strings, and thus transformed the true meaning of the music into countless strings."

"So it was not the strings that brought the true meaning of the music, but rather the true meaning of the music that brought the strings?" Hongyu asked.

Fan Wubing's eyes lit up, "Sister, you've said something truly insightful. I was right about you; your passion for music far exceeds that of ordinary people."

Hongyu, unable to withstand such praise, blushed and then felt annoyed with herself, thinking, at her age, being unable to stand after receiving praise from a young man, sigh...

The sense of mourning in Bao Li dissipated.

Fan Wubing took a deep breath, his hands hovering above it, slowly descending.

In his mind, the ancient life symphony "Rain Dragon Sound of the Heavenly River" began to play. He seemed to have entered a state of No Self, not in this small room, not in this Changle Pavilion, but on the vast earth beneath the azure firmament. Standing beside him were not Dou Jianbai and Hongyu, but all living things.

As his hands descended.

A booming resonance erupted.

When Dou Jianbai and Hongyu looked again, the cracks on Bao Li's body had disappeared, and twenty-one strings extended slowly from left to right, crystalline like rain lines descending from the sky.

Fan Wubing plucked the strings, and the rapid and tense "Galloping Horse Decree" began to play.

Iron horses, icy rivers, billowing dust, soldiers with martial prowess, fierce war horses...

One imagery after another flooded the eyes, merging into a giant battlefield.

"The true meaning within the music," Dou Jianbai murmured.

"Effortlessly grasped. He's played even better than the first time. Is this what it means to be a musical genius?" Hongyu gazed in a trance at Fan Wubing; every move he made was like a divine scroll in her eyes.

Dou Jianbai shook his head, "He's not a musical genius but a favored child of the Dao. Imagine, if Jiang Nianshu's spirit is aware in the underworld, seeing Bao Li used by him, she would surely smile with understanding."

A bright force emanated from Hongyu. Her heart swayed gently, and suddenly she felt this clarity and woke up, "My cultivation... has broken through?"

Dou Jianbai explained with a single phrase, "It's not that your cultivation has broken through, but that your new understanding of the Music Dao has elevated both your mindset and enlightenment, bringing your cultivation along with it."

Hongyu saw Fan Wubing playing with abandon and couldn't help but ask, "Will he become the next Jiang Nianshu?"

Dou Jianbai raised his head slightly, "In my view, he will not become anyone. Perhaps, years later, someone will say, 'Will you become the next him?'"

What is his name?

From start to finish, no one really asked.

The "Galloping Horse Decree" came to an end.

Hongyu couldn't resist asking, "What is the name of this guest?"

Fan Wubing laughed and said, "I am Fan Wubing."

...

Fan Wubing gained the Bao Li and understood what the true meaning within the music is, and how to play a tune with the true meaning within.

At this moment, if he were to play using the Zhuohua Zither, he certainly wouldn't break the strings again.

He could feel that the "Rain Dragon Sound of the Heavenly River" in his mind had drawn even closer to him.

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