“Everyone is still hesitating about the direction,” Shangguan Yun interjected, knowing that Mu Yanxi had temporarily decided not to choose a direction or path earlier.
“Let’s just practice on our own first. Once we’re proficient and everyone has gotten started on the Sound Path, we can consider performing.”
“Okay, but can we decide on the song to practice now? Let’s try playing it through a couple of times.” Yu Mowen looked at Mu Yanxi. She had already realized that Mu Yanxi was the core organizer of the band, and in the end, it seemed like she made the final call.
Mu Yanxi didn’t really know much about songs either, but over the past three days, she had used her immortal brain to watch quite a few of Fairy Luyue’s livestreams and listened to many celestial songs, gaining quite a bit in cultivation. So she asked, “Can we use Fairy Luyue’s songs?”
“There’s no problem practicing privately, but songs with copyrights can’t be performed outside. I’ve also watched Fairy Luyue’s singing and playing, so it should be fine.” Yu Mowen nodded.
She said she had watched them, not practiced them, yet she was confident she could do it. Although most of Fairy Luyue’s celestial songs were covers rather than originals, this still showed how wide Yu Mowen’s exposure was.
“Then how about this one?” Mu Yanxi directly opened a song she had been listening to a lot recently.
It was a pure and lyrical celestial song, with the common effect of increasing mana circulation efficiency and breathing speed. Lately, she loved nothing more than soaking in the spiritual spring while listening to celestial music.
“Spring Night Flower Butterfly—a classic piece. Of course, that works.” Yu Mowen plucked her guitar, playing a familiar melody that sounded almost identical to the one from the livestream.
“Then we’ll need the sheet music for our respective instruments. But for such a classic piece, it should be available on the Dao web,” Shangguan Yun added.
Soon, they searched the Dao web and found the drum score, bass score, and violin score for Spring Night Flower Butterfly, but there was no zhu qin score.
Although there were zheng scores and even flute scores, the zhu qin seemed too niche, and with its unique playing method, they really couldn’t find one.
“If it were the old me, I could have just written the score from hearing the melody. Unfortunately, I can’t do that now, and I don’t know how to play the zhu qin either. Why don’t we post a request on the Sound Cultivation Forum? There should be an expert who can help,” Yu Mowen suggested.
“No problem. I think I can manage it myself. If I can’t, then I’ll post a request.” Mu Yanxi said.
She had some pride. If she had to ask others about every little thing, how could she call herself a cultivator?
She used her terminal ring to play the celestial song aloud, and as she listened, she played along on the zhu qin. At first, there were a few wrong notes every couple of measures, but they were quickly corrected.
On the second pass, the wrong notes noticeably decreased. After the third time, the mistakes disappeared entirely, and Mu Yanxi could play the zhu qin version of Spring Night Flower Butterfly perfectly from start to finish.
“Such strong sound path talent. Did you just learn to play the zhu qin?” Yu Mowen stared at Mu Yanxi in surprise.
Even when her own talent was intact, she might have done it faster, but that was because she was a specialized sound cultivator. Hearing a complete amateur achieve this so quickly was unheard of.
“It’s because I really like this piece and have played it on other instruments a few times, so I’m familiar with it.” Mu Yanxi made up an excuse, and Yu Mowen believed her.
In reality, Mu Yanxi had used the immortal brain’s immersive learning to thoroughly solidify the basics of the sound path. She was essentially half a sound cultivator now.
Furthermore, she had just synchronized the playing experience of a zhu qin master. While she couldn’t become a master overnight, she had at least mastered the basics of the zhu qin, including the notation.
Under these conditions, having listened to Spring Night Flower Butterfly over a dozen times, it wasn’t strange that she could play it by ear.
“Good, that’s a fine habit to keep. You should maintain it. In the future, whenever you come across a piece you like, try playing it yourself.”
“Later on, you can try writing out the score. Feeling and theory are different after all; transcribing is one of the fundamental skills of the sound path.” Yu Mowen smiled serenely.
“Senior Sister Yu, why are you speaking like my sound path teacher?” Mu Yanxi shot back with a smile. Her tone really did sound like a teacher’s advice.
“Ah? Sorry, I’m used to saying that. I forgot none of you are sound cultivators.” Yu Mowen said sheepishly. When she was still a genius, she must have often taught fellow disciples who didn’t understand music.
“There’s nothing wrong with that. A club is a place for mutual learning and improvement. If there’s anything you think we should learn, Senior Sister Yu, please just teach us directly. Those who reach it first are the teachers.” Yu Qiuyu said, and Ruo Xuan and Mu Yanxi nodded in agreement.
When it came to the sound path, Yu Mowen could truly serve as their teacher. Even if her cultivation had stagnated, her existing foundation far surpassed theirs, and she had much to teach.
Mu Yanxi had only been joking, trying to tease this serene senior sister. In her previous life as the senior brother, she had often answered questions from junior brothers and sisters and was praised by the elders as being fit to teach in the master’s stead.
Yu Mowen grew even more embarrassed. Shangguan Yun quickly came to the rescue: “If there are no issues, then let’s start playing directly. Qiuyu, give the beat.”
Yu Qiuyu raised two drumsticks and struck them together three times. In a typical orchestra, a professional conductor would give the cue, but in a band, the drummer sets the starting beat.
After the three strikes rang out, Yu Qiuyu immediately began drumming on five or six drums and cymbals, while her feet simultaneously worked the bass drum and hi-hat.
It looked chaotic, but the rhythm remained orderly, turning the originally calm and soothing Spring Night Flower Butterfly into a rhythmically distinct piece. When she said she could play the drum kit, she wasn’t lying.
Then, all four instruments played at once. The clear plucking of the guitar, the melodic bowing of the violin, the low and heavy bass, and finally the crisp, clean zhu qin.
These five instruments, while not entirely unrelated, differed greatly in timbre and function, and some melodies even clashed a little.
Yet as they began playing, the rhythm and melody gradually merged. The main melody slowly emerged against the accompaniment, forming a complete piece.
If played by a single instrument, like the drum kit or bass, it would be hard to perform Spring Night Flower Butterfly.
Even with the violin or guitar, while it could be played, it would feel incongruous, not like the original Spring Night Flower Butterfly at all.
But when the five instruments combined, their fusion was rather wonderful, and the sense of dissonance was greatly reduced. Although it still differed from the original, it didn’t feel jarring. Instead, it had a unique flavor of its own.
That was the charm of a band. Through mutual coordination, the timbres of different instruments blended together, giving the music more layers and amplifying the effects of the celestial song manifold.
If they had an orchestra of dozens of instruments, it would be even more powerful.
“It seems… it worked! I can feel my mana flowing faster!” Haojing exclaimed.