Everyone’s life had finally returned to normal. Oh, and it’s worth mentioning that while Luan Ling and Si Zhuo were away, it seemed Dugu had been up to something again—he managed to recruit the Food God’s disciple into Qilin Hall. This young junior, tall and imposing, was named Situ Meng, a name that perfectly matched his appearance. Even as a mortal, the Food God had noticed his talent. When the Food God ascended, he took Situ Meng as a disciple. Now, he was studying at the Celestial Academy.

Despite his size and stature, Situ Meng was actually a careful, intelligent god—very obedient and understanding. According to Dugu, having him join Qilin Hall was like burning incense at the highest level of luck.

Every so often, Luan Ling and Li Xiao acted as taste-testers: “Mmm, perfect!”

Everyone was also diligently studying their respective strengths—or weaknesses. The process of learning involved finding inspiration amidst the monotony and turning it into personal knowledge—what they called truly “internalizing” it.

But no matter how skilled one became, exhaustion was inevitable. At such times, the Celestial Academy organized activities to restore everyone’s energy and test the young gods’ overall abilities.

“Senior sister!”

Luan Ling burst into the classroom, holding a scroll excitedly. She waved it at Zhu Yin, who was tuning her instrument: “The academy is holding a music concert! Look, it adds lots of points! The first-place winner even gets to perform at this year’s Peach Banquet. Are you going to join?”

Zhu Yin glanced at the scroll and shook her head faintly: “Boring.”

Luan Ling’s excitement immediately deflated: “Oh… well, with your skills, senior sister, you don’t need first place. You’d have a solo performance at those banquets anyway.”

Zhu Yin looked at her: “Without this chance, you wouldn’t have a stage to perform on, right?”

“Uh…”

Luan Ling leaned back weakly: “Technically, yes… but saying it so bluntly kind of hurts.”

After all, the gods had already mastered divine arts in every field. Only those who could truly show off their skills could perform at annual banquets. Even though these young gods had fairly strong powers, they couldn’t surpass the professionals in music or dance. Their abilities were just hobbies, which paled in comparison to true gods.

Zhu Yin retracted her gaze: “There’s a solution—we can form a band.”

Luan Ling tilted her head and leaned on her senior’s desk, excited: “You play the piano, and we just shake tambourines in the back, right?”

Zhu Yin said quietly: “Everyone must perform. A real performance.”

She stood: “If we do it, we do it properly. It’s respect for the music.”

Watching Zhu Yin leave so resolutely, Luan Ling froze. Wow, senior sister was more serious than she had imagined.

She felt nervous. Luan Ling knew only a little about musical instruments, and with Zhu Yin’s determination, it was possible tomorrow she might assign everyone a solo to test their skills.

“Solo test? What’s that?”

Si Zhuo passed by and dumped a handful of petals on Luan Ling’s head. Irritated, she controlled the petals into an arrow and shot it at him. The arrow disintegrated just before hitting him. Si Zhuo smirked and sat down provocatively.

Luan Ling raised an eyebrow in challenge: “I’m not telling you. Figure it out yourself.”

Being in the same class as this annoying guy required constant vigilance. Even after returning from body-swapping, he had only become more exasperating. She refused to let him get the upper hand but couldn’t help finding him irritating.

So, the music concert…

“Eldest senior brother will probably participate willingly, talking about duty and responsibility. The young junior brother won’t refuse either; he’s too kind. But that dragon… we might have to beg him. To be safe, we should plan a four-person performance first.”

Zhu Yin didn’t care about numbers, but she had her artistic standards.

“I want to do something new.”

“New?” Luan Ling questioned.

Zhu Yin nodded: “Celestial gods’ musical techniques are at their peak, but their innovation in new musical ideas is conservative. Usually, humans develop ideas first, and then gods research them. While this aligns with the principle of heaven-and-man unity, it’s disastrous for divine innovation.”

This was the first time Luan Ling had heard her senior speak at such length and share her philosophy. She thought seriously about it.

After a pause, she hesitantly said: “Senior sister… if I told you I have some special, truly new ideas, would you try them?”

Moments later—

Luan Ling projected her ideas into Zhu Yin’s mind, stepping aside and gesturing: “Ta-da!”

Zhu Yin examined the imagined instruments: one resembled a pipa but had concave indentations on both sides; another similar but larger with fewer strings. Behind these was a drum-like ensemble with cymbals for percussion. Finally, there was an instrument Zhu Yin had never seen: neither string nor percussion, with a keyboard of black-and-white squares and circular protrusions—its use was unclear, but the concept was consistent. Zhu Yin knew that once she tried them, she’d understand how to play.

Seeing her senior’s fiery gaze, Luan Ling felt pressured: “Senior sister… I’ve only seen these instruments. I don’t know if we can actually make them match my vision.”

“It’s fine if you can’t,” Zhu Yin said, then added: “Just keep trying.”

Luan Ling was stunned. She hadn’t expected her senior to be so interested in her idea. For the rest of the day, no class, no wandering, no complaints—just instrument creation. Luan Ling provided rough designs; Zhu Yin refined and tested the sounds. They constantly adjusted to match the vision, staying together even while sleeping.

Si Zhuo watched Luan Ling rush to Zhu Yin after class. Li Xiao and Situ Meng moved alongside.

“Junior brother, what have the senior sisters been doing these days? Since you’re close to Luan Ling, why not ask her?”

Si Zhuo reclined: “Who’s close to her? I don’t care what they’re doing.”

Li Xiao hummed thoughtfully.

The next day, after class, Li Xiao and Situ Meng left, leaving only Si Zhuo and Dugu face-to-face.

Dugu packed his books and said: “Si Zhuo, while teachers don’t want to interfere with your free time, I must remind you… being with teachers can bring great trouble…”

Before the words fell, the classroom was empty.

“Oh,” Dugu’s voice echoed.

“Wow, senior sister, I’ve never seen instruments like this.”

Li Xiao’s fingers danced over the keys: “Does it have a name?”

Luan Ling nodded: “It’s called a keyboard. Keys on the bottom, tones on top. Senior sister says string sounds can come from it too.”

Li Xiao glanced at Zhu Yin, who was drumming intensely, her body moving rhythmically along with the beat—quite different from her usual style.

“That looks so cool! That’s a drum set. Senior sister says she usually practices yangqin but never drums like this, so she really enjoys it.”

“Oh, right,” Luan Ling added, lifting her instrument: “This is a guitar; that’s a bass.”

Li Xiao: “So you’ve been inventing and practicing these instruments the past two days. No wonder you disappeared after class.”

“Exactly,” Luan Ling said proudly. “We’re forming a band to enter the academy concert. We saved two spots for you, just waiting for the instruments. Now that you’re here, want to join?”

Situ Meng eagerly nodded: “Yes! Sounds fun.”

Li Xiao nodded too, then hesitated: “What about Si Zhuo? Leaving him out alone might not be fair.”

Luan Ling frowned. Convincing him would be tricky.

She said: “I’ll ask him. But don’t expect too much. He’s too independent to join team activities.”

“I’m not refusing,” Si Zhuo said, emerging from the bamboo grove. “You just didn’t want to invite me. There are only four types of instruments—you weren’t planning on including me.”

Luan Ling disliked his condescending look, but explained: “We only have four because that’s all I could think of. Making a fifth copy works. And it’s not like we’re excluding you—your words and attitude isolate everyone. That’s why only eldest brother and junior brother came first. You probably said boring, not interested, so you didn’t come?”

Li Xiao laughed: “You really know him well.”

“Who wants to know him?”

“Who cares?”

Both said simultaneously, then glared at each other.

Luan Ling handed the guitar to Si Zhuo using magic: “Here. Since you’re joining, practice properly.”

Si Zhuo caught it, ready to speak, when Luan Ling added: “And no sarcastic comments!”

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