Chapter 184
Chapter 184 - Canon in D Major
How could this not cause a sensation?
The World's First Zither House, daring to attach ‘World's First’ to their name spoke for itself. Their status in Silvermoon City was self-evident. It was the biggest zither house in the city. It garnered everyone's attention, whether it was in a positive light or negative. Once any major news related to it spread, it would become the talk of the town immediately.
King Lu Yang's grandson has arrived! The Ascendant Hall disciples were framed up in the World's First Zither House! Gu Hai of Ascendant Hall threw seven hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones to redeem seventy Houtian Stage subordinates!?
The Ascendant Hall swallowed up the insult and humiliation silently!? No! Just out of the World's First Zither House, they have set up the 'This Street's First Zither House' right across the street, challenging the World's First Zither House directly!?
Isn't this taking the path to their own doom!?
Not just the worldly cultivators were interested in this matter, it created an unusual amount of hype among the wandering cultivators, as well.
For the past two days, they had been waiting for subsequent developments, wondering how This Street's First Zither House was going to take its revenge?
---
As expected, two days hadn't gone by, more shocking news disseminated. The crowd of cultivators that was originally standing around the World's First Zither House, listening to the Zither Daoists, suddenly spotted a notice posted on the board right across the street. Suddenly, they had no interest in listening to the music, and the entire crowd swarmed to the notice board like bees swarming towards flowers.
"The goods will be delivered after half a year? Pay in advance? Has Gu Hai gone nuts? What is this steel zither? Do you still think I will pay in advance?"
"I heard that Manager Jiang has imposed an embargo on This Steet's First Zither House's supply channels!"
"No wonder they will be delivered after half a year. But to pay in advance and wait for the goods to be delivered after half a year, who would be stupid enough to pay in advance for this kind of thing?"
"Steel zither!? What is this steel zither?"...
Everyone disdained the pre-sale notice written by Gu Hai on the noticeboard. How could anyone do business like this?
But the next announcement brought another shock to the crowd. Everyone's eyes went so wide that they were about to pop out.
"The steel zither, it is crafted from non-spiritual materials, and will be sold for a hundred high-grade spirit stones!?"
"Look, next to it is the World's First Zither House's Ultimate Zither, it's price is a hundred middle-grade spirit stones! The steel zither will be sold for a hundred high-grade spirit stones, a difference of hundredfold! Heavens! This is simply smacking them right back in the face!"
"Are you kidding me! I wouldn't even buy the Ultimate Zither. With that kind of money, I could buy several guqin crafted from spiritual wood. The Ultimate Zither, which is crafted from ordinary materials, was still priced at a hundred middle-grade spirit stones! Yet this Gu Hai has gone more ridiculous, he raised the price by a hundredfold! He has gone crazy!"
"Steel zither? What the hell is this steel zither?"...
The crowd of cultivators called Gu Hai crazy again and again. Why would anyone pay you a hundred high-grade spirit stones half a year in advance only to receive a zither crafted from ordinary materials!?
Across the street, the World's First Zither House received the news at first notice naturally.
"It seems not many people are buying zithers recently!?" Young Master An stated with a furrowed brow.
Jiang Tianyi immediately forced a smile as he replied, "Yes! Young Master An, although we have made seven hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones these days, the World's First Zither House's reputation has taken a hit. Many cultivators don't dare to come up to our store to buy! They are worried that...!"
"Worried that they will be cheated!?" Young Master An followed up with a chilling tone.
"Yes, a little. However, Young Master An, you don't need to worry too much about it. After some time, everyone will forget about it for good. This was to be expected, after all, we had detained Gu Hai's subordinates, which violated the rules of business!"
"Hmph, rules!?" Young Master An scorned coldly.
"Young Master An, these days, I have been thinking why Gu Hai wanted to buy the Ultimate Zither, I finally understand now. This Gu Hai is shrewd and deeply subtle. He bought the Ultimate Zither to serve as a foil for his steel zither, raising the price by a hundredfold! Ha, he is publicizing that his 'This Street's First Zither Hose' is a hundred times better than our 'World's First Zither House'!" Jiang Tianyi stated coldly.
"A hundred times? Hmph, in my opinion, he is just talking big to impress the crowd! Why would someone spend a hundred times the spirit stones to buy a Guqin that is crafted from ordinary materials?" Young Master An let out a cold snort.
"Yes, this subordinate also thinks so!" Jiang Tianyi nodded in agreement.
While the two were chatting, suddenly a customer down several floors suddenly asked, "Do you have a steel zither? Let me take a look!"
"Steel zither?"
"Yes, this zither sold by the store across the street. I want to see what it looks like for it to be actually sold at a hundred high-grade spirit stones!"
"Uh, we don't have it!"
"You don't have it!? Aren't you the World's First Zither House? Don't you have all the zithers? How is it that you don't have it?"...
Every once in a while, someone would ask curiously about the piano, but the World's First Zither House simply didn't have any pianos.
Owing to that, Young Master An's face turned more and more gruesome, whereas a slight furrow crept up on Jiang Tianyi's brow.
"Manager, what if we craft a batch of steel Guqin?" a subordinate curiously asked.
"No!" Jiang Tianyi immediately rejected this proposal with a frown.
"But, many people are asking about it!"
"Steel zither, this term was originated by Gu Hai. Most people would use his as the first criterion. If we create something far different from his, we would only be trying to please the public with claptrap!" Jiang Tianyi shook his head.
"Yes, Manager!" that subordinate replied immediately.
Young Master An, on the other hand, squinted his eyes, staring at the This Street's First Zither House across the street.
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This Street's First Zither House Vs The World's First Zither House! This piece of news flew in every direction in Silvermoon City, as if it had grown a pair of wings.
Anyone who heard this news would believe Gu Hai was kidding everyone with a fool's talk, thinking that money had made him crazy. However, there were countless people who were also looking forward to it, wonder what this steel zither looked like that it made Gu Hai so confident.
---
In the city, a mountain forest shrouded by dense clouds...
Here, chimes of numerous zithers could be heard. A large number of zitherists were playing here. Standing amid the clouds was the sole manor that could send out the passes for the zither conferring assembly. This place was the most prestigious place in the entirety of Silvermoon City, the Silvermoon House.
Within this Silvermoon House, there was an arbor which had clouds lingering around, surrounded by a dense mountain forest that was incomparably picturesque...
A white-haired old man was sitting there, holding a piece of cloth, and gently wiping down a guqin that appeared to be about to rot away.
"Ke ke ke, Old Chap, you too are about to wither away with me!? Ke ke ke, hahaha!" The white-haired old man continued to gently wipe the guqin.
Standing behind the old man was a group of Silvermoon House disciple that were wearing azure robes. Each and every one was standing in an extremely respectful and solemn manner. They dared not breathe loudly.
"Did anything interesting occur in the city recently?" the white-haired old man asked, still wiping the guqin.
One of the men standing behind him immediately replied as a respectful look took over his face, "Reporting to President, many different things are happening every day in the city. However, there is one thing that is exceptionally unique. Actually, the Ascendant Hall Water Throne Master has provoked the World's First Zither House, and is now advertising a new product!"
"Oh!?" The old white-haired president was taken aback. He immediately turned his head to look.
That azure-robed man respectfully laid out everything he knew in detail.
Hearing this, the old president quietly pondered for a moment before the corner of his lips rose into a smile. "It sure is a bit interesting, a steel zither!? Steel isn't suitable to forge the zither body, the most you can make from it are the strings. The sound produced from them is very unique, it is far different from general zither strings. I wanted to sell steel-stringed zither, but it isn't that easy, unless the tunes are specially composed for the zither strings!"
"Composed!?"
"Yes, a good zither melody is hard to find!" the old president heaved a slight sigh, shaking his head.
"Yes! Then, president, you believe that Gu Hai isn't crazy!?" the azure-robed disciple asked, astounded.
"We will see in two days. I also have never see what this steel zither looks like!" the old president stated, shaking his head.
"Yes, I will be paying attention to this matter, I will report if anything changes!" the azure-robed disciples respectfully said.
"Mhmm!" the old president nodded his acknowledgment.
Then, the azure-robed man continued to relay other interesting matters of the city. The old president listened as if he had already reached the level where not many things astounded him. He would hear something occasionally and only slightly smile.
---
After the situation had brewed for two days, This Street's First Zither House had indeed piqued the curiosity of countless cultivators.
After hearing the news, many people came over to see what this steel zither actually looked like. But the Great Han officials didn't give them anything. All they said was that Gu Hai would reveal it to everyone after two days.
After two days, a sea of cultivators had already gathered outside the This Street's First Zither House, watching from a distance.
Atop the World's First Zither House, a Zither Daoist was playing. However, many people had no interest in him. Everyone's attention was attracted by the terrace of the This Street's First Zither House.
At this moment, a team of Ascendant Hall disciples was already standing on the terrace, guarding something big placed in the center of them. That big thing was covered by a black curtain, preventing everyone from looking inside clearly.
"Is that the steel zither? So big!?"
"A zhang in length and half a zhang in height!? Such a big zither?"
"Is this a Guqin crafted from steel? What does it look like exactly?"...
Many people were burning with curiosity.
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At this point, even though Young Master An regarded Gu Hai as nothing, he was still standing in a hidden place of the World's First Building with his subordinates, looking curiously at that heavily guarded terrace across the street.
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