After Li Shiwen and Qin Ran played dandy for a few days, they went to work in the palace. Qin Ran turned back into a stay-at-home guy, staying at home all day reading books.
However, just as Li Shiyin had imagined, he became a frequent visitor to her father's study.
That day, Qin Ran was reading a book, thinking:
The war between Northern Chu and Xuan Qin has come to an end. The two countries have successfully negotiated peace, and Northern Chu is about to submit to Xuan Qin. According to Li Shiwen, the troops that Xuan Qin pulled out of Northern Chu have already headed north to Dayan...
The silly disciple's family has already met him, and Li Zhan and Yang Yanqi have not raised any objection to the relationship between him and the silly disciple. How their future will develop depends on their own luck.
So... he thought, it's time to go back to Daojianmen.
The crisis here has ended, but the crisis in Daojianmen is still brewing.
Although Daojianmen's supply of elixirs became normal after he took over the pharmacy, these elixirs were still purchased from Zhishen Valley, and Daojianmen itself still did not have the ability to refine elixirs.
Although he had tried to cultivate Daojian Sect's own alchemists in the past two years, his training was probably just a drop in the bucket and was far from enough to supply the entire sect with elixirs.
If he is given time to develop slowly, with a few more alchemists and spiritual plant masters added each year, it will only take one or two hundred years for Daojianmen to achieve elixir freedom.
However, Zhishengu and Wuyin Sword Sect will definitely not give him so much time and will not allow Daojian Sect to develop.
I just don't know where the next wave of attack will come from. From within? From outside? Or will they just turn hostile and stop supplying me with elixirs? Or even... attack at all costs
Qin Ran was thinking about these things while reading a book.
“Squeak!”
At this time, the door of the study was gently pushed open from the outside. He looked over and saw Li Shiyin tiptoeing in from outside.
"Master?" She looked at him.
"Hmm?" Qin Ran raised an eyebrow and asked.
The silly apprentice has indeed changed a lot, at least she has become much gentler. In the past, the sound of her opening the door would only be "boom", "bang" and "click". She rarely opened and closed the door gently.
"Don't you like playing the flute?" Li Shiyin opened the door and walked in, standing at the door of the study with her hands behind her back. The bright light outside shone on her, and she looked like a beautiful young girl.
"Not bad..." Qin Ran replied. He looked at his well-behaved and beautiful disciple, not knowing what she meant.
In fact, he just wanted to learn a musical instrument, and then he felt that the flute was in line with his immortal temperament, so he learned the flute. He didn't say that he liked the flute very much.
But after three or four years of blind study, he was able to play some tunes.
"Master, do you still remember that there was a great musician in Danyang City named Gao Yuanshan?" Li Shiyin said, feeling a little embarrassed, and turned her eyes away to look outside.
"Gao Yuanshan?" Qin Ran murmured.
A few days ago, Li Shiwen told him that Gao Yuanshan was a musician at the poetry meeting during the spring outing. Of course, what he remembered more clearly was that when he first started learning the flute, Li Shiyin mentioned this person to him, saying that he was very handsome and that she had failed to snatch the bride.
"I have some impression, what's the matter?" he asked.
"Didn't I say that you should let him teach you how to play the flute?" Li Shiyin said.
"Hmm?" Seeing the embarrassed look on his silly apprentice's face, Qin Ran gradually realized that things were not going quite right. If he remembered correctly, the silly apprentice had said that he wanted to tie up Gao Yuanshan and teach him how to play the flute.
... Tie him up!
"Ahem!" Li Shiyin lowered her head, gathered the hair around her ears, and whispered, "Master, I'll tie him up... No, no, no, please come to my house."
"???"
He! Just! Knows! !
As the saying goes, it is easy to change the country but difficult to change one’s nature!
There was no way his silly apprentice could be that gentle.
Qin Ran took a deep breath, closed the book, stood up, and asked Li Shiyin, "Where is the person?"
"In the reception room..." Li Shiyin looked up at the master, and seeing the seriousness in the master's eyes, she quickly lowered her head and said, "I asked the servants to receive him as a distinguished guest."
“Alas…” Qin Ran looked helpless and wanted to curse, but in the end he just said, “Take me to see it.”
"Hehe!" Li Shiyin ran over, hugged Qin Ran's hand, and took him to the reception room.
Arriving at the reception room, Qin Ran saw the man sitting inside, wearing a white round-necked brocade robe with a gold border. He was about thirty-five years old, with tied hair and a light beard. He did have an extremely handsome face. Coupled with his gentle temperament and the calm demeanor of a middle-aged man, he could indeed be called a girl killer.
Looking at his face, one can imagine how incredibly handsome Gao Yuanshan would have been four years ago when he was just 30 years old... No wonder his stupid apprentice wanted to steal his bride.
“Master Gao!” Qin Ran entered the room and bowed to Gao Yuanshan, saying, “Excuse me, excuse me, I am really sorry!”
Gao Yuanshan was drinking tea. Upon hearing this, he closed the teacup lid and turned around to see the elegant Qin Ran in a green shirt and the quirky (crossed out) Li Shiyin.
When he saw Li Shiyin, there was still obvious panic and evasion in his eyes, but Qin Ran's temperament made him feel friendly, and he smiled back, "No problem, no problem. I'm actually fine, it's the Sword Immortal who is playing a joke on me."
"I am sorry for the rudeness of your inferior disciple." Qin Ran walked to sit down opposite Gao Yuanshan and said again.
“Haha…” Gao Yuanshan forced a laugh, looked at Li Shiyin standing behind Qin Ran, and asked, “The Sword Immortal told me that her master is proficient in bamboo flute music, and invited me to exchange ideas. May I ask if the Immortal Master is the Sword Immortal’s master?”
"I am her master..." Qin Ran nodded, but then shook his head and said, "I like music and can play the flute, but I am far from being an expert at it."
"It turns out that immortals can also hear the sound of music!" Gao Yuanshan smiled and sighed, "I thought you all pursue immortality and fighting power, and would not care about these side tricks."
"In fact, immortals are also human beings. Music, dance, and food can move people's hearts, and naturally they can also move the hearts of cultivators." Qin Ran replied, "Moreover... music and dance are not side doors, but the grand way. It is said that music moves the heart, and the heart is the way."
Gao Yuanshan's eyes lit up and he asked, "Could it be that there are people who can enter Taoism through music?"
“Of course there are…” Qin Ran nodded. “Those who practice Taoism through music are much stronger than ordinary cultivators. First, the sound waves themselves have a strong destructive power. Second, the sound of music can affect the cultivator’s Tao heart, state of mind, soul, and spirit. It is very powerful.”
“Master…” Gao Yuanshan and Qin Ran asked, “Can I practice?”
“If you have spiritual roots, you can naturally practice.” Qin Ran replied.
"Do I have spiritual roots?" Gao Yuanshan asked again.
Qin Ran used his pupil technique to look Gao Yuanshan up and down, and said, "Mr. Gao is quite spiritual, so he must have spiritual roots."
"Master, would you be willing to accept me as your disciple?" Gao Yuanshan immediately fell to the ground.
"???" Li Shiyin opened her eyes wide. This plot was not going in the right direction. Why was he here to snatch her master?!
She hurried forward, pulled Gao Yuanshan up from the ground, and said with a sour face: "I am my master's last disciple, my master doesn't accept any more disciples!"
"Ah?" Gao Yuanshan's face was full of disappointment.
"Besides, I asked you to teach my master how to play the flute, not to learn cultivation from my master." Li Shiyin said again.
“Alas!” Gao Yuanshan sighed and said to Qin Ran, “Master, let’s talk about music!”
Li Shiyin's behavior made Qin Ran feel funny. He looked at his silly apprentice walking back angrily and glared at her unhappily.
He smiled and said to Gao Yuanshan: "I am asking you to come and communicate with me. To communicate, you can teach me how to play the flute, the rhythm and instruments; I will teach you the essence and principles of cultivation. This is also communication.
"In the future, I can use music to cultivate your sentiments, and you can practice Taoism according to music."
Gao Yuanshan was very happy and said repeatedly: "Great! Communication, this is communication. Good! Very good. Hahaha..."
When Li Shiyin saw her master glaring at her, she also wrinkled her nose at him, showing that she was very dissatisfied with Gao Yuanshan.
"Don't you like him very much?" Qin Ran smiled and whispered to Li Shiyin through his telepathy.
"No..." Li Shiyin blushed as she recalled the stupid things she did when she was young, and replied in a voice transmission, "I only like Master."
Qin Ran was very happy... It seemed that he was more handsome than Gao Yuanshan.
“The flute is actually easy to understand but difficult to master. There are many things worth noting…” Gao Yuanshan didn’t know about the exchange between the master and the apprentice, but he talked seriously about the flute with Qin Ran, “You are a divine master, and you have some advantages over mortals like us. Of course, you don’t need to be careful about the aura…”
Gao Yuanshan did have a high level of attainment in music and the flute. Under his guidance, the sound of Qin Ran's flute gradually became less unpleasant and more melodious. Gradually, he became truly proficient in the flute.
Of course, under Qin Ran's guidance, Gao Yuanshan also began to use music to nourish and sense his energy, which can be regarded as an alternative path of cultivation.
As for how Gao Yuanshan entered the Tao through music and became a famous soul master in the Xian Qin Empire many years later, that is another story.