Chapter 253: Is This the Same Musical Score?

But, this was only the beginning!

As Jiang Fan's fingers flew like shuttles, rapidly plucking the zither strings.

High-pitched zither notes, sharp enough to make one's scalp tingle, whistled forth. It was as if a fierce tiger, treading on dry branches, slowly emerged from the shadowy depths of an ancient, secluded forest.

Everyone's hearts tightened, too afraid to even breathe. A genuine sense of immersive terror pervaded the air.

Following this, Jiang Fan circulated his spiritual energy, and the zither notes burst forth. It was like a ferocious tiger pouncing, its jaws unleashing a man-eating roar. Moreover, the sounds shifted, now distant, now near, now high, now low. It felt as though tigers surrounded them on all sides. The powerful image of a hundred tigers descending the mountain effortlessly emerged!

Yuan Zhiyu swayed slightly and instinctively moved closer to Gong Caiyi. But Gong Caiyi also felt as if she were in the thick of it, involuntarily rising onto her tiptoes, her whole body tensed.

As the sounds grew increasingly high-pitched, the immense pressure gradually reached its peak!

Finally! An explosive sound reverberated throughout the hall and beyond.

In their daze, everyone saw a ferocious tiger leap from the ancient zither, its bloodied maw wide open, lunging to bite them fiercely!

Simultaneously, centered around Jiang Fan, the granite floor shattered in a fan shape amidst the earth-shattering zither notes! Fu Chaojun and Ming Youlian, on the opposite side, bore the brunt of the attack!

With a loud bang— Fu Chaojun, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, was instantly blasted away. Ming Youlian also staggered, nearly falling. Her face changed dramatically as she grabbed Fu Chaojun and quickly retreated.

The momentum of the zither notes did not diminish. They spread outward, shattering the ground along their path! When they struck the stone pillar in the center of the hall, with a loud crack! The massive stone pillar, thick enough for three people to embrace, was actually split and began to tilt.

With the pillar destroyed, the hall's dome shook violently. It was about to collapse!

Gong Caiyi was startled. She slammed her hand on the table, leaped over it, and darted to the pillar. With a palm strike on the tilting pillar, she stabilized it. This action saved the hall from collapsing.

When the zither notes faded, everyone was too stunned to speak, witnessing the scene in the hall. A vast fan-shaped area of granite lay completely broken and warped. Wisps of white smoke hissed up from the ground. Dust permeated the entire hall. It looked as if a violent earthquake had just occurred. The sight was horrifying!

Yuan Zhiyu steadied herself by gripping the table, her eyes wide with disbelief as she gazed at the destructive scene. At this moment, she had even forgotten to breathe. She murmured in disbelief, "Is this... an audial cultivation technique?"

Outside the hall, Yi Lianxing was dumbfounded, "An audial cultivation technique can really be this terrifying?" Qin Caihe was in a daze, "I've never heard of an audial cultivation technique being this powerful!" Chu Xingmeng's eyes also widened, "Was what Senior Brother Jiang just performed truly an audial cultivation technique?"

The Heavenly Sound Sect's techniques were known for being bizarre and hard to defend against. They were considered somewhat tricky. In terms of power, the general consensus was that they were weaker than orthodox techniques. But Jiang Fan's display completely overturned their understanding of audial cultivation techniques. If this musical score were performed by the Heavenly Sound Sect's Sect Master, it was likely that even the combined efforts of the other eight sect masters wouldn't fare well, would they?

In fact, while the others merely doubted their understanding of audial cultivation techniques, the two from the Heavenly Sound Sect were directly questioning their lives.

Fu Chaojun stared blankly at the catastrophic scene, his eyes glazed, "This... this is an audial cultivation technique?" As a generational prodigy of the Heavenly Sound Sect, he couldn't believe this level of destruction could be caused by an audial cultivation technique.

Ming Youlian was also filled with shock. After decades of studying audial cultivation techniques, she too was bewildered by the scene before her. It took her a while to regain her composure, and her voice trembled slightly as she asked, "What... what technique did you just use?"

Jiang Fan exhaled a mouthful of stale air. Gazing at the scene of immense destruction, he couldn't help but click his tongue in awe. Was this the destructive power of a mid-grade Earth-level technique? He had only used fifty percent of his spiritual energy just now. If he had used his full power, wouldn't the hall have collapsed completely?

Hearing Ming Youlian's question, Jiang Fan pointed to the "Formation Breaker Scroll," which had been shattered into paper scraps. "Isn't it just the musical score you provided?"

"What?" Fu Chaojun exclaimed in surprise, "That's impossible!" "When I performed it, why... why was its power so meager?" He was too ashamed to continue. His strenuous performance had only left a few shallow marks on the granite. This achievement, which he had just been so proud of, was utterly insignificant compared to Jiang Fan's! Yet Jiang Fan claimed it was the same musical score. How could Fu Chaojun accept this?

Ming Youlian also vehemently disbelieved him. "You're talking nonsense!" "The musical scores you both performed were poles apart; they couldn't possibly be the same."

Jiang Fan made no attempt to conceal anything, calmly stating, "To be frank, the musical score I saw was not the same as the one you saw. When I viewed this score, it was a piece called 'Tiger Roar Dragon Chant,' not the 'Formation Breaker Scroll' you perceived."

Hearing this, everyone inside and outside the hall became thoughtful. This was not impossible. It was said that in some extremely difficult inheritances, people with different levels of comprehension perceived different things. Those with poor comprehension saw only the surface, while those with good comprehension could grasp the true essence of the inheritance. Perhaps this "Formation Breaker Scroll" was such a case. Otherwise, there would be no explanation for how Jiang Fan's performance of the same score was earth-shattering, yet Fu Chaojun's performance was akin to scratching an itch through a boot.

However, Fu Chaojun could not accept this, emphatically declaring, "Impossible!" "Could my comprehension be worse than yours? Or worse by an immeasurable degree?" He was widely acknowledged as a cultivation prodigy, unparalleled in a century!

Gong Caiyi, at this point, regained her senses. Looking at Jiang Fan's back, she couldn't help but gasp. She had always believed she thoroughly understood Jiang Fan's comprehension. Only now did she realize that what she knew was merely the tip of the iceberg. A deep fondness appeared in her eyes; such a gifted talent, why couldn't he be from the Spirit Beast Sect?

Hearing Fu Chaojun's emotional outbursts, Gong Caiyi felt a touch of pity for him. Fu Chaojun's comprehension was indeed exceptional, recognized as the best among the Nine Sects. Unfortunately, he was born in the wrong era. He was born in an era where Jiang Fan existed. He was destined to live forever in Jiang Fan's shadow.

She sighed lightly and said, "Don't deceive yourself. Even if Jiang Fan's audial cultivation technique didn't originate from the 'Formation Breaker Scroll,' do you think his comprehension, capable of grasping such immensely powerful audial techniques, would be inferior to yours?"

This question rendered Fu Chaojun speechless. He prided himself on being an audial talent, yet the strongest audial technique he had comprehended was incomparable to Jiang Fan's.

"I told you not to bring shame upon yourself." Gong Caiyi approached Jiang Fan and said, "You believe our sect favors Jiang Fan more and looks down on you. But have you considered why our sect acts this way? You can doubt our sect's strength, but do not doubt my judgment."

These words made Fu Chaojun want to sink into the ground. He, who was renowned for his talent, had actually been trampled in his most proud domain by someone notoriously known for his weak spiritual root. He wished he could find a hole to crawl into, and said in shame, "Grand Elder, let's go." He didn't want to stay in the Spirit Beast Sect for another moment.

Ming Youlian was also quite mortified. Not long ago, she had laughed at Yi Lianxing, the Spirit Beast Sect's favored prodigy, for showing such reverence to an external sect disciple. In the blink of an eye, her most prized disciple had been thoroughly crushed by that very same disciple!

She nodded, then suddenly remembered something and said, "Since we've come all this way, wouldn't leaving now be a waste?" She cupped her hands towards Gong Caiyi and asked, "Sect Master Gong, does your sect have any high-difficulty tasks that need to be performed?"

Gong Caiyi slapped her forehead. "I almost forgot." The Spirit Beast Sect had been assigned many high-level tasks that they simply didn't have time to complete. Now that they had a formidable external disciple like Fu Chaojun, he could help them complete some of them. "Of course!" She immediately took out a stack of jade slips, all containing high-level tasks of Tier 1 and Tier 2. Then, remembering Jiang Fan, she added, "You pick one too." Jiang Fan was so powerful, he could even kill Black Lotus. How could she let him get away?

To her surprise, Jiang Fan replied without hesitation: "I wouldn't dare accept tasks from the Spirit Beast Sect."

Gong Caiyi froze.