A crisp smack rang out.
Lin Yue's cheek instantly swelled and reddened.
The spirit stroked Lin Yue's face tenderly and sighed in a low voice. "How can I rest easy when you're like this?"
Sect Leader Xu's hands shook with anger. "I raised you all these years, and this is how you repay me!"
Although the other girls from the Heavenly Music Pavilion felt sorry for Lin Yue, they also thought she had gone too far this time. Even if they were destined never to take first place, they still wanted to strive for better.
With what Lin Yue had done today, who knew what impression she had left on others? When she stepped down from the platform, they had already faintly heard idle onlookers wagging their tongues, saying the Heavenly Music Pavilion grew worse with every competition. How could they possibly accept that?
Lin Yue merely hugged the zither in her arms tighter, enduring all the mockery without uttering a word.
At that moment, Su Jiu heard the spirit speak again. The spirit's voice was clear, coaxing Lin Yue with gentle tenderness. "I'll just sleep inside the zither for a while. We'll see each other again in a few years. Besides, the zither was made for you to use. If all you do is hold me like this, I'll be the one who feels useless."
Su Jiu's attention had now strayed entirely from the arena. Only then did she realize that this was actually a zither spirit.
This zither was, at best, an upper-middle-grade spirit artifact, yet it had given birth to a spirit. She could scarcely imagine how lovingly this girl must have cared for it to allow its spirit to take form.
But the spirit seemed very weak. If it was an artifact spirit, it would probably