Zither Emperor

“Head south, Yin Zhu.” Anya pointed off in a direction. Ye Yin Zhu’s back wasn’t very broad, but Anya felt very comfortable while lying on it. She could sense the differences in Ye Yin Zhu even clearer. When all was said and done, she didn’t resemble Ye Yin Zhu in ignorance. She hadn’t cultivate a Pure Zither Heart and was thus incapable of understanding the relations between a male and female. This was the first time her body had touched a man’s since she was born.

Anya’s charming face displayed a trace of a helpless smile. In her heart, she would always look at Ye Yin Zhu as a younger brother. This was because he was the only human male she didn’t feel disgust for. His purity and innocence was like the heart of a newborn. Along with his simplicity, his pleasant zither playing held Anya’s admirations.

“Yin Zhu, you don’t need to rush. You just used up a lot of your magic. Walk slowly and listen to your Elder Sister’s story, okay?” Anya leaned down onto Ye Yin Zhu’s shoulder. Perhaps it was because she hadn’t been this weak in so many years that her gaze was currently a bit blurred.

“Elder Sister Anya, shouldn’t you be resting?” Having her whole body touch his back didn’t arise any wicked ideas within Ye Yin Zhu. He merely thought that Anya was in great need of his protection.

“Yin Zhu, do you know of the elves?” Anya asked.

Ye Yin Zhu nodded and said, “Grandfather once told me, ‘Elves are a noble race. They love peace, stand aloof from worldly affairs, and most of all, hate war. They live only in Origin Forest as children of nature.’ I have never seen an elf.”

Anya lightly pulled on her long hair, exposing two pointed ears. Although Ye Yin Zhu couldn’t see, Anya had, by now, become completely immersed within her past.

“Four hundred years ago, in the vast Elven Forest, a pair of twin sisters were born. They were the Elf Queen’s daughters and the pride of the entire Elven Race. Their outstanding talents had them surpassing their peers in strength within a very short period of time. They lived a happy life in the lush Origin Forest. The twin sisters were very kind-hearted. Every day, they would communicate with the elements of nature. Every elven clansmen believed that the two of them would lead the Elven Race into a smooth and steady future, their peace continuing eternally.”

Anya paused, her voice brimming with a gentle beauty.

“Elves and humans are different. Elves have a lifespan 10 times that of humans. An ordinary person can live for approximately 80 years. Even if they are powerful experts, they can only live up to 150 years with difficulty. An elf can live up to 800 years. These twins, as descendants of Elven Royalty, possessed a long lifespan of 1500 years. That year, they were already 200 years old. Among the elves, 200 years old was like 15 years to humans; they had just become adults. The twin sisters had begun to grow weary of the peaceful life in the Elven Forest. Thereupon, they rebelled against their mother repeatedly, secretly leaving the vast forest. They entered the human world.”

“Was the Elven Forest bad? Why did they leave?” Ye Yin Zhu asked curiously.

“Actually, no one found this strange. Even in the beautiful Elven Forest, if one has lived there for 200 years, then anyone would begin to feel weary. They entered the human country and immediately became attracted to the bustling human world. They were surrounded everywhere by things they have never seen before. For a moment, the sisters had gradually lost themselves in this new world. They didn’t forget to conceal their identity as elves though.

“Elves had very beautiful appearances, regardless of gender. And as part of the Elven Royal bloodline, these twin sisters were stunning. Very quickly, males harboring evil intentions stared at them. Unfortunately, those bad men didn’t know the sisters were not as simple as they appeared. The twin sisters each had Violet Rank Level 1 strength. Because they hadn’t used their powers in the outside world, the twin sisters weren’t careful enough. They had instantly killed those bad men upon releasing their powerful magic. That was their first massacre.”

“Oh!” Ye Yin Zhu cried out in surprise. “Elves are peaceful. To kill someone, that must have pained them greatly.”

Anya sighed. “You are not completely right. The two sisters had different responses. The younger sister was very afraid and even considered going back to the Elven Forest. She knew at last the horrors of the outside world. The elder sister was very excited, however, and her mind already began to stray. These twin lotus flowers that grew from one stalk diverged for the first time since birth. The next divergence also made them part ways. The older sister entered the human world while the younger sister panicked and returned to the Elven Forest.

“Ten years passed by in an instant. In ten years, the elder sister quickly created a tremendous reputation in the human world, relying on her beauty and Violet Rank strength to become the strongest in that generation. Because the younger sister had gone against her mother’s order, she received a harsh penalty upon returning to the Elven Forest.”

Ye Yin Zhu asked, “Why didn’t the Elf Queen retrieve the elder sister?”

Anya smiled and said, “That is because the Elf Queen was unable to leave the Elven Forest at that time. She must protect her clansmen. Apart from her, no other elf was able enough to subdue the elder sister. As a result, this was delayed continually.

“The Elf Queen suddenly passed away 10 years later. Just as she had one foot in the grave, the elder sister suddenly returned to the Elven Forest. At this moment, her strength had grown by a frightening amount. She had reached Violet Rank Level 3. It was hard to imagine increasing so tremendously in strength in a mere 10 years. She was very apathetic when confronting the dying Elf Queen, not grieving even a bit. She had even gone against the Elf Queen’s last decision to pass the crown to the younger sister, openly fighting with the younger sister over the Elven queenship.” By this point in the tale, Anya’s voice had already become impassioned.

“How could she do this? Don’t tell me she forgot 200 years of sisterly feelings?” Ye Yin Zhu somewhat angrily said.

“I don’t know. Even today, I still don’t know.” Anya’s eyes moistened, her voice brimming with sorrow.

“The Elven Race stands aloof from worldly affairs. Under the decisiveness of the elder sister, the rest of the race surrendered to her. The younger sister was defeated at the hands of her elder sister and her pure self was banished from the Elven Forest, forever unable to return. The elder sister didn’t know, however, that before the Elf Queen was at death’s door, she had secretly given away the Elven Race’s Symbolic Seed of Life to the younger sister. By the time she discovered this, the younger sister had already traveled far away.

“For two hundred years, the elder sister searched everywhere for her younger sister, wanting to seize away the Seed of Life. The younger sister matured with every passing day in the human world, however. She thought her mother’s death strange, and when she recalled her elder sister’s extreme peculiarity, she knew her mother’s death had something to do with her elder sister. Even if she knew this, what use was it? She wasn’t her elder sister’s match and could only flee continuously, wandering from country to country.

“She later found a peaceful region to settle in temporarily after great difficulty. Only then did she seek the truth about her mother’s death. Her steady conviction spurred, she cultivated even more assiduously than before. The disparity between her elder sister’s strength and hers lessened more and more. Two hundred more years later, the younger sister felt that she could challenge her elder sister in strength. She returned to the Elven Forest. At this moment, the Elven Forest had completely changed. The former tranquility and harmony was nowhere to be seen. There was only an austere air. Calling herself the Elf Queen, the elder sister had actually been training her Elven clansmen into an army.”

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1. (coughs ironically, this is the individual character meanings of Pure Zither Heart… which could have been translated as Newborn Zither Heart…)