Chapter 814: Love Games, Love Life

Beside him, the grandmaster’s face darkened instantly: this is your idea of high difficulty?!

"Tomorrow—"

Before the words could fully fall, a mountain-shaking, ocean-roaring cheer suddenly erupted from the spectator stands.

"Whoosh—!"

"This is badass! This is badass!"

"Do not hesitate anymore! I have not fallen down yet!"

Almost the entire audience beneath the stage began to sing along in unison, and the atmosphere across the entire venue was instantly set ablaze.

"Hiss... huh?" The Grandmaster of the Nanhua Sect stared in a daze.

"Hehehe... are young people nowadays really this passionate? Junior Sister Xichi... I feel like we’ve secured at least a spot in the top few! My word, Junior Sister really does teach well..."

"Is that so...?" Daoist Master Xichi fell into a brief daze, thinking that this didn't quite seem to be something she had taught...

Just as the stage grew increasingly heated, the second event commenced right on its heels.

After all, the second event required the players to write down their most deeply etched memories, which would naturally take a certain amount of time.

...

"Oh—! They are actually singing 'I am MT'!" At this moment, Sera and a group of elves sat in the spectator stands in sheer amazement.

"We have to sing too in a moment!"

"What are you guys going to sing?" Helen asked curiously from beside them.

"Now that they have already sung, if you guys go up next, your score definitely won't be high."

"Then let's do..." Sera spoke up, "Legend of Sword and Fairy: Inquiry of Love!"

"Ah—! Yes, yes, yes!" Lorwyn exclaimed from the side, "Back when I played Legend of Sword and Fairy 4, I absolutely loved that song!"

"The problem is... no one knows how to play the guqin..." Just then, Helen raised a disheartened question, "You guys only know how to play the harp."

"This elder happens to know how!" Right at that moment, Elder Xiwei pulled out a guqin from goodness knows where; as elves who passionately loved music and art, how could there be an instrument they did not know!

"Ah! Can we really sing Inquiry of Love now!?"

Beside them, a group of knights from the Golden Gryphon Knights immediately became quite green with envy: "Count me in!"

"And me!"

"Hmm... look over there—! Isn't that Your Excellency Haxin from the Brotherhood?"

Just then, as the cultivators from the Nanhua Sect exited the stage, a middle-aged man with a face full of weathered vicissitudes stepped up, holding an instrument that looked somewhat like a vertical flute.

The notes blown forth carried a hint of desolation and melancholy, bearing the down-and-out flavor of wandering far from home.

"Yasuo!" The sharp ears of these music-loving elves picked it up instantly.

"Huh, is that a vertical flute he's using?" Helen was also listening to this piece of music.

"Heehee, now this you wouldn't understand; this is called a shakuhachi." Sera proudly displayed her erudition, saying, "It is said to be an ancient instrument introduced from the Central Plains to Fusang."

Regardless of whether they could play it or not, these elves clearly possessed a certain level of understanding toward all kinds of instruments.

Immediately after, she grew a bit puzzled again: "But... why does Legend of Sword and Fairy have the Central Plains, and Pili Divine Land also takes place in the Central Plains? Are these two the same place? How come the people inside haven't run into each other?"

"Oh right, and Duel at the Forbidden Summit is also in the Central Plains!"

"Perhaps it is just like the Immortal Legacy Continent and the Immortal Ruins Continent; they look similar, but in reality, they are two different places," Elder Xiwei explained.

"Let's go, it's our turn now."

"Elder, did you sign up this early?"

The rules of the event allowed multiple people to compete together, but for the same event, a single person could not participate multiple times.

...

At this time, Su Tianji, who was holding a box of takeout food and eating, sat back down, apparently also watching through the computer screen.

"Look quick! So many elves!" Suddenly, an exclamation was heard.

"Where, where?!" While eating her takeout, Su Tianji hastily looked over, immediately spotting a large crowd of elves standing on the stage.

"What are they planning to sing?!"

Right after, a cascade of flowing guqin notes swept past.

The group of elves opened their mouths to sing:

"The fine rain drifts, the clear breeze sways, relying on a devotion as long as pure affection

The bright snow falls, the Yellow River muddies, letting his heartless cruelty cause deep sorrow..."

Even without much prior preparation, the elves, born with a natural love for art, actually performed as if they had rehearsed it countless times beforehand.

"Huh...!" Su Tianji stared wide-eyed at the screen, seeing an elf strumming the guqin at the very front.

"Yeah...!" Dong Qingli from the Breeze and Bright Moon Pavilion, who was in charge of the staff's meals, also stared at the scene before her in stunned silence, her beautiful eyes darting about as if calculating whether she could secretly steal two of them back.

With so many of them, it surely wouldn't be noticed...

"They even know how to sing this!" Song Qingfeng exclaimed, "Holy crap! Their pronunciation is flawless! And they sing so well..."

"This bunch of elves actually knows how to play the zither too! I'm shocked!" At the Jiulan City shop, a kobold also stared at the stage in dumbfounded wonder.

"666!"

"Awesome!"

Owner Fang was also completely dazed at this moment as he looked at this group of people: "How on earth is every single one of you people so talented?"

Owner Fang felt a wave of depression: "Hiss... so it turns out I'm the only one who doesn't know how to do anything at all..."

"Want to learn?" Beside him, Su Tianji spoke up while eating her takeout, "This elder can teach you."

"Ah me..." Owner Fang clutched his forehead; this was getting a bit too heartbreaking.

"Boss! How was it?! Did we sing beautifully?!" After the group of elves left the stage, they did not forget to send a message to the boss.

Owner Fang: "How are you all so pro?"

"Hehehe... o(*>=▽<=)ツ"

...

It was not just Inquiry of Love; there were even the ditties from the Lion's Pride Inn in World of Warcraft, and the melodies from Seria's Treehouse in Dungeon and Fighter...

The light or soft sounds of music seemed to accompany them once again back to the moment when they had first entered these miraculous and dreamlike worlds one after another.

The bustling scenes of countless players setting out from the novice villages and gathering in the very first small town seemed to still vividly flash before their eyes.

Those noisy or gentle voices also seemed as though they had not yet drifted far away.

And at this moment, the two hosts stepped onto the stage once again: "That was truly magnificent."

"Perhaps... for many people present, these games are not merely just games."

"Maybe this period of time hasn't been long."

"But I believe most fellow cultivators feel the same; this short span of time, which hasn't even reached ten years, has been far more brilliant than the past several decades, or even centuries."

"Yes, within this vibrant, kaleidoscope of life, we finally understand that we are doing more than merely surviving," Ningbi cried out, her voice ringing clear. "We are... filled with a boundless passion for existence, living joyfully, living with unparalleled brilliance."

"We once soared upon swords to vanquish demons, and we once adventured across a magnificent, unprecedented continent. We have witnessed the world-shattering descent of the Demon God, and we have stood as heroes. This is our own splendor, our own glory."

"We can proudly proclaim to the entire world: love the game, love life."

"And we, with all our hearts, fiercely love this world as well!"

"So... let me ask every friend gathered here today, do you still remember, in the deepest recesses of your mind, what your most unforgettable memory truly is!?"