The situation got so bad that guards had to intervene.
After many minutes of struggling to get the spectators back into their seats, Yuan approached Yu Rou and said, "You must be Yu Rou from the Yu Family. I have heard a lot about you from my teachers. Do you have some time right now? I’d like to speak with you."
Yu Rou nodded with a calm expression on her face, "I do."
"Jingyi, you can come too." Yu Rou said to her.
"A-Are you sure?" Xia Jingyi asked.
"Yes, it’s fine," Yuan confirmed.
Xia Jingyi nodded and followed them outside while feeling like she’d met with Tian Yang before.
Once Yuan left the place, the contestants were finally able to breathe properly, but none of them wanted to go on the stage anymore.
The judges understood their feelings and eventually decided to end the contest earlier than anticipated since nobody wanted to play the piano after Yuan’s godlike performance.
And even if they were to play the piano, the results were obvious.
Once they were outside and in a secluded area, Yuan said, "What did you think of my performance? Was it like how you remembered?"
Yu Rou didn’t say anything and immediately went for the hug, taking Xia Jingyi by surprise.
"Y-Yu Rou?" Xia Jingyi truly didn’t expect Yu Rou to suddenly hug a stranger.
Or maybe she knew Tian Yang and had been acting like she didn’t.
"Do you not recognize my voice?" Yuan turned to look at Xia Jingyi as he embraced Yu Rou.
Xia Jingyi’s eyes widened with shock upon her realization.
"H-H-How?!"
One couldn’t blame Xia Jingyi for not recognizing Yuan until now, as nobody would imagine that a cripple who couldn’t move for many years would suddenly be able to move, much less play the piano flawlessly.
However, this explained everything. If it was Yuan, who was recognized as a once-in-a-lifetime genius, the flawless performance made perfect sense.
"It just happened, I guess."
"A-Are you really Yu Rou’s brother...?" Xia Jingyi still held some doubt, as it was too hard to believe.
"Jingyi, do you think I would touch another man that’s not my brother, much less hug him?" Yu Rou said to her as her arms wrapped around Yuan’s body intimately.
"N-No..." Xia Jingyi shook her head.
"Then there’s your answer. I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s true."
"..."
Xia Jingyi then watched in silence as Yu Rou and Yuan hug each other for a few more moments.
"I want us to stay like this forever, but unfortunately, we don’t have much time here." Yu Rou said as she released him from her embrace.
"Since it’s your decision, I won’t try to convince you to stay. After all, you were the one who decided to take this path." Yuan said to her.
"Thank you for understanding, brother. I promise you that I will become a strong cultivator during our next visit."
Yuan smiled underneath his mask and said, "I look forward to when that day comes."
Yu Rou nodded and then turned to look at the masked figure standing behind Yuan.
"I already told you this before you left the Yu Family, but let me say this again. Please take care of my brother, Meixiu."
"I will," she responded in a calm voice.
Yuan then said, "And please take care of my sister, Jingyi."
"I’m afraid that I will be the one being taken care of..." Xia Jingyi said with a bashful smile.
Yuan shook his head and said, "It’s because I know that you’ll be with Yu Rou that I am not as worried about her. If she was going alone, I would probably be trying to convince her to stay now."
"You really have no trust in me, huh." Yu Rou sighed.
"You know that’s not true." Yuan chuckled.
He then asked her, "Will you be playing Cultivation Online over there?"
Yu Rou nodded and said, "We’ll be cultivating in Cultivation Online and the real world as a group. However, I won’t be able to play with you as often since I have to be with the others."
"That’s fine. As long as we can still meet each other in Cultivation Online." Yuan said, and he continued, "When you arrive at that place, try to log inside Cultivation Online. I have one last surprise for you." This content © 2024 .
"Alright. I will let you know when I will be available." Yu Rou nodded.
After talking to each other for some more, Yu Rou gave Yuan one more tight embrace before returning to the car with Xia Jingyi and heading to the airport.
"Goodbye, Meixiu, Brother Tian."
"Until next time, Yu Rou."
Once Yu Rou and Xia Jingyi left the scene, Yuan said to Meixiu, "Let’s go home too."
"What about the contest results?" Meixiu asked.
"I don’t really care about the results since I didn’t come here for the reward," Yuan said.
"Okay, then let’s go home."
They also returned home shortly after.
Meanwhile, Yuan’s performance at the small contest was uploaded to the internet by one of the judges when they got their hands on the replay.
The video quickly acquired traction, especially within the musician circles.
[Who is this Tian Yang?! I have never heard of him before!]
[Does anyone have information on this genius?!]
[18 years old?! I don’t believe it! How can someone so young play so flawlessly?!]
There were only two things that came to one’s mind when one watched the video of Yuan’s piano performance.
Awe and doubt.
They were in awe of Yuan’s godlike talents and performance, but they also doubted his identity as an 18-year-old. After all, even the old experts who have decades of experience could not do so with such perfection.
Shortly after the video went public, countless families across the world began investigating Tian Yang, and they started with his company Divine Melody that was only recently created.
However, the owner of the company and its employers were all private information that cannot be found through normal means, so those with influence began making phone calls to people with authority and influence in hopes of finding more information about the Divine Melody and Tian Yang.