The Zither God

The Zither God is a fantasy web novel by Feitian Yisheng, a signed author on Motie Chinese Network. Set in an otherworldly continent and centering on inter-realm conquest, it blends reincarnation with battle-aura and magic elements and was serialized online. The story takes place in a world called Yinmang Continent, where the top-level order is shifting and a declining clan has splintered. The protagonist is a youth named Liuyun, whose true nature is ethereal; by chance he cultivates the "Ethereal Body" through an ancient and mysterious secret art, embarking on a zither-master's path unlike that of ordinary people. On Yinmang Continent, zither masters hold noble status; zither masters and martial artists belong to two separate systems, and the way of the zither depends on sound stones, zither spirits, and other rare resources, making it extraordinarily dangerous. Liuyun maneuvers among the zither academy, his own clan, the assassins' guild, the auction guild, the zither masters' guild, and other factions, cultivating battle skills and the way of the zither while contending with zither spirits at the edge of life and death. His growth arc includes the talent test, entry into a master's school, the infusion of sound stones, and breaking through to mid-rank zither master. The book's throughline—"a youth bears a stringed zither, commands zither spirits with a flick of the fingers, and plucks the strings to glimpse the origins of the way of the zither"—sketches an otherworld where the zither is a weapon and sound is a blade. The book was first serialized on Motie Chinese Network; complete compiled versions circulate online, but no formally published print edition has been found.