Fuxi’s Zither (伏羲琴) is not a musical instrument. It is a sealed law-manifestation engine disguised as a seven-stringed zither. Its tones do not soothe the soul—they rewrite the fabric of reality.
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Definition
天音推衍之琴 Fuxi’s Zither of Heavenly Music and Divination 器属类型: 法则化音律法器 Musical Artifact of Law Manifestation Artifact Tier: Primordial Divine Armament (太古神兵) Current Holder: Unknown; last recorded wielder was Fuxi himself. Current Status: Silenced, its physical form is believed to have faded into the patterns of the He Tu (River Chart).
Story context
Imagine a guitar that doesn't just make sound—it makes *reality*. You strum one string and a hurricane appears on the other side of the world. You pluck another, and the stars overhead shift their positions. There is no sheet music, either. You just think about what you want to happen, and the zither translates your thought directly into the physical law that produces it. Sounds amazing, right? Here's the catch: every time you play it, you forget one thing from your own life. Not a skill. Not a language. A *memory*. The face of someone you love. The sound of your own name. Fuxi, the guy who built this thing, played it to measure the entire cosmos, and by the time he finished, he had forgotten who he was entirely. This is not a weapon. This is a memory-eating machine that happens to also be able to rewrite physics.
Why it matters
If you've ever read a modern fantasy novel that features a "soulful zither" or a "music-based cultivation art," you have seen a sanitized, watered-down, PG-rated version of what Fuxi's Zither actually is. In those stories, the music calms beasts or heals wounds. In the real myth, the music warps geography, reverses time, and eats the player's brain. The modern version leaves out the part where the cost is not a cool scar or a dramatic curse, but a slow, silent demolition of the self. Fuxi didn't die in battle. He faded away, one forgotten memory at a time, until the zither had taken everything. Let's talk about how that actually works.
Quick facts
Source novel
Relics That Imprison Creation
First appearance
Fuxi’s Zither
Chapter references
1
Type hints
primordial artifact, music magic, memory cost
Guide tags
Law Echo (Fa Ze Can Xiang), Shen Yi Xi Hun (神意洗魂), Dao Yin String (道音弦)
Appears in chapters
Jump back into the novel from the exact chapter references used to build this glossary page.