336 I Want to Fight Ten!

"Sound of heart?" Ye Qingxuan looked up in shock. His Eye of Silence looked past the semi-transparent griffin and fell onto Sam. In his semi-transparent body, countless rhythms had combined into one tempo. The tempo resonated with the sea of aether. It poured into the music score, performing its own effect. This was 'Foehn Wind,' the sound of heart that only musicians loved by Saint Agni!

Burning wind instantly swept through. The mass of iron was swept in and burned instantly, creating a stream of melted iron that solidified in midair. In the crowd, the musician's expression flipped. He tried to escape but it was too late!

"It's not over yet!" Sam cackled. He slammed his fists into the air. A passionate melody shot out. The flowing melted iron was pounded by invisible hammers and instantly began to weather. Countless music notes flowed within it, adding to the music theory until it transformed into a terrifying alchemy weapon. This was Les Preludes by Saint Liszt. It was also known as the Score of Damocles!

Everyone held their breaths because a sword hung in the sky. In the silence, Sam held his breath too. He reached out cautiously as if cutting the invisible thread. The sword descended instantly. Hundreds upon thousands of red meteorites fell. The shooting sword multiplied and returned under the giant boom!

The musician who had performed the secret attack was aghast. With a scream, he tried to escape but it truly was too late now. The wild aetheric vortex was born in an instant and disappeared in the next.

Amidst the continuous rumbling, countless gaping holes opened in the deep end of the mine. The swords that lost their strength pierced and melted into the rock. They gradually dimmed and all that remained was evaporating bloody vapors and dots of shocking dark red.

"Hey, that's a bit…overdramatic?" It was not just Baro. Even Sam was frightened and wiped at his cold sweat. Now, he finally realized the eyes on him. They were full of fear, darkness, hatred, shock, murderous intent, terror, awe…

"Sam, I have a question," Ye Qingxuan uttered. "How many can you destruction musicians fight at once?"

"Uh, if we're at the same level, maybe three?" Sam answered uncertainly. "Why are you asking?"

"So you can't win if there are more than three?"

Sam nodded.

With so many eyes full of malice on them, Ye Qingxuan could not help but bury his face and sigh. "Baro, what are you waiting for? Run!"

This time, Baro did not need Ye Qingxuan's urging him, and cast a bunch of music scores. The griffin's wings shook and it rushed into the darkness.

"Get him!" someone yelled. The crowd swarmed after them like an angry beehive.

Sam's aggressive reaction had been too over the top and had attracted everyone's attention. They were all competitors here, so if one performed so well…they would go after him, as usual!

Numerous music scores were cast in an instant, targeting the extremely visible griffin in the air. Next, an attack much denser than before swept through the air. At the same time, explosions sounded outside the mine.

In that instant, waves crashed in the aether sea. Outside the tolerance range of most aether balls, the fragile crystal balls exploded, blinding their owners. Faced with an intensity that was more than enough to kill them, the group paled collectively.

"Sam, do you have any solutions?" Baro glanced at the culprit.

Sam thought seriously. After wasting the last bit of time they had, he stated, "I don't think so."

Baro almost coughed out blood. He was ready to accept death when he heard Ye Qingxuan's voice.

"Speed up," he said. "I'll take care of the rest." In the next moment, a hymn rose up. Beside Ye Qingxuan, Choir musician Miller felt boundless radiance emerge from the darkness and illuminate the earth.

"Holy?" In awe, he sensed the Choir music theory brewing within and murmured, "The realm of God has descended onto Earth and operates as if in the heavens…"

In the light, the boundless realm unfolded in thin air. Music theory of the School of Abstinence joined with Choir theory, creating a perfect shield. There were no shakes, hits, or explosions. All attacks disappeared into the shield and landed in an unknown place. When the dust settled, they were already gone, as if they had disintegrated.

In the crowd, Colt Flagg gazed through the sky. His gaze turned meaningful as if his Starry Eyes saw something.

After the chaos, the musicians spread out into the mine. A rope was gradually lowered into the darkness, falling into the riddled mine. Baro and Sam were close to collapsing. They were practically carried down by Ye Qingxuan. They had no time to escape and instead hid in the crevices of the wall. In order to stay hidden, they did not even dare to use any music scores. They depended on pure physical strength.

Ye Qingxuan would not have been able to hold himself without the Governor, let alone care for the other two. In comparison, Miller was relaxed as if he was vacationing. He was not even out of breath.

"The School of Choir studies life, you know?" Miller explained with a smile. "My research field is the resistance of the physical body. Many techniques do not require music scores. The theory is simple. You just need to adjust the 'four liquids' inside your body and maintain equilibrium. It's just like how you Modifications uses changes of formulas. One of our seniors survived two days in the deep sea by maintaining the equilibrium to study the limits of the body. This is a small case."

Hearing that, Baro sprawled onto the ground listlessly. He decided not to ask anymore.

"Let's get going after a ten minute break." Ye Qingxuan looked around. He pulled some chant consumables and created an illusion barrier. "We're already behind. Hopefully, we won't fall too far back."

"Shouldn't we be fighting every second now?" Sam asked.

"That's for the last step. Right now, it'll be okay if we catch up. If we're too far ahead, the others would probably team up against us." Ye Qingxuan held his chin emotionally. "Trust me, I've dealt with these situations too much. You don't want to experience it." Hearing his words, everyone else's expressions grew strange. They wondered what this white-haired guy had actually experienced in the past. "I'm sure everyone understands after that riot that you can't survive by yourselves. Now, even the ones who didn't want to join groups will try to find someone."

Miller sighed. "The rest of the journey will be difficult."

"You can't do it by yourself but explorations aren't the more the better," Ye Qingxuan mumbled with a mouth full of breakfast food. "The Eastern Empire called for tens of thousands to excavate the ancient royal tomb but only a handful is actually useful. The four of us is enough. In fact, we have advantages."

Ye Qingxuan had joined this team as a Revelations musician. He was responsible for investigating the path and exploring the relic. When needed, he would decode enchantments. The destructive Sam was responsible for martial power. Miller's job was healer and backup. Baro was multi-talented and had many phantom beasts. He was responsible for filling in the holes. They made up a pretty standard exploration team and were enough to explore the Dark World, let alone a relic.

They restarted the journey after a short rest. However, Ye Qingxuan cautiously pulled out a sealed flagon this time. It was the size of a fist but heavy as if it was solid steel.

"What's this?" Baro scooted over but Miller dragged him away after taking a whiff.

"Live mercury?" Miller furrowed his brows. "This is fatal poison. You won't want to get a drop on you."

"Relax. It's just a chant consumable." Holding his breath, Ye Qingxuan carefully opened the lid. Inside, the endlessly and silently flowing mercury rippled. This mercury was transformed by an alchemist. It was more active. Even in this flagon, it was still moving. It began bubbling slightly under the gentle melody. Strands of silver snaked out and hung in the air.

Ye Qingxuan let out a breath. "Done."

Next, the gentle melody repeated. Two, four, eight…countless strands of mercury extended from the flagon into all directions with the Bolero melody. Under the intensifying song, the entire flagon was transformed into microscopic strands. They flashed faintly in the darkness.

The mercury perception threads extended, allowing Ye Qingxuan's senses to stretch into the deepest darkness. This was Charles' creation. After realizing that Ye Qingxuan's water vapor perception threads were too weak and hard to use, he suggested directly changing the material.

The two had stayed up the entire night, adjusting intervals and music theory. They had finally applied it onto mercury, overcoming water vapor's weakness. The mercury threads were flawless, save for the fact that it was slow to prepare.

Ye Qingxuan soon put back his empty flagon. The group began foraging deeper into the mine. The darkness swallowed their figures. A serene breeze blew from the distance, light as a laugh.