415 So-called Growth

It was great that it was not a virus from the School of Choir, a curse from the School of Revelations, or a mutation from the School of Modifications… Ye Qingxuan could understand this. After all, this was the heavily guarded judgement tower and his position was sensitive. Because of the possible consequences, the enemy would use an illusion because it would not leave behind any evidence. Fortunately, it was an illusion.

He did not have to worry that he would die immediately. If his mind was strong enough, he could survive before his senses were completely taken over. Ye Qingxuan was an expert in this field. He knew what to do in this situation. After confirming that it was an illusion, he needed to know what type it was.

What kind of illusion was it? A sensory illusion? A sealed illusion-scape constructed over the entire cell rather than just on him? A misconception that worked on his consciousness? The terrifying reality after making the illusion become reality? Or was it multiple types?

He could at least cross out the possibility of the illusion becoming reality. This was an extremely rare and difficult skill. Ye Qingxuan knew from Lola's experience. If her luck was the tiniest bit worse, she would probably have suffered from the music theory backlash and become an illusion herself long ago. Even so, she was only a beginner after completing her symphony of predestination.

Of the musicians who studied this topic, ninety-nine of one hundred would die. The remaining one may not succeed either. There were less than ten musicians who had the ability to dabble in this field. More than half were from the Northern Islands, Voodoo Crypt, Unstable Soil, and other hidden schools. Hiring them would require a fortune and they might not even be willing.

Ye Qingxuan thought that he might not be that unlucky.

Plus, there were countless of ways to kill him if the killer truly was that skilled. He could just shoot an illusory stimulant into Ye Qingxuan's blood, causing him to die from psychosis. The other possibilities were easy.

Ye Qingxuan smiled and closed his eyes. It was time for the interpretation method. The proposition was the changes of music theory in the aether sea. In his mind, an aether sea slowly emerged. It was serene and seemed to stretch to the end of the world. He set the aether density to the standard of a red zone. After setting up the source, sixteen organs rose in his mind, creating a large ring. Next…

Ye Qingxuan grinned.

The sixteen huge organs sounded at once. Powerful music burst from them, overlapping and creating waves in the aether sea. Countless ripples collided; the imaginary music theory collapsed and regenerated. It felt as if Ye Qingxuan's brain was tossed into a boiler. It was about to break down under the huge performance. In the imaginary aether sea, the waves tossed and crashed wildly. As the tides came and went, countless music theories were created, broken down, scattered…

This was Abraham's rule. No matter what, he could not try inhuman performances. Otherwise, his brain would fail under the operation of the interpretation method.

Ye Qingxuan's consciousness started fading from the extreme pain of the poison. But in that moment, he saw everything distort and fade…As his brain turned wildly, his consciousness changed dramatically. Even his perception turned abnormal. He saw the cell warp and distort…

It was as if he was experiencing some weird abstract mathematical logic. The structure of the cell became very strange. Even Ye Qingxuan's body became thin and flexible like a doll stretched and stuffed into a box.

"I see…" He stopped the interpretation and watched as the world changed. It dawned on him. "So it's in my mind?"

Then where was he? Probably still sleeping on his bed and dreaming, right?

Ye Qingxuan wanted to laugh. He entered a prepared dream of the Dreamweaver…

Friend, he thought, are you truly not joking around?

-

Ten minutes ago, soft crying sounded in the hall outside Ye Qingxuan's cell. The examiner curled up in his own cell but his eyes glowed with strange red light. His lips slowly curled. Before the midnight bell rang, he quietly opened his mouth and lifted a piece of thread from under his tooth. He pulled out the object hanging in his throat.

It was a ring.

It looked like an average thing carved with basic music notes. However, under his activation, the simple interval fused into the midnight bell. It subtle ripple became one with the enchantment of the tower. Going past the enchantment's blocking, it could act directly on the aether.

It was a key.

When the tower was first built, before the Abstinence disciplines and enchantments were erected, there was a tiny space within the music theory operation. It was not enough to control the aether sea but it was still something.

The examiner opened his mouth, closed his hands, and pressed onto the air. A cold and tragic melody joined the soft sobbing. It crossed past the empty space. Using the prepared fulcrum, it flowed into Ye Qingxuan's dream.

The Forgotten Offerings—an Illusion score created from a Bible legend. When the holy one died and the end of the world came, some sinners fell into Hell to be tormented for eternity.

In the Bible, the descending angel said, "Time is up. There will no more time in the future." After this, the sinner would experience pain for eternity as he begged for the last salvation.

Thus, Illusion musicians created this score. It consisted of 'Judgement,''Sin,' and 'Sacrament.' The fulcrum was introduced during Judgement. Then, Sin tormented the victim in the illusion until his consciousness was wiped out by the endless pain. Finally, Sacrament provided the final salvation, allowing the victim to rest in peace. In five short minutes, he could experience thousands of years of torture.

Of course, the requirements for the score were very strict. The musician must drag the victim into the depths of the illusion-scape without him realizing and there must not be any resistance.

A musician with the slightest bit of aether sensing would wake up when noticing the aether waves, which would then destroy the illusion. Therefore, the prison was the most suitable for this score. Here, everyone's senses were blocked by the shackles. They could not use music scores and were practically just like regular humans. Affected by the drugs and hymns, their minds were even weaker than the average man.

Ye Qingxuan was quickly dragged into the nightmare. It was effortless. The examiner controlled the music score inside Ye Qingxuan's mind, dragging him deeper and deeper in. He also prepared a Mind music score.

The client's request was that it must be wrapped up cleanly and Ye Qingxuan could not die in prison. He must be put on trial and confess to his sin. He must die from the noose. Therefore, after Ye Qingxuan's mind was tormented completely, it was time for the Mind score. He must plant the hint, mold Ye Qingxuan's mind, change his thoughts…

It was detailed work, especially because he could not let anyone realize something was wrong. Who knew what valuable things this guy had in his brain?

The musician pondered. It would be best if he could find something useful and make some extra money. Maybe the Chapter of Golden Victory? Putting all twelve together could create the scepter of Heaven Comes, which was apparently the most powerful, second to saints.

Or maybe there were other valuable secrets to sell? After all, he would not be able to use this identity after the deal. He should squeeze out all of this job's worth.

"Let me see…" He lowered into Ye Qingxuan's consciousness, passing through the fog and crumbling defenses. He went into the illusion and went deeper. Finally, he found a door that represented secrets in a maze of memories.

"What a troublesome lock…" The musician sneered. "What kind of secret needs to be hidden like this?" He took out a key he had imagined out of the consciousness—tears, sadness, and fatigue. It was the easiest way into secrets.

Crack. The key broke.

The musician froze. This method was tried and true but it didn't work now? Then it dawned on him that Ye Qingxuan was apparently well-learned in Mind theory as well. Regular methods obviously would not work here.

He took out another key—despair. However, the moment it appeared in this dreamscape, it dissipated. The musician was stunned. He quickly took out various keys he had created beforehand but the door would not budge. The small tricks would not work here.

His mood worsened. He did not want to do this but now, he had no other choice. His body quickly swelled. Horns grew from his head and flames burst from under his feet. Bat wings sprouted from the flames behind his back. Controlling his image, he transformed into an incubus. He reached out, slamming toward the door's lock.

Crack. Before he even applied pressure, the door opened…

He was stunned but quickly started laughing in self-mockery. This guy's will had probably caved in long ago under the Illusion's torment. With such weak defense, he probably could have just nudged the door open.

He pushed it open. There was heavy fog behind the door. As if a splendid city had been obliterated, tombs rose up between the ruined walls. Ghostly white fog shrouded the place, seeming to hide countless secrets.

Seeing this, the musician's blood chilled.

This was a psycho!

Everyone would construct a refuge in the depths of their consciousness. It was a place to put all the secrets. It was a corner for their souls to hide and heal. The musician had seen wooden cabins on fresh green prairies and castles on islands in a storm. He had seen bustling cities, dazzling palaces, and even bloody dismembering workshops and terrifying basements decorated with human skin… But the lowest level of this guy's consciousness was a devastated cemetery?!

The musician looked at the tombstone closest to him. Walking closer, he finally saw the name clearly. Shaken, he looked to another tombstone. The name was the same. Staring at the rows of tombs, his skin crawled. The hundreds upon thousands of tombstones all had the same name—Ye Qingxuan!

"This psycho…" A chill ran through the musician's mind. Now, he finally realized that this was not a sanctuary at all. This was Ye Qingxuan's burial place! How many times had this guy killed himself?!

"That was the me who wanted to become an artist," someone beside him said quietly. "I used to be talented in drawing. My mother wanted me to become an artist."

The musician spun around and saw the figure that had suddenly appeared. The young man touched another tombstone and sighed.

"This is the one who wanted to become a poet. I had many wishes as a child and many paths I wanted to go down. Unfortunately, none of them came true. There are many of me here…many weak ones. They've all died." Looking up, he said calmly, "When you kill your younger self, you grow up. When you kill your weaker self, you become braver. I think that maturing is a process of continuously killing yourself, right?"

The musician stared in shock. The chill spread and he did not know what to say. Why are you here? he wanted to ask but it went unsaid.

If Ye Qingxuan could appear here, it meant that he had escaped from the illusion. The musician racked his brain trying to think of why. His shadow grew more menacing with undisguisable animosity.

"You're looking for this, right?" Ye Qingxuan held a small box. Rather than a lock, the lid was only tied with a piece of thread. It looked childish and laughable. "Sorry, this can't be yours." The box fell from his hands back into some unknown place, locked in the depths of the dream.

Ye Qingxuan stared at the invader and said softly, "You can't take anything from here."

The musician's expression darkened. His shadow grew strangely, swelling as if it was boiling, and spread in all directions.

"You can't use it anyway, so why can't I take it?" he asked coldly. "Sorry, I wanted to avoid this situation. After all, mind transformations are more painful…But sadly, you don't give me any other choice."

"I'm actually quite experienced in competing over will." Ye Qingxuan laughed. "So you shouldn't talk like a hot shot."

"We'll see!" The musician disappeared and was replaced by a pure black sky vault. A wild consciousness burst forth with a rumbling music score. It collapsed Ye Qingxuan's dreamscape in an instant, digging deep into his mind. Like a thunderstorm, countless locusts descended from the sky. It was like the destructive plague from legends. They devoured everything in sight. The dreamscape also fought back.

This was inside the prison and it was impossible to use the aether sea's strength. The enemy's strength was restricted to the Musician level. Ye Qingxuan never thought that he could lose to a Musician level man in a fight of will and mind!

Their minds changed thousands of times within an instant. They collided and clashed, using themselves as weapons to stab the other! This was the least technical battle in the School of Mind but it also relied most heavily on one's strength. Everything was built on their will and tenacity, their changes of technique, and experience. Everything was decided on the foundation. The more they fought, the more scared the musician felt. He could not find any trace of Ye Qingxuan's encroachment and hint.

It was seamless and his colorless river was all-consuming. Every gap in the turning thoughts was a chance. He could sense the tiniest weakness and take advantage of it.

Within an instant, the musician had removed dozens of hints from his mind. They had all been planted without him realizing when he slightly let down his guard. Plus, this guy could not even fight actively and could only defend passively.

If he could sense the aether, the scales would be tipped! Where did this crazy man come from? Was he a musician secretly trained by the Dark Forest, Mindfulness, or some other Mind School?

His profile only said that he did not have a School of Mind mentor and had only dabbled in it…what bullsh*t! His skills and foundation were even more stable than the musicians! With his encroachment and hint planting skills, he was darker than dark musicians!

Who did he learn from?!

On the other hand, Ye Qingxuan was also struggling. Unexpectedly, he was not losing because of technique but because of…his tenacity?!

The assassin who had invaded his mind always attacked like it was a suicide mission. The man tried to destroy Ye Qingxuan's mind even if it meant dying himself! Every attack on his consciousness shook his heart and soul. Every attack used up all his potential. His mind was spinning in overload.

If Ye Qingxuan could leave his dreamscape, he would see that his body was convulsing as blood flowed out of his eyes, nose, and mouth.

How was the assassin a musician? He was clearly a suicide terrorist! There was no sign of the early greed and hesitation. It seemed to be a totally different person.

Ye Qingxuan would practically be defeated with every attack. Most of his efforts were spent on the aftershocks. The invisible river managed to take the brunt of things. The enemy was not scared of dying but Ye Qingxuan was!

If the assassin's thoughts did not suddenly go stiff and show a bunch of flaws, Ye Qingxuan would not even be able to disturb the man. He couldn't help it. The dumb were afraid of the shocked. The shocked were afraid of those who did not care about their lives. Ye Qingxuan had been shocked for so many years. It was his first time seeing someone flirt with death like this.

What was going on?!

The assassin was thinking the same thing at the moment. He had messed up and continued making mistakes. He was tied with a musician who could not even sense the aether and was now at a disadvantage! While he hesitated, he realized that his mind was turning slower and slower…

A hint! A hint had been planted in him!

His thoughts were shaken. He had almost been successful but no matter what, he could not find where the hint came from!

In the end, it suddenly dawned on him.

That box!