644 Stone Plate

Regardless of whether the abomination born from it belonged to the category of the four living creatures, the Three Pillar God, the Three Wise Men, or the eight phenomena, it was in itself inseparable from human beings already.

As long as it was integrated into the Holy Cauldron, it would be able to re-expand mankind's systems of music theory. Then, human beings would occupy a vital part of the Originator.

In contrast, such fierce and tragic competition... was merely a negligible price to be paid.

Before their deaths, the various kings of the earliest generation had already made the arrangements for what would take place thousands of years after their time. Although it occurred three epochs ahead of schedule, it did not prevent the entire plan from launching smoothly.

"It's just that, don't you feel that it's too cruel to sacrifice so many people in exchange for power?" Ye Qingxuan sighed softly.

Liu Ran's smile was one of mockery. "Back then, to infect the Holy Cauldron, humans offered up the blood of tens of thousands of people as sacrifices. The bones of the people who had died for this purpose lay everywhere... The situation now is much more humane than that back then.

"At least, they are all voluntary victims, aren't they?

"Plus, at least plenty of scepter musicians will be born through this trial, I'm afraid...

"Although it is not the proper path after all, and their achievements will be limited in comparison, they won't necessarily be unable to completely claim the power they have received as their own, as long as they undertake decades of deep practice.

"By then, the phenomenon of knock-off scepter musicians like the one just now won't be seen anymore."

The scepter musician that had been Yuan Jing's opponent had probably been stuck in the Level of Master for decades originally. Once he received external strengthening, he broke through the bottleneck by himself and advanced to the Level of Scepter.

But even in the East, no wacko would dare to provoke a direct descendant of House Yuan after having just advanced to the Level of Scepter... After all, the sword techniques passed down through generations in House Yuan were purely directed at the core of one's music theory.

Even a scepter musician who had been stabbed with a sword could hardly escape the tragic ending of his elements demising. If a master was stabbed, his Symphony of Predestination would suffer immense damage. As for official musicians of Level Three, a strike of the sword would be enough to shatter their sound of heart, and they would be as dead as a doornail on the spot.

The phrase 'mastering the art of killing in music theory' was not coined in vain.

It was a lesson written in blood by God knew how many musicians over the years.

After listening to her words, Ye Qingxuan nodded. "So, you guys are also here to take advantage of the situation?"

Liu Ran smiled slightly, shook her head, and simply strummed the biwa made of white jade in her hand casually, producing crisp notes.

Ye Qingxuan realized that he had asked a dumb question.

Even if the core successors of the nine families of the Dragon Bloodline were to simply spend their days idling around waiting for death, with the legacies of their respective families, just like the biwa of white jade in Liu Ran's arms, they would at the very least be able to advance to the Level of Scepter.

Such was another benefit of being in a small circle.

Instead of following the crowd and adhering to the rules other had set, one might as well set the rules on one's own.

The music theory of the Chapter of the Golden Victory was the core legacy of the Royal Musicians of Anglo. The musicians were subjected to the limitations imposed by the royal family, yet their greatness was also brought about by the royal family. Mabel was a typical example among them.

The nine families of the Dragon Bloodline used their blood as a medium for their legacies of music theory, and the music theory was passed down from generation to generation. Except for the very unlucky Ye Qingxuan, whose dad went missing and whose relatives had all been cleanly wiped out, who else within the nine families hadn't been enjoying a smooth-sailing life all the way?

The instrument of legacy of House Liu was the Yaksa — It could be said that since Liu Ran was allowed to carry it on her, the die had been cast for her to be the next head of household.

Musicians of House Liu of the past generations reared ghostly beasts with their consciousness. After their deaths, their Symphonies of Predestination and all their consciousness would also be completely turned into food and resources for the ghosts.

Meanwhile, the Yaksa was undoubted the place of residence for the countless ghosts over the centuries.

As long as one obtained the recognition of the Yaksa, countless resources in terms of ghosts and bestiality would constantly nurture one's music theory, and one would be able to advance at a pace so rapid that it would seem as if one was traveling on an airship.

Liu Ran, who was standing in front of Ye Qingxuan, was a standard Deva. She began her formative education as a child at eight years old, started learning music theory at ten, and spent eight years to achieve the Level of Master. The final step of becoming a scepter musician was already in sight for her, so why would she have to rely on external aid?

Provided that she took the initiative to work sufficiently hard, it was not impossible for her to advance as one of the Six Royals in the future.

Even if one was to think about it with one's heel instead of brain, one would know that Liu Ran had absolutely zero regard for knock-off scepter musicians like the ones the Ultimate had created.

It was a pity that Ye Qingxuan was facing immense pressure at the moment.

In the goddamn place, he was still a musician of the Level of Distortion.

He couldn't even be considered as prey. At most, he was only a snack that some other musician who had looked on until the end could conveniently snatch and swallow in a gulp without even belching.

"What about you, Master Ye?" Liu Ran looked at him, half-smiling. "With your attainments in music theory, you need not worry about the problem faced by those knock-off scepter musicians actually. It isn't difficult to advance straight to the Level of Scepter here, is it?"

Ye Qingxuan shook his head. "In any case, I can reclaim what belongs to me rightfully after leaving this place, no?"

Liu Ran asked, "Are you going to give up the power that is at your fingertips?"

"No, I merely dislike following the rules set by a bunch of old *ssholes centuries ago." Ye Qingxuan shook his head, not in the slightest bit moved. "The items obtained in exchange for corpses will probably have a rotten stench on them, no?"

Liu Ran pursed her lips and smiled.

The rumble from the distance ended.

She gracefully bowed. "Then, allow me to take my leave. Please take good care of yourself, Master Ye, and if you have some time to spare in the future, you may want to return to Aurora for a trip. I'm sure that you will find unexpected gains."

"Rest assured, I will definitely go there." Ye Qingxuan waved goodbye and heard her voice from behind him.

"Do pay attention to the stone plate."

Stone plate?

What stone plate?

Ye Qingxuan was momentarily surprised and turned back, but only saw the figure of Liu Ran gradually dissolving into the darkness of bestiality, as if she had evaporated under the sunlight and left no trace behind.

Ye Qingxuan scratched the back of his head and felt a mild headache.

Pay attention to the stone plate?

What is that?

He had really had enough with people like her who enjoyed putting on a mysterious air and liked to give conversational blue balls. Despite having left, she just had to leave her words hanging like a hook, keeping him hanging in midair, unable to go up or down. It was just like a storyline that a lame author had specially arranged to keep things mysterious.

He soon knew what the stone plate was...

As the first round of cruel showdowns in the city ended, the number of aether waves that could be sensed was directly reduced by one-third. Meanwhile, as the fights came to an end, silence came.

The musicians subdued their respective aether waves and hid into the shadows.

But just as they did so, mighty bell tolls sounded again.

They rang out from the sky.

The phantom image of the Holy Cauldron slowly emerged.

A glistening glow of scarlet rippled within, as if the Holy Cauldron was filled with blood. It was the music theory that the Symphonies of Predestination of the countless deceased in the Ultimate had gathered into, the essence that had remained after undergoing refinement by the Holy Cauldron.

As everyone gazed at it, the blood-colored music theory rose and turned into a mist of rain, sprinkling down from the air. But it passed through each person's body and fell on the ground on the Ultimate.

It was like a phantom.

The phantom blood sank into the bottommost layer of the Ultimate, irrigating the catastrophe that was being nurtured. Then, the huge city quaked violently.

Innumerable ruins rapidly restored themselves.

It was as if tens of thousands of invisible workers had begun to carry out the process of construction rapidly, The gaps on the broken roads were closed once more, the collapsed walls were re-erected, and the dilapidated buildings were restored to their original shape.

Although they were still covered in the traces left by age, were full of weeds, and looked to be in an unparalleled state of decline, they had taken a step towards restoring themselves to an intact state.

For some reason unknown, the style of design of the post-restoration landscape, the countless buildings, and the huge city... seemed to have gotten closer to that of the Sacred City.

It was probably the infection of the catastrophe by the Holy Cauldron. When the restoration of the city was totally complete and the catastrophe was born, the city would have probably become exactly the same as the Sacred City.

And right in the middle of the city, amid countless broken bricks and tiles, a huge foundation quietly emerged.

It was like the foundation of a great palace.

And in the disorderly foundation, a ray of light rose upwards.

The light paused in the sky, and everyone got to see it clearly.

It was a fragment.

It was as if an ancient sundial was broken and the stone plate had fallen apart. One third of it revealed itself in the sky and hung high above the sky.

Pay attention to the stone plate.

Ye Qingxuan subconsciously remembered the words with no rhyme or reason that Liu Ran had spoken to him, and in a flash, he came to a sudden realization...

— The core of the catastrophe!!!

In an instant, everyone's eyes had turned green with desire.

Innumerable hidden aether waves suddenly rose upwards, like hundreds and thousands of stars that had suddenly emerged from the night, emitting dazzling light.

Then, a jaw-droppingly bright star appeared from within, and fiery bursts of light spilled down.

A scepter musician!

A scepter musicians had acted!

Huge elements rose from within the city. Countless music theory integrated with each other, the Symphony of Predestination that had combined with the elements was exalted and became a scepter. The scepter composed of music theory showed its corporeal form in the Physical World.

A majestic sun emerged.

Innumerable streaks of lightning and a horrifyingly great amount of heat were emitted from it, a loud rumble sounded, and a ghastly green light radiated from within, illuminating everyone who was nearby and making their hairs stand on end, as if tens of thousands of long needles were poking them.

It was an illumination that resembled the Iron of Decay.

The ghastly green light shrouded over the head of everyone who dared to approach it, as if someone was loudly shouting 'Of course you should choose to forgive her!' in their ears [1]. But what emerged in their hearts was not rage, but fear.

Wagon of Burke, the scepter musician!

He was the most talented genius of the school of modifications, a shadow that had been shrouding over countless musicians for centuries. He was widely recognized as the musician with the greatest destructive power, the genius who had combined the element of fission.

It was why the School of Rock and Iron, which he was based in, was crowned as the strongest.

His title was the Wagon of Burke.

— Nora Guy!

Amid the fierce light of destruction, the ghastly green sun rose, and a phantom shadow emerged from within. It reached out and grabbed the fragment of the stone plate.

Just by appearing, he had crushed everyone's probing attempts. The musicians who were too impatient to wait and flew into the sky melted as a result of being burned by the sun. Before they could even land, they had turned into piles of ashes which were blown away by the wind.

But before the stone plate fell into his hands, a crown of glory appeared out of thin air.

Schubert, the saint.

Amid the music of the mighty movement, everything was frozen, and the cold wind swept across the entire Ultimate in an instant. In the sky, even the air was frozen by the terrifying coldness.

But in the blink of an eye, the cold turned into a furnace once more.

It was the clash between two of the most talented experts of the school of modifications of the current generation. The afterwinds they stirred up swept across the Ultimate.

Despite the suppression of the Ultimate, the scale of the fight was still terrifying. Horrifying cold waves and fiery winds alternated with each other. Without the protection of his shield, Ye Qingxuan would have probably been completely frozen at the very first moment, or had his lungs burn into charcoal.

Then, the third scepter musician joined the battlefield.

The fight intensified once more.

[1] The author is referring to a Chinese saying that literally translates as "wear the green hat". If one is said to have worn the green hat, it means that one's significant other has cheated on one. The line 'Of course you should choose to forgive her!' is a sarcastic attempt to criticize bystanders who often deal more damage to those who have been betrayed by their significant other with their insensitive words. It has since become fairly well-known among Chinese netizens and can be used in various contexts.