Silent Crown Chapter 105

When Ye Qingxuan walked out of the old mansion the next day and felt the sun, he had the urge to cry. “It’s so nice to be alive” he said.

For the past two days, he had been tortured by that crazy woman Lola in so many ways. When he was awake, she would use excuses to order him around. When he was asleep, he would have different nightmares. He could not live nor die.

It would be okay if it was just consumption of physical and mental strength. After all, Lola’s food was pretty good. She would use different ways to nourish him. It could basically make up for his exhaustion.

At first, Ye Qingxuan had been touched, but when he finished, Lola held down his neck and revealed two small canines to start ‘eating.’ Ye Qingxuan realized her ulterior motive!

“That crazy woman completely turned me into a personal blood bank!” Ye Qingxuan rubbed the two small holes on his neck and felt his heart hurt. There was no trust between people. Now, he just wanted to get home quickly, sleep, and go to the library tomorrow to read everything on Lola’s book list.

Thinking of how he had been busy every day for the past few months, and was about to become even busier, Ye Qingxuan was depressed. Life was so hard and the days were impossible.

–

After his long wait on the side of the road, bells finally chimed in the distance. It was the public horse carriage returning to uptown. Ye Qingxuan pulled himself together. He did not need to walk anymore.

“Stop, stop!” He blocked the carriage in the front and flashed his academy badge. “Give me a ride.”

“Concertmaster Ye?” came a shocked voice within.

Hearing this, Ye Qingxuan looked up and quickly reacted. “Wow, what a coincidence. What school are you all from? All of you ditching together?”

“…”

The extended carriage was filled with at least a dozen boys and girls wearing school uniforms. They were all from the academy. Hearing his words, they became speechless. Someone muttered, “Concertmaster Ye, today’s the returning day.”

Ye Qingxuan was confused but then he remembered that every ten days, the Academy would have a three-day break. Coincidentally, today was the day break ended and everyone returned to school. But Ye Qingxuan had ditched too many classes and did not have this concept in his mind.

“Sorry, forgot about that.” He chuckled awkwardly and went past the seats to the very back. He quickly closed his eyes and began sleeping. Along the way, students entered the carriage constantly. They were stunned when they saw him, but they would all come forward and politely greet “Concertmaster Ye.”

After all, the only ones who would use the public carriage to return were commoners who did not have money or their own carriages. As for Ye Qingxuan’s concertmaster position, there was widespread recognition and respect. But for some reason, they all looked at him strangely today.

In his drowsiness, he vaguely heard the whispers in the carriage.

“Look at him…”

“Seems real?”

“Yes, it’s him.”

“If it’s me…”

“He’s the concertmaster. Stop the delusions.”

The voices caused Ye Qingxuan to furrow his brows. He opened his eyes to look over, but everyone avoided his gaze and pretended that nothing happened. The weird atmosphere persisted until the carriage stopped at the academy’s entrance. The students got off one by one, but Ye Qingxuan still did not know what had happened. He randomly grabbed a student. “What were you all saying?”

“Uh, you still don’t know…” the student replied. But when he turned and saw the white hair, his eyes widened and his tongue tied as if he had seen a ghost. “N-nothing.” He shook his head forcefully. He was too scared to run but showed that, no matter what, he would not tell. Helpless, Ye Qingxuan let go and told him to scram.

“Are they all crazy?”

Enduring the strange glances his entire way back to the history department, he felt a giant burden lift after he closed the door. This was the best place. He could relax entirely after coming back.

“Hey, Cousin, you finally decided to come back.” Bai Xi, who was sitting on the sofa looking at pictures, looked up. Her gaze had a strange distance and she complimented him, “Seems that you’re pretty fit. You can last two days.”

“What are you talking about?” Ye Qingxuan felt that something was wrong again.

“Oh, Yezi’s back?” Abraham walked out of the library. When he saw Ye Qingxuan, he thought of something and stopped talking, his expression turning awkward. “The age gap isn’t much and you’re at that age, but…” He paused and advised with concern, “Yezi, you’re a student, after all. You must control yourself.”

“Huh?!” Ye Qingxuan was confused again. “Wait, Professor, what’s going on?”

Abraham shook his head, smiling bitterly. “I won’t involve myself in young people’s matters.” With that, he patted Ye Qingxuan on the shoulder and left.

Ye Qingxuan felt all his strength leave. “Who can tell me what happened?”

“You still don’t know?” On the sofa, Bai Xi hooked her finger. “Come here and I’ll tell you secretly.”

Seeing her mysteriousness, Ye Qingxuan hesitated. But he still placed his ear close to her. And then he felt Bai Xi open her mouth and…let out an evil burp!

“Bai Xi!” Ye Qingxuan roared as he cracked his knuckles. “You feeling antsy? I’ll fix you up!”

“Wait!” Bai Xi raised a hand and gazed at him suspiciously. “Cousin, did you really not hear? What you did has spread through the entire academy! Everyone knows the details except you?”

“I wouldn’t be asking if I knew!”

“Okay, then I’ll let you know your crime.” Bai Xi cackled and slammed down on the table, fury written in her expression. “Ye Qingxuan, stop pretending! Everyone knows about you and Professor Lola!”

“…” Ye Qingxuan blanched. “What?!”

“Are you still pretending?” Bai Xi scoffed. “The entire academy said that you sold yourself and became that woman’s pet! These past two days, you’ve been living the happy life of doing it three or four times per day! And you still say you don’t know?” Here, she shook her head and sighed in awe. “I can’t believe you’re so powerful. You’ve mesmerized Professor Lola in these short few days. I thought you were a righteous man, but I can’t believe you’re the reserve for the crane-control supervisor!”

“I don’t know what ‘crane-control supervisor’ means, but I bet you’re insulting me, right?” Ye Qingxuan tried to explain, “You’ve all misunderstood. I’m such a clean person. How could I do that with a teacher? Those are all vicious rumors trying to hurt me! I just went to find Professor Lola about some questions.”

“You still won’t confess?” Bai Xi sneered. “Charles, show the evidence.”

Suddenly, there was a whoosh and a figure appeared out of nowhere behind Bai Xi’s voice. There was a giddy smile on his face as he offered a crystal prism. “Here is the evidence!”

Ye Qingxuan eyed him. What the f*ck was this?

Charles shrugged. His pitiful eyes seemed to say, “Junior, you really did it this time. I can’t save you either.”

In Charles’s hand, the prism flashed and then projected an image. The image was blurry but one could make out that it was in the courtyard of an elegant and peaceful mansion. Ye Qingxuan was wearing a black housekeeper uniform and kneeling on one knee, his hands to his heart. His eyes gazed enthusiastically at the lovely woman before him. He recited a love poem with a sweetness that even traveling poets would blush at.

“Ah, so many people love the joyful times of your youth. They love your beauty, which may be real or in pretense, but only one loves your pilgrim’s soul…”

Ye Qingxuan felt his scalp go numb. “Where did you get this from?”

“Junior, you started a trend! This thing is everywhere now. It’s fifty dollars for one but demand is higher than supply!” Charles said excitedly. “You don’t know how many girls had their hearts broken after seeing this! Some people bought it and changed the girl inside to themselves. They have to watch a few times every night, or else they can’t fall asleep.”

“…Senior, how do you know so much?”

“Because I’m the one who’s selling the most! I even have a Concertmaster Ye’s Confession platinum commemoration version. The price has doubled but people still want it!” Charles exclaimed spiritedly. “Junior, how could you not include me in this great money-making chance? If it wasn’t for my quick reaction speed, I would’ve lost this opportunity and missed out on all this money!”

“Senior, you just want to kill me, right?” Ye Qingxuan thought. He felt he was going to break down. He wanted to spit out three liters of blood and yell “Lola ruined me!” and then fall down, face to the sky.

He finally understood Lola’s strange smile after refusing to become Lola’s student. This was waiting for him here! But even if there was no other way, she did not have to explain their relationship like this, right? He wanted to cry but had no tears.

“Let me explain. It’s not how it seems.”

“I know, I know. It must be even more incredible and low, right?” Charles patted his shoulders and exclaimed, “Look at you. Your face is pale, steps are feeble, and the two dark eye bags…It’s obvious you had too much fun! I can’t believe Professor Lola is that powerful. Should I buy some medicine to nourish you?”

This comment made Ye Qingxuan want to cry tears of blood. He finally understood the pain of not being able to explain himself. How did he suddenly have a relationship with that crazy Lola? But it really was him in the prism’s video. He could not explain at all. His reputation was ruined!

“Hey, tell the truth. What did you do these past days with her?” Bai Xi slammed a fist onto the table. “How did she seduce you? When, where, how long, what position, report everything!”

“Uh, don’t ask about the position.” Charles grabbed a pen and paper and said softly, “It’s more important to ask how they flirted. The elite girls love this stuff!”

Just as Ye Qingxuan was about to die of embarrassment and find something to strangle himself with, the sound of a savior came from the sky outside.

“Hello, testing…testing…”

“Hello? Hello? Can you hear me?” A thunderous noise came from the sky. It was so loud that the students’ ears rang and they were nearly forced to the ground. Even the lakes in the school rippled. Everyone was stunned and raised their heads in astonishment, looking into the sky.

There was a voice in the sky. That familiar voice coughed and seemed to complain, “Does this work? You Modifications always make such unreliable things…”

A more quiet voice said faintly, “Mr. Principal, your voice is too loud, try lowering your volume.”

“Oh? Is that so? I see! I get it now. Move aside and let me play with it.”

Rustles sounded in the sky. Finally, that voice quieted down. It was no longer thunderous, but still in everyone’s ears.

“Long time no see, students! How are you all?” The voice was passionate and emotional. All students stared at each other. Comprehension and panic flickered past their eyes.

Someone murmured, “No way.”

“That’s right!” The voice sounded again with great passion. “Your principal, Maxwell, is back! I’ve been out for so long. Have you all been missing me?”

“…” The students were all silent with no idea how to respond.

“First of all, I would like to express my sincere greetings. I hope that everyone has had a happy and fulfilling life during this period of time. I’m sure you’ve learned a lot, benefited a lot and…that’s it.” The principal spoke in a verbose manner for a long while. Then he paused and grew serious. “Next, I have bad news to announce!”

All of a sudden, the expressions of many upperclassmen changed as if they had seen a ghost, including Charles. They wailed “Wait!” and “Again?!”

“—That’s right. The day after tomorrow is our school anniversary!” The principal yelled in excitement. “The anniversary day, the annual day of death! The day of trials! Students from first to sixth grade, are you prepared to fail your classes and be held back?

“Recently, my investment agent from the Eastern Indian Company told me that the cigar factory I’ve been longing for has been officially bought. So in order for everyone to pay some more for exam make-up fees, I’ll make it more difficult this time. I hope you won’t be scared and treat it like normal. Well, that’s all!” He chuckled. “So, please enjoy the youth that everyone sings about! I will anticipate all of your struggles and performances.” The sound voice stopped abruptly. It was like an illusion, as if it had never existed.

Before Ye Qingxuan could react, he heard commotions from around the school…

“No, no!”

“Are you kidding?”

“Didn’t they say it’s canceled this year?!”

It was as if the entire was thrown into a demon’s den. The air was filled with wails! The students cried and pounded on the ground as if the person closest to them died and they had lost all hope in life.

“What’s wrong?”

While Ye Qingxuan and Bai Xi looked at each other in confusion, Charles had already pulled a huge suitcase out of the basement a huge suitcase and was digging through everything!

“What are you waiting for?” Charles glanced at them. “Hurry up and pack your things!” Instead of waiting for their reactions, he filled up the whole suitcase like a criminal on the run. He shouted toward the study room, “Professor, did you finish packing? Let’s go out to collect folk songs! How about Burgundy this time? I heard that there was enough rain last year so the red wine this year must be good and cheap!”

Abraham sighed gloomily. “We can’t go out every time this year.”

“Professor, I’ll die if I don’t go.” Charles panicked. “You have to consider it more thoroughly!”

“Isn’t it just a school anniversary?” Ye Qingxuan was confused, “What’s so scary?”

Charles looked back with a complicated expression. The left side of his face showed that it was a long story, while the right was full of despair.

“Yezi…do you think anniversaries are like in stories where every class has to perform, play some music, open a café or haunted house and that’s it? The anniversary day is Doomsday!”

“It’s not that scary, is it?” Ye asked.

Charles turned back and looked at Abraham, who sighed and nodded, “Give Yezi a good explanation so he can prepare himself.”

Charles shrugged helplessly, revealing a despair look. “At least half,” he said.

“Eh?”

“At least half,” Charles said, “During this anniversary, at least half of the students will fail, and half of the graduates are going to be held back from failing their graduation trials. Within the next week, the entire Royal Academy of Music will turn into hell—a den filled with tears and despair.”

Ye Qingxuan was freaked out. “It’s not that bad, right?”

“Listen up.” Charles said hoarsely, “What I want to talk next about is the eternal horror that lingers over the academy. It’s the history written by blood and tears of countless students.”

Ye Qingxuan held his breath reflexively. It was as if a bloody storm was rushing toward him!

–

In the past, the anniversary of the Royal Academy of Music was the most celebratory time of the whole year. Countless departments decorated their buildings and grand banquets were held in the auditorium with unlimited champagne and beer. There were even bonfires at night and a show for countless girls to confess their crushes.

All hotels in Avalon would be booked by the students that night. Two months later, it would be a period of high incidences of pregnancy before marriage…There were all kinds of shortcomings, but generally speaking, it was still a beautiful and sweet holiday that made one’s heart flutter.

But all of this changed when Mr. Maxwell took office. The banquet was canceled, the show ended, and the bonfire only appeared in dreams. Most of Avalon’s hotels suffered losses as all the students stayed silent in the dark. This day had become a synonym for the trials of hell.

From then on, ‘Anniversary Day’ became a terrible activity lasting a week. It was also a test for the graduating class. In short, it was a brutal competition. One would not die, but it might be better to die. And the worst thing was that all students must attend. It was mandatory!

It was great if one could pass the activities of anniversary day. The unsuccessful ones would have points deducted by the executive office. The worse grade one had, the more points deducted.

Being held back was not the worse; having one’s effort go to waste was not the worst either. The worst was that the Academy would divide the budget and resource allocations for the year according to the performance of the students.

If the pass rate of a department was less than sixty percent, then the resources and budgets of the next quarter would be cut in half. The abilities of all professors would be doubted and their year-end bonuses would be reduced.

Admittedly, the teachers did not care much about the small bonuses, but their dignity and pride were at stake! This meant that if a student tested badly, the whole department would try to destroy him!

Even the school board had no right to speak up about the principal’s decisions. They had snatched control over final exams from the principal’s hand, but they did not expect that he, who could not intervene in the final exam, would go and turn the school’s anniversary day into a hell worse than the final exam. There was nothing the school board could do. It was clearly written in the principal’s responsibilities that he had the right to arrange all celebrations. Only the principal could stop this absurd celebration.

“Ahaha, that doesn’t sound scary.” After hearing Charles’s explanation, Ye Qingxuan clapped his hands and laughed. “It’s just a test. I’m best at those!”

“You can call it a ‘test’, but the principal’s so-called test isn’t just filling out a piece of paper, okay?” Charles side-eyed him. “One of the death trials at the anniversary of the year before last was the ‘death shotput.’ You had to control the aether and carve a cube of lead into a standard ball. No tools were allowed and no other equipment could be used. And one hour later, you had to control your work in a race.

“The six-kilometer long track was full of traps. During the entire process, the musicians had to maintain long-distance perception and high-intensity marathon-like precision. The smallest distraction would lead you to a ditch. You’d failed if you broke the ball halfway, or it got off the track…

“And in order to embody the spirit of competition, it did not prohibit interferences. In other words, you got bonus points if you forced others into traps. Can you imagine that? How many people’s friendships had broke during this race?”

Ye Qingxuan fell silent. Thinking of the difficulty and imagining the tragic scene in his mind made him get goosebumps. “How many people passed?”

“Six.” Charles said coldly, “Of the thousands of students in the entire academy, only six people passed. Only one of them reached the end. The other five used the points they got from causing others to fail and passed the graduation exam.

“The rest of the students all failed miserably. They created a new low. The next year, the entire school was broke enough to have to beg on the streets because of the budget cuts!” At this, Charles mimed getting slashed in the throat. “Now do you know what the anniversary day means to us?”

“Uh…” Ye Qingxuan finally felt uneasy. “You’re saying that if we fail the test, there’s no way to get the next year’s budget?”

“Yes.” Charles nodded, “I don’t know about the others but the school board definitely won’t let us go.”

“Why don’t you tell me this before?” Ye Qingxuan almost jumped out of his chair in fear.

“Who knew the crazy principal would suddenly come back?” Charles sighed. “Besides, what’s the point? Our entire department only has four and a half students! That half is Old Phil! We can’t even cheat off of each other!”

“Then what should we do?” Ye Qingxuan scratched his head. “Run?”

“It’s too late.” Charles pointed to the sky outside the window, “Didn’t you see that I stopped packing? The enchantment over the school has been activated. Now you can enter but can’t go out. Who dares to do so will be regarded as abandoning the test. Today’s the return day too, so just forget about it. If you came back, you won’t be able to leave anymore.”

Ye Qingxuan pondered but could not figure out a good solution and sighed helplessly. “So you’re saying that all we can do is waiting for death?”

“Don’t give up. It’s still necessary to struggle.” Charles showed a serious look. “What if we’re the underdogs?”

Seeing Charles’s expression, Ye Qingxuan knew that this time, he was done for.

The following day, people gathered in the auditorium. It was a drowsy afternoon and sunshine fell from the skylight. In the silence, only the voice from the podium could be heard. Almost all of the students in school were gathered there, and there were clear distinctions among them.

The red clothing of Modifications; the yellow of Revelations; the blue of Summoning; and the School of Royalty, which was a branch of the School of Summoning and had the least number of students, were clad in white with gold thread sewn in their cuffs.

Only the graduating students would be given the uniforms unique to their school by their professors. They occupied the positions at the front. Their expressions were slightly nervous and troubled. The test of the school anniversary was also one of their graduation trials. If they could not pass, it was very possible that their future would be full of obstacles. After so many years of practice, their future relied all on this.

Whether they were going to train at the border with the Garrison Corps, travel the nations as a minstrel, or join the Royal Orchestra that countless people dreamed of, there was no doubt that it all depended on the Academy’s endorsement and recognition.

It was said that in the past few years, the principal would not play fair and use this as an excuse to hold back a group of people’s diplomas for half year. He only let them go after the Queen inquired about it by charging twice the amount for exam make-up fees. Everyone hoped that this tragedy would not happen to themselves.

–

Ye Qingxuan did not want to attend this kind of large meeting at all because he was not involved and it was a waste of time. But seeing as he had a senior who had applied for graduation every year but had never succeeded, and the fact that concertmasters must attend, he pinned on the badge he had thrown to the bottom of his suitcase and arrived late.

After arriving, he found that the concertmasters had to sit in the front row. Feeling the gazes from the school leaders at the podium, it made him feel particularly uncomfortable. But it was inevitable since his white hair was too eye-catching.

Beside him, the disdainful and exceptionally cold senior concertmasters seemed unwilling to acknowledge his appearance. He could not be bothered to talk with them and get jinxed either.

It was only after he took his seat that he found that he was not the latest. Another concertmaster came late too and crossed through the aisle very calmly. He sat beside Ye Qingxuan as if nobody else was around.

“Richard?” Ye Qingxuan recognized him.

Unlike the others, Richard’s school uniform was pure black. His look was still cold with eyes that always seemed to be looking for mistakes. It made people particularly dislike him.

“Long time no see. I’m really honored that Concertmaster Ye still remembers me,” Richard responded emotionlessly.

Of course Ye Qingxuan remembered him. It could be said that the people from the school’s executive office were unforgettable—they all looked the same. Moreover, when Richard was in the cafeteria, his words had been cold, but he did have a hint of kindness, which was rare. But Ye Qingxuan still had not expected that he was also a concertmaster. After a polite smile, Ye Qingxuan no longer spoke, but heard Richard’s voice.

“Talk?” Richard had a subtle look in his eyes.

Ye Qingxuan sighed and suddenly felt helpless. “You won’t ask me about the same d*mn gossip, will you?” He had really been ruined by Lola. Why did everyone want to ask about that sort of stuff?

“What gossip?” Richard shook his head, his eyes emotionless. “We at the executive office don’t care about gossip …”

The long-lost feeling of being touched came to Ye Qingxuan instantly. As expected of the executive office to not be part of such vulgar things.

Then Richard drawled, “We like to catch people on the spot, with both the criminal and the evidence.”

“…” Ye Qingxuan was speechless. So these guys knocked on doors to arrest people? With tears rolling down, he said, “I’m innocent.”

“We’ll decide if you’re innocent or not.” Richard spoke to him with a meaningful tone, “Relationships between teachers and students are forbidden in the academy. I hope that Concertmaster Ye won’t give us the chance.”

Ye Qingxuan suddenly felt indescribable grievance. So he had not done anything, but was already on the executive office’s naughty list. Was he just waiting to get locked up? It was hard to describe how he felt during the transition from the disgrace of the academy to the infamous lewd player.

As he sighed and was about to explain, he saw Richard signaling him not to speak. “Sh, the most important part is coming.”

At the podium, Sydney’s long and boring speech had finally ended and he looked at the audience with an enthusiastic expression.

“Next, let’s welcome the former president of Student Union, sixth grade concertmaster, representative of the School of Royalty, Gavin Adrian, to give a speech on behalf of all the students who will take the graduation trials!” With that, Sydney took the lead and began clapping. Offstage, cheers rippled through the crowd, along with wild applause. The sound made Ye Qingxuan’s ears hurt.

Some girls shouted the name wildly, their faces excited. Ye Qingxuan looked around in confusion and found that only he was not moving. He quickly began clapping half a beat later.

Under everyone’s gazes, the man seated at the very left of the first row rose. He nodded toward the crowd and went to the podium. He looked to be in his twenties and was still very young. His eyes were azure, and his posture elegant and charismatic.

The School of Royalty’s white uniform on his body complemented his looks beautifully. Even someone like Ye Qingxuan who never cared about the aristocratic demeanor had to admit that Gavin was indeed worthy of the title of the glorious bloodlines. He was born to be a noble. If he put on armor and rode a horse, it would probably be the picture of a legendary knight. No wonder so many girls screamed when they saw him. Who did not like Prince Charming?

But at the podium, Gavin happened to glance at him. His eyes grew colder and he furrowed his brows.

“Much thanks to the school for allowing me to speak on behalf of everyone.” At the podium, Gavin began to speak. His low and gentle voice had a mature huskiness to it and was full of charisma. The whole hall quieted down instantly, listening attentively to his voice. But in the seats, Ye Qingxuan was confused.

“Who is he?” Ye Qingxuan asked quietly. “He seems impressive.”

“Gavin, sixth grade concertmaster, president of the student council last year, is the new star of the Adrian family,” Richard responded. “I thought you knew him.

“I feel like I should know him too.” Ye Qingxuan shrugged. “He looked pissed when he saw me. Did I accidentally offend him?”

Richard was speechless for a while because of Ye Qingxuan’s shamelessness. He asked, “Do you still remember Banner? The one who really hates you and even arranged for others to mess with you before his retreat? Banner is this guy’s brother.”

It dawned on Ye Qingxuan. He looked at Richard with admiration. “You really know everything! Are you the biggest gossiper?”

“That’s what the executive office does,” Richard said lightly. “There’s always a source of information that others don’t know.”

Ye Qingxuan curled his lips and looked at the stage. “It sounds like he’ll help his brother deal with me? I feel stressed now.”

“It’s possible, but he doesn’t have that time.”

“Why?”

“He joined the School of Royalty two years ago. Starting at the musician level, he went through more than six refinement ceremonies, and I heard he entered the Resonance level a few months ago. The Royal Music Division thinks highly of him, and he’ll be recruited directly after graduation. He’ll be too busy to deal with you before he leaves. And what excuse will he have to meddle in your affairs after he leaves?”

“That sounds right.” Ye Qingxuan nodded. “I trust you.”

Indeed, Gavin did not have time to pick a battle with him, but just looking at his pile of titles, it was easy to see that, even if he himself did not have the time, someone would do it for him if he said the word. Ye Qingxuan’s head hurt at the thought of this possibility. He had no time to waste on these silly things.

“How annoying,” he muttered.

“Would you like to consider joining the executive office?” Richard suddenly asked. “You get paid and you can also avoid a lot of trouble.” It was the second time. It was the second time that the executive office had recruited him.

Ye Qingxuan sighed. “Are you that short on staff?”

“There’s people everywhere, but it’s hard to find the right one.” Richard looked at him, “I’m going to apply for study abroad. Before I go, I want to add some new blood into the office.”

“Sorry.” “Ye Qingxuan shook his head.” I don’t have time.”

Richard was silent for a long time. He sighed as if sorry and handed a card to Ye Qingxuan. “If you change your mind, you can come to this address.”

“Okay.” Ye Qingxuan accepted the card. On the stage, the speech was finally coming to an end. Everyone’s voice died off as they waited in anticipation.

It was finally here! The first trial of the anniversary would be announced soon! Under everyone’s earnest gazes, Gavin held up the sealed envelope in his hand. He opened it in front of the people, pulled out the letter and slowly unfolded it. He was shocked for a moment, frowning slightly. Everyone held their breaths instantly.

“Next, the first trial of the anniversary will be announced.” Gavin paused. He raised his head and announced, “Mimicry!”

In an instant, the whole auditorium burst into shocked cries. Like an explosion, the voices rumbled, faintly mingled with wails and sighs. “Are you kidding?!” Among the graduates, some were about to bury their faces and sob.

In the back of the room, Charles whistled. Since he could not graduate, he came just for the drama. “As I said before, it won’t be easy.” He shrugged and shook his head while sighing.

Mimicry could be said was a skill that all musicians must master. As the name implied, mimicry was to simulate the appearance of other substances through a variety of methods by the use of aether. When one delved into the deepest parts, he would even be able to transform the material.

There were Modifications musicians who specialized in this skill. One of their graduation trials was to transform a finger-sized piece of iron into gold by change of elements.

But the trial’s difficulty this time was not that high. After all, gold refining would take an experienced musician more than two months. Therefore, this trial was intended to assess the musician’s own ability to use the environment, as well as their own camouflage skills.

According to the principal, musicians were the pioneers of the Dark World. Thus, one must have the ability to survive in the dark world filled with dangers. Therefore, the Requiem enchantment would be officially activated tomorrow during the school anniversary and transform the entire school environment.

At that time, the entire school would become a huge examination room. The students participating in the graduation trial would have to turn themselves into all kinds of unmoving objects through mimicry and hide well…

Next, the cruelest round would begin.

Next, the cruelest round would begin. All participating students had to find the graduating students. Before the trial, all students had sixty points. If they wanted to pass, they needed to get at least one hundred! Every wrong find deducted ten points. If they failed six times, they were out. Fifty points were awarded for one successful find. If a graduating student was caught five or more times consecutively, he would fail the trial and be out. If he was not caught by visual mimicry of objects, it was possible for their points to double.

The crowd instantly formed two groups…

It could be imagined that by the time the sun rose the next day, the familiar campus, the same environment, the warmth and peace would never be seen again. This would become a terrifying battlefield. A cruel war would begin. But…

“Isn’t it just hide and seek?” Ye Qingxuan finally reacted.

“I guess?” Richard rose and patted his shoulder. “Remember not to cheat. The executive office will be maintaining order the entire time. Thanks to the school board, you’re one of our top suspects.”

Ye Qingxuan suddenly felt weak. Other concertmasters had the best times of their lives, but he became the top suspect? It was depressing. And what was wrong with this school anniversary? Tests in rumors had everyone face off each other until a winner of the school was created. Why did it turn into this here?

And to encourage the students to tear each other apart, the academy had also prepared all sorts of prizes and gifts. The first five students could go into the Cave of Sleep in the Jianlan Underground Palace for a weeklong meditation period. They could also use their credits in exchange for more time…

Hearing this, Ye Qingxuan’s eyes grew red with desire. The Cave of Sleep was one of the Requiem enchantment’s cores. There, a vast magnetic vortex captured aether constantly, used up the massive amount of aether, and performed Benevolence, the overture of the Requiem.

If one meditated here, he could easily resonate deeply with the aether. Apparently, the meditation effect would shoot up incredibly fast once in there, like a wild dog off its leash. It was the best location for meditation.

If Ye Qingxuan could enter, he could fill in the foundation built with his rune stones. He also had a few handwritten drafts from saints that he had taken from the library. That was the most important!

Those were all classic scores from the School of Revelations. There were twenty-four in total and needed at least one year to learn at the regular speed. With the interpretation method, the time could be reduced to half a year, but if he had an environment like the Cave of Sleep, he could roughly understand it all within seven days.

After the most difficult obstacle, he would just need to keep practicing and woodshedding. No matter what, he had to work for this important chance.

–

Ye Qingxuan decided to look through information of past school anniversaries from the library for preparation. But at the very back of the auditorium, he saw a sighing and grieving crowd. They were probably the seniors who were not good at visual mimicry and were hopeless now. Ye Qingxuan recognized a few. They were all Charles’ comrades.

One of them was a girl. Ye Qingxuan remembered Charles crushing on her seriously before, but it ended without any results. After all, who would date a failure? Now, Charles stood beside her, comforting her softly.

According to him, he lacked experience in every field except for failing classes. After getting stuck in the Rhythm level years ago, he had never passed again. Now, all his friends were graduating. He was probably the saddest now, right?

Ye Qingxuan sighed and walked forward.

–

At the back of the auditorium, the gloomy girl hung her head, her eyes red. She probably did not have much confidence for this test.

“Don’t worry, Heather,” Charles consoled her softly. “There’ll be a way out of every dead end. If you hurry and practice ‘visual mimicry,’ you can still make do. I have a lot of experience. If you…”

“I know. Stop yapping,” Heather interrupted, her expression annoyed. “Whatever, I’m just like this and can’t learn anything. I’m not a ‘genius’ like you!”

“But it’s still good to be prepared.” Charles’s voice had weakened and he hung his head. “I just wanted to say that I have some notebooks. If you hurry and look through them, your grade won’t be that bad.”

“Don’t I have your department below me?” Heather glared at him. “No matter how bad I am, I won’t be as bad as you.”

“…” Charles froze, his face growing red. “You—you can’t say that.”

People around them laughed mockingly. Some people seemed to make comments. Charles stuttered, trying to reply, but in the end, he hung his head sadly and did not try to explain.

He had just wanted to say that he had some resources and notebooks that were written by himself. Heather would have no problem if she looked through them, but Heather was right too. He could not even help himself. Maybe he should not have come.

“Senior, let’s go.”

Charles heard a voice beside him. The white-haired youth stood before him, blocking the mocking eyes from him with a neutral and cold expression.

“What’s the point of talking with these failures?” Ye Qingxuan said lightly. “It’s a waste of time. Let them fend for themselves.” His voice was gentle, but each clearly enunciated word made the gleeful and mocking expressions turn uglier.

“Failure? What are you talking about?” The eyes of Ryan, Heather’s boyfriend, darkened. “At any rate, we’re your seniors. Do you not know what ‘manners’ are?”

“I was just telling the truth.” Ye Qingxuan looked down and toyed with the concertmaster badge on his chest. Looking up, he asked, “What, you don’t agree? If you don’t, get a concertmaster badge and show me.”

“You Eastern b*stard…don’t go too far.”

“Eastern b*stard? Do you still remember the ninth line of the second chapter of the school rules?” Ye Qingxuan chuckled. “What do you call me when you see me, no matter the situation?”

There was a long silence. The people stared at each other. In the end, Ryan squeezed out the words with a dark expression, “Concertmaster Ye.”

Someone beside them forced a smile and tried to soften the tension. “Sorry, Heather didn’t mean it that way. She just feels stressed.”

“It’s okay. I’m not the one you were annoying.” Ye Qingxuan scanned the group. “Go back and study well. I know you’re all good kids, so be good and obedient.”

“You!” Ryan clenched his fists as his breathing grew heavier.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean that. I’m a bit stressed too.” Ye Qingxuan slowly straightened his collars and bent down to look at Ryan, then whispered in his ear, “If you’re upset, you can hit me…coward.”

–

Unrest happened just as Ye Qingxuan had predicted. In actuality, it ended pretty quickly. After all, the executive office people were still wandering around, and Richard had not gone far. Even though the school did not forbid fighting, it was not allowed to get too out of hand in the auditorium.

Just as Ryan was about to move, Ye Qingxuan punched him in the eye and pummeled him, not giving him the chance to fight back.

The unrest ended quickly. They were pulled apart by members from the executive office and kicked out of the auditorium after being scolded.

Ye Qingxuan was totally unharmed, but Charles had helped him block some kicks while trying to stop them. Now, he sat beside the fountain pathetically like a defeated dog.

“Senior, don’t be sad. You were just wrong about some people, right?” Ye Qingxuan patted his shoulder. “Look, I already helped you vent. Why are you still sad?”

“I just think it’s a pity.” Charles lowered his head and rubbed his nose. “I just wanted to help them. After all, they were still willing to talk to me. I thought they were my friends, but sadly…”

Ye Qingxuan fell silent. He patted Charles’s shoulders, not knowing what to say. After a long while, he suddenly asked quietly, “Senior, are you free tonight?”

“Huh?” Charles glanced at him in confusion.

Ye Qingxuan chuckled. Throwing an arm over his shoulder as Charles used to do, he said quietly, “How about we work hard this time and help you graduate first?”

–

It was a night without words.

Early morning the next day, a crowd gathered soundlessly in the campus square. Bai Xi yawned and swayed amongst the crowd. Her eyes were still dazed, not yet understanding what had happened.

After staying up until midnight the last night, she was dragged out by Ye Qingxuan in the morning. It felt like she had brushed her teeth and eaten breakfast while sleepwalking, but she was still not awake. Her hair was a mess. Some parts were sticking up like a bird nest. Her short hair had gotten long at some point and she finally looked like a little girl. But sadly, she was still the sloppiest type of girl.

“Even if you don’t put on makeup, girls should at least brush their hair in the morning.” Ye Qingxuan sighed and pulled her over. He turned her around so her back was to him and held down her head so she could not move. Then he pulled a comb from his pocket—don’t ask where he had gotten this from. He felt more and more like a single mother now.

Bai Xi sleepily let Ye Qingxuan do whatever. Quickly, her messy hair became neat. Then Ye Qingxuan pulled a hair tie from her pocket and collected her hair into a bun with experience. Good, now she was clean and simple.

“Done?” Bai Xi leaned against the youth lazily. She yawned and forced her eyes open to a slit. “Cousin.”

“Yeah?” Ye Qingxuan looked down at her.

“You feel like a sister…” Bai Xi looked up at him. “Can you be my sister?”

Whack. Ye Qingxuan flicked her forehead, forcing her awake. “No.”

The crowd rustled. The long-awaited principal finally appeared at the front.

On the square, Maxwell stood amongst the crowd of silent professors with his top hat. He studied the students before him quietly.

“This group of kids is full of youthful energy,” he chuckled. “Every time I see them, I think that the change of eras might not be a bad thing.” Sydney glanced at him in confusion, but Maxwell whistled proudly. “These kids are at least luckier now. When I was their age, I didn’t have all these long-legged girls wearing short skirts to look at! Everyone had class in church. Men had to be gentlemen and girls had to be covered up. They could only show their faces and talk about God’s teachings. They were just like nuns…”

Sydney coughed softly and glanced at the girl standing quietly nearby, hinting at Maxwell to stop. This old b*stard did not think about the situation before speaking—he did not need to be full of praise, but he should not be acting like a gangster in public.

This time, the second princess had come to observe as the queen’s representative. “If she writes you down for being disrespectful before royalty you’ll be okay, but don’t drag us into it!” Sydney thought.

The girl stood away from the crowd in the light morning mist. Seeming as if she did not hear anything, she was cold and serene as she studied her surroundings. After a long while, she nodded and glanced at Maxwell. “Mr. Principal, is it almost time?”

“Thank you for waiting, Your Highness.” Maxwell took off his hat and tossed it to Sydney. “Let’s start now. The school anniversary should be livelier. How can it be so quiet?”

Crack! He raised his finger, and with the crack of his joints, he produced a clean and crisp snap. Behind him, a mighty sound came abruptly from the thin morning mist. The sound was not grating, but it was shocking. The bell!

The bell had rung. Above the school bell tower, the great gears began turning, moving the iron plates and hinges. The iron rods rubbed against each other and the machinery turned as the huge bell shook.

The first time the bell tolled, the mist began moving and the students gazed around in confusion. After the second bell, a wild wind suddenly blew in from the sky. It transformed into blurry ripples, spreading in all directions. The third bell caused a thick white fog to rush in from thin air, covering everyone’s eyes and swallowing the school whole.

Amidst the heart-stopping and glorious bells, a faint melody appeared. It was the gentle song of a clarinet. The melody was extremely tender. Beautiful like a dream, it was like a lullaby and embraced everyone gently. In an instant, everyone sank into a long daze, captured by the sweet melody.

Maxwell waved his hands and the fog promptly transformed and rippled like a tide. Submerged in the beautiful melody, he conducted the music notes and created waves in the aether sea. He closed his eyes and murmured, “God, please give me the world’s eternal peace.”

This was the music piece that Mozart, the King of Yellow, had carved here centuries ago. The notes had sunk deeply into the aether and became the enchantment that surrounded the academy. It was the Requiem!

Of the professors, some had already become immobile by the majestic power. Sydney grasped the top hat and stumbled back, his face pale. “The school board still needs to talk and coach…”

“Didn’t you all speak yesterday?” Maxwell’s chuckle came from afar. “All you have no substance and are filled with empty words. Where do you find so many things to talk about?”

Sydney’s face changed. He wanted to say something, but he found that he could not speak. In fact, he found that he had forgotten speech and did not know how to speak anymore. The Requiem enchantment had been activated. Who needed such annoying noises in eternal sleep?

–

In the mist, all the students looked around in confusion. The thick mist had covered everything. All objects began changing like a hallucination. Everything became unreal and distant. Even the people beside them slowly faded and disappeared. At first, some still did not know what to do. But soon, they heard a voice.

“Thirty minutes.” Maxwell’s low voice sounded in their ears. “The academy has already been transformed. You still have thirty minutes to look for a position. After thirty minutes, the trial will begin…”

Before them, the white mist dispersed and revealed the large school that slightly retained its original appearance. The graduating students who could not see each other froze for a second. Quickly, they rushed toward their previously scoped out locations and hurried to start the mimicry. The trial was about to begin!

–

Ye Qingxuan only remembered that white mist was spreading. He was stunned and when he processed everything, the mist was already dissipating. Everything had returned to stillness.

He had been tossed into an unfamiliar place unknowingly. Everyone around him was gone. They were probably thrown somewhere else by the Requiem enchantment. Everything in his vision had become unfamiliar.

It was still the academy, but everything had been changed slightly. Some buildings were gone, other places had new buildings. Even the design and structure of buildings had changed. The basic shape was still familiar, but one could no longer see its original shape.

The Requiem’s power had shone into the material world from the aether world and changed everything’s appearance. It had changed soundlessly. In the distant parts of his vision, he could faintly see participating students looking for the graduated students who had completed mimicry without wasting time.

Charles should have found his place, right? If nothing went wrong, it should be easy to get past this round according to the plan they made last night….If Charles was not unlucky.

“Cousin…” Bai Xi shook her head forcefully. “Can you let down my hair?”

“Huh? Oh, sorry, I didn’t notice.” Ye Qingxuan quickly let go of the hair in his hands. When the mist had creeped in, he had subconsciously grabbed Bai Xi. Then he was in a daze until now. “Is this the Requiem?”

Unlike the cautious Ye Qingxuan, Bai Xi was much braver. She poked around and nodded. “Yeah, the effect is similar to Cloud Gate, but there are differences in the specifics. One is fine and detailed while the other is more general…but both are part of the School of Illusion’s field of ‘thought realization.’”

“Bai Xi, stop playing. The trial already started.” Ye Qingxuan pulled her off of some wild flowers. “Stop stepping on them. What if that flower is actually a big guy?”

“Huh? That’s gross.” Bai Xi got up in disgust and looked at him with uncertainty. “Should I examine it?”

With that, she pulled out her school badge and prepared to spend ten points to test the flowers, but Ye Qingxuan stopped her. “These aren’t mimicry. Don’t waste your points.”

Hearing that, Bai Xi happily squashed the flowers with her feet…One could only say that she was still a kid.

However, Ye Qingxuan was now worried about the trial’s increased difficulty. Technically, one could not use mimicry to become something smaller than oneself. But with the Requiem enchantment, a musician’s mimicry could cover an object’s original shape and project something to cover himself. So the difficulty level skyrocketed.

After three hours, there would be a change. Every graduating student had to pick a ballot and would be required to mimic what they chose. But that was for later.

If he thought of the worst case scenario, Ye Qingxuan would have to get all his points before the difficulty was lowered. Not just himself though. Bai Xi and Charles also had to get their points. They could not let the History department’s comprehensive score be too sad. Otherwise, the school board would give them a hard time again.

“Let’s just hurry and start looking.” Ye Qingxuan sighed. “Hopefully I can go to the library again this afternoon.”

“Going to read that woman’s books again?” Bai Xi side-eyed him. Looking elsewhere, she said quietly, “Professor is sad these days.”

Ye Qingxuan knocked her forward, slightly upset. “Don’t speak nonsense. I already told him. Anyway, I’m just going for lessons occasionally. He won’t mind.”

“Tsk.” Bai Xi was unhappy after her lie was seen through and muttered, “I think you’re going to get played and destroyed by that woman sooner or later and get abandoned.”

“Professor Lola and I are innocent.”

“Then how did you get her attention?” Bai Xi rolled her eyes and glared.

Ye Qingxuan instantly became speechless. After stammering, he could only say, “It’s just academic communication.”

It was not as if he could say, “Hey, remember the Professor? Right, that really dangerous and talented one. The Professor’s actually a girl and my dad’s student and now she’s really good to me…” It was even more unbelievable and even more unspeakable.

He sighed. “Just see it as fate.”

Bai Xi’s eyes changed and she stopped looking at him. With her head low, she walked forward and muttered, “Liar…”

The weak voice traveled in the wind. Ye Qingxuan froze. He tried to grab her, but she shook him away.

“Bai Xi?” He furrowed his brows and said quietly, “Stop it. Let’s talk about this when we get back, okay?”

“No need.” Bai Xi shook her head and did not look at him. “There’s nothing to talk about it. It’s just fate.”

These were Ye Qingxuan’s words thrown back at him. He felt a bit annoyed. “Bai Xi, why are you throwing a tantrum? Can’t you just say what’s on your mind?”

“Am I throwing a tantrum?” Bai Xi looked back with an expressionless face. “I just don’t want to hear you lie.”

“I…”

“You can just say that you like her or you need her help. It’s okay. Or you don’t have to say anything,” Bai Xi said as if talking to herself. “I don’t care who you’re with, right?”

Ye Qingxuan could not reply.

“I just don’t want to hear you lie.” She finally looked at Ye Qingxuan. Her eyes were slightly red. “Cousin, you’re lying to me now.” She spun around and sprinted, running away without looking back. The ribbon around her hair broke and fell to the ground. Her hair flew, like a beautiful flash of light fading in the wind. The light disappeared. Bai Xi disappeared too.

Ye Qingxuan was rooted to his spot. He wanted to run over, but he felt exhausted. He did not even have the energy to move his feet. He did not even apologize.

–

The youth sat onto a stone bench in the corner in fatigue and picked up the hair tie from the ground. Looking at the tear and two strands of short hair, he let out a bitter self-deprecating smile.

What was this? Getting what he deserved? Looking for trouble? Or some strange humiliation? Until now, he finally realized he had made a mistake. It had been a long time since Bai Xi threw a tantrum.

If he wanted to drink water, she would go boil water. If he did not have time, she would go walk the dog. If he stayed up late, she would sit on the side and read comics. She was quiet and truly an obedient little girl.

He had thought that girls just needed to be coaxed. He just needed to coax her a bit and everything would be okay. If he coaxed her, she would listen, right? But then reality slapped him in the face.

Stop joking, Ye Qingxuan. How can you use a lie to restrain her? She didn’t want to deal with you and didn’t want to get angry. She was just bearing your lie. But now, even the lie is useless. It broke, just like the ribbon you tied around her hair.

She had enough of your lies and chose to run. What can you do?

You can’t even catch up to her.

–

As time passed, Ye Qingxuan sat on the stone bench without moving. He just stared at the ribbon in his hands sadly.

Faint yells came from the distance, as well as excited cheers. Those were the noises made by participating students. But this small yard was silent like it belonged to another world. It was silent like the forgotten times.

After a long while, a pained voice sounded. “Hey…” The voice was filled with helplessness as it called quietly, “Hey?”

Finally, Ye Qingxuan looked down and saw the bench under his butt.

“Hey, can you move?” The long bench could no longer bear it and said in pain, “You’re sitting on my back.”

“… Sorry.” Ye Qingxuan scooted to the side. “I’m just sad and didn’t notice.”

The bench was speechless. Shouldn’t he get up before talking? Why was he still sitting?! But he could not do anything, other than let Ye Qingxuan keep sitting. After all, Ye Qingxuan had not reported him. It was not as if he could say, “Get up, you *ss. Try using your badge on me!” That would be suicide…

Seeing his sadness, the bench was silent for a long time and finally sighed. “Don’t be sad. Everyone’s like this when they’re young. You’ll do some things you’ll regret.”

“And then what?” Ye Qingxuan asked.

“And then?” The bench’s voice became bitter. “Then you’ll get used to it.”

Ye Qingxuan scratched his head. “That sounds worse.”

“Nothing you can do. That’s how the world is. There are so many misunderstandings, but only a few people who stay by your side.” The bench sighed. “That’s why you need to treasure people. If you don’t grab her, she’ll run off. And then, you’ll be by yourself. She’ll be alone too.”

Ye Qingxuan was silent.

“Go chase her back,” the bench said quietly. “She’s waiting for you to comfort her.”

“Yeah.” Ye Qingxuan rose and glanced at the bench. “I was going to sit a bit longer, but thanks for your advice. I won’t blow your cover.”

“…” The bench’s said in shock, “You already discovered me?”

“The flaws are too obvious. I saw through it easily.” Ye Qingxuan shook his head. “It’s really damp these days. Bugs and fungi are growing like crazy. But you don’t have a bit of moss or spider webs. Anyone would think something’s wrong.”

“I can’t believe…” The bench’s voice was troubled and so were his thoughts. He had thought that Ye Qingxuan was upset and just happened to sit on him. But this guy was just playing with him because he was sad? This instantly made him feel like his good intentions had been eaten by that vicious golden dog.

“Well then, bye Bench.” Ye Qingxuan left and waved without looking back. “Hope you pass this round.”

“…Bye,” the bench bid farewell weakly. After a long while, it sighed. “Hope you get that girl back.”

–

At noon, the sun was blazing. The energetic students had started becoming tired now. There were already people squatting in the shade, trying to catch their breath. All these people became insignificant in the large campus. Compared to the hunters, not many graduating students had been found.

The most tragic thing in life was that there were many wolves but only a bit of meat. And…the meat could run.

Actually, it was not the first time Ye Qingxuan saw the following scene: a tree running for his life and a cluster of people behind him, flashing their badges wildly. With howls and wails the entire way, it was too tragic to look at.

Alarms sounded continuously on students as their points were cleared and they were forced out. After clearing out a batch of totally unqualified graduating students, the rest of the students were just trying their luck blindly. They started looking through the flowers and trees for those that they had missed. And some had actually been found, so the crowd’s determination was activated!

With this mess, no skills or plans were useful. Everyone just relied on their luck. At first, Ye Qingxuan had been worried for Charles, but when he investigated every location according to their plan and finally found Charles, he was not worried at all anymore, but…

“Senior, your transformation is a bit…” Under the blazing sun in the empty square, Ye Qingxuan shielded his eyes and looked up at the fountain. He looked at the naked statue in the fountain…

The statue had a symmetrical body of golden proportions. It had chiseled features and the realistic face turned to the side to stare at the sky. Its eyes were persistent and powerful. It was clear that a famous artist had made it, making one feel as if he had returned to the beginning of the golden era.

But for some reason, if one looked too long, one would think that the statue’s smile had a vulgarity that one could not put a finger on…

The scorching sun,

On the quiet square,

Fountain, youth and naked man.

The most shameless poet would not be able to such a wretched poem!

“Senior, what the h*ll is this?” Ye Qingxuan sighed. But the statue was silent and gave no response. It was as if Ye Qingxuan had guessed wrong. “You want to keep pretending?”

Ye Qingxuan looked around. Finding no one, he decisively approached the statue and kicked its crotch harshly.

“Ow!” The statue’s face twisted instantly. A trembling voice sounded near Ye Qingxuan’s ears. “Junior, spare me please!”

“Spare your *ss.” Ye Qingxuan asked softly, “We looked for so many places and positions last night so why did you end up in this wretched way?”

“The real hermit lives in the bustling place. That’s the saying I’m following.” Seeing Ye Qingxuan prepare to kick him again, the statue waved hurriedly. “Fine, fine. The other places were all occupied, even the stone ghost statue on the wall! So I can only take the risk…”

“Senior, you’d better change places as soon as possible. That group of guys started to take pictures already. If you get beat up, even I can’t save you.”

“Okay, okay. You don’t have to worry about that. I’m smart. The first round should be no problem…It is just that the graduation design is a bit difficult.” Charles clenched his teeth. “But you didn’t have to kick that hard! You were going to ruin my mimicry!”

Ye Qingxuan’s lip twitched. “Sorry, I’m in a bad mood.”

“Where’s Bai Xi?” Charles looked behind him, “Where did she go?”

“…” Ye Qingxuan shook his head wordlessly and turned to say goodbye, “Senior, may God bless you. I’m going now.”

“Oh, wait!” Charles was taken aback. “Where are you going?”

The youth had already walked away and waved without turning back. A frustrated voice came from afar, “I’m going to vent!”

–

The conference room was on the second floor of the auditorium. The entire academy’s aerial view was projected on the wall.

Countless small black dots could be seen moving, as well as many red spots sprinkled in like stars. Red dots constantly lit up, burst, and disappeared. These were the mimics that had been discovered.

But there were more black spots that were fading. They moved aimlessly like confused flies before eventually disappearing completely. The students had used up their credits and were eliminated.

Beside the aerial display was a ranking list with different names flashing on it, showing the change in credit. The credits on the list were constantly changing, rising and falling at every second, showing the fierce competition.

In the conference room, all the teachers stared at the list, looking for a familiar name, and nervously watching the scores rise and fall. Occasionally, their gaze would fall onto the girl in front, and become awed.

At the very front, the girl sat primly and looked at the map on the wall in silence. She did not say a word. After such a long time, she looked colder, and had more of the royal dignity, making the people dare not to offend her.

“Your Highness, what do you think of this?” Maxwell asked quietly beside her.

After a moment of contemplation, the girl replied softly, “This was unexpected. I had thought that there would be some one-on-one battles to pick the strongest. Now, it seems a little showy.”

“Your Highness Mary, are you speaking of the boorish bracket competitions?” Maxwell shook his head. “Since this is a school, it is better to keep it like a school.”

“Shouldn’t a musician’s school teach its students what a musician is?” Mary asked in reply. “They should be ready for the future.”

“Actually, I thought so too.” The principal reluctantly shook his head. “At first, I wanted to let them to go through some hardships and experience early on what real fighting and pioneering are like. Let them grow with the strictest standards and real combat. But seeing so many young faces, it felt too cruel…They’re still a bunch of kids. And to me, so are you, Your Highness.”

Mary looked at him puzzled, but the principal laughed. The guy picked up a bottle of champagne from nowhere. He opened the bottle and poured expertly, stuffed a glass into her hand, and clinked glasses with her.

“We can talk about the future in the future. We don’t have to put everything at the present, do we?” Maxwell raised his glass, his features animated. “Since it’s the anniversary day, let’s see it as a holiday and have some fun.”

Mary looked at his smile in silence, and the coldness and frost in her eyes melted slightly. “Then I shall do what you say, Mr. Principal.” She took the glass and sipped it lightly. It was a little sour.

–

As time went on, the trend in the rankings became clearer. Some people were happy while others were not. The professors from Revelations were practically happy enough to start whistling. Of the top one hundred, more than fifty were Revelations students.

The School itself was skilled at exploration, detection, and searching for specific items. A slightly flawed mimicry was riddled with flaws to them. This trial was a gift for them.

Seeing names squeezing into the top ten one by one, the Revelations professors grew happier and happier. But beside them, the Modifications’ expressions darkened more and more.

Ingmar gazed intently at the names on the list, watching Bart rise step by step with animated expressions. His efforts on Bart had not gone to waste. This child had suddenly become enlightened recently and so his performance was outstanding. He even showed the potential to catch up with Banner. He was going to be in the top ten—almost! He was so close…

Ingmar clenched his fist and stared at the rankings, until Bart’s credits flashed and jumped over the red line. He could no longer resist the urge to wave and cheer quietly. Bart succeeded!

As long as he had the upper hand in the first round, he could get into top five in the second round with a bit more effort. By then, he would be able to enter the Cave of Sleep. Through the special strength of the Cave, he would quickly reach the threshold of the Musician level, and enter ‘Deva’s Induction.’ If he could then establish the core of Revelations, then it was foreseeable that Bart was going to be the most promising one of the School of Revelations

Noticing his excitement, a bearded man from Modifications pursed his lip and muttered, “Another phony from the Revelations.”

“So far, it seems that the School of Revelations is taking the lead.” The principal glanced at the rankings. “The other schools are lagging behind a bit.”

Mary thought for a while and asked, “I remember that the head professor of the Revelations is Mr. Ingmar, who worked out the Babylonian riddle, correct?”

“It is me.” Hearing this, Ingmar rose and bowed. He could not help but grow excited at the thought that even the second princess had heard of his name.

“Ten years ago, Mr. Ingmar became the famous dark-age historian. Your research of ancient music theory is for all to see.” Mary nodded approvingly. “I didn’t expect for you to return to the Academy and continue producing so many outstanding students. It’s really admirable.”

Ingmar disguised the pride in the eyes and lowered his head in reservation. “To give one’s knowledge to others is also one of the responsibilities of a musician. Of course, the most important thing is to pick out the material that can be crafted, rather than working on deadwood and mud…” He glanced behind him secretly, but found that the man with a single arm was writing intently with his head down and had not heard Ingmar’s words.

“Mr. Abraham.” Ingmar’s eyes turned cold. “No offense, but are you writing something important? So important that you can forget your manners before royalty?”

Abraham looked up blankly and froze. He quickly put down his pen. “S-sorry, I just suddenly had some ideas about interpretation, so I couldn’t help but write down it.”

“Is that so?” said Ingmar coldly. “Then you must write it down well since there aren’t many ideas that support your absurd theory. But Her Highness came to visit on behalf of the Queen, so you’d better think about how you’ll explain your disrespect of royalty to Her Highness…”

Abraham looked at the girl and finally processed everything. Somewhat flustered, he lowered his head.

Mary noticed his steel prosthetic limb and seemed to recall something. She was a little taken aback, but soon shook her head. “The School of Revelations pursues inspiration, so this is normal. I hope Mr. Abraham’s interpretation method will soon have results and I anticipate hearing of them.”

Seeing that the reckless Abraham was let go so easily, Ingmar could not help but scoff. “You should thank Her Highness for her forgiveness. You might not be so lucky next time.”

“Since Her Highness has forgiven you, then learn from your mistake.” The principal waved to Ingmar, motioning for him to move on. Then he asked Abraham, “I remember that your students are also taking part in this trial?”

“Yes, one graduate and two freshmen this year.” Abraham sighed, “I’m afraid they won’t do well.”

“Don’t be too pessimistic, Abraham.” The principal patted him on the shoulder. He seemed to laugh as he said, “You can’t be sure until the last minute.”

There was the soft sound, like a blister popping. On the aerial display, a red dot representing a graduate student quietly dissipated. At the bottom of the list where no one would notice, a name moved up quietly.

There was another sound and the name rose again.

Then a third sound…

–

Boom! The door at the front of the central building collapsed and crumbled. Everyone in the courtyard looked back in astonishment at the white-haired youth who walked in from outside. “The material is wrong. Go and take the class again” he said.

The white-haired youth holding the school badge pursed his lips, looking coldly at the dispersing iron door. “How can you use mimicry when you don’t even know what material iron is?”

Ding. The badge made a crisp sound as fifty more points entered it, but Ye Qingxuan did not even check. Instead, he walked straight toward the crowd.

“The Eastern guy…” someone remembered him for his notorious actions at the academy and exclaimed softy. Seeing him coming towards them with a rude expression, the crowd rustled.

“What do you want?” Someone stood out to stop him. But seeing Ye Qingxuan’s pair of cold eyes, they froze and stuttered, “Private fights are—are banned on anniversary day!”

“I’m sorry, but you’re in my way.” Ye Qingxuan glanced at him and patted him on the shoulder. “Excuse me.”

“Oh, oh.” The student subconsciously moved to the side and watched as Ye Qingxuan walked past. Behind Ye Qingxuan, the people saw his posture, thought of the bad rumors about him and they shivered. What was the academy bully, the demon from the East going to do?

But the Eastern guy stopped before them and suddenly said, “You know what? Most of Anglo is near the sea, so most places are influenced by the ocean currents and belong to the temperate climate.”

“Huh?” The crowd thought they must have heard wrong and did not understand what he was trying to say.

“When the School of Royalty was established centuries ago, they transported alder, elm, Populus euphratica, white birch trees and much more from all over to make the campus green and ensure spring all year long…” Gazing at everyone’s confused expressions, Ye Qingxuan suddenly kicked the sapling beside him. “But there weren’t any indus trees, which had spread from the East two hundred years later!”

Crack! The tree trunk trembled and the tree was suddenly uprooted. It wanted to run and unbelievably fast. But the youth was even faster and raised his badge. Light flashed from the badge and landed on the trunk. With a shake, it disappeared.

Ding dong…The badge vibrated. Fifty more points were now his.

Everybody was completely shaken. They had never imagined that a graduating student was hiding right behind their butts! Ye Qingxuan gazed at them and stated, “The moral of this story is that illiterate people who don’t even know about botany don’t deserve to graduate.” With that, he turned to leave.

There was a clatter in the hall in the distant, like something being kicked over. The people could not help but shiver. They looked over, but could only hear, “A trash can? How can there be such a clean trash can? Your mimicry isn’t up to standard. Go take this class again.”

“…What’s wrong with him?”

Everyone stared blankly at each other in confusion.

“Should we go look?” someone made the suggestion that they would deeply regret in the following months. But—f*ck—they actually agreed!

–

Hum… There was a quake in the clouds and the expressions of all students in the enchantment changed. In the campus, someone in the volunteer crowd furrowed his brows and pressed something invisible in the air. A faint tune spread in all directions and reported back.

“Hurry, there’s only ten minutes. The enchantment’s going to change again.

“Ten minutes is enough.” Banner raised his head. His eyes were emerald and the vertical pupils trembled. His body burned with glowing flames. His lower body was a gold lion and his tail had a dark green hook like a scorpion. Beside it was a youthful musician who had the same face but an entirely human body. There were two Banners, but their companions did not find it strange.

Seeing that Banner had called forth the manticore, his friends sighed in relief. Banner waved and the lion roared, galloping away instantly in the campus.

The manticore was the phantom beast unique to the Adrian family. Its talent was high sensitivity to the breaths of living creatures. Even with the double blockages of the requiem enchantment and mimicry, it could still sense all living things around it. Compared to others who had to use music scores and other methods, Banner undoubtedly had the biggest advantage. Furthermore, his brother Gavin had given him his former confidant to help in this trial.

Banner had broken into the top three in a few short hours.

“As expected of Gavin’s brother,” an upperclassman at the front looked at him from afar and murmured. “His manticore is already humanized and he’s just gotten into the Musician level.”

Humanization was a phenomenon unique to the School of Royalty. This school was a new branch of the School of Summoning. It was different in that Royalty had inherited the theories of Arthur, the most powerful Summoning musician. Because of this, it was also known as the Anglo School.

All phantom beasts summoned by Summoning musicians were demons created by the broken pieces of their consciousness and raised in their minds. The School of Royalty abandoned most beasts and focused on those that fit themselves the most. They developed the beastliness of these demons in their minds and gave them their characteristics, allowing it to be continuously refined.

In the end, it would practically become the beastly version of the musician. A well-experienced musician could allow himself to temporarily have some of the beast’s characteristics. But the other characteristic of the School of Royalty was that the beast could be from a different school than the musician! Those who liked destruction and creation would study Modifications on the side, those good at observation and predictions would study Revelations…

Taking advantage of the fact that the phantom beast came from the same source and heart, the two of them had an effect of more than two.

In the School of Royalty, there were also secret sublimation rituals that could make the phantom beast also study from the School of Summoning. Through these rituals, the musician could create a frightening wave of beasts whenever and wherever. This belonged to the secret occupation of the School of Royalty. Because of its feathering abilities, they were referred to as the “descendants of the phoenix.”

“Looks like the School of Royalty is going to groom him next.” The upperclassman Cullen stared deeply at Banner. It seemed that the new Adrian power could not be stopped. Five years later, the family would have two musicians. If both became descendants of the phoenix, the School of Royalty would be the playground of these two brothers. With Gavin’s skills, he might even be the concertmaster of the Royal Musician Division in fifteen years.

The humanized manticore roared once again. It rushed out from a collapsed library, a trembling dictionary in its mouth.

“Very good.” Banner took the dictionary and placed his school badge on it. The dictionary crumbled and vanished with a flash. It was yet another idiot who thought he could turn into a book and hide in the library to hide from the searches.

“Number thirty-seven,” a student helped Banner count.

The badge vibrated and made a crisp sound. With the press of a finger, a light display jumped from the badge, showing the results of all students. Of the top ten, Banner was the first. He was three hundred points away from second place.

There were not many students like him who had an enormous amount of resources and underwent Deva sensing to officially become a musician after a few months in the school. Usually, those at this level could already request graduation. In fact, there were many in this class that paid money but were still in the Rhythm level.

With help from Gavin’s followers in the student council, it was natural that he was first. Banner reread the top ten list multiple times. After confirming that the white-haired b*stard was not in it, he nodded in satisfaction.

“What about that guy I told you to watch?” Banner asked.

“That Easterner?” Cullen thought for a moment. “The last message was that he argued with his female companion and seemed sad. He sat down and didn’t move.”

“He’s like this because of a girl? I thought too highly of him.” Banner sneered and put his school badge back. “Then let him keep spacing out. We need to hurry. The enchantment’s going to change soon. Everyone group together and don’t get lost.”

Under his command, the people crowded over. Someone cast a music score to connect everyone. Cullen lowered his head and hummed something as he bent over to draw a white line on the ground. The head and tail of the line connected, forming a ring around all of them.

The moment they finished, the bell sounded in the air again. The ringing resonated. The seemingly tangible bell stirred the air, creating ripples that spread outward. Everything in its path blurred.

In the shaking, everyone’s visions swam. In their dizziness, they could only feel the white mist rise out of nothing and swallow everything.

Before, the students were able to transform freely and the setting was in the campus that everyone was familiar with. It was time for the students to grow accustomed to the trial. But now, the short period was over.

All graduating students must choose a ballot and accept the object they were required to mimic. The setting would also be transformed into a random corner of the city, according to the aether memory read by the Requiem. Without a doubt, everything would become more complex and unfamiliar.

The mist changed dramatically and the bell rang.

Commotion could be heard deep within the mist, like the low voices of passerby and the loud voices of peddlers. The mist dispersed quickly and the blazing sun once again shone down on everyone’s heads. They were met with a dense stream of people.

Within the slowly disappearing white ring, Banner’s group were jostled and squeezed. They could barely stand straight. Looking around themselves, their expressions turned ugly.

“F*ck,” Cullen muttered. They had really hit the jackpot this time…

Under the bells of the tram carriages, the crowd surged at the large intersection. The passerby bustling against each other turned into a dense wave of people. There were peddlers pushing their carts along the road, fortune tellers sitting in the messy alleys with their crystal balls and homeless beggars with ragged overalls and shirts.

A carriage brushed past them. The old elite inside leaned on his cane and glared at the passerby outside. There was also a strange family emblem branded into the side of the carriage. It really looked like some elite’s carriage.

“Hey, what are you all doing there?” A mounted policeman wearing a copper helmet walked. He knocked his baton against his shoulder and examined them. “Is this your first time in Avalon? Stop blocking traffic.”

They jumped to the side as if they had just woken from a dream and watched as the carriages galloped across the street on either side under the policeman’s conducting. Was this really the Royal Academy of Music?

Cullen sucked in a deep breath, confirming that he had not seen it incorrectly.

Yes, welcome to the heart of Avalon, the most flourishing part of the city—Queen’s Avenue!

–

Amidst the dense crowd on the long street, Ye Qingxuan stuck his hands in his pockets and strolled lazily, looking around. He hummed an unclear tune and murmured some words. At times, he would suddenly grab a person created from the enchantment and ask some questions like a prank. He would walk, stop, touch around and look around.

In the end, he even stopped by the old man playing an instrument on the street. He knew the man was fake, but he still pulled some coins out and tossed it into the man’s hat.

Behind him, the cautiously following students exchanged confused glances. Someone asked quietly, “It’s already been half an hour. What is he doing?”

“…” The students were silent. Someone asked weakly, “Maybe he’s…shopping?”

“Maybe he’s…shopping?”

Hearing this, the surrounding people all shot gazes that said, “Are you an idiot?”

Someone said, “It’s impossible even if you think with your *ss. Who would have the mind to shop during the trial?!”

“What are you talking about?” A voice full of curiosity sounded behind them.

“We’re following that East…” Someone turned around and his voice stopped abruptly as his eyes and mouth widened.

Behind them, the Eastern kid held a large paper bag and cocked his head as he gazed at them with cool eyes. He seemed dangerous. “Why are you following me?”

“N-nothing…” Everyone shook their heads like a rattle drum. Some brave person rubbed his hands and went forward, asking with a fawning smile, “Concertmaster Ye, you haven’t done anything in awhile. Are you investigating?”

“Are you an idiot? I’m shopping.” As if it was logical, Ye Qingxuan pulled a donut from the paper bag. He stuffed it in his mouth, chewed, and nodded slowly. “As expected of the requiem that soothed one’s mind. It’s just like the real one.” Seeing everyone’s shocked expressions, he pulled a baguette from the bag. “Want one?”

All students shook their head blankly.

“What…are you doing?” someone murmured to himself.

“Eating?” Ye Qingxuan was looking down on their intelligence more and more. “I haven’t eaten lunch yet.”

“But it’s all fake!”

“Then y’all can just stay hungry.” Ye Qingxuan scanned them and looked away. He stuffed the last donut into his mouth and licked the powder on his fingers. “I’m in a bad mood right now. If I’m hungry, my mood will be even worse. I have to calm myself down, for your safety.”

“…” Hearing his voice, the group did not know what to say. At this time, were they supposed to thank Concertmaster Ye for being merciful and not killing them, or feel bad for themselves?

“Whatever. Just follow me if you want. You’re just wasting time.” Ye Qingxuan shook his head and turned to leave without looking at them.

“Yo, Concertmaster Ye!” A jeering voice sounded not so far away and Ye Qingxuan sighed. It was them again?

Bart was leading a group of Revelations students to search for traces there. When he saw Ye Qingxuan, his expression grew mocking and he asked ‘warmly,’”How’s your grade?”

How was his grade? How good could it be? It has been almost four hours since the start and Ye Qingxuan had only found two people. He had passed, compared to regular students, but it was far from enough for a concertmaster. In fact, one could not even find his name on the rankings.

This made many of the people who did not like him happy. Many had already decided secretly to question his concertmaster qualifications after the trial.

Someone beside Bart took Ye Qingxuan’s badge and let out a laugh. “There’s only two. Bart, stop asking.”

“What? Only two? That few?” Bart put on a shocked and confused expression, but could not hide his glee. “I already found dozens. How come you only have two?” With that, he moved closer and revealed a ‘friendly’ smile. “Do you need my help? To be honest, I can give you two if you follow me.”

“Bart, I’m busy. It’s best if you don’t get in my way.” Chewing on his bread, the youth’s face was expressionless, but his eyes were pure black like a deep well. Merely staring at it would make one feel eerie wind against one’s face.

Ye Qingxuan’s voice was gentle as he said, “To be honest, I’m not in a good mood right now. Don’t waste my time. Tell your people to move out of my way.”

Hearing his words, Bart was angered. He sneered and nodded, waving behind him. “Okay, everyone move out of Concertmaster Ye’s way.” He paused and called tauntingly, “Since you’re so busy, why don’t we call everyone over to see what Concertmaster Ye is playing?”

“That’s a good boy. So obedient.” Ye Qingxuan reached out casually to ruffle Bart’s hair, causing the fake smile on his face to crack.

He glared at Ye Qingxuan. “You…”

Before he could finish, Ye Qingxuan exploded. He suddenly smashed his fist on the face of a random student in the group, pushing him down. A flurry of punches and kicks followed. The baguette and donut in Ye Qingxuan’s hands, and the hot canned coffee and the few pounds of change in his bag, were all used. The beating was like wind sweeping away the broken clouds!

Everyone was stunned. Bart’s expression changed and his face darkened. “Ye Qingxuan! Are you crazy? What are you doing?!”

Ye Qingxuan had finally let out his anger, but he kicked the unfortunate soul one more time, as if he had not had enough. Finally, he pulled out his school badge and shone it on the boy.

“Bye.”

Crack! Under everyone’s dazed eyes, the student on the ground broke apart and disappeared with a flash. A curse traveled from thin air.

Silence. Everyone stared with their mouths open.

“You asked what I’m doing?” Ye Qingxuan rose, slowly tidied up his collar, and cocked his head at Bart. “A mimic got into your group and you didn’t even know. How are you a leader?”

“B-b-but he…”

Ye Qingxuan shook his head. “No one said you can’t mimic a student.”

Hearing this, his group of followers was stunned. Their expressions became guarded and they stared at each other, gripping their badges and ready to examine the most suspicious one.

“Stop looking. There isn’t one in you,” Ye Qingxuan drawled. “I already checked.” He paused and his lips curled. “It’s a pity.”

“…” The students were speechless, but their eyes grew bitter. What was pitiful about it? Now they finally understood that Ye Qingxuan had come over for a chat to look for suspicious targets. Once found, he was ready to turn against them and fight. He was too cruel. Where was the trust between people?

“No!” Bart stared at him and suddenly asked, “What music score did you use? There’s no way you discovered him and I didn’t…”

“No point in asking. You don’t have what I use.” Bart’s expression grew more humiliated and angry. He had the urge to rip Ye Qingxuan apart. “Not many people would notice that the uniforms of the different schools are made from different workshops. So the fabric will be slightly different too.” Ye Qingxuan asked coolly, “Wouldn’t you think something was wrong if a Revelations student’s uniform fabric is the sea silk from Modifications?”

“Just with that?” Someone was completely stunned.

Ye Qingxuan shrugged. “It’s just wasting ten points anyway. I have to try if there’s the possibility.”

“Still…you still can’t hit him!” Bart filled in angrily. “What if you hit the wrong person?”

“Then that’s your problem.” With one last glance, Ye Qingxuan turned to leave. His voice came from the distance, “Who told you to be so annoying? It won’t be a pity even if I hit the wrong person.”

–

The manticore’s roar came from the sewer. Soon, the giant human-faced lion broke through, a rusty plaque stuck on its tail. Banner petted the manticore’s head and pulled out his badge. Shining it on the plaque, it broke and disappeared.

“Number forty-five!” Someone beside him nodded in admiration and opened the badge to check the rankings. “You’re already four hundred points ahead of second place!”

“Very good, Banner. Keep up the pace.” Cullen nodded approvingly. “Indeed, you’re Gavin’s brother.”

“I don’t need you to teach me.” Banner gazed at Cullen coolly, causing his smile to stiffen. “Let’s change places. This place has basically been cleaned out.”

With that, he turned to leave. Cullen was speechless but he could only follow. Behind him, the student responsible for keeping count and checking the ranks let out a shocked noise.

“Wait, this isn’t right,” he muttered. Scanning the changes in the ranking, his eyes trembled slightly. “Is someone cheating?”

“What’s wrong?” Cullen looked back.

“Up ahead, graduating students have started getting caught continuously starting just now. The speed is…unnatural.” The student thought for the right adjective for a long while. His expression grew grave. “Someone’s cheating.”

“That’s impossible. The executive office is watching the entire thing.” Cullen shook his head. “Maybe Modifications has started using destructive tests?”

Those destructive maniacs could definitely do that! A group had already done a full-out search in the beginning. They did not care whether something was a mimic or not. They just burned everything! Some unlucky soul would be captured after testing everything that had not been burned.

But after the setting change, people had appeared. If students made purposeful damages, the fake police would not turn a blind eye! In fact, a few students had already been shot by the mounted policemen.

It was still possible for Modifications to go all-or-nothing, but the answer made Cullen freeze.

“He’s not from Modifications.”

Cullen furrowed his brows. “Then which school is he?”

“There’s no marking before his name. He’s not part of any school…” The student in charge of the rankings paused and gazed cautiously at the expressionless Banner. “Banner, you have to take a look!”

Banner’s eyes grew cold. Cullen looked over and his expression grew shocked when he saw the name shooting up from the bottom, charging across the ranking freely like a hearse.

“Ye…Qingxuan?”

Eighty-ninth place: Ye Qingxuan; seventy-sixth place: Ye Qingxuan; sixty-third place, sixtieth, fifty-second…thirtieth…twentieth…fifteenth…

Finally, the drifting hearse broke through powerfully and rushed to the top of the rankings. Not too long after, it squeezed into the top ten. The chart had not yet refreshed fully and it left the name behind in its path.

Ye Qingxuan, Ye Qingxuan, Ye Qingxuan…f*ck Ye Qingxuan. Why was it all Ye Qingxuan?

The count behind his name had reached a dumbfounding number in five short minutes.

Thirty-five? An average of seven per minute? He found one mimic every ten seconds on average?

“Impossible!” Cullen chewed on his lip and his expression was panicked. “Didn’t we send people to watch over him? What music score is he using? Is it some rare score handed down through generations?”

Someone pulled out an alchemy accessory and spoke to it with his head down. He quickly received a reply and his expression changed as if he had seen a ghost. He verified it three times.

“He—he…” The student was tongue-tied. “He never used any music scores.”

“Are you kidding?!” Cullen roared in anger. “Then is he using his mouth to talk it through?”

The student’s expression gave Cullen a bad feeling. He gulped and said seriously, “Actually, that’s possible.”

On the long avenue, a galloping carriage suddenly stopped and disappeared in a flash, revealing the youth behind it, and the dumbfounded group behind him.

“Design mistake.” Ye Qingxuan shook his head. “What kind of carriage has uneven wheels and can still be so stable and fast?” Passing through the graduating student’s remaining shocked apparition, he continued forward. In passing, he flashed his badge on a sign beside the road.

“F*ck!” the sign yelped and quickly disappeared.

Ye Qingxuan side-eyed him. “The perspective is completely wrong. Go back and study again. How bad does a woodworker have to be to make a sign like that?” Continuing forward, he slapped his badge on a streetlight. Looking up at it, his eyes were reluctant as he sighed. “Tell me truthfully, what streetlight looks like a chimney?”

The streetlight shook. It turned to light before it could reply. His wail dispersed in the air, “Is it my fault for being fat…”

Ye Qingxuan continued. The dazed students behind him had already turned into zombies. They followed his each step and had lost all capability to think. What was going on? Seriously, what was going on?

Why did this world suddenly become so weird? Where were the professors? There seemed to be something wrong…

Under everyone’s stares, Ye Qingxuan suddenly halted. He turned and entered the crowd. The students moved, quickly getting out of his way. They watched as he took a right and entered a café.

The enthusiastic server greeted him. “How may I take your order?”

Ye Qingxuan ignored him and pushed him away, entering the café. Outside the window, everyone saw clearly as Ye Qingxuan walked past the bar, lounge and stopped by the corner. He looked up at the oil painting and seemed to say something.

The painting did not move and did not reply.

Ye Qingxuan narrowed his eyes and snatched the lighter on a nearby table. With a crack, he lit the fire and held it close to the painting.

“If you don’t own up, I’m going to burn you.”

“Wait, wait, don’t! Don’t burn!” The painting actually moved and climbed down from the wall. “What’s wrong with my mimicry? I checked!”

“Go back and study art history.” Ye Qingxuan mercilessly lit the painting on fire. “This entire street is decorated with classicism, which was popular centuries ago. Why would there be a Rococo wall painting from one hundred years later? It’s too obvious.” He flashed his school badge and the burning oil painting disappeared without a trace, save for a pile of hemp ash on the ground.

“Here’s your lighter.” Ye Qingxuan tossed the lighter back at the dumbfounded customer and picked the lit cigar out of his mouth, snuffing it in the coffee. Ye Qingxuan smiled and waved farewell. “No smoking in public. Thanks.”

–

When the sixth hour ended, the environment changed once again, transforming from the streets of Avalon to a barren island. Beasts thrived and the students even faced the challenge of survival now.

Ye Qingxuan had just seen a parrot being chased by a tiger and screaming, “Come get me, come get me! I don’t want to get eaten…”

And so Ye Qingxuan happily obeyed the fifty points that had given itself up and killed the tiger for the heck of it too. The tiger actually had resistance because it was born in an area of dense aether. Its mutation level was not low either and required a lot of effort on Ye Qingxuan’s part. He almost tripped and fell into a ditch.

“But if you’re gonna be a rock, can’t you at least be something cooler?” He raised his hand and kicked the rock under his foot. “Granite? Diabase? Or limestone? There are so many volcanoes on this island. Can’t you at least turn into volcanic rock?”

The rock trembled with every knock. Finally, it gave up. “Who cares what rock? This is what I look like!”

“Then you deserve to die.” With a scan of the badge, fifty more points entered his hands. “Where are you going?” Ye Qingxuan looked back out of the corner of his vision. Behind him, the weird shrub that had prepared to tiptoe away and escape suddenly stiffened. The shrub’s movements froze and it warped, as if slowly turning around. “Wh—what did I do wrong?”

Ye Qingxuan suddenly asked, “You don’t have friends, right? Know why?”

“Huh?” The shrub’s voice was obviously lacking in self-confidence. “I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

“Obviously it’s because you’re too ugly!” Ye Qingxuan flashed his badge on the shrub’s face. “Even your mimicry is so ugly and you want to graduate? Repeat the d*mn year!”

“Wah…” The shrub disappeared with a snap. One could faintly see the brokenhearted face of a graduating student.

“And you!” Ye Qingxuan pointed at the ruins of a boat stranded on the beach. “I didn’t even look at you. Why are you shaking?”

“I-I…” The damaged boat lay in the ocean tide innocently and tried to justify himself. “I’m cold, alright?” He got a school badge on his face in reply.

“Come back after you change your clothes!”

Snap! The boat disappeared without a trace. The school badge vibrated once again with another fifty points.

“Is there still anyone who doesn’t understand the rules?” Ye Qingxuan shook his head slowly.

In actuality, the emphasis of this trial was not the students’ grasp on aether and music scores at all, or attainment of mimicry—it was observation skills.

From the Academy, the familiar safe zone they were used to; to the Queen’s Avenue, the messy place full of commotions and changes; to the dangerous volcanic island; the students had to find the incongruous objects no matter how the environment changed, and remove them!

The seemingly joke-like trial tested a student’s eyesight, determination, and decisiveness. This way would they be able to find hidden dangers, or transform into it and become someone else’s danger. Only this way would they be able to survive in the dangerous Dark World where even gravity was unstable.

Ye Qingxuan gazed around him and continued forward steadily toward the bubbling volcano at the heart of the island. The closer he got to the volcano, the more cracks there were on the ground. Scalding steam surged from the cracks. It was the boiling sulfur hot spring.

Faint bells rang in the air after noon, signaling that the next round of changes would soon come.

“We’re running out of time?” Ye Qingxuan murmured to himself. He cast a frost ray to cool the rock under his butt and sat down with his back to the volcano without hesitation. He gazed at the ground around him.

The vast abandoned island was covered with jungles, beaches and yellow sand. A gale blew from the distant, bringing with it boiling and scalding steam that curled his hair. The lava cast a layer of fire-red glow on his white hair, as if it was burning.

He looked down at the world and murmured while cracking his knuckles, “I should take the last chance and do something big.”

Boom! The silver ring made of instrument strings at his fingertip produced a vague sound. Strings expanded in the sky continuously, crisscrossing and erecting beside him. He raised his finger but hesitated before pressing it down. After pondering for a moment, his fingers changed slightly and guided the changes in the strings.

The crisscrossed strings began moving, all of them changing soundlessly. They became long and thin and grouped together. Three strings dissipated into dots of silver light and converged into a long violin bow in his right hand.

This was the visual mimicry of Jiu Xiao Huan Pei. It was not just the appearance that could change once fully activated. It could also adjust its structure and frequency to the level most suitable for the music score.

“My ancestors will probably be roll over in their grave if they find out that I don’t have their repertoire and use Jiu Xiao Huan Pei as a violin.” While Ye Qingxuan danced on the Ye family’s graves carelessly, his right hand rested on the strings near his neck. A melody clean as light mist sounded.

A faint and unnoticed melody sounded in the faraway echo of tidal waves, in the roaring of hot steam shooting to the sky from cracks in the earth, in the crisp pops of scalding blisters in the bubbling lava, and in the cacophonous noises that filled the island.

It floated in all directions like mist and seeped into every sound. It was small enough to be insignificant, but it was everywhere.

“What is he doing?” The confused students at the foot of the mountain looked up at the youth casually playing his violin at the peak. He looked so comfortable and calm, as if he had given up on the trial and was completely immersed in the melody.

In the cracks under their feet, scalding steam rose from the boiling hot spring. The steam hung in the air, vaguely solidifying into a long water line. The unnoticeable water line seemed to ride the melody and music notes, and spread in all directions with the vague melody.

One line, two lines…dozens of lines spread from the peak. The hot wind carried them further away. After taking advantage of the geography, Bolero’s melody resounded above the entire island.

The first measure ended and increased intensity along with the imperceptible melody. It melted into the ocean wind and tides, and seeped into every corner. The second and third measure followed immediately.

The amount and length of water lines multiplied exponentially with the start of each measure. But the melody was still mild and hidden. One could not recognize its existence, even if one listened carefully.

This long melody came silently and seeped soundlessly into every organism, hiding in every corner. It fed off of the water vapor and aether’s power and strengthened, strengthened, and strengthened…It was the sixth measure!

The sonorous melody finally broke through the disturbances of all noise. It resounded above the island and in everyone’s ears. The students raised their heads in confusion and looked in all directions. They tried to see where the melody came from, but to no avail.

But the melody sounded in everyone’s ears like a murmur. It was easy and bright, like sunlight, subconsciously guiding them into it. They could no longer differentiate between near and far.

The water vapor hung and countless perception threads rode the sea wind, floating and dancing over the island. They were like dancers with gentle moves that were heart-stoppingly beautiful. A spirited and sonorous beat was revealed in the gentle dance.

The melody lengthened and changed along with the beat, growing in intensity. Like a flood that had brewed for the entire summer and finally broke through the dam, it resounded above the entire island aggressively and quickly.

Without anyone realizing, the gentle melody intensified. It rang in everyone’s ears, projecting a bright yet strong image in their minds.

With their eyes closed, they seemed to be able to see a lovely and beautiful girl dancing wildly. She was clad in fiery red and her skirt lifted when she spun, like burning flames. She moved to the rhythm of the melody, dancing in everyone’s hearts. In the fanatic dance, the fiery red dress seemed to cover the entire island.

This had become her stage!

Ye Qingxuan stood above the volcano that was about to erupt and leisurely closed his eyes. He was immersed in the aggressive melody that was a wild and uncontrollable galloping horse. The performer in red was dancing in his heart, setting off flames.

Thousands of threads wrapped around his body, weaving into a dense net that completely covered the island. His senses stretched along the perception threads, as if he had detached himself from his insignificant human body and became one with the vast island.

No, he could even feel that this island was only a mirage that had been created. But at the moment, he seemed to have become an extension of the illusion.

The perception threads were like his eyes, hands, and soul, sensing the existence of all organisms and the waves of the aether. It was like having a pair of eyes higher up that were overlooking the whole world, looking at the scenery that Ye Qingxuan had once overlooked.

The island, beach, dense forest, yellow sand…and the countless students and mimicry were right before his eyes. They were so close that Ye Qingxuan could see them like the veins in his hand.

Under the reflection of the “heart mirror,” they shone with different colors, even when covered by mimicry. After discovering flaws through focused studying, Ye Qingxuan was vaguely aware of their changing moods.

“So that’s where you all are.” Ye Qingxuan ginned. “Let me give you a surprise.”

He thrummed the strings.

Boom! The badge was tossed up. It flipped in the air, reflecting the sun overhead and the lava below, and a red light glowed. The thousands of credits he had hoarded inside the badge were depleted in an instant. The name at the top of the list that hung over everyone’s heads disappeared instantly.

Everyone focusing on the rankings was stunned. They had no idea what happened that caused Ye Qingxuan’s name to fall from thirteenth to the thousands in an instant. In the midst of consternation, they did not see the flash of light like a falling comet in the sky overhead. Like countless meteorites breaking through the outer barrier, a blazing light was created as they rubbed against the air. They transformed into a meteor shower, falling from the sky!

“What is that?” In the midst of the jungle, the dusty Bart looked up at the sky. In the distance, rays of light flew from the mouth of the volcano out of the thin air, and scattered in all directions.

Ding, ding, ding! Everyone’s badges began to vibrate wildly. They lowered their heads blankly, looking at the list that seemed to be burning. The order of the entire list began to change instantaneously. The ranking connected to the Requiem enchantment broke down in this dramatic change, showing a crack and losing its luster.

At the bottom, a name began burning up. It took a step forward, followed by another step. As the meteor shower fell, the name trembled wildly, breaking through all the obstacles and soaring upward without hesitation.

First, it fell from thirteenth to thousands away; then it rushed back wildly. Everything in its path was in ruins.

Nine-hundred, eight-hundred, seven-hundred…one- hundred…it whizzed past! And then, like a flash of lightning, it jumped into the top ten.

“What the h*ll is this?” Bart, who had been relieved before, now felt his vision going black. He had been completely forced out of top ten, but immediately thereafter came a distant scream.

“He’s cheating! Cheating!” a student from the School of Royalty roared. “That Eastern b*stard! I’m gonna tear you to shreds!”

The meteor shower was still falling! All of the mimicry where the meteors fell disappeared in a flash like absurd fireworks! Instantly, the number of credits behind that name soared again! It jumped to 1950 points from zero instantaneously. His depleted credits had returned. Then it turned into two-thousand points, three-thousand, four…

The name zoomed forward, pushing everyone else’s names down in its path. It was like a mad dog off its leash, a drifting hearse, a military ox on fire destroying the list.

Top ten, top five, top three…In the end, the silent and bleak Banner clenched his fist. With his face twisting, he roared coarsely, “Ye Qingxuan!”

The situation changed in the snap of a finger. On the list, in first place was Ye Qingxuan! And the points behind him were still rapidly soaring. Five-thousand, six, seven…eight thousand! Nine-thousand!

“Nine thousand?” Richard from the executive office was on the beach. His face twitched and looked back at his assistant. “Are you sure he didn’t cheat? We should talk to him…” He paused and muttered a curse in astonishment, “F*cking crazy!”

In an instant, the mimicry of more than one-hundred and ninety graduates had their covers blown by the light. The points that followed put a five-thousand point difference between Ye Qingxuan and Banner, who was in second place.

The completely unreasonable change made everyone feel suffocated and powerless, as if they saw the abyss between the two. At that moment, countless students squeezed a hopeless moan from their throats, “That Eastern f*cker…”

–

In the conference room in the second floor of the auditorium, the professors felt the change much more directly than the dramatic changes of the ranking. The aerial display projected on the wall flashed at that moment. A black spot in the middle of that desert island emitted a blinding light. It was the overlapping depletion of hundreds of credits.

Immediately thereafter, the red dots of the entire map began to vibrate wildly. Patches disappeared at a time. It was as if an invisible palm descended from the sky and swept across, wiping away all the mimics. Finally, only a few sparse ones that had slipped through the net remained on the entire map. And in the few seconds of total chaos of the rankings, Ye Qingxuan completed the big jump from the bottom.

Under everyone’s eyes, he moved unbridled. He broke through the rankings and rushed to the top, leaving all other students behind him. The gap between them was as large as a natural moat.

The whole conference room fell into a long silence. Nobody had processed what had just happened. When they finally did, there was an explosion of movement. No matter how they tried to restrain themselves, nothing could stop the professors from whispering to one another.

Amongst the crowd, Ingmar’s complexion was livid. “The Easterner…is he mad?” He gritted his teeth, clenched his fist under the table, and looked angrily at Abraham. “Abraham, what the h*ll just happened?!” Everyone became quiet in an instant and looked at the silent man.

Under everyone’s gazes, Abraham dully looked up with a puzzled expression. “Even if you ask me, I’m not sure either…”

“Are you f*cking kidding me?” Ingmar took Abraham’s obtusity as mockery. His face reddened as he said through clenched teeth, “Your student rushed to the first place as if he was cheating, and you tell me that you don’t know. What kind of professor are you?”

“This…” Abraham thought for a moment and shook his head. “Yezi is a very good student. He learns things quickly. And, well, he constantly gives people surprises. Just like now. Well, it’s not a big deal if everyone gets used to it … “He squeezed out a reluctant smile. “Yes, just get used to it.”

Get used to it your *ss! Ingmar practically spat out blood. He glared at Abraham with hatred and took out the aether ball. Connected it to the Requiem enchantment, he began to analyze the fluctuations in the illusion and aether directly.

After years of immersion in the School of Modifications, Ingmar instantly had his aether ball reflect the changes in the illusion, as well as the complex changes in the aether.

The layers of silver tracks revealed intricate music scores and melodies. The notes that had practically solidified intertwined and formed an illusionary image. It was essence realized by a musician who had thoroughly mastered the heart of the music score.

He saw it. There was a reddish turbulence in the silver dust of the aether ball. It was a red skirt on the stage. A coquettish girl was dancing. Her moves were sometimes gentle and sometimes passionate. It was a captivating dance, wild enough that it seemed the red dress was set on fire. One could not help but be captivated.

“A music score from Modifications?” Ingmar said to himself and immediately reacted. No, the movement of Modifications had always been known for its explosiveness and change. There would not be any human intention.

So, what score was it?

It was seemingly frenzied and passionate, but it always followed a rhythm. The interpretation and construction of the music score was incredible. The aether followed the rhythm’s guidance, changed from a gurgling stream into a torrent, thunder-like power brewed silently within.

The composer’s undeliberate breath, and his round and smooth movements were admirable enough. Not to mention the unimaginably high control of aether needed…The source was unknown, but Ingmar was sure that there was absolutely no score from Revelations that had such an image!

In an instance, something seemed dawn on Ingmar. His expression changed drastically and he stared directly at Abraham with ferocious eyes. “Abraham, if I find out that you violated the military’s confidentiality agreement and taught that eastern kid the School of Abstinence, I will make sure you’re punished for it.”

The atmosphere of the entire conference room became stifled. Everyone looked at Abraham with suspicion. At the front, even Princess Mary frowned.

Given the immense destructive power of the School of Abstinence, its teaching must be carried out under the supervision of the silent authority of the Musicians’ Union, endorsed by the military, and after multiple agreements had been signed.

If anyone violated the law, the most lenient punishment was that both professor and student would be thrown into the Mithril Cellar and never be able to come into contact with aether ever again. If Abraham had really bypassed the agreement’s restrictions with some trick and taught the School of Abstinence to his students…then not even the Royal Academy of Music would tolerate him anymore!

Abraham suddenly became everyone’s target. He froze in bewilderment as if he had not yet processed everything.

After a long time, he looked at Ingmar and asked uncertainly, “You… have you misunderstood something?”