Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Sigmund. Sigmund Hoffman.
A musician who made his name during King Arthur’s reign, he was from the School of Rock and Iron in Asgard and joined the Son of the Oak, a well-known branch in the school of abstinence, at the age of 24. The following year, because of dissidence regarding music theory, he was expelled by the Son of the Oak and disappeared from the public eye since then.
At the age of 30, he came to Avalon and swore allegiance to Arthur. He joined the Royal Musician Division, the cream of the crop of the 13 orchestras. After achieving the Level of Master, he served as the deputy head of the orchestra. With a music theory, which was completely different from that of mainstream musicians at the time and was even considered heretical by some, he established the School of Stone Heart and passed it down.
In other words, he was the founder of the School of Stone Heart. To some extent, he was Ye Qingxuan’s forebear.
After all, the technology of Ye Qingxuan’s Sub-originator was obtained from the item Sigmund had passed down. So, Ye Qingxuan couldn’t avoid being referred to as the atavic successor of the School of Stone Heart. What was more, Ye Qingxuan had also added his own innovations.
Music theories would resonate with each other if they were derived from the same source, let alone Sub-originators compiled of music theory, which had intangible mutual sensing between them. Such mutual sensing became especially strong when the distance between the two was less than ten meters.
Ye Qingxuan was getting a headache from the thought of fighting against his forebear. What was more, he also respected this Mr. Sigmund very much, and he really didn’t want to see the elder musician on the battlefield. But in this regard, Sigmund had nothing to hesitate about but had instead stopped the principal conductor who was getting ready to take the field and opted to fight against Ye Qingxuan by himself.
Fortunately, even though the musicians of the first generation had died for centuries, they still retained an almost instinctual pride and dignity from their past, and they would never choose to besiege a musician of a younger generation.
Sigmund opted for the most traditional manner of fighting, a duel between musicians. He stood still ten meters before Ye Qingxuan, advanced no further and simply waved. Countless dust particles flew and condensed into a faint circle, enveloping a large area.
Then, as Ye Qingxuan looked on, Sigmund took off the alchemy equipment on him and handed it to others. In the end, only the dress suit and gray coat that he was wearing remained, as well as the gray-black cane in his hand.
As his Symphony of Predestination began operating slowly, a vast power rose from his body without any disguise and could be clearly seen by everyone.
Behind him, the coat of arms of the School of Stone Heart rose slowly.
Sigmund gazed at Ye Qingxuan and waited silently for a response.
His eyes remained empty.
…
What is this? How to Fight against Your Forebear for Dummies?
Ye Qingxuan couldn’t help but get a headache. Even among the various versions of duels between musicians, the one Sigmund had chosen was the most classical and formal. Participants would remove all their external equipment, demonstrate their strength and declare the school they came from. They would only rely on their own powers and nothing else when dueling.
The method would enable the outcome to be determined in the fairest way possible.
Ye Qingxuan was silent for a moment. Jiu Xiao Huan Pei faded into nothingness from his fingertips, and he removed various alchemy equipment from himself before stepping into the circle of dust.
Across a distance that wasn’t very far, the two bowed to each other, their actions so synchronized that they looked as if they were cast from the same mold. Ye Qingxuan looked up, and his Symphony of Predestination revealed itself. It consisted of the seal of moonlight, catastrophe resonation…and the stone of sage which had combined with his Sub-originator.
In an instant, a round moon descended from the realm of aether and floated behind Ye Qingxuan, the cold, clear moonlight spilling down. The world became calm and quiet once more.
This is…a Sub-originator? Shock flashed across Sigmund’s eyes. Soon, he tapped the ground with his cane. In the crisp sound, aether waves were awakened and rose from his body.
Under his garment, his heart gave off a glow as bright as fire.
His Sub-originator awakened.
The complicated music theories within were entangled with each other and formed a stable structure. It separated from his body and floated above his shoulders. Simply by appearing, the huge gravitational force coming from its music theory was enough to distort reality, and vague illusions of flames leaping formed faintly.
The Sub-originator had been constructed in the most orthodox way possible. It was combined with precious materials from the realm of aether, implanted into the human body, and formed an aetheric organ after being transformed with music theory.
Such was Sigmund’s Sub-originator.
Although its structure could not be compared to the huge moon, each detail of it was exquisite and down-to-earth, having been perfected over and over again. Nothing unnecessary was present, and God knew how many music theories were contained within the Sub-originator of the size of a fist. Countless instances of nature interference were occurring in it, and it had even evolved to contain the essence of the school of modifications.
Employing the powers of modifications via the powers of abstinence, the music theories involved ranged across two systems.
The path of domain formed the carrier, while the path of commandment constructed the pure essence of modifications.
It was awe-inspiring.
But that wasn’t all.
As the cane tapped the ground once more, in the crisp sound, a brand new aether wave was awakened. The bones in Sigmund’s right hand lit up, and the power residing in it rose, constructing its form from nothingness. Unexpectedly, it was another Sub-originator!
This time around, revealed in the Sub-originator was a faint Eye of Bestiality—the school of summoning!
Then, Ye Qingxuan’s expression changed.
A third wave rose.
Above Sigmund’s left hand, the slumbering Sub-originator awakened and floated in the air, revealing its true nature. In the Sub-originator which resembled a burl, a strong aura of vitality was exuded. On the surface of the burl, a viscous liquid formed by music theory dripped, corroding the ground when drops of it landed and making a hissing sound. It was a vicious, spine-chilling poison…
The school of choir!
But it was far from over!
The fourth, the fifth, and the final, sixth bubble-like Sub-originator, which represented the school of magic, rose slowly. Six distinct Sub-originators gathered behind Sigmund, as if six masters had gathered there, their minds in sync, fitting each other perfectly and resonating as one. With one’s own self and body in a leading role, the six systems of music theory were controlled.
Collated under the axis of the music theory of the school of abstinence, the seven systems of music had converged into a complete Symphony of Predestination.
Ye Qingxuan took in a deep breath of cold air. He had mastered almost all of the music theories employed by Sigmund. He didn’t even feel any trace of concealment on Sigmund’s part when learning them, as if Sigmund was teaching him without reservations. But Ye Qingxuan had never thought of such an application method of the Sub-originator music theory.
Such was the pinnacle of the Sub-originator, the ultimate achievement of the School of Stone Heart!
“I initially thought that since the old gentlemen were in deep slumber for the past centuries, they must have been abandoned by the times. The fact that they are capable of such terrifying means took me by surprise…” Ye Qingxuan smiled bitterly and nodded as a sign of respect. “Excuse me for not realizing it any earlier.”
Protected by the six Sub-originators, Sigmund stood in the center of them, the seven systems of music converging into one. Faced with Ye Qingxuan’s words, he did not reply, but simply raised his cane, clearly expressing his intention to fight without hiding.
Bang! The duel began!
At that very moment, the exact same melody rang out from the directions of both musicians.
Holy! In a flash, the light of heaven gathered like a stream of water, forming invisible barriers around each of the two, the holy domains constructed.
The two used the same tactics coincidentally. With Holy being the core movement passed down in the School of Stone Heart, its playing was done with a unique skill set. Before musicians of the school managed to create their legend and form their scepter, the domain set up by Holy would be the most suitable arena for them to unleash their powers. In other words, it could construct a defense position for them.
The domain of Holy that was constructed by Sigmund combined the variations of the seven systems of music. In the blink of an eye, countless music theories gathered, breaking the barrier between the Physical World and the realm of aether, instantly creating a unique, alienated territory.
As for where Ye Qingxuan was at, countless rays of moonlight flowed, and bubbles emerged faintly from the moonlight, fantasy-like. The path he took was not Sigmund’s way of controlling the seven systems of music with the music theory of the school of abstinence, but the path of the dreamweaver, which involved constructing a dream with the music theory of the school of abstinence after blending it with that of the schools of mind and magic.
After learning from the books of the Religious Court of Inquiry, the music theory and structure of his domain had subtly included the elements of purification and ‘righteousness’. The two copies of the music theory of Holy started off the same, but in the hands of the two, they had become completely different. Unexpectedly, the two finished constructing the domains of Holy at the same time.
Immediately after, neither one hesitated as they reached out, pointed forward, and guided each Symphony of Predestination to burst forth in a roar. But no other effects emerged, for the two had abandoned other movements, and once again chose the core technique of the school of abstinence coincidentally.
Nature interference!
It was a brutal showdown of the two domains of Holy. Uncountable occurrences of nature interference took place rapidly one after another under the operation of the two. The air was turbulent, like ripples in water. But at the moment, hundreds and thousands of ripples were forming and dissipating in an instance!
The two used their Sub-originators as weapons and carried out nature interference. Countless music theories gushed out like a flood as they attempted to rewrite and seize each other’s defensive position.
The circle of dust that was ten meters in diameter seemed to have been thrown into another world altogether.
The broken slates crumbled into dust, and the dust was swept up by a gale that emerged out of nowhere, but the gale quickly disappeared without a trace. The dust fell rapidly and was burned into fine crystals in the high temperature without warning. The crystals then gathered together due to the turbulent gravitational forces.
The soil was as turbulent as an ocean. Countless crystals emerged from it, blooming like flowers, but were soon flattened by stronger waves, wilting and disappearing into nothingness. Numerous strange sights appeared out of thin air and dissipated just as suddenly.
As the domains of Holy clashed, the Symphonies of Predestination of the two slammed into each other brutally. The torrents of aether in the Sub-originators burst forth, countless music theories unfolded and expanded rapidly.
The key to the mysteries of aether was hidden in everything in the world, be it birth or aging, sickness or death, soil, water, fire or wind… Everything was just made up of various transformations and forms of music theory.
One could interfere with the nature of matter via notes, assign characteristics to matter via music theory, activate powers with musical movements. As long as one had possessed a deep enough understanding of the essence of aether, one could embark on the road to the Originator.
Such was the belief held by the musicians of the school of abstinence.
At the moment, due to the massive amount of nature interference by the two, aether had distorted the rules of the Physical World. The pull of gravity radiating from music theories blurred the boundaries between the real and the illusory. Within the circle of dust, the level of aether turbulence had surged to the highest reading ever, which had been obtained in a black zone, and broke the limit. The entire circle of dust was pushed into the dimension of the sea of aether.
Renounce the concept of self.
Under the interference of the music theory of the school of abstinence, both of them replaced their blood circulation with aether circulation, reposing their souls in their Symphonies of Predestination, turning themselves into beings closer to the realm of aether.
They had almost become oddities.
As the environment changed, the pull of gravity of music theories themselves became stronger and stronger as the realm of aether was drawn closer.
In the end, as the two domains battled and deviated, the huge pressure tugged at their Sub-originators, which slipped into the core of the battle!
Boom! The six Sub-originators revolved like stars, and the huge gravitational field formed collided with the Pure White Moon!
The showdown entered a feverish stage!
