by Feng Yue
Ye Qingxuan’s consciousness was instantly swept by the wild tides and was almost lost in the aether sea. Thankfully, the Sword’s light pulled him back into Heaven on Earth. In the cracked territory, Ye Qingxuan’s pallor was pale and the halo above his head was dim.
“Didn’t know you could do this. So impressive!” Wiping away the blood from his mouth and nose, he asked quietly, “But even for you, it must be tiring to influence the aether sea like this, right?”
There was no fear or panic in his voice. It was as if he had predicted this long ago and everything was in control. He did not look menacing with blood flowing from his nose and mouth. Instead, he smiled brightly.
Paganini frowned. “What are you thinking of now?”
“At any time,” Ye Qingxuan held up two fingers, “you must have a back-up plan, even if you prepared everything and every segment seems flawless. This is something I learned recently from a certain b*stard.” With that, he slowly raised the Sword. Spinning it around, the blade was reversed and aimed at his heart. As Paganini looked on in confusion, he brought the sword down!
Ye Qingxuan screamed in immense pain. Inside the Heaven on Earth, the Sword dug into his heart and came out from behind his back. He had stabbed through his sub-originator! The two were finally one!
Like melting gold, bubbling gold color flowed in all directions from the beating sub-originator, invading Ye Qingxuan’s flesh. In a moment, Ye Qingxuan’s body was about to evaporate under the immense strength.
Paganini gaped. The youth…stabbed himself? What was he trying to do?
Seeing his shock, Ye Qingxuan grinned through the pain. He was not crazy, of course. He stabbed himself because of the relationship between the sub-originator and the Sword. For the time being, before the sub-originator broke down, he would not be destroyed by this power. He just wanted to get rid of something in his body that did not belong to him. It was something in his brain that had accompanied him all these years… The seal!
In an instant, the blade melted into his blood. The radiant light coursed with his blood through his body until, in Ye Qingxuan’s mind, a vague sword appeared and came down on him.
Crack. It was the sound of shackles shattering, stone crashing, and an instrument playing. Deep inside Ye Qingxuan, the layers of hints from Ye Lanzhou that restricted him were cut apart by this aggressive sword!
He had broken through the seal! Now, the Deva’s blood that had been sealed since birth and the sleeping talent was finally awakened!
390 This Road Leads to the Sky
“For goodness sake!” Outside Auschwitz, Mr. Hu sat in the ruins and kept sighing. There was bright gold burning in his eyes. He could see through all the camouflage. When he saw Ye Qingxuan with the sword and the spirit of musical theory emitting from his body, his face twisted as if he had a toothache.
“Ye Lanzhou…was that guy crazy?” His looked as if he saw someone burn an instrument to make goose stew or kill hens to get the eggs. He almost banged his head with his hands. “If the Ye family still existed, this child would be scheduled to be the next family leader just by virtue of this talent! Ye Lanzhou, what the hell were you thinking?”
That guy had sealed the next family leader and destroyed the hope of the Ye family’s revival. How much did he hate Ye family? Or…how much did he hate the Deva’s blood in his body?
Thinking of this, he became more troubled. It might sound impolite, but because of the late emperor’s dotage…a lot of mistakes were committed.
He sighed. Among the nine dragon bloodlines, other than the Yuan family who chose to live a secluded life for the inheritance of swordsmanship, the remaining eight families were all musicians.
The Modifications of Yunlou family reached a summit. They dominated the sea by virtue of ‘Di Jun’ in hand. The Liu family was known as ‘haunted night stalkers.’ With the inheritance of pipa score ‘Flying Devil,’ they could summon ghosts and beasts and govern deaths. Many grandmasters came from this family.
The Bai family had been annihilated so their achievements in Revelations were cut off. The Zhangsun family was known for its ‘Moon in the Well.’ Blending water and moonlight, they found the essence of Abstinence… The problem though was that there were only seven schools of musicians, but there were eight dragon bloodlines… This was where the Ye family came into play as a variable.
Since ancient times, the Ye family had never been dedicated to one school. What school was chosen or what research was done depended on individual interests. There were also some people who studied multiple schools, but there were also some who never aspired to be musicians. Instead, they were poets, painters, doctors or workers. Someone even became a carpenter…
The family never meddled in their choices on what to learn and what to do. As a result, this family tended to be good at quite weird things.
To be musicians, the most important thing was inheritance. Fickleness was one big taboo. Usually, a single music theory’s development needed generations of musicians to accumulate and research untiringly. How could such a family like the Ye’s compete with others?
Now the most important problem was this: except in ring duels, the Ye family was always able to win the other families when meeting a greater enemy. It was their d*mned talent! It was known as the most shameless, the most undignified, the most unreasonable talent…
“Heaven Ladder!” Mr. Hu gazed at the arc in the sky with a complex expression. “The steps to heaven have disappeared for forty years.”
It was a strange power that only the Ye’s had. Every previous family leaders was gifted with this. The rarity of this was second only to the one and only matchlessness of Ye Lanzhou.
With that talent, the user would be able to cross the seven schools and operate perfectly. No conflict of music theories would happen during their studying. They could even transform all the schools into one, confirming mutually under the united ladders.
If one way was temporarily impassable for them, they just took another one. After the breakthrough, they could go back and make it up. It was like having a meal card to eat in seven canteens and an IOU to get seven loans. They just had six more roads than others…
It was not much. They just started earlier than others and their advancing speed was a little bit faster. To be a genius may sound scary, but there were always one or two of them every 10 years. However, the most shameless part about ‘Heaven Ladder’ was its name… It was the ladder to heaven! It could break the blockade of “Disconnection of Heaven from Earth”. It started from the earth, extending endlessly.
It had neither a destructive power like Zhaodang nor so absolute a domination like Taiyi. It was not like the Nether that could almost bear the infinite beastly nature, nor could it load theories endlessly as the Heaven Book did. It only had ‘distance.’
As of today, no one had measured the extent of its distance. Placed on this land, whether in the east or the west, in the sky or the deep sea, or even in the Dark World, no matter how far away, it could help musicians to carry out coherence with their own people!
You fought the young then the old came.
You fought one then a group came out…
The former Ye musicians practically carried their entire family with them wherever they went.
As long as they had the time and chance, so long as the other party was willing to accept coherence, then the two would be able to be connected by the ‘ladder.’ There would be no energy loss, noise, or interferences. The recipient and senders could even be replaced at any time! In other words, the enemy never knew who they were fighting with…
Perhaps it was Modifications the first moment and then there would be a Mind hint the next moment. Although there were many constraints on the ‘coherence between different schools,’ once the talent was started, the result would be the Ye family beating the others in various ways.
“What a pity that your talent came too late.” Mr. Hu heaved a sigh and lowered his eyes. “You are nineteen years late…”
You came too late.
-
And just at that moment, his shoulder suddenly shook. He raised his head in shock. Above the sky, a symphony of predestination was played passionately.
“Who is it?!” he gasped.
-
When the seal was broken, Ye Qingxuan’s sight went black. He coughed out blood. The blood evaporated. Soon, some force bloomed within him. As if opening his eyes again after thousands of years, a disappointed sigh came to the ear.
Jiu Xiao Huan Pei suddenly shivered. It turned into fine silver lights that flew into Ye Qingxuan’s body. In an instant, the lights mingled with the path of musicians that was made by four music theories in his consciousness. Then, the imaginary road suddenly soared, rising inch by inch!
Ye Qingxuan stretched straight into the aether sea from where he stood, heedless of the turmoil of chaos, the noise of every corner, and the majestic gravity of the abyss. He went through the aether sea in an instant, fell into the silent cemetery of the aether world, and combined with the scepter that drifted there. The instruments strings seemed to have crossed the aether and physical world. Merely shaking, it created an illusory sound, crisp as glass breaking.
Combined with the music theory from the talent, it could finally detach from the material and restore its original state.
It seemed to be nothing but something; it was misty as fog but connected the world! This was the complete device that Ye’s had been passing down.
The real Jiu Xiao Huan Pei!
Then Ye Qingxuan saw it.
It was the long-lost dream.
It was as if he had arrived in a world where everything was dead. Barrenness and coldness spread all over the tomb and tombstone. In the silence, only the cold wind crossed the forest-like tombstones. The wind was like some kind of soft call, calling for his arrival.
Perhaps this was his long-lost dream, a dream that slept in the heart of every Ye family member. This was the end of his dream.
He finally realized that this was what Ye Lanzhou wanted to leave to him—the Ye family scepter, the dream left by countless dreamers. But those who dreamed the same dream were all dead, so this place was dying, becoming so dilapidated.
But when the cold sound of Jiu Xiao Huan Pei rang out, the extinguished lights suddenly lit up before the countless tombstones. There were one, two, until countless lights illuminated this still and dark world.
The will awoke from in the Scepter now. The will remaining in the dead opened his eyes, gazing at the youth who returned after a hundred years.
A familiar figure appeared.
The figure’s black clothing was decorated with a silver emblem. His white hair was like flowing silver. He was old but young, a man or a woman. He looked like Ye Lanzhou but also like himself, like every man of the Ye family who had once lived in this world. He looked like a giant bred from chaos. That was the spirit, the last power born from the scepter.
As he appeared, countless silent graves and twisted tombs quickly dispersed, leaving behind an empty and gloomy dream.
In that vague dream, he stepped forward. A radiant sun rose from the east, brightening the world. The earth stretched under his feet and stars emerged from the night, creating a starry night. Everything on Earth was aroused!
As he moved on, the world changed, until at last, time shifted and everything rebirthed. Between the heaven and earth, everything existed as they should. The sun was shining and there was no more haze.
The spirit of the scepter, which had gathered all the remaining will, stretched out its fingers onto Ye Qingxuan’s forehead.
So the finally seal came undone. The memories of the past, the longings that had sunk in his brain, and the long-forgotten pains all appeared.
They were not like mist nor water, but angular pillars and stone bricks with the weight that was enough to crush everything. They came together. The huge shadow engulfed the young figure but also penetrated his body and disappeared without trace.
Ye Qing closed his eyes subconsciously, feeling the wind whistle. He opened his eyes but saw thunder and lightning. Countless stone bricks collided with each other, sparking with fiery electric light. That roar could even be heard above the sky.
Layers overlapped before the teenager; countless textures emerged from the strong and long-lasting memories. They were invited to come and materialized under some kind of strong power. They integrated into a white giant tower piercing to the sky.
The giant tower stabbed into the sky, piercing the clouds and the sky, and extended to the horizon… It seemed endless.
“Take the path you chose.” the voice sighed softly.
A stone ladder unfolded under the giant tower, stretching around the tower and coiling up toward the top until it was obscured by clouds and could no longer be seen.
“This way leads to the sky.”
The figure took a final glance at him and dissipated. The dream scepter suspended in the aether world quickly collapsed, contracted, and closed again.
This was the last power that remained in it. Unless Ye Qingxuan advanced to scepter level to awaken it again, the dream might never be activated again.
He opened his eyes. There was no time for melancholy or nostalgia. At that moment, the fragile realms of Heaven on the Earth were finally shattered. In the mournful melody, countless dark movements came roaring like an earthquake.
He took a deep breath and uttered the first call of his life, “Lola, save me!”
The next moment, Ye Qingxuan was pulverized.
391 It’s All a Trick
Burn to death, drown to death, freeze to death.
Flatten into a pancake, twist into a braid, burn into dust.
Turn into a demon, cremate into cinders, dig out his own eyes and heart while laughing crazily, die from a broken neck, die naturally, die from a curse, die when poisonous algae grows on his body, die from heart failure, die from high blood pressure, die from music theory breakdown, die from psychosis…
Die, die, die.
For a moment, Ye Qingxuan experienced dozens of ways to die. The hallucinations flashed past his eyes but the pain crashed fully onto his body. They were not hallucinations; they were real. The only unreal thing was Ye Qingxuan.
For a moment, he could not separate real from illusion. The difference was blurred. Seeing dozens of himself die horrible deaths, Ye Qingxuan’s mind went numb. How many times did Paganini want to kill him?
“How long are you going to be shocked for?” a furious voice rose in his mind. “Do you know how much it takes for one ‘illusion wipe’? Going into coherence without even asking, messing everything up and making me wipe your *ss, do you really think I’m a cheap relative?”
It was obviously Lola’s voice. To be honest, Ye Qingxuan had felt hopeless when he realized how much of a scam his talent was. However, at the same time, he realized that although he was the only true Ye, there was still a ‘distant relative!’
She was Ye Lanzhou’s inheritor in Anglo, the moon spirit with the same music theory and path as him, the criminal mastermind of downtown, the professor of sinner cram schools—Lola!
The application goal of Heaven Ladder was the Deva blood of the Ye family. However, Deva’s blood was just an inheritable product from combining music theory structure and blood. The Ye’s were born with it, but that did not mean others could not achieve it.
Lola had been taught personally by Ye Lanzhou and had tailored lessons. Other than Moonlight, which was too destructive for dark tribes, she was able to absorb everything else. No music scores or theories were hidden from her. Ye Lanzhou had treated her better than his own son. Now, Lola had no other flaws except for her surname.
If this could not work, then Ye Qingxuan would have to surrender and give up his neck. Thankfully, the result was just as Ye Qingxuan had guessed. Lola had reacted quickly and instantly accepted
the coherence, successfully saving everything. Ye Qingxuan had lost count how many times she had saved him.
“Aha,” Ye Qingxuan laughed shyly. “You’re so good to me. I’m almost in love with you!”
“I’m old enough to be your grandma! Kid, your taste is quite wild.” Lola was used to Ye Qingxuan’s ‘flirtatious’ words. She scoffed. “That’s your talent?”
“Yeah, isn’t it powerful?”
“What are you proud over? You’re even better at making messes but I’ve never seen you feel bad! What are you facing this time?”
“Uh, how do I say it? This enemy’s pretty significant. He has a high status and has been around for a while. I guess he’s a senior. Lola, you should be prepared mentally. Don’t get too excited.”
“Spit it out!”
“Ha, uh, it’s Paganini.” After Ye Qingxuan replied, the line seemed to have cut off. Lola had no reaction and everything was still. So he added, “Yeah, the one who fell two-hundred years ago and became a dark follower.”
“Ye Qingxuan!!” He could feel an eruption of fury from the other end of the Heaven Ladder. It was like an explosion. Lola screamed without any grace or ladylike manners, “Do you want to die?! If you want to die, then go hang yourself with a rope! Why are you making more trouble? You know what you’re doing? Get ten of me from my strongest time and I couldn’t even defeat his finger? Are you f*cking crazy?
“You’re cool, huh? You just keep making bigger messes! First the Parliament, then Avalon’s Shadow, and now you just go and challenge dark followers! I haven’t seen you in a bit, and you go and get yourself killed…”
Ye Qingxuan listened quietly until she finished cursing and spitting out her thousand-word rant. Then he asked, “So are you going to help?”
Lola fell silent and Ye Qingxuan smiled. “Thanks, Lola. I owe you.” Sensing the power sent by the other end, he opened his eyes. “Now, give me a hand!”
-
Twelve thoughts was one instant. Twenty instants was a moment. Minds could communicate back and forth countless times but it would only be one moment in reality. When Ye Qingxuan opened his eyes, he sensed his horrible situation.
