by Feng Yue
“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!
190 Drifting Hearse
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.