by Feng Yue
Strong resonance shot out from Casper’s body and stirred the aether sea as he roared. The resonance reflected upon the fiery shadow which then covered his body. The frail youth expanded, changed, and burst with lava-like firelight.
The destructive firelight blinded all who saw. The slovenly youth had vanished, replaced with a ball of fire that shot to the sky. Amongst the flames, a giant dragon-like tail swept across. Black hair flowing with lava followed. The hairs writhed like venomous snakes.
Next, three giant heads spitting sulfur rose from the fire. Black venom dripped from their mouths, falling onto the ground and eroding the tiles with crackles. The poisonous aura spread. The Romulusian warriors eroded and quickly lost the strength from the legend, returning back to normal…
Four eyes on the skull searched around. When its gaze reached there, it froze and stiffened.
The firelight expanded and transformed into the gates to hell. The manmade demon that resulted from centuries of Summoning musicians’ work walked out of the fire. It roared!
This was beastly nature that no human could control. Merely looking at it would make one cave in and tremble from fear.
It was the Hellhound!
351 Past Hallucinations
The moment the Hellhound appeared, the entire territory started trembling. The symphony of predestination was at its limit, and it could no longer take it, especially faced with the ‘scepter killer’ created by the School of Summoning.
Amongst the various beastly natures that created the Hellhound, the strongest were the three heads that controlled the hound. And amongst them, the most important was the demon wolf that could swallow the sun in legends.
In order to fuse the beastly nature and human body completely, the school had wagered the phantom beast saved within the aether world and drew its essence into the inheritance of the beastly nature.
Now, the Hellhound raised its three heads. They roared in unison. The menacing wolf in the center threw its head back. Opening its mouth, it tore at the invisible music theory and swallowed all light. The sea of light poured into its throat but could not sate it. It was a key point in the School of Modifications—the nemesis of ‘heat’ of ‘light.’ With its existence, the territory that relied on endless light was in danger.
After swallowing much light, the Hellhound tripled in size. The dark aura around it thickened. Roaring, it charged into the Romulusian army. Its tail swung, tearing through the formation. It cut through the dying six-headed snake and roared without waiting for the priests to start beating the drum again.
The drum exploded; the priest broke down and was divided by the three large mouths. The wolf forcefully pushed back the saint’s boundless electric light and the territory’s immense pressure. It ravaged the territory. Extreme pressure focused onto the Hellhound but the wild beast did not care. It charged at the sun in the air again and again. It allowed itself to be burned all over.
Whenever the beast was injured, Torre’s body would shudder. Various ghastly seams cracked open on his skin as if an invisible chain connected him and the beast. The cost of turning into a complete beast was sealing one’s humanity. The ‘result’ was completely losing control and falling into the abyss of demonization. This was something the School of Summoning would never allow. Thus, there must be restrictions.
Casper’s restriction was his brother Torre. When Casper’s humanity regressed and was replaced by the beastly nature, Torre took charge of controlling him. Discipline Abstinence musicians had placed a large shackle on the wolf. Torre gripped the shackle, constraining the wolf within it.
With the Hellhound’s hindrance, Sam, still in the state of spirit incarnation, started up again. He quickly attacked the saint. Torrents of fiery thunder and layers of icy metal fell upon the sun.
He must extinguish Romulusian’s former glory!
-
Above the sun, the Hole of Destruction had contracted to the size of a thumb. Its music theory was one touch away from breaking apart. The musician controlling it sensed the shaking of the territory. Determination flashed past his eyes and he clenched his fist,
The Hole of Destruction exploded soundlessly. The energy created from the destruction of everything it had sucked in now poured out like a waterfall.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Tragic cracks appeared on the scepter continuously. Even the saint’s body cracked. Through the cracks, one could vaguely see burning light flowing in his body like blood. The symphony of predestination was nearing its climax but it suffered attack after attack. It was close to the end.
Behind Sam, the shadow of the Copper Mountain rumbled. Under the frantic melody, countless bolts of lightning grouped in his hand and transformed into a spear hundreds of miles long. He hurled it into the saint’s chest.
The spear did not fly out—it dove straight toward the core of the territory. Then it broke apart and swept in all directions as streams of light. The territory in its path shattered. The Romulusian formation evaporated into steam.
As the lightning spear continued to attack, the Hellhound roared. The three heads spat out true dragon breaths! Red light that represented ultimate destruction fell upon the saint’s body. There was a thunderous roar. The scepter in the saint’s hand shattered!
The endless sea of light, the countless cheering spectators, the shadows of spirits, and the hoarse yet solemn eclogue all disappeared. The incomplete realm within the aether sea completely broke apart. Disorderly streams of light shot into all directions. The glorious scepter was destroyed!
-
That instant, Ye Qingxuan’s body shook. Lowering his head, he vomited scarlet blood.
His consciousness had almost gone with the symphony of predestination’s spirit. Thankfully he had constricted at the last moment and escaped the terrifying storm.
However, streams of chaotic hallucinations came toward him in the empty space of consciousness. He saw everything this saint had seen. He saw the clouds in the sky and, in the clouds, he saw the vast black shadow that covered the earth. The shadow hung in the Romulusian air, covering the sun, announcing the arrival of the spirit.
He saw a bustling city fall apart. Countless people wailed, blood flowed into a river, bodies separated, countless people died in horrible ways, and infants cried in their cradles.
He saw a seemingly familiar face. The eerily handsome blond youth held his head. Smiling, he closed the unseeing eyes of the dead saint. Ye Qingxuan could faintly see the design of two entangled snakes on the man’s palm.
Next, it was the golden era of Romulus again. Countless historical miracles replayed before his eyes. He could feel that everyone was calling out one man’s name in unison.
In the next memory, he saw a spirit burning in flames. This was Romulus’s first emperor. He had created the glorious empire. Worshipped as a god, the hero rose from the holy flames. Looking up into the sky, he shed scarlet tears.
At the end of the hallucinations, Ye Qingxuan saw a large door open. Beyond the door was the familiar palace. However, a sad middle-aged man walked into Hades’ Door through the palace, walking into the darkness. The man wore a sacred robe but he did not care for it at all. The robe was ragged and nothing like its original appearance. The ring of entwined rings told Ye Qingxuan who he was.
The King of Yellow! He was the King of Yellow!
He walked through Hades’ Door and into the darkness that Ye Qingxuan could not see. There, someone lit a torch, illuminating three figures.
“Let us begin.”
And the hallucination ended.
Ye Qingxuan’s body shook. He escaped from the space of consciousness but he had no time to think closely. Activating the Governor, he wielded electric light and used all his power to shoot up into the sky.
As if he was launched by a catapult, he pounced toward the falling saint’s body. What was most important right now? Of course, it was fighting for the loot!
This horrible battle had lasted for so long. Now, it was finally time for the victors
to divide up the goods. Countless figures amongst the musicians flew up instantly.
Sam was the closest and had an advantage. He grabbed at the saint’s skeleton but the Hellhound under him reacted speedily. It opened its mouth and pushed in.
The unfair thing was that it had three heads. One head went for the saint, another gnashed at Sam, and the last one turned one-hundred-eighty degrees and blew a gale of wind at the other guys who were coming.
Because of the agreement they had signed, they could not hurt each other. Therefore, no one used techniques that could kill anyone. However, anyone who was a step late would go home empty-handed!
A large majority of them were still letting out relieved sighs and had not yet processed everything when more dark shadows leapt from the crowd. They had clearly held back during the earlier battle. Now, they burst forward with incredible speed. Seeming to have prepared for a long time, they were instantly before the saint’s body.
Then Sam turned around. Behind him, the saint’s shadow let out a desolate song. A mass of air actually solidified, wrapping around the figures like amber. Flames erupted in Sam’s hand and he pushed it onto the Hellhound’s head.
Pop! The head was forced back. A large crack appeared on the skull but healed in the next moment. Wounds that did not injure the core were nothing to the Hellhound.
The man and hound wrestled in mid-air. Swelling aether scattered; icy winds and fiery rain appeared one after another. Sam gripped the saint’s shoulder tightly but the Hellhound bit the corpse’s waist.
As they tried forcing the other to let go, the musician who had summoned the Hole of Destruction appeared behind the saint like a hallucination. He grabbed at the back. Tapping with his fingers, his rings lit up again. The shadow of a woman with hair made of snakes rose behind him and gazed at the others.
Sam’s expression changed. Letting go, he twisted in the air, dodging the incredibly strong fossilization ray. One of the Hellhound’s heads turned into rock instantly. This guy was clearly well-prepared. Grabbing the saint’s body, he turned to leave.
However, something mysterious appeared before him and slammed down on his head before he even had time to smirk. He blacked out and dropped to the ground with a thud.
Ye Qingxuan emerged out of thin air. He shook his cane, turning it into an extremely thick instrument string that curled toward the saint’s body.
“Let go!” someone huffed coldly. A mass of steel plates came whistling. Burning light appeared behind him and the quagmire underfoot bubbled. An unbelievably big snake head poked out, snapping its mouth at Ye Qingxuan.
In the air, Ye Qingxuan’s scalp went numb. He had nowhere to hide in the air. Everyone was restricting themselves and he would not die from all of these powerful direct hits, but he would definitely have to go to the intensive care unit.
Here was the problem: There was one cake and one knife. How could five little kids split it? Most musicians would think that they would just have to kill the other kids. However, if he could not kill the other kids but still wanted the cake for himself, there was only one solution…
352 Skull of Truth
The youth’s eyes were determined. Opening his hand, he let out a beam of blazing light.
The sun had descended. Without warning, countless mirrors refracted the light, practically turning into the sun and blinding everyone. Amidst the pained cries, Ye Qingxuan hurled a mass of metallic wind and thundering rain toward the saint’s body.
There was an blast. The saint’s body exploded into dozens of pieces! Good friends had to learn how to share!
Countless people cried out in shock and anger. Chaos ensued. However, people still rushed against the blinding light to snatch up the broken pieces.
Sam was first. He descended with flames and reached into the mass of light, grabbing with two hands. Various pieces fell into his pocket—the left arm, a rib, and the heart!
The three-headed hound burst into action. All three mouths opened. Taking a deep breath, they swallowed all the shards of the scepter and escaped quickly because all the other musicians had swarmed over.
Broken pieces flew in the air.
With a rumble of thunder, a musician with dreadlocks broke through the air with shocking speed. He left behind white air waves in his path. The guards on his hands and feet were bright red from the friction. Everything blocking him were upended. Pushing against the dazzling light, he grabbed two things before he was swallowed by a thunderstorm. When he rolled out, he was charred black and no longer able to compete.
A giant hand appeared from a crack. It grabbed the saint’s right leg before disappearing.
Baro’s flying Sycle flew across sneakily and bit a crystal that had fallen from the saint’s chest. It quickly disappeared, hiding its achievement. A handful of groups acted at once, dividing up the saint’s right leg.
With an angry roar, a three-meter tall black giant ripped open his clothes and jumped from the crowd. He kicked a competitor aside and snatched half of the left hand. After a few jumps, he was out of the crowd. His body shrunk and his manmade muscles scattered in the wind. Miller walked out, cheekily putting his loot away and taking out a transparent test tube. The liquid inside the tube was clearly not something good.
He shook it before the musicians who had crowded around him with evil intentions. He acted as if he was going to break the tube. The others froze in place, features twisting.
All the musicians fell into chaos during the messy battle. One musician had lost his temper and plunged his dagger through another’s back. That competitor collapsed and he froze in place as well. Metallic light spewed from his throat, wrapping around, and his head fell to the ground.
Violators would die.
The majority pined after the saint’s spine. As a few musicians dueled, the spine was lifted by an air current. It flew in an arc overhead and landed outside the crowd. It landed perfectly into someone’s hand ss if it was a coincidence.
“I’m so lucky.” Colt seemed to have planned to stand there. Faced with everyone’s shocked eyes, he sighed softly and collected the vertebrae without any effort. He subtly stole a glance at the white-haired youth on the other side of the crowd.
Ye Qingxuan remained in his spot, watching as everyone fought over the precious saint’s body. He smiled and put his hands behind his back as if he was not interested at all.
There was a circular bulge in his bag though. The cover showed a strand of burnt hair. The saint’s most valuable body part—the Skull of Truth—had entered his bag without anyone realizing.
Every part of a saint’s body had different uses according to the saint’s territory and scepter when he was still alive. For example, some saints’ rings could provide the ability to breathe and live underwater. The hearts of others could be implanted into another musician’s body, allowing him to be practically immortal.
However, the similarity of all saints was their skulls. Carved with their symphony of predestination and all their spirit, these skulls were known as the Skull of Truth. It could only be used once but if the schools were compatible, the musician could borrow the saint’s remaining power and receive a mysterious experience.
Lifting the fog of reality, the musician could see the true appearance of the aether sea. After this experience, he would receive a large majority of the saint’s previous enlightenments, allowing him to take a giant step forward in music theory and knowledge.
In Ye Qingxuan’s opinion, special alchemy equipment and supernatural abilities were incomparable to the development of one’s own abilities. If he could use this opportunity well, he might be able to answer the Seven Questions for Musicians and reach the Resonance level.
Seeing how Ye Qingxuan had taken his treasure so easily, Colt did not blow his cover. Instead, he just said, “You didn’t even have to let out your hidden ability. Seems like you’re more powerful than I thought.”
Ye Qingxuan just smiled meaningfully. “Try a few more times. There’s always hope.” Hope my ass!
I don’t have any hidden abilities, alright? It’ll be funny if you can force it out of me! You want a hidden ability? Here, I have a whistle that the weird grandmaster gave me. You want it? Take it! he thought.
During the intense fight, everyone took turns pulling tricks and finally, they finished cutting up the saint’s body.
Sam called Baro over, giving his loot to him and said something to Ye Qingxuan. After Ye Qingxuan nodded, his eyes rolled and he passed out. Beside him, Miller had already prepared various medicines and music scores. He put all of them on Sam for emergency treatment. Seventy percent of his body had been severely burnt, and he had extreme blood and energy loss…
There was a cost to being the incarnate of a spirit. Sam had only entered the Resonance level recently. He was still too unfamiliar with Distortion level strength. The stronger the power, the more difficult it was to control. The scarier the music score, the worse the consequences of losing control. One incorrect music score could cause a catastrophe.
Baro summoned a bear to take Sam away. An invisible Sycle guarded them. He looked at Ye Qingxuan and asked, “What now?”
Ye Qingxuan looked back at Hades’ Door. It had cracked open. “Now we’ll see what’s behind it…”
Colt, Torre, and Ye Qingxuan, who had walked over casually, stood before Hades’ Door. They stared at each other but no one took a step forward. One saint’s body was already hard enough to deal with. What if they walked in and six saints climbed out of their coffins?! It was not that probable, but what if?
Colt smiled at Ye Qingxuan and broke the silence. “You first?” According to the rules, Ye Qingxuan should go first and pick what he wanted. However, he was the one who set the rule so he did not have to follow it.
Thinking a bit, he looked at Torre. “You first?”
Torre smiled. He carried his unconscious brother without any intentions of moving. Instead, he looked to Colt. “You go.”
They had gone in a circle but Colt was not surprised. He had expected this. He was the most observant of the three and would definitely know if there was danger behind the door. The other two were unable to rule out the possibility of something hiding there. Colt only had to pretend a little for them to scare themselves.