by Feng Yue
Dreamweaver. This was the unique advancement passed down through the Deva’s blood of the Ye family. All family leaders completed it successfully. Since ancient times, many musicians had engraved movements on the body, such as the School of Stone Heart’s sub-originator. Taking the Deva’s blood for example, there were also many schools that inherited music theories with lineage. But there were few who wanted to take a step closer and tamper with their own consciousness.
Those who dared to do so all went crazy, except the Ye family.
The Ye family forged the aether and music theory into the consciousness, with the dream of the self as the medium, bearing the embryonic form. Body, blood, and consciousness melted into one through the Heaven Ladder transformed from Jiu Xiao Huan Pei, achieving a perfect balance.
Starting at the Resonance level, the grand path to the Scepter level was paved. That was why it was so smooth for him.
Since Ye Qingxuan became a musician apprentice, the embryonic form of the dream began to grow. It drew strength silently from Ye Qingxuan’s consciousness and music theory, stepping into resonance together with him. The dream advanced into the Dreamweaver itself. Now it was the time to reap the harvest.
“Unfortunately, you have no dream to dream.” Lola sighed. “Your music theory is not supported while the aether has nowhere to return. Of course you will feel distracted.”
Ye Qingxuan asked, “Is this common?”
“I have never encountered this before.” Lola answered, “Most of the Dreamweavers have planned their aether dreams before they step forward. Only you have never thought about it. Besides, you’ve lacked desire for the Originator since the beginning. You basically treated the music theory and movements as tools. How can there be a musician like you?”
“Hey, Lola, being a musician had always been my dream.” Ye Qingxuan shrugged. “Don’t I have enough desire?”
“Wanting is different from enjoying.” Lola huffed coldly, “If cooking can satisfy your wish, I think you’d be the best chef of Avalon now. But would you spend a bit of your time trying to be the best chef in the world?”
“…” Ye Qingxuan did not respond.
“That’s the problem, Ye Qingxuan.” Lola sighed. “The identity of ‘musician’ is just a job to you. Have you ever made it a lifelong pursuit? I think you’d prefer to follow Abraham as a scholar of ancient history…”
“I just need to have a dream.” Ye Qingxuan did not want to admit it. “As long as it is a dream, right?”
Lola asked, “If you can just dream, why can’t you fall asleep?”
Ye Qingxuan was speechless. After a long while, he sighed wearily. “How did Ye Lanzhou solve this?”
“I don’t know.” Lola shook her head. “When I met him, he was already a Dreamweaver. As for what his dream was, I believe you have a deep understanding.”
The moon above the sea. With high mountains and flowing water, it was the movement of the Moon.
He had more than a deep understanding. Thinking of this, his eyes brightened. “I’ve learned Moonlight. Can’t I just make a replicate?”
Lola mercilessly shattered his hope. “Moonlight is not the moon.” She said, “Light is the application of appearance; the moon is the essence. You are handy with your application but you know nothing about the nature of the moon over the sea.
“You are always like this. You are good at application but lack interest of the core, purely regarding the movement and music theory as tools. If you are a little interested, you won’t be in such an awkward situation.”
“He taught me.” Ye Qingxuan refused to back down. “There is no reason that I can’t copy it.”
“He just pointed a way to you.”
“A way?” Ye Qingxuan smiled. “I don’t think there is any…” He suddenly froze.
Dream, the end of the dream…the end of the dream… To the end of the dream!
Ye Qingxuan shot up from the ground and smacked his forehead. “How could I forget?”
Ye Lanzhou had left a clue at the very beginning, but he went in the wrong direction.
The end of the dream…
-
Late at night, Wolf Flute was awakened from his dream by Ye Qingxuan. After a long time, he rubbed his eyes and opened the door. Seeing Ye Qingxuan standing before him with bloodshot eyes, his expression grew sour.
“What’s the matter? Yezi, I know you’re anxious but you have to let people sleep, right? Not everyone can work twenty-four hours a day like a machine, like you. I just laid down and was about to close my eyes. If it’s about work, can we just talk about it tomorrow?”
Ye Qingxuan held his hand and solemnly implored, “Please do me a favor.”
Wolf Flute froze. After a while of silence, he took out a flattened pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He picked out a crooked cigarette and lit it. After a few mouthfuls of smoke, he shook his head and finally became more awake.
“What is it?” He sighed. “What did you do this time? Can I, the most useless Scepter musician in history, help you?”
Ye Qingxuan shook his head. “You know I won’t ask for your help for this kind of stuff.”
Wolf Flute paused. “You want to run with Charles?”
“No.”
Wolf Flute looked more and more troubled. “Can I choose not to help you?”
“Wolf Flute, you are my good friend.” Ye Qingxuan held his shoulders with sincere eyes. “Good friends should help each other, right?”
Wolf Flute’s expression quickly changed. “Why does the word ‘friends’ sound not so good from your mouth?”
Ye Qingxuan asked directly, “What did Ye Lanzhou do in the Scared City those years? You have been in the Silent Authority for so long. You must know something, right? I’m talking about the Hecatoncheir thing.”
“…You know about that?” Wolf Flute was stunned. After a while, he shook his head with wry smile. “Let me change.”
Five minutes later, Wolf Flute was dressed appropriately and returned to the door. “Let’s go.” He smoked and led the way. “Follow me.”
-
Two hours later, Ye Qingxuan arrived at the Forbidden Document Preservation Center of the Silent Authority by lift. The big library was still as silent and gloomy as a tomb. However, Ye Qingxuan felt all relaxed. There was not the slightest discomfort. He was practically like fish in water. The royal library was like this anyway. Other than the fact that there was no light, it seemed to be no different. If he had not known he was in a foreign country, he would have asked Gawain out for a chat.
Soon, he saw a wrinkled old dwarf behind the counter.
“Mr. Administrator, we need to check some of files,” said Wolf Flute.
“It’s you again… Oh, a new face. Is this your friend?” The dwarf glanced at Ye Qingxuan and stretched out his hand. “Do you have permission?”
“No.” Wolf Flute shook his head. “This is a private inquiry without any authorization. We do not want anyone to know.”
The dwarf smacked his lips as if he had experienced this before. “Then you need to follow the rules. Who’s going to pay the price?”
Wolf Flute stepped aside, revealing the blank Ye Qingxuan behind him. “Him.”
The dwarf nodded and pulled out an old bronze scale from the counter and laid it on the table. The ancient balance was decorated with gorgeous patterns, seemingly echoing faintly with a distant place, exuding quiet fluctuations.
“I don’t care what you want to know or what you want to do,” the dwarf said indifferently. “Coming here, you have to follow my rules.”
“Exchange. Knowledge is valuable and it can be exchanged with what you know. Write the keywords you want to know on the paper and put it on the left. The scale will determine the weight. If you can provide something of equal value, the trade will be made.”
Ye Qingxuan looked at the balance. “What can be used for trading?”
“No only music theory, movement, intelligence, secrets, but also gossip magazines, street gossip
. As long as it is knowledge.” The dwarf said lightly, “This is one of the entrances to the Nibelungenlied. It leads to the world of the Philosopher. Even the Lighthouse is only part of it. As long as you pay enough, you can even know what color the pope’s underpants are.”
“Well, I’ll see what color the Pope’s underpants are.”
Ye Qingxuan became excited. Rubbing his hands, he wrote the key words ‘Pope’s underwear color’ on the note despite of Wolf Flute’s dissuasion and placed it on the left of the balance.
Thud!
444 Scale
Thud! It was as if a ton of iron smashed onto the ground. The scale on the left was instantly pushed to the bottom. On a scale to ten, it was pushed to nine.
Ye Qingxuan stared at it for a while before looking up. “What’s the price for this?”
The dwarf emotionlessly took a teacup out of nowhere. Taking a sip, he said, “This means you have to find a sum worth a library of this scale. It is second only to the music theory password of the Sacred City central control center. It’s equal to about ten Heaven Doors.”
“That expensive?” Ye Qingxuan was dumbfounded.
“If you think it’s expensive, then don’t buy it.” The dwarf scoffed. “This isn’t for the poor.”
Ye Qingxuan was speechless. He quickly exchanged the paper.
It said Ye Qingxuan.
The scale dipped down to 0.1. Ye Qingxuan stared for a while and asked, “How much is this?”
“This is ‘worthless’.” The dwarf glanced at him. “You can get it with any two elementary books.”
“That cheap?!” Ye Qingxuan’s heart broke. “I’m one-ninetieth of the Pope’s underpants!”
“Every scale mark increases exponentially.” The dwarf sneered. “This isn’t even worth 0.1. It’s just the smallest unit. The things you want to know are probably all common knowledge now!”
Ye Qingxuan was speechless. He couldn’t help it. Now, any musician or student knew the story of Marquess Ye beheading his enemy at the city gates. Too many people knew about it so it was no longer valuable.
Thinking a bit, he changed to Wolf Flute. The scale dipped to six.
The dwarf said, “This is equal to national secrets. You can buy it if you give me naval routes, military deployment maps, or information on the treasury reserve.”
“Not fair!” Ye Qingxuan roared and pointed at Wolf Flute. “How come he’s sixty times more expensive than me?”
“Hehe, it’s technically six-hundred and forty times,” Wolf Flute corrected. Then he added, “…and more.”
Ye Qingxuan went through a list of terms, having fun with himself.
Holmes was 4.7; Maxwell, 6; Shaman, 5; Bach, 8; Aurora empress, 8.5; Mr. Hu, 6.5…
After thinking, he decided to put Abraham’s name. The scale instantly went to 7.5.
“How come it’s that expensive?” He was stunned. He did not expect his teacher to have this many secrets.
“Don’t ask useless questions. There is obviously a reason.” The dwarf was tired of him.
Sighing, he hesitated and put Bai Xi’s name on but there was no reaction. “Why isn’t there a reaction?”
“There won’t be a reaction if you put something like eating or sleeping.” The dwarf rolled his eyes. “Be more specific! If you’re putting a person, write their full name! It’s best if you mark a location and family too.”
“Full name?” Ye Qingxuan was stunned. “That is her full name.”
“Oh?” The dwarf smiled meaningfully and caressed the scale. “This is why you need it.”
Ye Qingxuan fell silent.
“You’ve already played enough. How much longer are you going to take?” Looking at him, the dwarf drummed his fingers on the counter. “Are you here just to take a look?”
“I’ve never seen this before, okay?” Ye Qingxuan grinned shamelessly. “Let me try it again.”
He wrote two more slips.
Descendant of the Phoenix, 2.1. This was the unique advancement of the Anglo School of Royalty. Most musicians had heard of it before. With this scale mark, he could probably buy it with a regular music score.
“Not bad. The price is fair.” Ye Qingxuan nodded and put the second slip on.
Dreamweaver, 4. This level was for precious secrets that not many people knew or were highly important. He could exchange for it with information or knowledge of the same level.
Getting paper and a pen, Ye Qingxuan began to copy with aether. Autumn Wind, a thin music score from Mr. Hu, caused the scale to stop at one. It seemed that Eastern music theory and scores were slightly more valuable here.
Ye Qingxuan paused. Thinking a bit, he grabbed another slip and wrote: September, Huntmore Harbor, illegal drug ‘Krishna,’ sixty kilograms. He placed the slip in. The scale balanced out before tipping 1.3 degrees to the right side.
“What happens if my side is worth more?” Ye Qingxuan glanced at the dwarf.
“You can choose to change your slip or save the additional amount. Or, Nibelungenlied’s scale will give you additional information for the value.”
“I choose the last one.” Just as he finished speaking, the paper slip in the left scale evaporated. Aether converged, transforming into two slips of white paper.
Stunned, Ye Qingxuan followed the dwarf’s orders to take them. A line of faint words flashed before his eyes. If he did not focus on reading, he would not be able to finish before they disappeared.
F*cking dishonest trader… Ye Qingxuan had no time to swear. He focused his attention on the paper.
The Dreamweaver It is the unique advancement of the Eastern Ye family. One must have Deva’s blood in order to advance. The Dreamweaver uses special music theory and techniques to weave music scores into its dreamscape, allowing the dreamscape to hold the critical elements.
Because it contained Mind music scores, every Dreamweaver’s dreamscape would have a unique effect. The musician can store the music score’s spirit into his dreamscape and enter the state of ‘dreamland,’ fully becoming one with the music score and becoming the physical incarnate of aether.
Under this circumstance, the musician can subconsciously control formulas of the School of Modifications, the four liquids equilibrium of the School of Choir, the fulcrums of the School of Illusion, the beastly nature of the School of Summoning, the hints of the School of Mind, and more. The performance becomes an innate ability; the music theory is like breathing. One may find the most suitable element during this process, laying down the road to the Scepter level.
Detailed information is lacking and still requires collecting.
That was it for the first slip. Ye Qingxuan opened the second, which was the additional information Nibelungenlied gave.
Twelve days ago, Ye Qingxuan, the sole heir of the Ye family, was given the title of Marquess and seemed to advance toward Dreamweaver. More information is needed.
The end.
“That’s it?” Ye Qingxuan looked up.
“You get as much as you give.” The dwarf looked up lazily. “It’s just one degree. Did you expect a package deal?”
Ye Qingxuan almost spat out blood. It was seriously a dishonest scamming trader!
“Okay, you’ve had fun and have experimented. Isn’t it time for the real deal?” The dwarf seemed to see through him and glanced knowingly. “The truly valuable things here are all over five. There’s no need to come here for things under five.”
Ye Qingxuan did not reply. After thinking, he called over some aether to create pieces of paper. He wrote down three things.
The first was Hecatoncheir. The scale wavered between nine and one.
The second was ‘experiment.’ With a clang, the scale instantly shot to above six.
Hesitating, Ye Qingxuan put the third slip on.
‘Ye Lanzhou.’
Thud.
The scale rose to 9.6.
In the long silence, the dwarf inhaled sharply. He shot a strange look at Ye Qingxuan. “Hey kid, whose underpants are you
interested in this time?”
“It seem like the Sacred City’s underpants are more expensive than the Pope’s.” Ye Qingxuan chuckled. “What do I have to give?”
Side-eyeing him, the dwarf snickered. “You think you have anything of equal value?”
Ye Qingxuan shrugged. “Give me a discount. Business is hard.”
The dwarf looked at him indifferently. After a long while, he knocked against the scale.
“Cut out a portion.”
The scale went to 8.7.
Ye Qingxuan was still unmoved. Rubbing his hands, he murmured to himself, “Not even the noble has extra money.”
The dwarf’s face twitched but he knocked the scale again. “Cut out another portion.”
The scale went to eight.
Looking up, Ye Qingxuan chuckled. “The weather’s pretty nice today.”
“Hey, don’t overstep the boundaries!” the dwarf yelled. “It’s already cheap enough! Are you trying to get some VIP package deal?”
“Sir, don’t be angry. We can still negotiate.”
Wolf Flute rushed over to appease the puppet. He stood in front of the scale. He took something out of his pocket and placed it onto the right scale.
“Is this enough?”
The scale instantly went to 5.7.
It had only decreased by 2.3 degrees but if it was exponential, the price had lowered several times! Ye Qingxuan did not know what Wolf Flute had put in that was so precious.
He opened his mouth to speak but Wolf Flute stopped him. “Don’t mind it. Was I really going to watch you pour your heart out?”
Ye Qingxuan smiled wryly. He had really planned on doing that. The most valuable thing on him was the music theory of the Philosopher’s Stone… Even if he had no other way, Ye Qingxuan refused to go home empty handed.
It was logical to have to pay a little price. However, he did not expect Wolf Flute to pay so much for him. He suddenly did not know what to say.
“Don’t get too excited. You owe me.” Wolf Flute glanced at him. “The rest of the cost is yours.”
Ye Qingxuan nodded and sighed. It could only be like this. He soon handed a stack of papers to Wolf Flute. He had edited and revised the sub-originator technology of the School of Stone Heart, integrating a portion of the Philosopher’s Stone’s music theory. Now, it was comparable to the core technology of the modern schools.