by Feng Yue
“You haven’t done anything?” Something crossed Ye Qingxuan’s mind suddenly. He turned back and looked at everyone else. “All those who have killed someone in the Ultimate, step forward.”
Very quickly, most of them stepped forward. They were the ones that had been infected…
Ye Qingxuan took a deep breath. He felt a chill go down his spine. He focused on retrieving the shard of the Ultimate’s core and held the broken stone plate. He closed his eyes and electricity shot out and into those objects. This time around, he was no longer just trying to observe from the outside, but to transform into music theory and diving deep within. He has placed his consciousness onto the music theory and in an instant, he has delved into the core of the Ultimate. Amidst the countless complex turbulences, he saw the iron law that had been inscribed onto the core.
Under the witness of all kings.
This time around, he has finally taken a good look. This was indeed something left behind by all the kings centuries ago, but now only a short opening was all that remained. The law that should follow the opening had been completely wiped out! Someone was up to no good!
In the next instant, within the countless elements, black fog suddenly appeared and turned into the image of a genderless person. It smiled at Ye Qingxuan.
“Finally, I have been waiting for you…”
Paganini!
In the blink of an eye, the electricity around Ye Qingxuan stopped abruptly before withdrawing at hundred times its original speed. Amidst the chaos in the Ultimate, waves of black fog suddenly appeared on all four sides.
669 Blunder
The situation was deteriorating.
Ye Qingxuan had barely been toying with Paganini’s Changing Music Theory, but now he had become like a little black snake in an electric cage.
There was no way out. Within the rapidly changing Ultimate, he had fallen into the trap that Paganini had arranged for him.
But Ye Qingxuan welcomed the black tide that swept out before him. The tiny electric light did not hesitate at all but sped up its retreat. It broke out of Paganini’s cage like cavalry breaking through an infantry formation.
That was the stupidest choice.
If you gambled with your own speed by hastily entering the enemy’s positions, the only outcome would be getting mired down.
No amount of caution would be too much, especially since the snare he was in trapped his whole body, and moreover, his enemy was Paganini. Even the Iron Thorn Knights of Burgundy would not dare to face the Blood Wall Phalanx of the Asgardian Ironfrost Clan. The safest method was to occupy a spot within the core of the Ultimate, resolutely defend your own positions like you were building a fort, tempt your opponents into a war of attrition, and use music theory to shore up your own weaknesses.
Reckless sorties would only exhaust your energy and worsen the situation.
Ye Qingxuan’s response made Paganini, who had prepared for this game, quite disappointed. It was true that being able to gather his power was a breakthrough, but did he really think that he’d be able to break out of a trap set by a dark minister?
The quality of his aether was formidable, it was true. But how could he compare to a fallen saint who had spent hundreds of years immersed in the domain of a Scepter?
The illusory face in the wispy fog revealed a trace of disappointment and ridicule. His empty hands called forth music theory and began to build layers upon layers of movements, covering the cage that was lit by electric light.
Let me teach you how musicians fight…
But suddenly, the indistinct face stiffened. At the moment of collision, Ye Qingxuan, who was in the electric light, raised his hands. The light began to shake as violently as a dragon, letting the music theory sealed in the Symphony of Predestination trickle out.
It came out as a handful of dust.
It was like branches that had been burnt to charcoal and then crumbled into an extremely fine ash. But once the fine ashes were shaken out of the electric light, they cast themselves towards the endless sea of blackness. In an instant, they had expanded to millions of times their original size. Each microscopic grain of ash transformed into a star, and together they filled the surging sky in the core of the Ultimate.
Those ashen stars seemed to be alive. They were like starving worms after a long hibernation that as soon as the rain touches them, begin to devour everything, extract nutrients, and transform. Even the Changing Music Theory was transformed by them. In a flash, it had been torn into a million pieces, and then was quickly superseded.
The Changing Music Theory had actually been distorted by the ashes, and then devoured by them, turning into nutrients for them. Even though it was only a short time, that single moment was enough to bring about a frightful transformation.
Countless rootlike lines burst forth from the ashen stars and intertwined with one another until they formed something like the roots of a daffodil. An incalculable amount of malevolent vitality emerged from them, and they turned into pink flower buds.
They bloomed incredibly fast. It was an ocean of flowers without end, with music theory intertwining, beautiful enough to be frightening. And what flowed out of it was the pure essence of the Abyss!
Rotten black branches!
His broken lamentations at being locked up were only just beginning.
The situation had reversed in but an instant, but there was nothing unusual about this for Ye Qingxuan.
In a flash, the rotten black branches smashed through Paganini’s music theory. He was left unguarded, revealing his weakness. But the electric light that Ye Qingxuan had turned into did not take the opportunity to attack. He was not in the mood for fighting at all. Instead, he took advantage of the gap and plunged into the turbulent flow in the core of the Ultimate without hesitation in order to escape.
As the electric light rushed out of the stone plate and Ye Qingxuan’s consciousness returned to his body, he felt an earth-shattering roar ring out from within the Ultimate.
The earth shook like it was no more than a feather. The roaring sounds of countless buildings collapsing mingled together. Cracks appeared one by one in the buildings that had become fortifications for the Sacred City.
The stars twinkled out as if most of them had been wiped away in an instant, and a massive torrent of aether burst out from the depths towards the sky. Heaven and earth changed color.
Everyone was stunned. They looked at him, not sure whether or not he was responsible for this trick.
At first, no one had believed that Ye Qingxuan had the ability to do such a thing. They thought that although the Grand Inquisitor liked to stir things up, he was nowhere near as terrible as the legends said. He wasn’t a catastrophe in human form. How could it be possible that he would bring destruction wherever he went?
Now that they had seen this with their own eyes, everyone was chilled and had no more doubts about the rumors.
It seemed that they were true!
This guy went to the Anglo Kingdom, and the Anglo Kingdom was thrown into turmoil. He went to Auschwitz, and Auschwitz was now a large crater. Then he had gone to the Sacred City, and the Sacred City still hadn’t recovered. Now he had come to the Ultimate. How could they still be confident in its stability?
“What did you do?” Mabel looked at him in shock.
“Nothing, I just put the rotten black branches in the Ultimate…”
The sound of blowing cold air rang out again.
Everyone’s face went white as a ghost.
Was it freaking happening again?
Wasn’t he going to go investigate the situation? How would they get out of this one?
Ye Qingxuan jumped up. There was no time for an explanation, he waved his hand hurriedly and said, “Go, go! You can’t stay here. It’s a trap! A giant trap!”
Of course, it was a trap!
Almost half the Masters in the world had fallen into Paganini’s snare. If they let him get away with this, he would be fulfilling Hyakume’s goal of mak
ing the Abyss appear within the Physical World. This was something that Ye Qingxuan could not allow, and so he would not leave.
It was too evil.
Just thinking about Paganini’s plan and what would happen next was enough to make Ye Qingxuan decide to get out of that mess as quickly as possible. Anyone who didn’t had a deathwish.
The rotten branches that he had just set forth were enough to disrupt and delay Paganini within the ultimate. He figured that cleaning up the mess he had just made would delay him a little bit.
But time was passing, and he couldn’t leave even if he wanted to. Before Paganini had been corrupted, he had once pulled nearly half the musicians in the Sacred City into the Abyss right under the Pope’s nose. Now he was up to his old tricks again but on a scale hundreds of times larger than before.
If he guessed correctly, the Ultimate was different this time, and Paganini was definitely behind it. No, he would not have been able to set such a huge trap by himself. It seemed like after Hyakume’s death all of the remnants of the Abyss’s forces had fallen into his hands.
Hordes of demons, the next catastrophe, dark ministers, abyss sages…even several avatars that Hyakume had left behind before it fell. At this moment Hyakume was gone, and the spirit tablet was suspended in the air. If Paganini could take the next step and completely restructure the Abyss, then he would be able to replace that b*stard Ludovic and become the Former Dark Pope.
670 The Valuable Asset of the Abyss
Ye Qingxuan felt that he could fight very well at the moment.
But regardless of how well he could fight, he would still most definitely be utterly defeated if a catastrophe was to come along at the moment, not to mention a fight against Paganini. Such was how dangerous it was to play in a road game.
Previously, he somewhat managed to be on equal footing with Paganini only by relying on the stone sword and the card up Hermes’ sleeve. In the end, he even had to rely on the Gate of Heaven to win by luck.
Meanwhile, presently, Paganini had received a gift from the abyss, and his own strength had advanced to a state that Ye Qingxuan couldn’t understand. God knew what method did he employ to enter the Ultimate in advance.
How much of the rich legacy left by Hyakume that he inherited was also unknown. Although he couldn’t completely occupy the Ultimate, it was enough for him to wedge the changing music theory into it.
He had long changed the rules left by the various kings beyond recognition, and changing music theory was hidden in all the power gifted by the Ultimate…
With the technique of borrowing chickens to lay eggs, he wedged the changing music theory between the internal and the external. Not only did his own power infiltrate the Ultimate through the deaths of many musicians, he also implanted his music theory in every musician in the Ultimate through the gifts of the Ultimate.
No wonder the dark musicians almost didn’t stir up any trouble at all this time round.
They didn’t intend to interfere at all, and they couldn’t wish hard enough for things to be as chaotic as possible. Had Ye Qingxuan not attained his Symphony of Predestination and possessed a deep understanding of the clothes of original sin, no one would have discovered the changing music theory hidden in everyone’s Symphony of Predestination at all.
They were infiltrated by Paganini without knowing it, still immersed in the illusory power, and didn’t have their guard up against the abyss at all.
As soon as Paganini activated it, all of them would immediately fall and become dark musicians. Both their own music theory and consciousness would be transformed by the abyss.
Throughout the Physical World, almost all the masters of the well-known schools would be controlled by Paganini and become his most loyal subordinates. Through them, the next thing that would happen would probably be a major split-up of the schools in the Physical World.
God knew how many schools would be drawn into the abyss.
That alone would suffice for Paganini to open up a new situation in the Physical World and stir up further waves of trouble… Not to mention what Paganini would become then.
If Ye Qingxuan did not guess wrongly… It was a rebirth ceremony.
Like Arthur, he wanted to transfer his consciousness into the catastrophe brewing up in the Ultimate. It was just that he had a chance hundreds and thousands of times better than Arthur’s, as he began transforming the catastrophe directly in its embryonic stage.
Once born, his status as a catastrophe would be exactly as if he had been one from birth, and he would possess unlimited possibilities of growth. In due time, he would probably occupy even Hyakume’s position as god…
“The matter is beyond my ability to interfere, way beyond it! Just register first, then ask Sylvaine to call in reinforcements…” Ye Qingxuan tapped continuously with his fingers, electricity burst forth from his fingers, falling on the infected musicians. Electricity flashed, permeating their Symphonies of Predestination. In order to survive and keep their own personality and self-consciousness, the masters also couldn’t be bothered with the fact that their lives were in Ye Qingxuan’s hands.
Strands of music theory were entangled in the electricity, vaguely forming a lock which froze most of their music theory completely, and no further changes took place.
Next, the nature interference of the school of abstinence forcefully separated everything, sealing the infected parts with multiple layers.
It was like a temporary operation.
Of course, rather unscrupulously, Ye Qingxuan wrapped purifying music theory around the parts as well.
The expression of the masters immediately became fairly interesting to watch, as if they were being tied to the stake. Once the changing music theory was triggered, they would probably be burned to ashes by Ye Qingxuan’s Fire of Judgment before they had enough time to be converted to dark musicians.
“It’s a temporary measure in times of urgency, just temporary.” Ye Qingxuan appeased them. “Don’t use movements before leaving the Ultimate. After we leave, I will slowly help you all to take out the changing music theory… Surely you all don’t want to become dark musicians and bring shame to your school, right?”
A few old masters glanced at each other and couldn’t help but sigh in unison.
Hadn’t they brought themselves enough shame in the past two days?
The world was changing too rapidly, the old men had twisted their waist and could not keep up with the rhythm.
Some of them were prepared to smash their pot to pieces just because it was cracked and planned to be resigned to their fate if they could get out of here alive this time round. Staying at the Religious Court of Inquiry had its merits as well, at least they could have an easy life.
When one got old, one must exercise caution to stay safe. Staying in one’s little cabin seemed pretty good, as for going out… just forget it.
But some still had doubts about it. “You have a way to leave the Ultimate?”
“Of course.” Ye Qingxuan lifted his head to look at the edge of the Ultimate in the distance — the torrent of aether that resembled a frenzied tide of ten thousand meters high, separating the inside and the outside of the Ultimate — and he tapped the staff of fate in his hand.
Part the sea?
Maybe it’s a bit difficult.
…
“My projection in the Ultimate has been discovered.” Paganini opened his eyes.
As the Ultimate shook, deep underground, low echoes also sounded in the dark tombs, and the bricks and stones cracked. But the people in them did not panic in the slightest bit, and it was apparently within their expectation.
“It’s a lot later than expected, your arrangement has bought us three days.” It was a dwarf who spoke.
The dwarf whose skin had a metallic tint floated in the air, wearing a long robe that did not suit his body size. The hem of his robe was tattered, as if it had been burned by flames, and the blackened edge fluttered in the air as he moved.
Various ot
her creatures were also floating in midair.
Some were moon spirits, some were half-dragons, some looked like humans, and some others were simply some sort of odd creature. But they had a common characteristic, a huge head.
The head on them took up at least one-third of their size. In the innermost layer, some were even missing their entire body. Only the head was left, put on a copper plate.
The abyss sages.
They were the demons who had inherited the blessing of the abyss and the legacy of Hyakume, and they had gathered here secretly.
The skull whose skin had withered so much that it resembled tree bark lay on the velvet pad, but it had a strong, fiery glow of tenacity in its eye sockets, and it gazed at Paganini. “You have done a good job, Paganini, one worthy of praise.”
Paganini’s eyebrow raised slightly. In so many years, he had rarely seen the skull that Hyakume relied heavily upon spoke, and rarely did anyone receive the skull’s praise.
“As you all can see, I have fulfilled the first step of my promise, so, where’s the stuff that I have asked for?” Paganini reached out.
On the withered skull, the fire in the eye sockets flickered. After a brief silence, he spoke again. Even though he had no lungs, he could control aether with his willpower, vibrate the air, and produce sound. “We have brought it here, I hope that you can make good use of it.”
As soon as he said so, three abyss sages slowly floated out of the darkness. Next, heavy footsteps sounded — Flanked and guarded by the three demons, the thing slowly walked under the light.
It was a… person.
To be precise, it was a woman so obese and bloated that one almost couldn’t bear to look directly at her. When she walked, it was as if a round mass of meat was sliding slowly on the ground. Every step she took set off waves of meat on her body. Moreover, her breasts that were of such exaggerated proportions that they were the size of a few heads was like a scene that would only appear in nightmares.
Paganini was stunned and looked at the woman who looked like she was only slightly more than forty years old. He turned back and asked the skull, “Are you sure?”