Silent Crown

by Feng Yue

  By the launching tracks on the deck, two teams of heavily armored knights of the Witch Hammer and a team of purification musicians were ready to go. They awaited Ye Qingxuan’s orders to cast themselves into the battlefield in the Ultimate.

  At the moment, the situation was too chaotic. Ye Qingxuan forcibly suppressed the impulse in his heart and decided to watch in safety while others fought, letting them fight among themselves.

  In the meantime, he would first rely on the strengthening of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth to transform the piece of land into his own territory.

  Sensing the music theory of Jiu Xiao Huan Pei and the Heaven Ladder, in the middle of the fight, the dragon-shaped gleam of the sword cast Ye Qingxuan a brief look.

  “Ye Lanzhou? No… Ye Lanzhou is already dead… You are the young fella fooling around in Anglo? I’ve heard Yuan Jing mention you before.” The hoarse voice rang in Ye Qingxuan’s ears. “As a fellow possessor of Deva blood, do hurry and come over to give me a hand. House Yuan would reward you greatly afterward.”

  “I’m of no help, no help at all.” Ye Qingxuan waved his hand with a regretful expression. “How can I go over and cause you trouble when you are dealing with such an important matter? Hey, poke his eyes! That’s right! Exactly, I knew it, that brat of Asgard was definitely no match for you!” “

  “Young fella, you are so tactless!” The head of House Yuan snorted coldly. “Surely you aren’t expecting to profit from our fight? Aren’t you afraid that I will kill you first?”

  “I am afraid, of course, I’m afraid!” Riding the golden dragon, he retreated a few hundred meters, a mocking look on his face. “But I’m even more afraid that the dark musicians have buried something in the Ultimate. A word of advice, senior, dare you eat the pie that has fallen from the sky [2] without checking??”

  Bang! The sound of something cracking rang out from the depths of the Ultimate.

  In the mausoleum in the depths of the ground, the sumptuous feast was coming to an end. The last speck of ashes stuck at the fingertip was put into the mouth. The strange figure draped in grayish-white hemp licked at his fingers and turned back. In the dim candlelight, all the broken sarcophagi in the messy mausoleum were empty.

  No remains were left.

  Only the broken crowns were piled up in one place, like a ridiculous hill.

  The nobles who controlled everything during their lifetime and still set the rules for the world after their deaths all ended up in the belly of the ghoul-like monster.

  Wind blew from the darkness, extinguishing the fire. Darkness swept, swallowing the figure up.

  In the pure darkness, a trace of breathing finally sounded.

  As if after swallowing death, one gained life.

  The sound of bones scraping against each other rang out, a weak heartbeat gradually recovered. Nothing could be seen, but one could hear the fine echoes of flesh growing plumper amid the trickle of blood.

  In the end, what opened in the darkness was a pair of dark eyes with white flames burning within.

  …

  And right in the middle of the Ultimate, the broken hall collapsed with a rumble, revealing the towering altar below.

  The altar was covered in blood, and the spices burned in the fire turned into blue smoke. The smoke slowly rose, hovering, refusing to leave, and lingered between the seven complex seals. Some of the seals had been broken and opened, but others were still intact. Some were unresponsive, but others flickered along with the flames as if they were breathing.

  A short dwarf stood on the altar, holding a copper plate high with both hands.

  The withered head on the copper plate slowly opened his eyes, gazing at the extinguished fire above the altar.

  “I want you to come.” He opened his mouth and made the call with his lips and teeth. The harsh voice echoed between the heavens and the earth, the rumble reaching tens of thousands of miles, and the voice reverberated through the depths of everyone’s heart.

  Then, the earth rumbled and cracked. In the deep mausoleum, the figure draped in grayish-white hemp slowly walked out. The face was no longer withered, nor was it ugly. Instead, his eyes were brimming with vigor, burning like pale flames, majestic and cold.

  After swallowing the various king of the first generation, on his long, grizzled hair, a crown made of bones had appeared without anyone realizing. He rode a white horse and walked out of the darkness, holding an iron bow in his hand. Beside the saddle was a quiver of bronze arrows.

  The hooves tapped on the earth, but it seemed as if they were pressing on everyone’s heart, making everyone experience breathing difficulties.

  “Go conquer everything.” The withered head told the knight in white, “Go forth from victory to victory!” As a result, the white knight slowly raised his head. The flame-like eyes looked up at the sky, and the empty gaze fell on the figures in the air, suddenly giving everyone goosebumps. Then he drew the iron bow and nocked the copper arrow, slowly pulling the bowstring back.

  The iron bow that seemed to be made of beast tendons was drawn, but it made a harsh sound like that of metals colliding. The copper arrow scraped against the iron bow, igniting hot sparks.

  “What the heck is that thing!” Ye Qingxuan’s hairs suddenly stood on end. He urged the huge golden dragon and galloped backward. Layers of Firebird and the shadow of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth descended, covering him like an ocean.

  Then, the arrow was aimed at the sky, and the sound of tens of millions of people roaring burst forth.

  The heavens and the earth were pierced through.

  [1] A dance in ancient China. The name literally translates as Joy in the Dragon Pool. The music was composed by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang dynasty. He was inspired by a water spring gushing out of his residence and forming a large pool of water.

  [2] The author is referring to a Chinese saying that literally translates as “the pie that has fallen from the sky”. It is the equivalent of “free lunch” in the saying “there’s no such thing as a free lunch”.

  680 Quenching Thirst with Poison

  Silver bow and bronze arrow. The design of the longbow was still the same as how it was 600 years ago, while the bronze arrows, which had been buried for centuries, were already full of rust and decay. On the other hand, most of the enemy were scepters and were extremely powerful. Even the shortbows that children would play with looked much more powerful and formidable.

  But in the instant when the bowstring tightened, everyone felt an indescribable sense of suffocation. It was as if their throats were slowly being tightened by an invisible string and there was a chill that crept slowly into their hearts. The sense of fear was so overwhelming that it almost took over all their senses and they could barely regain control of themselves.

  The threat did not come from the longbow but from the person drawing it.

  Just as a bone-piercing chill blew across, the arrow shot out and the hairs of all living creatures in the entire Ultimate stood up. They could barely suppress the urge to scream. The arrow flew directly towards Ye Qingxuan in silence. Why is it me again?!

  Ye Qingxuan was stunned to be singled out amongst so many. But he had no more time to spare on remaining in a state of shock. In his perception, time seemed to have stopped. He could not dodge nor block the arrow. It was as if his impending doom was flying towards him in the form of the arrow. It was graceful and patient. The Firebird was surpassed without a sound. There was no reaction in the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth as a small gap was created.

  At this moment, the Dragon of Gold was flying so slowly it was almost unbearable. The bronze arrow passed by the dragon easily before shredding the gigantic dragon’s left wing and continuing towards Ye Qingxuan’s heart. It pierced through without a sound. Every corner of the body trembled violently. The aura of doom spread out rapidly as bones crumbled into the wind. Organs began to rot, blood began to dry, and skin began to crack.

  In the blink of an eye, all signs of life were destroyed. The c
irculation of aether was stopped the moment blood stopped circulating. The Symphony of Predestination, which had just been forged, was destroyed by this arrow and it dragged the remnants of Ye Qingxuan’s will to the depths of darkness.

  Everything had turned into ashes but a beam of electricity shot out amongst them. The Music Theory of Reform exploded from the greatest depth of the Symphony of Predestination as electricity instantly took shape and repaired the broken music theory, connected the Heaven Ladder and healed the will of Ye Qingxuan. It removed the doom of that arrow so that the heart started beating once again, blood was being created, organs were being repaired and bones were recovering. In one moment, there was only ashes and doom and in the next moment, death was denied and there was a revival.

  Ye Qingxuan had fully exhausted all his energy. He sat down in a heap as he stretched his hands and used all his energy to pull out the arrow in his heart. His face was pale and he was extremely weak.

  What was going on?! He had already been killed once. Although he was only on the brink of death this time around, the reason he was still alive was because of his ‘experience.’

  If not for the fact that the Firebird and the bestiality of the Dragon of Gold had weakened that mysterious arrow layer by layer, or that he had already entered vacuum and was able to replace blood circulation with aether circulation, or that he had just forged a Symphony of Predestination, or because of the Music Theory of Reform, or because of his experience… If not for so many factors, he would have died long ago.

  The strangest part of all was that this arrow was clearly just an ordinary arrow. It did not come with any intimidating sounds or terrifying music theory. It was just a simple bronze arrow that was rusty and decayed. By right, even 100,000 of these arrows should be capable of harming him.

  Very soon, more and more people suffered the same fate as him. From the moment Ye Qingxuan was shot, the rest had already tried to flee while almost everyone was prepared to defend themselves.

  In complete silence, the white knight drew another arrow and notched it onto the longbow. Every single action was gentle and meticulous, yet extremely efficient. Time seemed to stack on top of one another at this moment. Everyone saw the white knight pulling back the longbow and aiming at them… In the next instant, countless illusions appeared around the white knight. There was a shrill explosion in the sky as if the arrow struck its target but the quiver was completely empty of arrows now! Soon after, falling stars! The number of scepters, who had been floating in the sky like stars, suddenly reduced by half in an instant. Anyone that had been struck by an arrow could only await death.

  The remaining light dimmed, just like candles that would eventually be blown out in the wind. In a single moment where he was caught off guard, the bronze arrow shot through the only remaining eye of the Second Prince. At this moment, the God of Thunder had become completely blind.

  Chopin flew out as he was surrounded by music theories that were in a mess. No one knew when a circular mirror had appeared in his hands. There was a lethal bronze arrow stuck on this mirror, which meant that the latter had saved him from certain death. However, it was clear that he was not in good shape as well, as he was barely catching his breath while seeking out the white knight.

  At this very moment, the Ultimate extended, and Yuan Jing, who had been kneeling, suddenly vomited blood. There was a crack on the long sword in front of him and the soul in it was moaning. Under everyone’s watchful eyes, the broken pieces of the Ultimate fell from the sky and eventually landed on the ground.

  “Do you feel it?” At this moment, Ye Qingxuan heard a voice that he least wanted to hear. “This is his projection of element.”

  Paganini!

  Amidst the 24 illusional realms, Paganini was destroying one fulcrum after another slowly and steadily. He was in no hurry to break through. Instead, he was giving Ye Qingxuan tremendous pressure by forcing him to maintain the integrity of the cage with all his power. Otherwise, Ye Qingxuan would have to be prepared to accept the worst outcome. No way to advance nor retreat. It would be like quenching thirst with poison.

  “…” Ye Qingxuan could not help but curse. His expression was solemn as he raised the Staff of Fate slowly to prepare to receive the next blow. At the very least, he must figure what exactly that thing was…

  But in that very instant, deep sounds of drums could be heard from the seas far away. They might be weak but they eventually made their way to Ye Qingxuan. It was as if an invisible arm was pulling at him gently and was trying to drag him to somewhere else. He turned back to glance at the place where the drums could be heard. It was Asgard’s stronghold on the sea.

  The Second Prince spoke to him, “Ye Qingxuan, we need to talk.”

  Ye Qingxuan hesitated for a moment. Soon after, his music theory connected to the pulling of the drums. In the next instant, he felt as if time had stopped. No, time in the outside world had not stopped, only in the place where he was.

  In that instant, between the realm of aether and the physical world, a narrow interlayer was gradually being widened. This narrow interlayer, which was hidden within the chaotic turbulence, was pulling his consciousness in. No physical objects existed here, only perception and senses.

  Through the interlayer, he was able to observe the world that was stagnating now. It was like looking at a gigantic piece of painting on the wall. You could see every detail in one glance. Shortly after, a Symphony of Predestination that had been embedded with divinity came and transformed into the form of the Second Prince. However, at this moment, he did not seem to be in good shape. His only remaining eye was already rotting, while only the divine flame in his left eye was still burning furiously.

  “The situation is out of control, Ye Qingxuan.” The figure of the Second Prince appeared beside Ye Qingxuan and suggested, “We can work together. Asgard and Anglo and split the Ultimate evenly and develop together.”

  “Why should we split it evenly?” Ye Qingxuan countered, “Based on the current situation, I should be getting more, shouldn’t I?”

  The Second Prince frowned. “But the risks and dangers that you are facing are immense. With the stronghold on the sea, we can easily escape unscathed, but what about you?”

  “I can give all these to the Sacred City. Don’t forget, I also hold the title of Archbishop.” Ye Qingxuan refused to give in. “But if you choose to leave, then don’t expect to gain anything out of this. In other words, you would have taken the blow of that arrow for nothing. Besides, if I have guessed correctly, there must be elements of revenge in your catastrophe weapon. If you do not seek revenge, it will be difficult for the compatibility between both of you to increase further. For all you know, it may even decrease.”

  The Second Prince’s face contorted slightly as if he had been lightly jabbed at the sides. His tone became cold. “With the attitude that you have right now, I think it will be difficult for us to negotiate.”

  “You are the ones that want to negotiate, not me, right?” Ye Qingxuan sought an exorbitant price, yet did not wish to force the Second Prince into a corner either. He decided to change the topic. “We are running out of time. Let’s just speak frankly with each other. Why don’t we let the friend who has been watching us all this while join in?”

  The Second Prince stayed silent for a moment as if he was listening for something. Shortly after, another figure appeared out of nowhere. It was an old man who was holding a mud block. The mud block was filled with wedge-shaped music notes. This figure was surrounded by complex music theories. They extended into the void and connected with the entire fault as one body. Perhaps, he was the one controlling all these after all.

  “This ‘lens’ is your scepter?” Ye Qingxuan sighed lightly. “Not a bad idea.”

  “The Chief Inquisitor is indeed sharp.” The old man laughed bitterly. He did not expect to be figured out so quickly.

  If Ye Qingxuan was right; there was no way the lens could contain any physical objects. The lens could only allow for
consciousness to be projected into the fault of aether and could be used to observe reality.

  This old musician, who was of the School of Revelation, had given up all his powers and even molded his scepter into its current state. He was not like the other musicians, who tried to ensure that their scepters were in the depths of the realm of aether in order to get closer to the Originator. It was unbelievable how deviated his ways were. He had chosen to sacrifice the revelation he had received from the Originator and the opportunity to peek into the future in exchange for the formidable observation skills of the ‘present.’

  681 The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

  Being small had some small benefits.

  It was small enough that it couldn’t contain the entity, and so there was no pressure to maintain it. If his control power was raised to the limit, he could even achieve the effect of a time stop.

  It was different than Faust’s ability to freeze the Physical World. With this, the old musician could choose to speed up time in the spiritual realm by thousands of times. From here it would look like time had indeed stopped in the Physical World.

  Through the lens, the old musician could freeze time whenever he wanted, no matter how tense the situation was, he could still take his time to observe and think it through. Through making a thousand observations in a single moment he could find the most reliable solution.

  Of course, the price is that he would be completely cut off from the curse and all his other support. But as far the old musician who was backed up by Asgard was concerned, if you wanted to kill someone, did you really have to do it yourself?

  Who would count on Revelation Musicians to kill people?

  To abandon a power that had never been of much use to him and switch to a stage that would bring his own wisdom into play was a strategic bit of assistance. If he had had this kind of adviser by his side during the Legionnaire War it would have been a nightmare for the enemy.