CHAPTER 99: CHAPTER 97: THE REALM SOLIDIFIED BY SOUND, THE MYSTERIOUS BELL (3000 WORDS)_1

The Way of Music.

Strength and weakness are sometimes not absolute, but relative; they often serve to restrain one another.

For example, the *Light Clouds Drifting Melody* that Qin Guangling had played earlier was a piece of purifying music, allowing the audience to cast aside distracting thoughts and better comprehend the Dao. But when faced with the *Carefree Life Melody*, that pure artistic conception could be easily shattered.

And now, the *Ambush from Ten Sides Melody* that Qin Guangling was playing was a battle-themed piece, brimming with the clang of weapons and hidden killing intent, making it a perfect counter to the *Carefree Life Melody*.

So you play decadent music? You indulge in worldly desires? Little do you know, a hidden crisis has already been inching closer. If you do not awaken, you will face a dead end, an inescapable trap where death is all but certain.

Clearly, Qin Guangling was worthy of his title as the Sonic Sect’s top disciple. For an ordinary disciple, mastering a single ultimate technique was enough to be considered exceptionally talented and worthy of focused nurturing. Yet Qin Guangling had not only comprehended the *Light Clouds Drifting Melody* to the Minor Achievement Realm, but he had also reached the Minor Achievement Realm with the *Ambush from Ten Sides Melody*. His mastery of this battle piece was hardly any weaker than his mastery of the former.

"How impressive!"

"I always thought Ms. Feiyin was a woman of purity and elegance. I never imagined that beneath that gentle exterior hid the heart of a warrior who would not yield to any man."

"I love her! Today is another day of loving Ms. Feiyin even more!"

"Although Ms. Feiyin is outstanding, Ms. Tian Yu’s *Carefree Life Melody* is amazing too!"

"Yes, yes! Ms. Feiyin’s zither music is pleasant, but it’s too detached from the mortal world. A worldly person like me can’t quite appreciate it. The music from Ms. Tian Yu and her companions is more direct."

"Not only is the music beautiful, but the performers are as well. With more than ten fairies playing at once, we’ve truly hit the jackpot today."

"Ms. Feiyin and Ms. Tian Yu are beyond my wildest dreams. I just wonder if I’ll ever have the chance to get close to the other twelve fairies."

「In the Phoenix Perch Building.」

Countless guests watched on, discussing the musical duel. As the saying goes, different strokes for different folks, and the crowd soon split into two camps. However, this world is ultimately filled with more common folk than people of refined purity and elegance. There are far more who indulge in comfort, luxury, and vanity than there are those who remain vigilant in times of peace and guard against creeping dangers. Compared to Qin Guangling’s *Ambush from Ten Sides Melody*, the *Carefree Life Melody* played by Tian Yu and the other women had clearly won the favor of the majority.

"Sisters, keep it up!" Tian Yu plucked her pipa strings, sending a message via telepathy. "Today’s battle will decide the fate of our sect for the next century. We cannot afford to lose. We must, under the watchful eyes of this massive crowd, crush Feiyin and the Sonic Sect’s legacy from the Sanqing Immortal Sect. In this great era of contention, the Sanqing Immortal Sect’s time is long past. Let our Miaoyin Immortal Sect be the one to take the first bite from this great dragon as it falls!"

At her words, the women around her revealed smirks.

"Don’t worry, Junior Sister!"

"The Four Famed Beauties of the Sonic Sect are all merely at the mid-Golden Core Stage, not much stronger than us. And now, the thirteen of us True Disciples have joined forces."

"It doesn’t matter which of the Four Beauties this Ms. Feiyin is. She stands no chance against the combined performance of so many of us sisters."

"Even if she isn’t one of the Four Beauties, but some Sonic Sect elder trying to pass as a young disciple, it wouldn’t matter. After all, we’re competing in the profundities of the Way of Music, not Cultivation Level."

"In public, even if she were a Sonic Sect Elder, she wouldn’t dare reveal her identity and use a power beyond the Golden Core Stage."

"In short, Junior Sister, rest assured. There will be no surprises in this musical duel. Even if a Great Luo Immortal descended from the heavens, this Feiyin is doomed to lose today!"

[Ding!]

[Detected someone bragging outrageously, triggering a critical boast. The System’s high tolerance has been reached. Congratulations to the Host for gaining Mana +233 and Mana Quality +233.]

[Congratulations to the Host for obtaining: *Tribulation-Passing Immortal Melody* Complete Experience Card!]

Wang Xiu was taken aback. *Tribulation-Passing Immortal Melody*? Interesting.

He turned to look toward the window and saw that Li Zuoyue, Huang Yunqing, and the three Hao Jiyou brothers were all completely focused on Tian Yu and Feiyin, paying no attention to him. He quietly exited the private room and walked outside.

Ten Thousand Demonic Transformations Art!

With the first step, Wang Xiu’s figure shrank by several centimeters, and his features became utterly unremarkable. With the second step, the aura he emitted became completely different from before. With the third step, his white robes transformed into the attire of a Sonic Sect disciple. Neither his expression nor his movements betrayed a single flaw.

"Ma’am," Wang Xiu said, stopping the building’s female manager in the main hall. "I am a disciple of the Sanqing Immortal Sect’s Sonic Sect. My name is Wang... Wang Yiyun."

He added, "The ’Yi’ for integrity and the ’Yun’ for clouds. Think ’integrity that reaches the clouds’!"

"My Senior Sister Feiyin is temporarily at a disadvantage and outnumbered. She urgently needs my help. Could you tell me where the instrument room is? I need to pick out a few suitable instruments to help my sister face the enemy."

Wang Yiyun? Why have I never heard that name before? And don’t Sonic Sect disciples always carry their own instruments? Does he really need to borrow one at a time like this? A hint of suspicion flickered in the manager’s eyes. But the situation was urgent. The musicians from the Miaoyin Blessed Land were aggressive, their rhythm growing more and more oppressive. It was a stroke of luck that another Sonic Sect disciple was present to lend a hand. It was a desperate situation that called for a desperate remedy.

After a moment’s thought, the manager quickly led Wang Xiu to the Phoenix Perch Building’s instrument storeroom, a hopeful look on her face. "Basically all of our instruments are kept here. Please, sir, feel free to choose whatever you need."

With that, she slowly backed out of the instrument room to wait quietly outside.

WHOOSH.

I hope the fusion this time doesn’t take too long. The branches of Sanqing are all connected. When faced with an outside enemy, we have a duty to act! Wang Xiu exhaled, his eyes sweeping over the dazzling array of instruments in the storeroom as he silently commanded in his mind, Merge, *Tribulation-Passing Immortal Melody*!

As a golden light flowed into his body, he began to absorb countless profound and abstruse mysteries of the Way of Music. This time, however, he didn’t wait to fully digest all the knowledge before testing its power. The moment the fusion began, he slowly looked around at the various instruments. As he absorbed more and more of the profound principles, his sense of affinity with the instruments grew stronger and stronger. He gently caressed each one. Despite having never practiced them, they felt incredibly familiar in his hands, as if he had played them for countless years.

The Way of Music? Does that really require practice? Isn’t it something anyone with hands can do? Just you wait, Miaoyin Blessed Land. I’m about to show you something big!

「Meanwhile.」

In the main hall of the Phoenix Perch Building, the musical battle between Feiyin and the thirteen musicians grew ever more intense. Invisible sound waves saturated the entire building. Half of the tavern was plunged into a lavish mirage of peace and prosperity, filled with laughter and joyous sounds. The other half, however, was fraught with a palpable, sword-point tension, as if a thousand-strong army was thundering across a battlefield.

But Qin Guangling was ultimately just one person with two hands. No matter how high his attainment in the musical arts, he could not possibly stand alone against the combined assault of twelve music masters. Even if the twelve True Disciples from the Miaoyin Immortal Sect were holding back due to their status, their accompaniment was enough to amplify the impact of Tian Yu’s performance several times over, making her nearly invincible among her peers.

"Look!"

"Quickly, look!"

Suddenly, shouts of astonishment echoed through the Phoenix Perch Building. "It’s a Sonic Realm! The legendary Sonic Realm!"

As the performance reached its climax, the auras of Tian Yu and the twelve women beside her connected, and a series of magnificent scenes began to coalesce behind them. In the images, there were graceful dancers in flowing rainbow garments, feasts of rare delicacies and fine wines, mountains of gold and silver to rival a nation’s treasury, and the hallowed imperial court where one could hear the dragon’s decree. All the desires and splendors of the mortal world manifested one by one in this unfolding scroll, captivating the hearts and minds of all who watched.

It is said that when one cultivates a supreme musical art to the Great Achievement Realm, one can use music to communicate with the laws of heaven and earth, condensing an incredibly profound Sonic Realm. Through these realms, one can almost transcend time and space to experience the state of mind of the art’s creator at the moment of its invention. This was known as Sonic Resonance. Those who were lucky could even achieve enlightenment within a Sonic Resonance, reaping tremendous benefits.

Naturally, Tian Yu’s *Carefree Life Melody* had not reached the Great Achievement Realm, but with the support of her twelve senior sisters, she had managed to faintly manifest a Sonic Realm. The sight stunned the entire Phoenix Perch Building and pushed Qin Guangling into an even more precarious situation.

It was easy to foresee that if Qin Guangling lost, the news that "Ms. Tian Yu defeated Ms. Feiyin with a Sonic Realm at the Phoenix Perch Building" would instantly spread throughout Vermilion Bird City. She would climb to fame on Feiyin’s reputation and become the new idol of the masses.

Perfect! I can’t believe I actually condensed a Sonic Realm. At that moment, the joy in Tian Yu’s eyes was impossible to hide.

Although it was only a partial realm, the appearance of a Sonic Realm in a Golden Core Stage musical duel was a crushing, higher-dimensional advantage. Forget Feiyin—even if Qin Guangling, the chief disciple of the Sonic Sect, were here in person, he could never counter a Sonic Realm with music alone unless he suppressed it with his raw Cultivation Level.

This contest is ours! The Miaoyin Blessed Land has won!

Just as triumphant smiles graced the faces of the thirteen True Disciples of the Miaoyin Blessed Land, a deep, resonant toll of a bell suddenly echoed from the instrument room in the depths of the Phoenix Perch Building. It was the sound of an Ancient Bronze Bell—heavy, far-reaching, and profound. There were no complex variations or melodious tunes; it sounded just like the most ordinary bell being struck in a remote mountain temple.

However, to the utter astonishment of the crowd, as this single bell toll rang out, the seductive, decadent music that had filled more than half of the Phoenix Perch Building was instantly swept away. Behind the thirteen True Disciples of the Miaoyin Blessed Land, the newly formed Sonic Realm of mortal desires shattered inch by inch before everyone’s eyes, vanishing into nothingness in an instant.

SPURT!

The thirteen True Disciples all coughed up a mouthful of blood at once, their auras instantly becoming incredibly faint.

How is this possible?! Our musical arts, which we have cultivated for so many years, were broken in a single moment!