63 What a Musician Is (2/2)

Countless musicians through history had searched tirelessly for the Originator, hoping to enter it.

Apparently, an Indian prince was willing to abandon his own country to become a musician. After traveling for more than ten years, he meditated under a sycamore tree for seven days, defeated multiple natural catastrophes, and finally entered the Originator.

But there were too many legends. Ye Qingxuan could make up a few with just his creativity. He had once thought that the world was created from a bowl of noodles. Of course, that had been when he was starving.

In this world, the only place that had evidence of deities was in the sacred city. It was a power that was enough to reverse common knowledge, and the world—even death.

Seven days after the first pope died, he was reborn under everyone’s eyes, and entered Heaven. From then on, every pope would inherit the divine power under the witness of the cardinals. They would be pierced through the heart at the coronation ceremony, and be reborn in the halo of the holy temple.

But these were just things that Ye Qingxuan had heard of. He thought that these were probably rumors. But he could not ask the priest about these things.

But the Originator’s significance toward the musicians of the world was undeniable.

”Both mankind and musicians have kept trying to research the secrets of the Originator since the Dark Ages. The Nine Levels of Musicians were created after countless investigations and inductions. But that was the standard result after clashes and discussions between all of the different schools.” Abraham quickly scribbled something on the blackboard. ”The most important to you right now are the first three levels.”

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The so-called Nine Levels of Musicians included apprentice level, rhythm level, musician level, resonance level, and others.

For a student, the first three were the most important. After all, most musicians in the world could not move past the first three levels.

For a musician, the most basic thing was the interaction between mankind and aether. To be able to sense the aether and use it to create a note counted as the first step—the apprentice level.

Those who were in that level would learn new notes, and start researching how to sing the right syllables. It was something that everyone had to do because everyone was different. Whether it was the voice, habits, or key, there were slight differences. And so the experiences of others could only be used as a model. The key part could only be achieved through personal trial and error.

This was also why Wolf Flute had thought that Ye Qingxuan could never become a musician. Adding that to the fact that he could not sense the aether, it would have been impossible for Ye to complete the first level. Even if he made it past somehow, he would be a horrible musician who would accidentally kill himself.

If an apprentice was able to learn hymns with multiple notes and perform a piece well, he could enter the next level. It was the step that decided a musician’s future—the rhythm level.

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If the first apprentice level was just accumulation, then the second step required decisions.

After using multiple notes, and performing a short piece of music without help, the apprentice would choose a complete piece under the guidance of his professor to research and analyze.

But before that, he must make an important decision based on his performance and experience as an apprentice. The result would decide his future path. No one could fully learn everything, so some things must be abandoned.

Once an apprentice entered the second level, he would choose the school and specialization he was best at. All seven schools were enough for one to study for their entire life.

To make learning more efficient at the Royal Academy of Music, this choice was put in the first step. The student could not choose the school; instead, the representative from each school chose their students.

This process lessened the trouble. After the accumulation of experience in the first level, the students could receive professional guidance immediately after entering the second level.

The owner of the clock shop, Sir Hermes, scoffed at this. ”Choosing your own path after deep research cannot be compared with being chosen for mass production from the beginning? The first creates artists. The latter is just a group of average smiths. It is so crude…”

It had only been a few moments, but Ye Qingxuan could tell that Hermes disliked the Royal Academy of Music.