192 Another Crisis (1/2)
The setting sun, withered vines, old tree, evening crows, and a heartbroken man at the horizon.
”I heard that you were caught by that white haired guy?” a crow asked quietly, standing above the old tree in the backyard.
”Yeah.” The tree’s branches trembled as if it was reminded of a nightmare. It asked in a hoarse voice, ”And you?”
”I was caught too.” The crow was heartbroken.
”Me too.” The withered vine asked in a low voice, ”How many times for you?”
”Twice. You?”
The withered vine was quiet for a while before replying, ”Three times.”
The crow looked at the withered vine pitifully and raised its wing to pat the vine. ”Don’t be sad. I heard someone was caught four times.” The old tree burst into tears, and the crow was shocked. ”Bro, what’s the matter?”
”The guy who was caught four times was me.”
”That’s sad.” The crow shed tears of sympathy.
The withered vine nodded too. ”Yeah, really sad.”
”Don't worry, it’s all over.” The three fellow victims huddled together in the cold, crying on each other's shoulders. ”It's all over now.”
But footsteps and voices could be heard faintly in the distance. ”How many did you get?”
”Not even one. I even got points deducted because I damaged the scene.” The girl’s voice sounded a little disappointed. ”There's only ten left.”
”Well, then I’ll look for a few to let you raise it a little.”
”Great!”
In the distance, the last glimmer of light was about to disappear. It was a sign of the arrival of the long night.
When the white moon rose to the sky, everyone was relieved for some reason. The f*cked up first day was finally over.
”Students, I am so pleased!” The excited principal at the podium whistled, ignoring Her Highness who was beside him, and the gloomy Sydney and other coaches behind him.
”Everyone did great today! Chef? Chef! Add a chicken leg to everyone’s dinner to replenish their energy!” Maxwell waved widely and increased the benefits for all of the students.
Unfortunately, no one cheered because they were all exhausted. But Maxwell was not in a hurry and instead gave a mysterious smile. ”Next, I have good news to announce…In order to help everyone keep up the good work in the next two rounds of trial, the royal family prepared a prize for first place in today’s trial.”
Maxwell paused. Looking back at the girl behind him, he smiled. ”The prize is a complete set of materials needed for the sublimation ritual! It includes the resonance rails unique to the School of Anglo, and the highest quality aether crystals. It can turn any music movement into a Heart Mark, and allow the musician to accept the knowledge during the sublimation ritual!”
The audience was silenced instantly, followed by an explosion of noise. Everyone’s eyes grew wild, but more people were lamenting about their unluckiness, forcing them to be so far behind.
The jealous eyes that fixed on Ye Qingxuan in that instant were almost too much for him to bear.
Among the secret rituals mastered by countless musicians, the ”sublimation ritual” was undoubtedly the most popular one. It was highly sought after due to its excellent effects and near-absence of side effects.
The recipient in a ”sublimation ritual” would submerge his mind in the aether ocean and fall toward the Originator.
This was the optimal opportunity, close to Deva sensing. In one short hour, the recipient would gain as much in music theory and power as others would in several months. The sublimation rituals held by different schools were never the same. The School of Anglo had a special sublimation ritual. It lasted the longest and practically took an entire night.
By consuming huge amounts of material and aether, the musician’s strength would be improved as well. The effect was three to four times that of a regular sublimation.
Many rhythm level musicians sought ‘inspiration’ to no avail, but received inspired during the sublimation ritual. Then under the Deva sensing, they stepped into the third stage and officially entered the musician level.
It was also the best way for ordinary people who had limited talent and found it difficult to improve. It must be known that a sublimation ritual was practically the only hope for the majority of students to become musicians! The ordinary man could not afford its high cost and precious material. Even an elite family would feel the loss too…
Furthermore, this time, the royal family had also provided the aether crystal, resonance rails and other treasured materials to produce the Heart Mark.
The Heart Mark! This was a creation unique to the School of Mind. It was an alternative modeled after the once-in-a-lifetime ‘nirvana’ that Scepter level musicians of the School of Mind experienced.
As the name implied, the Heart Mark was passed on by the heart, rather than words. Its purpose was to pass down the feelings of a music score and allow instant acquisition of the score. The musician could skip months and years of studying and practice, especially since some music scores above the Resonance level chose its owner!