623 Talen (1/2)

In the quiet secret chamber, amid the darkness, a crisp sound of iron sheets rubbing against each other rang out.

It resembled pebbles knocking each other.

After two collisions, a glimmer of fire was born from it. The speck of fire that resembled a candle flickering in the wind illuminated Newton's sluggish face, as well as the wound in his palm that had barely healed.

”It's fire.” He looked at the flames floating above his palm, as if he had never seen fire before, and his face lit up with a child-like joy.

As his fingers moved, the heavy block of iron that was clasped onto his arm gave off a faint glow. One could vaguely see musical notes flickering in and out of sight, controlling the flames to change in a predetermined manner. The fire sometimes became ring-shaped, other times forming a square...

It was the simplest application of musical notes.

— Flame.

Despite the alchemy equipment being so basic that even apprentices would not spare a glance for it, Newton had a good time playing with it, until the high temperature radiating from the heavy block of iron on his arm was no longer tolerable, and the noise was earsplitting... A crack sounded.

The flame was extinguished.

A gap cracked open on the square block of iron.

Newton's expression abruptly stiffened, revealing a mixed look of disdain and regret.

The light slowly lit up, illuminating the secret chamber that he had been hiding in all this while and a languorous Ye Qingxuan lazing on the old sofa. Seeing that Newton's experience had ended, Ye Qingxuan lifted his eyes. ”How do you feel?”

”Feel?” Newton removed the iron block from his arm with some trouble and weighed it in his hand, then scornfully threw it into the corner in the end. ”A godly direction, a crappy design.

”It's so crude and rough that I wonder how its designer still has the nerve to continue living in the world. ”

Ye Qingxuan's expression immediately turned to one of resignation.

He knew that the old man was coming up with innovative ways to berate him, but it just so happened that he could do nothing about it. Newton was as good as the founding fathers in this aspect, and Ye Qingxuan's attainments didn't even qualify him to hold Newton's shoes for him.

The old assh*le is really vengeful...

He curled his lips, reached out, and summoned the cumbersome square iron block on the ground back into his hands from a distance. The iron block could be hung on the arm through the gap in the middle, and looked like an oversized bracelet, or... shackles.

But at the moment it seemed that the shackles were broken.

The remaining temperature had yet to dissipate. Ye Qingxuan reached out, cut the iron shell open, revealing the densely packed gears and tiny springs underneath, and began to inspect it carefully.

”No need to look at it, the conduction system is overheated.” Newton snorted. ”You miscalculated the stress limit of the matter.”

”No, the calculation is correct. I have checked the entire formula several times, and it should be perfectly safe,” said Ye Qingxuan.

”The formula itself is problematic, or rather, from the start, the textbooks are incorrect.” Newton sneered. ”People like you who rely on rote learning like to make such mistakes the most.”

”Okay, okay, well said, you're absolutely right.” Ye Qingxuan spread his hands. ”It's just a consumable used for demonstration. A free version which requires no payment and has achieved such standards is good enough.

”What about you, Newton, are you satisfied with the experience of being a musician for the short span of only a few minutes? ”

Newton was silent for a long time, then started cackling softly. ”Of course.

”I've never expected to experience the feeling of becoming a musician one day. Not bad, Ye Qingxuan, not bad indeed. I'm starting to believe what you have said.”

He paused and looked at the odd-looking 'bracelet' consisting purely of mechanical parts in Ye Qingxuan's hand, and the look in his eyes became greedy and anticipative. ”...The door to the new world.”

Under the dim light, Ye Qingxuan lifted the odd bracelet with his index finger, deftly spinning it at his fingertip.

One could vaguely see a faint perception thread extending out of it and disappearing in the void unobservable to the naked eye.

Beneath the vast enchantment of Avalon, the perception thread was immersed into the nine-layer sea of aether and extended into the depths of the enchantment.

In the turbulent waves of the sea of aether, the unknown item connected to the perception thread fleetingly revealed a large and grotesque outline, and immediately disappeared without a trace.

It was as if it had never appeared.

It was the scepter domain hidden in the reflection in the sea, the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth that had absorbed the power of the catastrophe, or in other words... the key component required to form the Net of Aether.

In the silence, the look in Newton's eyes changed, and God knew what he was thinking about. After a good while, he spoke up and asked, ”It is what you are counting on when you bring up the plan of mass producing war musicians again with full confidence, right?

”No, even the plan is just a shell to cover up your real purpose...”

He paused, then voiced the taboo phrase. ”— Artificial musician!”

”You actually caught the essence of the Net of Aether so fast?” Ye Qingxuan lamented softly. ”Worthy of your fame as the best engineer in Anglo indeed.”

”Not Anglo, but the world.” Newton corrected him, expressionless. His gaze fell on the spinning bracelet at Ye Qingxuan's fingertip, and recalled the notebook that Ye Qingxuan had shown him before letting him try it on.