Late night watch shop.
"That's it. That kid has practiced hundreds of thousands of times in the past few days. His perseverance is really commendable."
In the clock shop, the blond boy Hermes put his feet up on his desk, playing with the ether ball left by Ye Qingxuan in his hand. He whistled at the ether ball, and the silent ether ball lit up. The clear crystal refracted the candlelight, leaving a complex set of characters and diagrams on the wall.
He whistled at the ether ball, and the silent ether ball lit up. The clear crystal refracted the candlelight, leaving a complex set of characters and diagrams on the wall.
If measuring ether data is its most widespread use, then this is the truly expensive technology in the ether sphere.
The movement solidified in the crystal will record all the notes and music that have interfered with the etheric ball, and reappear in a digital form for users to compare, correct noise, improve the resonance rate with the ether, and move towards the standard. close.
However, Ye Qingxuan never successfully activated him even once, resulting in the fact that this function, which is the most powerful assistant for all apprentices, never appeared at all.
But Hermes now woke it up, bypassed the confidentiality function, unlocked the music score, and finally looked at the data, amazed.
"It's really amazing. One hundred and forty-three thousand three hundred and eleven times in eight days. At least nine hours a day are spent on this, right? It's a shame that stupid kid can persist with this level of hard work. pity… "
Hermes shook his head, his eyes playful: "I have never succeeded even once. What kind of bullshit luck is this?"
"Isn't everyone like this?"
Seton asked: "Some people can't pronounce standard syllables even once in their lives, right?"
"That's because they haven't tried 140,000 times. The gorilla keeps jumping on the piano, and one day he will be able to type out the score of "Ode to Joy." But this kid, let alone Ode to Joy, doesn't even have a single key. Encountered. With such bad luck, he would be trafficked just walking on the street, right? Anyway, I have been a craftsman for so many years, and I have never heard of this kind of thing. So, either he is an unprecedented unlucky guy, or... There's definitely another reason."
"Another reason?"
Hearing his question, Hermes laughed, but avoided answering and asked: "Seton, do you know what is the most important thing for a musician? Tell me, I am in a good mood now, I won’t mock you.”
"Hey, you guy... isn't the most important thing your resonance with the ether?"
"That's true, but it's not entirely correct."
Hermes narrowed his eyes: "The resonance between the musician and the ether is the most important thing, and the higher it is, the better. But for the musician, the most important part of the resonance rate is at pure zero. A breakthrough between one! From nothing to something, from zero to one, this is a qualitative change that makes something out of nothing, and it is also an opportunity that a person only has once in his life... In other words, this is the door to the musician. If you can't push it open, don't say anything. Become an apprentice, and even if you work hard for a lifetime, you can only linger outside the gate."
He twirled the ether ball on his fingertips, whistled, and played with the flickering lights. The silver light illuminated the sarcastic smile on his lips:
"Some people say that if you want to open this door, you must have one percent luck, nine percent talent, and ninety percent hard work. But the most important thing is talent and luck. Some people just People who can push open the door even while sleeping and snoring are called geniuses, but there are still some people who will be blocked outside the door for a lifetime and never be able to set foot on this road. Although it is cruel to say this, but hard work Sometimes...it's really useless."
"You mean that kid has no talent?"
"fart."
Hermes cursed and looked contemptuous: "The 'celestial blood' of the nine surnames of the Eastern Dragon Vein are innately many times stronger than others... How can a guy who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth have the right to cry for poverty? ? What's more, he has a strong bloodline that can maintain silver-white hair even after being mixed... If that kid was born in the East and had some kind of powerful 'talent', he might have something in the 'Lingyan Tower' in the future. A place for you!”
Seton's head hurt when he heard it, and he just felt like it was chaos:
"What exactly do you want to say?"
"I just want to say that more than 143,000 times of practice can confirm that he is really working hard, and the celestial blood of the East will definitely not have talent problems, if it is not bad luck. Then there is only one possibility... "
Hermes smiled, but his smile clearly contained a chill that seemed to come from the bones:
"—Aether Seal."
…
Seton was stunned, he knew what Hermes was talking about.
The ether seal was just a by-product of the early musician research, and later gradually disappeared and was not known to anyone. But according to Hermes, copies of this technology are still available in many places for review.
Just after the Dark Ages, various countries privately conducted human experiments on captured musicians in order to explore the "Great Source".
During this process, one of the thousands of strange technologies that were born included the "Ether Seal".
Performing an operation on an ordinary person and implanting more than nineteen needle-type silencers in the spine can forcefully close his musician's door forever... Although this operation seems to be widely used, it has three fatal consequences. The defects destined it to be thrown into the trash can as a defective product.
The cost was too high, the postoperative mortality rate was too high, and the repellency of ether was too high to make it completely unusable for musicians. In the end, it can only be shelved and thrown into the trash.
In this regard, Seton was even more puzzled, who would implant such high shackles into a young man's body just to block his path as a musician
"Ha, who knows."
Hermes tossed the ether ball in his hand, his eyes sarcastic: "The ether seal is indeed a good idea. The closer the person who is implanted with the seal is to the ether, the more painful he will be. In the end, he will die in pain with a sweet dream in his arms. According to Normally speaking, this is correct, but no matter who it is, this time it is all in vain. If they don't understand the blood of heaven and humans, they don't know how ridiculous things they have done. A mere lock can make him unable to break it. Opening the door to a musician cannot stop what is behind the door from breaking out... The more something is suppressed, the more terrifying its rebound is. Especially when dealing with the almost deformed inheritance method of the bloodline of heaven and man, it is simply drinking poison to quench thirst. .”
Seton asked: "Is the bloodline of heavenly beings really that powerful?"
"Of course, idiot, that is the foundation of the tower that was exchanged for the blood, bones and lives of countless people... For hundreds of years, Easterners have been constantly exploring themselves in order to get closer to the ether, and they even did not hesitate to use themselves for experiments. Product. Nine emperors in a row went to war and conquered the barbarians in order to get more people for experiments. I don’t know how many people died in experiments and transformations. The most tyrannical emperor 'Qin' will not even be able to complete the task The musicians were judged as waste, and their school and the ancient books were pushed into the pit of fire. Until the end... they finally succeeded in one thing, which was to integrate the resonance of the ether into their blood, and turned it into a Talent. Like wild beasts, they turn those inexplicable insights and experiences into instincts that can be passed down."
Seton was stunned: "You mean that kid..."
"That's right."
Hermes nodded: "Memories can be forgotten, personalities can change, but as long as you live, your instincts will not be lost. That bastard tried 140,000 times and knocked on that door 140,000 times... As long as someone If you’re willing to give him a little extra strength, that broken door will completely fall apart.”
He paused for a moment, his eyes sighing with emotion:
"The qualitative change of the synchronization rate from zero to one is the moment when the door of musicians opens. Eastern people have paid so much just for this moment. For the first time, the ether will be integrated into the mortal body, sublimating the spirit and tempering the soul. , became part of his life.”
Hermes murmured softly, as if regretting:
"At that time, the ether will be the messenger, guiding the lost and rebellious sons back to the Great Source. But even for just a moment, the conceited souls of human beings will break free from the dream of the Great Source and return to individuals... Only in that moment can they set off a stir in the ether. In the midst of the waves—see your true nature!”
His hand gently drew a circular mark in the air, his eyes pitiful:
"All the wrong paths will start from here."
…
…
For a moment, Ye Qingxuan fell into a familiar trance.
The huge pale blue moonlight rose from the end of the sky, illuminating his eyes.
That dream full of pain has returned, time is rushing, and everything is decaying. Everything was gone, replaced by indescribable ruins and graveyards.
There is also a blue moon hanging high in the sky.
Between the tombstones, there are webs of spider silk and dust. Those sharp or heavy tombstones are like a hand reaching towards the sky, trying in vain to hold the moonlight.
…
Ye Qingxuan saw the white-haired man again. He wandered among the tombstones, his head bowed in thought, his robe covered with moss and fallen leaves. When he saw Ye Qingxuan, he raised his head. That face seemed familiar.
Just like himself, like his father, like an old man, but with the characteristics of a boy, sometimes as charming as a woman, but also masculine and handsome.
The longer Ye Qingxuan looked at him, the less he dared to confirm his appearance. He couldn't even tell if the man was a human or some older prototype. It's like a symbol of a long time ago, the source of blood.
It is independent of time, so it embraces the past and the future. But when he stared at Ye Qingxuan, he came from the past to the present, and from the future came to him.
His eyes were sad.
"Do you regret it?"
This time, Ye Qingxuan finally heard his voice clearly. His voice was low and clear, like the sound of breaking jade.
As if he had penetrated his destiny and past, the man's eyes passed through Ye Qingxuan's body, as if falling into his heart, staring at the sorrow and persistence in those long years, watching him fall again and again. In and out of the mud.
Therefore, his eyes looked pitiful:
"-Do you regret it?"
Ye Qingxuan was stunned, feeling great sadness and pain emerging from his chest.
Those forgotten things in the past resurfaced again, with burning pain rolling in his chest, driving him to face this question.
Doubts turned into iron hooks, digging into the depths of his bones, looking for even the slightest hint of wavering.
"No regrets."
In Ye Qingxuan's heart, a voice responded softly. Ye Qingxuan stared at the man in front of him and suddenly laughed. He whispered: "Not in the future."
Then, the man in the dream laughed, as if he had been greatly saved.
"That's great."
He murmured softly, looking up at the sky.
The moonlight fell in his eyes, and the light of the soul lit up from his pupils. The dead leaves and moss were ignited by the light, and the flames gathered in his hands and turned into silver-white flames.
He stretched out his hand and buried his palm into the young man's chest. The flame burned in Ye Qingxuan's heart and flowed with the blood.
Something suddenly broke at Ye Qingxuan's feet. It was some kind of power that was born from under the Nine Earths, brewed over a long period of time, and emerged from the ground.
In the sound of cracking rocks, a brand new tombstone broke through the rocks and emerged from the rotten soil!
The moonlight illuminated the sharp writing on it like a knife and an axe. But the tombstone on the ground was empty, but there were only three words - Ye Qingxuan.
This is the invitation to embark on the path of death, the guiding stone into the land of death and mystery. He finally made a contract with "Dayuan" in this dream of illusion.
"All misguided paths begin from here."
Behind him, the white-haired man murmured suicidal, raised his palms and pressed his shoulders. That voice suddenly changed and became extremely familiar, as if you had heard it before!
"Little Ye Zi, this is the only thing I can give you."
His soul seemed to be attached to the young man, guiding him to raise his palms and stretch them into the void in front of him, as if pressing on non-existent strings:
"—The chapter of your destiny!"