Silent Crown

For a moment, everyone felt a chill for no reason.

Time seemed to freeze, and one could hear a clear whistle of a sword.

As time seemed to progress at a speed tens of millions of times slower than usual, a cold light flew towards them from the depths of the night sky. It passed the stars, penetrated the gloomy clouds, flitted across the endless oceans and mountains, and descended from the sky.

It was so cold, but it possessed a brilliance like that of souls burning, stinging everyone’s eyes.

The Sword Art of the Departing Soul!

The clear whistling of the sword reverberated in one’s ears belatedly, sounding one after another, yet overlapping with each other. It was like the gentle and slow plucking of the strings of a qin using five fingers, the captivation of iron drumsticks hitting a bronze drum, and the charm and joy of lutes being played and flutes being blown.

A ray of metallic gleam cut the night sky apart, but wherever it passed, ripple-like patterns appeared. It was as if they were looking up from the bottom of a pond at the bustling mortal realm, where songs and dances extolled the good times. But when the metallic gleam silently stabbed downwards from the curtain of the night, it shattered the ripples and the illusions of the bustling mortal realm.

Someone was tapping the sword to the melody of a song, and the grand scene described in the movement named Long Chi Le [1] evolved from it. Then, the bestiality of the true dragon was extracted from it, turning the pure gleam of the sword into a dragon-like shape hovering in the sky.

“What is that!” The scepter musician blocked by the dragon was stunned. Before he even had time to react, the dragon of the gleam of the sword high in the sky wrapped itself around his elements. In a flash, the musician and his scepter stiffened where they were.

A storm of aether swept across, and the musician and his scepter quietly crumbled, dissipating between the heavens and the earth. Only bone-chilling murderous intent lingered around everyone.

One of the Six Royals, the head of House Yuan had acted ferociously at the moment, scaring the scepter musicians secretly watching on in the dark so much that they all retreated hundreds of miles in an instant. All their courage had been wiped out by the fleeting dragon-shaped gleam of the sword, and they dared not approach again.

In a fleeting instant, the dragon-shaped gleam of the sword cast itself towards the fragment of the Ultimate. The fragment was wrapped in the gleam, like a dragon ball in the mouth of the dragon. The man wasted no words, turned, and started to leave.

“Leave it here!” Frenzied thunder struck from the overcast clouds, and the phantom shadow of Odin which the Second Prince had transformed into appeared as the layers of thunder and lightning interwove. A mighty melody unfolded, and the divinity within operated, pressing towards the dragon-shaped gleam.

Compared to the phantom of the giant god whose figure stretched all the way from the earth to the sky, the small gleam of the sword looked like a candle in the wind, but it was incredibly deft. It tore apart the blasts of thunder and the music theory easily as if it was crushing dry weeds and smashing rotten wood. Despite forcibly fighting against the divinity, it was at no disadvantage!

But next, Chopin’s figure suddenly emerged from a wisp of moonlight in thin air. Facing the blade that was powerful enough to mince himself up, not only did he not retreat, but instead, he greeted it ecstatically, as if he was looking for death, and couldn’t wait for someone to kill him.

However, the music theory around him that was complex and terrifying like a tide made the ray of gleam deeply wary. As compared to the ease it enjoyed when fighting against Odin, it was somewhat constrained when dealing with Chopin.

In contrast, Ye Qingxuan was one step slower, but he seemed to be in no hurry. He simply hovered around, riding the golden dragon. Nor did he idle, and he kept on throwing plenty of musical movements into the Ultimate. The movements he played with his fingers were merely lead-ins. Ye Qingxuan played the prelude, but after that, hundreds of aether waves followed closely.

Outside the Ultimate, the warship named the Mountain of Nomadism had been burnt red due to it operating under the ninth drive. The huge heart in the pool of aether was wildly beating, constantly absorbing power from the sea of aether and distributing it to every musician’s body along with the music theory of the Net of Aether.

A nearly infinite power was available for the musicians to dispatch, and the purification musicians of the Religious Court of Inquiry had never been able to expend power so extravagantly before. With the guidance of Ye Qingxuan, under the command, the warship’s armor opened up layer by layer, revealing hundreds and thousands of thick pipes, and hot steam spewed out of the pipes.

It was a huge organ that had completed its warm-up.

After undergoing modifications once more in Anglo, the Mountain of Nomadism had become a total stronghold. After the hull was completely dismantled, the alchemists built a huge war instrument specifically tailored for the Mountain of Nomadism and embedded the huge organ in it.

Just the keys alone made up nine layers. It had thousands of organ bolts and tens of thousands of resonance pipes.

At the moment, the purification musicians had begun resonating as one under the guidance of the Heaven Ladder, with synergy, they played a purifying movement. The grand melody of Night on Bald Mountain resounded through the skies.

The gloomy clouds were burned to a bright red. Countless meteors descended from the sky with the guidance of Ye Qingxuan. It was red-hot gleams of iron, stakes with the Fire of Judgment entwined around them.

The clouds wrapped around the Mountain of Nomadism had already become a scorching furnace. Innumerable gleams of iron brewed up within, appearing out of nothing. They condensed and turned into heavy stakes. Together with the Light of Judgment, they descended from the sky and smashed into the Ultimate.

Loud bangs burst forth continuously. The stakes were like heavy rain, descending from the sky as Ye Qingxuan waved his hands. Each of the stakes crashing down would trigger a raging fire, as if it had smashed out a hole leading straight to purgatory in the ground, causing the lava in purgatory to spew out.

The fiery glow from the rows of stakes shrouded everywhere in sight.

It was as if Ye Qingxuan had waved a hammer about and hammered nails down. Each stake wedged into the Ultimate nailed the music theory of the Religious Court of Inquiry deeply into the land.

Wherever the fire shrouded was holy land.

In a flash, all the other forces were expelled by the ferocious music theory on the stakes, and only pure judgment and destruction remained. The demons hiding in the shadows were swallowed by the flames in large numbers. They screamed and dissipated as ashes in the terrifyingly high temperature.

By the launching tracks on the deck, two teams of heavily armored knights of the Witch Hammer and a team of purification musicians were ready to go. They awaited Ye Qingxuan’s orders to cast themselves into the battlefield in the Ultimate.

At the moment, the situation was too chaotic. Ye Qingxuan forcibly suppressed the impulse in his heart and decided to watch in safety while others fought, letting them fight among themselves.

In the meantime, he would first rely on the strengthening of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth to transform the piece of land into his own territory.

Sensing the music theory of Jiu Xiao Huan Pei and the Heaven Ladder, in the middle of the fight, the dragon-shaped gleam of the sword cast Ye Qingxuan a brief look.

“Ye Lanzhou? No… Ye Lanzhou is already dead… You are the young fella fooling around in Anglo? I’ve heard Yuan Jing mention you before.” The hoarse voice rang in Ye Qingxuan’s ears. “As a fellow possessor of Deva blood, do hurry and come over to give me a hand. House Yuan would reward you greatly afterward.”

“I’m of no help, no help at all.” Ye Qingxuan waved his hand with a regretful expression. “How can I go over and cause you trouble when you are dealing with such an important matter? Hey, poke his eyes! That’s right! Exactly, I knew it, that brat of Asgard was definitely no match for you!” ”

“Young fella, you are so tactless!” The head of House Yuan snorted coldly. “Surely you aren’t expecting to profit from our fight? Aren’t you afraid that I will kill you first?”

“I am afraid, of course, I’m afraid!” Riding the golden dragon, he retreated a few hundred meters, a mocking look on his face. “But I’m even more afraid that the dark musicians have buried something in the Ultimate. A word of advice, senior, dare you eat the pie that has fallen from the sky [2] without checking??”

Bang! The sound of something cracking rang out from the depths of the Ultimate.

In the mausoleum in the depths of the ground, the sumptuous feast was coming to an end. The last speck of ashes stuck at the fingertip was put into the mouth. The strange figure draped in grayish-white hemp licked at his fingers and turned back. In the dim candlelight, all the broken sarcophagi in the messy mausoleum were empty.

No remains were left.

Only the broken crowns were piled up in one place, like a ridiculous hill.

The nobles who controlled everything during their lifetime and still set the rules for the world after their deaths all ended up in the belly of the ghoul-like monster.

Wind blew from the darkness, extinguishing the fire. Darkness swept, swallowing the figure up.

In the pure darkness, a trace of breathing finally sounded.

As if after swallowing death, one gained life.

The sound of bones scraping against each other rang out, a weak heartbeat gradually recovered. Nothing could be seen, but one could hear the fine echoes of flesh growing plumper amid the trickle of blood.

In the end, what opened in the darkness was a pair of dark eyes with white flames burning within.

…

And right in the middle of the Ultimate, the broken hall collapsed with a rumble, revealing the towering altar below.

The altar was covered in blood, and the spices burned in the fire turned into blue smoke. The smoke slowly rose, hovering, refusing to leave, and lingered between the seven complex seals. Some of the seals had been broken and opened, but others were still intact. Some were unresponsive, but others flickered along with the flames as if they were breathing.

A short dwarf stood on the altar, holding a copper plate high with both hands.

The withered head on the copper plate slowly opened his eyes, gazing at the extinguished fire above the altar.

“I want you to come.” He opened his mouth and made the call with his lips and teeth. The harsh voice echoed between the heavens and the earth, the rumble reaching tens of thousands of miles, and the voice reverberated through the depths of everyone’s heart.

Then, the earth rumbled and cracked. In the deep mausoleum, the figure draped in grayish-white hemp slowly walked out. The face was no longer withered, nor was it ugly. Instead, his eyes were brimming with vigor, burning like pale flames, majestic and cold.

After swallowing the various king of the first generation, on his long, grizzled hair, a crown made of bones had appeared without anyone realizing. He rode a white horse and walked out of the darkness, holding an iron bow in his hand. Beside the saddle was a quiver of bronze arrows.

The hooves tapped on the earth, but it seemed as if they were pressing on everyone’s heart, making everyone experience breathing difficulties.

“Go conquer everything.” The withered head told the knight in white, “Go forth from victory to victory!” As a result, the white knight slowly raised his head. The flame-like eyes looked up at the sky, and the empty gaze fell on the figures in the air, suddenly giving everyone goosebumps. Then he drew the iron bow and nocked the copper arrow, slowly pulling the bowstring back.

The iron bow that seemed to be made of beast tendons was drawn, but it made a harsh sound like that of metals colliding. The copper arrow scraped against the iron bow, igniting hot sparks.

“What the heck is that thing!” Ye Qingxuan’s hairs suddenly stood on end. He urged the huge golden dragon and galloped backward. Layers of Firebird and the shadow of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth descended, covering him like an ocean.

Then, the arrow was aimed at the sky, and the sound of tens of millions of people roaring burst forth.

The heavens and the earth were pierced through.

[1] A dance in ancient China. The name literally translates as Joy in the Dragon Pool. The music was composed by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang dynasty. He was inspired by a water spring gushing out of his residence and forming a large pool of water.

[2] The author is referring to a Chinese saying that literally translates as “the pie that has fallen from the sky”. It is the equivalent of “free lunch” in the saying “there’s no such thing as a free lunch”.