Silent Crown

Two days had passed and more and more people were filling up the entire sea region. Nothing has changed about the fact that the turbulence enveloped by the Ultimate was still devouring luminous flame. It was common for musicians to clash with each other for various reasons, and in the most chaotic times, every single person on the seas had to be on guard against any attack that might come out of nowhere. But these fights were usually contained within the exterior.

At the layer of the core, the fleets of all the countries were in peaceful locations. It was not that no one has tried to stir up trouble, but due to the large number of Masters and scepters, any sign of trouble was extinguished completely. Some people would try to force the fleets of various countries to give up their positions through coercion but they would eventually be blown to bits by the main cannon or they would be strongly deterred by the burning stakes. In the end, the situation finally stabilized.

The elite navy and scepters of each country occupied the interior layer and the sky, while the middle layer was taken over by all the different Schools that had rushed over. Finally, the remaining individual good and bad musicians were pushed out all the way to the exterior layer. Of course, Ye Qingxuan could not care less about all this. He left them for Sylvaine, who had arrived after him, to handle. In any case, delegating tasks was something Ye Qingxuan did very often. Of all the things that he has picked up from Shi Dong, this was the most useful of them all. A capable subordinate would be able to settle everything, and the manager would only have to take responsibility.

Compared to the low-profile Ye Qingxuan, Nirvana Mable was all out to make herself known. In just a couple of days, this musician, who looked like a little girl, had already unleashed Fire of Nirvana on quite a number of musicians. As a divine Phantom Beast, the immortal bird, which was brought back from the dead, involved the top-level issue of the Schools of Choir and Summoning. The Fire of Nirvana could be used as an antidote to prolong life, yet it could also be a terrible skill that would unleash flames that could not be extinguished and were insufferable. Masters and scepters might have ways to counter it, but that was only if they were of a certain level.

The Hands of the royal family was on par with the Knights of the Round Table so when the royal musicians arrived, Mable also received the personal blessings of the Queen. If she had unleashed all her powers, it would not be on the same level as the Chapter of the Golden Victory, but she would still be able to kill one-third of all the musicians on the seas. With her leading the royal fleet, Ye Qingxuan could afford to rest assured.

But for some unknown reason, for the past two days, there was a niggling feeling in his heart. Any ordinary person might have laughed it off but Ye Qingxuan was a Master of the School of Revelation, after all. He was admitted for his way of deciphering and while his ways might be unorthodox, his accomplishments were legitimate.

To any Revelation musicians, premonitions were rather important. Fighting might not be their forte, so they usually specialized in monitoring phenomena and the Originator. The more accomplished Revelation musicians would usually also be more sensitive. If they managed to level-up to a Diviner of Dreams, they might even be able to see the future in their sleep.

“There are usually a few possible reasons when something like this happens.” After some discussions amongst the old fellows of the court, they replied, “The most common reason is that you may have forgotten something crucial. But the importance of what you might have forgotten has a very wide range. For example, it is possible that you may have simply forgotten to turn off the water tap before you left house…”

Ye Qingxuan felt helpless. “And another reason might be?”

“Someone is trying to set you up, which is why your sense of vigilance is kicking in.” An old man continued, “But your accomplishments in the School of Revelation are quite significant, so you should be able to sense any enmity towards you. However, if anyone wanted to harm you, they will typically ask a Revelations master to mess up the relevant information so that all you can see is fog. Think carefully, have you made any enemies recently?”

Ye Qingxuan thought carefully and realized that he actually had quite a number of enemies. But there was no choice. Ever since he began his journey as a musician, he had been making enemies every step of the way, so much so that he has lost count of the number of the people that wanted him dead. Dark Musicians, other countries, the Sacred City, even Anglo has quite a number of people who saw him as a troublemaker.

One’s emergence into prominence must be accompanied by many others who had made way. Besides, the moment Ye Qingxuan’s Net of Aether appeared in the future, he would immediately become the common enemy of the entire world. Ye Qingxuan thought about it before punching his palm. “It must be that damned Raymond!”

Upon hearing what he said, all the old men of the court became a little awkward momentarily.

“Not necessarily.” An old man coughed. “Raymond has already received a stern warning from the Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments, so he probably would not dare to do anything to you for the time being. But it is the right thing to take precautionary measures.”

“Are there any other possibilities?” Ye Qingxuan asked.

“Others…” The old men looked at each other before saying, “You may be on the brink of being involved in a major event, or something may be about to happen to you.”

“Alright.” Ye Qingxuan sighed. “I may have forgotten something, or someone may be trying to do me harm, or I may be involved in something major… even so, what should I do?”

The old men kept quiet. This was the most awkward part for the School of Revelation. Sometimes, premonitions of the future might not necessarily be a good thing. What was meant to happen would still happen, just like one was always going to die when the time came. The only difference was that one might have a better idea of the cause of his death…

“Forget it.” Ye Qingxuan sighed. “In any case, I can’t go wrong by taking precautionary measures, right? Ask Shi Dong and Hua Sheng to increase the speed. Anything can happen in this wretched world. How is the expansion of Witch Hammer coming along?”

“Everything has been smooth so far, but,” the old men were helpless, “the production of the knights’ armors has always been a complicated process, especially when the training of the knights will also take a very long time. The more dangerous the weapon, the higher the demands it would place on the user. We have already tried our best to simplify the process but in order to achieve the scale of 10,000 men as you have requested, we will need at least another two years.”

“How many do we have now?”

“1,600 men.”

When the old men saw the look of regret on Ye Qingxuan’s face, they almost wanted to vomit blood. These 1,600 men already constituted the biggest scale that the Religious Court of Inquiry had ever produced! In the past, the Chief Inquisitors could only manage to come up with 800 to 900 men even with their best effort. Aside from the production of the armors, the training of the knights was an even more expensive investment.

When Ye Qingxuan took over the court, there were only 400 men in Witch Hammer. Now that they had the industrial foundation of Anglo and the techniques of Chainsaw Fraternity, only then did they manage to accomplish all these today. Yet, he was still not satisfied?!

“What about Purification musicians?” Ye Qingxuan asked again.

“600.” The old men no longer expected anything from Ye Qingxuan’s reaction.

“Oh, that’s not enough.” Ye Qingxuan waved his hand. “All of you must put in more effort. The youngsters are so hardworking nowadays. I have already doubled the medication fees for all of you. Please make sure to contribute something useful and worthwhile before you die.”

“…” The old men rolled their eyes. It was just their luck to encounter a boss like this. Just as Ye Qingxuan had cut off the communication signals and was preparing to request for updates from the Privy Council, he heard the commotion outside.

“My Lord, there are changes to the Ultimate!” Mable shouted. Ye Qingxuan dashed to the deck and looked down, only to see chaos amongst the musicians. No one knew when the silver glow had gradually dimmed and became faint. The turbulent aether waves were beginning to converge and collapse internally.

Within the core of the seas, the outline of an island could vaguely be seen. The Ultimate was about to complete the process of giving birth and had surfaced. But right before this, fog began to appear everywhere around the seas. An indistinct figure appeared and sent the musicians into chaos and exclamations.

Ye Qingxuan looked over and saw a blurry figure far away on the surface of the sea, who was slowly approaching. It was a half-transparent illusion that was created by the refraction of aether from an unknown location. It looked like a traveler that was returning home after a long journey.

That forlorn figure trudged forward on the surface of the sea. He was using the long sword in his hands to prop up his body, which was already full of wounds. His cloak, which looked like it had been badly burnt, was fluttering in the wind. White long hair hung on both sides of his face while he wore the Crown of Black Metal on his head. He was wearing a suit of armor that looked like it was from centuries ago.

When all the musicians caught a glance of the blurry circular-shaped insignia, they already managed to guess his identity. He was one of the kings that brought forth the Golden Era of mankind at the end of the Darkness Era centuries ago. He was also the first person who founded the kingdom of Burgundy, King of the Sun!

“North! There are more in the north!” the musicians exclaimed, before turning back to peer at the northern sea region. A figure had gradually appeared behind the Asgard fleet. He was wearing a white long robe, a crown on his head and carrying a heavy-looking staff while floating towards the Ultimate. That was the predecessor of the kingdom of Caucasian and the uncrowned king that founded very first Commonwealth, Sage of the Metal Moon!

This time around, everyone looked towards the south automatically… A burly figure that was like a giant stepped out from the fog. He was wielding a skull and a giant sword. The armor he wore was broken and splattered with fresh blood. He was the guardian of Gladysheim, a frost giant, and the first Emperor of Asgard, the Master of the Golden Palace!

More and more silhouettes began to appear after these few figures. All of them were famous heroes of the end of the Darkness Era. Other than the saints of the first era, some of them were clearly of demon bloodlines…

It was as if they were reliving the past again. Those illusions passed through every obstacle and headed straight for the Ultimate. They would pass through that blurry island, the chaotic city and finally climb up the mountain…

In the end, they finally stopped in front of the ancient caldron. They bowed their heads as if they were paying their respects to the only ruler in this world. The souls of all the ancient kings had risen from the seas in order to present themselves to the Holy Caldron.