How is that possible?
Tian Yu's eyes were filled with horror as he gazed toward the depths of Fengqi Tower, as if he had seen a ghost.
The other direct disciples from Miaoyin Xianmen weren't faring any better either, their faces all showing expressions of shock, their minds reeling from disbelief.
That bell sound just now.
It wasn't some supreme expert using their magical power to forcefully suppress them.
Rather, it was a mysterious sound-cultivator who had boundless musical mysteries contained within a single, simple bell sound.
Using sound to break sound, in their area of expertise, they had been completely overwhelmed.
But.
They had to remember that all thirteen of them were direct disciples of Miaoyin Xianmen, and each one, individually, was considered a master of musical arts.
For this challenge against Feiyin, they had trained for nearly half a year, already possessing perfect coordination. Yet even so, they had never managed to condense a sound realm during their normal practice.
Now, in this formal musical duel against Feiyin, with their essence, energy, and spirits highly focused and tense, in their optimal state, they had somehow managed to manifest the phenomenon of the Mortal World Sound Realm.
With the sound realm already formed, even many Nascent Soul Stage venerables or Out-of-Body Stage experts would find it difficult to suppress them with sound alone.
They had thought victory was assured.
Who would have thought that Fengqi Tower would hide such an expert, someone who could shatter their sound realm with such a simple, such a return-to-purity bell chime.
"Damn it!"
"Wasn't it said that there were no high-ranking sound experts present in Fengqi Tower today?"
"Our sect's intelligence was wrong. There's an expert in Fengqi Tower, and we've run into an immovable wall this time."
"Using the strong to bully the weak, how shameless can the Sanqing Xianmen be?"
...
The thirteen looked at each other, secretly communicating with their divine sense, indignantly cursing.
However.
On the surface, they put on pitiful expressions, looking so pitiful and heart-wrenching that many in Fengqi Tower couldn't help but feel sympathy for them.
"There's still an expert in Fengqi Tower?"
"I thought it was Tianyu challenging Feiyin, why did the Sanqing Xianmen call for reinforcements?"
"Isn't this against the principles of musical ethics?"
"Heh, you talk about fairness so well, but Tianyu brought twelve senior sisters to accompany her, can't Feiyin ask for help?"
"Exactly, thirteen against one, and you won't let her find help?"
...
Inside Fengqi Tower.
Because of this sudden bell sound, many people began to chatter again.
However.
Their discussions didn't last long, because after the bell sounded and a brief silence, a melodious zither music began to play.
If the melody of "Pure Clouds and Ethereal Melody" was purity; if the melody of "As Life Wishes, Floating Melody" was joy; if the melody of "Ambush from Ten Sides" was urgent and tense.
Then.
The zither melody that now came from the depths of Fengqi Tower was one of transcendent bliss.
As the zither music played.
One magnificent scene after another appeared before the eyes of everyone in Fengqi Tower.
It was a fairy mountain.
Numerous peaks stood tall, soaring over ten thousand zhang into the clouds.
Flowing clouds drifted past the mountains' waists, like a vast sea, while the peaks floating among the clouds were like islands in that sea.
Above the peaks.
Immortal cranes soared between the clouds, rare immortal beasts pulled white jade carriages galloping, sword immortals trod upon flying swords as swift as meteors, and graceful fairy maidens stood against the wind.
Under a ten-thousand-year-old ancient pine, an elderly man sat cross-legged, brewing tea and playing chess.
Beside fragrant flower bushes, a celestial couple walked hand in hand, with a pair of golden boys and jade girls on either side.
In the deep purple valley.
Thunder rumbled, manifesting into forms like Qilin, Azure Dragons, White Ze, and various other mythical beasts, dancing freely atop the sea of clouds.
A young man sat cross-legged, five hearts facing the sky, comprehending the highest mysteries of thunder-attribute cultivation methods.
Beside him.
The hundred-flower soup sent by his junior sister exhaled an intoxicating fragrance.
The old and young, men and women, each found their own joy.
It was a scene of pure celestial bliss, making one's heart yearn, unable to resist being intoxicated by it.
...
It's a sound realm! Another sound realm, and this one condensed was dozens or even hundreds of times larger than the previous one! Simply magnificent, spectacular, overwhelming.
On the pavilion.
Qin Guangling listened to the zither music coming from the depths of Fengqi Tower, his face unable to conceal his shock.
"The Tribulation Immortal Melody"! As the chief disciple of the Sound Vein, of course he could recognize what this piece was—it was none other than the Sound Vein's ultimate technique, the Tribulation Immortal Melody! This melody was composed over eight hundred years ago and was said to contain the highest mysteries of the sound path. When cultivated to its peak, it could bury and destroy Heavenly Immortals.
Unfortunately.
Just like the ultimate techniques of other branches of Sanqing Xianmen, which often went years without a successor, many of the Sound Vein's ultimate techniques rarely found suitable inheritors.
For example, "Pure Clouds and Ethereal Melody," before Qin Guangling, had not had a new disciple successfully comprehend it for decades.
"Ambush from Ten Sides," only one or two of his peers had mastered it.
However.
Compared to "The Tribulation Immortal Melody," both "Pure Clouds and Ethereal Melody" and "Ambush from Ten Sides" were insignificant in comparison.
This ultimate art.
Was born during the battle when a hundred thousand demon races suddenly attacked Sanqing Xianmen. It was created by a Supreme Elder of the Sound Vein, who once used a single melody to bury countless fierce demons.
However, that Earth Immortal-level ancestor had exhausted his own source in the process.
After hastily leaving the musical score as inheritance, he passed away, his lamp having run dry of oil.
In the eight hundred years since, countless geniuses of the Sound Vein had tried to comprehend this "Tribulation Immortal Melody," yet not a single one had succeeded, not even managing to get started.
The once famous melody, hailed in the cultivation world as the "Funeral March for the Demon Race," had thus become a lost masterpiece.
To be honest.
Qin Guangling had also been skeptical and had tried to comprehend this inheritance himself. However, ideals were plump while reality was bony—he hadn't been able to grasp even the slightest bit of it.
Now.
This sound path ultimate art, which should have been lost, had suddenly appeared in Fengqi Tower, and even managed to condense a sound realm, apparently having reached a state of great completion.
If this were to get out, it would probably cause a major earthquake in the entire Sound Vein!
"Could it be."
"That a hidden senior from our sect has taken action, to assist me?"
"If our sect truly has a senior who has mastered the Tribulation Immortal Melody, then given time, the Sound Vein might see a renaissance, a cause for celebration!"
"Forget it."
"Such heavenly music is only found in the heavens; rarely heard in the mortal world. All this messy business can wait until after I've finished listening to the zither music."
Putting away all distracting thoughts.
Qin Guangling began to fully immerse himself in the zither music, feeling the mysteries contained within it. Listening to such music was of great benefit to him.
If he was lucky, perhaps he could achieve resonance with it, making his own sound path even more complete.
...
The zither music in Fengqi Tower gradually transitioned from carefree and melodious to high-spirited.
That magnificent sound realm scene also changed somewhat, and a man in white snow-like robes appeared within it.
He carried a long sword on his back, standing in mid-air.
Treading upon the clouds of the highest heavens, facing the rolling tribulation clouds, his face showed no trace of fear, only a desire to try and burning fighting spirit.
Rumble Rumble The zither music receded, and deep drumbeats began to sound, accompanying the rolling tribulation clouds, bringing an incomparable sense of oppression.
At this moment.
The true Tribulation Immortal Melody had just begun its prelude.
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