Silent Crown

Two years ago, he had no qualms diving into forbidden topics solely for his own improvement. He received a warning from the Sacred City as a result. This was why when he discovered what was so special about the Ultimate, Larbin’s first reaction was to kill all the people around him! By the time all the accompanying musicians had all been shredded into pieces, Larbin almost cried after sensing the growth of music theory once again. Besides, due to the effect of the Ultimate, his own music theory had decreased. After extracting the redundant structures, the movement was simplified and had become much more flexible and agile. This gave him hope for the journey that he would embark on in the future.

He was overjoyed by this gift. As a result, the moment he sensed the presence of Ye Qingxuan, he rushed forward without any hesitation. Next, he used his right hand to press Ye Qingxuan down. Without thinking twice, Ye Qingxuan rolled around on the ground before getting up in a skillful but ungraceful way.

The smell of dust and the feeling that he had not felt for a long time, they were all so familiar. Ever since his return to the Sacred City, he had never had to experience rolling around on the ground. Even when his opponent might have been trying their best to kill him, he had always been able to restrain himself. But now that he has been forced into such a situation, Ye Qingxuan could not help but feel rage. In the midst of rolling on the ground, he could sense coolness over the top of his head. A gigantic crater suddenly appeared without a sound. It was as if an invisible gigantic beast had taken a bite out of the ground.

A black hole appeared in mid-air above the crater before evaporating rapidly. That was the alchemy array that had been welded onto the right hand of the Iron Giant and was the most powerful annihilation singularity of the School of Modifications. After some modifications by Larbin, the range of its power shrunk by hundreds of times and the speed at which it could be activated also increased by more than ten times. Typically, musicians that did not possess a solid foundation would have been turned to dust by the annihilation singularity. He did not expect Ye Qingxuan to be able to react so quickly and with such agility.

Soon after, there was a shrill cry as the sounds of something breaking rang continuously. Ye Qingxuan quickly dodged as huge craters appeared on the wall and the ground. Countless metal plates were mounted on these craters, breaking the ancient bricks into pieces and almost penetrating through them. Ye Qingxuan had seen the same effect as this when he had encountered his first ever enemy—Rain Artist—but Larbin’s technique was many times more powerful and faster than Rain Artist. Nevertheless, a technique of such a standard was never going to pose any serious danger to him.

“Aren’t you looking down on me?” Ye Qingxuan was so upset he even began to laugh. He dropped his Staff of Fate momentarily and the sound of his laughter was clear.

Boom! A blurry and illusory full moon appeared behind Ye Qingxuan as countless knives and axes were summoned from within. Due to nature interference, they turned into real weapons and struck. The sword and knives rattled, while the iron roared. The giant staggered backward as its entire body was cut by countless swords and knives.

Ye Qingxuan sniggered. If not for the effect of the Ultimate, his swords and knives should have been more than able to tear Larbin into shreds. With the attack of the swords and knives, countless perception threads extended out from the broken shards to enclose him and probe at the gaps in the helmet tirelessly. Once he found a gap, he would be sure to give Larbin a taste of being eroded by moonlight.

Very soon, Ye Qingxuan frowned. There were no gaps to be found. Larbin sensed the probing of the perception threads and laughed. This was the School of Iron Heart, where man and metal had become as one. It was not something that could be compared with those ordinary motorized armors because there were no gaps to be found. He did not even need to breathe. His bones were the bones of the armor, his muscles were the muscles of the armor, his blood was made up of the thickest aether current, and his heart was the aether engine of the armor.

The Symphony of Predestination shook once again as its tempo increased. The heart, which had been modified by iron, was now beating insanely. Aether wave filled the entire body. “Now try this!”

The bestiality that has been temporarily lodged on the iron, Glia, began to roar. Burning flames burst out from the back of the Iron Giant as if they were gigantic wings of light. The rule of gravity did not seem to apply to the Iron Giant as it leaped into the sky and flew, despite weighing several tons. It stopped in mid-air and countless alchemy arrays surfaced in front of his chest. After the four major layers were connected together, the immense loop was initiated and terrifying energy was unleashed.

Hurricanes were coming. Torrents of rain appeared in response to the call of the Symphony of Predestination. The turbulence of rapids gave the invisible hurricane a taint of white color as if it had been thrown into the deep seas. Under the pressure of the howling wind, the bones began to roar. The friction between the turbulences created lightning within the hurricanes. As the air moved at high speed, terrifying plasma was developed and surrounded the giant’s body, giving him an imposing look.

Ye Qingxuan was shocked. He did not expect Larbin to be able to develop the music theory of the School of Iron Heart to this stage. Not only did he carve out alchemy arrays on the iron body, but he was also able to maintain balance when the reconciliation of three systems of movement was under the control of music theory. In fact, based on what he was seeing now, there was nothing comparable to the amount of power and destruction he wielded right now. This must only be possible because of Larbin’s unique music theory and technique.

Without a doubt, the state that Larbin was in right now was the most efficient that a musician could ask for in a battle. Turning into iron meant that he would not need to fear any sneak attacks yet still possessed amazing power. It was the perfect combination of musician and motorized armor. If this could be utilized on a wider scale, the standard of the armor of Witch Hammer could definitely be raised. Over time, it would not be impossible to achieve Gospel Armor one day either.

“How about a negotiation?” Amidst the strong gusts of wind, Ye Qingxuan pressed onto his hair and raised his voice. “Larbin, it’s still not too late for you to join the Religious Court of Inquiry. As for your privileges, we can still discuss…”

Boom! Thunder roared and lightning gathered in Larbin’s hands before streaking across the sky like a whip.

Roar! Amidst the ear-shattering roar, the layers of barrier around Ye Qingxuan began to break down, and in the final moment, the holy barrier finally surfaced to block off the incredible lightning strike. The streaks of lightning shone light on the terrible expression on Ye Qingxuan’s face.

“What are you still dreaming about, Chief Inquisitor?” Larbin teased this young man who was not even half his age, “Let me teach you something. The most useless thing in the world of musicians is talking!” With that, both lightning whips struck and everything in their paths melted. Deep gullies formed on the wall and on the ground without a sound. Stones were cut open cleanly. Countless lances of electricity rose from the pool of lightning and accompanied the lightning whips in their strikes. The holy wall shook violently and seemed to be on the brink of collapse.

Ye Qingxuan sighed lightly. He lowered his eyes as his fingers tapped on his Staff of Fate. “What a coincidence. I happen to think the same way.”

Boom! The roar of iron. That deep sound was produced from the Staff of Fate but was heard through the Iron Giant in mid-air. It was as if the metal staff was knocking on the giant’s body.

Larbin was stunned. The alchemy array was delayed for a moment, causing a loss of control of the lightning whips momentarily.

Boom! The metal staff knocked against the ground once more but the sound was being heard through the Iron Giant once more. Larbin felt as if he was being smashed by the head of a battering ram.

Ye Qingxuan’s laughter rang in his ears. “Have you forgotten to put in place a layer of shock absorption between yourself and the iron?”

Boom! There was yet another boom as the invisible metal hammer struck from the sky. Larbin felt giddy. It was as if he was a piece of metal that has been placed on the anvil and was being hammered until complete flatness. The lightning whips have completely collapsed and the pool of lightning has also dissipated. Even the gigantic wings of light at the back could no longer be sustained.

It was gravity—gravity that had increased tremendously. Due to the effect of nature interference, gravity had been transformed into a physical object and each increment felt as if the depths of his bones were being struck by metal hammers.

By right, unleashing a direct attack on him should have been a foolish option. After all, every music theory would have been warped and crushed by his Symphony of Predestination. But at some point in time, the Symphony of Predestination had already been infiltrated by countless perception threads, just like mistletoe tangled around a machine and creeping into every single crevice. The moonlight perception threads followed the alchemy loop and directly infiltrated the Symphony of Predestination in his body. Soon after, the Staff of Fate tapped the ground once again.

Boom! Ye Qingxuan was not utilizing the power of any external objects. He was merely using the music theory of the Staff of Fate to smash on Larbin’s Symphony of Predestination. It did not take long for the Symphony of Predestination to be broken down and dismantled.

Larbin screamed in despair as his iron exterior began to break down inch by inch until an old and frail man was revealed underneath. Countless veins could be seen on the surface of his face while his eyes were close to popping out of their sockets. It took only a moment for Ye Qingxuan to annihilate his life as a musician completely. The collapse of the Symphony of Predestination meant that his life has also already been dismantled. If he was to be pushed off the cliff, he might still be in one piece on his way down but the impact of the fall would ultimately shatter him into pieces. He was screaming at the top of his lungs as his trembling hands reached for his chest. This was his last chance. He might still live if he could calm the music theory in his body, otherwise, he would perish in its chaos. At that moment, he saw a shadow over him.

It was Ye Qingxuan.

“Help…” His face contorted. He raised his head and looked at the shadow with hope in his gaze. “Help me!”