Kui's Sound Breaks the Melody (Continued)

Regardless, Si Ming remained modest. "You flatter me, Master. I only did what I could. If those kidnappers had been too strong, I would still have backed down when the moment came."

"To insist on fighting to the death when you know you have no chance of winning isn't courage, but recklessness. What matters is learning to judge the situation."

Yan Jinghong reached out and felt Si Ming's skull. Frowning, he said, "Your martial arts talent has exceeded my expectations. It seems it isn't limited to lightness skills, but learning too quickly isn't necessarily a good thing. If your foundations aren't solid, you'll easily bite off more than you can chew. You'll end up with nothing but a castle in the air-beautiful to look at, but liable to collapse at the slightest shake. For the next six months, I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay and make sure you build a solid foundation. Be prepared to train hard."

Si Ming's eyes lit up. Having a Spirit Transformation powerhouse personally instruct him was a blessing he could never have hoped to ask for. He immediately declared, "I'm not afraid of hardship, Master!"

"It's good that you can endure hardship. Only those who can endure bitterness can taste what true sweetness is like."

Parallel world: music superstar

(This future branch opens only if Si Ming chooses to accept Auntie Liu's advice and enter a music company for training.)

The Hall of Esteemed Worthies was Su State's largest martial arts arena, with enough room to hold a hundred thousand spectators. Ordinarily, it was never full except for the national martial arts tournament held once every three years. Today, however, not only was every seat taken, but even the aisles were packed with people. Heads crowded together everywhere, and outside the hall, many fans who had failed to buy tickets lingered in the hope that someone would return theirs.

Suddenly, every light in the venue went out, plunging it into darkness. The audience, which had been as noisy as a marketplace, immediately fell silent. Everyone held their breath, waiting for the concert to begin.

"The eaves are like a sheer cliff, the wind chimes like the vast sea; I wait for Yan to return. Time has been arranged to stage an accident, and you quietly walk away. The story lies beyond the city, where the thick fog refuses to lift..."

As the singing began, the lights came back on, revealing a city wall backdrop onstage. Dressed in ancient robes, Si Ming stood beneath a willow tree, singing with deep emotion.

The audience immediately erupted. Some of the female fans couldn't contain themselves, each screaming louder than the last, as though competing to see who could be heard most clearly. But no matter how loudly they screamed, they couldn't drown out the singing.

Si Ming held no microphone onstage, nor did he wear any kind of transmitter. For singers in this world, a sound skill capable of covering an entire venue was a basic requirement; microphones were superfluous to them.

Of course, not every singer possessed such an ability. Statistics showed that the average ordinary person had only level-four internal cultivation, which could cover a school-sized hall at most. When singing in a large martial arts arena like this one, their voices would lose steam. Thus, they used microphones when necessary, though the practice drew considerable criticism. They were often judged unprofessional and unqualified to become superstars.

Singers with mediocre internal cultivation could only be relegated to "singing for a living." No matter how well they sang, they faced the same discrimination. Only those who could hold a major concert with the power of their voices alone were treated as artists. Traces of the martial world's respect for the strong could be seen everywhere.

When "A Thousand Miles Away" reached its climax, a woman in splendid attire descended from the sky. Using her masterful lightness skill, she landed in the center of the stage while displaying a smooth, flawless singing voice.

"I see you off, a thousand miles away; you are silent, black and white. In an age of silence, perhaps we should not love from so far away. I see you off, beyond the ends of the earth; are you still there? Where does the zither's music come from? Life and death are hard to divine; I will spend a lifetime waiting..."

After the woman appeared, the atmosphere grew even more fervent. The male spectators, too, became excited and opened their throats to roar at the top of their lungs.

The music queen Yuezheng Yao was synonymous with purity and sweetness. Every man longed for a girl next door like her, someone he could grow up with as an innocent childhood sweetheart.

After the Yuezheng Lineage moved to Su State, Si Ming and Yuezheng Yao, a king and queen of music, held up the sky over the Mohist School's music scene. They were now superstars in great demand across the world, with over a hundred million fans.

After singing eight songs in a row, Si Ming showed slight signs of fatigue, but the fans below the stage were even more tired than he was. Many had screamed themselves hoarse, yet they still refused to stop.

"When will we ever reach that level?"

In the waiting area to the left of the stage, nine young women dressed in youthful, eye-catching outfits felt the atmosphere on the verge of exploding. They imagined themselves singing onstage, and, unable to contain their excitement, trembled all over.

"We can do it! With a stage like this and the song Master Sima wrote especially for us, we'll definitely become an overnight sensation and turn into real stars!"

"That's right! The opportunity is right in front of us. Haven't we trained so long and poured out so much sweat for this very day? If I don't seize this chance, I'll never forgive myself."

"As long as we become stars, lots and lots of children will want to attend our old school, and we can save it from being shut down. Wasn't that what we wished for in the first place?"

"Is everyone ready? Master Sima is going backstage to rest, and we'll be performing the next song."

The nine young women gathered in a circle, stacked their hands together, and shouted, "Let's do this!"

Onstage, Si Ming made an apologetic gesture to the audience and announced, "For the next song, I've invited some special young guests to sing for you. These guests are still students, so I hope you'll give them plenty of encouragement. If Su State's music scene is to truly grow strong and finally shed the derogatory label of a musical desert, we need more talented young people to join us. Only by constantly bringing in fresh, vibrant blood can we continue to grow and become stronger. Now, please welcome our young guests to the stage!"

As a piece of music filled with youthful innocence began to play, Si Ming strode backstage, giving the nine young women a slight nod and an encouraging look as he passed.

When he reached the backstage lounge, Liu Qingqing, who had been waiting there, handed him a towel to wipe his sweat, then offered him a cup of medicine in which a pill capable of rapidly replenishing True Qi had been dissolved.

Si Ming took the medicine and gulped it down. He hadn't come backstage to rest because his stamina was giving out. After all, people in this world had exceptionally strong constitutions. His real purpose was to replenish his vital Qi. Even with his current level-eight internal cultivation, he couldn't possibly use a sound skill continuously for three hours.

"Eight years ago, when you told me you were determined to change your fate, I never imagined you could become the first world superstar to hold a concert at the Hall of Esteemed Worthies."

Liu Qingqing spoke of her surprise in a perfectly even tone, giving the impression that she had expected it all along.

Si Ming was long accustomed to it. The atmosphere in the Hall of Esteemed Worthies was already boiling over, and everyone, including the backstage staff, was in an extremely excited state. Liu Qingqing alone looked calm, completely out of place amid her surroundings.

"Back then, I couldn't have imagined you'd one day become a world superstar's assistant, putting every chore in perfect order and attending to every detail... No, actually, I should have realized it long ago. Your quiet, meticulous nature has always been well suited to this kind of behind-the-scenes work."

"Are you praising me or yourself?"

"Haha, both, I suppose."

Si Ming sat down, leaned back, and closed his eyes. Liu Qingqing deftly massaged his temples with her fingers, helping him relieve the pressure.

Looking back on the past eight years, Si Ming found it all rather incredible himself. He had become famous by copying songs from his previous life. At first, he had felt somewhat guilty, but after copying enough of them, he had grown numb to it. At most, he constantly reminded himself that he wasn't truly talented and must never lose himself in other people's flattery, lest he end up deceiving himself after deceiving everyone else.

To that end, he had deliberately chosen a stage name, Sima Liang, with the courtesy name Kongming, to distinguish it from his own name.

Though he had risen to fame quickly, he had only reached the ranks of first-rate singers. He might have been famous at home, but nobody knew him abroad. Su State was, after all, a musical desert, and others naturally looked down on it. Even though he brought out many beloved songs from his previous life, he lacked a weighty, groundbreaking work and couldn't change their impression.

Under normal circumstances, he would have needed roughly fifteen years of accumulated experience before he might cross the threshold beyond the first-rate ranks and become a world-class singer.

But when he happened to bring out a song in the Chinese style, things changed.

He became a sensation—a sensation that swept the entire world!

Perhaps because of the cultural atmosphere, people in the Sea Continent world had a particular fondness for songs in this style. After hearing them, they became addicted as though they had smoked opium, unable to pull themselves free.

Chinese-style songs, which had only been a niche genre in his previous life, were artistic masterpieces sought after by everyone here. Without meaning to, Si Ming had created an entirely new genre. Unlike innovations such as rock, which drew criticism, this was a genre recognized by everyone, worth passing down and capable of carrying the past forward into the future. Several music grandmasters from the Music School even visited him in person to ask about his ideas on the subject.

With a number of Chinese-style songs as his cornerstone, Si Ming quickly became a world superstar. Although many people still looked down on Su State's music, they had to admit that Si Ming was an exception. Whenever they heard the famous name "Sima Liang," they would raise a thumb in approval.

Out of the blue, Liu Qingqing asked, "Have you given up on your dream of becoming a martial arts grandmaster?"

"I wouldn't call it giving up, but level-eight internal cultivation is as far as medicine can take me. From here on, I can only temper my body. I'll have to wait until I've trained my external skills to their utmost before I can break through again."