Fourth Sound and Sixth Sound (6K)

For some reason, standing before these hundreds of Eternal Note, He Wei Ni Ya felt an immense sense of oppression.

She had to take two deep breaths to dispel the feeling before smiling at Finnis.

"So, once you see this Eternal Note, you've officially entered the First Academy?"

Finnis smiled and nodded, "Yes, the melody played by these Eternal Note is not only for the Lord, but also for those 'outsiders' who enter the First Academy for the first time and set foot on the Holy Mountain for the first time. Only by experiencing the baptism of such a perfect and pure melody can they be accepted and thus gain the qualification to enter the Holy Mountain."

"Hmm." He Wei Ni Ya clenched her fist. "I feel like I've been thoroughly baptized."

Finnis burst into laughter at He Wei Ni Ya's humor, then stepped aside again to lead the way for He Wei Ni Ya: "Then let's continue."

He Wei Ni Ya followed Finnis with a grin.

Before leaving the front hall, she turned back to look at the Eternal Note, and then a question came to mind.

There are hundreds of Eternal Note here.

As for the Golden Sound performer, only one appears every few years in the entire Holy Sound.

That, combined with the fact that the Holy Sound has a history of just over a thousand years, means that since the birth of the Holy Sound, the vast majority of Golden Sound performers...

Everything is here.

Were they all there voluntarily?

This was clearly a highly disrespectful question that Finnis should not be asked, so He Wei Ni Ya kept it to herself and quickly followed Finnis.

After leaving the front hall, one officially enters the First Academy.

Finally, more people started to appear.

Those coming and going were mostly students in uniforms, which finally gave He Wei Ni Ya the feeling that she was still in the academy.

However, unlike the Three Academies she was familiar with, the musicians of the One Academy were clearly far superior in the quality of Three Academies notes. She had seen at least dozens of them, and none of them were Bronze Sound Player; they were all Silver Sound Player, and silver-tone musicians at that, with extremely rich and beautiful timbre.

Similar to the Three Academies, the current event is a grand Grand Ceremony, so the musicians here are also busy, and few of them even greet Finnis.

This is completely different from how Finnis was treated at the Three Academies.

He Wei Ni Ya looked at Finnis guessed what He Wei Ni Ya was thinking and shrugged, saying, "That's how the One Academy is. Don't forget, the biggest powers here are the Primordial Two Great Families. Many of the students you see are descendants of the Primordial Two Great Families."

He Wei Ni Ya immediately gave an "I see" look, and then said with a smile, "It seems that you will only receive the same treatment as them after this Grand Ceremony ends."

Finnis smiled and said, "Then I'll take your kind words."

Then, Finnis led He Wei Ni Ya to the front of the Girls' Dormitory in the First Academy.

"Although I would love to start discussing the preparations for the Grand Ceremony with you right away, after everything that has happened these past few days, it would be too much of a waste not to give you a peaceful night's rest," Finnis said with a smile. "So, get some rest tonight, Miss He Wei Ni Ya. I've been on that ship before, and to be honest, it wasn't a pleasant experience. I don't think you can sleep soundly on a ship like that."

He Wei Ni Ya naturally thanked Finnis, but after Finnis told her the room number he had prepared for her, she thought for a moment and then asked, "Mr. Finnis, there's a question I'm not sure if I should ask... Well, I'll ask anyway, is the orchestra now just the two of us, Golden Sound?"

"Hmm... I think you really should ask," Finnis said with a smile. "Don't worry, it's not just the two of us; there's also a golden Fourth Sound who has agreed to join us."

The Fourth Sound of gold?

He Wei Ni Ya raised an eyebrow.

What a coincidence! What she's missing right now is the Fourth Sound.

To be precise, it refers to the three notes: "Two", "four", and "six".

Therefore, He Wei Ni Ya's primary goal now is to find all three notes.

However, given that Finnis is the "two" note, He Wei Ni Ya is actually looking for the "four" and "six".

But now, Finnis has already delivered the "four" to her doorstep.

So she smiled and said to Finnis, "That would be wonderful."

"Ka Lun Chu Ke".

As He Wei Ni Ya went upstairs, she pondered the information that Finnis had just given her about the Fourth Sound player.

Actually, the given name isn't the key point; the surname is.

"First visitor".

The other family among the Primordial Two Great Families.

This is what puzzled He Wei Ni Ya the most.

The Lawrence Family, to which Finnis belongs, is precisely the family that competes with the Primordial Two Great Families, isn't it? Why would they involve the musicians of the Primordial Two Great Families?

And it was done so quickly.

It's been only a few days since He Wei Ni Ya killed TuPake, and Finnis left a day later. So how did he manage to turn a member of the Primordial Family into a rebel in just a few days?

He Wei Ni Ya was very curious, but Finnis did not give a clear explanation, only saying something meaningful to He Wei Ni Ya.

"Ka Lun is a rather special person. No matter what, you should not meet with him alone. It is best if you talk to him when I am there."

Hearing Finnis say this, He Wei Ni Ya could naturally guess that this guy named Ka Lun must be a very troublesome fellow.

But we'll only know the specifics of the trouble once we meet.

However, it's always good to mark it first.

Golden Two Sound Finnis Lawrence, golden Fourth Sound Ka Lun Chu Ke.

So now all that's missing is the golden Sixth Sound.

From this perspective, finding all the targets, which I previously thought was not difficult at all.

The First Academy is incomparable to the Third Academy. If you think about it carefully, the only eligible Golden Sound of the Third Academy are He Wei Ni Ya and Olenna, who later successfully advanced to the next level.

The First Academy, however, has far too many.

The earlier claim that the Three Academies were divided based on their musical scales was indeed untrue.

At least not entirely.

He Wei Ni Ya thought to herself.

Then she suddenly felt that something was not right.

Why... is she still going up the stairs?

He Wei Ni Ya stopped.

The dormitories of the One Academy are also different from those of Three Academies.

A huge spiral staircase stretched across the center, and He Wei Ni Ya's room was on the seventh floor, so she didn't think much of it and went straight up the stairs.

We've been walking up the stairs for over ten minutes now, but we still haven't arrived.

No branching paths leading to other floors were found along the way.

She looked up and saw that the stairs were still going up, leading straight to the ceiling.

Could it be that this isn't the staircase?

Is this just a decoration?

He Wei Ni Ya prepared to go down with some suspicion, but before she had taken two steps, she found that the stairs leading down had disappeared.

The break was more than ten meters above the ground floor.

What's going on?

He Wei Ni Ya instinctively gripped the staff hidden in her sleeve.

Could it be that her identity has been exposed and someone is trying to harm her?

He Wei Ni Ya's vigilance instantly heightened.

But when she looked around, she couldn't find the enemy anywhere.

Besides the abnormal staircase, she didn't notice anything else wrong.

Just as He Wei Ni Ya was hesitating about whether to use her left eye to observe her surroundings, she suddenly felt a tickle in her palm.

She looked down and saw that it was her left middle finger gently scratching her right palm.

"... Mr. Visas?"

He Wei Ni Ya remembered that Bai Wei was still watching her, and at the same time, she remembered Bai Wei's previous instructions to her.

Try to avoid using Visas's power here.

In certain situations, Bai Wei would not directly tell her what to do, as it could potentially cause unnecessary problems.

So, this is the "special place" that Bai Wei was talking about?

He Wei Ni Ya's heart tightened.

She wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but she always felt like someone was watching her.

Fortunately, if Bai Wei hadn't reminded her, she really would have wanted to use the power of her eyes.

But now we should... um?

He Wei Ni Ya's palm tingled again.

It was Bai Wei who tickled her again.

Is the reminder still ongoing?

He Wei Ni Ya was somewhat puzzled.

But she soon discovered that Bai Wei's scratching wasn't random; it was very rhythmic, as if he were writing something in her palm.

"I will try to use shorter sentences to contact you in the future."

Bai Wei's words echoed in her mind again.

Is this what short sentences are?

He Wei Ni Ya listened carefully and realized that it wasn't a short phrase, but rather... a musical note.

The Seventh Note.

Why the Seventh Note?

He Wei Ni Ya looked around in confusion but couldn't find any markings related to musical notes.

Could it be music theory?

Just like in the front hall, a certain melody also echoed in the dormitory.

In other words, is the focus the Seventh Sound contained in this melody?

But how should we do this?

He Wei Ni Ya tried hard to recall her knowledge of music.

Is the goal to separate the Seventh Sound from this melody?

He Wei Ni Ya took out her staff and tapped it twice in the air.

The Magic Power ripples rippled slowly.

But the melody remains the same.

The steps remained unchanged.

No, that's not it.

He Wei Ni Ya murmured to herself, "Does that mean I should incorporate my own rhythm into this melody?"

This is difficult.

Even He Wei Ni Ya wasn't sure if she could succeed.

But there was no other way at the moment. With Bai Wei unable to help, she had to rely on herself.

So she raised her staff again and began to try.

But nothing has changed.

Just as He Wei Ni Ya was frowning, trying hard to think of what else she had forgotten, she heard Bai Wei let out a low sigh in her mind.

"It's not that complicated. I'm just asking you to play your own Seventh Sound."

He Wei Ni Ya's hand trembled slightly, and the Seventh Note within her body began to play.

Suddenly, a resonance of seven sounds came from somewhere in the dormitory.

Then, a straight ladder extended from there and landed smoothly at He Wei Ni Ya's feet.

He Wei Ni Ya stared silently at the stairs for a long while before speaking.

"I thought you couldn't speak."

"I wasn't planning on telling you," Bai Wei sighed again, "But I just couldn't stand it anymore. I'm not a real riddle solver. Just think of the simplest way I can give you the hints. If it really comes down to a critical moment, do you think I'd let you try to figure out the solution?"

"...knew."

Bai Wei did not respond further, as if this prompt was just a preliminary simulation.

The simulation results were not very satisfactory.

He Wei Ni Ya adjusted her mindset slightly, then stepped onto the straight staircase, heading towards the other end that resonated with the Seventh Note.

If she wasn't mistaken, the reason her floor number was seven was precisely because it corresponded to the Seventh Note.

This spiral staircase is designed so that the player can play their signature note before reaching the corresponding floor, which explains why the same note resonates at the other end.

It must be said that this is a very ingenious design.

When He Wei Ni Ya stepped onto the seventh floor, she saw a person sitting at the end of the floor, and the Seventh Note that resonated with her came from this person.

He Wei Ni Ya assumed it was the other person who had helped her connect to the stairs, and immediately stepped forward to thank them, "Hello, I am..."

He couldn't finish his sentence.

Because the other side also resembles a sculpture, at first glance it looks just like those Eternal Note in the front hall.

But unlike those Eternal Note, this "sculpture" is clearly a living person, dressed in a clean and crisp robe, and judging from his age, he is not much older He Wei Ni Ya.

However, he remained in a meditative posture with his eyes closed, showing no reaction to He Wei Ni Ya's greetings, as if he were fast asleep. Only the musical notes responded to He Wei Ni Ya.

Only after He Wei Ni Ya left the stairs and fully stepped onto the seventh floor did the resonance of the musical notes slowly cease, and the stairs behind her gradually receded.

But he still didn't open his eyes.

... And what is this?

Now He Wei Ni Ya was truly at a loss. She greeted the other person again, but there was still no response.

So she slowly approached the other person and then noticed that the other person's face was shiny as if it had been waxed, which looked somewhat eerie.

After hesitating for a moment, He Wei Ni Ya reached out her hand toward the other person's face.

Then, I was interrupted by a mature female voice from behind, "Don't disturb the Tuning Master."

He Wei Ni Ya immediately turned around and saw a tall, elegant woman standing behind her with a smile.

When did she arrive?

He Wei Ni Ya was very surprised, because she hadn't noticed anything at all.

Although she was hesitant to use Visas's Eyes here, her strength far surpassed that of ordinary players after acquiring several Golden Sound. Yet, even so, she couldn't sense the other party's approach at all.

A very powerful person.

He Wei Ni Ya made her judgment in her mind.

But she didn't show it; instead, she asked curiously, "What is Tuning Master?"

"It's a great profession that only One Academy, or rather, only the Holy Mountain, can possess." The woman smiled as she stood beside He Wei Ni Ya, explaining to her, "As the name suggests, it's about being responsible for tuning. You should know that the seven notes were created by the Lord, and the seven notes created by the Lord are the most beautiful and the most standard. The notes that have been passed down by later generations are still somewhat off."

Are you referring to the Golden Sound and silver tones?

"No, no, no, that's a scale. I'm talking about timbre," the woman said with a smile. "Even the lowest level, the Bronze Tier, can produce a more melodious sound than the gold scale. This is because the timbre of this Bronze Tier is more outstanding than that of the gold scale and is closer to the original seven notes created by the Lord."

He Wei Ni Ya understood. "So, tuning is about making my voice more and more in line with the original seven notes, thus becoming more and more perfect?"

"You can understand it that way." The woman nodded slightly, then looked at He Wei Ni Ya with interest. "You're the Golden Seventh Sound that the Lawrence Family brought from the Third Academy, right? I think your name is... He Wei Ni Ya? Hehe, I just saw you hesitating on the spiral staircase for a long time, and I was wondering who you could be."

"...Feel sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize for." The woman shook her head and said with a smile, "It's obvious that Finnis forgot to tell you the rules here, but it's not his fault. The rules for Girls' Dormitory and boys' dorms are different. But you're still very smart. I was going to help you, but you guessed it yourself."

He Wei Ni Ya blushed slightly. "I just tried it out randomly."

"Hehe, climbing up here on your own merit is a skill. Many freshmen, if no one had told them this when they enrolled, would have been stuck up there for a whole morning, crying and jumping up and down in frustration, but there was nothing they could do." The woman paused. "Back to the topic we were just discussing, as you just noticed, when you play a note, the Tuning Master resonates with you, thus opening the corresponding steps. That's how the Tuning Master tunes the sound."

"...Huh?" He Wei Ni Ya clearly didn't understand.

But the woman wasn't in a hurry and continued to explain to her in a soft voice.

Why are the original seven notes the most perfect, but they deviate further and further from being used by later generations? The reason is simple: because humans are impurities.

"If we compare the original seven notes to the purest water, then humans are the impurities that affect the water. Desire, greed, good and evil, preferences—everything influences the timbre. This is why the timbre is most perfect when the notes are first formed. As humans age, the notes fade because they are disturbed by too many of these factors."

"But the Tuning Master is going down the opposite path."

"They used secret methods to shield their five senses, and used perseverance to erase good and evil, placing their souls in boundless darkness. Simply put, they isolated themselves from the outside world."

"The only way to communicate with the outside world is through musical notes."

"The only response they will give is the same note."

"And their notes will be cleansed in each response and resonance, thus becoming purer, more perfect, and more... transcendent."

The woman spoke softly.

"Until finally, it becomes the true, original note."

"And only at that time will they end the tuning and awaken from their long slumber."

He Wei Ni Ya opened her mouth, seemingly shocked, and remained speechless for a long time. It wasn't until she heard the woman say "awaken from a long slumber" that she breathed a sigh of relief, "You can wake up? I thought you wouldn't, just like those Eternal Note in the front hall."

"Heh, Tuning Master are different from Eternal Note," the woman said. "They can indeed wake up, but... the proportion of those who do is very small. Out of ten Tuning Masters, at most only two or three can wake up; the rest are mostly in eternal slumber in the void."

He Wei Ni Ya was stunned.

"Why is that?"

"Because isolating oneself from everything is inherently risky," the woman said softly. "Letting the soul leave the body is essentially like flying a kite, and a large kite with only a thin string in a strong wind. The longer it flies, the greater the risk. The moment the string breaks, it can never come back."

He Wei Ni Ya opened her mouth wide again, perfectly displaying the shock of an ignorant young girl.

However, this shock was indeed genuine.

"Then, then, then these Tuning Masters..."

"It's all voluntary." The woman guessed what He Wei Ni Ya wanted to ask and answered with a smile, "No one forces them to do this. They have long since put life and death aside, and all they want is that purest note. In fact, most Tuning Master can feel whether the thread holding their soul is becoming more and more fragile when they are tuning. But until the very last moment, they are still unwilling to end it like this, because the opportunity to tune is only once, and once it's over, it's really over."

He Wei Ni Ya didn't know what to say. She remained silent for a long time before softly saying, "Indeed... very impressive, and very admirable."

"Hehe, yes," the woman said with a smile. "That purest melody is so alluring. And the closer you are to the Lord, the more you can feel it... You will understand later. Just like every Golden Sound, as it approaches the end of its life, wants to become Eternal Note, leaving its final sound for the Lord and for this world, so do you, and so do I."

He Wei Ni Ya gleaned the key point from the woman's words.

Is she the same?

Does that mean she is also Golden Sound?

He Wei Ni Ya asked, "Are you also like me, the Golden Seventh Sound?"

"No, no, no." The woman shook her head with a smile. "I am indeed the Golden Sound, but not the Seventh Sound. Currently, you are the only one 'Golden Seventh Sound.' The reason I was able to ascend to this floor is because..."

She took out a key.

"I'm the dormitory manager, so I can freely enter and exit the floors... It seems like I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Anita, and I live downstairs from you. You can come to me if you have any questions."

"Yes, yes, Ms. Anita!" He Wei Ni Ya bowed respectfully.

"Hehe, don't be so formal. I'm not much older than you." Anita shrugged. "Alright, I should go now. I hope you have a memorable Grand Ceremony, Miss He Wei Ni Ya."

After saying that, Anita lightly swiped the key in the air, and a downward staircase appeared out of thin air. She then left through the staircase.

He Wei Ni Ya watched Anita's retreating figure, initially not thinking anything of it, but as the stairs disappeared and she prepared to return to her room, she suddenly realized something.

Anita lived downstairs from her.

Doesn't that mean...?

He Wei Ni Ya's pupils narrowed slightly.

Golden... the Sixth Sound.

You found it just like that?