Grand Ceremony Begins

"So, after that, she basically never left her dormitory?" The Dean looked at the school janitor who came to report on He Wei Ni Ya's whereabouts. "And she didn't join any orchestras either?"

"Yes." The school janitor nodded. "For the past two weeks, apart from occasionally going to the library to borrow books, she hasn't left her dormitory at all. And when she does leave the dormitory, it's only to borrow books, and the round trip takes no more than an hour. During this time, we've been keeping an eye on her to make sure she hasn't left our sight."

The Dean then asked, "What books did she borrow?"

"We've already compiled the list, and these are the book lists." The school janitor handed over the book lists he had retrieved from the library. "She has at least five Book Cards, so she borrowed quite a few books at once, but we can confirm that nothing was missed."

"Five Book Card?"

"Yes, it was lent to her by another student." The school janitor hesitated. "Dean, is this a violation of school rules?"

The Dean did not answer immediately, but instead squinted at the book list in his hand.

The book list consists of very ordinary books, including theoretical works by scholars and masters, explanations of musical scores, and even some fairy tales written casually by poets.

Judging from the book list alone, you can't tell anything except that the person who borrowed the books is a book lover; there's no bias whatsoever.

... Was it unexpected or expected?

The reason it was unexpected was that the Dean already knew that the guy who was dominating the Three Academies, Xi Ze, had gained his starting point by using his librarian privileges to access a series of banned books.

While the Dean is not yet certain whether He Wei Ni Ya is Xi Ze, he will certainly consider this possibility. After all, the One Academy has more and more forbidden books than the Three Academies, and if He Wei Ni Ya is willing, she can obtain more secret knowledge.

But if she had made such a big fuss, would she still be alive today? Would the principal still have high hopes for her?

At least the Dean doesn't think so.

Therefore, the dean of Dean was not too surprised when he saw this book list.

"This doesn't violate any school rules," he said calmly. "It's her skill to borrow so many Book Cards, and a love of reading isn't a crime... Is there anything else?"

"Yes, and the letters she wrote out," the school janitor said. "She had two owls, one for sending home and the other for a musician named Auger. We intercepted and checked these letters before they were sent and received. Please take a look."

The school janitor then handed over a thicker stack of papers.

The Dean took it and quickly began to read it.

Meanwhile, the school janitor began explaining, "Most of the letters home are about everyday family matters. Apart from those meaningless pleasantries, the focus during this period has been on Miss He Wei Ni Ya's withdrawal from the Grand Ceremony. Miss He Wei Ni Ya's father is very dissatisfied with her decision, presumably due to pressure from the Lawrence Family. However, Miss He Wei Ni Ya has never given in, so He Wei Ni Ya father has gradually compromised."

The school worker paused for a moment.

"As for those letters written to that guy named Auger, they were like chats between friends. I also went to the Three Academies to inquire about Auger. He was a student who failed to advance and was forced to drop out. Miss He Wei Ni Ya seemed to be using the knowledge she had to try to restore the musical score for Auger. She would also use some lines from fairy tales to encourage him not to give up. Auger was very grateful for this."

After the school staff finished explaining, the Dean also read through all the letters.

As the school janitor said, judging from these letters alone, He Wei Ni Ya has no problems whatsoever.

She's just a kind-hearted young lady named Golden Sound who has her own principles.

But unfortunately

This is the biggest flaw.

As the Dean, La Wu Er had seen far too many young ladies, whether from the Primordial Two Great Families or from second-rate nobles, none of them had anything to do with kindness.

They have no relation whatsoever.

Therefore, this seemingly perfect letter was full of loopholes in La Wu Er's eyes.

"There's no need to monitor her letters anymore." The Dean rolled up all the letters and burned them with the candlelight at hand, saying calmly, "It's obvious that she already knows that we are monitoring her letters. These are just things she wrote for us to see, to build up her persona."

The school janitor nodded.

The Dean looked at the candle flame, which was burning brighter and brighter because of the letter paper as fuel, and said softly, "You really have a lot of patience."

It has been half a month since He Wei Ni Ya left Finnis's band.

The Grand Ceremony is drawing ever closer.

Theoretically speaking, at this point, she was no longer able to join any band.

Finnis has already submitted the final list, and her name is not on it.

From any perspective, she has withdrawn from this Grand Ceremony and has even disappeared from public view.

It seems illogical for La Wu Er to cause trouble for He Wei Ni Ya at this time.

But...

La Wu Er knew that this was merely the calm before the storm.

He closed his eyes and began to think about something.

The school staff didn't dare to disturb them, and just waited quietly on the side.

After more than ten minutes, he slowly spoke, "If I remember correctly, the lowest level Outer Melody will be played tomorrow?"

"Yes."

The lowest level of music is naturally the Outer Melody.

The order in which the Grand Ceremony music is played is from the foot of the Holy Mountain all the way to the summit.

This process is very slow, so slow that a mountain path that a unicorn can walk in a few hours would take a symphony half a month to climb.

There is a clear dividing line here, which is the main hall where the Eternal Note are located.

The movements outside the Eternal Note are called Outer Melody; the movements within the Eternal Note are called Inner Melody.

For the core performers, the Grand Ceremony officially begins only when the first Inner Melody is played. The Lord of Holy Sound will also awaken at this moment, and the music will continue until three days later when it ascends to the final Seven Sound Holy Temple and plays its Final Chapter.

However, this is only the opinion of the core performers. According to the rules in "The Holy Sound History", the Grand Ceremony is considered to have begun as soon as the first piece of music is played.

So...

La Wu Er opened his eyes and made a decision.

"Let's withdraw. We don't need to keep an eye on her anymore."

The school janitor was slightly taken aback. "Don't we need to keep an eye on her anymore?"

"Yes, I'm tired of playing hide-and-seek and guessing games." La Wu Er said calmly. "I will announce that I will personally go to the Eternal Note and use the power of the Lord to awaken that Tuning Master."

"The truth will come out in time."

"I will judge her personally before the Lord."

"The Grand Ceremony is about to begin." In the Girls' Dormitory, Anita sipped her red tea and said to He Wei Ni Ya was sitting in front of her, "When the Grand Ceremony arrives, the power of the music within us will become stronger and purer."

While taking notes, He Wei Ni Ya asked, "Is it because the Lord is awakening?"

"Yes," Anita said. "It's not accurate to say that the Lord is awakening. The Lord doesn't need to sleep, and never sleeps. He just started listening at this time."

"... What does this mean?"

"It means exactly what it says," Anita said. "The Lord is our everything, but we are not the Lord's everything. He gave us Movement Spell, but He doesn't watch over us all the time, just like..."

He Wei Ni Ya raised an eyebrow. "Buying tickets to see a play only once every twenty years?"

"Your analogy is indeed very vivid," Anita said with a smile. "However, if you were to write it so bluntly in your thesis, I don't think your Mentor would be very happy. Such a description would be a great disrespect to the Lord."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I was just saying it offhand!" He Wei Ni Ya clasped her hands together in a pleading gesture. "Please, please don't tell my Mentor."

"Don't worry, I'm not that old-fashioned," Anita said. "In fact, that's what I asked the principal back then."

"...ah?"

"For children who are just beginning to learn about music, this analogy is indeed the simplest and most straightforward way to explain the relationship between the performer and the Lord," Anita said. "Our relationship with the Lord is different from that of other churches. The relationship between the Lord and us is the purest. He gives us strength, and we repay Him with music. Essentially, it's like the audience pays and the performer plays. The only difference is that the Lord, as the audience, has many choices, but we, as the performers, only have the Lord as our audience."

"And these are audiences who only come once every twenty years," He Wei Ni Ya said softly.

"Yes." Anita nodded slightly. "So it's a pity that many excellent musicians never get to play for the principal throughout their lives."

"Is that so?" He Wei Ni Ya tilted her head. "But Miss Anita, you don't seem to have any regrets."

"Oh?"

"You're such a talented player," He Wei Ni Ya said, "But you never intended to participate in the Grand Ceremony, did you? Don't you feel any regret?"

"Heh, you're asking me now," Anita said calmly. "My reason for not participating in the Grand Ceremony is simple... it's not perfect enough."

"... Not perfect enough?"

"Yes," Anita said. "The performer is the purest and most exquisite artist. A Golden Sound performer only has one chance in his life to present a performance to the Lord. If he doesn't strive for perfection, how can he have the face to perform on stage?"

"I don't quite understand what you mean," He Wei Ni Ya asked. "What kind of thing is considered perfect?"

"At the very least, it cannot go against the performer's original intention," Anita said. "Someone once told me that if a performer goes on stage not for the ultimate art, but for ranking or for favor, then such a performer is unqualified. And unfortunately, the vast majority of performers are like that now."

He Wei Ni Ya understood. "This is what Principal Ulysses told you, right?"

"Of course." Anita couldn't help but smile when she mentioned the headmaster. "That's what he told me when I first met him. In fact, he says that to every student."

"Does Principal Ulysses have many disciples?"

"Hmm." Anita nodded slightly. "After the last Grand Ceremony, the principal relinquished all his power and then traveled alone throughout the entire Holy Sound Academy in order to find a pure and promising performer like him. But unfortunately, to this day, no one has been able to stand at the same level as the principal."

"Can't you do it either?"

"Of course." Anita shook her head. "Whether it's strength or mindset, we are far, far behind. In fact... I may never catch up in this lifetime."

"I see..."

He Wei Ni Ya nodded thoughtfully.

In fact, He Wei Ni Ya and Anita were in a very delicate situation at this time.

She knew very well that Anita knew her identity, and that Anita understood this as well, but the two of them tacitly refrained from pointing it out.

Even after He Wei Ni Ya left the orchestra, she actually had more time to spend with Anita.

This wasn't the first time they'd chatted like this. In the past two weeks, Anita had replaced Ulysses as He Wei Ni Ya's new teacher. Through her conversations with Anita, He Wei Ni Ya had gradually figured out why Ulysses and Anita hadn't attacked her.

... a pure and exquisite musical movement.

In other words, in their eyes, whether it was the Primordial Two Great Families or the Lawrence Family, they were only participating in the Grand Ceremony to receive grace, and therefore they were not qualified to stand on the same stage as them.

Especially after they destroyed Ulysses's Divine Comedy twenty years ago, cooperation became even more impossible.

The only question is whether Ulysses wants to see the true, purest form of music in He Wei Ni Ya, or whether he wants to kill her after she has finished collecting the scores, steal the scores, and play them himself.

He Wei Ni Ya couldn't be sure, but she wouldn't be foolish enough to ask.

She won't speak up before things really turn sour, but she'll be prepared.

Just then, a female musician walked over quickly and whispered something in Anita's ear.

After listening, Anita nodded, and after the female musician left, she said, "Dean La Wu Er has decided to awaken the Tuning Master in the boys' dormitory before the Eternal Note at the start of the Grand Ceremony."

"I remember you said that Tuning Master cannot be awakened by external force."

"That's generally true," Anita said. "But it's different during the Grand Ceremony. Remember what I just told you? During the Grand Ceremony, the power of each of our musical movements becomes stronger, which makes awakening possible, although the success rate isn't high."

How many?

"Thirty percent," Anita said. "If he fails, the Tuning Master will die, so he only has one chance. He will start when the Lord's power is at its strongest, but before it affects the progress of the Grand Ceremony, which is... before the last Outer Melody ends and the first Inner Melody begins."

After listening, He Wei Ni Ya was silent for a moment, then nodded slightly. "I understand."

That night.

The first Outer Melody began to play softly at the foot of the mountain.

The Grand Ceremony begins.