Sound Valley's Past

Xiao Han had just broken through to Five Star Dou Zun back then and was thinking of going out to find an opponent to test his personal strength.

What he had never expected was that he would accidentally stray into Sound Valley and draw the attention of a Sound Valley Elder.

After a few exchanges and a string of coincidences, relying on his own formidable strength, Xiao Han caused a huge disturbance in Sound Valley.

In the end, he drew a joint siege from several Sound Valley Elders.

Just as he was beset on all sides and facing a desperate situation, Heavenly Sound Old Man stepped in and saved him... Speaking of it brought tears to his eyes!

If Xiao Han had known back then that helping Sound Valley would be such a troublesome matter, he probably... still would have done it. After all, his little life was in someone else's hands, wasn't it? It was for the sake of staying alive. No shame in that!

Through Heavenly Sound Old Man's explanation, Xiao Han also came to understand Sound Valley's predicament at the time—it had split into factions.

Because of the special nature of Sound Valley Cultivators, the consumption required to use Dou Techniques was extremely low. This was also why, under normal circumstances, experts of the same level could not beat Sound Valley cultivators; if they competed with Dou Techniques, they simply could not outlast them.

But on the other hand, unlike ordinary Dou Techniques, which could definitely be successfully learned with practice as long as one met the physical requirements for cultivating the Dou Technique, the proper Dou Qi circulation route, and had enough Dou Qi, to successfully use Musical Dou Techniques, one not only had to satisfy the above conditions, but also needed an extremely profound understanding of music.

And that required a great deal of time. A person's time was limited, yet cultivating Dou Qi and comprehending the path of music were both anything but easy work.

However, Dou Qi cultivation was indispensable on the continent. Because of this, at some unknown point, someone proposed abandoning Sound Valley's original cultivation of Musical Dou Techniques and choosing the comparatively simpler Sound Wave Dou Techniques instead.

After all, both used sound as the medium of transmission. Different paths, same destination. It would also be much easier for Sound Valley Cultivators to cultivate.

However, this proposal drew fierce opposition from many elders, who believed that the path of music was Sound Valley's inheritance. To abandon their inheritance—was that not betraying their teachers and ancestors?

For some unknown reason, this argument grew more and more intense.

It even caused Sound Valley, from the Valley Master downward, to split into two major factions that fought endlessly with each other. Fortunately, the leaders of both factions remained rational and restrained, which was why no bloodshed occurred.

Originally, as long as Heavenly Sound Old Man, the strongest person in the valley, spoke up, the matter would have been very easy to resolve. After all, in this world, the strong were revered, and he could suppress all dissent with strength alone.

But unfortunately, that little old man had been in seclusion at the time, paying no attention to outside affairs.

By the time he emerged from seclusion and learned of the matter, Sound Valley's internal strife had already become extremely serious. If he forcibly suppressed it, it would cause extremely severe consequences, so he could only barely maintain the situation between the two sides.

And by the time Xiao Han accidentally entered Sound Valley, the factional conflict within Sound Valley had already reached its most intense stage.

If not for that, with him being a mere Five Star Dou Zun, no matter how heaven-defying his Combat power was, how could he possibly have caused a huge disturbance in Sound Valley, where there were Experts Like Clouds? They would have taken his little life in minutes!

As for why Heavenly Sound Old Man asked Xiao Han, an outsider, for help, it was naturally because he was already powerless to resolve the chaos from back then and had begun preparing to forcibly suppress it.

But if he did that, Sound Valley would inevitably become a river of blood, suffer a great loss of vitality, and could only seal the valley and lick its wounds.

Moreover, Heavenly Sound Old Man deeply understood the difficulty of cultivating Musical Dou Techniques. It was also for this reason that Sound Valley Cultivators developed their strength much more slowly compared with ordinary experts.

He also wanted to know whether there was any solution that could satisfy both sides.

As for finding Xiao Han, that was purely a desperate last resort. After all, Heavenly Sound Old Man could not possibly expose Sound Valley's conflicts to everyone himself. If he did that, Sound Valley would probably be finished on the spot.

Only Xiao Han, this "Three-No Youth" who had wandered down the wrong path, had no strength, no background, and no one who wanted him, happened to be suitable.

Faced with this situation, Xiao Han could only put forward his own suggestion: incorporate Sound Wave Dou Techniques into Sound Valley's cultivation system as well.

In response to Xiao Han's catch-all answer, Heavenly Sound Old Man merely said "hehe" with an expressionless face, and then his Dou Qi began to circulate.

Then Xiao Han, drenched in cold sweat, began speaking freely and wildly.

In the end, when he really had no other choice, Xiao Han could only give up resisting and simply throw in the towel, saying, "How about you pull out the disciples from both factions and let them spar with each other? Whoever is stronger gets listened to.

"Just give them a public place to fight and control this kind of conflict on the arena.

"If anyone refuses to accept it, let them fight."

Hearing this, Heavenly Sound Old Man also revealed an interested expression.

Indeed, compared with large-scale conflicts where blades and swords had no eyes, it would be better to set up an arena for one-on-one duels. That way, lives could also be preserved.

Seeing Heavenly Sound Old Man begin to take an interest, and knowing that his life was once again guaranteed, Xiao Han continued suggesting that Heavenly Sound Old Man cultivate a genius who would simultaneously practice a small number of Sound Wave Dou Techniques and Musical Dou Techniques.

Then have this genius compete with the other two factions. If the results were good enough, they could use it as proof.

They could initially loosen the cultivation of Musical Dou Techniques and gradually integrate Sound Wave Dou Techniques into Sound Valley's cultivation system.

Heavenly Sound Old Man pondered for a long time before finally making the decision to agree to Xiao Han's proposal. However, he required Xiao Han not to leave Sound Valley's sphere of influence during this period.

As for that, Xiao Han naturally had no objections. Heavenly Sound Old Man's approach could already be considered quite merciful.

If it were done according to the usual method, when facing Xiao Han, who had learned their secrets, the correct answer would have been to make him vanish from the world.

It was already good enough that he could keep his life. What more bicycle did he need!

Just like that, Xiao Han stayed in Sound Valley for two years. During this time, many Sound Valley Elders also came to know of this young man who was a guest in Sound Valley, and they became much more familiar with one another.

And under Xiao Han's constant harassment and relentless pestering, Heavenly Sound Old Man also formed a decent friendship with him.

What led him and Xiao Han to converse so happily was precisely the gradual resolution of Sound Valley's internal conflict.

Although there was still some fighting, it could all be controlled. All they needed was a certain opportunity, and the hidden danger of Sound Valley's split could be completely resolved.

In fact, because of Xiao Han's proposal, the strength of Sound Valley's disciples also increased quite a bit. As the Sound Valley Master, Heavenly Sound Old Man was naturally greatly comforted by this.

And in Xiao Han's interactions with Heavenly Sound Old Man, some of the special musical attainments he unintentionally revealed also made Heavenly Sound Old Man extremely curious and appreciative.

After all, most people in Sound Valley were masters of music. For this kind of music that he had never heard of before, it would be a lie to say Heavenly Sound Old Man was not interested. And so he began asking Xiao Han for guidance.

However, this was far too difficult for Xiao Han, who was a complete Xiao Bai when it came to music. He had only ever been able to casually hum a couple of lines, so what would he know about melody and rhythm?

In the end, after being pestered by the Heavenly Sound Old Man until he could not take it anymore, he could only make an excuse, saying he had accidentally obtained some Music Scores and taught himself from them.

Faced with the Heavenly Sound Old Man's request to take a look at them, Xiao Han had agreed to anything just to shake him off, and as luck would have it, he had bragged himself into a corner.

And the Heavenly Sound Old Man had remembered it all the way until now. He had even come to Langya Pavilion in person.

"You're actually this persistent?" The corner of Xiao Han's mouth twitched a few times despite himself.

"All right, all right." The Heavenly Sound Old Man laughed and said heartily, "I know you don't have any Music Scores or the like. That is your own business, and naturally, this old man won't pry.

"I came to find you for something else."

"What is it?" Xiao Han asked in confusion.

Sound Valley and Langya Pavilion basically belonged to two separate systems. If not for Xiao Han, the two forces would probably have remained parallel lines forever.

"I need to borrow your Langya Pavilion and stay here for a while..."

Xiao Han: "...Stay here for a while?" What did that mean?