Quinn's music contains so many things!
Serena Vale gently plucked and swept her pipa, using a soft melody to provoke Quinn and immediately probed the layers hidden within his music. In Quinn's playing, she sensed god-sound, demon-sound, and Buddha-sound—an odd mix—along with killing intent and the spirit of battle, as if saber-light and sword-shadow were racing through it.
The Grand Fostering Heavenly Demon Sutra of the Cult of the Heavenly Demon includes chapters on music, but none as intricate or fragmented as this. Serena could tell Quinn's music contained the sect's sound-arts, especially the Heaven Demon Rainbow-Robe Melody, yet that was only one part of his music.
Clearly, Quinn was now caught in a strange trance, unable to extricate himself. He seemed to be comprehending something deeper, trying to fuse all these elements together.
Serena Vale discerned Quinn's true intent and felt reassured.
This frenzied, mad-enlightenment state was exceedingly rare—only in the depths of enlightenment could one touch such madness.
Without madness, there is no life; without madness, there is no Buddhahood.
Cradling her pipa, Serena's fingers pressed out ever more urgent notes, trying to guide Quinn—helping him merge all paths and complete his fusion.
Earlier, the girls of Listening Rain Pavilion had battled Quinn with music and song—mostly just fooling around—but even that helped him greatly, forcing him to refine his music under pressure and opposition.
But Serena used a mix of guidance and opposition, helping Quinn fuse his music even better and faster.
Her mastery of music far surpassed the girls of Listening Rain Pavilion; with her guidance and pressure, Quinn improved at lightning speed.
Quinn's use of the Heaven Demon Rainbow-Robe Melody in his playing also benefited Serena greatly. The melody was a technique from the Grand Fostering Heavenly Demon Sutra; though Serena had learned it, her knowledge was incomplete. As she guided Quinn, she also learned from him, mastering the parts of the melody she hadn't learned before.
After a long time, Serena noticed Quinn was gradually escaping his mad-enlightenment state; their music harmonized, and they played a duet—a dragon and phoenix in harmony.
Just then, a dozen or so girls excitedly carried out a huge bell, taller than a person, with Lina sitting atop it, shouting: "Let's ring the bell together—we'll surely smash his demonic music..."
Serena stopped playing, half laughing, half crying, and scolded: "Do you want to kill Quinn? Nonsense—put the bell back!"
The girls, dejected, carried the bell back; Lina was also downcast, clearly unhappy she couldn't use the bell to blast Quinn.
Quinn came to his senses, looked around in surprise, and realized he'd caused a huge commotion. He hurriedly apologized to Serena.
The little girls didn't understand and almost disrupted Quinn's cultivation—please don't blame them.
Serena smiled: "Quinn hasn't eaten yet? You all kept at it all night—it's almost dawn."
Quinn quickly called over the ever-troublesome little fox demon, Lina, to go eat together.
The young man in brocade, Quinn, finished off the last scraps on his plate, then took the empty bowls and dishes to wash them clean. Several girls saw this and rushed over, saying, "Quinn, you shouldn't be doing such rough chores! Leave it to us."
Quinn laughed, "The dao doesn't care for noble or lowly—why should chores? I've already washed them, no need to dirty your hands again."
Serena asked, "Quinn, what cultivation realm are you at now?"
Quinn's hands glowed with fire as he burned away the water beads, answering, "Still at the Spirit Embryo Realm."
Serena frowned slightly—Spirit Embryo Realm was a bit too low. Entering the Imperial Academy would be extremely difficult, since even if the Academy bent the rules to admit exceptional scholars, most martial admits had already opened their Five Luminaries Treasury.
With only Spirit Embryo Realm, I'm afraid it's impossible to pass the Academy's examinations.
She'd originally thought Quinn was at least in the Five Luminaries Realm—after all, when she saw him three years ago, he'd already reached Spirit Embryo. She hadn't expected that in all this time, Quinn hadn't advanced.
What she didn't know was that while Quinn's realm hadn't improved, his cultivation had taken a great leap. His Spirit Embryo had awakened four times, his four yuanqi attributes flowed freely, and his vitality was so abundant that even among martial masters he stood out.
"There are only two days left before the Academy opens. Quinn, you should try Breaking the Wall—do your best to succeed within those two days."
Though Serena said this, she was doubtful—breaking through in two days was nearly impossible, something even the strongest struggled to achieve.