“That was something I once learned by relying on the Hundred Sounds Mastery talent.”
“Back then, I learned many musical instruments and pieces, believing there was no difficulty at all on the path of the Sound Dao—until I was stripped of my talent and realized it was all just a sand castle. Though I can still play, it’s only by rote memory of the past.”
“My Sound Dao cultivation base has made no progress,” Yu Mowen said, sounding dejected. It was clear that losing Hundred Sounds Mastery had hit her hard.
But Mu Yanxi, Yu Qiuyu, and Ruo Xuan all frowned, feeling that something was off.
Mu Yanxi confirmed again, “You mean, even though your Sound Dao cultivation base is still there, you can’t make any progress after losing your talent?”
“Strictly speaking, my Sound Dao cultivation base is also gone. I can only instinctively play songs on autopilot; after losing the Hundred Sounds Mastery talent, I can no longer understand or integrate into the music theory.”
“Those songs don’t have my emotions blended in—it’s like I know what to do but not why,” Yu Mowen said.
“Then that’s why you can’t progress? But this situation is really strange,” Yu Qiuyu also asked. “Can you still progress in other areas?”
“Yes, I can. Whether it’s physical training, sword training, or even my overall cultivation realm—I can progress in all of those. But I’m a sound cultivator, and the stagnation in my Sound Dao cultivation base drags down my entire realm like a turtle crawling,” Yu Mowen said dejectedly.
Mu Yanxi could sense that Yu Mowen was only at over twenty layers of the Qi Refining stage. As a second-year student, she was far behind Shangguan Yun.
The student who had passed out and convulsed from the drug earlier was at over 30 layers, close to 40 layers. From this, Yu Mowen’s cultivation was already far behind other second-year students.
This was because she had focused on the path of sound cultivation. When her Sound Dao cultivation base stagnated, her entire training slowed down.
This was also why Mu Yanxi had advised Yu Qiuyu to think carefully before choosing sword cultivation—once the Lingyue Sword Art had issues, her cultivation would definitely be affected, and changing her main cultivation method would be troublesome.
Yu Mowen’s problem was even more severe. It wasn’t an issue with her cultivation method, but a problem with the Dao itself.
It was like a cultivator whose spiritual root had been dug out—their cultivation base remained, but they could no longer absorb spiritual energy to cultivate.
In fact, her problem was even worse than losing a spiritual root. In this world, even without a spiritual root, one could still cultivate using external aids, albeit much slower. Now Yu Mowen’s Sound Dao cultivation base had completely stalled.
But the strangest part was right here.
Could the loss of the Hundred Sounds Mastery talent really cause Sound Dao cultivation to be completely unable to advance?
“Senior Sister Yu, please don’t mind my questions. Normally, losing Hundred Sounds Mastery doesn’t prevent progress on the Sound Dao—it only slows it down. Many people without sound talent can still become musicians, unless they are born tone deaf.”
“Are you sure you were only stripped of Hundred Sounds Mastery?” Yu Qiuyu asked seriously.
“I know! But I don’t know why!”
Yu Mowen suddenly exploded.
Even her shout carried a sharp sound dao, forcing everyone back several steps, and her face showed pain.
“Senior Sister Yu, calm down.”
Shangguan Yun stepped forward, using a protective barrier like a guard to block the impact of the scream, while placing her right hand on Yu Mowen’s shoulder.
With her powerful cultivation of 40 layers of Qi Refining and a high-grade heart method, she instantly soothed Yu Mowen’s agitated emotions.
“I’m sorry, I lost my composure and was rude.”
Yu Mowen took a deep breath and returned to her gentle and elegant demeanor, but her sudden outburst was indeed impressive.
Mu Yanxi finally understood why Shangguan Yun had forbidden them from discussing talent-related topics with Yu Mowen. Talking with her seemed normal enough, but at any moment, her emotions could flare up and explode.
Mu Yanxi understood this well. Cultivators’ personalities were often influenced by their cultivation methods.
Many demonic cultivators were cruel and bloodthirsty, not because they were naturally so, but because their demonic cultivation methods made them that way. After living for a long time, many old monsters developed eccentric personalities.
“As a former sound dao prodigy, Lingyue High School naturally had several teachers, including sound dao teachers and medical dao teachers, examine her. The conclusion was a psychological problem,” Shangguan Yun said.
“Heart demon?”
Mu Yanxi immediately thought of that. In fact, she had already guessed this cause.
“Heart demon is one aspect, but not entirely accurate. The most precise term should be mental barrier.”
“Senior Sister Yu was used to Hundred Sounds Mastery from a young age, able to understand all the meanings and emotions in music theory.”
“When she lost her talent, she couldn’t hear anything clearly anymore—not even the most basic musical notes,” Shangguan Yun replied.
With that, Mu Yanxi and the other two understood completely.
If one was born with a talent to understand all songs, and one day it suddenly vanished, this would indeed happen.
It’s like suddenly not knowing how to read—then you certainly can’t read cultivation manuals, so she says her playing now is all instinct and muscle memory.
Mu Yanxi also knew that wasn’t the whole reason.
From the fact that Yu Mowen’s scream carried sound dao, her Sound Dao cultivation base was still there, even if she didn’t play an instrument or sing.
Therefore, in the final analysis, “mental barrier” was the most accurate description of Yu Mowen’s current state.
Her Sound Dao cultivation base remained, but after losing her talent, her perception of music changed, making it impossible for her to progress on her original Sound Dao foundation.
No one could help her with this. Only Yu Mowen herself could adapt to her new state and overcome it, then she could advance on the Sound Dao again.
But this was probably as difficult as reaching the sky.
The musical world she had been used to since childhood suddenly turned into something completely different, losing its beauty and dreaminess, becoming cold theory and notes—it was uncertain whether she could continue to love music.
Mu Yanxi didn’t dare say she could.
“Actually, I tried. I tried to adapt. In my first year, a sound dao prodigy even more talented than me came to the wind instrument department. After hearing from the teacher about me, she warmly invited me to join her orchestra,” Yu Mowen continued.
“At that time, I was disheartened with the Sound Dao and wanted to give up, but I couldn’t resist her enthusiastic persuasion.”
“She told me that music would definitely break all barriers and let me feel emotions and beauty again. She even said she wanted to have her talent stripped and give it to me.”
“Ah?!” Everyone cried out in surprise at the same time.
They certainly knew who the sound dao prodigy Yu Mowen was talking about. Giving away one’s strongest talent was extremely inconceivable.
“She said she wanted to prove that her love for the Sound Dao would not change one bit because of talent. I believed her, but refused to accept the talent.”
“I told her that her talent wasn’t Hundred Sounds Mastery, so even if she gave it to me, it would be useless—there was no way to go back to how it was before.”