Chapter 467: Windy Resonant Pagoda
Translator: YH Editor: TYZ, CakeHermit
A peculiar looking pagoda stood prominently in the northwest sector of Newlight City.
Yuchi Ba looked at the newly built Windy Resonant Pagoda with pride and satisfaction.
The pagoda was one thousand and eighty feet tall and made purely out of metal and rock. Engravings covered the entire structure, giving it an overall majestic feel. Normal pagodas were thick at the bottom and tapered towards the top, yet here stood one that was the other way around. The first five hundred feet of the pagoda were cylindrical in shape, much like a huge circular pillar. Above that, branches began to emerge. These branches were loosely scattered, but became denser higher up the pagoda. From afar, the entire structure looked like a pine cone.
The most wonderful aspect of the building was the countless wind chimes hanging at the top of each branch.
Whenever the wind blew, the sound of the wind chimes would spread for miles around.
Elder Yuchi spoke with gratitude to the white-haired, bearded old man standing in front of him, "My thanks to Master Di. This pagoda is truly a marvellous creation and will be the very foundation of Newlight City. Only Master Di is capable of accomplishing such a feat."
The old man gazed at the pagoda with satisfaction before shaking his head and replying, "I dare not take another’s credit; the inspiration for this pagoda came from Mayor An. All I can do is incorporate the ideas of others to achieve satisfactory results. I can rest easy with capable people like Mayor An in Newlight City."
This simple and plain looking old man was the famous music master Di Xinyuan. He had returned to the Induction Ground to retire, built the Hall of Nine Tones, and lived a carefree life ever since. When the blood disaster broke out, he roamed the world to avoid getting caught up in it.
Di Xinyuan was a new citizen. He lived a tough childhood, wandering from place to place and enduring many hardships before becoming a famous Master.
Music theory was not a mainstream area of interest. People had been seeking power since way before the blood disaster; who would bother studying music? As such, music masters were extremely rare throughout history.
Di Xinyuan was the only one still alive.
The construction of the Windy Resonant Pagoda had aroused his interest because a building of this size involving music theory was very rare.
Another reason was that he carried the status of being a new citizen.
The young Di Xinyuan had been slighted by others due to being a new citizen and thus developed an instinctive aversion to the aristocratic families. He rejected offers from many aristocratic families and chose to retire from the Induction Ground after his promotion to Master.
After the city expansion order and construction of new cities, he followed the flow and arrived at Newlight City.
He had initially been shocked by the Windy Resonant Pagoda’s blueprint when An Chouchou showed it to him, then while participating in the project, he grew to appreciate the fatty whose name personified his look. He deliberately mentioned his admiration for An Chouchou to Yuchi Ba.
With his status, Yuchi Ba would not ignore his comments.
Yuchi Ba delightfully commented, "Newlight City can be without me, this old man, but not without Chouchou. The word ‘elephant’ in the name ‘Ugly Elephant’ is really appropriate. Where the elephant is, there is no fear of lions and tigers. God Nation has ’Sick Tiger’ Bei Shuisheng, our Newlight City has ‘Ugly Elephant’ An Chouchou!"
An Chouchou was terrified. "Elder flatters me, but this is part of my duty. How can I compare with Bei Shuisheng?"
Yuchi Ba burst into loud laughter. "Why can’t you compare? I say you are comparable to him and I mean it. With you in charge of Newlight City, I will not have to worry about the upkeep of this pagoda."
Jingle, Jingle.
The clashing sounds of the fine wind chimes were like a pleasant tide and the countless silver flashes from the pagoda were like the sun illuminating the waves.
The edge of the pagoda emitted traces of faint silvery light, which was the metal wind.
"The wind is blowing!"
Yu Jin whispered, her tone revealing inexplicable joy and excitement. Her knotted hair bun was still so eye-catching. Time did not leave traces on her face, but like an invisible grindstone, it polished the spirit of her whole body.
The passing years were kind to her due to her attainment of Masterhood.
Tong Gui, who stood beside her, lifted his head. Under the glittering bronze mask, his stern looking eyes became deep. He was just standing there, exuding steel and copper breaths which felt bereft of life.
The time difference between their promotions to the level of Master was only three days.
Tong Gui gazed at the tall pagoda. The edge of the pagoda was lit up with a faint aura of silver light forming a ring; that was the ring of metal wind. The metal wind synergised with the clashing sounds of the Windy Resonant Pagoda to exert a magical force which attracted the wind.
Both the wind and metal elemental energy were continuously converging.
In a short period of time, the metal elemental energy around the Windy Resonant Pagoda was so abundant that it surprised Tong Gui. He did a brief calculation in his mind and before the result came out, Yu Jin, who was beside him, exclaimed, "The metal elemental energy gathered at the pagoda is equivalent to nine large metal elemental energy pools."
The two of them had a tacit understanding, so without saying anything, Yu Jin already knew what was on his mind.
Tong Gui enthused, "What a spectacular sight!"
An Chouchou listened to everyone’s admiration with such happiness that his eyes narrowed into slits and filled with excitement.
He was under immense pressure.
Madam Ye’s dishonourable behaviour in Skyheart City was well known. As they had insider information and knew more, he was therefore under even greater pressure.
The people present were all beaming. They understood the importance of the Windy Resonant Pagoda to Newlight City.
Master Di suddenly asked, "I have a question and hope Elder Yuchi can help to clear the doubts."
Yuchi Ba said generously, "Master Di, please speak your mind."
Master Di looked puzzled and said, "This pagoda is effective and powerful. It can be described as a powerful weapon for Newlight City; however, it gathers extremely huge amounts of metal elemental energy and will easily attract dire beasts. Why not build it in town? In this way, there will be no loss even though the collected metal elemental energy will be slightly weakened. Having more security is worth the slight loss in elemental energy."
Yuchi Ba heard and nodded. "What Master Di said is pertinent, but there is still one thing that has not yet been pointed out to Master Di. As I will be stationed in this pagoda, I intend to make use of the power of this pagoda to become a Grandmaster."
Master Di was startled with the sudden realization. "Elder is really ambitious!"
His eyes showed a trace of admiration. Yuchi Ba had failed in trying to become a Grandmaster before, but had the courage to try again. This was an extremely rare quality and reminded him of Le Buleng.
Dai Gang had been a prominent figure even before he became a Grandmaster. There were only a handful of people who could defeat him and Le Buleng was one of them.
Le Buleng had continuously failed to become a Grandmaster, but he never gave up. He was also aloof, which attracted many criticisms, but his firm resolution was something that even his enemies could not deny.
The impact on those who failed to become a Grandmaster was devastating. From time to time, there would be Masters who failed while trying to become a Grandmaster. For those fortunate enough to survive, their skill would be substantially reduced and they would also suffer a huge mental blow. Most people would never be able to emerge from the shadow of failure.
Therefore, when Master Di heard Yuchi Ba proclaiming his intention to challenge the level of Grandmaster once again, he knew how tough it was and really admired him for his decision.
Yuchi Ba looked calm and said in a slow, steady, and thunderous tone, "I have seen too much injustice since my childhood and have decided to become the voice of the new citizens. Unfortunately, there is a limit to what I can do and this makes me feel guilty. Before the blood disaster, I often sighed for the difficulties faced by the new citizens trying to survive. After the blood disaster, the situation of the new citizens became even more difficult. I knew then that we were too weak. Only regimented people can survive; we cannot count on aristocratic families and the Elders Guild."
Those listening to Elder Yuchi were touched.
"I brought all of you here to build Newlight City and hope that we, the new citizens, can have a place here in these turbulent times. I know I am obscure and untalented, but achieving this stage is already my limit."
Others tried to speak, but he waved his hand in a self-deprecating manner. "It is not a disgrace to know your own limits. Now, the situation in Newlight City has stabilized and the foundation is firm. My mission has been completed and I have no more worries. I do not know what the future will be like and there is only so much I can do; however, after seeing An Chouchou’s Windy Resonant Pagoda, I found another possibility and that is to make the breakthrough to the level of Grandmaster."
His speech was steady and smooth, but his tone was a bit heated and his eyes were piercingly sharp.
"This pagoda built in the wilderness will indeed attract dire beasts, but this is also my aim. I will kill thousands of beasts to breakthrough to the Grandmaster level. Either I become a Grandmaster or I will die. There is no other way."
He glanced at everyone and smiled. "If I am lucky, I will become a Grandmaster and carry everyone forward. If not, I will have tried my best and will die without any regrets."
All of a sudden, Yu Jin’s eyes turned red while Tong Gui’s breathing became heavy and his fists clenched tightly.
An Chouchou was stifled by panic, but he remained still.
He understood better than anyone else that only a Grandmaster could be their anchor. Without a Grandmaster, they would never be able to reach the top tier and have any chance of winning.
Without a Grandmaster, it would only be a matter of time until they were annexed.
He guessed that Madam Ye knew what they were doing and must be making preparations. Only, he could not figure out what Madam Ye would do. Did Madam Ye really think she could achieve victory with only a bunch of Masters?
Elder Yuchi was sacrificing himself to give the new residents a measure of hope for survival.
Although Elder Yuchi was inferior in ability, planning, and strategizing compared to Madam Ye, he was much more committed as the leader of the new citizens.
Master Di was filled with respect and admiration.
Yuchi Ba looked up and gazed at the Windy Resonant Pagoda, saying to himself, "Ten days from now, I will ascend the pagoda. If you have something to ask, please do it quickly."
An Chouchou came forward and sternly said, "I have something that requires Elder’s decision."
Tong Gui and Yu Jin glared at An Chouchou, thinking that this fella really knows when to pick the time to throw in the spanner.
Yuchi Ba did not mind and smiled. "Chouchou, please speak up."
An Chouchou said in low voice, "There was a battle in Clearwater City some days ago…"
After listening to An Chouchou mention the Clearwater City incident, he nodded. "I know Ai Hui. We tried to recruit him before, but were rejected. I did not expect him to progress so quickly, he is indeed very talented. By mentioning this incident, Chouchou must have a deeper intention."
An Chouchou sighed. Elder was indeed a good man, but his sensitivity and reaction to some matters were too slow.
He replied in a low voice, "Clearwater City has changed its name to Thunder City. Now there is the first ever Lightning Master. Elder, do you remember Karakorum Savant, the first ever swordmaster? Nowadays, most of the Sky Edge Division are swordsmen."
Yuchi Ba reacted. "Chouchou, are you saying that Ai Hu has the ability to form a combat division?"
All of them were stunned.
An Chouchou looked solemn. "Karakorum Savant is in the front and Ai Hui is at the back. With the Sky Edge Division in front, is there any reason why a lightning-type combat division cannot be at the back?"
Yuchi Ba was astonished. "Chouchou, what do you mean?"
"We must recruit him at any cost!" His round face took on a domineering look and he said firmly, "If he does not want to join us, we cannot let him ally with Skyheart City!"