Chapter 141 | The Otherworld Journey That Starts From a Slime

Zhang Ye then manifested a guitar, presenting it to Paige as a meeting gift.

He certainly had ulterior motives.

As a genius of the Rhyme family, Paige had very high attainments in Sound Magic. Although Zhang Ye’s singing was pleasant, those were songs written by genius musicians on Earth, and he simply had good natural conditions.

In terms of musical attainment, Paige was actually above him. Furthermore, Zhang Ye wanted to learn Sound Magic through her, which would allow him to become even stronger.

Accepting the exquisite guitar, Paige looked delighted. “Thank you, Teacher!”

Look at that, she’s even calling me Teacher.

“I’m going back to cultivate,” Nan said, standing up.

Zhang Ye nodded upon hearing this.

He knew Nan wasn't used to lively atmospheres; with an outsider present, he likely felt a bit uncomfortable, so Zhang Ye didn't force him.

“A-Nan, do you want to make dumplings tonight?” Zhang Ye asked.

Nan’s figure paused slightly. Then, without turning back, he walked toward the house, his calm voice drifting over.

“Okay.”

Zhang Ye smiled slightly and then looked at the group. “Let’s begin.”

Next, Zhang Ye began teaching everyone how to play the guitar. Because of Paige’s arrival, he explained and demonstrated everything again, which served as a review for the others.

During this time, Sabiba and the others also watched with envy and joined in. Zhang Ye gave each of them a guitar as well; after all, it was just a matter of magic.

The group lived up to their reputations as geniuses, quickly mastering the use of the guitar. Paige, in particular, was able to use the guitar proficiently in less than an hour. As long as Zhang Ye mentioned a melody, she could immediately play it.

“The accompaniment magic I used earlier is called 【Musical Banquet】. I figured it out myself; it’s actually very simple. By shaping mana of different attributes and then vibrating it, you can produce various sounds. By compressing it, you can also produce different tones.”

“What does compression mean?” everyone asked in confusion.

Zhang Ye then explained the principle and function of compression to them: simply use external pressure to compress the mana.

As for applying external pressure, it was also very simple. One just had to use several streams of mana to squeeze a single stream. Although the efficiency wasn't as high or uniform as 【Gravitational Squeeze】, it had the advantage of being simple enough for anyone to learn.

This was also something Zhang Ye had figured out.

Strictly speaking, 【Musical Banquet】 wasn't a spell but rather a technique for utilizing mana; it wasn't true 【Sound Magic】.

So, during the teaching process, Zhang Ye also asked Paige for guidance on Sound Magic.

“Sound Magic is actually about attaching mana to sound. Special ways of attaching mana and vocalizing allow the sound and mana to resonate, creating magical effects,” Paige said.

This wasn't a secret; many spells that caused damage through sound utilized this principle.

The true core of the Rhyme family lay in their innate talent for Sound Magic and their closely guarded 【Magic Scores】.

“So it’s essentially using sound as a medium to perform another kind of 【Circle Inscription】, right?” Zhang Ye said.

Paige nodded with a smile upon hearing this. “As expected of Teacher, that is indeed the case.”

Zhang Ye laughed. “Now that I understand the principle, performing it becomes simple.”

As he spoke, Zhang Ye began to vocalize: “Ah~ Ah~~ Ah~~~”

He adjusted his pitch slightly, and there were mana fluctuations in his voice.

At first, he was simply attaching mana to his voice to make it louder, but then his vocalizations began to produce different magical effects.

One moment, a heatwave brushed against their faces; the next, there were gusts of breeze, followed by a piercing chill.

Paige wore a look of surprise.

“Teacher, how did you do that?!” Paige asked.

Zhang Ye laughed. “While the sound is being produced, I use mana to draw the magic sets for various spells within the vibrating air in my throat.”

“I originally only had the mindset of giving it a try; I didn't expect it to actually produce effects through sound.”

“However, I still need to explore further. If I can sing a song this way, the song itself will turn into magic!” Zhang Ye said with some excitement.

Through Paige, he had reached the threshold of Sound Magic!

The others were also incredibly surprised.

The principle of Sound Magic was easy to understand, but very few people could actually achieve it. Otherwise, the Rhyme family wouldn't be so famous.

To use Sound Magic, one needed to inscribe magic circles within the sound.

How to inscribe magic circles on ethereal sound required extraordinary skill. It was like treating the throat as a mana thread and using the throat in coordination with mana to draw a circle. The method of drawing the circle was to produce sound while simultaneously combining it with lyrics. This was equivalent to one throat needing to produce multiple sounds at the same time!

Could an ordinary person do this?

Of course not. After all, humans only have one vocal organ; producing multiple sounds simultaneously is almost impossible.

Therefore, the sounds produced were one human voice and one magic sound.

What was a Magic Sound?

This goes back to how humans produce sound.

The human vocal organ is called the vocal cords. After inhaling, the airflow strikes the vocal cords to produce vibrations, and these vibrations cause the air in the vocal cavity to vibrate as well, thus producing sound.

The sound produced this way is the human voice.

By attaching mana to the vocal cords and filling the vocal cavity with mana, one can use mana control to make the mana attached to the vocal cords vibrate. Then, by making this mana vibration resonate with the mana inside the vocal cavity, the resulting sound is a Magic Sound!

The process of 【Magic Sound Circle Inscription】 is completed within the vocal cavity.

When the completed Magic Sound from the circle inscription combines with the human voice, it becomes true 【Sound Magic】!

Therefore, to learn Sound Magic, mana control is essential.

Coincidentally, Zhang Ye’s mana control was already extremely proficient. Thus, after understanding the principle, he quickly found the knack for it.

Next was to try combining various spells with the human voice through 【Magic Sound Circle Inscription】 to form Sound Magic.

This required an even deeper understanding of magic because some spells could not be formed into Sound Magic; Zhang Ye would have to explore this himself.

Just like 【Magic Innovation】, Zhang Ye believed this could also be considered a form of 【Magic Innovation】.

Next, Zhang Ye discussed Sound Magic with Paige while teaching everyone how to use various instruments. After performing a few more songs, today’s “music class” came to an end.

Having studied for so long, everyone had benefited greatly. Furthermore, Zhang Ye had explained many principles of magic that they had never heard of before. Although this couldn't directly increase their strength, it deepened their understanding of magic, making them feel heartfelt admiration.

The happiest among them was Paige.

This was because Zhang Ye had taught her 《Butterfly Spring》, 《Keep Walking in the Rain》, and several other songs. This deepened her musical attainment. Moreover, with a magical instrument like the guitar, she could sense that if she released Sound Magic through the guitar, the effects would be extraordinary!

She was already impatient to research how to release Sound Magic using the guitar and how to turn those songs into Sound Magic as well.

“It’s getting late,” Zhang Ye said to Paige with a smile. “It looks like Lina is quite reluctant to see you go. Why don't you stay for dinner before you leave? We happen to be making dumplings tonight.”

“Mhm! Sister Paige, let me tell you, the dumplings Brother Ye makes are delicious!” Lina immediately nodded, looking at Paige with an expectant face.

Paige gently ruffled Lina’s hair and smiled. “Then I’ll be imposing on you.”

“It’s no trouble. You’ll be wrapping your own to eat anyway,” Zhang Ye chuckled.

He called Nan over to help wrap dumplings, and Paige joined in as well.

She found this novel wheaten food very intriguing and tried her hand at it a few times.

But honestly, while Paige had high musical talent, her cooking skills were... atrocious.

The dumplings she wrapped were bizarre. Samanra at least managed to make them look like flowers, but Paige’s looked like man-eating flowers!

It was hard to imagine how such a gentle girl could wrap such rugged-looking dumplings.

The group watched and laughed.

Paige’s face turned red, but she still enjoyed herself.

Especially the moment the dumplings were finished and she put one in her mouth—it was as if Paige had opened the door to a new world.

She ate over forty dumplings by herself, which left Zhang Ye dumbfounded.

“Learning Sound Magic... is very physically demanding...” Seeing Zhang Ye’s startled expression, Paige blushed and spoke softly while fiddling with her fingers.