The Harmony Sanctum was everything the City Lord had promised and more.
As I followed him through the ornate doorway, I couldn't help but appreciate the craftsmanship that had gone into this place.
The chamber was circular, roughly thirty meters across, with walls that seemed to be carved from a single piece of resonant crystal that hummed softly in response to our footsteps.
Training equipment lined the perimeter: reinforced practice dummies that looked like they could withstand serious punishment, wooden posts of varying heights for agility work, and what appeared to be some kind of formation array etched into the floor that probably amplified sound-based techniques.
But what really caught my attention were the plants.
Dozens of species I'd never seen before grew in carefully tended beds throughout the space.
Some had leaves that literally vibrated in harmony with ambient sounds, while others seemed to glow with a soft inner light that pulsed in rhythm with some unheard melody. A few specimens near the center of the room actually appeared to be singing, their flower petals opening and closing in patterns that produced hauntingly beautiful tones.
"This should serve your needs perfectly, divine one," the City Lord said, bowing deeply before backing toward the exit. "The formation arrays will ensure complete privacy, and the acoustic properties have been optimized for advanced harmonic cultivation."
I nodded my appreciation, and he practically fled from the room, clearly still terrified of accidentally offending me. The heavy doors sealed shut behind him with a sound like a perfectly tuned bell, and suddenly the chamber felt completely isolated from the outside world.
Perfect.
As much as I'd enjoyed talking to the locals and experiencing the different cultures in the worlds I'd visited, this was a competition.
The duel with Guo Xinyi was looming over me like a storm cloud, and my entire focus had to be on getting prepared. I couldn't afford to be distracted by the fascinating social dynamics of this realm or the intricacies of their musical cultivation system.
Well, not unless understanding those intricacies would help me win.
The owner of this vessel had grown quiet since we'd entered the sanctum, his consciousness retreating into the background of our shared headspace.
It made sense, really.
Mo Yuhang had been raised in a society where cultivators from the outside worlds were objects of worship and reverence. Being in the presence of what he thought was a god would naturally make anyone want to stay quiet and respectful.
Which was actually perfect for what I needed to do right now.
I settled onto one of the meditation cushions and let my mind work through what I knew about this world's cultivation system. Between Mo Yuhang's memories and the earlier explanations he had given me as we made our way here, I was starting to get a clear picture of how things worked here.
The Ten Scales corresponded roughly to the cultivation realms I was familiar with.
First Scale was equivalent to early Qi Condensation, Second Scale to mid Qi Condensation, Third Scale to late Qi Condensation.
Fourth Scale matched early Elemental Realm, Fifth Scale was mid Elemental, Sixth Scale was late Elemental.
Seventh Scale corresponded to early Stellar Realm, Eighth to mid Stellar, Ninth to late Stellar.
The legendary Tenth Scale sounded suspiciously similar to the Life Realm, though no one in recent history had achieved it.
As for the mysterious Grand Composer, it was said that his cultivation surpassed any scale possible in this realm. Which made complete sense as the Grand Composer was a cultivator from the Cultivation World – a genuine Civilisation Realm monster.
Understanding the background information about the cultivation stages helped put my current situation into perspective.
In terms of raw vessel strength, it was like I was inhabiting someone at Qi Condensation Stage 4 while Guo Xinyi had possession of someone at Qi Condensation Stage 9. That was a significant gap under normal circumstances where the world itself wasn't against me.
I couldn't help but smile at the irony of it all.
In the cultivation world, my Pseudo-Elemental Realm cultivation was actually two minor realms higher than Guo Xinyi's eighth stage Qi Condensation.
The gap was insurmountable, in a normal arena, I'd crush her without breaking a sweat.
But here, those advantages were meaningless.
We were both limited by our vessels' capabilities.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
And it was a bold move for Guo Xinyi to choose such a powerful vessel.
Liu Wenqing's peak Third Scale cultivation was genuinely impressive for a sixteen-year-old, but possessing someone stronger than yourself carried serious risks.
If Guo Xinyi lost control mid-battle, Liu Wenqing could potentially consume her spiritual manifestation. On the other hand, if the possession remained stable, she'd have overwhelming advantages in terms of raw power and technique mastery.
I closed my eyes and felt for the spiritual connection: that thin thread linking me to my main body outside this realm. It was like a lifeline, constantly supplying just enough qi to sustain my manifestation here. The sensation was strange, like being fed through a straw while trying to fight a full meal.
While other cultivators could only channel qi through their spiritual manifestations, I had access to multiple energy sources.
My red and blue sun energies should theoretically work here too, though I'd need to test that. Unfortunately, without access to my inner world, I couldn't use any of my runes. Those were all anchored to my physical location back in the tournament arena.
I decided to test what other limitations this world placed on outsiders like me.
Standing up, I focused qi into my hands and reached out to the vines growing along the nearest wall.
The plants were definitely receptive to qi; I could feel them responding to my spiritual energy like flowers turning toward the sun.
But when I tried to give them specific commands through my will, they struggled to comply. The vines twitched and swayed, clearly trying to follow my intent, but the movements were clumsy and incomplete.
"That makes sense," I muttered, remembering Elder Wan's warning about following the laws of each realm rather than trying to impose our own will.
It seemed like there was a relationship between the state of a world and how it responded to higher quality energy such as qi.
The Starhaven Realm, for example, had been a dying realm. Everything there: plants, animals, even the soil, had responded to qi with desperate hunger.
But the plants and environment in the Realm of Living Lyrics responded to qi in a completely different way.
It was more like how the inhabitants looked at Guo Xinyi and me, as though the qi was a king, and the world was its loyal subject. The problem was that the subject wasn't used to taking direct orders from the king, so it ended up struggling to follow commands properly.
"Master," Azure said quietly in my mind, "it looks like you'll need to adapt to the local energy system if you want optimal control."
"Yeah, I'm coming to the same conclusion," I replied internally. "If I want to have a real chance at winning, I need to get comfortable manipulating harmonic essence. And preferably help Mo Yuhang break through to a higher Scale."
I turned my attention to Mo Yuhang's consciousness, which was still hovering respectfully at the edge of our shared awareness.
"Mo Yuhang," I said, speaking both aloud and directly to his mind. "Tell me about the techniques you can perform at your current level."
He seemed almost startled by the direct address, but quickly responded with obvious eagerness to be helpful.
"Divine one, at the First Scale, I've refined my Lung Resonators enough to breathe and control ambient sound qi. I can release vocal shockwaves and project my voice over several li. I've also been working on shaping my Inner Voice, though that's still... imperfect."
His mental voice carried a note of embarrassment on that last part.
"At the Second Scale, my voice can strengthen my body through song. I can empower flesh, reflexes, and healing. I've learned offensive harmonics that can fracture stone or paralyze limbs, and I've been forming Song Threads, which are extensions of intent through tone."
I nodded, mentally comparing these abilities to early and mid Qi Condensation techniques. They seemed roughly equivalent in power, just using a completely different energy source and application method.
"Let me try something," I said, turning to face one of the practice dummies.
As I skimmed through Mo Yuhang's memories of First Scale techniques, I drew on the harmonic essence that permeated the chamber, feeling its musical quality resonate with Mo Yuhang's refined Lung Resonators.
The sensation was strange; like trying to sing with someone else's vocal cords while following sheet music written in a language I didn't quite understand.
But the theory was simple enough.
Channel the harmonic essence, focus it into a concentrated burst, and release it through a controlled vocalization.
I opened my mouth and roared.
The sound that emerged was nothing like my normal voice. It carried the full weight of accumulated harmonic essence, creating a visible shockwave that slammed into the practice dummy with tremendous force.
The dummy actually deformed under the impact, leaving a clear impression where the sonic attack had struck.
I felt Mo Yuhang's consciousness practically vibrate with excitement and awe. "Incredible! Divine one, most cultivators require months of practice to achieve such precision on their first attempt!"
His enthusiasm was infectious, and I found myself smiling. There was something genuinely enjoyable about having someone cheer you on, even if they thought you were a divine being rather than just a lucky outsider.
Encouraged by the success, I decided to try the same technique again, but this time using pure qi instead of harmonic essence.
The result was both more powerful and significantly less controlled.
The qi-enhanced roar created a much larger shockwave that not only destroyed the practice dummy but also sent several nearby planters sliding across the floor.
The raw power was impressive, but the lack of precision would make it useless in any situation where accuracy mattered.
"I see," I murmured, processing the implications. "Harmonic essence for precision strikes, qi for area-of-effect devastation."
Feeling confident after that success, I decided to attempt a more advanced technique.
"What's a basic Second Scale technique I could try?" I asked.
"Perhaps the Body Strengthening Chorus?" Mo Yuhang suggested. "It requires singing a specific harmonic pattern while channeling essence through the meridians to temporarily enhance physical capabilities."
He provided the mental image of the technique: a flowing melody that seemed to resonate with the natural rhythms of the human body. The lyrics came with it, translated into concepts I could understand:
"Let strength flow like mountain streams, Through channels deep and meridians wide, Let bone become as iron beams, And flesh like stone that will not slide. By harmony's eternal song, Make weak become forever strong."
I took a deep breath, focused on the harmonic essence around me, and began to sing.
What came out of my mouth was... well, imagine someone trying to perform opera while gargling gravel and you'd be close.
"Let streng-th flow like... mountain... STREAMS!" I croaked, my voice cracking on the high note.
The harmonic essence responded to my intent, trying desperately to follow the technique, but my butchered pronunciation and complete lack of rhythm made it impossible.
"Through channels... uh... deep and... WIDE!"
The harmonic essence gave up entirely by the second line, creating a discordant feedback that sent visible ripples through the air and made several of the resonant flowers close their petals in what looked suspiciously like distress.
Even worse was the fact that Mo Yuhang's encouraging presence had gone completely and utterly silent.