NOVEL WEB Chapter 121 - The Competition 24
Mai Dongzi’s powerful mental energy allowed her to play soothing music while sensing the fluctuations in Lin Qingzhou’s aura, enabling her to adjust the depth of the sound therapy to guide his emotions effectively.
At first, Lin Qingzhou’s aura fluctuated wildly, clearly indicating deep inner conflict and a loss of control over his mental state. He harbored heavy emotional burdens that were close to becoming demons in his heart.
She infused more mental energy into her music to stabilize his erratic mental state.
Once his mental energy gradually stabilized, Mai Dongzi slowly reduced her infusion of mental power and began to guide his tangled emotions.
By the end of the sound therapy, Lin Qingzhou’s aura had completely stabilized. Typically, at this point, a sound therapist would stop and allow the patient to adjust themselves.
Sound therapy consumed a significant amount of mental energy; even a fifth-level sound therapist would exhaust over half their mental power after treating a fifth-level practitioner for just ten minutes.
However, Mai Dongzi sensed that after guiding Lin Qingzhou’s emotional turmoil, the suppressed cultivation within him showed signs of potential advancement.
Lin Qingzhou’s mental demons had only been guided, not resolved. He would need another session of sound therapy tomorrow for any chance of true resolution. Advancing immediately could easily trigger turmoil in his mental state due to his emotional burdens.
Mai Dongzi thought for a moment and decided to continue playing the soothing music to guide Lin Qingzhou’s mental energy.
As expected, during his advancement, his mental energy began to fluctuate again, and his aura became unstable, making it easy for him to fall into turmoil.
Fortunately, Mai Dongzi kept playing the calming sound therapy music and, noticing his distress, immediately deepened the therapy.
Thanks to the previous session’s guidance, Lin Qingzhou quickly calmed down this time, and his aura surged as his cultivation level rose from mid-fifth to late-fifth stage.
Noticing his advancement, Mai Dongzi stopped playing.
After leveling up, his mental energy and aura stabilized, and he no longer needed her assistance.
Once she stopped, she realized that due to the sound amplification equipment in the arena, the entire audience could hear her guiding music.
She must have played for at least half an hour, yet very few people in the audience had left; they sat quietly, listening.
Many students even activated the do-not-disturb mode on their devices and, like Lin Qingzhou, began meditating on their inner techniques.
The match had ended when Lin Qingzhou conceded, but he sat down to meditate, and Mai Dongzi continued playing the soothing music.
The judges and staff dared not interrupt them. Seeing Mai Dongzi had stopped and Lin Qingzhou had successfully advanced, they signaled for her to leave the stage.
Typically, a practitioner needs one to two hours to stabilize their cultivation after a breakthrough, and it wouldn’t be appropriate for Mai Dongzi to remain there the whole time.
Standing about five meters away from Lin Qingzhou, and outside the three-meter safety zone, she quietly left without disturbing him.
As soon as Mai Dongzi entered the contestants’ lounge, she saw Instructor Yan from the combat department.
He excitedly said to Mai Dongzi, “Thank you, Classmate Xi! Qingzhou has been troubled by his emotional burdens for a long time, and his cultivation has stagnated. We’ve sought help from sound therapists before, but his resistance was minimal. Perhaps it’s because you’re classmates; he doesn’t seem to reject you.”
Instructor Yan seemed genuinely troubled by Lin Qingzhou’s cultivation issues, which made him eager to express his concerns upon seeing Mai Dongzi.
“Let’s have Classmate Xi sit down first. The sound therapy has taken a toll on her,” Instructor Lan interjected.
While Mai Dongzi’s mental abilities were indeed demanding, her energy expenditure was less than one-third, given that the actual match hadn’t lasted long due to Lin Qingzhou’s concession.
But if Instructor Lan said she was tired, then she accepted it; she wouldn’t argue against him.
“Classmate Xi has only studied music for a few months, yet her sound therapy skills are so advanced. I thought only students in their third or fourth year could treat others independently. Classmate Xi truly deserves the title of genius,” Instructor Yan remarked.
“Generally, students can obtain a fifth-level sound therapist certification by their third year, but Classmate Xi got hers in just four months,” Instructor Lan said proudly.
This year’s interclass competition champion is from their arts department.
Mai Dongzi understood that Instructor Lan was subtly conveying to Instructor Yan that she was a certified fifth-level sound therapist, not someone who carelessly treated others without responsibility.
She sensed that Instructor Yan breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that she had obtained her fifth-level certification, which led her to speculate about Lin Qingzhou’s background.
Lin Qingzhou’s emotional burdens were likely the result of severe trauma, stemming from life-threatening experiences like assassination and betrayal.
Combined with his cold demeanor, it was clear that this child had faced challenges beyond what ordinary people encounter, which explained why his emotional struggles were close to becoming demons in his heart.
Instructor Yan mentioned that Lin Qingzhou didn’t reject Mai Dongzi because they were both first-year students at the Imperial Capital University. However, she felt that it was more due to their shared status as trainees in the special talent program, which gave Lin Qingzhou a certain level of recognition for her.
When they first met in the special talent program, Lin Qingzhou had not spoken to her, but he hadn’t shown her that icy demeanor either.
Although she knew Lin Qingzhou wouldn’t finish his cultivation quickly, Mai Dongzi had no intention of leaving.
Given his current state, he was still reliant on the guidance she provided, so as a sound therapist, it was impossible for her to leave now. If something were to happen to him in this state, it would be a significant problem.
Lin Qingzhou’s time to consolidate his cultivation wasn’t long; about half an hour later, he opened his eyes.
When Lin Qingzhou walked into the contestants’ lounge, Mai Dongzi sensed that his coldness and distance had lessened. Although his tone of thanks was brief, the way he looked at her had changed; there was a new spark in his eyes that indicated he saw her as a companion.
More importantly, there was the one million credit coins he had transferred for the sound therapy fee. Her guess had been right; he was definitely from a wealthy family.
After Mai Dongzi and Instructor Lan left the lounge, they noticed that many people in the audience had not yet left.
As soon as some students spotted Mai Dongzi, they rushed over to stop her. “Classmate Xi, my friend advanced after hearing your music! Could you help us check if his cultivation is stable?”