The melody drifted between sorrow and delight, shifting without warning. At times it flowed with quiet restraint; at others, it surged with passion and inspiration.

Everyone's emotions rose and fell alongside the music. Even the spirit immortals found themselves immersed within its influence, their states of mind subtly changing with every transition of the melody.

The world before Liu Wuxie slowly blurred. It felt as though countless unseen tendrils stretched through the air, brushing gently across the space around him. In the haze, he seemed to see his mother beckoning to him while his father watched with a warm and benevolent smile.

Suddenly, the Heavenly Dao Book trembled. Every illusion before him shattered and vanished in an instant, restoring clarity to his surroundings. Yet this had only been the opening movement of the composition. The fact that it could weave such a terrifying illusion from merely its first section made Wuxie frown.

The old man and the young man continued playing their zithers, their fingers moving half a beat quicker than before.

Then the melody transformed. Boundless killing intent burst forth from every direction. The cultivators ensnared within the musical illusion began flailing their arms wildly, releasing dazzling bursts of light in all directions. In their eyes, ferocious monsters emerged one after another, lunging toward them with the intent to tear them apart and devour them whole.

The thunderous pounding of iron hooves rang through Liu Wuxie's ears. At that moment, he found himself standing in the heart of a battlefield as countless warhorses charged toward him, threatening to trample him beneath their hooves. He knew evasion would accomplish nothing. He had to meet the attack head-on.

The Nameless of the Lament flowed with a gentle yet unwavering cadence, every note striking directly at the soul.

The expressions of many profound immortals shifted dramatically. They immediately circulated their divine sense to withstand the impact rushing toward them.

A sharp metallic shriek erupted through the arena as Liu Wuxie slammed the Bloodthirst Blade against the iron cage once more. The sound carried no discernible rhythm whatsoever. Strictly speaking, it was nothing more than noise. Yet that very noise shattered the assault hidden within the second section of the melody.

A battle of music did not necessarily require both participants to perform with instruments. One could just as easily disrupt an opponent's rhythm and influence their state of mind. After all, every musical composition possessed flaws just as martial techniques did.

Liu Wuxie had precisely identified the weaknesses within the Lament of the Nameless and used pure noise to throw its rhythm into disarray.

A stream of blood trickled from the younger man's lips. Liu Wuxie's counterattack carried soul energy, and the resulting backlash injured him directly.

The melody shifted again, climbing higher and becoming increasingly resonant. As the music echoed through the arena, many people found themselves unconsciously moving and dancing in time with it.

Chilling rays gradually materialized in the air, taking the form of countless fine needles that hovered before Liu Wuxie. The moment they shot forward, they spread across the air and completely enveloped him.

Each needle represented a transformation of the melody and possessed enough power to pierce directly through a person's primordial spirit. Liu Wuxie slowly closed his eyes and ignored everything around him. The music made him feel as though he had stepped into an entirely different world.

As the melody reached its climax, Liu Wuxie raised the Bloodthirst Blade and brought it crashing down. The sound produced this time far surpassed the previous strike. The countless needles poised to descend exploded simultaneously, collapsing into masses of soul energy that dissipated throughout heaven and earth.

No clash of weapons occurred, nor did any martial techniques collide. Yet everyone could tell that this musical contest was far deadlier than an ordinary martial arts battle. One misstep could cost a person their life before they even realized what had happened.

Besides the trio within the cage, many spectators also possessed some understanding of music. Though their attainments could not compare to those of the three of them, no one dared underestimate them.

"Could it really be a coincidence that this brat managed to find the flaws in the music twice, or is his mastery in music truly superior?" a spirit immortal asked in surprise.

Twice now, Liu Wuxie had struck the iron cage and neutralized deadly attacks. No one could determine whether luck had guided him or whether he had accomplished it entirely through skill.

Even Ye Linghan felt bewildered. She had always known Liu Wuxie excelled in spiritual arrays, but she had never imagined his attainments in the art of music were also at such a high level.

At this point, everyone understood this was no longer a coincidence. Liu Wuxie had discovered flaws in the music twice in succession, which meant his mastery of music had undoubtedly reached the level of a true expert.

The two fighters had already entered the third section of the composition. Throughout the years, very few challengers had survived long enough to reach this stage, and every previous opponent had perished here.

Liu Wuxie kept his eyes closed as he quietly sensed everything around him. The music surged and receded in powerful waves—sometimes fervent, sometimes turbulent, at times sweeping like a raging tempest, and at others crashing down like a torrential storm.

Every inch of ground within the cage had shattered into fragments that floated suspended in mid-air.

Holding the Bloodthirst Blade in one hand, Liu Wuxie refrained from striking the cage this time. Instead, he lightly tapped the blade against the ground. The rhythm began slowly and without any obvious pattern, resembling the distant toll of a wooden bell.

As time passed, the tapping accelerated steadily. The ground did not fracture any further. Instead, crisp sounds rang out continuously. The rhythm alternated between fast and slow, between clarity and dullness, weaving an unpredictable cadence.

The floating stone fragments began exploding one after another. Only now had the true confrontation between Liu Wuxie and the two fighters truly begun.

A violent storm erupted within the void as both sides launched their assaults. One moment, the storm surged toward Liu Wuxie; the next, it swept toward the two fighters. The battle settled into a tense stalemate while Liu Wuxie gradually increased the tempo of his tapping.

The two fighters pressed both hands against their instruments. Suddenly, the younger man rose to his feet. Hooking two strings with his right hand, he plucked them sharply.

Two piercing notes burst forth like galloping warhorses. They transformed into a pair of gray dragons that twisted through the raging storm. Coiling high above the battlefield, the dragons opened their jaws and released thunderous roars before plunging toward Liu Wuxie.

The spectators watched in utter fascination. Never before had they witnessed such a captivating battle. The lower-level cultivators, in particular, looked toward Liu Wuxie with gratitude because he had freed them from the illusions that had trapped them.

As support for Liu Wuxie continued to grow, Yin-Yang Elders' expressions darkened. They knew that even if the underground fight club emerged victorious, the victory would bring no honor and would instead severely damage its reputation.

The two dragons descended from above and circled over Liu Wuxie's head, waiting for the perfect opportunity to swallow him whole.

Without interrupting his steady tapping of the Bloodthirst Blade against the ground, Liu Wuxie picked up a stone with his left hand and struck the iron cage beside him. Two completely different rhythms echoed simultaneously, instantly throwing the listeners into confusion.

The old man's eyes narrowed at once. He realized that Liu Wuxie had divided his attention and was controlling separate rhythms simultaneously.

Ordinary people might never understand what Liu Wuxie was doing, but for fighters of their caliber, his actions completely overturned everything they thought they knew.

Two divine bows materialized high in the air, each already fitted with a bone arrow. The arrows pointed directly at the two dragons. As the rhythm continued to shift, the divine bows adjusted their forms accordingly. Gradually, the bowstrings drew back into crescent shapes.

The moment the bone arrows flew forth, they pierced directly through the dragons' heads. The surrounding air trembled violently as soul energies collided. Before long, the two dragons shattered apart because the two fighters could not match Liu Wuxie in terms of soul energy.

Although Liu Wuxie's soul energy had not yet reached the third-level True Immortal Realm, the Heavenly Dao Book compensated for that shortcoming.

Another pair of bone arrows appeared upon the bows, this time targeting the two fighters.

The atmosphere instantly grew tense. The Yin-Yang Elders exchanged a glance as thoughts of personally killing Liu Wuxie surfaced in their minds.

Ye Linghan had already gathered her strength in secret. If the Yin-Yang Elders made a move against Liu Wuxie, she would step in without the slightest hesitation.

The bowstrings stretched to their limits. Everyone had already witnessed the terrifying power of those divine bows. If the arrows struck the two fighters, severe injuries would be unavoidable.

At that very moment, the old man rose to his feet and bit down on the little finger of his left hand. With a brutal snap, he severed it. Blood splashed across the zither, and after the instrument absorbed the blood, a strange radiance emerged from its surface.

The horrifying sight left everyone stunned. No one could understand what the old man intended to accomplish.

"Drawing upon blood as the medium, life as the instrument, soul as the song, and body as the cadence," Liu Wuxie said, each word carrying an ancient aura.

"You understand the zither well, but it's a pity that we can't coexist," the old man smiled after hearing what Liu Wuxie said, and spat the severed finger out of his mouth.

Despite losing a finger, the old man's performance did not suffer in the slightest. On the contrary, the urgency of his music intensified even further.

Blood soaked the zither strings in large quantities. As it seeped into the instrument, an increasingly peculiar radiance emerged.

The old man had wagered everything on this battle. He used his life as the zither, his soul as the melody, and his body as the rhythm itself. Only a true madman would choose such a path.

The younger man rested both hands upon his zither and lightly plucked the strings, guiding the composition into its fourth section. The old man concentrated entirely on offense while the younger man devoted himself to defense, creating flawless coordination between them.

As the old man plucked the strings, heaven and earth shook violently. Dense cracks rapidly spread across the surface of the iron cage.

The music resonated with overwhelming force as it transformed in mid-air. It first took the shape of a longsword, yet by the time it reached Liu Wuxie, it had condensed into a silver needle. The needle possessed terrifying penetrative power and effortlessly pierced through his defensive energy.

As the silver needle approached, it stopped only a hair's breadth from Liu Wuxie's pupils. Though it appeared tangible, its existence remained entirely illusory.

Attempting to block it with a weapon would only hasten death. Despite appearing solid, the silver needle could pass through any weapon and strike its target directly.

Ye Linghan felt her heart leap into her throat. The moment the old man bit off his little finger, countless people had already been frightened.

"The highest form of music is simple yet profound. It nurtures virtue, leads the heart toward goodness, and embodies the voice of the wise," Liu Wuxie sighed with a hint of pity on his face.

The two fighters possessed extraordinary musical talent, yet they remained shackled by their own preconceptions. They devoted their music entirely to slaughter and overlooked its most fundamental nature. While music could indeed kill, it could also guide goodness from within others.

From the very beginning, Liu Wuxie had displayed no profound techniques. He had merely dismantled their attacks one after another. But since the two fighters insisted on seeking death, he would gladly fulfill their wish.

The two fighters had already tied their lives to their music and remained utterly determined to kill Liu Wuxie.

Liu Wuxie continued tapping the Bloodthirst Blade against the ground in a steady rhythm while striking the iron cage with the stone in his other hand. The cadence he created gradually influenced the surrounding crowd, causing many to sway and dance joyfully to the beat.

The silver needle remained frozen before Liu Wuxie, utterly incapable of advancing. An invisible magnetic field had formed around him, preventing anything from approaching him. Such was the wondrous nature of music, capable of endless transformation. Meanwhile, the two divine bows still hovered in the sky, their arrows trained unwaveringly upon the two fighters.

The younger man plucked the strings of his zither ten consecutive times, summoning two even more terrifying dragons into the air.

"Time to end this farce," Liu Wuxie murmured. He no longer had any interest in continuing this game. Once this battle concluded, the life gate challenge would end with his victory.