After Ki had finished her practice, footsteps were heard as they grew closer to her location.
She looked up to see a young man who looked very delicate and beautiful in appearance but she acted as if he was just like any other person. "You must be her son."
She had already met him during the time when the mother and son had been saved from being killed and drained by the members of the Blood Sect but she chose to keep that from him as she acted not as the saviour of them but as the heir of the Bombyx family.
The young man slowly walked towards her and stopped a little away so that there was still an appropriate space between them.
He said in a tone which showed that he was still uncomfortable with the changes but did not wish to be rude. "So you know about me. You do not need to pay too much attention to me since I am no longer a young master of a great family."
Ki calmly answered back. "I never planned to, just make yourself comfortable here. Where is your mother? She has not shown up for todays lesson?"
The young man answered in a more relaxed tone. "My mother had some enlightenment thanks to the time she has spent here and from teaching you. I believe that it is time for her to breakthrough to the next realm… it is a shame that this has happened so late. If only she was stronger back then.. they would not have acted so recklessly."
Ki nodded. "All families have their own problems but bigger families that have greater power or riches tend to let greed and other things split the family unity even more so it is to be expected. Even if she did achieve a large amount of power, they would have just tried to think of another way to seize power."
The young man went silent and then sighed. "You may be right. My mother asked me to assist you with your music lessons. I know of your situation and what you are facing so I may be able to help."
His mother had been stuck in the Unrestrained Realm peak for a very long time, part of the reason was due to her worries over the family matters and her son.
Another reason was that she had been brought up around the finest musical tools and never had to experience or use anything of a lesser quality that had not been refined through thousands of years of development.
All of her musical instruments were high quality and even the antiques were of the best that could be made within her clan or were by the finest artisans, she had never touched an instrument that came from a lesser background or one that was from another area entirely.
The northern instruments were made from old and more simple techniques while they had been prepared with certain woods, animal tendons and even hair so they produced a completely different sound compared to those she usually played.
As she was able to learn more through teaching Ki, she had gained a lot of enlightenment as her own worldview towards music was no longer so restricted by her families teachings that had been passed down over many long years.
Usually when a skill is picked up and learned by humans, they often tend to pursue that skill to what is believed to be perfection but once that has been achieved, the essence of that skill or some important parts will be forgotten, discarded and lost through the refinement process.
The former Sound Clan leader had fallen into the same problem as many others had been in because they were limited by that exact issue that had been created by making their path in music narrower without leaving room open for other areas to be explored.
She was the first one to achieve enlightenment because she had left the clan behind but not everyone could do the same as she could if they did the same thing.
She was more open minded and willing to apply her own experiences to the old ways to help Ki to play the bowed lyre which had helped her learn more about the origins of music that had been long forgotten.
Due to her genius and not being closed minded or arrogant with her own achievements, she was able to achieve enlightenment after several lessons with Ki.
Ki sat with her bowed lyre and asked. "What are your thoughts on my music?"
The young man thought seriously and then stated. "You have good technical skill and can play the notes well so it shows that you have excellent control over your body and your instrument but your understanding of music and sound is still lacking."
Ki nodded. "Mm. Then what is it that your mother has told you and how can you help?"
The young man patted his clothes a little as he sat down. "I know enough. I know that you may have problems when you wish to breakthrough to the next realm. She mentioned about the heart demon and how she has been teaching you more about sound arts or at least the basics that could help you."
He then continued. "A heart demon is believed to be a demon that exists within all people but they each come in different shapes, sizes and strengths depending on the person and what they have done or lived through. A heart demon is a part of all living humans but we never truly get to meet it unless we are facing a major barrier in our qi arts. You will find that the heart demon will know more about you than even you may know, almost like…"
Ki interrupted as she finished his sentence. "Like it is myself or a version of myself that knows every deepest desire or negative thing that I may not be willing to acknowledge."
The young man nodded. "You are correct. The heart demon is usually weak but all that negativity grows which helps them to gain more influence over you at a critical time. Most of the things they say may not hold much influence over you and they will be defeated by those with a stronger will but.."
He then continued after a little break. "If the person who is facing it has a weaker will or the heart demon has had opportunities to grow much stronger then even their smallest words can hold power over you. They can dig deeper into your most vulnerable places and break you down piece by piece until there is no light or hope within you to be able to move or resist within your inner realm. The reason why mother had you practice music is like this…"
He then coughed. "Think of the heart demon, music and other human ways of expressing emotions and their experiences as one thing but the heart demon only looks at the negatives. You need to learn more about yourself and gain some form of hope or inner peace but you also need to understand more about these practices. Different musical pieces have been written by masters as they express their own emotions and experiences which is an expression of their soul. It will touch the hearts of those who have had similar emotions and help them to remember their own experiences depending on how their own soul has been able to be interpret the music."
He looked as if he was trying to explain carefully in a detailed and precise manner but he kept getting overly excited as he explained more. "The human soul, spirituality or the sound arts are just an extension of humans, their experiences, emotions, desires and so on. Just like a musical piece can be made by one human, it may later change in sound or the style it is played due to the new changes they have gone through so even the same person will not remain the same throughout their whole life. If another person picked up the piece and played it then even of they played it perfectly, they may not be able to replicate the exact same feeling due to them not fully understanding the creators intent behind their work. Those listening will have their own interpretations on what they have heard so even if you use one single song on many people, they will not all experience the exact same emotions or recall certain memories unless the song is very clear in its intent."
He sighed as he explained. "Even the musician can get swayed by the original notes and be pulled into their own music which will cause the rhythm and sound to be affected which would make it completely different from the original. This is why we train our musical talents but also our minds so that we can focus on our task and are able to channel the correct emotions into our music to give them a clear direction and purpose. Think of this all as a way to achieve a purpose without being swayed or distracted, the heart demon will be the same. Do not let the heart demon have the advantage over you or let it stop you from reaching your intended purpose."
Ki went deep into thought as she understood most of what had been taught by her music teacher but also her son. 'Hm.. he is indeed very diligent in his studies but it is expected from the genius son of a to be Mystic Realm powerhouse.'
They both sat opposite each other and Ki kept playing but there were occasionally some judgements from the young man.
"You failed again. It is like a pulling feeling on your soul, try to not be pulled in too deeply that it will distract you from your goal."
"You are too immersed. Not good, try again."
"Better but still lacking."
"Let me show you how I do it."
"Now you try."
"Good! Better!"
"Very admiral, you are a quicker learner than I had thought but you still have a long way to go."
Although Ki's talents were high, they still could not compare to the ex young master of the Sound Clan when it came to the understanding of sound arts, the soul and music.
Thanks to his enthusiastic teaching, Ki was slowly able to gain progress over what she was learning but it would be a long time until she could understand more about herself, the soul, music and her own emotions and desires to let herself not be conquered by them.
When it came to qi arts and the quality or quantity of qi, the former young master of the Sound Clan was still too far behind her and others that followed her even if he was a genius of a larger and older clan.
Their relationship did not seem to be that close but it was not too distant either as they spent many days together in the future.