Chapter 50: Our Theme Song A Must-Read Side Story

At No. 60 High School, music classes were as rare as Old Antique's theory of history classes.

Teacher Ding who taught music was called Ding Yu. He could be considered a veteran in the music industry who had nurtured the talents of quite a number of students and written plenty of songs, big and small.

However, apart from his famous masterpiece Ballad of the Bastard Immortal , it seemed he no longer had any other wonderful works to offer.

Teacher Ding worked part-time at many schools and used the pitiful number of classes allotted to him to unearth kids with musical talent and potential.

He was very bitter, but unable to voice it aloud.

A while back, a variety show had invited him on as an honored guest. Then a bunch of people had surrounded him and began to take turns teasing him...

Some people said that Teacher Ding had once been at the forefront of pop music and used to know which way the wind blew in the industry. Now, after all these years, he was still part of the ranks, but lingered at the tail end. Also, he was unwilling to be left behind... because they had to carry him, the pop music scene in Huaxiu nation couldn't run forward even if it wanted to...

It was supposed to just be a little satirical. Teacher Ding knew that these words were only a joke because musicians were supposed to be entertainers, but after hearing this, he still felt sad in his heart.

It had to be mentioned that this "vicious" joke was what made him re-examine his own musical path.

Have I really... gotten old?

Teacher Ding had refused to accept that he was getting old and felt that he still had the same young mindset as children nowadays. However, whenever he met Headmaster Chen at the school, the latter would respectfully call him Old Ding... this truly suffocated his heart.

Most of the time, music composition was a matter of theme and creativity.

Back then, for the Ballad of the Bastard Immortal , Teacher Ding had fused R&B and showtune elements with a traditional melody and increased the tempo in the early stages of the song, and the drama chorus gave people a sense of exhilaration.

Of all the songs that he had composed over the years, the most well-known was this song, Ballad of the Bastard Immortal .

In addition, there were a few others that Wang Ling liked very much. For example, Immortal Asura , The Great Famine of Old and so on...

This was a talented person whom Wang Ling greatly admired.

As a composer, Teacher Ding tried his best to convey his ideas using the musical literacy that he had learned over the years so that he could pass them on to the current ranks of musicians... even in the Scientific Cultivation era, music remained very important and indispensable in shaping the heart and soul.

Teacher Ding felt that any existing musical genre would never be abandoned and would always have a loyal audience. However, to be a musician, one had to pour a lot of blood and sweat into their work. The path of music was not a jigsaw that could be put together, nor like a parrot could it rely on mimicry.

This was his music philosophy, which he always liked to espouse in class. At the same time, he utterly detested the phenomenon of plagiarism in the music industry. As someone who composed original music, he felt that he couldn't get old just yet and still had many duties to discharge...

...

The last class on Friday was Teacher Ding's music lesson. When he walked slowly into the classroom, it was completely quiet and no one spoke. The students in the Grade One elite stream respected this old artiste quite a bit.

Today, he was different than usual and seemed especially happy.

"Has Teacher Ding found new inspiration?" Lotus Sun asked with a smile.

"That's right..."

Teacher Ding didn't deny it. "Soon, I will release a new song. I hope everyone will enjoy it."

When he said this, the whole class immediately exploded with noise.

"Wow! Teacher Ding is going to release a new song! What genre is it? Where did Teacher Ding's inspiration come from?"

It had already been a very long time since Teacher Ding had released a new song. The older one got, the more cautious they became; and he was no different. In his music lexicon, there was no such thing as shoddy compositions — he would be unfailingly and wholeheartedly devoted to any song that he created.

This most likely had to do with the moral integrity of the old generation of artistes.

Hearing the students' questions, Teacher Ding smiled. "It's a campus pop song, the inspiration for it... it's from all of you. You were the ones who inspired me!"

"Teacher Ding, don't be so secretive. Can you sing it for us?"

"If you want to hear it, of course that's not a problem. But I also have two small requests..."

Teacher Ding smiled faintly. "I don't know if all of you have been seriously practicing the guitar homework I gave you these last few days. I hope someone can volunteer to come forward and cover the guitar part. In addition, I hope a female student can join me in singing this song, since this is a male and female duet."

Before he finished speaking, Master of Dopey slapped his thigh. "My god! Teacher Ding wants to exploit the Phoenix Legend 1 trend..."

Wang Ling, Lotus Sun, Super Chen and Feather Lin: "..."

"Student Guo... please mind your behavior!"

After a long silence in the classroom, Lotus Sun came forward first. "Teacher Ding, I'll sing. But the guitar... I'm not very good at it."

"Good! Thank you very much for your cooperation, Student Lotus Sun! Then for the guitar part... I'll just get any of the male students to come up. If it's a male and female pair, it won't feel tiring!"

Teacher Ding glanced at the roll book and selected a name from the list. "Wang Ling... who is Student Wang Ling? Please come up!"

Wang Ling: "..."

He hadn't expected Teacher Ding to single him out.

He was used to staying low-key; he didn't like to put himself forward and liked showing off his abilities before people even less.

However, now that Teacher Ding had called his name, he felt that there wasn't really any reason for him to avoid it.

This was a teacher whom he respected very much, so he felt that he should give him face.

For the time being, he didn't have to worry about being unable to control his power, since he now bore a new Dao talisman seal invented by Wang Ming on his arm. The first three months after the new Dao talisman was put on was when it was at its strongest.

From his pocket, Wang Ling took out the practice guitar which the school issued to students and slowly walked up to the dais.

"Then, I'll impart the song's structure to you." Teacher Ding smiled gently. His hands emanated a spirit light which slowly seeped into Wang Ling and Lotus Sun's minds to convey what they needed to know, from the lyrics, the melody and the musical arrangement to the voice and instrument techniques involved...

After about five minutes, it was done.

"Do you understand everything?" Teacher Ding asked.

Both Wang Ling and Lotus Sun nodded.

"Then, let Student Wang Ling, Student Lotus Sun and I sing this song The Helplessness of the Immortal King for everyone..."

After Teacher Ding finished speaking, Wang Ling strummed a key... the lively and fresh sound of the guitar was then accompanied by Teacher Ding's magnetic voice, like a poem carried on the wind that contained a special kind of charm which touched the audience listening.

...

Last night I cultivated until midnight again

Worrying about a trifle

The helplessness of the Immortal King~ who can see it clearly

Give me a catty 2 of levitation Dao talismans

Who will listen to tales of the past

Actually, my real wish~ is for world peace

...

Campus life is like duckweed

Drifting, drifting, meeting and parting

Chase the dream far ahead

Remember the little elves caught in childhood

Remember the awkward scenes of those years

...

Hold hands~ look up

I have seen the splendor of every year

...

Don't look back~ use the rhythm

Sing the song Ballad of the Bastard Immortal

Stride proudly ahead~ keep your head up

As long as I have you~

I won't be led astray...

...

Everyone was drawn into the song; they marveled at the sense of nostalgia contained in the lyrics, like vintage wine hidden away in the cellar, resplendent with charm.

In the deeply melodious and cheerful vocals, they heard a beautiful overture to youth...

The wheels of youth never stopped spinning...

A simple old guitar gently strummed out their salad days...

It sketched out old, dusty memories that might or might not have already disappeared...

The elites of Grade One Class Three couldn't help sighing with mixed emotions.

This song was the theme song of everyone's youth. Phoenix Legend was a well-known Chinese pop music duo made up of a female vocalist and a male rapper. One catty, or jin, is roughly equivalent to 500 or 600 grams.