Published at 20th of September 2026 7:16 am

Chapter 4527: The Very First Sound

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Lu Yin was stunned when he heard this. "The first to arrive? Death's Dominion is already dead, so shouldnt the Abyssal Displacement no longer be connected to that Abyss?"

Zhou replied, "The path is still there. Its just that the Stillness that paved it is now gone. The Abyssal Displacement is fixed. As long as Stillness returns, one can reach that location, and then move just as fast as any of the other paths."

"So this is actually comparing one's own Stillness?" Lu Yin asked.

Zhou nodded. "Each participant must use their own Stillness to fill in the Abyssal Displacement. The more power that one has, the faster that they can reach the goal. Conversely, if their power is insufficient or otherwise lacking, they will never arrive."

"In that case, Boss Zhou, you can go. No matter what, no one will run into each other. Whoever arrives first wins, and therell be no threat to your life," Fishbone commented.

Zhou shook their head. "Arriving is one thing, but having the various Abysses confirm that you arrived is more important, and that takes time."

Yong Heng added on in a neutral voice, "And Death's Dominion died near the destination of this competition, and no one knows what may be there."

At this point, his eyes flashed, and he stared off into the distance.

Yong Heng's words caused Lu Yin's heart to drop. It had been more than 300 years since Death's Dominion had used the Abyssal Displacement at the same time as Withered Requiem, only Death's Dominion had used it to race towards the Trio. Judging by the time, it had started quite a distance away from the Human Trio, so generally speaking, it would be very hard to find the human civilization.

However, since the Death Megaverse was using this method to decide the new Abyssal, could they have some means to quickly explore a region of the Aevum Inch?

As Fishbone had observed, the chosen form for the competition was not really life threatening. Since that was the case, could there be some deeper meaning? Was the true purpose of this competition actually to find the Trio, which was responsible for killing Death's Dominion?

The Death Megaverse could not possibly remain indifferent to the death of an Abyssal.

Yet Zhu had already shared the location of the Trio with both Withered Requiem and Thousand Machinations. But if they had confirmed that the Trio had fought against Death's Dominion, was there any need to search like this? Or did the two Abyssals simply not believe that a human civilization could kill Death's Dominion? Did they assume that the attacker was some other creature?

Lu Yin fell into contemplation.

"Then forget it. Whoever wants to compete can compete. Brother, that toad wants to participate too, right? I heard it. It even dared to say that Boss Zhou is unqualified. Bah! Is that toad the one who decides whether our boss is qualified or not? We arent going!" Fishbone declared.

Zhou did not care.

Lu Yin looked towards the top of the castle. Zhou might choose to not go, but they would have to nonetheless. Lu Yin needed to clearly understand the situation first.

However, given the strength of his skeleton clone, participating in this contest was no different from a fool's dream. Even if his strength was sufficient, Withered Requiem would never allow him to participate. His only option was to make Withered Requiem unable to refuse him, which meant defeating them with music.

Thinking of this, Lu Yin stood before Zhou. "Theres no need to think about competing for the position of an Abyssal. Our goal is to defeat Withered Requiem with music! I want to challenge them right now!"

Zhou abruptly stood up. "Good."

Fishbone backed away. "You want to challenge them again? Isnt this too soon? The trauma of our last challenge hasnt even faded yet."

Lu Yin looked over at Fishbone. "Can you take back this mirebound artifact?"

Fishbone was helpless. For years, it had wandered about the castle, trying to find a way to take back Building Blocks, but it still had no clue at all and could not find any possible method.

Lu Yin flatly stated, "Defeat Withered Requiem with music, and then this mirebound artifact will be yours. Before, I didnt believe that whoever defeats Withered Requiem with music could become the master of Joy City, but now I do, because Thousand Machinations said it.

"Withered Requiem was able to reach their current position by completely releasing themself and returning to the beginning. They are unable to lie or deceive, and their promises are all true."

Fishbone was stirred by his words. "That may be true, but we still cant win."

Lu Yin raised his head high. "I am confident. Dont forget, Thousand Machinations is helping me."

Fishbone agreed. It very much wanted to take back Building Blocks.

Zhou looked over at Yong Heng and Zhu. Neither of the two had any right to refuse.

With a new agreement reached, the Dream Band set out to once again challenge the Death Band.

Joy City grew noisy once more, though there were far fewer spectators this time.

The Dream Band lost. There was never any suspense; they simply lost again. However, they did much better during this challenge. Before, there had not even been a true challenge. The Dream Band had simply fled after listening to the Death Band's performance.

Withered Requiem praised them greatly and acknowledged their musical talent.

Several years later, the Dream Band returned to challenge the Death Band again.

A loss. It was still a loss, and yet Withered Requiem praised them again.

Following that, they would challenge, lose, be praised, and then challenge and lose again. They would wait and train before challenging, only to lose and repeat the process again.

Eventually, after they had challenged the Death Band more than ten times, Withered Requiem grew uncomfortable. "Yo yo, Dream Band, what exactly are you trying to do? Challenging us so frequently is completely meaningless."

Fishbone felt the same way, but every time, it was invigorated by Lu Yin's words. There was nothing that it could do.

Even Zhou felt that their actions were meaningless.

Lu Yin knew that he was being too anxious, but who knew when the competition for the Abyssal position would begin? It might start at any moment. He had to find a way to win, no matter how difficult it might be.

Seeing Withered Requiem grow impatient, the Dream Band decided to lay low. Thirty years later, the Dream Band challenged the Death Band again.

Although they still lost, Withered Requiem specifically praised Lu Yin because he had improved between each challenge. While his rate of improvement felt very slow to Lu Yin himself, to Withered Requiem's ears, it was exceptionally obvious.

Because of this, Withered Requiem even tried to poach him. "Yo yo, do you want to come to the Death Band? I can let you join."

Zhou and the others looked at Lu Yin, but he just clenched a fist. "My goal is to defeat you in music."

Withered Requiem danced about. "Yo yo, that is impossible, yo yo."

The Dream Band withdrew. Originally, the castle had been very quiet, but ever since the Dream Band had arrived, things had become much more lively.

very time the Dream Band descended from the top floor, they would pass by the skeleton with the plate of armor. No matter where that creature hid, Lu Yin always made sure to deliberately pass by it, just to check that it still had the plate of black armor.

He would snatch it away sooner or later.

Several more decades passed. One day, all skeletons were ordered to lie down. The Abyssal Displacement was about to begin.

Lu Yin's heart sank. So soon? This was much sooner than he wanted.

Others could lie down, but their band could not. He shouted, "Get up! We cant lie down!"

Fishbone was confused. "What is it, Brother?"

Lu Yin clenched a fist. "We need to go! Its time to challenge Withered Requiem."

Fishbone

Zhou

Zhu could not hold back from speaking. "Now? This is an Abyssal Displacement."

Lu Yin raised his head. "Thats exactly why it needs to be now!. I have waited too long for this moment. While the Abyssal Displacement is happening, Withered Requiem has to maintain it while also competing against us. It will reveal a flaw."

Fishbone was speechless. "This doesnt seem right"

Zhou agreed. "It is rather despicable."

Lu Yin looked over at Zhou. "When Revolution Planet was destroyed, did Withered Requiem ever give us a chance to live?"

Zhou fell silent.

"Withered Requiem relied on their own strength and never gave us any chance at all to resist. This is a battlefield, no different from a battle of life and death. In war, nothing is despicable. There is only victory."

Zhou said, "I agree."

Lu Yin looked back at Fishbone. "Do you not want your mirebound artifact anymore?"

Fishbone flicked its tail and jumped onto Lu Yin's shoulder. "Charge! We challenge!"

Yong Heng asked, "Will the Death Band even accept a challenge at this moment?"

Fishbone replied, "They will! Joy City's rules dont specify when challenges can be accepted, unless they change the rules. Right now, its too late to change them. Well challenge them right now!"

As one skeleton after another laid down to help Withered Requiem perform the Abyssal Displacement, the Dream Band arrived at the top of the castle again.

Even Withered Requiem was caught off guard by a challenge at this moment. The other three skeleton members of the Death Band were furious and scolded the Dream Band, but Withered Requiem stopped them. They would accept the challenge.

Lu Yin took a deep breath, despite being a skeleton and not needing to breathe.

He needed to try this.

Under normal circumstances, even with the method that Thousand Machinations had taught him, defeating Withered Requiem would take a very, very long time. Instead, Lu Yin decided to try using Endless Recall.

Endless Recall could freeze someone within a single thought. Lu Yin wanted to use that technique to freeze himself in the moment of his purest, truest thought. With that one thought, he would face Withered Requiem. There did not seem to be any other way to succeed.

As for whether Withered Requiem noticed what was happening, that was unimportant. Zhou also had his own unique power, and the same was true of Fishbone, Yong Heng, and the others. Every creature was the protagonist of their own world, and Withered Requiem could not possibly understand everything.

The roaring music caused the water in the rivers to boil, and white skeletons started cheering. The Dream Band had initiated their challenge.

With every challenge, the Dream Band had performed a little better than before, but the gap between them and the Death Band remained enormous. Even while performing the Abyssal Displacement, Withered Requiem was still able to suppress Lu Yin and the others. That primitive feeling of walking naked across a wasteland was something that no one else could achieve.

That lasted until the sound of a stone striking rang out. In that instant, the wasteland shattered, replaced by a primordial world that contained nothing at all. It was even more barren than the wasteland.

With just that one strike, Withered Requiem's rhythm was thrown into disorder. Even one of the Abyssals lenses in their sunglasses fell, and the green hat went crooked. They gaped at Lu Yin in disbelief.

The Abyssal was not alone, as Zhou, Fishbone, and the others also found this unbelievable.

In Joy City, music was not expressed solely with a continuous rhythm; it could also be a single moment, a solitary, soft sound. That was why, previously, Lu Yin had been rebuked by Fishbone after merely striking his stone once, and Yong Heng had likewise been despised after using his Origin Seal to make a ding.

At this moment, with just a single soft sound from a stone, Lu Yin instantly disrupted Withered Requiem's rhythm, bringing the Death Band's music to an abrupt stop.

No one had expected this result, not even Lu Yin himself.

At this moment, he had already used Endless Recall on his own skeleton clone. If it possessed eyes, they would be unfocused. His entire mind was lost in a dream that reverted back to the moment of his birth, to an infant's first cry, to a hope for the world's beauty that existed solely in that very first moment.

No matter how Withered Requiem cultivated their mental state, they could never truly return to their original self.

In battle, Endless Recall was unable to offer Lu Yin much benefit, but at this moment, it produced a godlike effect by preserving his thought from the very beginning of his life. This allowed him, as his original self, to strike that soft sound.

With just one sound, he surpassed Withered Requiem.

The roaring music stopped, and every creature turned to look at Lu Yin, unable to believe what had just happened.

He lowered the stone and calmly met Withered Requiem's gaze. "As long as the direction is found, nothing is difficult."

Withered Requiem stared intently at Lu Yin. "Yo yo, you won."

Lu Yin let out a breath of relief. "You let me win."

Fishbone was excited. They had won! They had actually defeated the Death Band! This was something that it would have never dared to dream of.

For so long, it had only wanted to enter the castle. Even that simple wish had taken a long time to be fulfilled, only happening when this brother appeared.

And now, had they actually defeated the Death Band?

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