Chapter 4526: Method

Devouring Trace had to be the creature from the Soft Megaverse. It seemed to have joined the Death Megaverse only recently, but that "recently" was only in comparison to the lifespans of old monsters. At the very least, measuring from when Hong Xia had accepted the mission to destroy the Soft Megaverse, it should not have been that long after that the creature had joined the Death Megaverse. In fact, it was possible that the creature had not yet become an Abyssal or perhaps not even joined Death Megaverse just yet.

Death's Dominion was already dead, and Lu Yin knew Withered Requiem the best.

These were the seven Abyssals, and above them, there was a legend that the Death Megaverse had an old monster that ruled over the entire civilization. It was that old monster who had originally created the power of Stillness and who overpowered all seven Abyssals.

Of course, this was only a legend, but Lu Yin believed such legends. No legend appeared from nothing. Legends could be exaggerations, though many were based on fact.

After all, without such an existence, how could the seven Abyssals be suppressed?

Yet while the Death Megaverse had such a legend, Obscura had no similar legend. This made Lu Yin uneasy. The first incredibly powerful fishing civilization he had ever come into contact with was Obscura, and it remained the most unfathomable one.

"Then what do we do now?" Old Sixth asked.

The bear looked at Lu Yin and then drew a circle with a finger. Lu Yin looked at Old Sixth. Even now, he still did not know how the toad could understand the bear's gestures.

When Old Sixth saw the bear's gesture, their expression clearly relaxed. Joy and relief were evident as they turned to stare at Lu Yin. "We are leaving. The position of Abyssal will not remain vacant for long. The Dead Sea can also no longer be suppressed, which means that a wave will be released. The new Abyssal also has to come to my Abyss to raise their potential. We have many things to do, so we cannot attend to you for now.

"As long as you continue using this method, you will definitely defeat Withered Requiem one day."

It had only drawn a circle, and yet Old Sixth could exact so many words from it. Lu Yin was impressed.

"How is the position of an Abyssal fought for?"

Old Sixth’s brows shot up. "What? Are you also interested?"

"I am asking on behalf of Zhou," Lu Yin quietly replied.

Old Sixth sneered. "It is not qualified."

"When you become an Abyssal, I will definitely make up a proper story to praise you," Lu Yin stated.

Old Sixth clenched their jaw in anger and proceeded carefully. "The competition to become an Abyssal will only be determined after the current Abyssals discuss it. Things differ each time. I don’t know what will be required either. There may be many creatures competing, or maybe just a few. It has not been decided yet."

"Generally, how strong are those who compete for the position?"

"I don’t know. Some fellows are extremely good at hiding themselves."

"On average?"

"A one-law Immortal, approaching the peak of that level, I suppose."

"Just that?"

Old Sixth’s eyes flared. "How arrogant."

Lu Yin gave an awkward smile. "What I mean is, aren’t all the Abyssals two-law powerhouses? Some are even at the peak of that level, so how can some one-law Immortal qualify for such a position?"

The bear snapped its fingers, and Old Sixth pointed at it. "First, they take the position. Then, they go to my Abyss to reach the limit of their potential. Take Withered Requiem for example. When they first became an Abyssal, their strength was only average. After visiting my Abyss, they were completely released from their sense of self and reached the limit of their potential. They immediately broke through to resonate with two cosmic laws and then went to the Dead Sea to absorb Stillness. It was an immediate transformation."

Lu Yin exclaimed in surprise, "Can a breakthrough really happen that quickly?"

The bear clenched its fist, causing Old Sixth's mouth to twitch. "I am just that amazing."

Those words were clearly from Ying Xiong. At this moment, it was acting very proud.

Lu Yin stared at the bear for a long time. Reach the limit of one's potential? Could that really be done?

"Then can I do it?"

Ying Xiong raised a paw and patted Lu Yin on the shoulder. "I think highly of you. Your potential is far greater than Withered Requiem's, which is why I gave you an invitation and helped you defeat Withered Requiem in music. That is your first step. Once you complete it and can find my Abyss, I will help you reach the limits of your own potential, or even break through your potential."

After Old Sixth finished translating, the toad looked at Lu Yin oddly.

Withered Requiem might not be much in Thousand Machinations' eyes, but to the vast majority of experts in the Aevum Inch, the skeleton was extremely powerful. They were strong enough to support a fishing civilization, and their potential had to be monstrous. However, could such a being really not compare to this human skeleton?

When Ying Xiong had previously said that it wanted to help Lu Yin defeat Withered Requiem, it had said something similar. But at that time, Lu Yin had not taken the matter to heart. However, he had just learned that even beings who became Abyssals had to go to the bear to reach the limit of their potential. This was something that could not be ignored.

Moreover, this fellow had also created the Death Megaverse’s battle techniques. It was simply a machine that produced experts for the Death Megaverse.

Several months later, a familiar scene started to play out. All of the skeletons in Joy City started to lay down to help Withered Requiem carry out the Abyssal Displacement. Stillness surged, rising from underground.

This time, Lu Yin did not attempt to steal any because Thousand Machinations was still present. Withered Requiem would not easily notice such a matter, but that bear was unfathomable. Who knew whether or not it would notice?

Furthermore, this amount of Stillness, which had once been unimaginable to Lu Yin, had come to appear rather acceptable. Death's Dominion had relied on this power to assault the Trio and to even seal Lu Yin, but in the end, some of it had been absorbed by him.

Lu Yin lay down on the ground and looked up at the sky. He was thinking about the Dead Sea at this moment. He wondered just how much Stillness the Dead Sea must contain and how terrifying it had to be.

This time, Yong Heng was also behaving sensibly and did not attempt to steal any Stillness. Both of them were wary of Thousand Machinations.

Thousand Machinations left, and Old Sixth followed. The other creatures of the Death Megaverse that had come to support Joy City also left. For example, the ferryman of the River of Aeons who had always moved their boat along the rivers and the fragment of Devouring Trace all left.

Many of the reinforcements had also died during the great battle against Void Mountain.

***

A dim sky pressed down upon the dark-yellow sea. Lightning flashed across the sky. From time to time, enormous tails shot up from underwater, raising seawater that struck the stars before falling back beneath the sea an instant later.

Ripples spread across the sea, but space itself was unable to bear them and was continuously torn apart.

This was a strange place. Here, the gray power of time struggled to condense, and space was constantly being torn apart. There was a certain heaviness that no phenomena could withstand.

Beneath the sea, unimaginably enormous creatures swam past, oppressive and terrifying.

This was the Dead Sea.

When the Abyssal Displacement began, the Dead Sea started to churn. A terrifying amount of Stillness started to stretch out from it, and as it did so, a hoarse, low voice uttered, "How should the new Abyssal be determined? Do any of you have an idea?"

A voice replied, echoing above the Dead Sea, "What I am curious about is how Death's Dominion died. Who killed it?"

"They did not die even during the war against the Nine Ramparts back then. That fellow watched the humans’ Wargod, not daring to step forward. They were always as cowardly as a mouse, and yet they are now dead. Interesting."

"Speaking of which, is that horse still lying down with all four hooves in the air?"

"Yes. It can be considered a famous sight of the Death Megaverse."

"Next time I go there, I will cut off its hooves. Since it does not want to use them, let me eat them, heh heh."

"Yo, yo. The four hooves are also white bones. How are you going to eat them?"

"Hmph! One bite, and they will crunch. Heh heh."

"We should consider how to decide the new Abyssal. We are different from Obscura. They can afford to lose many, but we cannot. If we do, the Abyssal Displacement will no longer function. Thousand Machinations, do you have any thoughts?"

Thousand Machinations made a soft sound, and Old Sixth's voice then rang out, "My lord suggests that I should become the Abyssal."

"Translate properly," the first voice rebuked in a low tone.

Old Sixth then said, "My lord suggests to maintain the Abyssal Displacement, and while that happens, whoever can reach the location that Death's Dominion reached during the last Abyssal Displacement the fastest will be the new Abyssal."

"Oh? That’s a very novel method. That sounds much better than last time."

"Heh heh, this will work. From that location, it may be possible to discover who killed Death's Dominion."

"Are you not afraid that whoever killed Death's Dominion may still be there and will wipe all the candidates out?"

"Would that not be perfect? There are too many creatures in the Death Megaverse. It has become bloated."

Snap.

Old Sixth translated, "Lord Thousand Machinations says that karmic chains exist, so they will not all die. It would be even better if the other party shows themself. That would allow us to gain clear knowledge of who the enemy is before deciding who will deal with them."

"Fine. Let us do that."

"Interesting."

"However, maintaining the Abyssal Displacement is too costly. Let us pause for a while so that each of us can decide upon our own candidate and allow them to prepare. When the Abyssal Displacement next appears, that will be when the contest begins."

"That is fine."

Snap.

"Lord Thousand Machinations says that if I cannot become the Abyssal, then none of you should come. You are not welcome."

"Translate properly."

"...That is fine."

***

In Joy City, Lu Yin and the others were waiting for Zhou. The Immortal skeleton had been summoned by Withered Requiem. Yong Heng and the others did not know why, but Lu Yin did. This had to be related to the contest for the newly opened Abyssal position.

Before long, Zhou came back down.

"What happened?" Lu Yin asked.

Zhou said, "Withered Requiem wants me to compete for the position of Abyssal."

For some reason, the first thing that popped into Lu Yin's mind was what Old Sixth had said: it is not qualified.

"What do you think?"

Zhou shook their head. "I refused."

"Refused?" Yong Heng was surprised by this.

Fishbone jumped out of the sewer in shock. "Boss Zhou, you refused? Can you actually refuse something like this?"

Zhu also stared blankly at Zhou. The skeleton’s voice dropped low. "During the battle at Void Mountain, there were a number of creatures that I am clearly no match for, such as the toad that accompanies Thousand Machinations. Also, the creature of the Death Megaverse that stayed in its boat on the river was also unfathomable. If I tried to compete with them, I have no confidence at all. I might as well stay here and try to defeat Withered Requiem with music to avenge my Revolution Planet."

Fishbone said, "That is true. That toad may look stupid, but it is truly powerful."

Lu Yin asked, "Did Withered Requiem say how the position of Abyssal would be decided?"

Yong Heng looked at Lu Yin. "You want to compete for it?"

Fishbone leaped onto Lu Yin's shoulder. "Brother, don’t be impulsive. Even Boss Zhou has no confidence, and you aren’t even an Immortal being. Don’t do anything foolish."

Zhou very somberly stated, "Unless you can beat me, do not even think about going. You will just die."

Lu Yin said, "I am simply curious. Even though we skeletons can live for a very long time without dying, we still won’t encounter many competitions for the position of Abyssal. I heard that each time is unique, right?"

Fishbone hopped about excitedly. "I know this! Last time, it was Withered Requiem who competed for the position of Abyssal. Heaven knows how the previous Abyssal died. That contest involved going to war against a fishing civilization, and whoever survived to the end became the Abyssal. In the end, Withered Requiem survived."

"A very simple and crude method, but also very effective," Yong Heng observed.

Zhou jumped in, "This time will be different. When the next Abyssal Displacement begins, whoever is the first to reach the location where Death's Dominion last performed the Abyssal Displacement will become the new Abyssal."