Chapter 236：Lightless Dream

Hannah and the staff member stiffened for a moment. Zhou Yun Sheng inclined his head and turned away, passing on this matter to the Organizing Committee. He didn't care how the Organizing Committee proceeded from here, he was not afraid of any competitors.

Because of this disorderly matter, and because of Zhou Yun Sheng's brilliant performance, Hannah's spirit was ruthlessly crushed again. After playing only two segments of her song she made a major mistake, and was helpless to remedy it even though she wanted to. Flustered, she suddenly sped up, changing the tune of the melody and making the judges frown.

The remaining performers also fell flat. Most of them had started learning the piano from the age of five, performing on stage from eight years old and up, so they never thought they would get stage fright. But today, because Zhou Yun Sheng arrogantly showed off his extraordinary piano skills, their self-confidence received an unprecedented blow. Just like Sears had overshadowed his contemporary piano masters, Zhou Yun Sheng had shown off his extraordinary talent. If things went well, he would become the next Sears, and opponents would need great courage and skills to face off with him on the same stage.

The semi-finals ended, and Zhou Yun Sheng took first place, advancing to the finals. Hannah sullenly left after receiving an admonishment letter, and the staff member who was responsible for turning the score was dismissed.

Zhou Yun Sheng's performance of 'Show Off' spread like wild fire online, especially the second section, everyone repeated it over and over, amazed by the speed of his hands. They soon noticed that the staff hadn't turned the score and linked it to Hannah's admonishment letter. Many people decided it was the truth, and started vigorously scolding Hannah while their appreciation of Zhou Yun Sheng's piano skills increased. They didn't understand how he memorized such a long song, just the second section alone had as many as 300 notes, it was enough to set a world record.

"Joy doesn't even read the score every time she plays, her strength is far beyond our imaginations."

"I heard Curtis, Julia, and Rochester are all competing for her, but I think she's already reached the level to graduate from every music academy. I don't know if there's even a college instructor that can teach her something new, she's clearly mastered all the tricks."

"Didn't Joy look especially handsome today in her little tailcoat? What arrogant Queen, I think she's more of a King!"

"Because of her, I'm now addicted to classical music. I'm very curious about what she'll perform for the finals."

"I guess it will be 'My Empire'."

"Sounds right!"

"Oh absolutely 'My Empire'! The only thing that's more difficult than 'Show Off' is 'My Empire'. She has no choice but to play it."

"Please, please be 'My Empire'!"

"+1"

"+2"

"+10086."

Netizens from all over the world posted about this topic, strongly urging Joy to perform this song.

———–

"What song are you going to perform at the finals?" In the hotel room, Xue Zi Xuan was packing up the boy's clothing, he obviously rarely did such things, so each piece of clothing was re-folded repeatedly before creating a decent shape.

"I'm going to perform 'My Empire'." Zhou Yun Sheng said, sipping his warm milk.

Xue Li Dani walked into the room in time to hear these words, she looked at him with extremely complex eyes, then sat at the mini-bar and began pouring wine, her expression full of anxiety. She had just finished calling her daughter again to try to persuade her to give up having Huang Yi replace her in the competition.

Following 'To Pavlochev', he unexpectedly delivered a perfect interpretation of 'Show Off', this time she had been sitting in the audience, admiring his extraordinary skills. She'd thought: Even if Huang Yi was thrown through time and ended up in the last century, his light would definitely not be smothered by Sears himself. She could see it, he was so at ease when performing, calm as a breeze, even the so-called Cyclone Bar was nothing to him. He was even more confident and arrogant than Sears.

As soon as he sat at the piano, his timid and cowardly coat fell off, and he became dazzling. His performance was equipped with a strong personal style that no one could imitate, what would happen if he helped her daughter get into Curtis? As soon as she touched the piano, all their lies would be exposed.

This was why she was so nervous, and why she advised her daughter to give up again and again. But something had possessed her daughter, making her firmly believe that she could surpass Huang Yi. That's impossible! If she had that kind of talent, it would've already come out!

Although she denied it inwardly, Xue Li Dani couldn't say it out loud, and she didn't dare pull Huang Yi out of the competition on her own. One, she was afraid of angering her son, two, she was worried her arbitrary decision would provoke another heart attack on daughter, after all, entering Curtis Music Academy was her greatest dream.

Xue Li Dani chugged her glass of wine, then coldly said, "You're really courageous choosing 'My Empire'. That song is the faith of a generation."

Zhou Yun Sheng glanced at her but didn't speak, instead using 008 to connect to the network and post an anonymous statement announcing that he would play 'My Empire', immediately causing a stir on the internet.

On the final day of the contest, the interview reporters noticed that most of the audience members were very old men, and a few of them wore starched uniforms, chests decorated with medals. They were veterans of World War II, and had travelled from various countries to appreciate the teenager's performance.

When a reporter asked what they thought, one of them said, "I have not heard a pure 'My Empire' in a long time. When I heard that this performer was only sixteen years old, I had a few choice words about her selection of this song, but my grandson recommended that I listen to her other two songs. I was impressed to say the least, I think she might be able to do it."

"'My Empire' is our generation's faith, she better not destroy it, or I'll be very angry!" Said one elderly man in military uniform, waving a cane as he harshly warned.

The reporter retracted the microphone and chuckled weakly, secretly cold sweating for Joy, fingers crossed.

Zhou Yun Sheng was sitting in the lounge corner, still surrounded by bodyguards, but they were now on Xue Yan's payroll, only responsible for protection, not monitoring. When necessary, they would even block out Xue Zi Xuan. From a total of ten finalists, the nine others gathered to chat, whispers of 'really bold', 'Omg!' and gasps could faintly be heard. They obviously didn't approve of Zhou Yun Sheng's song choice.

Zhou Yun Sheng quietly read the scores, immersed in his own thoughts. He was scheduled 2nd. After the number was announced, only the 1st player jumped for joy, making the others lashed out at them. They had once again become Zhou Yun Sheng's foil, unless he bombed 'My Empire', they were doomed.

Because the 1st player felt relaxed, their performance was very good, and when they walked past Zhou Yun Sheng, they raised a fist to cheer him on. Zhou Yun Sheng smiled and nodded at the other player while pushing back his meticulously combed hair. He still wore a male contestant tailcoat today- as long as you show enough talent, the Organizing Committee was very lenient. He took the stage and bowed, his expression serious, missing the arrogance from the semi-final. He sat in front of the piano, and as usual, was silent for a moment as he adjusted his mood.

'My Empire' was the work of Ivanov, a famous musician of the Levine Empire during World War II. When creating this song, the Levine Empire was at the verge of subjugation. With his strong patriotic spirit, he composed this song to motivate the desperate citizens to stand up and fight, and even set up an orchestra to play for the troops. The melody of this song was full of surging, inspiring force, boiling the blood and stirring unstoppable tears. Its emotional shock was far beyond 'To Pavlochev'.

If 'To Pavlochev' was the main theme of death, then 'My Empire' was the sonata of life, a narrow selfishness, a vast expanse. Because the song was too inspiring, it soon spread from Levine Empire to the rest of the world, helping many nations on the verge of subjugation regain the will to resist.

Some called it an epic masterpiece, like a behemoth, its pace was heavy and slow, but it carried an entire era of history. It witnessed the destruction of fascism, and witnessed the rise of many nationalities, performing it required steel will and the most insightful understanding of life. It was far more emotion than technique, and those who have not personally experienced that era found it difficult to resonate.

But Zhou Yun Sheng had experienced war eras, he also understood it more clearly, having witnessed his own country's demise. He spit out a heavy breath and firmly pressed the keys. Playing this song did not require gorgeous skills, it only needed reembrace of one pledge – With a steel arm, and a cast gold heart, let your emotions move, let your spirit take flight, awake the people's anger with the clearest and sincerest sounds, make them know, its fight or die, only by taking up arms can they bring about a brighter future.

His weapon was his music, the intangible sound a powerful force.

The passionate and heroic melody resounded throughout the hall, and many of the elderly were already in tears, trembling as though they had returned to that war-torn era. The roars of exploding shells, the cries of their comrades, and their hoarse shouts: March forward, to defend our empire!

Zhou Yun Sheng's fingers were also marching forward, pressing a string of trills, then he stopped abruptly. As one musician once said- playing 'My Empire' is like using your spirit to dig ten tons of coal, it can make a perfectly healthy person die from exhaustion. These words were no exaggeration, Zhou Yun Sheng was now so exhausted he almost couldn't breathe, he swallowed, but his mouth was too dry, like smoke could emerge from his throat at any second. His fingers trembled violently, he could no longer press a key.

He closed his eyes, his mind spinning. While he collected himself, the veterans stood up one after another, hot tears flowing as they applauded him, some even took off a medal on their chest and lifted it towards him, showing that his music had achieved the highest exaltation.

A contest entry was already an insufficient word to describe the performance's brilliance, it was a heroic reverberation of a generation.