The backing track broke? This system quest came like rain just in time!

Zhou Zihao's horrifically brutal face-braking performance had thoroughly set the welcome gala on fire.

The roaring laughter in the auditorium lasted a full five or six minutes before it barely subsided.

Several cleaning ladies came up with mops, their faces full of disgust as they cleaned the blood from the aisle.

Fatty Wang laughed until tears streamed from his eyes, slumping in his chair and rubbing his stomach.

"Oh, my god. In all my life, I've never seen such a hardcore exit. This Zhou Zihao is one ruthless guy. He even gave up his front teeth to entertain everyone."

Liu Chen nodded repeatedly beside him and gave a thumbs-up. "He really is a beast among beasts. That Great Emperor of Holy Water title will probably have to change to Great Emperor of Missing Teeth."

Lin Bei leaned against his seat, leisurely unscrewed a bottle of mineral water, and took a sip, pretending he had heard nothing.

Zhou Zihao had brought this little punishment and warning entirely upon himself.

If Lin Bei hadn't disliked getting his hands dirty, that blow would have done more than knock out his front teeth.

The stage lights came back on.

The male and female hosts walked up with microphones.

The male host's lips were still twitching unnaturally. Clearly, he had struggled mightily to hold back his laughter backstage.

He cleared his throat and forcibly steered things back on track.

"Ahem. Thank you to that student for bringing us that... special performance. Next, let's settle our excitement and welcome the next performance."

The female host picked up where he left off. "Classical beauty lies in its grace and its bones. Please enjoy the classical solo dance 'Startled Swan,' performed by Ruan Qingwu of Financial Management Class One, School of Economics and Management."

The moment that name was announced.

The boys in several blocks of seats at the front instantly sat up straight.

When Ruan Qingwu had been sitting in the audience earlier, quite a few people had already been stealing glances at her.

Now that they heard the campus belle was taking the stage, they all craned their necks like ducks clamoring to be fed.

The auditorium lights dimmed again.

Only a soft, cool-white spotlight remained, shining on the center of the stage.

An ethereal, lilting guzheng introduction flowed slowly through the top-of-the-line sound system.

The curtain drew apart.

Ruan Qingwu stood quietly at center stage with her back to the audience.

She wore a water-blue flowing immortal dress with wide sleeves, a moon-white silk ribbon cinched around her waist, outlining every inch of its slender, handspan curve.

Following the rhythm of the music, she slowly turned.

There were no unnecessary movements, just a simple lift of her wrist and a backward glance.

The auditorium instantly fell so quiet that not even a crow or sparrow could be heard.

The thousands of people who had been making a racket just moments earlier now even softened their breathing.

She was too beautiful.

It was a cool beauty untouched by dust, like an ice lotus blooming atop a snowy mountain.

That faint touch of rouge at the corners of her eyes added a few alluring strokes of vivid beauty to that coolness.

"Holy shit..." Fatty swallowed, his eyes wide. "Brother Bei, Qingwu isn't just making us look good. She's practically our School of Economics and Management's nuclear weapon!"

Lin Bei propped his chin on one hand, his fingers tapping his knee now and then.

He had to admit, this girl really did have some skills when it came to dancing.

She usually looked so delicate and frail, but once she stepped onstage, even the look in her eyes changed.

The accompaniment swelled into an exceptionally catchy passage of rolling guzheng fingerwork.

Ruan Qingwu moved.

Her toes lightly touched the floor, and she leaped gracefully, her water-blue skirt blossoming into a dazzling flower in midair.

Her supple waist arched backward at an unbelievable angle, and the water sleeves in her hands shot upward into the light like two nimble flood dragons.

Rather than the intense power of modern dance, there was a softness and lingering flow steeped in Eastern classical grace.

Every frown and smile, every gesture and movement, held a soul-snatching beauty.

The boys in the audience couldn't even move their eyes.

"Holy shit, that waist... incredible."

"I hereby declare that, starting today, Ruan Qingwu is my one and only goddess!"

"Who could withstand this? She's like an immortal maiden descended to earth."

Even the usually picky girls couldn't find a single fault now and could only look sourly at that glowing figure onstage.

Just as everyone was immersed in this visual feast.

"Bzzzt-"

An ear-piercing electrical crack suddenly exploded from the speakers on either side of the stage!

Immediately afterward, the stirring accompaniment cut off abruptly.

The entire auditorium fell into deathly silence.

Onstage, Ruan Qingwu froze mid-movement.

Her hands, holding up her water sleeves, stopped in midair. Her toes wobbled slightly as she lost her balance, and she nearly fell.

She hurriedly straightened and looked blankly at the speakers on either side of the stage.

There was no sound.

She turned to look backstage.

Her usually cool eyes were now filled with helpless panic.

What happened? Where was the music?

After two seconds of silence, the audience instantly erupted like a boiling pot, buzzing discussions rising everywhere.

"Why did it stop?"

"Are the speakers broken? This school's equipment is way too trash!"

"She was just getting to the crucial part! Leaving us hanging here is killing me!"

Ruan Qingwu stood at center stage, watched by thousands of pairs of eyes.

The spotlight still shone on her like an invisible net, pinning her firmly in place.

She bit her lower lip, her fingers unconsciously clutching her skirt until her knuckles turned white.

Backstage had descended into chaos.

With hearing far beyond that of ordinary people, Lin Bei clearly caught everything happening behind the curtain.

"What happened? How did the wiring burn out?" the show director roared in a lowered voice.

"I don't know! The motherboard suddenly shorted out, and the backup audio source won't connect either!"

"Then fucking fix it! There's still someone standing onstage!"

"We can't! Replacing the equipment will take at least ten minutes!"

Hearing this, the casual look gradually faded from Lin Bei's face.

His brows drew together slightly as he watched that lonely, slender figure onstage.

The rims of Ruan Qingwu's eyes had already reddened.

She was extremely determined to excel and had rehearsed this performance for half a month.

Now, just when it was about to end perfectly, something like this had gone wrong.

For an eighteen-year-old girl, the embarrassment and humiliation of being watched by thousands of people like this was nothing short of a public execution.

Just then, several loud whistles suddenly rang out from the crowd.

"Dance! Why aren't you dancing?"

"Can't dance without music, huh? You can dance without it!"

"Exactly! Stop standing up there like an idiot. Hurry up and get off. There are other performances after yours!"

The voices came from the Second Company's seating block.

The booing gradually grew louder.

Ruan Qingwu's shoulders trembled slightly, and tears were already pooling in her eyes.

She lowered her head, preparing to turn and walk backstage.

"Fuck! Do these bastards have any fucking manners?" Fatty Wang sprang to his feet in fury, pointing toward the Second Company and cursing. "What does broken equipment have to do with the dancer? What are you yapping about?"

Liu Chen also rolled up his sleeves, ready to go over and fight.

Just then, the mechanical voice that had lain silent deep in Lin Bei's mind for several days rang out without warning.

"Ding!"

"Current situation detected. Emergency quest triggered: [Sound of Nature]!"

"Quest objective: Host, please take the stage to accompany Ruan Qingwu and earn a standing ovation from the entire audience."

"Quest rewards: Cultivation breakthrough to Qi Refining Second Layer! Miniature Spirit Gathering Array Disk ×1!"

Lin Bei froze for a moment, then his eyes abruptly lit up.

Qi Refining Second Layer!

And a Miniature Spirit Gathering Array Disk!

Information about the array disk instantly surfaced in his mind: powered by spirit stones, it could gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth within a five-kilometer radius, sending the spiritual energy concentration within its coverage soaring to three to five times its original level!

This was fucking like being handed a pillow just as he was getting sleepy!

He had been worrying about Earth's thin spiritual energy. Cultivating through meditation on his own was slower than a turtle crawling.

With this thing, he would no longer have to scrimp and scrape while absorbing that pitiful little bit of spiritual energy.

This lousy system usually played dead, but whenever it issued a quest, the rewards were at the level of a king-bomb combo.

As for going onstage to provide accompaniment?

The corner of Lin Bei's mouth tugged. That [Heavenly Sound Zither Heart] inheritance in his system space wasn't just for show.

"Fatty, sit down."

Lin Bei's voice was calm as he reached out and pressed the red-faced, thick-necked Fatty Wang back into his chair.

"Brother Bei! Why are you stopping me? Those bastards are bullying Qingwu! How can we put up with that?" Fatty stamped his feet anxiously.

Lin Bei didn't answer.

He stood up unhurriedly, then, under the stunned gazes of Fatty Wang and the students around them.

He walked straight toward the steps at the side of the stage.

"Hey! Brother Bei!" Fatty was dumbfounded and called out in a lowered voice, "Where are you going? The toilets are by the back door! You're going the wrong way!"

Lin Bei didn't even turn his head.

He stepped onto the stairs, his figure disappearing straight into the shadows beside the stage.