Chapter 61: Walking Through the Flames: The Epic of the Hero!

Everyone prepared to go on stage.

Stretching lazily, Li Can glanced casually at the audience from the stage entrance and asked the student union junior beside him with a relaxed expression:

"Bro, are there media people coming today?"

"Yes, Senior. We've invited a few media outlets, and the entire gala is being recorded. It will be posted on the campus network later."

"..."

With just a single glance, Li Can spotted those banners on the extreme right of the front row.

【Melodious Xia】【Surf News Network】【Arts Express】

Nodding, Li Can didn't dwell on it.

It was not uncommon for school performances to occasionally admit some media or representatives from certain organizations.

"Feng Ge, there's media here. How about you do something flashy?" Li Can asked on a sudden whim.

However, Lin Feng interrupted him directly with a dark expression: "...Shut your mouth right now!"

"Tsk... I just meant you should put on a good performance, why so worked up?"

Li Can curled his lips, picked up his drumsticks, and twirled them in a flourish.

He then tossed one up into the air and caught it effortlessly.

His casual and suave manner made Lin Feng's hands itch.

He suddenly wanted to toss his microphone around too...

"Senior, do we really not need an announcement?"

"No need. Once you announce it, the vibe is gone. The music alone is enough."

"Alright then..."

The junior didn't press the issue, and everyone quietly waited for the show to progress.

The quality of the performances was genuinely high.

Art songs, pop songs, instrumental performances, and of course, dance routines.

Finally, as the program progressed, it was time for Li Can and his group to perform.

The preceding act was an aria performance with musical elements.

Aside from singing, it involved elaborate makeup, plot progression, and corresponding dramatic acting. The performers were two principal opera-majoring vocalists, a tenor and a soprano, from the National Academy of Music.

Li Can watched with great interest from backstage.

The piece was an excerpt from *The Wicked Woman*, a famous eighteenth-century opera from this world used to satirize "rumors."

It told the story of a malicious woman who, out of jealousy, spread rumors to persecute a young gypsy girl.

The girl's lover, a young peasant hero, discovered this, argued and fought with the deceived, foolish villagers. Mortally wounded after killing the wicked woman, as the truth came to light and he was on the verge of death, he seemed to hear his lover whispering softly to him.

Eventually, as the male lead gradually stepped into death, the duet concluded.

Following the performance, the stage went dark.

The backstage staff moved quickly.

The audience below was still immersed in the emotional atmosphere, appearing somewhat subdued.

Such an emotional state was actually very unfavorable for the upcoming performance.

However, Li Can believed that brute force creates miracles.

A seven-minute power rock performance would blow away any lingering melancholy.

"Let's go, guys!"

Clutching his drumsticks, he walked through the darkness, sat down behind the drum kit, put on his in-ear monitors, and made ready for communication and sound checks.

The gods returned to their positions.

Before the lights even came on, many sensitive audience members were still feeling emo.

At that exact moment, a heavy crash of cymbals rang out, accompanied by rapid double-bass drum kicks. At the same time, the guitars and bass struck down their chord rhythms simultaneously!

Chen Gang's fingers flew across the keyboard!

The lights suddenly flickered and blazed on, casting their beams upon the six of them.

Boom!

As everyone and the music made their debut simultaneously, an image of roaring flames surged onto the projection screen in the background, burning with the song's title and the band's name.

Malignant Power!

*Through The Fire And Flames*!

After a brief intro, before anyone could even react, Li Can suddenly transformed into a nuclear-powered drummer. Powerful drumbeats poured out frantically, accompanied by Winnie, who held her guitar in reverse and whipped up a striking, impactful melody.

Han Jiayun's rhythm guitar and Zhao Ze's bass provided a high-speed groove.

It felt like a rapid-fire succession of heavy slaps to the face, leaving everyone instantly sober yet somewhat dazed.

Two intensely bright spotlights hit Li Can and Winnie.

The story of the drummer and the guitarist unfolded at this very moment!

Accompanied by the frantically gushing notes, Lin Feng discarded all vocal techniques at this point, singing in a manner that was almost savage!

"When the dawn of the harsh winter has yet to descend!"

Everyone's heartbeats accelerated instantly.

The audience members, who were only just regaining their wits, hadn't even had time to process the English lyrics before they were instantly captivated by the fully hyped-up Russian female guitarist.

Following Winnie's aggressive gaze, their eyes fell upon the nuclear-powered male model drummer, who was rapidly striking out complex rhythms.

"Holy shit! This!"

"Holy shit!"

Exclamations erupted from the audience below simultaneously.

The emo mood brought by the previous act was rudely chased away.

Replaced by a searing sensation of burning all over!

"Evil snickers echo! ... Traversing the wasteland of bones!"

Lin Feng was thoroughly hyped up now.

Amidst his powerful roar, everyone's gaze was once again drawn to Chen Gang's phantom-like keyboard-playing speed.

He was actually operating two keyboards at once with one on each hand!

The bass and rhythm guitar would occasionally flash jaw-dropping techniques for brief moments, but any newly attracted gazes were instantly pulled back to the duel between the guitar and the drum kit!

Accompanied by the roaring vocals, the electric guitar riff in Winnie's hands surged, occasionally twitching the whammy bar to make the guitar scream, attempting to challenge and suppress the exaggerated heavy bass double-kicks of the drum kit.

A duel! The entire piece was a constant duel!

Vocals were dueling with the music; within the music, rhythm and melody were dueling!

The sparks of passion collided and splattered in all directions, making one's skin feel scorching hot.

"Tonight!

Let your dreams take flight, transcend reality.

Falling into depression and despair is nothing more than wasting life!

Filled with confusion, losing oneself, trapped and lost in thoughts."

Lin Feng used virtually his entire body's strength in his performance.

He withstood the combo attack from Winnie and Li Can.

Like a brave warrior in a desperate plight, charging straight through roaring, blazing flames!

"Pain comes day after day, never fading, yet still longing for the unreachable to arrive!

For those wasted and passing lives, agonizing in those lost and depressed gloomy years!

We grit our teeth and press forward with heavy loads!"

The audience below was immensely excited.

Though titled *Malignant Power*, this music was brimming with the power of light and courage.

This rock was truly wicked—it gave the audience no breathing room, delivering intense stimulation in wave after wave.

High energy from start to finish!

"Holy shit! Holy shit!"

Shouts and screams finally ignited completely within the Conservatory Theater.

The audience, who had been eagerly anticipating this performance from the start, watched with brilliant, excited gleams in their eyes.

Such vitality, such passion.

This fucking is rock and roll!

"Ahhhhh!!"

amidst the cheers, as the chorus ended, Lin Feng finally took a few heavy breaths to rest and slowly stepped back two steps.

However, the true impact had only just begun!

Wearing high heels, Winnie was clad in a black-and-red leather jacket. She strummed the guitar chords rapidly and, amid the tempo shifts of Li Can's drumming, prepared herself fully.

Stepping onto the monitor speaker, she proudly tossed her golden hair, her red lips burning like fire.

Under the bright spotlight, she thrust her guitar slightly forward and began her jaw-dropping display of skill!

That blindingly fast string-picking and tapping.

Wide-span fingering, effortless use of the whammy bar.

Constantly switching between standard-grip and reverse-grip fretting, vibrato, and strumming!

Even someone who knew nothing about the guitar would shout "holy shit" upon seeing this!

And the beast-like heavy drumbeats pressed in even closer. Amidst the dazzling dance steps of the guitar, it was quite literally a scene of a brave warrior battling a wicked dragon!

This level of technique completely surpassed a normal person's imagination of the guitar!

And the nuclear-powered drummer had been hammering out these intense drumbeats continuously for seven minutes!

Walking around the stage perimeter, he returned to the front of the drum kit, leaned forward slightly toward Li Can, his eyes filled with absolute provocation.

Li Can's drum kit picked up speed once again, refusing to be outdone!

Even while keeping time with one hand and two feet, right in front of everyone, he spun one of his drumsticks in a flourish with his left hand before bringing it crashing down fiercely!

Everyone, man or demon, was showing off!

Not to mention Chen Gang's keyboards; even Han Jiayun's rhythm guitar and Zhao Ze's bass were playing so fast they were practically smoking, gritting their teeth as they accelerated to keep up.

This scene, reeking of gunpowder and paired with the passionate, screaming music, ignited the passion of the entire house.

Shouts and screams rolled like waves, unexpectedly becoming the background plate for the epic visual of the overall music, merging into one!

Yet just as this passion was nearing its climax, an accident occurred.

It seemed Winnie had exerted too much force.

The high E string of her electric guitar snapped with a loud *bang*!

A prolonged sound effect resembling a distorted strum echoed out.

The audience was still rocking out.

But the hearts of the six people on stage skipped a beat almost simultaneously.

Even the juniors backstage had their minds momentarily blanked out.

Winnie's face instantly turned pale white, her heart plunging to the bottom.

Without overthinking, Li Can suddenly altered his rhythm in a split second.

He tapped out a flurry of subtle drum fills, executing a embellishment to prolong the phrase.

Nobody froze; their professional instincts allowed everyone to react together.

Guided by Li Can's rhythm, they improvised on the spot, turning the ending chord abruptly into a half-cadence.

It was all improvisation.

And they all chose the exact same chord!

Following the beat's cue for the descent, Winnie's pupils constricted sharply, her fingers making a gliding leap!

They landed smoothly on the low E string, executing a fierce slide all the way down, scraping out a high-pitched distorted roar with the low E string, and swept it upward in a flourish.

A perfect finale!

At this moment, the chemistry of DP Band maxed out instantly, forcibly turning a stage disaster into a legendary iconic moment!

"Ahhhhhhh!!"

The audience below hadn't realized that such a thrilling stage accident had just occurred on stage; they simply applauded, screamed, and cheered wildly.

The juniors backstage were flushed red, shouting "holy shit!"

The flashing lights cast a wide floodlight, illuminating the six performers on stage.

Winnie was filled with a mix of excitement and lingering fear, breathing heavily from the extreme energy expenditure.

At this moment, with adrenaline surging, seeing Li Can's reassuring smile, Winnie could no longer suppress her emotions.

She stepped forward a few paces and kissed Li Can fiercely on the lips.

Feeling the fragrance and sweetness from those burning red lips, Li Can was stunned for just a second before standing up. Standing at 1.9 meters tall, he took the initiative to counter-attack, pulling Winnie straight into his embrace.

"Ahhh!"

This sight ignited the passion of the entire venue even further.

Only the other four band members stared dumbfounded at everything unfolding before them.

"Holy shit! Holy shit! Li Can! Are you fucking—?!"

"The fuck are you two doing?! Wait, what?!"

"What the fuck?! Huh?!"