Just as Lin Feng worried, the System's fear of the relevant departments was limited only to formalism.
As that stirring light of the ten-consecutive-draw scattered, placed before Lin Feng were nine neatly arranged [Thank You for Patronage]s, as well as that solitary one guaranteed pity item.
[Item: Coca-Cola (Bronze Rank)]
[Description: A bottle of carbonated beverage blessed by System laws. Mouthfeel is cool and clear, bubbles are sufficient. After drinking, can slightly repair vocal cord fatigue, acting to moisten the throat and brighten the voice for a short time.]
Lin Feng grasped this bottle of seemingly ordinary, yet actually added-with-BUFF Cola, and let out a long sigh.
"I just knew it... since there is Bronze Cola, then later will there also be Silver Cola, or even Gold Collector's Edition Cola?"
This System is simply secure in having backing and thus fearless.
However, this thing has little use for a "Guitar Mute" like himself; it could actually be given to Ren Yichen.
Although that guy is the band's lead singer, aside from that handsome face being capable of fighting, his singing skills are truly mediocre enough to make one's hair stand up in anger. Usually when not rehearsing, Ren Yichen almost never practices his voice, relying entirely on face value to hard-prop the scene. This bottle of "throat-moistening" Cola might be able to slightly save his timbre that is testing the edge of a Big White Voice.
...
One week later.
The rehearsal room late at night was empty of people; only that dim yellow overhead light was still shining.
Lin Feng sat alone on the speaker cabinet, holding in his arms that electric guitar which had already been broken in like a part of his body. During these seven days, he seemed to have entered a certain state of a Mad Demon. Aside from eating, sleeping, and attending class, the remaining time was all smashed into this place.
On the System panel, those progress bars that were once despair-inducing were now all completely filled.
"It is time to harvest."
Lin Feng took a deep breath and began to click those [Claimable] buttons one by one. This moment was no longer boring clicking, but a comprehensive evolution of bodily functions.
He clicked the first one: [Basic Strumming] — Reward: [Flowing Water Strumming (Bronze)].
A stream of warm heat instantly poured into his right wrist. The wrist joint, originally somewhat stiff and occasionally prone to stuttering, seemed to be injected with top-tier lubricating oil. He tried waving his right hand—the wrist was soft as if boneless yet full of vigor. That jerky feeling completely disappeared, replaced by a kind of muscle memory as smooth as a stream.
Immediately following was the second: [Single String Scale Grid Climbing] — Reward: [Swimming Snake Finger Method (Bronze)].
This time the numbing sensation was concentrated in the left hand's fingers. Lin Feng looked at his five fingers. They seemed to have become more slender and flexible. He pressed randomly on the fretboard; the fingers were no longer like clumsy sticks, but like five spirited little snakes, shuttling and swimming between the strings. The action of shifting positions was so fast it even brought out afterimages.
The third: [Rhythm Percussion Practice] — Reward: [Rock Solid Beat (Bronze)].
In this moment, the world changed in Lin Feng's ears. His heart seemed to turn into an absolutely precise metronome. No need to tap the beat with his foot, no need to listen to drum points; an instinct named "Groove" was deeply planted into his mind. Even if the rhythm was chaotic, he could still stick to that most accurate point, steady as a rock, without a fraction of error.
The fourth: [Fingerstyle Basics] — Reward: [Ten Fingers Connected to the Heart (Bronze)].
This was a connection of the nervous system. Lin Feng felt the signal delay between his brain and hands was thoroughly erased. Before, the brain thought of a melody, but the hands might not keep up. Now, as long as a thought moved, the fingers had already reacted on the strings. The guitar was no longer an external object, but an extension of the limbs.
The fifth: [Alternate Picking Basics] — Reward: [Rapid Current Pick (Bronze)].
A burst of stinging pain came from between the right thumb and index finger, subsequently transforming into a solid sense of stability. The force of pinching the pick was adjusted by the System to a micron-level precision. The up and down picking motions no longer had excess loss— every touch of the string was as precise, sharp, and rapid as a scalpel.
The last one: [Simple Melody Playback] — Reward: [Echo Auditory Sense (Bronze)].
Lin Feng's eardrums seemed to vibrate once. The originally noisy white noise in the air was filtered, a bird call in the distance was instantly disassembled in his mind into specific pitch and frequency. Absolute pitch, although only primary level, was sufficient to let him find the corresponding position on the fretboard after listening just once.
When all the light scattered, Lin Feng plucked the strings again.
A passage of extremely complex shredding poured out. No emotion, but terribly fast, amazingly accurate.
All basic skills were fully collected: quantitative change caused qualitative change.
The current him could be called the "King of Basics" without exaggeration. Any song that did not require extremely high artistic comprehension, but only needed Hard Bridge, Hard Horse fundamental skills, he could perfectly replicate.
"The so-called advanced techniques, put plainly, are the permutations and combinations of basics added to the brain's imagination." Lin Feng stopped his hand, appearing deep in thought. "No wonder that Xu Zhixia is so amazing. That girl has a pit in her brain."
Thinking of Xu Zhixia's unusual get-up, spying to get government secrets, Lin Feng nodded. "Usually, her brain-supplementing ability is different from ordinary people. This kind of pit, in the field of art, is actually a talent."
Just at this moment, the System panel vibrated with a boom. The original [Mortal Realm] characters shattered, transforming into golden light.
[Congratulations Host for completing all cultivation of the Guitar Dao (Mortal Stage)!]
[Guitar Dao (Foundation Establishment Stage) has opened!]
Lin Feng looked over excitedly, only to see the new interface was no longer a singular list, but had differentiated into several complex school branches.
[Fingerstyle Stream], [Improv Stream], [Shredding Stream]...
Within these branches, not only were the advanced versions of those previous Bronze skills scattered about—[Silver Level]—but many new skills that sounded full of style also appeared.
For example, under the [Fingerstyle Stream] branch was [Phantom Sound Harmonics Like a Bell (Silver)], and under the [Improv Stream] branch was [Seven Steps Into Poetic Intent (Silver)].
Looking at these progress bars that still required exploding liver, Lin Feng had not the slightest fear; instead, a raging flame ignited in his eyes.
"This is what Cultivating Immortality... oh no, Cultivating Music should look like!"