Aside from the opening of the [Guitar Dao (Foundation Establishment Stage)], at the edge of the system panel, several other originally dim "Paths" also faintly glowed with luster.
[Bass Dao], [Drum Dao], [Keyboard Dao], [Suona Dao]... and the one Lin Feng's gaze lingered on the longest—[Vocal Dao].
Lin Feng rubbed his chin, falling into deep thought.
Although he was currently the lead guitarist in the band, the foundation of this band was actually very fragile—that "Eternal Padlock," which could explode at any moment due to a "Green Hat Incident," was like a ticking time bomb. If Ren Yichen and Shen Linyin really fell out, there was a high probability this band would disband on the spot.
"Preparing for rain before it falls..." Lin Feng calculated in his heart, "If the band scatters, and I want to form my own 'Harem... no, Dream Team,' just knowing how to play guitar probably won't be enough to hold the fort. To possess absolute right of speech in this circle, the position of lead singer must be held in hand."
Thinking of this, Lin Feng felt his current guitar level at the Mortal Stage could be counted as a Hexagon Warrior, sufficient to deal with the current situation.
"System, pause the cultivation of the Guitar Dao, switch to [Vocal Dao]."
As his intention moved, those flashy advanced guitar skills that had just been unlocked were instantly all locked up, turning gray-white. Replacing them was a list of new tasks pouring down like a waterfall.
[Vocal Path (Mortal Stage) Opened] [Current Host Vocal Talent Rating: A Broken Gong with Five Tones Incomplete (Extremely Poor)]
Before even looking at the tasks, this rating sentence almost made Lin Feng spray out a mouthful of old blood.
Immediately after, the task list unfolded:
[Breath Control Practice (0/96 hours)] — Reward: Long Breath (Bronze)
[Pitch Correction Bombing (0/48 hours)] — Reward: Precise Pitch Sense (Bronze)
[Diaphragm Strength Training (0/72 hours)] — Reward: Iron Lung Prototype (Bronze)
[Head Resonance Search (0/60 hours)] — Reward: Transparent High Notes (Bronze)
[Vocal Cord Closure Practice (0/50 hours)] — Reward: Magnetic Voice (Bronze)
[Posture Alignment Conditioning (0/40h)]— Reward: Vocal Axis Stabilization (Bronze)
[Basic Tone Sustain Drills (0/80h)]— Reward: Steady Fundamental (Bronze)
[Range Expansion Stress Test (0/90h)]— Reward: Elastic Vocal Range (Bronze)
[Vowel Shaping Repetition (0/60h)]— Reward: Clear Articulation (Bronze)
[Consonant Impact Training (0/45h)]— Reward: Sharp Diction (Bronze)
[Ear–Voice Synchronization (0/70h)]— Reward: Internal Reference Pitch (Bronze)
[Breath–Tone Coordination Trial (0/85h)]— Reward: Unified Airflow (Bronze)
[Anti-Strain Conditioning (0/55h)]— Reward: Steel Protected Throat (Bronze)
So many?
Lin Feng looked at that leading "96 hours," and his whole person was shocked.
"System, is your arithmetic bad? The Mortal Stage tasks for the Guitar Path, the longest was only 48 hours; how come when it gets to singing, it directly doubles?"
The system's reply was cold and pierced the heart:
[Replying to Host, before binding the system, you had a certain guitar foundation. Although it was rotten, you could at least distinguish the frets. But in terms of vocals, your foundation is negative. As the saying goes, the clumsy bird flies first; because your wings are relatively heavy, you need to fly a bit longer.]
Lin Feng: "..."
What kind of ghost adjective is "heavy wings"? Isn't it just disliking that my singing is ugly?
He subconsciously glanced at that solitary bottle of [Coca-Cola (Bronze Rank)] in his backpack.
Originally, he thought about whether using this thing on Ren Yichen could help him move on from mediocrity. Now it seemed, how was this a fine gift? This was clearly life-saving medicine prepared by the system for himself.
To complete these several hundred hours of dull voice practice, it would be strange if his throat didn't smoke. This bottle of Cola that could "moisten the throat and repair" was probably meant to be kept to extend his own life.
"Sigh, just endure it slowly."
Lin Feng sighed, packed up his guitar, shouldered the gig bag, and prepared to leave the rehearsal room.
It was already late at night, and the corridor was quiet.
Just as Lin Feng walked to the door and his hand touched the door handle, the door lock suddenly turned.
Someone?
Lin Feng subconsciously took a step back.
The door was pushed open a crack, and a sneaky figure, looking like a thief, probed half a body inside.
That person hunched their waist, tipped their toes, held a guitar in hand, and wore a pair of giant sunglasses on their face in the middle of the night, seemingly preparing to infiltrate this empty rehearsal room.
Four eyes met.
The air solidified for three seconds.
Borrowing the light from the corridor, Lin Feng recognized the newcomer—it was precisely "Starry Sky Band's" female guitarist, Xu Zhixia.
Xu Zhixia obviously hadn't expected there to be someone inside so late, and for it to be Lin Feng, whom she unilaterally viewed as a Destined Enemy.
She maintained the posture of poking her head in, blinking stiffly.
Discovered?
Awkward? A normal person would definitely be awkward.
But Xu Zhixia was not a normal person.
One only saw her suddenly straighten her waist. The panic on her face vanished instantly, replaced by an extremely artificial High Cold. She fiercely flicked her long hair, didn't speak, and acted as if nothing had happened just now, directly performing a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn on the spot.
The movement was as stiff as an NPC whose motion module hadn't loaded properly.
Then, she took mechanical steps, walking toward the other end of the corridor with same-side arm and leg movements, as if she were just passing by here to do a turning exercise.
Lin Feng stood at the door, watching her back figure that was full of "Robot Style" disappear at the stairwell, his head full of question marks.
"What exactly did she come to do?"
Wanted to come and eavesdrop? Or wanted to cause destruction? Or simply went to the wrong door?
But looking at that appearance of a guilty thief forcibly acting cool...
Lin Feng suddenly remembered his comprehension on the Guitar Dao just now, and then associated it with Xu Zhixia's amazing guitar skills.
"Sure enough, God is fair."
Lin Feng silently shed tears of sympathy for this genius girl in his heart.
"Gave her peerless guitar talent, but took away her brain and social ability... This is the so-called 'Sacrificial Stream' guitarist, right?"