As the sun went down, Mei made her way to the commercial district to prepare for her performance. Tang San, Xiao Wu, and the rest of the dorm 7 students are also going to the commercial district to watch Mei's performance.
The commercial district hummed with the usual evening bustle – merchants hawking wares, the sizzle of street food, and the chatter of shoppers.
Yet, a palpable sense of anticipation hung in the air, thicker than the aroma of spices. Near a small, cleared space beside a lantern-lit fabric stall, a crowd was already gathering, whispering excitedly.
Tang San, Xiao Wu, Wang Shen, and the others from Dorm 7 squeezed through the growing throng, finding a spot with a decent view. Xiao Wu bounced on her toes, her rabbit ears twitching with excitement. "There she is! There's Mei!"
Mei stood calmly in the center of the cleared space. Gone was the modest academy uniform; she wore simple but elegant robes in soft shades of pink and silver that shimmered faintly in the lantern light.
Her bright pink hair was tied back neatly, emphasizing her focused expression. She took a deep, centering breath, her eyes closing briefly. When they opened, they held a serene determination that Tang San hadn't seen before.
A soft gasp rippled through the crowd nearest to her. Behind Mei, the air shimmered like heat haze. Then, it coalesced into a breathtaking sight: a miniature, ethereal stage materialized.
It glowed with a soft, starlight radiance – the Starlight Stage. Delicate silver filigree traced its edges, and tiny points of light, like captured stars, winked into existence across its surface, bathing the immediate area in a gentle, otherworldly luminescence.
The mundane sounds of the market seemed to hush instinctively around its perimeter.
The Performance: "Wake Up My Music"
'Showtime!' Ai's voice chirped internally, a spark of pure excitement. 'Fan counter primed! Let's light up this world, Mei!'
Mei took a final centering breath. The Starlight Stage pulsed, its starlight glow intensifying as she drew spirit power into her voice.
Then, she began, her voice effortlessly cutting through the marketplace din, clear and resonant as a mountain spring:
"Mainichi chigau watashi ni kizuiteru kana~"
(Do you notice how I'm different every day?)
"Anata to utau watashi ga ichiban kirei~"
(The me who sings with you is the most beautiful~)
The melody was bright, infectious, and utterly alien to Douluo's ears.
Yet, the emotion – the yearning for recognition, the joy of shared creation – transcended the unfamiliar syllables. As the song flowed, something extraordinary happened.
Tang San felt it first.
A subtle warmth bloomed in his dantian. His Mysterious Heaven Skill, usually requiring conscious meditation to cultivate, stirred on its own.
The ambient spirit energy around him seemed to vibrate in harmony with Mei's song, drawing itself towards him with unprecedented efficiency.
His cultivation energy didn't just replenish; it compressed, becoming denser, more potent, as if refined by the melody itself.
Shock warred with exhilaration within him. This song… it's improving my cultivation? How? Is it her spirit, the song itself, or…?
Beside him, Xiao Wu gasped softly.
A wave of profound, gentle pressure washed over her core – the restless energy of her 100,000-year spirit beast origin.
It didn't hurt; it felt like a comforting hand settling her fur, calming its wildness, suppressing its volatile signature without diminishing its power.
It was a sensation both startling and deeply reassuring. For the first time since taking human form, she felt… less exposed. Her pink eyes widened, fixed on Mei with a mixture of awe and newfound kinship.
The song continued, Mei's voice weaving through the upbeat rhythm, her movements light and expressive:
"Chiffon no blouse ni hizashi wo atsume tara~"
(When sunlight gathers on my chiffon blouse~)
"Tokimeki ga yokan ni naru~"
(My heartbeat becomes a premonition~)
"Senobi shita perfume hazumu kokoro mitai~"
(Like my leaping heart in elevated perfume~)
"Kaze no naka odotteru no~"
(Dancing in the wind~)
Tang San's initial wonder was tempered by a growing unease.
Something's not right.
The effect on his cultivation was undeniable, Xiao Wu's reaction was palpable, yet the crowd around him – Wang Shen, Shen Li, the merchants, the children – swayed and smiled, utterly enraptured, showing no signs of the profound physical changes he and Xiao Wu were experiencing.
Why us? Is it our unique circumstances? Or is the effect subtler on others? The dissonance nagged at him, a puzzle he couldn't solve amidst the enchanting melody.
The feeling intensified – the problem, the key, was radiating from the girl on the glowing stage.
As Mei reached the soaring chorus, the Starlight Stage flared, stars winking brightly:
"Anata no hidari gawa de kasanete itai rhythm~"
(I want to overlap our rhythm on your left side~)
"Mezameru tabi ni koi shiyou~"
(Let's fall in love every time we wake up~)
"Mainichi chigau watashi ni kizuiteru kana~"
(Do you notice how I'm different every day?~)
"Kinou yorimo kakujitsu ni suki ni natteku~"
(I'm becoming more surely in love than yesterday~)
"Hora, kikoete kuruyo sweet music~"
(Listen, can you hear it? Sweet music!~)
"Volume wo agetara wake up, love!~"
(Turn up the volume and wake up, love!~)
The crowd erupted in cheers at the infectious energy.
Tang San pushed his unease aside, swept up in the undeniable power and beauty of the performance.
He watched Mei's connection with the audience, her pure joy radiating outwards. The song built to its climax, a cascade of heartfelt emotion and vibrant sound:
"Gyutto heart no kokyuu ga yorisou toki~"
(When our heartbeats synchronize tightly~)
"Nee, suteki na oto ni kawaru~"
(Hey, it turns into a wonderful sound~)
"Zutto futari rashii uta, kikasete~"
(Let me hear a song that's like us forever~)
"Mezameru tabi ni koi shiyou~"
(Let's fall in love every time we wake up~)
The final notes hung in the air, pure and bright, before fading with the last gentle pulse of the Starlight Stage.
Silence held for a breathless moment – then thunderous applause crashed over Mei. Tang San, Xiao Wu, and the entire Dorm 7 group clapped fervently, their earlier shocks momentarily forgotten in the shared euphoria.
[System Update!]
Performance Complete!
Soul Power +1 (Total: 18)
New Fans Added: 42 (Total: 340)
Skill Proficiency: "Resonant Voice" Lv.2 → Lv.3
Special Effect Triggered: "Cultivation Harmony" (Minor Boost/Stabilization)
Special Effect Triggered: "Beast Calm" (Suppression/Calming)
Idol God Trial Progress: 1/9 (Gather 500 True Fans)
'A double debut! The crowd's buzzing like happy bees!' Ai chirped internally. 'And look at those special effects! Your voice is literally harmonizing with the world's energy!'
"WOW! MEI!" Xiao Wu yelled, bouncing forward as the applause began to subside, her earlier shock replaced by pure, unadulterated excitement.
"That was amazing! Please, please, sing another one! Something pretty! Like… like bells ringing!"
Mei laughed, her face flushed with exertion and happiness from the system's feedback and the crowd's adoration. "Alright, alright, Xiao Wu. One more."
She smiled warmly at the eager faces. "This one is called… 'Love Goes On'." She closed her eyes for a second, drawing spirit power once more. The Starlight Stage shimmered back to life, its light softer, more ethereal now.
Then, she began a new song. The melody was different – gentler, flowing like water, imbued with a profound sense of hope and resilience. The language was again utterly foreign, a cascade of liquid syllables unknown in Douluo:
"Kibou no Kane Oto"
"Yume no owari o negau no wa naze?" (Why do you wish for the end of dreams?)
"Arehateta basho ni mo hana wa saku no ni" ( Even in desolate places, flowers bloom.)
"Nanairo no kaze nanairo no sora" (Seven-colored wind, seven-colored sky)
"Kibou wa sekai ni afureteru no ni" (Hope is overflowing in the world, yet)
As the first verse of "Kibou no Kane Oto" unfolded, Tang San's analytical mind, still reeling from the cultivation boost and Xiao Wu's reaction, locked onto the most glaring anomaly yet.
The language. Utterly alien.
A symphony of unfamiliar sounds, completely divorced from the common tongue of Douluo or any regional dialect he knew existed.
The villagers, his dad, and grandpa Jack, who taught him some basic knowledge on language never mentioned any other language.
Basic academy texts confirmed linguistic unity across the continent's human settlements.
A rural village girl simply would not know this, let alone sing with such flawless fluency and heartbreaking emotional depth.
Two possibilities, his logical mind instantly supplied.
One: a reclusive, foreign master taught her. But where? And why teach only songs? Why not the language itself for communication?
The idea felt flimsy, a desperate stretch to avoid the obvious. The sheer depth of cultural nuance woven into the melody and her delivery – the specific cadences, the subtle inflections conveying longing and hope – felt intrinsic, not learned.
It resonated with the same profound authenticity as her offhand comment about reincarnation.
Two: This is the language of her past life. The thought struck with the force of a falling hammer.
He looked around. Wang Shen swayed, eyes closed, a serene smile on his lips. Shen Li hummed along softly, clearly grasping the uplifting message. An old merchant wiped away a tear, moved by the tale of tears turning to stars. Xiao Wu was utterly spellbound.
Everyone understands. Not just the surface emotion – they absorbed the narrative, the specific hope in the lyrics, as clearly as if Mei sang in their mother tongue.
This wasn't translation; it was transcendence. Her spirit, her voice, her very presence bridged the gap, conveying meaning soul-to-soul.
The cascade of evidence solidified into unshakeable certainty:
Unnatural Insight: Spotting his potential, mentioning reincarnation casually – knowledge inaccessible to a village child.
Alien Concept: "Idol" – a structured, performance-based dream utterly foreign to Douluo's power-centric society.
Otherworldly Discipline: The extreme regimen focused on "stage presence" and physique , as well as extreme self-control screamed decades of specialized training, not village life or even typical noble upbringing.
Spirit Power Anomaly: Her songs directly catalyzed his cultivation, might be a skill she learn from her previous life,
Linguistic Impossibility: Fluency in an unknown tongue.
It's not just clues anymore, Tang San realized, his heart hammering against his ribs with a fierce, almost painful hope that shattered his usual icy caution.
It's a pattern. An undeniable signature. The language wasn't just evidence; it was the keystone.
The "foreign master" theory crumbled under its weight and the sheer lived-in authenticity of her performance. Only one explanation fit all the pieces with terrifying perfection.
His eyes remained fixed on Mei as her voice soared on the hopeful chorus, the Starlight Stage painting her in soft, ethereal rainbows.
She wasn't just singing 'a' song; she was singing her song. The longing, the displacement, the fierce determination to shine anew – it wasn't acted. It was remembered. It was the echo of a life lived elsewhere.
She is like me.
The conviction was absolute now, a solid rock in the sea of his loneliness. A soul reborn. From another world.
The secret he'd guarded since infancy suddenly felt less like a crushing weight and more like… a potential bridge. The profound isolation eased, replaced by a desperate yearning for connection, for someone who knew.
He needed to speak to her. Alone. After this song.