Chapter 355: The Great Human Transformation

The black veil hid Chen Ling's expression. If anyone could see through it, they would see that Chen Ling had "I want to perform" written all over his face. But his feigned reluctance only further fueled Wu Shaohua's confidence.

"What's inappropriate about it? Are you scared??" Wu Shaohua snorted coldly. "That pathetic opera singer from earlier only got three points. If you're afraid you can't beat me, just say so. Kowtow and apologize to me right now, and I can pretend everything that just happened never occurred."

"This... it's mainly the judges... wouldn't it be against the rules?"

"Judges, what do you think?"

Wu Shaohua looked at the judges. The six judges had subtle expressions. They exchanged glances... By rights, a contestant who hadn't signed up couldn't perform on stage, but... Wu Shaohua had paid way too much.

"Since they are both young people with dreams, let's give them a stage," Supervisor Zhou said with a chuckle. "But let's be clear, the score won't count toward the final selection. Everyone, just watch for fun."

The whispers among the crowd grew louder.

"Brother Lin, what are you doing..." Li Qingshan, standing to the side, felt incredibly anxious seeing this.

The development of events was completely beyond Li Qingshan's expectations. He looked at Chen Ling in red, unable to understand why he would deliberately provoke Wu Shaohua... Could it be to stand up for him?

"You can't agree, you absolutely cannot agree... Brother Lin..." Li Qingshan prayed silently in his heart.

Liu Qingyan, huddled in the corner, also frowned involuntarily, looking at Chen Ling with confusion, wondering what he was thinking.

Under the gaze of everyone,

Chen Ling thought for a moment, appearing troubled, then nodded.

"...Then, let's perform a piece!"

The dark clouds on Wu Shaohua's face vanished instantly. He sneered at Chen Ling, stepped off the stage, and cleared a space for him. "Please?"

After saying this, he gave the six judges below a look, and they understood immediately.

In full view of everyone, the figure draped in bright red opera robes first walked to the wall to turn off the lights above the audience, then, under the confused gazes of the crowd, walked up the steps unhurriedly, finally standing under the spotlight, smiling at everyone.

Except for the theater in his mind, Chen Ling hadn't stood on a stage for a long time. Although this one was crude and small, at least there were living audience members, not black shadows with glowing red eyes... This gave him a long-lost sense of familiarity and ease.

Seeing Chen Ling on stage, Supervisor Zhou said in a deep voice:

"You're an opera singer, right? What role do you play? What script?"

"Me? I don't sing opera."

“……？”

The crowd frowned. They looked at Chen Ling, their expressions seemingly displeased. Just as they were about to say something, Chen Ling's voice sounded again:

"However, I can do other performances."

"What?"

Chen Ling's mouth curled slightly, and he said, enunciating each word:

"The Great Human Transformation."

[Audience Expectation +3]

"The Great Human Transformation?" Wu Shaohua below sneered. "So he's just a magician in opera robes? It's just deceptive sleight of hand. I'd like to see what kind of tricks you can pull off with such a boring performance."

The crowd below also felt a bit bored upon hearing this. Magic performances were nothing new in the Red Dust Realm; they had figured them out decades ago. It was just a boring trick that could only fool children.

The judges exchanged glances and said calmly, "You may begin."

Chen Ling nodded.

"I need a judge to assist me... Supervisor Zhou, would you mind?"

Supervisor Zhou was slightly taken aback. Although he had no interest in this performance, seeing everyone looking at him, he hesitated for a moment before getting up and walking onto the stage... He wanted to see what tricks this man in red was trying to pull.

Supervisor Zhou stood still beside Chen Ling and said impatiently, "Speak, then what? How are you going to make me disappear?"

Chen Ling placed a hand on his shoulder, facing him toward the area below the stage. The seven judge seats faced him, two of which were empty, and behind them was a sea of dark audience seats.

"Supervisor Zhou, if you give me a name, I can make that person, along with their personal belongings, appear. Do you believe me?"

As soon as these words were out, surprise appeared in everyone's eyes, and Supervisor Zhou was also stunned...

Even though they were veteran judges who had seen countless performances, this was the first time they had heard of such an absurd magic trick. Other people's "human transformations" were about making someone nearby disappear and reappear; they had never heard of summoning someone by name, complete with their personal belongings!

If he could really do this, it would only mean Supervisor Zhou was his accomplice, but Supervisor Zhou definitely couldn't be... This immediately piqued everyone's interest.

"Of course, the person you name must be real, and they cannot be too far away," Chen Ling added.

"I don't believe it." Supervisor Zhou shook his head decisively.

"Give me a name."

Supervisor Zhou's gaze swept across the front, a certain name popped into his mind, and he subconsciously said, "If you're so capable, make Supervisor Sun appear."

As soon as this was said, the whispers below grew louder. The judges' expressions were subtle, looking at Chen Ling on stage with half-smiles.

Chen Ling, however, was not surprised... Or rather, everything was under his control.

Before crossing over, Chen Ling had encountered many top-tier magicians and learned quite a few tricks, some of which were called "psychological magic," such as guessing numbers, suits, or other predictive tricks... The principle behind these tricks was ultimately very simple: psychological suggestion.

Before Chen Ling went on stage, he had already turned off all the lights above the audience, so looking down from the stage, the only bright area was where the seven judges sat; everything behind was pitch black. This would subconsciously limit people's focus to the visible area in front of them. This was also why Chen Ling had to put his hand on his shoulder to adjust Supervisor Zhou's perspective to the center.

At the same time, among the seven judges, Supervisor Sun's absence was the most striking. Recently, whenever that name was mentioned or heard, it would be etched into their subconscious. And with Chen Ling adding the condition that "the distance cannot be too far," it further locked in the answer Supervisor Zhou was about to give.

On the surface, Chen Ling gave Supervisor Zhou the initiative, but in reality, from beginning to end, he had only left Supervisor Zhou with one option... This was the wonder of "psychological magic."

Getting Supervisor Zhou's answer, Chen Ling's mouth curled slightly... He swept his gaze across the area below the stage and said slowly:

"Then... the magic begins."

[Audience Expectation +3]