The lights in the theater seemed to come alive, flooding the entire space with their glow as the music faded. The golden light flowed across the black marble floor like whispering streams in the night.

In the back rows of the audience.

"I thought this classroom was testing art, but it turns out it's actually testing the destruction of art. It seems the destruction of art is itself an art form..."

Lanqi Wilford exhaled, his voice carrying both understanding and a sense of liberation, as if freed from some constraint.

He was now smiling confidently, seemingly eager to show his skills to his classmates on stage.

"..."

Huberrian Alansar turned her head to observe Lanqi's state, feeling uneasy.

It seemed he had gained another valuable lesson from this demon academy.

While others might have come to challenge the Shadow World,

Lanqi had truly come to learn.

Logically, Lanqi's "whole-hearted" attitude toward life should be praiseworthy, but... she couldn't quite pinpoint what troubled her.

"Take care of yourself later."

Lanqi stood up and dropped these words as he passed by Huberrian, then walked down the red-carpeted steps toward the stage.

"Alright."

Huberrian responded.

With her current spell library, she wasn't well-suited for this exam.

But as an acrobatic support type, the stranger the situation, the more reassuring Lanqi's spell library became to her.

Theoretically, Lanqi would perform before her, and after he passed, they could exchange purple-grade and below Magic Cards in the audience, reorganizing their spell libraries to help Huberrian pass as well.

The music assessment had already passed its midpoint, and the classroom was filled with an atmosphere of silence intertwined with anticipation. Students confident in their abilities had mostly finished their performances.

Those remaining were either students lacking in skill or the final star performers.

Since the last few performances, there had been a wait between each act before another demon student volunteered to take the stage.

So this time, when the presiding teacher saw Lanqi quickly stand up and raise his hand to signal his readiness to perform, a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

Accompanied by the echo of unhurried footsteps in the theater,

It wasn't long before Lanqi arrived on stage, his figure particularly eye-catching under the theater lights, his presence seeming to blend into the entire performance environment, drawing all eyes to him.

"Are you ready?" asked the presiding teacher standing beside Lanqi.

Generally, before the exam begins, students can raise any compliant requests or questions to the presiding teacher, as is the case in any exam setting, so the teacher inquired first.

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If the student had no questions, then the official 2-minute performance countdown could begin, and the student would be granted permission to freely use magic on stage.

"May I ask, if one could gain the approval of all four music mentors simultaneously, would there be any reward?" Lanqi asked, nodding slightly with curiosity and confusion.

"In the course design, there's no scenario where all four of them could approve simultaneously," the presiding teacher replied, looking at him and shaking his head with a smile that carried a hint of unspoken authority.

"But what if such a situation did occur?"

"It's not written in the guidelines, not because this situation is hidden or overlooked, but because some combinations of the approval conditions for the four music mentors are clearly contradictory and impossible to achieve simultaneously."

The presiding teacher's voice gradually lowered.

For instance, no music could be simultaneously raucous enough to lull the Sleeping Magic Spirit to sleep while also possessing the eeriness to gain the approval of the Mutated Toxic Body and the passionate atmosphere desired by the Ghost Armor.

"Throughout the years, no student, no matter how excellent, has managed to gain the approval of all four music mentors at once," the presiding teacher added, hoping Lanqi would understand his meaning—their course design was not to be questioned.

"Teacher, I believe I can really do it," Lanqi said, looking directly at the presiding teacher.

"If you could accomplish that, it would indeed prove that our exam design has a flaw, and that your musical ability is beyond our comprehension. You could even say it would be a waste of talent for you to just become a music mentor."

The presiding teacher's words seemed to mock Lanqi's presumptuousness.

After all, this was a public performance being watched by many important figures in the demon world. For a student to repeatedly question the rules was tantamount to sabotage.

"If approved by all four music mentors, you will be directly appointed as a teacher in our music department. Is that satisfactory?" the presiding teacher announced, raising his voice slightly as he looked towards the audience, then turned to Lanqi and asked.

As his words fell, a rustling of laughter spread through the audience below the stage.

"Are you sure, teacher? And what if after the performance, the music mentors aren't rational enough to make a judgment?" Lanqi inquired.

"This is the Demon King's Granted Theater, watched over by the Magic Eye, and the performance is being observed by demon nobility. If anyone dares to go back on their word on this stage, even I, as the head of the music department of this academy, wouldn't have enough lives to pay for it. Moreover, if the music mentors are unable to judge, for example, if Mr. Sleeping Magic Spirit falls asleep, I will make the judgment on his behalf based on the standards he reported to the academy before the performance. You can rest assured about the fairness."

The presiding teacher spoke while looking at the Magic Eye in the center of the theater above, and handed the microphone to Lanqi, feeling somewhat amused.

"Well then, do you have any more questions?"

"No more questions. We can begin," Lanqi replied as he took the microphone, adjusted his collar, and walked to the center of the stage.

His gaze had completely changed, as if he were a rising star about to shine in the demon world.

Once on this stage and within the performance time, any magic could be used.

Without hesitation, Lanqi summoned the [Great Love Poet].

At his call, a gray-haired beauty in a deep red gown appeared on stage, accompanied by a fragrant mist.

She opened her eyes as if waking from a dream, her hair and dress hem swaying gently, like a soft summer ballad or the rustling autumn mountain breeze, instantly captivating many demons in the audience.

The Great Love Poet's bright eyes surveyed the theater, as if understanding something, with a hint of regret or joy at the corners of her mouth. She didn't open her mouth to influence any beings with her magical voice.

Since the summoning spell itself is considered a type of magic, there was no issue with summoning a familiar bound by a soul contract during the performance.

"You'll be the lead singer. It's time to show the four mentors and our classmates the results of our learning," Lanqi said as he handed the microphone to the Great Love Poet.

The Great Love Poet smiled radiantly, nodding slightly, her eyes sparkling with unmatched confidence.

Lanqi then approached a demon world instrument resembling a piano, sat down gracefully and composedly, and lifted the lid.

In the distance below the stage.

When Huberrian Alansar saw that it was the Great Love Poet holding the microphone, she instinctively wanted to run away.

She couldn't even imagine what would happen in the theater if this being went all out with her singing!