For this question, he thought briefly and then felt enlightened.
Last time at the restaurant, Lin Sisi had been following him around, calling him "Brother Xiao Man," so it wasn’t strange that she called him that now.
Zhang Xiaoman didn’t know magic; he knew "Magic." Now, if he had to show something, he needed to think hard about what kind of "magic trick" to perform.
The "magic trick" couldn’t appear too weak, yet shouldn’t be too absurd, like summoning a Star Guard directly, which would clearly be too much. It needed to be a bit more low-key.
A series of thoughts flashed through his mind, and when he saw the lighter in Chu Liang’s hand, Zhang Xiaoman immediately had an idea.
"I need to use that lighter for a moment, can I?"
He made his request, eyes turning to the owner of the lighter in the audience.
The owner didn’t expect that the other party could also perform a similar magic trick. Full of anticipation, he immediately nodded in agreement.
Seeing this, Chu Liang suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Oh man, big brother, it’s a magic show, not a street dance PK. You’re not really going to battle me, are you? How is this so coincidental? You know how to do a trick with a lighter too? How did I walk right into this!"
Chu Liang was incredibly nervous now, feeling his face beginning to ache faintly.
Zhang Xiaoman, unaware of his rich inner thoughts, pointed the lighter towards the people and ignited the flame, starting directly without any preamble.
Chu Liang, seeing this scene, felt stupefied. That’s not right; how can this big brother start without warming up the crowd? Not saying a word, who does magic ? That was way too direct.
The audience also felt something was strange, as if the magic trick was missing something. In two words, it was "monotonous."
However, this thought had only just arisen for a moment before it was replaced by surprise.
All of a sudden the man stretched out his right hand, clawed his fingertips towards the flame on the lighter and just placed his fingers on it, letting it burn without showing any sign of pain.
Of course, Zhang Xiaoman wasn’t really burning his hand on the fire; the moment he extended his hand, he had already turned off the lighter. What he now held in his hand was a flame created by the Dark Energy Formula.
"Wow, doesn’t that dude feel pain? Or is it that the lighter is actually faulty? Maybe the fire is fake?"
"It must be fake! Just like Chu Liang earlier, that fire kept burning even when placed in water!"
"Exactly, this must have been arranged by the show organizers beforehand. The guy who provided the lighter must be a plant; otherwise, why would both performers use his lighter?"
Below the stage, the owner of the lighter felt depressed on hearing others calling him a plant.
He tried explaining to the people around him, but no one believed him, even his close friends quietly asked him when he had colluded with the show organizers.
Meanwhile, Zhang Xiaoman disregarded their reactions and began to manipulate the flame according to the plan he had in mind.
He suddenly pinched his right hand, and under the astonished gaze of the audience, he plucked the flame right off the lighter.
"The fire... was pulled up...?"
Someone murmured, feeling bewildered by the scene unfolding before their eyes.
Zhang Xiaoman didn’t even look up as he pocketed his lighter and began manipulating the flames with his hands, shaping them as if he were molding clay into various forms.
The audience, having witnessed this scene, those who had initially insisted the lighter was rigged shut their mouths, realizing that he wasn’t even using the lighter now, and surely a lighter couldn’t be manipulated remotely.
Naturally, those in the audience who were oblivious only felt amazement, but Chu Liang at the side was truly dumbfounded.
The skill the other party demonstrated was simply like magic, and he could find no possible flaws.
"Master... truly a master! No, no, I must find a way to apprentice myself to him!"
He had already firmly decided in his heart, his earlier doubts about the other’s techniques and stage control already cast aside.
Joking aside, this was a master, a real master; did he even need those superficial tricks? Just showing off the skill was enough!
The surrounding crowd reacted in various ways, but Zhang Xiaoman paid them no mind, being no performer himself and naturally not inclined to cater to the audience with explanations.
Frankly, he was just whimsically accompanying the young girl to participate in an interactive program today. As for this so-called magic, it was merely him accommodating a request, casually showing a few tricks.
Next, the audience witnessed the most unforgettable magic performance they’d ever seen.
The flames in his hands were like substance, continually molded into different shapes, until finally, they transformed into a little dragon, which began to move on its own, as if it had come to life.
Zhang Xiaoman raised his hand, and the flame dragon spiraled around in his palm before suddenly shooting up into the sky, scattering into sparkles before disappearing.
After performing these acts, Zhang Xiaoman didn’t bow or offer any thanks; he simply returned the lighter to its owner and made his way back to the stage.
The audience only snapped back to reality then, bursting into vigorous applause, accompanied by cheers and acclaim.
From the final effect, it was clear that the outcome of this PK was evident.
"Wow! That was incredible! I didn’t expect such a deity hidden among us at the live event, I’m truly impressed!" said a member of the Blue Team.
"Amazing, amazing! At first, I was wondering if Chu Liang was exaggerating. How could such a young magic master actually exist..."
The celebrity known as King said:
"But now, I realize I was wrong. Today I truly saw something eye-opening, that dragon at the end genuinely scared me! If I didn’t know this was a magic act, I would have thought it was real!"
A female guest from the Red Team also ran over, looking curiously at Zhang Xiaoman.
"Brother Man, can you tell us how you did that? It was just too cool!"
"Ahem, ahem, Lili, that’s a trade secret, I can’t disclose it," Chu Liang quickly said.
Faced with the amazement and questions from a host of celebrities, Zhang Xiaoman was sparing with his words, not saying much.
His expression was calm, showing no signs of stage fright or any superfluous actions, as if he was completely out of place on the stage.
He was very clear about his role; he was just a lucky audience member participating in an off-stage interaction, not here to perform. He had no interest in their banter, and would simply leave when the game ended. It was that simple.
Lin Sisi was not good at socializing either, so naturally, she didn’t say much. After a bit of teasing among the guests, the third segment officially began.