“They have caught sight of Zhao Ya?”
The one who had sent him the message was none other than his father, Sword Saint Xing!
“Did they… manage to get here as well?” Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up.
From his experience in the previous three dimensions, he had found that he was unable to send messages to everyone else. Could the reason that his Communication Jade Token had suddenly begun trembling be due to the fact that his parents, the Xingmeng Sword Saints, were in the same dimension as him, or was the restriction to send messages lifted in this dimension?
Zhang Xuan tapped his finger on the Communication Jade Token and swiftly crafted a message before sending it over. “Where are you all?”
A moment later, the Communication Jade Token lit up, and a line of words appeared. “Hall of Great Accomplishment, Pavilion of Warm Spring!”
“Pavilion of Warm Spring?” Zhang Xuan frowned.
Putting aside whatever pavilion his parents were in, he did not even know where the Hall of Great Accomplishment was!
“Let’s take a look around!” Zhang Xuan sighed deeply.
In any case, the Temple of Confucius was right ahead of him. Since his father was able to send him the exact name of their location, he should be able to find it with some looking around.
Hu Yaoyao looked at Zhang Xuan intently and asked, “Are we heading over as well?”
“Un. Given that we are already approaching the vicinity of the Temple of Confucius, it’s likely that we’ll encounter many powerful experts. If we encounter any danger later on, I want you to turn around and flee right away. There’s no need to worry about me, understand?” Zhang Xuan instructed sternly.
“Humph! You’re thinking that I’m a burden, aren’t you? While my cultivation hasn’t reached Great Sage yet, my fighting prowess is still decent. The reason I was captured back at the snow dimension is because they caught me by surprise with a soul attack!” Hu Yaoyao knew that Zhang Xuan was worried about her, but she still could not help but retort in displeasure.
Half a year ago, this fellow had still been a junior whom she could bully as she liked, but at that moment… she found that she could not keep up with him no matter how far she pushed herself, and this realization filled her with frustration.
“Of course not, there’s no way I would think of you as a burden. As long as you can flee quick enough in the face of trouble, there’s no way you would be a burden to me!” Zhang Xuan nodded in agreement.
It was such a nostalgic feeling to Hu Yaoyao, being stifled by that fellow’s words to the point that she felt like spurting blood.
The reason that she had said that her fighting prowess was decent was to tell him that she would be able to lend her a hand in times of danger; there was no way she was going to pull him back. Yet… all he could think of was having her escape so that she would not drag him down in battle!
Am I that useless in your eyes?
Hu Yaoyao gritted her teeth in fury. The next moment, however, she suddenly put on a provocative smile as she strutted toward Zhang Xuan in a manner that showed off her curvaceous body. With a seductive voice that would make any man’s heart pound, she purred, “Are you doubting my abilities? Shall we make a bet then?”
“A bet?”
“That’s right. I’ll perform a dance, and if your state of mind is affected by my dance, I want you to apologize to me. You’ll never say words like asking me to run whenever we encounter danger again. On the other hand, if you can remain unfazed by my dance, I’ll do whatever you tell me to do from now onward. I’ll not cause any trouble for you!” Hu Yaoyao eyed Zhang Xuan intently with her crescent eyes.
“Fine by me!” Seeing that Hu Yaoyao was insistent on the matter, Zhang Xuan nodded.
In truth, he was also interested to see what a pinnacle terpsichore was capable of. While Hu Yaoyao’s cultivation was lacking, she did inherit the highest heritage of the Terpsichore Guild headquarters, so it would indeed be foolish to simply disregard her capabilities.
“I’ll be starting then!”
With a simple step forward, Hu Yaoyao began her dance. In the blink of an eye, she seemed to have transformed into a lithe fairy from the heavens. Her graceful movements and ethereal disposition harmonized with one another to produce a charm that seemed to draw one’s soul in. One look was all it took for a man to fall under her spell, captured by her charisma.
Zhang Xuan had to admit that Hu Yaoyao’s figure was truly perfect, even among all the ladies that he had met so far. It was a balance so perfect that even the slightest bit more meat would make her appear plump, and the slightest bit less meat would make her appear thin. This was a symmetry that seemed to have come from the hands of the heavens themselves. While she could not switch into more beautiful clothes due to the environment, her slightest movement and subtle gestures seemed to electrify one’s soul over and over again.
“Not bad!” Zhang Xuan nodded in approval.
Hu Yaoyao’s confidence in her fighting prowess was not unfounded. Even though her cultivation was only at Saint 9-dan pinnacle, her dance could easily cause even Great Sage 2-dan Aureate Body realm cultivators to lose control of themselves.
While it did work for cultivators of both genders, it was particularly effective on male cultivators. Even Sempiternal realm male cultivators might fall for her terpsichorean art if they were caught off guard.
As the saying went, even the mightiest of heroes would find it hard to resist the charms of a beauty. In the very first place, Hu Yaoyao was an incredibly beautiful and charismatic individual as she was. Without resorting to terpsichorean arts, her disposition and demeanor carried the ability to draw others to her. Coupled with her dance, even with the limitations of her cultivation, she was still able to exude a charm that others would find hard to resist.
Of course, there was still a distinction between making her opponents succumb to her terpsichorean art and killing them.
Due to the limitations of her cultivation, she would have difficulties trying to leave even a mark on the body of Aureate Body realm cultivators even with a weapon in hand.
“You… are unaffected by my dance?”
As the dance came to an end, Hu Yaoyao’s movements slowly trailed to a beautiful stop. Looking at the clear, innocent eyes of the young man standing opposite of her, her posture could not help but slump in disappointment.
Due to her godsent appearance and figure, she had swiftly been chosen as an Inceptive Sage candidate shortly after entering the Terpsichore Guild headquarters. The reason that she had been given permission to enter the Temple of Confucius was because she had already mastered the highest heritage of the Terpsichore Guild headquarters, which granted her the ability to protect herself even when faced with Great Sage cultivators.
Given the abilities that she wielded, when she met Zhang Xuan once more, the thought of competing with him to determine who was superior immediately surfaced in her mind.
Back when she was still at the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy, she could not even begin to count how many men had fallen before her skirt. There were no male master teachers who would not view her in deference, fearing to cross her path.
The fellow standing before her, Zhang Xuan, was the only thick-headed oaf who was blind to her charms, viewing her as no different from anyone else.
She had thought that she would finally be able to faze this thick-headed oaf after inheriting the highest heritage of the Terpsichore Guild headquarters, but to her astonishment, the eyes of the thick-headed oaf were actually clearer than she remembered them being.
Bro, are you sure that your eyes are fine?
At that instant, Hu Yaoyao felt an urge to find a physician to check on his eyes.
Right when she was feeling utterly defeated, Zhang Xuan suddenly spoke. “Well, I have to admit that I was a little affected by it.”
“Really?” Hu Yaoyao’s eyes lit up, but the next moment, as if suspecting that Zhang Xuan was just trying to console her, she eyed him in skepticism. “I don’t see any traces of you being affected by my dance though…”
“Your Aerial Dance of Linglong was well-performed. You managed to capture the demeanor of a fairy soaring into the heavens perfectly, leaving the spectators with the feeling that they were in a dream.
“However, the flaws in your dance are very apparent as well. Firstly, your movements were too intentional. The charm of a fairy is accentuated not by flaunting her figure but through the transcendental air in her gestures and movements. What you should be focusing on is the ethereal and not the worldly!
“Secondly, the intent of your dance is too blatant. This causes cultivators to put up their defenses, making it harder than ever to breach their mental resilience…”
Without stopping to catch his breath, Zhang Xuan pointed out seventeen flaws. After which, he paused for a moment before carrying on. “How should I put this? The dance that you have performed earlier has simply too many flaws, such that I can’t watch on anymore. It leaves me feeling a little nauseated. Well, you also know that I’m a perfectionist, so…”
“You…”
Once again, Hu Yaoyao found herself on the verge of spurting blood.
Perfectionist? Perfectionist your damned head!
It’s one thing for you not to be mesmerized by my alluring dance, but you actually felt nauseated watching it…
Hu Yaoyao felt tears brimming in her eyes. All of a sudden, all she could see was hopeless despair ahead of her career as a terpsichore.
While others pleasure themselves by watching my dance, all you can see in my performance are flaws. If you continue being like this, I don’t think that we can hang out anymore!
“There’s no need to be disheartened,” Zhang Xuan said with a face so earnest that no one could fault him on his words. “These are the corrections I have made for the dance that you have just performed. As long as you study it, you should be able to further your terpsichorean art. This way… I guess your dance won’t be as nauseating to me anymore!”
“…” Hu Yaoyao rubbed her glabella in distress.
Why do I suddenly feel so tired?
It’s fortunate that I’m only friends with him. Honestly, I don’t think I could stand having a person with emotional intelligence as low as him as my significant other. Otherwise, with all the traumas and frustration that I would receive from interacting with him, it would just be a matter of time before I resorted to self-harm!
As stifled as Hu Yaoyao was feeling, she still quickly memorized the flaws and corrections that Zhang Xuan had stated.
Following which, she began to study his words closely. The more she pondered over his words, the more convinced she felt that he was right. His words were deep, but at the same time, they were simple and direct. Her body began to move along with his words, and once again, she performed the Aerial Dance of Linglong.
Her movements became faster and faster, and her gestures became more and more ethereal.
Hong long!
Some time later, a rush of zhenqi surged into her body. To her surprise, her Saint 9-dan bottleneck suddenly loosened at this moment, allowing her cultivation to surge right up to the Introspective Convalescence realm.
“I… actually made a breakthrough?” Hu Yaoyao’s body froze in astonishment.
Her eyes instinctively turned toward the young man with conflicting emotions rippling within them.
The young man was able to see through the flaws in her dance so easily, and just by following his directions, she could correct those flaws and advance her cultivation and terpsichorean art.
From the looks of it, it seemed like being useless to him… did not sound that bad anymore!
At the very least, she was able to receive his guidance.
Whatever! If he thinks I’m useless, so be it! I’ll just follow him and fish for a couple of pointers here and there. I’ll be spared from so much hard work just by leeching off him…
Just like that, Hu Yaoyao’s fighting spirit was ignited once more.
