Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 252 - 216: Tianmo Manmiao Dance_1

Chapter 252: Chapter 216: Tianmo Manmiao Dance_1

Theoretically speaking, Xuanwu Lake, situated on one side of Purple Gold Mountain, is a royal garden designated by the Jin Dynasty. Entry by officials or common people is strictly banned.

However, since Emperor Tai of Jin Dynasty moved the capital to Beijing, the restrictions on this garden have gradually relaxed. After two hundred years, no one in Nanjing City takes this garden ban seriously anymore.

The Xue Family’s luxury yacht is moored on the southern shore of Xuanwu Lake. This yacht has five decks. Compared to other yachts, it’s exceptionally spacious and is made of carefully selected materials. Its elaborately carved beams and painted rafters give it an antiquated charm.

In this era, the grandeur of this yacht is equivalent to that of a modern private luxury yacht.

Although there doesn’t seem to be anyone on the yacht, as soon as Li Xuan and Xue Yunrou step aboard, the yacht automatically leaves the shore and swiftly heads towards the center of the lake.

Once Li Xuan and Xue Yunrou have taken their seats on the high platform on top of the yacht, Li Xuan pushes the cage containing the Huoyun Phoenix and the Zhixuan Elixir towards Xue Yunrou: "These are for you."

Xue Yunrou well knew that Li Xuan ascended the Heavenly Ladder to bring these two gifts back for her. Therefore, she readily accepts these gifts without any hesitation.

She thinks this is pretty good, now she has a reason to give Li Xuan something valuable in the future.

However, she sets the Huoyun Phoenix aside and takes out the scroll next, "Brother Li, could you sign this? Why didn’t you sign it earlier?"

At this, Li Xuan looks slightly uncomfortable, "Sign it? Let’s not. I’ll write one for you after I practice and improve my calligraphy."

He has grown increasingly disgusted by his own unsightly handwriting but has not had the time to practice recently.

"You’ll definitely be writing more for me in the future," Xue Yunrou shakes her head, smiling, "However, I should keep this piece. No matter how well you write in the future, it won’t compare to this."

Having no choice, Li Xuan picks up the brush that Xue Yunrou handed him. Once he has signed his name on the scroll, Xue Yunrou joyfully places it in front of her to savor it in detail.

The handwriting on the scroll may lack uniform standards, being somewhat unconventional and unrestrained. However, it’s genuine and heartfelt which makes her feel warm just by looking at it.

Seeing Xue Yunrou engrossed in this, Li Xuan turns his gaze towards the birdcage beside them.

Back on the stage, he had noticed that the Divine Blood Azure Phoenix inside the cage was not in a good condition. Now, taking a closer look, he realizes the bird’s condition is worse than he initially thought.

It is extremely weak, its breath faint and its feathers dull. At this moment, it is merely remaining upright in the cage through sheer will.

Li Xuan, moved by this sight, opens the cage and reaches out for the Divine Blood Azure Phoenix. The bird does not resist his hand, and when Li Xuan touches its body, he finds the bird’s body under the feathers is extremely thin.

However, when Li Xuan takes out a bottle of clean water and some grains from the Sumi Ring to feed it, the Divine Blood Azure Phoenix does not move an inch, showing no intention of consuming the water and grain.

"Phoenixes are extremely proud," Xue Yunrou, who had put away the scroll by now, adds, "It must not have eaten for a long time since it was caught. Furthermore, it and the Huoyun Phoenix you gave me are likely mates. I suspect it was captured first, which got its mate into trouble too. It must be heartbroken and filled with regret, thus it has a mind to die."

Li Xuan vaguely understood that though Lun is of the Phoenix species, it is a divine bird whose strength and mana surpass those of the Phoenix.

During the reign of the Cheng Emperor of Zhou, the Di Qiang tribe offered a Lun bird, which, according to the notes in "Zhou Book · King Hui", is "bigger than the Phoenix."

However, Lun also has an extremely proud temperament.

He wonders, what can be done in this situation? Given its condition, if the Divine Blood Azure Phoenix does not feed soon, its days would be numbered.

"But there’s still hope since it is willing to let you touch it."

While saying this, Xue Yunrou took out two blood-red stones. She held one in her own hand and gave the other to Li Xuan.

"In heaven, they wish they could be two birds flying together, and on earth, two branches on a tree. These Heart Connection Stones are rare objects found in the East Sea, which can connect their minds. Even if they are separated by thousands of miles, they can sense each other’s whereabouts. Using these Heart Connection Stones as guides, we can form a Spirit Contract, which it will certainly agree to."

Her eyes seemed slightly expectant as she looked at Li Xuan, "The phoenix commands the wind and thunder, and the bloodline purity of this Divine Blood Azure Phoenix is as high as 70%, which will greatly benefit you."

Li Xuan hesitated a little and then asked, "What should I do?"

He was utterly clueless on how to tame Spirit Pets.

"It’s quite simple!" Xue Yunrou now handed him a golden talisman, "You mix your essence with the powder from the Heart Connection Stones, copy the runes on this talisman, then hold the talisman towards the Divine Blood Azure Phoenix and activate it."

Li Xuan nodded and promptly crushed the Heart Connection Stone, squeezed dozens of drops of his own essence and mixed it in.

Then, with a powder mixed with blood, he carefully coped it onto the talisman.

The essence of a person’s blood is the very elixir found in one’s blood. These dozens of drops of blood essence would severely deplete Li Xuan’s Yuan Qi, and it was estimated that there would be no substantial progress in his cultivation in the coming days.

Yet, Li Xuan was very curious about having spirit pets. This would indeed have significant benefits for him.

Besides, a Divine Blood Azure Phoenix, a spiritual bird possessing seventy percent of a Luan bird’s bloodline and is hard to come by - although the bird was only the size of Li Xuan’s palm, it had already reached the fifth house level.

Li Xuan’s previous hesitation was solely due to the fear of encountering resistance from the Divine Blood Azure Phoenix.

When that talisman was activated, Li Xuan indeed sensed the opposing intentions of the Phoenix. However, when the Azure Phoenix’s opponent, the Huoyun Phoenix, accepted Xue Yunrou’s Spirit Contract, the will of the Divine Blood Azure Phoenix to resist faded quickly.

Soon, strands of golden patterns appeared on the Azure Phoenix’s head. They formed an odd rune and quickly spread throughout its body.

When the golden lines covered the entire body of the Divine Blood Azure Phoenix, they slowly faded until its body was covered by them. After this, the Divine Blood Azure Phoenix finally couldn’t hold on anymore and fainted on the table.

"You feed him this." Xue Yunrou put a few porcelain bottles in front of Li Xuan, "This is produced on Kunlun Mountain, the Heavenly Nectar. Give it a drop every day. Li, your Divine Blood Azure Phoenix is malnourished; it absolutely cannot drink water sourced from roots, or consume worldly food for a month. Only this way can its Yuan Qi be replenished. If you want it to advance to the sixth house level as soon as possible, you can’t stop administering the Heavenly Nectar."

Li Xuan’s lips twitched slightly, already having some regrets.

He thought that a bottle of this ’Heavenly Nectar’ would probably cost tens of thousands of patterned silver. Isn’t this the maintenance of a spirit pet? It’s like raising a gold-devouring beast!

So Li Xuan, without a moment’s hesitation, pocketed the bottles of ’Heavenly Nectar’, and then curiously asked, "By the way, Yunrou, you brought me here. What did you want to show me?"

"It’s almost time." Xue Yunrou looked at the sky, and a flush appeared on her pretty face: "Li, you wait."

She first rose to her feet and descended the stairs of the houseboat, fiddling with something in the lower level. There was a rustling sound - it seemed like she was changing clothes.

When the woman appeared again, it was at the high stage across from Li Xuan, on the other side of the ship’s head.

She had indeed changed clothes, now wearing a tight red skirt which outlined her beautiful figure even more attractively. Bare-shouldered, with two long ribbons hanging from her body, her bare feet were smooth and round, delicate and small. And around her ankles, she had two bells tied.

Li Xuan was again stunned, his eyes fixed on Xue Yunrou, unable to look away.

He thought that the girl across from him in the red skirt was incredibly charming and beautiful, completely different from the clear and beautiful Xue Yunrou he had known before.

At this point, a melodious sound of zither and flute resonated in Li Xuan’s ears - it should be coming from a magical instrument, akin to the effect of modern audio.

"Recently, Yunrou learned a new dance called Divine Demon Dance. I hope Li could appreciate it."

As the prelude to the zither and flute music ended, Xue Yunrou twisted her waist and spread the hanging ribbons. Then her charming soft body began to slowly unfold along the beautiful music.

Her dancing posture was graceful, as light as a swallow, her waist was as soft as fluffy clouds. She was boneless, full of an unspeakable charm and beauty. She was flamboyant and heart-stealing, making one involuntarily focus their gaze on her fair neck, exposed shoulders, slender arms, proud chest, and her bare feet.

Her footwork was graceful, a lotus was created at each step, her skirt fluttering as she moved with her beautiful dance gestures, just like a butterfly flying in a beautiful sea of flowers, bewitching and fascinating.

At this moment, Li Xuan felt his heartbeat come to a complete standstill, his breathing suddenly thick and heavy, and his face gradually flushed.

A poem surfaced into his mind at this moment -

Southern beauty in green waist dances, autumn feast on the move, flying sleeves disturb clouds and rain. She is the image of the dragon’s movement and the likened to the beauty of the front of the river. She is slow, and her beauty is timeless. In her low spin, a lotus rises from the waves, and the wind stirs up the snow. Falling from her ears, her gaze is like a moving stream, her dress brushes the edge of the sky. She captures the essence of autumn, flies away and follows the startled goose."

Li Xuan felt that Xue Yunrou, in front of him right now, was like a worldly witch, her dancing stirring his desires and instincts. A roaring voice appeared inside his heart, urging him to possess, to conquer, to ravish.

If it wasn’t because his recent state of mind had improved, he would have lost control at this moment.

Just at the next moment, on the other side of the ship, a firework suddenly burst, filling the half of the sky with a silver tree.

But this dazzling scenery didn’t hide Xue Yunrou’s shine but made her even more beautiful and enchanting, like the whole world had been drawn into her rhythm, half real and half a dream.

Li Xuan eventually lost it. He did manage to control his instinctive response, preventing him from pouncing like a wild beast, but blood spurted from his nose.

It wasn’t until after Xue Yunrou finished her dance, that Li Xuan expressionlessly wiped his face with his sleeve, thinking he must have eaten too many nourishing pills like the Human-Origin Pill recently.