Missing
"Don't worry, as long as we attach detailed information, letting everyone know that the Lu Lineage has a Spirit Transformation Grandmaster behind them, then anyone would think twice before accepting the mission, considering the consequences of a successful assassination. At the same time, we can limit the reward for the mission, making the reward seem particularly worthless compared to the difficulty of the mission, then no normal person would be willing to accept such a mission."
The advisor considered it for a moment and nodded in agreement. "Indeed, no one with a sound mind would accept such a task, and those who are willing to take risks for a little reward are usually not very capable and are not worth worrying about."
"Now, let's patiently wait for the right opportunity to arise; we will change the entire world order."
Today, the Tea-Tasting Manor is more lively than ever before, with people coming and going, shoulder to shoulder. The Lu Lineage members are busy attending to countless guests, their feet barely touching the ground. If you look down from above, you can see that the flow of people rises and falls like the tide.
These guests all came for the Nine Arts Phoenix Fledgling Tea Ceremony Competition. As the legitimate successor of the Tea School, the Lu Lineage basically hosts one out of every three competitions, and they also almost always win the top prize in the tea ceremony. The winners are either members of the Lu Lineage or apprentices trained by the Lu Lineage. If they miss one or two competitions, it will cause a huge uproar.
The crowd was used to this and did not lose their fighting spirit. Those Rogue Person or teahouses of other schools all considered defeating the Lu Lineage the highest honor. Whenever someone successfully challenged them, they would boast about it, and fame and fortune would roll in.
In a sense, the Lu Lineage's status in the tea ceremony world is equivalent to that of China in the table tennis world, although their dominance is slightly weaker, as they can probably only win about three-quarters of the awards.
In his previous life, Si Ming saw many Chinese people online trying to discredit China's achievements in table tennis, claiming that because China dominated the table tennis world, leaving no room for other countries to survive, foreigners had lost interest in table tennis, with only a few countries in Southeast Asia still playing it, and table tennis being completely unseen in Nation of Beauty.
These kinds of people are basically keyboard warriors who have never even left the country, yet they insist on saying things like "what is foreign countries like?" They live only in their own imagined world.
While table tennis isn't as popular as football in Europe, it still holds a place among the top-tier sports. There are table tennis players everywhere, and countless table tennis clubs. However, they prefer to view table tennis as a social sport rather than a commercial one.
Looking at it from another angle, China football plays so badly, humiliating the nation to the point of despair, yet fans still love it as much as ever. At most, they might stop watching the China men's national team, but no one would say they won't play football because of that.
"When did so many people start participating in dance competitions?" Si Jingyu sighed as she looked at the crowded scene.
The Si Clan holds the same position in the dance world as the Lu Lineage does in the tea ceremony world, and they frequently host dance competitions. However, in terms of the number of participants in each competition, the Si family's share is less than one-third of the Lu family's.
Si Ming, "Anyone can drink tea, and even if they don't understand tea ceremony, it doesn't prevent them from appreciating tea. However, not everyone can dance. Only those who have undergone professional training can dance a dance that is barely acceptable. Therefore, the difference in the base is too great, and it is normal for there to be some discrepancies in the number of people."
"I understand all of this. As a disciple of the Shaman School, promoting dance is also a responsibility. Unfortunately, the results are never very good. Putting aside other factors, men don't like to dance, which reduces the number by half."
"That's because the dances you're promoting Spring Snow. By solely pursuing artistry, you naturally become detached from the masses. If you really want to increase the number of 'dancers,' you might as well lower your expectations, focus on the lives of ordinary people, and promote some simple and easy-to-learn dances. These dances aren't about pursuing art, but about physical health. You could try combining dance with health-preserving martial arts."
Si Shuiyun, standing to the side, retorted, "Why don't they just practice martial arts directly? Why go through all this trouble to learn dance?"
Si Ming, "Practicing martial arts is very tedious and boring, while dancing is inherently entertaining and much more interesting, especially when combined with music, it becomes even more irresistible. I have two ideas for promoting it. One is to design some ballroom dances for young men and women. These dances don't require being very elegant, but they do require men and women to touch each other, such as putting their arms around each other's waists or shoulders. The other is to design some health-preserving dances for older women. These dances need to have a strong sense of rhythm and are suitable for groups of people to dance together."
Si Shuiyun objected, "Can these two dances even be considered dances? The latter is alright, at least it comes from a good intention, considering the health of the elderly, but what about the former? Does it provide a blatant opportunity for men and women to flirt? If our Si Clan promotes this vulgar dance, it will become a laughing stock."
Si Ming laughed and said, "Food and sex are human nature. The closer something is to human desires, the faster people learn it and the more motivated they are. You should know that everything has two sides, elegance and vulgarity. If you only pursue elegance, you will only end up being isolated and unpopular."
Upon hearing this, Si Jingyu showed a thoughtful expression. "That's indeed the point. Perhaps we've been going down the wrong path before. We shouldn't have promoted things that were 'self-righteous,' but rather we should have looked for things that everyone liked and gotten more people involved. Only by building a large base can we build a taller tower."
"But Miss, people will laugh at us for doing something like this, especially those from artistic Aristocratic Clan. They'll think we've lost our ambition."
Si Ming wanted to tell them to let them laugh, and that they should just do their own thing, but Si Jingyu wasn't like that. She was more considerate of the bigger picture and more flexible.
"Then let's do it secretly, find people to promote it privately, and not let anyone find out. Once it's effective and attracts a lot of people to learn the dance, we'll take advantage of the situation, pretend to be reluctant, and be forced to accept these two types of dances to perform for other Aristocratic Clan."
"Young Miss is wise!" Si Shuiyun shamelessly changed her stance.
Si Ming was speechless and could only shift his attention to something else that bothered him. "By the way, why are you so far away from me? I don't smell weird, do I?"
At this moment, there was a distance of nearly three meters between him and Si Jingyu, and whenever he approached, Si Jingyu would pull away.
Si Shuiyun immediately replied, "Of course! You can clearly smell the scent of a male in heat even from a hundred meters away. If you have any self-awareness, you'd better leave now and let me and Miss be alone!"
Si Ming ignored her and only looked at Si Jingyu, who avoided his gaze and said perfunctorily, "It's just a matter of mood, um, a matter of mood, don't worry about it."
Since the other party had already said that, Si Ming didn't press further. What if the answer was that she was on her period? That would be embarrassing.
As representatives of the Si Clan, the three were invited and did not need to squeeze in with ordinary guests or contestants. After being announced, they were led by a steward of the Lu Lineage through a special passage into the competition venue.
The tea ceremony competition is different from the drama competition. There are not so many rounds of competition. There are only three rounds: preliminary, semi-final and final. The conditions for advancement are also more lenient. Therefore, there are nearly 100 contestants participating in today's semi-final. Drama has to be performed one after another. It is impossible for two troupes to be on stage at the same time. However, tea ceremony can allow many people to come together.
Si Ming used his Si Clan connections to directly enter the semi-finals. He didn't want to win the championship. After discovering that the girl surnamed Lu was not a bad person, he lost interest in humiliating her. However, he didn't want to break his promise unilaterally, so he decided to just go through the motions, show off his skills a little, and prove that he wasn't just spouting nonsense.
"Hmm, I think I just saw a familiar figure. Was it just my imagination?"
Si Ming scratched his head, unable to recall who it was for a moment. He only had a vague feeling that the person was familiar, but the person disappeared in the blink of an eye, giving him no chance to think carefully.
After thinking for a while without any clue, Si Ming had no choice but to pull himself together. He looked around and then turned his gaze to the judges' panel, where Si Jingyu was sitting as a special guest. In addition, there was a particularly conspicuous old man among the judges.
This old man had a face completely different from that of an Easterner, with deep-set eyes, a high nose, a full head of white hair, and a long white beard that reached his chest. If he were to take a staff, he would look exactly like the "sage" in Western mythology.
Si Ming recognized the old man because he was a very famous School of Fiction Alto Arteta Dengbulishao.
It is said that he was originally a great figure in the Western Luo Continent, reaching the highest rank of the magician profession. Unfortunately, he betrayed a young genius who was favored by the heavens. After the genius grew up, in order to avenge the arrow wound he had inflicted on him, he threw the old man from the Luo Continent to the Sea Continent.
The Sea Continent is shrouded in Eternal Barrier, which prohibits all laws, including magic.
Thus, the once Law God- level mage can't even conjure a small fireball now. Fortunately, Dengbulishao isn't the kind of weak mage with a short health bar. Although he can't use magic, his body, modified by magical elements, is unaffected by the barrier.
His physical abilities are equivalent to those of Spirit Transformation Grandmaster, so even if the staff cannot be used to cast spells, it can still be used as a weapon to kill enemies, such as performing a set of Mad Demon Staff Techniques.
Ordinary people who suffer such setbacks, falling from the mountaintop to the mountainside, would probably be devastated or try every means to return to their hometown. But the old master was open-minded, easygoing, and loved Fang Wen, so he simply settled down in the Sea Continent and wrote a book about his past experiences, which was titled "I Am a Great Mage".
This book, with its humorous writing style, engaging plot, and Otherworld Domain atmosphere, became an instant bestseller in the Sea Continent, enjoying unparalleled popularity and going through seven reprints. Now, the old master is a world-renowned School of Fiction.
Chapter 299 Disappearance
The tea ceremony competition is quite simple. Ten people form a group, and each group takes turns brewing tea. Judges observe the brewing skills of the ten people, taste the brewed tea, and finally score them.
Overall, it's very similar to a cooking competition. However, cooking competitions only look at the final dish. The judges don't care how the chef prepared it. Whether you honestly chop, wash, boil, and stir-fry or perform magic tricks and acrobatics, people will just watch the show and it won't affect the final score.
However, when it comes to brewing tea, the "brewing" process is also very important, accounting for almost half of the score. The competition has already begun from the moment you boil the water, and even the slightest carelessness will result in points being deducted by the judges.
The contestants could bring their own tea sets or choose from those provided by the Lu Lineage. Most contestants opted for the latter, as the Lu Lineage, as the host, provided top-quality tea sets. Even the best tea sets offered by ordinary teahouses might not be as good as the competition tea sets provided by the Lu Lineage.