At last, it ended.
As the final icy streak of sword light sliced through the air, a clear ring echoed slowly through the hall.
Xu Bingning twirled the sword in a graceful flourish, brought it behind her back, and stood still with it in hand.
The dance was over. A faint, alluring flush had risen on her beautiful, cool face.
Beads of fragrant sweat glistened as they emerged on her smooth, fair forehead.
A few strands of black hair, damp with sweat, clung loosely to her slender neck and temples.
Xu Bingning parted her rosy lips and panted in short breaths.
With each hurried breath, her full chest, tightly wrapped in an old-fashioned robe, rose and fell sharply.
It traced a breathtaking curve.
Drenched in sweat, she seemed a little less untouchable than usual, with an unstudied charm and vulnerability about her.
She was well versed in this classical sword dance.
She had kept up her daily practice over the years, until its movements were etched into her muscles.
But in the end, she was an ordinary woman who could barely fight.
With no inner power to draw on, such vigorous movements demanded a staggering amount of stamina.
And today was nothing like the solitary dances she performed whenever she pleased.
The man seated in the place of honor, quietly watching her dance, was the Jiang Family's young master, a man whose power seemed to reach everywhere!
Under Jiang Che's gaze, Xu Bingning instinctively felt a pressure unlike any she had known. It kept her nerves taut throughout the performance.
The strain on both mind and body had left her thoroughly drained by the end of the dance.
In the vast Forty-Nine City, the Xu Family was merely a minor family at the bottom of the third tier.
But as