Lu Ming pointed at the dancers still performing below.
"This performance of Rainbow Skirt and Feathered Clothes isn't over yet."
"If we leave now, wouldn't we be letting the beauty's painstaking efforts go to waste?"
Xue Qinghe froze.
She stared at Lu Ming in disbelief.
What time was it already?
They had just closed a huge deal worth ten million, yet this guy still wanted to stay and watch the dancing?
"Lu Ming!"
Xue Qinghe's tone grew heavier.
"Business comes first."
"When can't you listen to this song?"
Yet Lu Ming remained unmoved.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze falling upon the leading dancer.
The woman wore only a red bandeau over her upper body, with a gauzy skirt slit high up the thigh below.
As she spun, her long, pale legs were almost completely exposed.
One could even vaguely glimpse what lay beneath.
Following Lu Ming's gaze, Xue Qinghe looked over. After only one glance, her face flushed crimson.
Such a corrupting, indecent sight was simply unbearable to look at!
Though she had seen plenty of dancers in the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, even royal banquets could never be this bold and explicit.
"What?"
Lu Ming seemed to notice Xue Qinghe's embarrassment.
He turned toward her. Seeing the tips of her ears reddened as though they might bleed, a hint of amusement flashed through his eyes.
"Is His Highness the Crown Prince embarrassed?"
Xue Qinghe abruptly turned away, not daring to meet his gaze.
"It's just... somewhat stuffy in here."
She forced herself to explain calmly.
"Is that so?"
Lu Ming chuckled softly and leaned closer to Xue Qinghe.
The distance between them instantly narrowed.
Xue Qinghe could even smell the faint, crisp scent on Lu Ming.
She instinctively tried to retreat, only to discover that a wall was already behind her.
"Your Highness."
Lu Ming's voice was low, carrying a teasing note.
"Don't tell me... you're still a virgin?"
Boom!
Those words were like a thunderclap exploding in Xue Qinghe's mind.
Her pupils contracted sharply, and her heart skipped a beat.
A virgin?
Still chaste?
Of course she was!
Though she had impersonated Xue Qinghe for so many years, she had always kept herself pure and had never allowed anyone to get close.
To keep up appearances, she had also kept quite a few concubines at her residence, but they were nothing more than decorations.
But if this secret were exposed, then her identity...
"Dean Lu, you jest."
Xue Qinghe drew a deep breath, striving to make her voice sound calm while retaining the arrogance of a dashing Crown Prince.
"As the Crown Prince, I have countless beauties in my harem."
"How could I possibly be some inexperienced virgin?"
She tried her best to act like a seasoned veteran of romance.
She even forced herself to turn her head and glance at the dancer's thigh.
"It's merely that I find such gaudy women beneath my notice."
Seeing her look as though she was dying of embarrassment while still stubbornly pretending to be a worldly old wolf, Lu Ming secretly laughed.
Her acting was still a little too green.
Still, he did not expose her.
Teasing this proud little swan was rather entertaining too.
"So that's how it is."
Lu Ming nodded with feigned seriousness.
"Then I misunderstood Your Highness."
"Since Your Highness has no interest in such gaudy women, let's go."
At last, Lu Ming rose to his feet and stretched lazily.
"Let's see just how capable this so-called royal team of yours really is."
Outside Heaven Dou City stood a relay station reserved for the royal family's rest.
Seven or eight young men and women dressed in white robes embroidered with golden patterns had gathered there.
Every one of them exuded an innate air of nobility.
They were the main members of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy's first team, the Imperial Dou Team.
At their head stood a tall, handsome young man with black hair draped over his shoulders.
A trace of pride rested between his brows, born from the confidence granted by the top-tier beast Martial Soul of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
The captain, Yu Tianheng.
Beside him stood a voluptuous woman with purple hair.
Her green eyes gleamed with an eerie light, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue.
The vice-captain, Dugu Yan.
Apart from the two of them, there were also two burly brothers built like iron towers: the Shi Family Brothers.
Then there was Osler, dressed in black like a ghost, and Yu Feng, who held a folding fan with elegant poise.
At the very back stood a young woman with her face veiled in black gauze, her temperament cold and aloof.
The Nine Heart Begonia Soul Master, Ye Lingling.
At that moment, every one of these favored children of heaven wore impatience on their faces.
"Teacher Qin."
Yu Tianheng frowned and looked toward their team leader, Qin Ming, who was pacing back and forth nearby.
"Where exactly is His Highness the Crown Prince taking us?"
"We've waited here for so long just to go to some... Jixia Academy?"
Yu Tianheng's tone carried undisguised contempt.
"Jixia Academy? I've never even heard of it."
Dugu Yan toyed with her purple nails as she chimed in mockingly.
"We know every academy around Heaven Dou City with even a little reputation."
"This Jixia Academy—is it some third-rate backwater academy?"
"And the Imperial Dou Team has to personally pay them a visit for some Friendship Match?"
"That's far too degrading."
The other team members also voiced their agreement.
They were the most elite generation of Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
Their goal was to win the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament.
Making them spar with an unknown academy was like using a butcher's knife to kill a chicken.
Qin Ming also looked helpless.
"This was His Highness the Crown Prince's arrangement."
"His Highness said Jixia Academy is unfathomable and that we must take it seriously."
"Unfathomable?"
Yu Feng sneered, shaking his folding fan.
"In Heaven Dou City, apart from our Royal Academy, who else dares call themselves unfathomable?"
"Even that Shrek Academy is nothing more than a pack of homeless dogs."
Just as everyone was discussing it heatedly,
the sound of hoofbeats came from afar.
A luxurious carriage slowly approached and eventually stopped before the relay station.
The carriage curtain was lifted.
Lu Ming and Xue Qinghe stepped down one after the other.
"Your Highness!"
Qin Ming quickly led the team members forward to greet him with a salute.
Xue Qinghe waved her hand, signaling them to dispense with formalities.
Her gaze swept over every member of the Imperial Dou Team, her expression somewhat solemn.
"Are you all ready?"
"The Jixia Academy I'm taking you to this time is no ordinary opponent."
"Remember this: do not underestimate them, and do not lose your manners."
Though Yu Tianheng appeared respectful upon hearing this, the disdain in his eyes could not be concealed.
He straightened his back and declared loudly:
"Rest assured, Your Highness."
"Our Imperial Dou Team has never feared any opponent."
"No matter what Jixia Academy's background may be, we will show them what a true powerhouse is."
Dugu Yan let out an alluring laugh and looped her arm through Yu Tianheng's.
"That's right, Your Highness."
"Just wait and enjoy the show."
"We'll go easy on them. After all, it's a Friendship Match. We can't beat them too badly and make Your Highness lose face."
Hearing that, Xue Qinghe felt a headache coming on.
She glanced at Lu Ming beside her, whose expression remained calm, and inwardly sighed.
These youngsters truly did not know the immensity of heaven and earth.
They were afraid they would suffer greatly soon enough.
Lu Ming did not pay any attention to the young people's provocation.
His gaze merely swept faintly over Yu Tianheng and the others.
That look was like the gaze of someone watching a group of children who had yet to grow up showing off their new toys.
It was filled with pity.
"Since everyone is here."
Lu Ming stood with his hands behind his back and turned toward the distant mountain path.
"Then let's go."
"Don't keep the students waiting too long."
Before you continue