The one speaking to Hu Liena was a young woman in blue. Her pupils were sapphire-blue, and her hair was the color of clear water. As she walked, she swayed gracefully, like a blue waterfall.
She smiled, seeming to glow all over. She possessed an indescribably gentle beauty, as though her entire body had been made of water. There was a sacred air amid her spiritual grace that drew every eye.
Even though Hu Liena was confident in her own looks, and even though this was not her first time seeing the young woman, a deep look of amazement still flashed through her eyes.
"Sure, let's go together, Tian Yao."
On Douluo Continent, with Tian Yao's appearance, countless men revealed infatuated expressions.
"Beautiful, truly beautiful! Is this Tian Yao, ranked fourth among Celestial Immortal Academy's top ten beauties? She's devastatingly gorgeous!"
"Only a place as blessed with outstanding people and spiritual lands as the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands could raise a beauty with such spirituality."
"Yeah, she's truly stunning! I wonder which emperor of Xuanming Prefecture is holding a beauty contest that even someone as gorgeous as Tian Yao signed up for it!"
"Who knows? But it must be one of Xuanming Prefecture's top powers. Still, why are all the others in the Eight Regions of the Lower Realm, while Hu Liena was lucky enough to end up in Xuanming Prefecture, one of the Three Thousand Dao Provinces? And why did she only appear in the Light Screen a full seven days later than everyone else?"
"What kind of question is that? Other than the mastermind controlling all this, who could possibly know?"
"Forget that. Let's keep talking about Tian Yao. She's just too beautiful!"
"Of course she is. Didn't they say she ranks fourth among Celestial Immortal Academy's top ten beauties? If I could spend even one night with her, I'd die without regrets!"
"Hahaha, brother, do you know what it means for a toad to crave swan meat? That's exactly what you are. With that face of yours, you want to taste a goddess's sweetness? Keep dreaming!"
"What's wrong with that? Even if I can't have her, can't I at least think about it?"
"Enough, stop arguing. Tian Yao is only ranked fourth among Celestial Immortal Academy's top ten beauties, so just how beautiful must the third, second, and first be?"
"Who knows? Look, look, another great beauty has appeared! She may not be quite as beautiful as Tian Yao, but she's not far off..."
Within Hu Liena's Light Screen, a young woman wearing a green dress approached Tian Yao and Hu Liena. Her dress resembled lotus leaves, making her look like a vibrant lotus bud about to bloom.
The young woman was exceptionally beautiful, with alluring curves and skin as white as snow. She was truly breathtaking.
However, beautiful as she was, her temper was clearly not very good. She looked Hu Liena up and down, her tone full of contempt.
"Tian Yao, honestly, you can mingle with anyone. She must be nearly twenty already, right? She hasn't even condensed a Cave Heaven, yet she has the nerve to join the beauty contest?"
Hu Liena: ...
No, I thought she was here for Tian Yao. I didn't expect her to be coming after me?
Tian Yao's brows furrowed slightly at those words, but a gentle smile remained on her face.
"Precisely because Hu Liena is so weak, she needs more care, doesn't she? And Chen Lin, don't forget that this isn't Celestial Immortal Academy. You don't have your simps here. If you keep talking nonsense, you might get yourself killed."
"Have you considered that questioning Hu Liena here means questioning the person who selected her?"
Chen Lin's breathing stalled after Tian Yao's rebuke. When she thought of the power behind this beauty contest, she could not help shivering.
The power holding a beauty contest in Xuanming Prefecture was the Chu Clan, a terrifying force so powerful that even sect leader-level existences could be made to guard its gates!
If she had not known just how unfathomably terrifying the Chu Clan was, why would she have come all the way from Celestial Immortal Academy to enter this beauty contest...
Still, she refused to lose face and could not help retorting.
"But I'm stating facts. A nearly twenty-year-old Hole Heaven Realm cultivator is far too weak, and her talent must be atrocious as well. She's only here to make up the numbers!"
Tian Yao chuckled and reminded her.
"Chen Lin, I know exactly what you're thinking. But don't forget, the Chu Clan made it very clear that this beauty contest has no restrictions on talent or age. It only considers appearance. Otherwise, with your talent, you might not even catch the Chu Clan's eye. And don't forget that the Chu Clan young lady who was here ten days ago was a twenty-year-old Heavenly Deity. Do you think, given the Chu Clan's strength, they would care about the talent of the cultivators entering the beauty contest?"
"If it really came down to talent, do you think you could compete with the Celestial Fox Fairy?"
After Tian Yao's string of rebukes, Chen Lin fell silent.
As the saying went, one knew one's own affairs best. It was precisely because her talent was not outstanding within Celestial Immortal Academy that she had traveled all the way to Xuanming Prefecture to enter the beauty contest. Wasn't it all because she wanted someone powerful to rely on?
No matter who was behind this beauty contest, as long as they were powerful enough, that was all that mattered!
And did anyone even need to ask whether they were powerful?
Judging from the Chu Clan's display, it was beyond doubt!
As for comparing herself to the famed Celestial Fox Fairy, what was Chen Lin even worth?!
On Douluo Continent's Sea God Island, Bo Saixi looked at Chen Lin in the Light Screen with some disdain.
By now, how could she not understand that Chen Lin simply wanted to climb the social ladder?
It would have been one thing if she merely wanted to climb the social ladder, but she still had to act as though she were superior to everyone else.
People like her were disgusting no matter how one looked at them!
Sea Dragon Douluo, standing beside Bo Saixi, spoke thoughtfully.
"High Priestess, do you think the Chu Clan Tian Yao mentioned could be the same Chu Clan Zhao Xiao mentioned?"
Bo Saixi was briefly stunned, then nodded sharply.
"It should be. No wonder Chen Lin wanted to enter the Chu Clan's beauty contest. So it was because of the Chu Clan's strength! If she truly became the woman of one of the Chu Clan's powerful figures, her wish would indeed be fulfilled!"
"High Priestess, do you think Chen Yao will catch the eye of a Chu Clan powerhouse?"
Bo Saixi did not hesitate in the slightest and decisively shook her head.
"No. Which powerful man would fancy a woman like Chen Yao? Unless he merely regarded her as a plaything!"
In the Star Luo Empire, Emperor Dai An shared Bo Saixi's view and looked down on women like Chen Yao.
"She is beautiful enough, but sadly, she isn't very smart. She's useless and not worth paying attention to. Tian Yao, on the other hand, clearly has the same intention of climbing the social ladder, yet she speaks as though that isn't what she wants. And she cares so much about Hu Liena, who is merely in the Blood Transporting Realm and not even particularly outstanding in appearance. There must be something going on."
"Still, I thought the Eight Regions were already unimaginably powerful. I never expected the Upper Realm to be even more terrifying."
Dai An looked at the spirit fruit Hu Liena had just received, and tears of longing trickled from the corner of his mouth.
I really want to taste it!
What exactly does a spirit fruit that can let someone break through to the Hole Heaven Realm taste like?
Don't misunderstand. It's not that I crave the effects of the spirit fruit. I simply want to taste it!
Before you continue