Yet few among those present could sit amid temptation without stirring, as Li Shun did, and watch with a cool eye.
Many had witnessed Qiu Tianchi's transformation with their own eyes, as though he had shed his mortal bones. Their longing for the Yin-Yang Dual Cultivation Art had reached a fever pitch.
As the selection of a new round of "lucky ones" began, the atmosphere in the estate grew ever more feverish and restless.
From the conversations around him, Li Shun learned the estate owner's identity.
Shang Qingqiu.
She was a direct disciple of Ling Xuanji, the current leader of the Grand Primordial Unity lineage.
Her beauty was enough to topple kingdoms and captivate all who saw her.
More astonishing still, she was barely past thirty, yet her cultivation had already reached the Celestial Phenomenon Realm.
Her mastery of Yin-Yang had reached a near-miraculous level, and she had long been recognized as the undisputed successor to the Grand Primordial Unity lineage.
Since she had taken up residence at the Imperial Academy's Yin-Yang Daoist Grounds two months earlier, visitors had never stopped crossing the threshold of her estate.
"Shang Qingqiu only arrived at the Imperial Academy recently too?" Li Shun asked, gazing at the Yin-Yang Qi billowing ever more thickly above the estate.
"That's right. They say Ling Xuanji kept her hidden and under her protection before this. The world didn't even know she existed. It was only when she broke through into the Celestial Phenomenon Realm some time ago that she appeared before the public," Wang Zheng replied with a slight nod.
Li Shun noticed that although Wang Zheng knew the Yin-Yang School's secrets like the back of his hand, not once had his eyes shown the slightest desire for its dual cultivation art.
Curious, Li Shun asked him why.