Qi Zhaoyue's Talents

"No, impossible!"

Soon, Ye Luoxue tossed her long hair and shook her head hard, casting that absurd thought out of her mind.

"Her Highness Zhaoyue is like the bright, pure moon in the heavens. Even her husband isn't allowed to touch her. How could she..."

With that thought, Ye Luoxue continued studying the palace interior with even greater curiosity.

"A man?!"

Just then, Ye Luoxue suddenly discovered, to her surprise, that someone was inside-and it was a man.

"Who is he?"

"Why is he inside Her Highness's Lotus Grotto-Heaven?"

Ye Luoxue looked at the handsome man, her brows knitting slightly as a trace of confusion flashed through her eyes.

But soon, recognition suddenly dawned on her...

It's him!

Ye Luoxue remembered...

Wasn't this the lowly stable servant who had awakened a special physique ten years ago, whom she had reported to Her Highness shortly after entering her service, and who had ultimately been recruited as Her Highness's deathsworn?

"Why is he here?"

"Could it be that all these years..."

"Her Highness has been secretly nurturing him inside her own Lotus Grotto-Heaven?"

But the next second...

"Ah?!"

Ye Luoxue's eyes abruptly widened in disbelief. Only by clamping both hands tightly over her mouth did she keep herself from making a sound.

Her own Eldest Princess Qi Zhaoyue, whom she considered so far beyond reach, so sacred and aloof, was actually...

One minute earlier, inside the Hall of Longevity.

Click, click, click-!

The crisp sound of high heels striking the floor rang out, carrying an indescribable allure. Each step seemed to land on the very tip of one's heart.

Xu Changsheng looked up, and his heart suddenly skipped half a beat.

Qi Zhaoyue was walking slowly toward him.

Every step carried both the noble presence of one who stood above others and the tender charm unique to a woman.

Today, Qi Zhaoyue was not wearing her usual red court dress. Instead, she had changed into a long black dress.

Its hem was cut extremely short, barely covering the backs of her knees.

As she walked, gauze as thin as cicada wings swayed gently in the breeze, offering glimpses of pale, slender, shapely calves beneath the hem. Her skin glowed like the finest mutton-fat jade.

The bodice had a fitted waist and crossed collar, outlining her waist, slender enough to encircle with a hand.

Her ink-black hair was loosely gathered into a half bun, with the rest falling over her shoulders and back, a few stray strands resting against the side of her neck...

Her face possessed a beauty that could topple cities and kingdoms, her lips blood-red and her bright eyes as cold as frost.

Even though Xu Changsheng prided himself on having seen every kind of beauty in his previous life, Qi Zhaoyue intertwined aloofness with allure, nobility with a heroic bearing.

She was clearly the lofty, untouchable Eldest Princess...

Yet at this moment, she resembled a datura in full bloom, dangerous and captivating.

Qi Zhaoyue walked up to Xu Changsheng one step at a time, then stopped and looked down at him.

Xu Changsheng likewise looked at Qi Zhaoyue.

Practicing his punches today had been rather tiring, so Xu Changsheng said mildly, "Put your own mouth to work, and you'll have food and clothing aplenty..."

At his words, Qi Zhaoyue's black lashes trembled, and her pearly teeth caught her red lip.

Although Qi Zhaoyue had done this for Xu Changsheng countless times over the past ten years...

Today was different.

Ye Luoxue, who revered her like a deity and regarded her as the only pure, bright moon in the world, was right outside.

At the mere thought that her lofty, untouchable image would crumble completely before her subordinate...

A faint blush spread across Qi Zhaoyue's earlobes at a visible speed, and even her jade-white neck took on a pale pink hue.

She instinctively turned her head and glanced toward the palace doors.

But in the end, Qi Zhaoyue still agreed:

"...All right."

As her words fell, Qi Zhaoyue slowly bent her knees. Her black skirt spread across the cold white jade floor like an ink-black lotus in full bloom.

"Hiss!"

Xu Changsheng narrowed his eyes slightly, gently stroking Qi Zhaoyue's soft, silky hair in front of him.

"Have you noticed anything different about your master today?"

Qi Zhaoyue slowly raised her head. A little moisture seemed to cling to her long lashes, and her eyes were somewhat unfocused, as though veiled in a thin mist.

She studied Xu Changsheng carefully, her voice somewhat "muffled":

"You've sweated a lot... What made you decide to practice your punches today?"

Looking at Qi Zhaoyue's face, at once holy and debased, Xu Changsheng let out a long breath of relief inwardly.

It seemed she truly knew nothing about what happened inside the Lotus Grotto-Heaven. She had even guessed that he had practiced his punches from the sweat on his body.

But that was only natural...

After all, although the Lotus Grotto-Heaven was a small world she had cultivated, it was essentially another independent world. She merely held the key to opening it.

It would have been strange if she could see through the world barrier and observe everything happening inside the Lotus Grotto-Heaven.

With that thought, Xu Changsheng lightly traced Qi Zhaoyue's collarbone with his fingertips, then applied a little force and pulled open the crossed neckline of her dress.

The dress slipped down, pooling around her waist.

Her pale, delicate skin resembled the finest mutton-fat jade, glowing a faint cherry pink in the candlelight.

Qi Zhaoyue's body instinctively tensed, and her breathing quickened a little.

Xu Changsheng paid no attention to her reaction. His right hand felt the softness and springiness of her skin as he silently recited:

Keep-a-Low-Profile System, show me the talents I can copy through Accumulation over Days and Months of contact with Qi Zhaoyue.

The next second, a pale blue virtual panel appeared in Xu Changsheng's mind.

As expected of the Cautious Dao Sainthood System.

Before, it appeared in front of me, invisible to others. Now that someone else is here, even though they still couldn't see it, it chose to appear in my mind anyway.

Who did it learn that from?

Xu Changsheng grumbled inwardly as he examined Qi Zhaoyue's talents.

[Name: Qi Zhaoyue]

[Sex: Female]

[Cultivation: Eleventh-Realm Celestial Person]

[Identity: Eldest Princess of the Great Yu Dynasty, the world's third-ranked female sword immortal on the Great Yu Dynasty's Sword Immortal Ranking, fourth-ranked beauty on the Great Yu Rouge Ranking]

[Physique: Sun and Moon Shining Together Innate Divine Dao Physique (not fully awakened)]

[Available to copy: Sun and Moon Shining Together Innate Dao Physique (SSS rank), Lotus Sword Heart (SS), Phoenix Bone (A), Imperial Qi (A), Swordsmanship Mastery (B)...]

???

At the contents of the panel, Xu Changsheng's pupils abruptly contracted, and he instinctively tried to stand.

"Urgh~!"

Qi Zhaoyue looked at Xu Changsheng.

"It's nothing, nothing..."

Xu Changsheng smiled sheepishly and sat back down in his chair.

Good heavens!

Xu Changsheng was inwardly stunned.

Xu Changsheng had imagined that Qi Zhaoyue's talents would be formidable. Otherwise, even with him assisting her as a potent medicinal ingredient, she could never have broken through three realms in just ten years and entered the Celestial Person realm.

But Xu Changsheng had never expected...

This was far too powerful!!!

Even Xu Changsheng's Divine Yang Sacred Physique was only rated SSS by the Keep-a-Low-Profile System, signifying that as long as he did not die prematurely, he would inevitably enter the Thirteenth Realm.

And Qi Zhaoyue actually possessed an SSS-rank supreme physique as well.

But apart from his Divine Yang Sacred Physique, Xu Changsheng had no other talents worth showing off.

Qi Zhaoyue, on the other hand...

She actually also possessed an SS-rank Lotus Sword Heart, an A-rank Phoenix Bone, A-rank Imperial Qi, and several more B- and C-rank talents.

For a moment, Xu Changsheng could not help questioning his life a little.

How was Qi Zhaoyue's build even better than mine?!