Shi Qing? Little Stone?

Li Hao looked at Dongfang Yueming, who was about to dance with Shi Qing not far away. In particular, he saw a face even more handsome than his own and a poised, unruffled bearing. For no apparent reason, a fierce surge of jealousy welled up in him!

"Hmph!" He snorted disdainfully and whispered to Shi Yu beside him, "He's nothing but a pretty boy who lives off his looks! Once Shi Qing puts him through the wringer with that brute strength of hers, he'll have plenty to cry about! A mere jumping clown!" He instinctively belittled Dongfang Ming as worthless to protect his own pitiful sense of superiority.

A melodious dance tune began to play.

Dongfang Yueming extended his hand like a gentleman, and Shi Qing placed hers on it, her hand bony yet unusually strong.

The two slid onto the dance floor.

At first, Dongfang Ming was a little awkward. In neither his previous life nor this one had he had much experience with this refined style of ballroom dancing.

Yet when Shi Qing led him through a turn and moved across the floor, he immediately sensed something different!

Shi Qing's steps seemed steady and powerful, but they held an exquisitely subtle rhythm and control of strength!

Dongfang Yueming, meanwhile, relied on the terrifying strength and perfect control over his body granted by the Flesh Refining Realm (Dragon Elephant's Force) to keep up with Shi Qing's rhythm effortlessly! He even seemed to handle guiding and matching her strength with ease!

"Hmm?!" A flash of surprise that Shi Qing could barely conceal passed through her eyes!

She had already prepared herself to deliberately hold back her strength to avoid hurting this junior, who looked somewhat "frail."

But to her surprise, his strength... was so great?! He could even almost hold his own against her?!

Waves rose in Shi Qing's heart!

Wasn't Yueming an orphan? By all rights, he couldn't possibly have enough resources to support his cultivation to such a level! Could it be... that he had some fortuitous encounter?

As Shi Qing wondered in secret, Dongfang Yueming looked at her face, so close to his own, its strong contours possessing a distinctive charm, and that inexplicable sense of familiarity welled up in him again.

He couldn't help asking, "Senior Shi, have we... met somewhere before? You look a little familiar to me."

Hearing this, Shi Qing's lips curved once more into that slightly awkward but lovely smile, and she gently shook her head. "No. This is the first time we've met."

As the two grew increasingly in sync, Dongfang Ming, despite knowing nothing about dance steps, relied on the ghostlike speed and supreme coordination granted by his Gale Movement Technique at the perfection realm, along with the fine control over his body granted by Flesh Refining Perfection, to match every one of Shi Qing's movements perfectly!

At times, he circled Shi Qing like a gentle breeze; at others, he received her strength as steadily as a rock. Their coordination grew ever smoother and more harmonious as they moved past their initial probing!

Shi Qing's strength-based style and Dongfang Yueming's technique-based style (pseudo) were clearly two entirely different styles, yet now they blended together in a strangely harmonious way, creating a distinctive beauty that combined strength and softness with a powerful visual impact!

Around the dance floor, the people who had been waiting for a spectacle and preparing to mock them were all stunned!

"Heavens! Am I seeing things?! That freshman... can actually keep up with Senior Shi's steps?!"

"More than keep up! Look at how they move together! It's... it's simply perfect!"

"That guy's movement technique... so fast! So graceful!"

"Senior Shi's strength and that guy's speed and technique... this combination... is incredible!"

Exclamations of amazement rose one after another! Everyone, including Shi Yu, whose face had been full of mockery, now stared dumbfounded and incredulous at the pair in the center of the dance floor, who looked like a scene from a painting!

Li Hao's face turned livid, and his fists clenched tight! The strength and realm he took such pride in seemed to have become a joke at this moment! The "clown" in his eyes was dazzling everyone on the dance floor!

"Bastard!" His heart was filled with towering hatred!

But he quickly forced himself to take comfort. So what if he's good at dancing?! Strength is what matters!

This kid... even if he had some fortuitous encounter, the Flesh Refining Realm is the absolute limit of what he could have reached!

Hmph, United University's rules forbid the public sale of cultivation techniques for the Bone Forging Realm and above! Only those who enter the Seed Class or scions of families with powerful backgrounds can gain access to them!

Without a follow-up cultivation technique, he'll be stuck here for the rest of his life! As for me, I'll definitely reach a higher realm in the future! When that happens, he'll still be a worthless piece of trash!

Only then did Li Hao's mood settle somewhat, but the look he directed at Dongfang Yueming grew even darker and more venomous.

The music ended, and thunderous applause erupted!

Everyone had been awed by the visually striking dance and clapped and cheered!

A faint, satisfied flush colored Shi Qing's face, and a rare glimmer of pleasure appeared in her sharp eyes. She looked at Dongfang Yueming before her, nodded, and said in her low voice, "You danced very well. You may leave now."

"Huh? I can... leave already?" Dongfang Yueming was slightly taken aback, feeling rather baffled. Had Senior Shi gone to such lengths to bring him here just to... have a dance?

Still, since she had spoken, he had no intention of staying any longer at this gathering full of empty pleasantries.

"Then... goodbye, Senior." He nodded politely and prepared to leave.

He instinctively wanted to find Qian Jingming and leave with him, but when he looked around, he discovered that the guy had already slipped off to who knew where! He had run faster than a rabbit!

"That guy..." Dongfang Ming shook his head helplessly and could only head for the manor gates alone.

Just as he was about to leave the clamor behind and step into the night, a flash of inspiration struck him!

He had finally found the source of that inexplicable sense of familiarity he felt toward Shi Qing!

"Wait! Shi Qing... Shi Qing..." He stopped abruptly as long-buried memories surged back like a tide!

"I remember now! Little Stone! It's her!!"

He remembered that when he was still a young boy who knew little of the world, there had been a little girl who always followed on his heels, her hair in pigtails and her cheeks rosy. Her nickname had been "Little Stone"! She had been much stronger than other children her age even back then!

And he himself had been the mischievous ringleader of the children back then! He had often blurted out chuunibyou nonsense like "When I grow up, I'll take you into my harem as my great general"!

"My heavens..." Dongfang Yueming's mouth twitched, and his scalp tingled!