Chapter 108: If You Want Me To Give Up My Dance Skills, I’d Rather Give Up Cultivation!
The painting scroll swept past, and Ming Zhaoshuang looked back in a daze, only to find that the scene before her eyes had changed again.
There was no painting scroll, no Ice Palace, nothing she had just seen. There was only her own body, still lingering in the vast and boundless bright night.
She and her body, one large and one small, gazed at each other, seemingly separated by eons of time.
Suddenly, a soft chime sounded in her ears.
“Mengji, Mengji…”
Bai Bai ran over from somewhere, its two large tails gently brushing over her spirit body, as if guiding her to another place.
Ming Zhaoshuang stepped forward, following Bai Bai’s direction.
Suddenly, the scene before her eyes changed again. She couldn’t see the surrounding scenery clearly, but she could see two twin girls, about six years old, following the person in front of them one after another to the magical artifact for testing spirit roots.
They looked exactly alike. To distinguish them, a bunch of twin lotuses was tied to the waist of the younger girl behind.
Could this be Shen Liqian and Shen Yaobi?
Ming Zhaoshuang guessed, but then faintly heard a voice coming.
“Hahaha, both young ladies have extraordinary talent, they are both innate spirit roots, only one in ten thousand years! Eldest Young Lady Shen Liqian, innate Water Spirit Root and Supreme Wood Spirit Root; Second Young Lady Shen Yaobi, innate Wood Spirit Root. Congratulations to the Palace Master, congratulations to the Palace Master, one family with two beauties!”
The people around also echoed.
“Yes, yes, this Water Spirit Root, which is rare in ten thousand years, actually appeared in our Lapis Lazuli Azure Sea in just one year!”
“Our Lapis Lazuli Azure Sea has a promising future and will surely become the head of the Three Great Regions!”
“Really? Innate Water Spirit Root and Innate Wood Spirit Root! I’ve never seen an innate spirit root in my life! And now there are two of them!”
……
In front of a noisy crowd, Shen Liqian and Shen Yaobi were like two jade statues, precious but devoid of themselves.
Following that, was the process of them cultivating together and growing with each other. They watched the spring flowers, the summer water, the autumn moon, and the winter snow together.
They were born twins, they were inseparable.
They were the best sisters in the world.
But they were not in control of their own destinies.
Because Shen Liqian was a dual spirit root, her cultivation was always a step behind Shen Yaobi’s. What was most puzzling was that her father always wasted her cultivation time, instilling clan consciousness in her.
He reminded her of the responsibilities she bore as the Young Palace Master, that she could not be willful or playful. At that time, she was like a puppet manipulated by her father.
As for Shen Yaobi, she was designated as the next Saintess of Lapis Lazuli Azure Sea, and her father urged her to cultivate.
At the age of eight, Shen Yaobi was already in the Late Foundation Establishment stage, her talent was terrifying.
Shen Liqian, however, had only just reached Foundation Establishment.
At that time, she finally couldn’t bear it anymore and questioned her father why he always interrupted her cultivation.
Even though her dual spirit root could only manifest the talent of a peak grade spirit root, if Lapis Lazuli Azure Sea was willing, it would be easy for her to reach the Mid Foundation Establishment stage, but her father was intentionally suppressing her cultivation.
At that time, her father slapped her and roared at her:
“What do you know!”
That night, Shen Liqian still didn’t understand.
Shen Yaobi, however, leaned against her window, her eyes smiling as she looked at her and asked:
“Sister, do you want to see me dance?”
Shen Yaobi loved dancing, but their father did not allow her to dance, only to cultivate.
He did not urge Shen Liqian, only Shen Yaobi.
Cultivate, cultivate, until your cultivation surpasses your sister, until your brilliance is enough to be worthy of the title “Saintess.”
Shen Liqian nodded. In the quiet of the night, she watched Shen Yaobi, gently twirling the hem of her skirt.
Under the moonlight, Shen Yaobi was like a slowly blooming lotus, swaying her elegance to her heart’s content.
As Shen Liqian watched, she felt that both she and Shen Yaobi were so pathetic. One who loved cultivation couldn’t cultivate, and one who loved dancing couldn’t dance.
She had also advised Shen Yaobi to give up dancing and focus solely on cultivation.
But Shen Yaobi raised her head and told her with great determination: “I will not give up dancing. If I have to give up dancing, then I would rather give up cultivation.”
Looking at Shen Yaobi, she couldn’t help but think.
Why couldn’t they choose the lives they wanted?
Why did they have to be the Young Palace Master and the Saintess?
Suddenly, her gaze paused.
Behind Shen Yaobi’s flying skirt, she saw her furious father.
From then on, she and Shen Yaobi were completely separated.
The scene shifted, and Shen Liqian’s heart trembled. Only then did she understand the system’s statement that “Shen Liqian has not yet fully awakened.”
Besides being a tool for the plot to be set up for Qin Feilong, she was also deeply bound by her father and her clan.
She and Shen Yaobi were thus trapped by family affection and the shackles of responsibility for their desired lives.
Ming Zhaoshuang’s vision of Shen Liqian reappeared, and at this moment, facing her was the reclusive Old Ancestor of Lapis Lazuli Azure Sea, Yiqi Huang.
Yiqi Huang looked at her and asked, “Do you also want to become the Saintess so that your sister can dance freely?”
Shen Liqian nodded.
Yiqi Huang started laughing and pointed her in the right direction:
“Then go to the Ao Tian Sect. When you inherit the Dragon Clan Bloodline, your dual spirit roots will be able to coexist.”
Thus, Shen Liqian descended and became an ordinary female disciple of the Ao Tian Sect.
She would return to Lapis Lazuli Azure Sea for two months each year, but she found that her sister seemed to have changed.
She was arrogant and willful, acting recklessly relying on her cultivation, and even when facing her, she was not polite, often injuring her and glaring at her.
Shen Liqian never saw her dance again, and barely met her a few times.
She felt uneasy in her heart but didn’t know why Shen Yaobi had changed so much, so she could only ask her father.
Her father snorted coldly: “What, do you think she’s not good like this?”
At that time, because Yiqi Huang protected her, her father couldn’t stop her from going to the Lower Realm, but he still mocked her and tried to control her.
Shen Liqian said angrily: “She is not good like this!”
Her father sneered: “Then tell me, what is good!”
Shen Liqian didn’t know. She just felt that Shen Yaobi wasn’t good like this, she wasn’t good like this, and the entire Lapis Lazuli Azure Sea wasn’t good like this. It was like a huge and ruthless machine that only required everyone to perform their duties.
At this point, she saw Yiqi Huang again.
Yiqi Huang smiled faintly and sighed softly: “Have you ever considered why Lapis Lazuli Azure Sea, Setting Sun Mountain Range, and Penglai Immortal Island, these Three Great Regions, are superior to the Nine Sects in the Upper Cultivation World?”
It was very strange. In the cultivation world, sword cultivators were clearly the mainstream. However, Lapis Lazuli Azure Sea focused on music cultivation; Setting Sun Mountain Range focused on talisman cultivation; Penglai Immortal Island focused on pill cultivation. None of them seemed to be in a position to be superior to the Nine Sects.
Yet, the status of these Three Great Regions in the Upper Cultivation World was higher than the Nine Great Sects of the Upper Cultivation World, and even higher than the foremost sect of the Upper Cultivation World, the Sword Sect.
Why were these three superior to sword cultivators in a cultivation world where sword cultivators were the mainstream?
Yiqi Huang said: “That is because the Three Great Regions are backed by the most powerful sword cultivators in the entire cultivation world – the Dragon Domain Dragon Clan.”
“With the support of the Dragon Domain, they can be superior to sword cultivators without being sword cultivators. But how is the support of the Dragon Domain Dragon Clan easily obtained? Every three hundred years, the Three Great Regions will each send their Saintesses, leading a hundred young women above Void Refinement Stage, to the Dragon Domain for marriage alliances.”
At that time, the young Shen Liqian did not understand this relationship and asked:
“The Dragon Domain, isn’t it a place everyone yearns for?”
The Dragon Domain symbolized the highest-cultivating race in the cultivation world. For humans to enter, they needed at least Body Integration Stage.
“You are mistaken.”
Yiqi Huang looked up, his eyes filled with pity: “It is the dirtiest and most bloody place in the world. Men who go there will only become the mud beneath their feet, and women who go there will only become tools for lust. There is no sacredness there, only slaughter, endless slaughter.”
In the last hundred thousand years, only two people have been able to venture into the Dragon Domain and return unharmed.
One was the Beast Taming Saint Crossing Immortal, Feng He; the other was the Lord of the Devil Realm, Feng Budu.
The former became a king and dominated within, making the dragons bow their heads. The latter killed gods and demons, leaving behind a sea of corpses.
