31 Chapter 31

Because Liu Pianpian's stage performance this time was so amazing, the audience was bewildered by the "lascivious music" and couldn't recover for a long time. Even though Su Ping'er tried her best, the similar style effect could not shake Liu Pianpian's influence even a little.

Fortunately, Su Ping'er had anticipated the outcome the moment she drew the lot, and she wasn't disappointed at the moment. She simply stood on the stage and faced her result calmly:

"My dancing skills are indeed far behind Sister Pianpian's. No matter what the result is, I will accept it wholeheartedly."

"Okay! Now it's time for our exciting voting session!" Ning Shu led Liu Pianpian's team to the other side of the stage, and she stood in the center of the stage. She raised her hand and snapped her fingers casually. Whether in the public hall or in the box, the round gems next to all the audience seats seemed to be activated and flashed a lustrous luster.

"Fellow Daoists in front of the screen, those who support Liu Pianpian's team please inject your spiritual power into the red jewel on your left. Those who support Su Ping'er's team please inject your spiritual power into the blue jewel on your right. We have one stick of incense to vote. If you have already chosen one side, the other side will automatically extinguish! Voting begins!"

Following Ning Shu's order, Zhang Daoquan injected his spiritual power into the red jewel on the left without hesitation. The moment he injected the spiritual power, the blue jewel on the right dimmed. It turned out that there was no such thing as voting for both parties.

On the screen, the two contestants had their backs to the large screen where the votes were being tallied. Liu Pianpian's votes had been skyrocketing from the very beginning. The monk in the private room looked at Wang Zhicai beside him and asked, "How's it going? Who did you vote for?"

"Although I'm very unhappy, to be fair, isn't Liu Pianpian's performance much better?" Wang Zhicai rolled his eyes and injected spiritual power into the red jewelry: "As a man, I'm not so narrow-minded as to say that!"

So the friend shrugged and raised his hand to inject spiritual power into the red jewel.

The result of the vote was no surprise. Liu Pianpian won with an overwhelming advantage. The showdown soon came to the second group, the competition between Shangguan Huaijin and Xiao Lihua.

Compared to Liu Pianpian's bold and passionate stage performance, Shangguan Huaijin's stage performance is pure and elegant.

At the beginning, a melodious sound of zither sounded. The stage was covered with white mist and the sound of gurgling water was heard. The audience could vaguely see a figure sitting on the ground and playing the piano in the mist.

"The rushes are lush and green, and the white dew turns to frost.

The so-called beauty is on the other side of the water."

The ethereal and gentle singing voice slowly spread in the mist like water waves. Girls in white dresses and girlish buns walked slowly onto the stage. Their style was very beautiful and graceful classical. The girls stood on tiptoe, spun around and spread their arms, looking like white and proud water birds.

Shangguan Huaijin in the center of the stage kept playing the zither. She stood up lightly from the floor, and the zither floating in the air followed her rotation very smartly. The flickering light at the end of the zither was like the tail of a shooting star. Her movements were smooth and flowing, and she didn't look clumsy at all like a novice.

But the audience in front of the screen forgot to feel happy for her. Everyone stretched their necks to try to see the figure of the beautiful woman clearly through the misty fog.

"Following it upstream, the road is long and difficult.

Following it upstream, it seems to be in the center of the water."

The most beautiful beauties exist in dreams that are out of reach for everyone.

The beauty in the center of the water was playing in the river accompanied by the dancing egrets. Suddenly, a breeze blew and disturbed her dream. The beauty in the white mist stretched out her jade arms and disappeared in the wind.

The light figure was wearing a hazy veil, and the flying look was like a fairy in a painting. She circled above the stage and finally turned and left. The mist on the stage dissipated, and there was nothing there. Both the egret and the beauty disappeared without a trace, as if everything was just a dream of the audience.

The audience outside the screen fell into a state of melancholy and loss. After a long while, Wang Zhicai sighed softly: "Miss Shangguan is indeed very much my cup of tea. Only a beauty like this who is hard to obtain can be called the most beautiful beauty."

A companion beside him also came to his senses and nodded repeatedly, "That's right. Sigh, I saw her fall so many times during training just to get up. I didn't expect her to be so proficient on stage in just seven days. I wonder how much hardship she endured to achieve this."

"Right, right? I also think Ms. Shangguan is so admirable!" Another fellow watching the show sat up excitedly, eager to share his thoughts with others:

"And look at her last move, the Flying Fairy from the Sky. It's so beautiful! Miss Shangguan is obviously only in the Qi Condensation Stage, but look at her graceful figure. Isn't it more beautiful and elegant than those female cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Stage or even the Golden Core Stage!"

"This performance is no less impressive than Liu Pianpian's before!" Wang Zhicai felt his heart pounding like a drum, as if he had been inspired and was filled with strength.

"Ms. Shangguan is truly a heroine. She's determined to accomplish whatever she wants, and she's not afraid of what others might think of her clumsy efforts!"

In comparison, it's unbelievable for a grown man like me to be so timid! Starting tomorrow, I will also work hard to become stronger!

The competition did not leave the audience too much time to feel sad. Soon Xiao Lihua also came on stage. She performed a very difficult play about a drunken beauty. Ning Shu thought it sounded very similar to the "Drunken Concubine" she had heard in her previous life, so she enthusiastically provided her with a lot of inspiration and suggestions. Of course, the most eye-catching thing was Xiao Lihua's beautiful opera voice.

“Life is like a spring dream, so let’s drink a few cups happily…”③

The drunken beauty's cheeks were flushed, and although she was speaking happily, tears were welling up in her eyes. She lowered her head and gently took the full wine cup from the maid's hand. She opened her red lips slightly, held the cup in her mouth, and spun around. Her pair of autumn eyes looked at her with shimmering light, and she was full of affection, but tears flowed before she spoke a word.

Some of the spectators outside the screen were immersed in the play, some were mesmerized by it, and some were addicted to the beautiful woman's drinking to drown her sorrows while watching Xiao Lihua's natural performance. The air seemed to be filled with the intoxicating aroma of wine, making people feel dizzy.

This was a performance of very high standards. Compared with other contestants' strategy of making up for their shortcomings as much as possible in the short term, Xiao Lihua chose to go all out and maximize her advantages. There is no doubt that her choice was correct judging from the stage effect, but it was a pity that she met the extremely popular Shangguan Huaijin.

So unlike Liu Pianpian's crushing victory without any suspense, this vote is destined to be a fierce battle.

On the stage, Shangguan Huaijin and Xiao Lihua turned their backs to the screen with nervous expressions. According to the rules, they were not allowed to look at the vote count before the results came out, so they could only keep observing the expressions and faces of others in an attempt to find out some information.

But no one else in the studio had the leisure to pay attention to the parties' little thoughts. Everyone raised their heads and stared at the rising vote numbers on the screen.

"Ms. Shangguan's stage performance is the best! I love that dreamlike scene so much! This is what a beauty in a dream should be like!"

"Isn't it too blurry to even see her face? I don't like those who are so mysterious. How exciting is Xiao Lihua's performance?"

"That's right, those rosy cheeks and drunken eyes are so charming! A true beauty must be like the imperial concubine, even when drunk she is still charming!"

"You're talking nonsense! I just don't like that babbling tune! Miss Shangguan's piano playing and dancing skills are the best!"

"Ah, this... is so confusing. I like both! Why can't I vote for both?"

"I don't care who I vote for, but look at that big screen, who will win?"

"Miss Shangguan! Miss Shangguan must win!"

"Little Lihua! Little Lihua must win! Let me show you how powerful we are as drama fans!"

…

The audience's disagreements and arguments were reflected in the two vote numbers that kept surpassing each other. More and more audience members who originally didn't care about voting also went on stage to press the voting button. The cheers of encouragement in the public hall and the boxes rose one after another. Under everyone's attention, the bar graph of the number of votes became higher and higher. In the later stage, there was even a tug-of-war between a few votes.

"Junior sister, have you not made up your mind yet? The time is almost up." In a luxurious and spacious houseboat, several disciples of Qingyun Sect once again sneaked into the City That Never Sleeps to watch the competition. The other senior brothers and sisters had already cast their votes, leaving only the junior sister with a frown and a troubled look on her face.

"Why don't you just pick one at random?" The eldest brother came over and gave her some advice: "It's just one vote anyway."

"No, no!" The younger sister objected seriously, her expression as if she were debating a difficult problem related to Dan formation. "Look, Miss Shangguan and Miss Lihua are so closely tied in votes. What if it really is just a matter of one vote?"

"What does it matter? You like them all anyway, right?" The second brother stretched lazily: "You win no matter which one wins!"

"But what about the sister who lost? Will she be eliminated..." So the little sister began to worry again, her hand on the voting machine hesitantly: "I like both Sister Shangguan and Sister Lihua very much, and I don't want them to be eliminated..."

Here it comes again! The little junior sister's extraordinary compassion for the Hehuan Sect! The senior brothers and sisters looked at each other, their faces full of helplessness.

Ever since the Hehuan Sect's talent show started, Junior Sister has become just like those lovers who plunged headfirst into the land of pleasure.

Not only does he never miss a single issue of the magazine, he also cuts out pictures of each character in the magazine and sticks them on his bedside table and on his magic weapon. Lately, he's been humming that strange song from the talent show trailer everywhere, gripping the hilt of his sword in the practice room and singing loudly, "I don't listen to discipline or nagging, and I don't depend on anyone for my existence!"

...I can only say that it’s a good thing that Master is in seclusion, otherwise I would have been seriously injured by her anger.

Moreover, the junior sister's preference for the contestants is different from that of others. Others have some preferences for the female cultivators, like the second senior brother likes Liu Pianpian, and the third senior sister prefers Shangguan Huaijin a little bit. The eldest senior brother actually doesn't care much about this, he prefers to go to the martial arts training ground for competition.

But the junior sister is different. She loves all the forty contestants equally.

Yes, she loves every one of them. Her bedside table and magic weapon are almost full of pictures of the characters. She buys forty copies of the same issue of the magazine at a time because she has to vote for each person to cast a vote.

Damn it, most of the female cultivators at the back couldn't even remember their names, right? How could she be so specific about every single one of them? The brothers and sisters couldn't help but reveal their masks of pain as they watched the troubled little sister.

Ah, although it may be unfair to Master to say this, but my loving and affectionate little sister is really suitable for the Hehuan Sect!

【Author’s words】

①② are both from the Book of Songs "Jiang Jia"

③ is a Peking Opera excerpt "The Drunken Concubine"

My junior sister is a fan of the group who likes to keep things balanced. I admire this kind of fans. There was a girl group with dozens of people before, and I couldn’t even tell who was who, but the fans were able to accurately identify them [dog head]

Finally, thank you all for your love for this article [scatter flowers]. Because the previous gains and losses were so small, I thought it was going to crash. I didn't expect so many cute people to collect it. I am so grateful! (bow.jpg)

This article will be updated with about 3,000 words every day at noon. Although I am a social animal so the update is a bit slow, I will not give up. I updated the last book for four months without stopping for a single day (proud hands on hips.jpg), please rest assured [starry eyes]