19 Chapter 19
A few days later, the pagoda with bright lights in the center of the city that never sleeps.
This place was originally a prosperous place of entertainment, and was bought by the Hehuan Sect at a huge price more than a month ago. When the cultivators were invited to watch the disciple-recruiting ceremony a few days ago, there had been no changes. Now, after the hard work of countless Hehuan Sect disciples in transforming it, from the outside it is far from the frivolous brothel it once was.
Every eaves, every terrace, and even the four walls are luxuriously paved with spiritual stones to form a glowing array that glows day and night. At night, the pagoda becomes dazzling and radiant, and is definitely the most dazzling existence even in the brightly lit city that never sleeps.
On the second floor of the tower, the Hehuan Sect installed spirit shadow stones that could fill the entire wall for free. Every time when the city's busiest time of the day comes, they start playing a wonderful replay of the entire disciple-recruiting ceremony. The pagoda is always crowded with people, and it looks even more lively than the flower boat parade that takes place every five years.
Today was no exception. Many monks who came here for the sake of its reputation gathered around the pagoda early in the evening to reserve seats. Familiar friends gathered together to chat, and occasionally the cries of people selling food or benches could be heard, making the whole block bustling with activity.
"Zhang Daoquan, you are so impatient! Didn't the disciple-taking ceremony start at the hour of Xu? Why are you here so early?" A cultivator who was dragged here by his friends for the first time looked puzzled.
"Look at the crowd around here. Do you think we can still get a front row seat if we come at 10:00 p.m." The monk named Zhang Daoquan was one of the monks who fully supported Liu Pianpian on the day the show was shown. These days, whenever he had time, he would come to admire Miss Pianpian's dancing, and he had quite a bit of experience in how to get a front row seat when watching a movie.
"Not only can I not see the content clearly at the back, but the sounds from the screen are even drowned out by the quarreling and screaming!" Zhang Daoquan pointed to a few monks in front of him and said to his friend, "For example, those guys, always calling Miss Shangguan, Miss Shangguan, are so annoying!"
No matter how you think about it, Miss Pian Pian's dancing is more beautiful than mine! What a bunch of second-generation rich kids with no vision!
Wang Zhicai, who was leading the opposite party, seemed to sense his gaze and rolled his eyes at him very rudely.
The two of them hadn't gotten along since the first day they met, and now that they've fallen in love with different contestants, they're like water and fire.
The friend was confused: "If all else fails, we can just fly into the air..."
"Oh, it's useless. Do you think you're the only one here who can fly?" Zhang Daoquan pointed behind him, signaling his friend to look back. "Firstly, we're not sword cultivators, so we can't fly with swords. Secondly, we don't have good flying instruments, so we can't compete with those wealthy disciples from the sects."
The friend looked back in confusion, and discovered that the sky was filled with large and small fairy boats and airships. There were even guys who could tamer beasts sitting on their spirit pets. At first glance, he had no room to use his not-so-proficient Cloud-Walking Technique.
Shocked friend: ...
After being speechless for a while, he finally found his voice: "Why are there so many people here every day? Isn't it said that the show is the same every night?"
"The content is the same, yes, but the audience is different every night!" Zhang Daoquan habitually took out two small stools from his storage bag and pulled his friend to sit down. He also asked the vendor to buy two meals. He seemed very familiar with this place.
"Don't you know what kind of place this Never-Sleeping City is? Countless cultivators already come here every day to enjoy the sights and pleasures. Now, with the attention-grabbing topic of the Hehuan Sect's election, isn't this attracting cultivators from hundreds of miles around?"
Anyway, it would be a shame not to watch the ready-made fun. The few days of traveling that the monks spend in their long lives are simply not worth mentioning.
Thinking that he was also attracted by rumors such as "The Hehuan Sect's demon girl is holding a beauty pageant", this friend instantly understood everything in front of him. He looked at Zhang Daoquan with a strange look:
"I'm here to watch the fun. What about you? How many times have you come here to watch it again?"
"Not many, only seven times." Zhang Daoquan scratched his cheek uncomfortably: "Hey! Miss Pianpian's dancing is not easy to see! Even in the past, you could only get it by spending a lot of money..."
"The Hehuan Sect's Spirit Shadow Stone has only been released seven times!" The friend shook his head and sighed, "You really never get tired of looking at it!"
"Hmph! Only seven times. I'm free anyway!" Zhang Daoquan was not convinced. Just as he was about to say something else, the door of the pagoda, which had been tightly closed, suddenly opened slowly. Several pretty girls in plain gauze skirts appeared in front of everyone, carrying some strange-looking racks.
The shelves were only half a person's height, and were placed side by side against the wall by the female cultivators, just reaching the waist of a person. The horizontal shelf in the middle used to place things was much shallower than an ordinary bookshelf, and the books on it could only be placed horizontally on it, revealing the extremely conspicuous covers.
The cover features a beautiful woman with a plain appearance. She is wearing a white gauze dress, and her unmade-up face takes up most of the page. The cold moonlight behind her casts a layer of silver gauze over her black hair and fair face. Her pale pink lips are tightly pursed with a pitiful weakness. Her eyes are closed, and at the end of her eye there is a clear gem formed by the condensation of a teardrop, reflecting a faint light in the moonlight.
"Is this... Miss Pianpian?" Zhang Daoquan muttered to himself unconsciously. His eyes were glued to the book cover from the moment he saw it. He couldn't help but walk forward to look at the pictures in the book carefully. As he looked at them, he felt a strange excitement in his heart.
The Liu Pianpian on the cover is completely different from the enchanting dancer in a bright red dance dress on the screen before. Such a simple and cold dress actually highlights the exquisiteness and beauty of her facial features. Coupled with the painter's superb skills and ultimate control of light and shadow, the Liu Pianpian presented to everyone is simply a fairy from heaven who is not of this world.
Most of the onlookers were amazed. Some couldn't help but look at the female cultivators carrying the shelves out of curiosity: "What is this?"
The leader of the group of nuns was a young girl in a pink shirt. She picked up a thin book from the shelf and pointed to the words on the cover to show everyone:
"This is the magazine our Hehuan Sect recently launched—Hehuan Weekly. It will be published every seven days. This issue mainly introduces the stories behind some of the popular contestants in the previous auditions."
The crowd looked in the direction of Lanxi's finger, and were surprised to find that there were words on the cover of the book. The picture of the beauty was so stunning that few people noticed the words of different colors around it.
Besides the "Hehuan Weekly" written in some fancy decorations at the top, there were some small words below the picture of the beauty:
#Shock! The courtesan Liu Pianpian actually experienced these things before she became an immortal! #
#The love-hate relationship between the daughter of a wealthy family, Shangguan Huaijin, and her family! #
#The secret behind the scenes of Elder Zixiao, a well-known judge of the Hehuan Sect, is exposed! #
#Want to know the beauty secrets of the Hehuan Sect's female cultivators? Actually, you only need to do three things every day... #
These eye-catching little words are written around Liu Pianpian's pretty face, and each one can arouse the readers' curiosity.
"He Huan Weekly only costs seven spirit stones a copy! Interested fellow Daoists, don't miss it!" Lan Xi waved the weekly in his hand and began to promote it at the right time, determined to spread the master's skills far and wide:
"This issue of the magazine is only available for seven days! Don't miss out! Inside the magazine are also rare and beautiful photos of popular contestants! Don't miss this opportunity!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd around immediately became agitated, and the monks rushed to take out spirit stones and hand them over.
"Give me a copy! I want to collect Miss Pianpian's beautiful pictures!"
"Is there anyone for Miss Rong'er?"
"When will Miss Shangguan be able to be the cover girl? I'm willing to buy a hundred copies!"
"You're dreaming! Miss Pianpian is clearly the most worthy cover beauty!"
"If you guys don't want to buy, get out of the way! It's unreasonable to want to quarrel at any time and anywhere!"
Of course, in addition to some fans who took the lead and charged forward with spirit stones, there were also some other cultivators who began to squeeze forward for various reasons.
"Give me a copy! I want to see the contestants' stories!"
"Exactly! It's so worrying that the cover doesn't make things clear!"
"Me, me, me! I want one! I want to know the beauty secrets of the Hehuan Sect's female cultivators!"
"I want to know the secrets of the Shangguan family!"
"I want to see Fairy Zixiao! Hehe, hehehe..."
Not only the independent cultivators crowded in the front rushed to buy, but the disciples of the sect who were waiting to watch the show in mid-air were also quite interested in it. The young sister of Qingyun Sect had finally had the opportunity to go out again and encountered such a thing. She was about to jump out of the fairy boat to buy it, but in the end it was the eldest brother who stopped her and jumped to the stall and bought a copy.
The little sister held the thin magazine in her hand, and a faint blush of excitement appeared on her always pale face. She couldn't wait to turn the pages, and immediately a piece of paper folded into a square fell out. The second brother beside her quickly caught it and unfolded it, only then did he discover that there was a lifelike picture of a beauty inside.
The person in the picture is still Liu Pianpian on the cover, but here she is a full-length portrait. She is dancing gracefully by the lake in the moonlight with her eyes closed. The hem of her skirt and her sash are gently blown by the wind, as if she is an elf who has strayed into the mortal world. In the reflection of the lake, she is wearing a red dress, dancing the passionate dance she did on the day of the audition.
"This must be the rare beauty painting that the female cultivator mentioned... Even the eyelashes can be seen clearly. The painter must be quite talented..." Even though the second senior brother didn't like Miss Liu Pianpian very much, he couldn't help but be attracted by the person in the painting.
"I know! Look at this painting, the movement and stillness, the light and dark, it's so distinct and clear-cut. It must mean that Miss Pianpian has shed her past life as an oiran and started a new life!" The little sister caressed the jeweled teardrops in the corners of the eyes of the person in the painting, unable to let go.
"This ornament is so beautiful. I wonder if I'll ever have the chance to wear one..."
We even had to be sneaky to bring you to watch the performance of the Hehuan Sect, and you still want to put these fancy things on your face?
Are you afraid that your father will be mad to death?
The senior brothers and sisters were silent for a moment, and then immediately changed the subject:
"Ahem! Let's not look at this painting anymore, Junior Sister. Didn't you say you wanted to see the stories of the contestants and the judges?"
"Right, right, right! What's so good about this painting? Let's take a look at the article inside. Actually, I'd rather know the secret of the Hehuan Sect's beauty..."
The little apprentice sister was also curious about what they said, so she opened the magazine and turned to the page about beauty secrets according to the table of contents:
Everyone knows that the female cultivators of the Hehuan Sect are all incredibly beautiful! So, what's the secret to their beauty? Why is each one so uniquely beautiful?
I'm also very curious! Today, let me and everyone...
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