On the small boat, Shen Lian was dressed in his Dao robe, which blew in the wind. His long hair was let down on his shoulder. He looked just like a Dao practitioner in a Chinese ink painting.
There was a fisherman rowing at the back of the boat. He was dressed in a similar to the weird-browed man.
In front of them was a small building in North Lake. There was no melody nor singing coming from the building.
Shen Lian was on the deck. Unlike the surrounding which was well lit, there was no light there. It was quiet. The fisherman who was there before had left along with the boat, leaving only ripples behind.
The moment he arrived the bank of North Lake, there was someone waiting for him. He was then sent to this place using the boat.
He felt a bit odd. The word Cuiyun Pavillion was visible under the moonlight. It was beautiful and elegantly written.
Shen Lian stepped into the building with really light footsteps. He passed by a walkway and saw a beaded curtain at one side. No wind could reach here, and that explained why no sounds were produced by this beaded curtain. The moonlight seeped through the gaps between the beaded chains, and the whole atmosphere was dreamlike.
Shen Lian moved inside. He lifted the curtain and the beads made a melodic sound.
The room was extremely spacious. There was a skylight which let in the moonlight.
The floor and wall were made of special materials. The moonlight permeated the room, like a stream of water.
A lady was sitting on the floor, with a seven-stringed Guqin in front of her.
Under the moonlight, one could observe that she was extremely beautiful with an aura out of this world.
One’s beauty was not particularly important to Shen Lian, but even a saint would not ignore the woman in front of him right now.
Even when Confucius met Nanzi, he was shocked by her beauty.
Other than her beautiful face, she carried with her a class, like a lotus cleansed in the rain. It was refreshing and pure, like a saintess, who was the savior for all sufferings.
She looked like she was just sixteen, and her eyes were smiling.
Smiling always brought woman – especially a beautiful woman – good fortune.
She seemed to understand it well, and she had a really charming smile.
Shen Lian asked, “Are you Zhao Xiaoyu?”
“Do you think I am not?” Her eyes scoured through Shen Lian, which reminded one of the clear streams in autumn.
If fairy existed, it would look like her.
In his previous life, Shen Lian rarely had the chance to interact with beautiful women other than through the internet. In this life, he had met a few really gorgeous women. It was not because he started having good fortunes, but because, with cultivation, the improvement he had been through acted as a filtering process.
Among cultivators, regardless of gender, it was rare to find someone ugly. It was because after going through the process of cultivation, most people’s skin would turn smooth and delicate.
Even if the facial features were not nice, with a change in disposition, one could become extremely attractive.
For cultivators, one’s disposition was more important than facial features.
Shen Lian was not feeling awkward with her attempt in sizing him up. He hid his thoughts and exhibited a degree of unknown. As he stepped forward, he could get a whiff of her smell, which composed of the smell of Otherworldly and her body odor which was unique to young women.
Her fingers went through the strings and the melody produced was akin to a stream of water flowing underneath a row of pine trees. It was light and clear, but at the same time extremely touching.
There was crystal-like nail polish on her nails. They were flashing as her fingers moved along. Occasionally one could spot the veins at the back of her hand, like jade patterns. It was mesmerizing.
Shen Lian did not answer yes or no, and he said the following softly, “I suppose you are Zhao Xiaoyu, and you have a rather unusual background.”
Zhao Xiaoyu lifted her eyebrows, and her nimble fingers were still on the strings. She laughed, “Well I guess it is pretty easy to guess that. It will be rather disappointing if that is all you can manage.”
Shen Lian recited the following phrase, “To be at the ninth level of the lotus bier, I wish I could be a cloud that goes through the rain and the mountain.” This poem was born out of a description of a cult of Luo, which was known as Nine Lotus school.
An expression flashed through Zhao Xiaoyu’s face and she stopped scouring at Shen Lian. She replied softly, “It is no wonder that you are a student of Qing Xuan. You are a learned man.”
Shen Lian said, “It has been a long time since I’ve heard that the Book of Nine Lotus from Nine Lotus school is the best art of spiritual enhancement. I can finally confirm this rumor meeting you today.” As Shen Lian was studying the Mastery of Senses, hence he did his research in the field of spiritual enhancement. While this woman seemed like an experienced cultivator, she still exhibited certain characteristics of the Nine Lotus.
For instance, her pure disposition, like a white lotus, unsullied by the mud it grew out of, fitted well to the description about the Book of Nine Lotus.
“Qing Xuan is really one of the best family. I cannot tell which spiritual enhancement you went through – you are able to establish spiritual consciousness before reaching the stage of Huandan.” Zhao Xiaoyu was a few inches shorter than Shen Lian, and hence she had to look up to him. The playing of the Guqin stopped.
Shen Lian smiled, “It happened due to pure chance. It is not worth mentioning.”
Zhao Xiaoyu understood that what Shen Lian said was not the truth, but that was not why she asked him here for.
Zhao Xiaoyu blended in well with the dreamy environment. Even though she was just in front of Shen Lian, it felt like she was not actually there. She asked, “Are you not curious to know whether this invitation is a trap?”
Shen Lian laughed and did not answer. He stepped forward and sat down in front of her.
The woman was not surprised. She stared into his eyes, carrying a look of indifference.
She sighed and said, “Still Qing Xuan is one of the oldest and more legitimate family. Every generation there will be someone like yourself and Jian Wang who is extremely brilliant.”
Shen Lian said, “I am not anywhere near the level of senior Chen. Please don’t overestimate my ability.”
Zhao Xiaoyu’s beautiful eyes looked just like the starry night. She said to Shen Lian, “You don’t have to be humble. Please don’t keep it to heart as my servant might have offended you today. They are not complete anymore, hence they can only practice something out of the normal family. As a result of that, they are temperamental.” She subsequently said, “In the face of Qing Xuan, we Nine Lotus also are something out of the normal family. If you see me as an evil practitioner, there is no need for us to continue with this conversation.”
She looked extremely pitiful. For any man who had observed that, he would have promised everything to her.
Shen Lian’s peaceful heart was stirred. The low-leveled seduction techniques made use of actions to evoke lustful reactions, but high-leveled techniques could evoke a reaction through innocence. The person would be manipulated without even being aware of it.