Staying Alive Cautiously in the Celestial Realm and Becoming the Strongest

The grand hall of Lichun Courtyard was abuzz with the sound of celestial music, while a subtle fragrance wafted through the air.

One after another, Yingluan Birds with their trailing rainbow tail feathers circled and danced in the air above the stage, echoing the melodies of the zither and the singing, occasionally emitting delightful chirps.

Around the necks of these Yingluan Birds hung vermillion lacquer plaques inscribed with names, each representing one of the thirty-six songstresses participating in tonight’s Red Sleeve Fang’s songstress competition.

"Caiyue!"

"Qiao!"

"Jiaojiao!"

The guests sitting in both the upper and lower floor booths and in the hall intermittently tossed out hairpins as flowers.

The Yingluan Bird corresponding to the name immediately dove down, snatching the hairpins with agility and precision before swallowing them into its crop.

The necks of Yingluan Birds boast an oval-shaped crop, endowed with an innate storage capacity.

While wild Yingluan Birds use their crops to store food, these domestically trained birds are utilized as tools for tallying votes.

By the end of all the songstresses’ performances, the one who garnered the most hairpins would be crowned the reigning Oiran of the season!

And the more hairpins an Yingluan Bird swallowed, the higher it flew.

The ranking was clear at a glance.

Many guests came to Lichun Courtyard to watch the competition that evening, among them were numerous patrons of these songstresses, who pulled out large amounts of Spirit Stones to buy hairpins and hurled them one after another.

Their aim was to ensure their favored songstress claimed the top spot!

As each songstress made her dramatic appearance, the atmosphere became increasingly heated, with a growing number of hairpins being thrown, so much so that the Yingluan Birds could barely keep up with picking them up.

But this was only a minor issue, for the hairpins also varied in grades: there were bronze, silver, gold, jade, and purple flowers.

Bronze flowers cost one Spirit Stone each, silver flowers ten, gold flowers a hundred...

When a wealthy patron tossed a single jade flower, their beloved songstress would shoot straight up to the ceiling!

This incited bursts of amazement and cheers.

In such an atmosphere, it was indeed difficult for ordinary people to resist the impulse to splurge their Spirit Stones.

In the heat of the moment, they threw out Spirit Stones by the handful.

Some simply did it out of rivalry.

Currently occupying the highest positions were Qiao from Bright Moon Pavilion and Su Qing from Hundred Flowers Building.

Their wealthy patrons were ensconced in booths on the eastern and western sides of the fifth floor, engaged in a head-to-head contest.

The hairpins they threw grew more and more numerous, to the point where they seemed to be seeing red!

"The patron of Miss Su Qing is the First Master of the Wang Family from the Wang Family..."

Xiao Guizi, serving beside Wang Chen in the third-floor booth, was briefing him: "The Wang Family from Lotus City, which has a Golden Core True Person, does major business, and owns tens of thousands of mu of land within the city, along with numerous houses and shops."

This was truly riches beyond measure!

Stay tuned to empire

Wang Chen nodded in acknowledgement.

Lotus City is the location of the Southern Domain Palace of the West Sea Sect, and it is the political, economic, and cultural center of the southern part of the West Sea Spirit Domain.

Because this Immortal City was built over the Great Marsh lake, and although the methods of the immortals in constructing cities are not comparable to those of mortals, such a city could not be easily expanded either.

Although Wang Chen had just arrived in Lotus City, he had gained a certain understanding of the situation here.

To possess tens of thousands of mu of invaluable land in Lotus City meant being wealthy to the extreme was no overstatement.

No wonder this First Master of the Wang Family was so extravagant, tossing Spirit Stones as if they were mere pebbles, flinging jade flowers without the slightest hesitation.

"The rival of First Master Wang is Fifth Master of Wang Family."

Xiao Guizi continued his introduction: "The Wang Family of Lotus City used to be wealthy and it is said their ancestors once included a True Immortal, but now they cannot compare to the prestige of the Wang Family."

His own family!

Wang Chen raised his eyebrows: "And this Fifth Master Wang dares to compete with First Master Wang?"

Xiao Guizi explained: "Fifth Master Wang has a spendthrift nature and has always refused to accept First Master Wang’s superiority. Moreover, he’s quite fond of Su Qing, and he frequented Hundred Flowers Building a lot recently."

"Wait a minute."

Wang Chen was puzzled: "Isn’t Fifth Master Wang supporting Qiao?"

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"That’s right,"

Xiao Guizi laughed and said, "Because First Master Wang took a fancy to Su Qing and paid for a month of her performances, Fifth Master Wang can only prove his own strength by backing Qiao."

"If he were to support Su Qing now, wouldn’t that be giving First Master Wang a boost!"

Such a train of thought...

Wang Chen could only say how bizarre the top-ranked brother was!

As the two were talking, suddenly a lazy voice floated down from the top floor: "Wu, isn’t it hard for your family to earn Spirit Stones? Do your father know you’re wasting them like this?"

The mocking tone in these words was clear for everyone in Lichun Courtyard to hear, clear and undeniable!

The lively atmosphere at the scene came to a momentary pause.

Even the singer on stage stumbled over her words.

Xiao Guizi whispered, "That’s First Master Wang."

After a moment, another voice came out: "Wang, even if I’m poor, I don’t lack these few Spirit Stones. Nobody would take you for a mute if you didn’t speak!"

"Heh heh!"

First Master Wang scoffed, "How many Spirit Stones do you even have in your pocket? I advise you not to tough it out."

Fifth Master Wang spat, "Pah!"

The sparring between the two was fierce yet brief and after a few exchanges of insults, they unexpectedly stopped throwing their hairpins in the competition.

It was only because the number thrown earlier was greater, so the Yingluan Birds representing Qiao and Su Qing were still soaring high.

As before, they outshone all the others!

In fact, by this time, many people understood that the Oiran of the night would definitely be determined between the two singers.

No chance for the others.

The singing on stage continued, but the atmosphere at the venue cooled down considerably.

Perhaps affected by the tension, the singer made several mistakes in a row, drawing a few sneers.

In the end, she left the stage in tears.

Xiao Guizi sighed and said, "Starting tonight, her rate will drop at least by half."

If you can’t hold the crowd at a critical moment, your fame naturally suffers.

At this time, another singer took the stage.

"Lian!"

Xiao Guizi immediately became excited: "Lian is making her appearance!"

He gripped the sandalwood chair in front of him so tightly that he almost crushed the backrest. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Although Wang Chen had requested Lian’s performances before, he had never seen her in person—now he was finally meeting her.

There she was, dressed in a plain white gown, her face veiled, cradling the Focustail Zither and performing a curtsey to the audience.

"Lichun Courtyard’s Lian seeks your guidance," she said.

Lian took a seat in front of the zither table, placed the Focustail Zither on top, and after a brief pause began to play.

Her zither playing was undoubtedly the most outstanding among all the singers who had performed before, her delicate fingers danced on the strings—plucking, sweeping, snapping, smoothing, casting, hooking, picking, beating—flowing like Moving Cloud, filling the room with amazement.

Wang Chen involuntarily nodded his head in approval.

Just for this opening piece, his visit to the singer’s gathering tonight was worthwhile.

Wang Chen waved his sleeve, and instantly a pile of Spirit Stones appeared on the table.

"Exchange these for hairpins for me,"

he said to Xiao Guizi, "Cast all of them for Miss Lian."

Although Lian said earlier not to send any hairpins, after hearing her zither, Wang Chen really couldn’t bring himself not to contribute a dime.

A token gesture was always needed.

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The first update is here.

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