Chapter 864 - 490: Nine Heavens Profound Lady

Could it be that the Queen Mother already knew he wasn’t bewitched by her and had no intention of going to the Turquoise Pool to rescue her in the future?

"In short, hide for a while. Don’t stay in the Northern Domain. Don’t think that just because you’re protected by the Celestial Dao Cauldron, that bitch wouldn’t dare attack you!

"Her methods will far exceed your expectations!" the Queen Mother said solemnly.

Unable to figure out what kind of trap this was, Zou Feng simply stopped overthinking it. He replied with a serious expression, "Thank you, Queen Mother. I do indeed plan to go into secluded cultivation for a while!"

The news that the Pinnacle Celestial Sword Sect was about to launch an expedition against the Dubhe Divine Domain probably hadn’t spread yet. The Queen Mother likely knew nothing about it. However, since participating in the expedition required leaving the Northern Domain anyway, it was effectively the same as finding a place to hide. There should be no conflict. Furthermore, being surrounded by the top experts of the Immortal Sect during the expedition provided an extra layer of insurance.

"In short, you must not be careless during this time..."

At this point, the Queen Mother of the Western Heaven sounded utterly exhausted, unable to maintain their "connection." Before she could finish speaking, her aura vanished from Zou Feng’s sea of consciousness. He thought, "She inexplicably fell into a state of weakness? She’s really putting on an act here..."

The Queen Mother had been acting too frequently lately, making Zou Feng increasingly suspect that she was up to something. Although the Nine Heavens Profound Lady, Jiang Shiyin, did indeed harbor murderous intent toward him, the real reason was highly unlikely to be what the Queen Mother claimed—that she had discovered their connection...

Yan Canglan gave everyone two days to prepare before the official assault on the Dubhe Divine Domain. Unlike the previous attack on the Yama Underworld, this was considered an expedition against an Outer Realm. Naturally, they didn’t just form an elite squad; instead, they had to rally all available forces for a full-scale invasion of the Dubhe Divine Domain. It was worth mentioning that the Outer Realm of the Dubhe Divine Domain itself possessed incredibly high conquest value. If they could conquer it, it would somewhat make up for the losses suffered during their recent all-out war with the Tribulation Cultivator Camp. Therefore, Zou Feng was definitely taking everyone on the Holy Lotus along on this expedition.

The current crew of the Holy Lotus was essentially the core team Zou Feng had built. Had the Tribulation Cultivators not caused trouble, he would have originally led these people to conquer the Outer Realms anyway. Even without Zou Feng at the helm, the Holy Lotus boasted quite an impressive lineup. With the Nascent Soul Realm Poison Demon Zhu Caiwei, along with several other Golden Core Realm Poisonous Demon Maidens, the Five Poison Creatures they jointly deployed were equivalent to a weakened version of his own Five Poison Skill. Now that Jiang Wanzhao, who had just broken through to the Nascent Soul Realm, had joined them, the combat power of the Holy Lotus was taken to the next level.

In addition, if Zhao Feixiong could also break through to the Nascent Soul Realm... Honestly, even without breaking through, the role Zhao Feixiong currently played was already quite significant. His Dancing Skill was so phenomenal that serving as the Vice Lead Dancer in the Xuanwu Poison Domain was almost a waste of his Talent. In a pure Dance Battle, Zou Feng recently felt as if he was almost no longer Zhao Feixiong’s match. This man’s dancing Talent was undoubtedly superior to his own. Thus, even if Zou Feng wasn’t present, Zhao Feixiong and the rest of the Holy Lotus crew could still unleash a formidable Xuanwu Poison Domain. Not to mention that if he personally executed "Xuanwu Paradise," the buffs provided by Zhao Feixiong and the others would make it even more powerful.

However, if Zhao Feixiong could also reach the Nascent Soul Realm, Zou Feng basically wouldn’t need to worry about the Holy Lotus at all. It was inevitable for him to worry about the safety of his crew. After all, in many situations, he certainly wouldn’t be able to stay on the Holy Lotus indefinitely. If formidable women like Jiang Shiyin secretly schemed against the people around him... If he couldn’t protect everyone in time and gave them an opening, it would naturally be extremely troublesome. But if Zhao Feixiong advanced to the Nascent Soul Realm as well, the Holy Lotus would have three great Nascent Soul experts holding down the fort, excluding himself. Coupled with the Xuanwu Poison Domain, even if Jiang Shiyin shamelessly targeted the others first, the crew could stall for time until he arrived for the rescue.

Logically, with Zhao Feixiong’s Talent and all the resources he had enjoyed while following him lately, he should have broken through by now... Could his excessive obsession with the Dance Dao have hindered his normal Cultivation? It seemed it was time to give Zhao Feixiong a wake-up call. Although the Dance Dao was a form of Dao, getting his priorities backward was certainly not a good thing.

As for whether Zhao Feixiong could successfully survive the Celestial Tribulation during his Nascent Soul Formation... With Jiang Wanzhao as an example, Zou Feng could guarantee with one hundred percent certainty that he would pass the Celestial Tribulation. Moreover, just like her, he wouldn’t even sense that someone was secretly helping him. In truth, the reason many Golden Core Realm Cultivators delayed their Nascent Soul Formation wasn’t because they couldn’t, but because they didn’t dare! Surviving the Celestial Tribulation was too dangerous. Without absolute certainty, even if they felt they were on the verge of forming their Nascent Soul, they wouldn’t casually attempt to break through. Perhaps this was also part of the reason Zhao Feixiong hadn’t advanced.

Soon after returning to the Holy Lotus, Zou Feng informed everyone about their upcoming expedition to conquer the Dubhe Divine Domain in two days. Hearing that they would be going along to stir up trouble in the Dubhe Divine Domain, everyone appeared exceptionally excited. Conquering Outer Realms was an everyday affair for Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect Disciples. After all, it meant they could plunder numerous benefits from the Outer Realms; no one would oppose such an opportunity. They even harbored a sense of mission to "spread dance across the world," aiming to promote the Path of Dance throughout All Heavens and Myriad Realms...

Seeing that no one had any objections to going to the Dubhe Divine Domain, Zou Feng didn’t say anything more. He waved his hand, dismissing them to prepare over the next two days. Zhao Feixiong, on the other hand, seemed completely indifferent to the expedition. The moment Zou Feng finished speaking, he immediately requested a Dance Battle.

Although Zou Feng wasn’t as addicted to dancing as Zhao Feixiong, going a few days without it still left him itching for a session. Thus, upon seeing Zhao Feixiong’s challenge, he readily agreed. To avoid making things too awkward, Zou Feng even tossed out the Treasure Lotus Lamp to play some music.

The crew, who had originally been preparing to return to their rooms, quickly gathered around again upon seeing there was a good show to watch. Since they were all members of the Xuanwu Dance Troupe, no one found this sudden Dance Battle cringe-worthy. Instead, as insiders who knew the ropes, watching this duel between experts up close sparked lively discussions and benefited them greatly.

"Whoa, has Brother Feng developed a new dance move?"

"This footwork is way too difficult. It seems to implicitly contain the operating laws of a certain star field..."

"Hey, hey, don’t you guys think Brother Zhao is even more impressive? His Realm is clearly inferior to Brother Feng’s, yet he can effortlessly keep up with his rhythm!"

"That’s true. In terms of pure Dance Dao Talent, Brother Zhao can be called a monster!"

Naturally, hearing this discussion left the only person on the Holy Lotus who had not yet immersed herself in the art of dance with extremely complicated feelings. Jiang Wanzhao felt deeply that she was out of place among the rest of the crew. She could actually barely tolerate this Dance Battle anymore and wanted nothing more than to scream at Zou Feng and Zhao Feixiong to stop.

"Good match!"

A moment later, for some unknown reason, Zhao Feixiong suddenly stopped on his own accord. Zou Feng wiped his forehead, even though there was no sweat there. He stopped as well and said sincerely, "Brother Zhao is truly a Dance Dao genius. I was the one who lost just now."

Zhao Feixiong shook his head. "Actually, your Talent is not below mine. It’s mainly because you’ve been caught up in so many matters lately and couldn’t focus on the Dance Dao, allowing me to catch up..."

Since the conversation had reached this point, Zou Feng naturally took the opportunity to remind Zhao Feixiong that no matter how focused he was on the Dance Dao, he shouldn’t put the cart before the horse and delay his Cultivation.

"Brother Zhao, a word in private?"

It was naturally more appropriate to discuss this matter privately. No one would want to be publicly lectured in front of so many people. And since Zou Feng had asked for a private word, the others immediately dispersed with great tact. Once there was no one around, Zou Feng asked tentatively, "Brother Zhao, you should be able to attempt your Nascent Soul Formation by now, right?"

Sure enough, Zhao Feixiong nodded without hesitation. "Indeed, I can..."

"Then why..."

With his hands clasped behind his back, Zhao Feixiong gazed at the distant clouds. "If I hadn’t stepped onto the Path of Dance, I probably would have attempted my Nascent Soul Formation even before Senior Sister Jiang!

"But now that I have a new path, I want to try a different route..."