Chapter 276 Chapter 276 – Tiara's Secret 2/2
In a moment of inspiration, she placed a hand on his arm and the other on his chest. She closed her eyes and stuck out her lips as if she was ready for a kiss.
While she was pondering whether kissing that thing was worth her life, her chest touched his, and the weird man exploded into ice dust before their lips met, leaving her alone to kiss the air.
"Ahhh…" She sighed in relief when she got to keep both her life and her lips from that monster.
"Congratulations on passing the challenges I've set for my inheritor, young girl. Would you be willing to listen about my special inheritance?" A melodic voice echoed in the empty plains. Tiara looked around her, looking for its source, but saw nothing there.
"I'm here," Tiara heard the voice coming from behind her and found the ethereal figure of a stunning woman. Her curves created a perfect hourglass shape, her voluptuous body seemed capable of enchanting anyone and anything.
One would be unable to decide whether to stare rudely at her shape or drown in her blue eyes and symmetrical face, and even Tiara was almost questioning her tendencies.
"I'm listening," Tiara said shyly. She was not used to such feelings, especially not toward women.
"Do you feel attracted to me?" The woman smiled, revealing two rows of neatly arranged white teeth. Her stretched red lips could make anyone decide to set a life goal to make her smile more often.
"I do," Tiara confessed and blushed. She felt even more surprised that she dared confess her feelings after one question from the lady in front of her.
"It's all part of my inheritance. It can make you capable of having anyone wrapped around your finger, making them all eager to please you and win your attention. All you need to do is to exist after incorporating my inheritance into your very being. Your walk will draw everyone's eyes, your smile will make them smile even wider, and your gaze will cause the roughest man to blush," the woman spoke with enthusiasm, trying to entice the young girl.
"But wouldn't I be bothered by everyone all the time? I want my peace and personal space, I don't think this inheritance is meant for me no matter how strong it is," Tiara decided, although she felt very bad about rejecting the woman.
"You can have peace and quiet, or you can have fun and attention. I can charm people and I can also choose not to," the woman explained, and Tiara felt the attraction she felt toward the woman gone all at once.
"It is great, but wouldn't it mean they will understand their mistakes when they part with me and realize I manipulated them? Wouldn't this inheritance lose a lot of power once its mechanism is known?"
Tiara voiced her concerns, unwilling to simply walk into the inheritance of someone else. If the woman was so great, how come she died? After all, almost only dead people left inheritances behind.
"My expertise is high enough to decide whether the effects will fade right away or remain for a long time. As long as you master the techniques, your abilities will be versatile, and it will be up to you how to use them," The lady explained.
"Who are you? How come you died here in the middle of nowhere if you were loved by everyone like you describe?"
"Ah… I bit more than I could chew. I'm Celeste Moonshine, one of the most known seductresses in our mortal realm!"
"I've never heard about you," Tiara said truthfully.
"Huh, what would a snotty brat like you know about seductresses? You're not old enough yet! Anyway, the art of seduction originates from my Qiteria continent, and it's one of the last inheritances we managed to keep away from the forces of the twenty sects."
"You sound so proud of it, yet you're trying to give it to me. I'm from the Phoenix Feather Sect, I'm also part of the Verdant Qi continent's main forces," Tiara pointed out.
"Aiyah, that's why I don't like kids, always so straightforward and clinging to details. It has been thousands of years since I died and I've been hiding this fragment of my soul here ever since. The cultivation of Charm Qi might have been already snatched by these annoying people from the Serene Lotus Sect, they had stolen almost every type of cultivation from us already," Celeste let out a chain of complaints.
"What if it wasn't? I would be kidnapped and interrogated once they see I cultivated Charm Qi which nobody in the continent knows," Tiara continued to rain questions on the woman.
"It's not like they can't, they obviously managed to capture some weaker cultivators from the lower stages and forced them to give away their manuals. It's just that they probably don't have an inheritance to the seventh stage, and when you're there, you'd be able to survive somehow."
"Sounds vague and not reassuring at all," Tiara admitted before remembering her original question, "wait, you've never told me why you were killed."
"I was greedy and infiltrated the Verdant Qi with the goal of collecting resources. At first, everything worked perfectly, but soon they were onto me. I managed to manipulate my chasers into becoming my slaves and servants, and when they realized my strength, they commissioned the Peaceful Demon Sect to hunt me down."
Tiara listened attentively to the story of how Celeste managed to slip through the tight defense of the continent and cross the borders. The seductress then used a group of charmed men and women to gather information about possible treasure locations all over the central zone. Some of her admirers were even at the seventh and eighth stages.
Celeste used their abilities and authority to infiltrate the central zone and explore it, entering various forbidden zones and stealing many of the most precious resources available only in the core part of the area.
However, someone was cleansed by a monk from the Peaceful Demon Sect and regained clarity, allowing him to understand the severity of the situation and the great loss the top five sects were taking. She amassed riches and resources both by herself and by receiving gifts from different worshippers.
Following the cleansed man's report, a few elders of the five sects arranged a meeting to discuss how to deal with the problem, and they eventually decided to pay the Peaceful Demon Sect to exorcise the "Evil Woman" as they called her. Thus, a manhunt began, and three elders were dispatched to get rid of her.
"And they killed you?"
"Yes, but it was three against one and it was very close."
"Right, but why weren't they wrapped around your finger like the others? Didn't you say you can make anyone submit?" Tiara asked, trying to find the possible cons of the inheritance.
"Those demons and monks are all impotent! Two of them were Demonic Qi cultivators who mutilated themselves in their training. Their insane body-refining methods caused them to lose their genitals and any sexual desire, so my charm was heavily affected by the restriction. The third was a monk who kept purifying everyone's mind from the Charm Qi that permeated their bodies, souls, and minds."
"So it is possible to counter you specifically, the inheritance has an obvious weakness," Tiara commented.
"The heavens are fair and there is no perfect path. No matter which cultivation method you choose, you'll eventually find yourself countered by others sometimes."
"It's impossible, I must be the strongest so nobody can chain down me anymore!" Tiara said, refusing to believe there would always be someone who could take her down.
"I can only suggest three ways around it – be so strong that you can force your way even against your nemesis, avoid those that can capitalize on your specific weaknesses, or join a team that can enhance and complement your specialties."
Tiara thought about it for a moment before deciding. She was already in the process of strengthening her soul and practicing her techniques, meaning she'd be soon ready to break through into the next stage.
Right now, she only had the inheritance of her grandmother, which was the cultivation of Saber Qi and Ice Qi.
"Are there more types of Qi other than Charm Qi in your inheritance?"
"Well, I used Ice Qi and a sword. Although the swordplay is somewhat different from wielding a saber, you seem talented, smart, and determined enough to incorporate the idea behind it into your own style. The Charm Qi is the most important part there, and it could be added to any other element."
'If I add it to my own style, my foundation should be strong enough to support three Qi types, my grandmother made sure of that. I can just keep practicing my normal attributes and develop the enchanting techniques secretly,'
Tiara and Celeste talked for a while before the young girl ultimately decided to inherit the woman's legacy.
Tiara learned that Celeste knew she was going to be hunted to death and buried her inheritance there before going to face the three enemies. The strand of consciousness did not know how the battle went, but it knew that the real Celeste must have died since she didn't come to pick it up.
"Here's a storage ring and a storage necklace with treasures that should allow you to cultivate the Charm Qi perfectly to the seventh stage without requiring any alchemist, runologist, or master of any other field. It doesn't have other cultivation resources, only what you need for enchanting and my knowledge. Good luck, Little Bird."
Celeste gave one last explanation and the strand of consciousness dissipated.
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