Gu Qing Shan stood in front of the door, a bit hesitant.
There were all sorts of buildings throughout the streets of the city, but they were all enveloped in darkness without any visible entrance.
Other than that bar, the only place he could observe and enter was only this Song and Dance Troupe of Sin.
“——-Laura, how many buildings can you see?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
“All of them” Laura answered.
Gu Qing Shan paused.
That’s true, money was the root of all sins, and this place was the Utopia of Sins…
“So this place is where you have an affinity with?” Laura pointed at the Song and Dance Troupe of Sin’s building and asked out of interest.
“That’s right…” Gu Qing Shan replied.
Laura thought briefly and said: “For the sake of safety, how about I cover you with the flower umbrella and the two of us enter together?”
—-the flower umbrella was the manifestation of [Infinite Worlds Shelter, capable of obscuring them from anything and everything.
“It’s ok. We don’t know any of the spirits here, so that would be quite impolite” Gu Qing Shan replied.
He pushed the door open and entered.
A milk cow with a slightly nervous expression was sitting in front of the reception desk.
Gu Qing Shan and the cow stared into one another’s eyes.
The cow looked at Gu Qing Shan for a while, then looked behind him, finally letting out a sigh of relief.
“Scared me to death—– here I thought our esteemed guests have arrived, who knew that it was only a smelly brat”
The cow sat down on her chair and took a sip of tea.
“Sorry about that, were you waiting for someone?” Gu Qing Shan tried asking.
“Of course, our legendary little elder sister [1]Cai Zang met the heir of the Sacrificial Dance and the Lord of Wealth in the main world, so little elder sister invited them” the cow casually replied.
She was then startled.
“Brat, what are you asking so much for? You’re crazy!”
“Ahaha, I’m just curious” Gu Qing Shan smiled to smooth it over.
“Don’t ask too much even if you’re curious, asking too much is the same as asking for death, got it?”
“Got it”
“Ah, so why did you come to our Song and Dance Troupe?” the cow asked.
“I have an affinity with this place, so I came to take a look” Gu Qing Shan answered.
“You have an affinity? You must be joking. Our Song and Dance Troupe stands at the peak of sin, usually, only three kinds of people will ever see us: geniuses in song and dance, madmen, or idiots. Do you think you’re a genius or a mad person? ——–you seem like neither of them to me” the cow commented.
The corner of Gu Qing Shan’s lip twitched a bit.
Laura whispered: “I kind of want to eat beef again, Gu Qing Shan”
Gu Qing Shan nodded slightly.
—–should I head into the bar of sin and get that bunch of murderous spirits to kill this cow?
This thought only appeared in his mind for a brief moment before going away.
“Sorry for wasting your time, but I don’t know why I can see the Song and Dance troupe, so please help me take a look at what kind of person I am—— after learning this, I won’t bother you again” Gu Qing Shan smiled amicably.
This time, the cow appeared a bit surprised.
“You’re quite the decent person aren’t you? Alright, I’ll give you a chance”
She took out a coin and slammed it on the table with a ‘bam’.
“According to our rules, anyone who can see our Song and Dance Troupe will be given a coin to test your luck” the cow said.
“What should I do with it?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
“Go in and you’ll find out” the cow said with an impatient tone.
“…Thank you”
Gu Qing Shan took the coin, smiled at the cow, then headed inside.
On the way, Laura sent her voice: “Hey, aren’t you being a bit too nice today?”
Gu Qing Shan replied: “We came here to learn, so of course we need to maintain a good attitude. The foundation of cultivation is respect for one’s teacher and their teachings”
He walked through a long hallway and finally arrived at a great hall.
This great hall was about as large as a couple of football fields, which was filled with all sorts of facilities.
Gu Qing Shan walked through the entire great hall, seeing boxing machines, a balancing bridge, dance machines, a beast taming cage, karaoke booths, several trapeze bars, a diving board and a pool, then finally stopped in front of a burning ring of fire.
A voice spoke up from the ring of fire: [One coin in exchange for one chance—- jump through me and I will burn your soul, causing you to undergo either qualitative change or die from it]
“I haven’t learnt how to jump through a fire hoop” Gu Qing Shan said.
[Then the chances of you succeeding are very small, but you can give it a try] the ring of fire said.
“Never mind then”
Gu Qing Shan shrugged and walked back the way he came, stopping in front of a dance machine.
A voice spoke up from the dance machine:
[Give me a coin and I will play a random song, if you perform following this song, I will grade your performance—- the higher your score is, the more chances you have to join the Song and Dance Troupe, you might even be able to exchange a Spirit Art through me]
“What’s a Spirit Art?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
[A certain spirit granting you permission to use their unique ability—– that is called a Spirit Art] the dance machine replied.
“Sounds decent enough”
Gu Qing Shan put the coin into the dance machine.
Ka-ching!
Several icons appeared on the screen of the dance machine.
These icons rapidly flashed in front of Gu Qing Shan, then gradually slowed down until one of them stopped in front of him.
It was a dark red icon with a musical note painted in several different colors.
[You are quite unfortunate, drawing Medley Dance like this] the dance machine commented.
“What is ‘Medley Dance’?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
[The music will continuously alternate and change, so you must fluidly change your motion following several different styles of music to complete your dance] the dance machine explained.
“Wouldn’t hurt to give it a try I guess”
Gu Qing Shan rolled up his sleeves and said.
Laura had already jumped down from his shoulder and stood on one side.
A faint sound of music began to play.
It was a solemn and dignified holy aria.
In that instant, the entire world disappeared as Gu Qing Shan found himself standing in the middle of a vast expanse of emptiness, continuously descending.
[Attention, the other party had already begun to score you!] a line of glowing text appeared on the War God UI.
Gu Qing Shan closed his eyes and formed a strange seal in his hand.
Both of his arms continuously formed one seal after another, his movement was so fast that it left afterimages, almost as if he had grown several extra arms.
At the same time, his footsteps were as firm as rock, each of his steps perfectly suited to the beat of music.
He appeared almost like a dancing demon god!
“Sacrifice!”
Gu Qing Shan curtly uttered a shout.
He then stepped backwards.
A vast expanse of land appeared out of nowhere to firmly support his feet.
Dance of the Earth God——
Where the Earth God stands, there is surely ground!
Due to the existence of the earth, the void turned into a true world.
The sky, the cloud, the sun, the moon, and the stars had all manifested!
Standing on the firm solid ground, Gu Qing Shan’s footwork followed the beat of the dignified holy aria while his hands formed one strange seal after another, seemingly attempting to summon the world spirit.
The music suddenly changed.
The sound of the organ stopped fluidly like a flowing river.
An upbeat folk tune resounded throughout, the background hums of the aria abruptly faded away.
A heavy thumping noise suddenly began to beat.
Bu-cshu bu-cshu bu-cshu bu-cshu!
A loud electronic synthesizer——
The dance must also change!
Gu Qing Shan instantly waved his hands to the sides, summoning two humanoid figures next to him.
Another six figures swiftly appeared as well.
A total of eight figures stood paralleled with one another behind Gu Qing Shan, all of which were following his beat.
Just by standing there, they gave everyone a feeling of unification.
A shriek was suddenly heard echoing within the music:
“DANCE! DANCE! DANCE IT OUT!”
Almost instantly after the voice resounded, Gu Qing Shan and the figures behind him had already begun to perform a neat street dance.
“Whoa! That’s awesome!”
Laura couldn’t help herself exclaiming.
Fortunately, she was still under the effects of [Infinite Worlds Shelter], so no one could hear her voice.
Gu Qing Shan nodded, then pointed downwards.
All the figures instantly became overlapped with his own, and as soon as the exciting beat dropped, he wiggled his finger in a dismissive manner.
Right away, all the figures spread out again.
Followed by——-
Shaking hip!
Spin! Spin! Spin!
A violent belly dance!
——the second stage of the official Sacrificial Dance!
All of a sudden, the sound of music changed again, turning into the harmonious sound of a bamboo flute.
Gu Qing Shan immediately clapped his hands.
All the figures vanished.
He suddenly pulled the twin swords Heaven and Earth from the void of space and wielded them.
With the Heaven sword, he drew several graceful arcs of light——-
Sacrificial Sword, [Shatter Heaven].
Like a strong gust of wind, but also a flowing wave of light, the sword phantoms scattered.
Dozens of shadows had overlapped on top of the Earth sword, which had stabbed into the ground.
Rumble rumble rumble——-
The earth cracked open.
Countless souls emerged from below, circled around Gu Qing Shan, then uttered the same howl.
Sacrificial Sword, [Earth’s Burial].
From the bamboo flute, a chiming but melancholic female voice also began to hum.
Letting go of the two swords, Gu Qing Shan lightly clapped his hands following the female voice’s hums.
The Heaven sword continued to fly like a brilliant cold arc of light, circling around the Earth sword time and time again until it had drawn a complete full moon.
The sound of music changed again.
This time, the music had slowed down.
—–it was about to end!
Without being flustered, Gu Qing Shan put both swords away, slowed down his movements, and once again started to twist his body.
Glittering light moved following his dance.
He shook his head from left to right.
Puckered his lips.
Spread out both of his arms.
Then perform a 720 degree spin on the spot.
Followed by a fluid series of hip shaking, twerking, and kicks.
Ending with a simple piece of tap dancing.
Both his feet touch the ground at once.
And once again stood up straight.
His dance has been completed.
This was the opening dance of the Sacrificial Dance, which was originally used as a warm-up, but Gu Qing Shan had used it here as an ending instead, making for a godly performance.
At the very moment he stopped, the sound of music also ceased.
Perfectly timed!
But Gu Qing Shan was still quite unsatisfied.
Earlier, he only managed to perform the opening dance, the official dance, the Earth God Dance, and the Sword Dance, he still hasn’t had the chance to perform the Dance of Three Lives and the Deathmatch Dance.
I’m feeling good right now.
The illusion around him disappeared together with the world he was standing in, replaced by another world that took Gu Qing Shan back in.
—–the great hall of the Song and Dance Troupe of Sin!
Since he had completed his dance, he returned to the great hall.
Lines of glowing text appeared on the War God UI:
[Congratulations, you’ve successfully conquered all of your observers]
[This was a Sacrificial Dance that they’ve rarely had the chance to witness in their eternal lives]
Gu Qing Shan was a bit surprised.
Suddenly, a resounding sound of clapping was heard from all around.
Numerous spirits had gathered around the entire hall, all of which were cheering at Gu Qing Shan.
[1] little elder sister is a Chinese way of referring to a girl, suggesting that they respect her – hence ‘elder sister’ – but also drawn to her beauty
