In the Temple of Beauty, within the Hall of Singing, upon the stage adorned with a seven-petaled lotus, Sandrina's performance continued. She wore a rather daring outfit and performed a highly suggestive and seductive dance. Her dance captivated almost everyone present. Nearly all the spectators in the Hall of Singing fixated their gaze on Sandrina, even when she suddenly threw her cane away and smashed it.
'This is... precise pre-reading and control of one of my movements' desires! Can the Chalk level ability of The Path of Depravity be used like this? Heh... Adele, as expected of someone who has made the Wolf Blood Society stumble multiple times in Tivian. As a senior... your use of abilities is much more skilled than mine.'
After her cane was controlled and broken, Sandrina thought this in her heart. Having lost her cane, she did not stop her dance. She immediately retrieved a portion of the power she had dispersed to control others and used it on herself to suppress her own desires, so as to avoid being controlled by Adele again. Losing the cane did not seem to affect her ability.
'A bit of skill, but even so, it just made me lose a toy. That thing was just bait...'
Continuing to think, Sandrina began to exert her power on the stage, using her gradually strengthening desire control to influence the surrounding audience. Losing the cane did not make her lose The Path of Depravity's ability, which was completely different from what Adele had thought before.
"What... that cane... isn't an Extraordinary item! That person's ability hasn't been interrupted, her ability doesn't come from that cane!" Seeing the scene before her, Adele couldn't help but say in her heart with great surprise, and Dorothy, who was also observing the scene, responded in a low voice when she saw this.
"It seems that cane was just an ordinary item to lure you into thinking of your teacher, thereby triggering killing intent. Her ability either comes from other Extraordinary items hidden on her, or directly from herself..."
"Comes from herself? That is to say, Placenta has already mastered The Path of Depravity?" Hearing Dorothy's words, Adele said somewhat indignantly, and Dorothy also responded thoughtfully.
"Your teacher was captured by the Wolf Blood Society and interrogated and tortured for a long time. During that time, she confessed a large amount of information about The Path of Depravity. This information, combined with the information obtained through deep dissection of her, as well as Placenta's long-term research on The Path of Depravity, and supplemented by some of Placenta's own flesh and blood black technology, perhaps they have been able to replicate the inheritance of The Path of Depravity to a certain extent."
"And this is probably why Placenta could easily bestow the Extraordinary item made from your teacher's brain to a Chalk level member, because by then they had already mastered the ability to reproduce The Path of Depravity's inheritance, and your teacher was no longer of much use to them."
"Teacher..." Listening to Dorothy's response, Adele couldn't help but grit her teeth secretly. Although Dalena had passed on her spirits and part of her inheritance to her, this part of the memory did not include the later records of her being interrogated and researched within Placenta. The main reason was that that part of the memory was too cruel and painful, accompanied by unparalleled spiritual damage, and directly giving it to Adele would be harmful, so Adele did not know what Dalena went through in Placenta's hands in the later stages.
"Those guys... have finally truly begun to profane The Path of Depravity... breaking through the Mistress of Flowers' protection of the branch path?" Adele murmured in her heart with some disbelief, and her words were heard by Dorothy, prompting her to ask curiously.
"The Mistress of Flowers' protection of the branch path... does that God of Love and Dance still have lingering influence on The Path of Depravity?"
"This matter... can't be explained clearly in a short time. The top priority now is to quickly deal with that person on the stage. Whether she has truly inherited The Path of Depravity or not, she must die now!"
Thinking this, Adele immediately borrowed Dorothy's computing power again to calculate Sandrina's movements on the stage, wanting to control a certain movement to make her fall and stop dancing. However, Sandrina was already prepared for this. She had already specially allocated power to suppress her desires. Although doing so would slow down her dance speed, it could effectively hinder Adele's ability, preventing it from taking effect unexpectedly and giving her time to react. Once she sensed that the desire for a certain movement was being deepened, Sandrina only needed to adapt and switch movements.
Just like this, Adele's interference with Sandrina's desires was temporarily controlled. Adele could no longer affect Sandrina, while the desire control power of Sandrina's dance continued to grow. Soon, Adele found that she was about to be unable to suppress the other party. Once Adele could not suppress Sandrina and her ability completely took effect, she would completely control the killing intent in the hearts of Adele and those remaining Bourbons who held hatred towards Sansone, causing the entire situation to completely spiral out of control.
"No, that woman's power is constantly increasing, I'm almost unable to suppress her! That stage... has the ability to strengthen the Desire Dancer's power. As long as she keeps dancing on it, I won't be able to win against her!"
With a solemn expression, Adele said to Dorothy in her heart, and Dorothy, who had been observing the scene, quickly replied.
"So... this stage has this effect? I understand now. Just hold on for a bit, Adele, I already have a countermeasure. It will only take a little time, and I will be able to bring something that can turn the situation around."
"Is that so? Then please hurry, Little Detective..." Gripping the railing, sweat dripping from her forehead, Adele said this. At this moment, she could only place her hope on Dorothy.
...
Just as the invisible struggle on the stage continued, on the main guest platform, Sansone, who was seated in the main seat, gradually discovered a slight abnormality in the scene. When he, who was originally watching the dance below the stage, saw Sandrina suddenly throw her cane away, his brows slightly furrowed, and he noticed something was wrong.
At the moment of that throwing motion, Sandrina did not control her strength well, causing the cane that was thrown and hit the pillar to be severely damaged. Not only did the glass ball at the tip of the cane directly shatter, but the entire body of the cane was also completely bent due to the violent impact. An ordinary person throwing a cane could not cause this level of damage to the cane body, thus the strength Sandrina displayed was unusual.
The dancer on that stage has a problem!
After realizing this, Sansone's heart began to be filled with confusion. According to his ability, unless it was a powerful "Shadow" Extraordinary, it would be impossible to hide from him. This dancer currently possessed great power, making the possibility of her being a "Cup" Extraordinary higher. Could she be shielding his detection because she was wearing some powerful "Shadow" item?
Regardless, Sansone had already sensed the strangeness of the situation. He could no longer continue to sit here and watch the show. At least, he had to stop the show and bring the dancer down for a thorough interrogation.
Just as Sansone was about to order his subordinates waiting beside him to stop the show, he suddenly felt that doing so might be a bit of a waste. Although this dancer had a slight problem, her dance was quite good. Perhaps he could wait until she finished dancing before checking her.
After this thought appeared in his mind, Sansone was startled himself. He couldn't help but frown and cover his temples, realizing that he had been subtly influenced by some extraordinary ability. He wanted to look away and not watch the show on the stage, but the various movements of Sandrina's dance had already penetrated deep into his heart. His instinct as a male creature had been awakened, and he couldn't bear to look away, couldn't bear to watch two fewer glances.
'Oops...'
After realizing this situation, Sansone's heart suddenly felt a sense of dread. Although he knew that this dance was harmful to him, he found it difficult to break free. It was like being severely addicted after heavily using some powerful addictive substance, knowing it is harmful but having to continue using it.
'Not good... must find a way...'
Finding that he could not escape the attraction of the dance, unable to shift his gaze or order the performance to stop, Sansone began to think of using some indirect methods to escape the current predicament. He roused his spirits, activated his ability, and murmured quietly.
"In the name of the Fourth Governor of the Republic of Faloro, I... Legoff Sansone... by the power vested in me by Article 12 of the Constitution, and according to the precedent of the 1247 Art Prohibition, hereby issue a temporary ordinance: within the Temple of Beauty... all artistic activities are prohibited... immediate execution!"
Haltingly, Sansone murmured, propping up his spirits. During this time, he kept convincing himself that he was not stopping Sandrina's dance, but prohibiting art, trying to weaken the influence of his own desires through this self-deceiving mental detour.
Exerting great effort, Sansone finally managed to use his ability, but he found that after he issued the temporary ordinance in his capacity as Governor, there was no reaction. Sandrina was still dancing freely on the stage, seemingly unaffected. This made Sansone's eyes widen directly, his entire expression filled with astonishment.
'This is...'
...
Just as the scene of "singing and dancing in peace" continued in the Temple of Beauty, outside the Temple of Beauty, in a dense forest, a figure wearing a black cloak stood there, looking towards the distant Temple of Beauty through the trees. From the darkness beneath the cloak, a low murmur was currently heard.
"In the name of the Second Governor of the Republic of Faloro, I, Bastien Chevalier, by the power vested in me by Article 15 of the Faloro Constitution, initiate a sole impeachment against the Fourth Governor, Legoff Sansone. During the impeachment period... the functions of both Governors are temporarily suspended..."
Murmuring, the Governor beneath the black robe used the vast majority of his strength to launch a powerful suppression against the other Governor in the Temple of Beauty, almost nullifying all of his strength, turning him into an ordinary drifting boat on the constantly surging flood of desire in the Temple of Beauty.
...
Inside the Hall of Singing of the Temple of Beauty, Sandrina continued to dance on the seven-petaled lotus stage. With the stage's enhancement beneath her, her strength continuously grew as the dance continued and time passed. She captivated almost everyone present with her alluring movements and smiles, firmly controlling the desires in their hearts. Sandrina held these desires in her hand, manipulating them as she pleased.
Including Sansone, the people in the Hall of Singing were completely captivated by Sandrina's dance, unable to leave their positions in the slightest. Sandrina controlled the deep-seated killing intent of the Bourbons remnants among them towards Sansone, causing it to constantly grow wildly, making them unable to resist directly killing Sansone face-to-face. If not for Adele's suppression, they would have lost control long ago.
However... Adele's suppression could no longer continue. As Sandrina's strength continuously grew, Adele found it increasingly difficult to suppress her own killing desire, as well as that of the other Bourbons remnants. If not for having previously used movement control to affect Sandrina, making her use more strength for defense, suppressing her own desires, and thus reducing the dance speed, Adele would have already lost control of the Bourbons' desires by now.
'Not... ready yet?'
Sweat dripped heavily from her forehead. Adele thought this to herself, and just as she felt it was becoming increasingly difficult to hold on, Dorothy's voice sounded in her ear once again.
"It's ready. Now, Adele, go immediately to the right hall of the Hall of Singing. After putting on what I gave you there, go to Yizhang Square. Leave the suppression work here to me for now..."
"Phew... Okay..."
Listening to Dorothy's words, Adele let out a long breath, took two steps back, lifted her skirt, and quickly ran away from the scene. Sandrina, who was on the stage, saw this and couldn't help but think to herself.
'Ran away? Heh... Do you think you can escape? As soon as Sansone dies and Chevalier fully recovers his Governor abilities, you won't be able to escape no matter what... This is Faloro's territory...'
Thinking this, Sandrina began to speed up the rhythm of her dance, accelerating her control over the desires of the other Bourbons remnants present. Logically, after Adele left, the Bourbons controlled by desire should have directly attacked Sansone, but things did not turn out that way.
At this moment, the Bourbons remnants present showed the anomaly of trembling all over. Scattered in various places, they stared intently at the main guest platform, wanting to do something but unable to move. Their entire bodies were controlled by a powerful willpower that did not belong to them, making them completely unable to budge.
This... was Dorothy's doing. Since she knew the mastermind would assassinate Sansone and frame the Bourbons remnants in the Temple of Beauty, she naturally would not fail to make preparations on these remnants. During Sansone's entry time, Dorothy's Corpse Puppet had already contacted all of the Bourbons remnants, relying on the super affinity ability brought by the Path of Intoxication, leaving puppet marks on them using various methods.
The Bourbons remnants are now linked by Dorothy's spirits threads. Dorothy is using puppet control to resist Sandrina's desire control, causing these Bourbons remnants to temporarily stop in place.
Dorothy did not choose to directly have the Corpse Puppet attack Sandrina, because doing so in this situation would provoke hostility towards the attacker in the hearts of everyone present who was affected. This stimulated killing intent would be controlled by Sandrina.
Dorothy also did not directly electrocute and stun the Bourbons, rendering Sandrina unable to control them, but this might cause Sandrina to take a risk and abandon her original plan, controlling other unrelated guests, finding a way to stimulate their killing desire and then transferring it to Sansone. Dorothy did not have spirits threads on most of the other guests, and near the capital of Faloro, it was not suitable for her to directly use a Scarlet skill like Manifest spirits threads to quickly turn people into puppets in batches. Therefore, the best way for her was to lure Sandrina into fighting with her for control over the Bourbons remnants, making her spend her time here, and Sandrina indeed chose to do so.
'That Adele... did she leave an accomplice here? Or is someone competing with me for control of these Bourbons... It seems she came prepared too...'
'However... as long as this temple stage is here, my power is unstoppable. No matter what kind of control, I will win the struggle...'
Sandrina said this in her heart. She could feel that the power competing with her for control of the Bourbons, although strong, was not insurmountable. As soon as her strength further increased after a while, she would be able to strengthen the Bourbons' desires to the point of breaking through any restraints. Immensely powerful desires could bring these people an impulsive will that surpassed mortals.
What Sandrina didn't know was that this feeling of hers was intentionally shown to her by Dorothy during their struggle for control, precisely so that she would have hope in her heart of ultimately winning against her, in case she went wild and affected other guests. As a Scarlet Tier Extraordinary, Dorothy's spirits thread control was not something Sandrina could defeat merely by relying on the enhancement of a single stage.
...
Just as the invisible tug-of-war continued in the Hall of Singing, outside the Hall of Singing, on Yizhang Square, countless minor nobles whose status was insufficient to enter the Hall of Singing to watch were gathered, either dining and chatting outdoors, or observing the situation in the Hall of Singing from afar through the open doors. Almost no one knew about the tense atmosphere inside the Hall of Singing.
While the secondary banquet on Yizhang Square was proceeding as usual, a gasp suddenly sounded among the guests. Those far from the banquet looked towards the direction of the gasp and saw a crowd gathered, constantly buzzing. A curious person picked up a wine glass and walked towards the crowd. After squeezing past several people, he finally saw what the crowd there was watching.
Within the surrounding circle of the crowd was a beautifully dressed woman walking with steps. Golden threads embroidered on the cloud-patterned brocade drape shimmered. The high-waisted dress with a cinched waist was adorned with countless jewels and shimmering pearls, accentuating her proud figure. Beneath the delicate white silk covering her slender legs, she wore crystal high-heeled shoes. Various luxurious pieces of jewelry decorated the skin on her hands and neck.
A half-mask made of Golden covered her beautiful face. Among her flowing golden hair, countless gem-studded hair ornaments were scattered. Bright fresh flowers decorated the top of her head. Her entire figure appeared extremely luxurious and stunningly beautiful.
Seeing such luxurious attire, someone among the crowd immediately recognized where it came from. It was an important exhibit displayed in the Temple of Beauty, the performance costume worn by the Grand Xiaer King himself when he held banquets! It was the outfit he wore when he played the role of the Forest Dancing Girl!
The image of the Forest Dancing Girl usually appears in traditional literature and art in a simple and elegant manner, but it was completely different in Xia Er's creation. The image he bestowed upon the Forest Dancing Girl was extremely magnificent and luxurious, ultimately noble, completely overturning tradition, and this costume was the product of that. This was Xia Er's understanding of the Forest Dancing Girl's image.
Why was an artifact from the Temple of Beauty being worn? And worn so perfectly? It was practically the Xiaer King reborn. Was this a new performance for this year's audience banquet?
Questions like these surfaced in the minds of many people present, but the figure in grand attire paid no attention to the mesmerized gazes directed at her from all around, and walked straight ahead. The crowd blocking her path automatically made way.
Finally, the beautifully dressed woman stopped in front of Caiqiong Hall, before the huge gushing circular fountain, Liming Fountain. She raised her head to look at the exquisite statues and beautiful water features on the fountain, and stood still.
Suddenly, at this moment, the fountain began to change. The nozzles spraying water columns on it started to automatically transform, changing the direction of the water columns. In a planned transformation, these water columns, which were originally spraying upwards, gradually became parallel and intertwined. As they changed, these water columns began to intersect and overlap with each other, and the entire fountain display began to present another form in this transformation.
Looking down from above, the spraying water columns became strokes. After gradually overlapping and becoming parallel, they intertwined and outlined each other, drawing petal after petal. These petals constructed from fountain water circled inwards around each other, slowly forming a giant lotus made of water. This lotus had a total of seven petals, presenting the image of a seven-step blooming lotus.
The moment the seven-step blooming lotus blossomed on Liming Fountain, the entire fountain also began to change. Amidst a rumbling sound, the sculptures on it automatically moved away in all directions. In the place where they originally stood, a large circular platform gradually rose, emerging from the water and appearing before everyone, as if waiting for someone to step onto it.
"Is this... the second hidden stage within Xiaer King's palace? It's truly beautiful..."
Looking at the water lotus stage in front, Adele, dressed in her grand attire, couldn't help but exclaim. For a moment, she felt it was quite good to have such an ancestor; at least she really liked this aesthetic and romantic sentiment.