As the foremost talented woman, with great renown and remarkable beauty, she received countless declarations of love daily, which she found extremely annoying.
Therefore, she once publicly declared that anyone under the age of thirty who could surpass her in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting would be wed without hesitation!
This declaration was merely a pretext to ward off unwanted attention, as it was almost impossible for anyone to surpass her.
To her surprise, someone actually surpassed her in calligraphy and painting, and with such ease!
"Though this person's personality isn't very good, and his words are unpleasant, he has genuine talent. Marrying him might not be so bad after all..."
As others spoke, this thought couldn't help but surface in her mind.
"I wonder... does Teacher Zhang know how to play the zither?"
Unable to restrain herself any longer, she looked over.
"I know a little bit!"
Zhang Xuan nodded.
Although he was already an 8-star Demonic Musician, he preferred to keep a low profile.
"Then... what about chess?"
"I know absolutely nothing about it!" Zhang Xuan shook his head.
He had learned many professions, but he had never learned chess. He was utterly clueless about it.
"It doesn't matter if you don't know it, I can teach you... Teacher Zhang, would you be willing to come to my Serene Abode to jointly study music, chess, calligraphy, and painting?"
Her pretty face flushed, Zhang Ziqing said.
Saying this was practically a declaration of love.
"Music, chess, calligraphy, and painting?"
Zhang Xuan shook his head: "These auxiliary professions are just something I casually picked up for amusement and entertainment. I've only spent less than two days studying calligraphy and painting. As for specializing in them... let's not."
He came here to challenge the Zhang Clan and force the little genius to appear. How could he have time to learn about music, chess, calligraphy, and painting?
Besides, reading a few books is enough; why would he need to learn from her?
Hearing his refusal, Zhang Ziqing's expression soured. However, she immediately showed disbelief: "You said you've only studied calligraphy and painting for less than two days in total?"
"Yes!" Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment, then nodded: "Adding all the time together, it should be less than..."
He studied calligraphy and painting only for the purpose of passing the Master Teacher examination. He didn't spend much time on it; one hour per level. Now that he had reached 8-star, it was only eight hours. Even including reading, it shouldn't exceed two days...
Stating this was not an exaggeration.
His not claiming to have done it in a single day was already quite humble of him.
"In less than two days, your understanding of calligraphy and painting is already so profound?"
Zhang Ziqing didn't believe it.
"Since you've lost, please give me the wager..."
Too lazy to bother with her shock, Zhang Xuan looked at her.
He had only agreed to the bet because of the supreme-grade spirit stone. Now that he had won, it was only natural to collect his prize.
"The spirit stone..."
Only then did Zhang Ziqing recall their previous wager. She smiled slightly: "I presume you also heard what that friend just said? As long as someone surpassed me in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, I would marry him... Now, you have already far surpassed me in calligraphy and painting, and as long as your skills in music and chess aren't too weak... it wouldn't be impossible for us to be wed..."
As she said this, her pretty face flushed.
For a girl, to speak to this extent was quite daring.
However, bearing the title of the foremost talented woman and accustomed to being aloof, after finally meeting someone who could truly surpass her, she couldn't help but entertain some thoughts.
"What? Are you trying to renege on your debt? Are you unwilling to give me that supreme-grade spirit stone?"
Zhang Xuan felt his head explode, his eyes wide with fury.
"When we made the bet just now, you agreed perfectly that if you lost, you'd give it to me. What? Now that you've actually lost, you're afraid to admit it and want to marry me instead? What kind of delusion is this!"
"Huh?"
Zhang Ziqing gritted her teeth.
"A loss is a loss! That supreme-grade spirit stone must be handed over!" Zhang Xuan declared with righteous indignation: "Don't try to pull any useless tricks. Trying to renege on your debt won't work!"
His purpose this time was to specifically embarrass the Zhang Clan and vent his anger for Luo Ruoxin. If he brought another woman back with him, how could he show his face?
"You..."
Zhang Ziqing was truly going mad.
After all this, in his eyes, she wasn't even worth a single spirit stone...
The esteemed foremost talented woman of the Zhang Clan was worth less than a supreme-grade spirit stone... If word got out, it would be utterly humiliating!
"This... Zhang Xuan's taste is truly peculiar!"
Zhang Wuchen's eyes widened, and after holding it in for a long time, he finally managed to utter a sentence.
"Indeed, this is the first time I've encountered someone who could reject Ziqing, and... do it so righteously!"
Elder Wuzhen was also filled with disbelief.
He had seen many powerful people, but even heroes found it hard to resist the allure of beauty. Yet this person before them had rejected Zhang Ziqing, such a talented and beautiful woman, even after she made such an offer, all for the sake of a single supreme-grade spirit stone...
To be honest, if he really married her, with her connections and abilities, supreme-grade spirit stones would be nothing; he could have as many as he wanted, couldn't he?
"It's as I guessed, he doesn't want too many ties with the Zhang Clan!"
After his sigh, Zhang Wuchen also understood, and couldn't help but shake his head.
The other party's profound understanding of formations, spirit awakening, treasure appraisal, and calligraphy/painting showed him to be an extremely intelligent person. How could he not understand Zhang Ziqing's meaning? Knowing it and still saying what he did clearly indicated he didn't want to get too involved with the Zhang Clan.
"Zhang Xuan, I am Zhang Jiang of the Zhang Clan. Do you dare to compete with me?"
Rejecting Zhang Ziqing had angered the talented youths of the Zhang Clan. A young man leaped out from the crowd and landed before him.
"Compete in what?"
Zhang Xuan raised an eyebrow.
He had long noticed the younger generation of the Zhang Clan lurking in the crowd, deliberately looking for trouble with him. Since he had come this time precisely to stir up a big commotion, it was best if they proactively confronted him.
"I have no other particular skill, but in beast taming, no one can surpass me. You have insulted the talented woman of my Zhang Clan. Do you dare to compete with me in beast taming?"
Zhang Jiang said.
"How do we compete?"
"It's very simple. Three years ago, the Zhang Clan captured a fierce Saint beast. To this day, no one has been able to tame it, and I haven't succeeded either. As long as you succeed, I will admit that your beast-taming methods are superior to mine!"
Zhang Jiang sneered.
"What if I also can't tame it?"
Zhang Xuan shook his head.
This guy was clearly setting a trap. If he himself couldn't tame it, it must be extremely difficult. If I also couldn't tame it, wouldn't I lose?
Although his beast-taming skills were formidable, they were limited to Saint beasts with dragon bloodlines or those whose strength was slightly lower than his. If their cultivation was too high, he didn't have many good solutions either.
"I've heard that you can easily tame the spirits of grand formations. What's wrong? When asked to tame a Saint beast, you're suddenly afraid?"
Zhang Jiang's lips curled into a smirk as he looked over: "I've only interacted with that Saint beast for three days, and its affinity level has already reached twenty-five. If, within three days, you can surpass this, even if you don't fully tame it, I will admit that you are superior to me!"
"Twenty-five?"
Seeing that there were rules, Zhang Xuan finally nodded and looked over: "If... I tame this Saint beast, will it belong to me?"
He had to clarify this first. After all, it was captured by the other party. If it belonged to him, he would tame it; if not, then he wouldn't bother.
"Although this Saint beast was personally captured by the Clan Head, who intended to tame it himself, if you succeed, there's no harm in letting you take it away!"
Zhang Jiang nodded, his eyes glinting with a ruthless look: "However... if you lose, I won't ask you for a supreme-grade spirit stone. All I ask is that you kneel and apologize to Ziqing, and then... immediately get out of the Zhang Clan!"
[8 seconds from now] Chapter 912: Bleeding Great Dream Pure Land
[1 minute ago] Chapter 46: Strange Mechanical-Flow Player
[2 minutes ago] Chapter 1820: Secret Passage
[6 minutes ago] Chapter 1819
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