The days leading up to the "Flower Maiden Competition" were chaotic.
Xue Mu didn't just train Yue Xiaochan; he mobilized the entire Hundred Flowers Manor. He was a general preparing for war, and his weapons were rumors.
He deployed the street urchins—beggars, orphans, the invisible eyes of the city. For a few copper coins and a hot meal, they became his propaganda machine.
By noon on the second day, the rumors were spreading like wildfire in the teahouses.
"Have you heard? The Star-Moon Sect has a secret weapon." "A new assassin?" "No, a singer! They say her voice can shatter a heart at fifty paces." "I heard she is challenging the Zither Fairy directly. She called Liu Qingyan 'boring'!" "Boring? The audacity! I have to see this."
Xue Mu sat in a teahouse, sipping cheap tea, listening to the buzz. He smiled. Controversy creates cash.
Back at the manor, the atmosphere was tense.
Meng Lan was struggling with the backing track. Xue Mu had forbidden the use of traditional slow zithers. He wanted percussion. He wanted beat.
"Faster!" Xue Mu clapped his hands. "You are dragging! It needs to sound like a heartbeat, not a funeral march!"
Meng Lan, sweating, adjusted her tempo on the hand-drums. "Master Xue, this rhythm... it makes the blood boil. Is it safe?"
"It's adrenaline," Xue Mu grinned. "Keep going."
Meanwhile, Xue Qingqiu observed from the balcony. The Sect Master had been skeptical, but as she watched the transformation of her manor, her curiosity grew.
She saw the disciples working with a new energy. There was a sense of purpose that had been missing for years. And Xue Mu... the man with no cultivation was commanding Shaping Realm experts like they were interns.
"He commands respect," she murmured to herself. "Not through fear, but through vision."
She looked at Yue Xiaochan, who was practicing a spin in the courtyard. The girl was flushed, frustrated, but... laughing. For the first time in years, the burden of the Sect seemed to lift from the child's shoulders.
Xue Qingqiu's eyes softened. Perhaps this 'Idol' strategy has merit.
"Sect Master," a shadow guard appeared beside her. "The tickets for the competition are sold out. Scalpers are selling them for ten times the price."
Xue Qingqiu raised an eyebrow. "Just to see a few girls sing?"
"No, Master. To see us. The city is waiting for the 'Little Demoness' to fall on her face."
"Let them wait," Xue Qingqiu said, a cold smile touching her lips. "They are about to be surprised."