Lin Xueqing's revolutionary performance not only captivated the audience below but also drew an exclamation from Li Yundong: "Can cultivation skills also be used for the art of tea?" Ruan Hongling looked toward Ziyuan with open worry, her mouth opening as if to speak, only to swallow the words back down.

At this moment, Lin Xueqing on stage bowed to the surroundings, then descended. After the host delivered a brief opening remark, as he was about to leave the stage, he bumped into the tea table, nearly stumbling, which drew a burst of laughter from below.

Her action itself was insignificant, but as she stepped down, the host shot a look toward Zheng Youming, who immediately understood and secretly nodded.

Their exchange of glances was almost entirely concealed, yet it was precisely spotted by Zhou Qin, who had been intently watching the stage. Zhou Qin felt she hadn't cultivated yet, knew nothing, and couldn't help Li Yundong in any way, so she remained vigilant. Seeing the expression on the two of them shift, she quickly spoke to Li Yundong: "Li Yundong, tell Ziyuan to be careful; I fear they might have tampered with this table."

Li Yundong was startled and blurted out, "I know they are shameless, but surely not to this extent? They would stoop so low as to tamper with the table?"

His gaze shifted to Ziyuan, who had now arrived at the edge of the stage, and he murmured, "There's no way to warn her now, what should we do?"

Ruan Hongling said, "I'll do it. I'll send a mental message to Sister Ziyuan."

She privately transmitted: "Sister Ziyuan, you must be wary of this tea table; I fear there's something amiss."

Ziyuan started internally, but her face remained perfectly calm. She merely glanced toward Li Yundong and the others, nodding slightly.

After the host finished his introductions, Ziyuan ascended the stage gracefully, carrying her tea set with the tea caddy resting upon it.

The moment she appeared, her beauty and temperament far surpassed that of the previous tea mistress. All those in the audience gasped, stunned by her breathtaking loveliness. Even the most audacious man dared not harbor a single impure thought in his mind upon seeing her; the boldest only dared to muse internally: Is such a peerlessly beautiful and exquisitely refined woman truly of this mortal world? What kind of man could possibly be worthy of her?

Ziyuan was dressed in a white gown that blended the classical elegance of Hanfu with the modern flair of contemporary fashion, truly resembling an immortal spirit descended from the heavens, inspiring awe.

Holding her tray, Ziyuan inclined gracefully toward the audience, then placed the tray onto the tea table before her. The moment it settled, the table tilted precariously.

Fortunately, Zhou Qin had noticed the anomaly earlier, and Ziyuan had been forewarned. She immediately channeled her internal True Essence, silently flowing it out to gently support the table legs. Her gaze swept over the table and she saw that the legs had been manipulated—a mechanism installed. By twisting a hidden switch near the table, the four legs would instantly become incredibly loose, causing anything placed upon it to tip over with even slight weight.

Because Ziyuan reacted so quickly, the audience below didn't notice anything amiss; they only saw the table wobble slightly before settling back down.

However, Ziyuan's entire True Essence and focus were now dedicated to holding up the table. To proceed with the tea ceremony calmly was now too much to ask. She immediately transmitted a plea to Li Yundong: "Li Yundong, this table was indeed tampered with. It will tip with the slightest force. Your True Essence is vast; support the table remotely so I can perform."

Li Yundong didn't know how to transmit messages. Without a word, he immediately leveled both palms and held them up in the void, lifting the table from several meters away.

As Li Yundong's powerful and immense Yang True Qi surged over, Ziyuan immediately felt a great sense of relief. She sighed, withdrew her own True Essence, and began to focus entirely on her tea ceremony performance.

Zheng Youming, watching from below, saw the tea stand placed upon the table as steady as Mount Tai, and his eyes widened. He immediately looked toward the host, who also appeared stunned, making an innocent gesture as if to confirm that he had indeed carried out the task.

Only Zhong Qingsong, standing beside Zheng Youming, perceived the hidden maneuver. He smiled faintly and walked toward Li Yundong. As he reached Li Yundong, he secretly channeled his energy and struck toward Li Yundong's palm, saying aloud, "Daoist Li, a handshake?"

Li Yundong started internally and was forced to withdraw his True Essence. He turned and slapped back at the incoming hand. With a snap, their palms met, and they froze in place like statues.

The tea stand instantly lost the support of Li Yundong's True Essence, and it began to tilt. Ziyuan, with quick eyes, immediately surged her True Essence out again, supporting the table, while transmitting to Ruan Hongling: "Hongling, help, quickly!"

Ruan Hongling saw Zhong Qingsong approaching Li Yundong with malicious intent. She gritted her teeth, released her True Essence, and supported the table. However, her True Essence was not powerful enough, and she struggled to maintain the hold from several meters away. Seeing the danger, Su Chan, ignoring the friction between herself and Ruan Hongling, immediately drove her own True Essence to assist. Together, the two of them managed to hold the platform steady.

This hidden battle, on and off the stage, occurred in the blink of an eye. Even the surrounding audience, including the cameras focused on the tea table, detected no abnormality. Only Lin Xueqing noticed that Li Yundong and her master were covertly vying with their internal vital energies. She frowned and walked over, intending to separate them.

But when Li Yundong saw her approaching, he assumed Lin Xueqing also intended to take advantage of the situation. Angered internally, he snorted coldly and struck out with his other hand toward Lin Xueqing.

Lin Xueqing was surprised and immediately parried the blow. Li Yundong twisted his wrist, his five fingers clamping firmly onto her wrist. Lin Xueqing was not to be outdone; she also twisted her wrist, her fingers locking onto Li Yundong's wrist like steel cables. For a moment, Li Yundong, using his own strength alone, restrained both Lin Xueqing and Zhong Qingsong.

Zhong Qingsong was both alarmed and horrified to see that while Li Yundong was fully engaged in a contest of True Essence with him, he still had the capacity to initiate another conflict and draw Lin Xueqing in.

Lin Xueqing was also secretly shocked but felt unwilling to concede. She fully mobilized the pure Yin vital energy within her body, attacking Li Yundong from one side, while Zhong Qingsong’s pure Yang vital energy attacked from the other.

Li Yundong felt as if half his body were trapped in an icy wasteland, while the other half was subjected to a scorching sun—truly experiencing two extremes.

He took a deep breath, simultaneously urging the vast and mighty Golden Core True Essence within him to split into two paths, violently attacking Zhong Qingsong and Lin Xueqing respectively, like playing the Zuo You Hu Bo technique, battling their True Essences without losing ground.

As their True Essences clashed, after only a short while, a thin wisp of white vapor began to rise from the top of Li Yundong's head. Initially like a fragile thread, it soon rose thicker, as thick as a finger. Meanwhile, Zhong Qingsong's face grew redder and redder, like a drunken Guan Gong, while Lin Xueqing's face became increasingly pale, resembling thin, ashen paper.

In just a short time, the abnormality of the three was noticed by the surrounding audience, leading to immediate murmurs and speculation. Whispers and hushed conversations spread, and more and more eyes turned toward the trio.

Seeing the white vapor rising from Li Yundong's head growing more vigorous and thick, yet remaining condensed and steady, piercing toward the heavens, Ziyuan was moved. With one hand supporting the teapot, and the other resting on the lid, she announced loudly, "Since the previous contestant, Lin Xueqing, showed everyone the true 'Phoenix Nods Three Times,' today I shall let everyone witness the long-lost 'Eight Immortals Cross the Sea Together'!"

Ziyuan's voice was bright and gentle, immediately drawing the audience's attention back to her. Everyone watched as Ziyuan suddenly lifted the lid, her hand snatching fiercely in the air. Her True Essence surged forth, forcibly pulling the white vapor steaming from Li Yundong's head toward herself.

The crowd saw this white mist flow horizontally like the Silver River bridge. Ziyuan, holding the teapot, rapidly completed the 'Phoenix Nods Three Times' maneuver. Then, at a speed invisible to the naked eye, using her five fingers as a brush, her fingers danced swiftly, sculpting and painting upon this condensed, unwavering mist in the air.

In a moment, through pecking, carving, etching, painting, grasping, pulling, pinching, and paring, Ziyuan quickly depicted an elder riding a donkey backward, holding a wooden staff from which a gourd hung. Captured by the camera and projected onto the plasma screen, the image was strikingly lifelike—it was Zhang Guolao, one of the Eight Immortals, riding his donkey in reverse!

At this point, both the judges on stage and the audience below erupted in an uproar, utterly shocked into immobility.

After completing the depiction of Zhang Guolao riding backward, Ziyuan flipped her wrist and began to draw another figure. In moments, the audience saw a middle-aged man with his chest bare, holding an iron crutch—it was Li Tieguai!

The crowd was already entranced, watching Ziyuan conjure lifelike immortals from the ethereal white mist with mere flicks of her fingers on stage, her technique akin to a divine miracle, her grace like that of a fairy!

Eventually, Ziyuan’s hands flew, working both sides simultaneously, depicting Han Zhongli, Lan Caihe, He Xiangu, Lü Dongbin, Han Xiangzi, and Cao Guojiu, one by one. Suddenly, the audience saw the Eight Immortals in this white river of energy, each in a unique posture, riding on clouds and mist, seemingly about to cross the ocean. Especially as it was daytime, sunlight reflecting off the energy river created a rainbow bridge. It was truly like the descent of deities, mesmerizing and dazzling.

Another wave of gasps swept through the audience; everyone was dumbfounded.

After finishing the depiction of all Eight Immortals, Ziyuan gracefully and gently looped one sleeve back with one hand. With the other hand, in a gesture reminiscent of the Buddha picking a flower, she flicked her fingers, lightly plucking the vivid figure of Zhang Guolao from the white river of energy. She flipped her wrist and placed him gently onto one of the teacups before the tea tray. Instantly, Zhang Guolao settled upon the tea, not dissipating at all.

Subsequently, Ziyuan, like the Queen Mother picking peaches, plucked the remaining seven immortals one by one and placed them above their respective teacups.

The audience watched as the Eight Immortals floated above the eight bowls of tea. Hot steam rose from the tea in the cups, further enveloping the Eight Immortals as if they were in a true celestial realm.

Just as they were lost in awe, Ziyuan suddenly waved her sleeve, creating a gust of wind that dispersed the energy mist. The ethereal Eight Immortals immediately stirred, dissolving into the tea water within the cups.

Ziyuan stood tall and graceful on the stage, addressing everyone above and below with a clear voice: "Before, we had the 'Phoenix Nods Three Times'; now, we have the 'Eight Immortals Cross the Sea Together.' I invite everyone to judge which is superior!"

As her voice faded, everyone stared at her dumbly. The stage fell silent; absolute quiet reigned, where a needle drop could be heard.