The industry leader in Grey Pine City, Early Spring Pavilion, is vast, spanning seven floors.
Each level represents a different social class; from the third floor up, one must possess noble status or significant fame to be escorted to the higher levels by the girls.
Those who reach the fifth floor are local power players—the elite.
Only they can command the top-ranked girls to serve them for the night.
There are few rooms on this floor, and each has a permanent resident; these are the bedrooms of the pavilion’s most beautiful women, each decorated in a unique style.
At this moment, two sturdy men stood guard outside a door, their expressions solemn and vigilant.
One of them was the guard Shuyue had injured earlier that day.
The other was a newly assigned partner, also quite capable.
As guards, they weren’t permitted inside, leaving no doubt as to who they were protecting.
Simon Jim was a notorious lecher who had slept with nearly all the most beautiful girls in the Early Spring Pavilion, even keeping a list of his conquests.
Due to his debauchery, he was perennially pale and thinner than the average man.
His own strength was merely Level Zero…
Inside the room, the young noble reclined on a large sofa, flanked by two slender girls.
His hands rested on their waists before sliding down to toy with their curves.
Meanwhile, a shy girl fed him peeled grapes directly from her mouth.
In the center of the room, six equally stunning girls in thin gauze dresses performed a provocative dance, their skin glistening with sweat.
The air was thick with a heady, feminine fragrance, steeping the room in an amber, suggestive atmosphere.
Several pretty young maids stood by, heads bowed, ready to serve their master’s every whim.
“Mmm, very good~”
Simon chuckled, enjoying the performance.
He suddenly pulled one of the girls into a kiss, savoring a luxury few could afford.
Afterward, the girl leaned shyly against his shoulder.
Simon smiled at her, but his expression soon turned cold.
He had originally intended to size up the man engaged to Emily today.
He had provoked the maid specifically to test Leah’s reaction, planning to use the women by his side as bargaining chips.
He hadn’t expected Leah to attack immediately, giving him no chance to talk.
Though he had prepared for trouble—having arranged for a friendly City Guard officer to be on standby—he wasn’t brainless.
Recalling Shuyue’s cold gaze from earlier, a flicker of fear surfaced, which quickly curdled into hatred.
“Damn brat, how dare you look at me like that!”
He gripped the girl in his arms too hard, making her wince with tears in her eyes.
Noticing this, Simon loosened his grip and rubbed the spot he had squeezed.
“Baby, I’ll treat you right tonight!”
“Hehehe, darling, when haven’t you ‘hurt’ me?”
The girl teased.
He waved the dancers and maids away.
Soon, only Simon and the two women remained.
As they rose from the sofa and headed toward the bed, a window suddenly shattered.
A marble-sized stone struck Simon’s shin, the intense pain instantly crippling him.
Shuyue lunged through the broken window, charging toward Simon without hesitation.
Terrified, Simon instinctively pulled one of the girls in front of him as a human shield.
A shield?
Useless.
Shuyue showed no mercy.
Increasing her speed, her fist slammed into the girl’s shoulder just below the collarbone, driving the brutal force through her and into Simon.
Both were sent flying into the wall.
The girl stood frozen in shock, staring at the black-robed figure approaching them.
Shuyue shoved the girl aside to finish Simon off, but the guards burst in, swinging a longsword to force her back.
Since she was already there, retreating wasn’t an option.
Shuyue dodged the strike with a sidestep, then nimbly evaded a follow-up horizontal slash from the second guard.
It was lucky she had pushed the girl aside; otherwise, the girl would have been hacked to pieces by the guards’ own blades.
Ignoring the men, Shuyue erupted with incredible speed toward Simon.
He was the target; killing him meant the mission was over.
Furious at being ignored, the guards shouted, “Bastard, do you know who I am?!”
Combat Skill: Taunt!
Shuyue felt her soul tugged by an invisible thread, but it only caused a hesitation of less than a hundredth of a second.
As an Alchemist, her soul was naturally stronger than most; the taunting techniques of this combat system held little sway over her.
Realizing their skill had failed, the guards tried to intercept her physically, only to realize with horror that her speed far eclipsed theirs.
Having activated her Silver Dragon Bloodline, Shuyue’s physical stats had surged, pushing her well beyond Level One and approaching Level Two territory.
Simon’s vision had gone black for three seconds from the initial pain.
By the time he recovered, a dark shadow was already upon him.
Shuyue stood with her back to the magical ceiling lights; though her face was hooded in shadow, Simon could see her glowing golden vertical pupils and her stunning features.
He froze in a daze.
In that split second, Simon actually felt a desire to possess the woman in front of him.
But before the thought could fully form, her small fist—moving so fast it left an afterimage—struck his throat.
The terrifying force was concentrated on a tiny area, crushing his windpipe and staining her white hand with crimson.
The guards arrived a second too late. Witnessing the scene, they roared in rage and slashed at her.
Shuyue dodged, casting Stone Piercing to harass them and create an opening.
She glanced back at Simon.
His cervical spine was shattered.
He couldn’t possibly be alive.